How do you "Christmas season"?

Have you ever been on LDS SMILE? It's pretty snazzy. Sometimes it's spiritual, sometimes it's funny, and occasionally it's weird but that's okay.

Anywho, so one of their posts came up on my Facebook newsfeed this morning, and it's awesome, so I feel the need to write my own post about it. Disclaimer: I borrow liberally from their content and ideas here. All credit for this post pretty much goes to LDS SMILE. And some to my Relief Society president.

I have a testimony of the Atonement and Resurrection

The other day in mass, the priest told a joke to open his homily (this is a common way to begin, actually). It went something like this:

So on the 3rd day, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and found it empty.

John 20:11-17
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

(at this point, no one suspects a joke, because it was the Sunday after Easter and it makes total sense to discuss this subject)

I love springtime!

Today, I had the opportunity to attend one hour of church. Due to the timing of various other things that happened today, the only hour I could go to was Sunday School. Typically, if I can only go for an hour, I choose sacrament meeting or Young Women's, but this time I didn't really have a choice.

When I arrived at the church, sacrament meeting was still in progress, so I awkwardly stood out in the lobby. I didn't want to walk into the chapel (please tell me that's what it's called...) cuz then my friends would see me and my being there would no longer be a surprise. So I stood there waiting.

Youth groups and non-member friends (and also Valentine's Day)

One of my friends at school (we'll call her Magdalene) is very involved in her church. They have these tournaments that involve memorizing entire chapters from the Bible (and you thought scripture mastery was bad....). She's really good at it, too :)

Anywho, Magdalene invited me to her youth group's Valentine's Day activity (it actually was on Valentine's Day, I just didn't get around to writing about it till now...) . It was really fun :) we had pizza and cookies and watched Princess Bride. I met some new people and got to hang out with some awesome religiously-minded youth. Oh, and Magdalene plays a pretty intense game of foosball. From seeing her in class every day, I had thought she was quiet. That assumption was very very false; she just doesn't talk much in class! 

My point is, sometimes we forget that people of other faiths make good friends, too. I'm guilty of this. Since deciding to convert, I haven't made an enormous effort to hang out with my non-member friends. I do still see them, talk to them, etc, but not as often as I should. I need to work on that. 

Anyone with similar standards had awesome friend-potential. And those of you who don't live in an area densely populated with Mormons, you're awesome at this. I don't live in Utah, but there's plenty of members for me to hang out with. And they're all super amazing. But when they all go to BYU and I go to not-BYU, I need to know how to make non-member friends. I need to be comfortable making non-member friends. 

And also, youth nights are generally pretty fun (in my experience), I don't care who's running them. Why must they all be on Wednesday nights (except the Valentine's one I went to)?? That makes it difficult to visit your friends' church events!! And if you don't visit theirs, can you expect them to visit yours? Once, I made a deal with a friend- if I went to her activity, she would come to seminary. Unfortunately, I had to work and couldn't go with her :( the point is, make an effort :) it just might work :)

That post was totally not what I thought it would be when I started writing. Please excuse my random ramblings :)

<3 Marie-Rose

Christmas is awesome, and the Olympics are cool too

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is how everyone comes together and people are just a little bit kinder and willing to help one another out. It's a season of giving and making an extra effort to make someone's day.

What does "getting in the Christmas Spirit" mean to you? To me, it means all of those "people being kind" things I described above. But it also means something else. I hadn't thought of this before this Christmas, but "Christmas Spirit" and "Holy Spirit" both have "Spirit" in them for a reason. Christmas Spirit means feeling the Holy Spirit. Being worthy to have the Spirit with you. Remembering Christ. Because that's what Christmas really is all about.

Now, if you're anything like me, you might be sick of reading Christmas blog posts by now, cuz whenever I find a new blog to follow I go back and read all their recent posts. Since it's currently early February, there's *always* a Christmas post and *always* a New Year's post among their most recent posts. So, moving on from Christmas...

January and February and sometimes March are kinda depressing months. People have gone back to normal, there's no more drive to be nice to everyone, and very few holidays to look forward to. Plus it's super cold and gross and I try not to go outside and I have to scrape ice off my car before going anywhere which usually makes me late... You get the picture. It's like the emotional crash after the happiness of Christmas.

But guess what! The Winter Olympics are this year! :D

The Olympics are like a version of "Christmas" for the whole world. Not the gift-giving or Christ-remembering parts, but the "people coming together" part. Watching the opening ceremony Friday night was super awesome. All these nations coming together for some athletic competition. Granted, it's not always as friendly as I would like to believe, and politics get involved more often than they should, but it's better than nothing :)

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I doubt you've ever read the Warriors series, but I was obsessed with them in middle school. They're about these cats that live in the forest. They're split into four "Clans" (kinda like countries), and they're very competitive and hostile towards each other (most of the time). Once a month, however, on the night of the full moon, there's a truce, and they all gather together in the center of the forest to exchange news and get to know each other.

The Olympics reminds me of that. A bunch of countries that don't always get along coming together to celebrate sports.

And even though it's not quite as awesome as Christmas Spirit, Olympic Spirit is pretty cool too :)

<3 Marie-Rose

A Strange Christmas

So on Sunday, Dec 22, my family got together and kinda celebrated Christmas. No gifts that day, but some of my aunts and uncles (being in the medical field) had to work on Christmas and/or Christmas Eve. 

On Monday, my immediate family took my grandma out to lunch. Then we took her back to her assisted living place and talked for a bit. 

Sometime Monday night, my grandma fell. She broke her pelvis and her arm, and already had a broken rib from something else. She was confused and disoriented (probably from the pain). 

They operated on her arm Christmas morning. 

Christmas Eve night, we were all on pins and needles, worrying. My aunts and uncles (being in the medical field) kept talking about it and most of it went over my head. But I did understand that we should maybe probably have a document of her final wishes on hand and she could have trouble coming off "the vent" (machine that breathes for you). 

Needless to say, I was beyond worried. 

So what did I do? I texted some of my Mormon friends and asked them to pray for her. Their quick response and willingness to pray, not just for her but for our entire family, was amazing. 

The surgery went well, she's doing fine, and she's sleeping off the meds :) 

But what I wanna talk about is the power of prayer. My grandma is almost 90 years old. Yesterday could have been rocky. But many people prayed for her. A lot. It could be just a coinkydink. Maybe she would have been fine even if we didn't pray. I have no way of knowing. But if all my medical family members were that worried, then there was a legitimate reason to worry. 

It makes me feel so comforted and loved to know that so many people prayed for my grandma. It calmed me down considerably. 

I'm not entirely sure what I'm trying to say here. Mostly, I just wanna say that prayer is awesome. "Hope Always and Pray Constantly." And all those prayers Christmas Eve and Christmas morning... 'Twas powerful. 

<3 Marie-Rose

Christmas Devotional

I had no idea there even was a Christmas devotional. But then my awesome neighbor told me about it while I was practicing my speech at her house! (it was my entertainment speech, topic: my conversion story. I wasn't gonna practice that at home cuz I was terrified that my sisters would walk in on me!)

Anywho! So I got to watch the Christmas devotional. On my iPod. And I had a headache. And I was supposed to be doing calc hw (which, I should probably be doing that instead of writing a blog post...).

I'm very glad I got to watch :) I really liked Sister Rosemary M. Wixom's talk, What Happened Next?

She reminded me that the Christmas season is important, but "what happens next" is important, too. Jesus Christ died for us. Each of us. I've heard it said that, if it was just YOU, only one person, who would be saved, He still would have done the same.

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I like this quote that she mentions:
“We solemnly testify that [our Savior’s] life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.”
(“The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles,” Ensign, Apr. 2000, 2–3.)

So even though I've been crazy busy, and I've barely had time to do my calc hw and my French hw and study for gov and take my car in to get the leaky tire fixed and work and on and on and on.... I need to remember Christ. All the time.

One thing I really want to get better at is feeling comfortable praying. I've had a few days where I talk to Him most of the day and it feels totally natural. Like, if your best friend was with you the entire day and you spent the whole day talking while you do whatever it is you had to do that day. So kinda like texting, I guess :) except with Heavenly Father! So not quite like texting, cuz my phone doesn't buzz and I don't get responses in word form. But I can feel that He's there and listening.

Anywho. That's only happened a few times. I want to be able to do that every day. That's my goal. Because shouldn't we always aim to be closer to Him? Especially during Christmas, but it needs to be our goal every day of the year.

<3 Marie-Rose

PS- I had no idea where that post was going until I finished it.

PPS- Dear Blogger spellcheck, "texting" is so a word. I promise. Update your dictionary already!

Self Improvement

I need to work on being more outgoing.

I'm usually really shy. I don't go up to people and start conversations. I don't go out of my way to make friends in my classes (I'm not at the same school I was at last year, so I don't know a lot of my classmates). The only time I consider myself to be even slightly outgoing is at work, cuz being a cashier, I kind of have to be comfortable talking to people.

Well guess what. When I go to college, I'll need to be able to talk to people so I can make new friends. I will hardly know anyone when I get there (if I went to BYU, I would know people, but I won't be going to BYU and that's a story for another post).

Guess what else. You can't have missionary moments if you never talk to anyone.

So I need to work on being more outgoing. My speech class is really helping with that. Very few people in the class are quiet. It's like they took all the loud, talkative, friendly people and put them all in the same class. Which makes class really entertaining :) it's actually my favorite class. And being required to get up and talk in front of these people... it forces me to be less shy. I get to know my classmates and we're all super supportive of one another. Plus I can talk to them about my religion :)

*seemingly random change of subject*

The other day, my family went to go get a Christmas tree. After much wandering, we had chosen one and were dragging it back to the barn where the people running the tree farm would shake it out and put netting around it so we could easily get it home. We passed a young family, also dragging a tree. They had only one child, less than four years old, and the parents were having difficulties carrying everything. The tree farm provides everyone with a saw and a measuring stick (so you know if your tree will fit in your living room), and the couple couldn't carry the saw, the stick, and the tree all at once. Plus the little girl was too young to help.

So I walked up and asked if they needed me to carry anything. It's something I would normally only do at work.  I kinda surprised myself. They were super grateful and asked if  I could carry their saw and measuring stick. But that's not the point of me telling this story. The point of telling the story is to prove to myself that I can talk to random people in public. (PS we had been planning on getting our tree a different day and then plans changed, so maybe Heavenly Father had a hand in helping this couple out? It could have been a prompting that caused me to walk over to them...)

Cuz, after all, if you can't talk to people, how can you spread the gospel?

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<3 Marie-Rose

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

Dear Americans,

We have a problem. Thanksgiving is a very important holiday. But retailers can't make very much money off of it, can they? Not unless they sell food or decorations. So they have a nifty solution- make Christmas bigger. Ooh yes, they can make a lot of money off of Christmas shoppers. How do they make Christmas bigger?

Well.

Let's look at the history of Thanksgiving. It used to be on the last Thursday in Novemeber, did you know that? Always the last one, even if November had 5 Thursdays. And now it's on the 4th Thursday, which is sometimes the last Thursday but not always. When did that change? According to Congress, Dec 26, 1941. 

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But FDR started observing Thanksgiving on the 4th Thursday in 1939. Yup, during the Great Depression. Thanksgiving was on the last day of November that year, according to the "last Thursday" tradition. Retailers were afraid of losing money during the Christmas season because shoppers had fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And most people, at that time, didn't do their Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving.

Okay, so they moved Thanksgiving. Big deal, that was 72 years ago! Why am I writing a blog post?

Because, my friends, Thanksgiving is being completely disrespected. By retailers. Again. (Well, I don't have a problem with them having moved it. Especially cuz it was the Great Depression. But saying "again" just makes my point sound better)

WHY are stores open for Black FRIDAY shopping on THURSDAY night?? And after doing a little research, it's not just Thursday night.

It looks like Lowe's opened at 4am on Thanksgiving morning. Kmart wasn't much better- 6am. A few other stores opened Thursday morning as well.

I understand why. Retailers are increasing profits this way. But what happens when stores start opening at midnight Thanksgiving morning? At 8pm Wednesday night? When will it stop??

Just because I understand why they do it doesn't mean I think they should.

This whole phenomenon is totally disrespectful of Thanksgiving (and Christmas, too, if you think about it). Whatever happened to a day of giving thanks and eating way too much food and spending time with family? It's quickly turning into a major shopping day. And when you picture Black Friday shoppers, you picture loud, rude, selfish people who will do anything to get the "best price" on some materialistic thing. They're not spending quality time with their families. They're not being very thankful.

I have never been Black Friday shopping. But I've worked on Black Friday, twice now. I'm lucky to have my job, and not work at Walmart or something. We opened at 8am Friday morning (we usually open at 9am). It was awesome.

See, I work at this company called Hobby Lobby. We are closed on Sundays. Our CEO runs the company based on Christian values. We don't open at ridiculous hours just to make a little more money. 

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So guess what, big greedy companies? It's possible to be less greedy and still make money. 

Be thankful, people. Spend time being thankful. And AFTER you spend a day being thankful, THEN you may go shop. Gratitude makes you happier. I promise.

I apologize for not knowing the image source on this one.

<3 Marie-Rose

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm sitting at my grandparents' house, and my dad and uncle and grandpa are watching the football game. This morning we watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This, my friends, is Thanksgiving :)

There's a lot that I'm thankful for. Where to even begin??

I'm thankful for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It has brought so much joy to my life. I'm so glad my friends shared their beliefs with me :)

I'm thankful for the many promptings I have received and recognized over the past week. I feel so loved :) each one came at exactly the right time (obviously, cuz His timing is always perfect!!!) and I felt so much better knowing He's watching out for me :)

I'm thankful for my friends. Their love and support is simply amazing.

I'm thankful for my blog :) it makes me happy! Even though I only have like two readers :) I love you guys! And your comments make me happy!

I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful for my job. For the awesome food we just ate :) turkey and cranberry sauce and squash and potatoes and pickles and fruit salad and brown 'n serve rolls! I'm thankful for music. For internet. For scriptures. For scholarships. For fuzzy socks. For scarves. For my phone. For books. For khaki pants. For pillows and blankets. For jewelry. For those days when my hair cooperates. For my speech class. For snow. For sunlight. For sleep. For rocking chairs. For nail polish. For getting a good grade on my calc test a week or two ago. For school spirit. For happiness. For purple, cuz it's an awesome color.

I'm thankful for life on Earth :)

Most of all, I am thankful that "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us me we love Him" :)

What are you thankful for today?

<3 Marie-Rose

I have a Brother!

Before I get to the main point of this post, I have two stories to tell.

First: 

I have two younger sisters and no brothers. On my dad's side of the family, all my cousins are age 20+, cuz my dad is the youngest in his family. A Christmas or two ago, one of my cousins taught my sisters and I how to play chess. It was awesome. He was like an older-brother figure that day. It made me wish I had an older brother like him. Cuz some days, I get sick of being the oldest kid in the family. I have to do everything first (high school, license, ACT, college...) and then give my sisters advice on how to do it better. 

Second story: 

At one point of a Catholic mass (haha, you didn't expect to learn anything about Catholics today, did you?), the priest (who is NOT a priest in the Mormon sense of the word. It's quite different) says "...our God, our Brother, our Sacrament for life this morning" (or evening or whatever time of day the mass is at)(emphasis added). This is when he's blessing the bread and wine for communion (like the sacrament). Except Catholics believe the bread and wine literally change into the body and blood of Christ (that's where the "Sacrament for life" part in that quote comes from). 

So here's the main point of my post: 

I have a Brother! I just realized this today. I know we're all brothers and sisters, but I have yet to find a good older-brother figure out of all the guys I know. Some of them have potential, but I don't know any of them well enough. 

Anywho. 

Jesus Christ is our Brother, in a manner of speaking. He is the Son of God, and we are all sons and daughters of God. And He loves us and watches out for us, just like a perfect older brother would. None of the bickering stuff. Just love and protection. He wants what's best for us, and He wants us to be happy. Plus, the Atonement. I'm totally in awe of the whole Atonement thing. To think that anyone would ever go through all of that pain and suffering for *me*.... Wow.

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It's like... He's our older Brother. He went off to college or something. Or moved to a different state. And life is much more awesome there, wherever He went. And all He wants is for us to join Him!!

That was a lame analogy. But I like it. 

I have a Brother :) and so do you! YAY! :D it makes me happy :) 

<3 Marie-Rose

Halloween is my Favorite

But I am waay to old to be trick-or-treating.

I barely had time to even plan a costume or carve a pumpkin this year. School has just been crazy. 

Like, I am obsessed with Halloween. I have been known to cry because I'm too old for it all. None of this "you're done after age 12" crap. I'm much older than 12. Granted, the past two years I've gone can collecting for the food shelf rather than ask for candy, but it's not really the candy I care about. I love dressing up and walking door to door and being in costume.

And then I read this post by Sarah K over at The Sprinkles on My Ice Cream

His Porch Light is Always On

I still feel like I'm losing Halloween, but it doesn't feel quite so bad anymore. 

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<3 Marie-Rose