Laughter

When I find myself in a difficult situation I grab some friends and have a good time!  This always lightens my mood and encourages me to do better. They always say laughter is the best medicine.


Elder Wirthlin spoke on laughter, “The first thing we can do is learn to laugh. Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to Adam? Or have you had an encounter with an overhanging cupboard door left open at the wrong place and the wrong time which has been cursed, condemned, and avenged by a sore-headed victim?

There is an antidote for times such as these: learn to laugh.

I remember loading up our children in a station wagon and driving to Los Angeles. There were at least nine of us in the car, and we would invariably get lost. Instead of getting angry, we laughed. Every time we made a wrong turn, we laughed harder.

Getting lost was not an unusual occurrence for us. Once while heading south to Cedar City, Utah, we took a wrong turn and didn’t realize it until two hours later when we saw the “Welcome to Nevada” signs. We didn’t get angry. We laughed, and as a result, anger and resentment rarely resulted. Our laughter created cherished memories for us.

I remember when one of our daughters went on a blind date. She was all dressed up and waiting for her date to arrive when the doorbell rang. In walked a man who seemed a little old, but she tried to be polite. She introduced him to me and my wife and the other children; then she put on her coat and went out the door. We watched as she got into the car, but the car didn’t move. Eventually our daughter got out of the car and, red faced, ran back into the house. The man that she thought was her blind date had actually come to pick up another of our daughters who had agreed to be a babysitter for him and his wife.

We all had a good laugh over that. In fact, we couldn’t stop laughing. Later, when our daughter’s real blind date showed up, I couldn’t come out to meet him because I was still in the kitchen laughing. Now, I realize that our daughter could have felt humiliated and embarrassed. But she laughed with us, and as a result, we still laugh about it today.

The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.”

The Temple

A valuable lesson that I have learned is to never settle for less than what you were made for!  God has given us temples so we can draw nearer to Him.  The temple is truly a place where a bit of heaven meets earth.  I have never appreciated the temple more than I do now.  There is peace and a feeling of perfect serenity in the temple.  It's a place of shelter and refuge from the storm of today's world.   Make the effort today to attend, and if you can't, get worthy so you can!  There is nothing greater than the feeling you get in the temple.  Our virtue and worthiness is but a small price to pay compared to what we receive by attending the temple.    

Modesty

So there has been this debate going on at BYU about what is modest and what is not.  On Valentine's day a girl who was wearing a shorter skirt with leggings was given a note by a guy and it was asking her to be more modest.  I didn't give much thought to this matter until my roommate and I were talking about this exact situation.  I started thinking about if I was the girl in this situation.  If someone told me that the way I was dressing was impacting them in a negative way, I would feel very uncomfortable with my outfit.  I don't want to be that girl that puts bad thoughts into a man's head.  We are told to stay away from gray areas, so why is it that so many people are trying to justify this whole leggings ordeal.  I don't want to be flirting with the edge of the cliff.  President Hinckley once said, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."  Choose today what you stand for; do you want to represent modesty or immodesty?  One giant step to becoming more virtuous is to get away from the gray areas!  Today, I choose to be 100% modest from here on out.  I want to be able to look at myself before I leave the house and feel comfortable and confident that I am modest and that no one will question my standards.  If you were to meet your maker today, would you feel comfortable in His presence? 

Family

How to be more virtuous:  Love your family! Trust them. They want to help you.  I can't even imagine going through this life without them.  The relationships we have and develop are what really matter.  I know that when times get hard I can turn to any single individual in my family.  This gives me greater strength than anything.  I know that not all family situations are ideal, but that doesn't mean they can't be!  YOU be the one to make a change!  Love them. Pray to love them.  You will literally see that love come into your life.  Write them a letter or an email, send them flowers on a rainy day, call to see how things are going, just let them know you care!  I know that those relationships will be strengthened by your personal effort.  Don't expect immediate responses, but believe there will be change.  Virtue is family.  Make a change today.  

You are loved

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGLSk3AVcUU
Something to remember :)

The little things

Hi, I'm Anna.  I'll be honest upfront, I am just me.  I am not a phenomenal writer but I have a lot to say.  I am no one extraordinary...but I do know that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.  I want to blog to add a little more beauty into the world.  We need to return to virtue.   “The world has enough [men and] women who are tough; we need [men and] women who are tender. There are enough [of us] who are coarse; we need [men and] women who are kind. There are enough [men and] women who are rude; we need [men and] women who are refined. We have enough [men and] women of fame and fortune; we need more [men and] women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.” -Margaret Nadauld.  All growing up, a scripture that I have always held strong to was Proverbs 31:10 - "Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies." I learned that rubies are even more valuable and rare than diamonds.  They are the most prized jewel.  I believe that if we choose to rise above the world and choose to be virtuous than we can accomplish a great deal of goodness. How does one choose virtue?  It's the little things every day that make a big difference.  I firmly believe that gratitude can help us return to virtue.  Today, I am grateful the sun is shining.