"One Nation, Under God..."

I found this story today, and it kind of bothered me. If a man gets fired from his job for this, what's happening in our country?

Man Fired for Pin

Greg Mortenson.

This morning BYU hosted Greg Mortenson, the author of "Three Cups of Tea" and this year's Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He spoke to the students, and what a wonderful speech it was. I was amazed at what he has done in his life, and I have to admit now knowing a bit more about him, I'm disappointed that he did not win the Nobel Prize.

I loved his viewpoint on education, especially educating women. Women teach the next generation, so it should only make sense that they be educated. Mortenson has done a lot of work in the Middle East, where a lot of women and girls do not know how to read. He said, "Teach a girl to read. She will then teach her mother." His viewpoint to end terrorism makes sense. Terrorism and violence will disappear when education can replace it. I have never thought of this, but I really feel like it can be true. He has started many schools, especially schools for girls, in the Middle East, and he says educating these children is helping tremendously. Someday I want a chance to do something like this.

I loved how he talked to children. There were many elementary school children at the lecture, and he talked to them about starting organizations. He told stories of young children who have organizations that are teaching children to read or who are providing some sort of need. I thought this was so great. Teaching children to do good things is so important, especially in a world where children see so much crime and bad things in the media.

It was an amazing lecture. I haven't read "Three Cups of Tea," but it is now next on my list.

Art.

I love art. If I miss anything the most about London, it is going to the art galleries and spending hours and hours just looking. This weekend I was able to go to Park City and walk up and down Main Street. It was wonderful! We stopped in every single art gallery, and if you've been to Main Street, you know there are quite a few. Each gallery was amazing. With so many beautiful paintings and photographs to look at, it made me realize, even with so many bad things going on in the world, it really is such a beautiful place.

A few years ago I fell in love with an artist named Sergei Trukhan, and his paintings are wonderful. There's a gallery on Main Street that features many of his paintings, and I love them. The way he uses light is incredible. I see some similarities between him and Thomas Kinkade (who I also love), and his paintings have that warm, home-y feel. Someday I want his paintings in my home.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Uptight and Rude People

This is me venting. Have you ever dealt with someone who was so mean and rude you just wanted to cry? That happened to me at work today. We had a small scheduling conflict, and it was not anyone's fault. So we did our best to fix the problem, and it ended up working out well. But the man the scheduling problem involved just let me have it. Seriously? We apologized and fixed his problem for him, but he still needed to take it out on someone, so he picked me. I can understand him being a little bit upset, but maybe show some class and accept the apology and move on. But no. I was told (harshly) that it was my fault, my problem, and that he just couldn't understand how anyone could be so incompetent. And can I just state the irony here? He works in the BYU Religion department.

So today, I'm having issues with rude people. I'm a very flexible person, so if something doesn't work out, I deal with it the best I can and move on, and I make sure I'm nice to the people it may be involving. So maybe, Brother (enter rude adjective here), you should take a lesson from me and try to be nice. Here's hoping you don't make anyone else want to cry today.

Google Has My Heart

I discovered two things today. The first is that I love Google docs. I'm a little bit behind the technological times and didn't get a Gmail account until a couple months ago, and I was playing around with it today and discovered this treasure. I pounded out an intense paper using my work computer, and I could just save it and be done. Maybe I'm more excited about this than you are, but it just gave me 45 minutes of free time this afternoon because now the paper is done and I won't have to write it later.

Speaking of said paper, here is the second great thing that happened to me today. I was writing this paper single-spaced, and when I thought I was about half-way done with it, I realized my mistake and made it double-spaced. My paper is now longer than what my professor wants, and all I need to do is go back and edit it. Life is great.

Obama wins? Really?

I woke up this morning, hopped onto my computer, and I saw this headline: "Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize." Hmm...K. I always had kind of thought that the Nobel Peace Prize was for people who actually did something, not just promised it. But instead of going into a big long rant, I think that the following SNL video and Time Magazine article describe how I'm feeling pretty darn well. Enjoy!

SNL: Obama Address

TIME Magazine Article

Elder Holland's Talk

Here it is like I promised!

General Conference

I love General Conference. I love having the weekend to relax and listen and feel so good. It's always a much-needed weekend to re-charge my batteries and get ready for another six months. I spent time with friends and family, and I made sure all of my schoolwork was taken care of by Friday. That was wonderful!

This General Conference I noticed some definite topics, mainly love and personal revelation. I loved President Uchtdorf's talk, and his statement of "what we love determines what we seek. What we seek determines what we think and do. What we think and do determines who we are." It really is true that our priorities determine every other aspect of our lives.

Elder Bednar's talk about being more diligent and concerned at home was great as well. He gave three great ideas for improving your home, or at least your apartment if you're like me and have roommates as family.
1. Express love and show it
2. Bear testimony and live it
3. Be consistent
I love those ideas!

I definitely had answers to some questions. Richard G. Scott gave some great advice that I feel was very applicable to me. He said, "Sometimes inspiration and direction are just general feelings." This was great to hear because sometimes when I'm looking for an answer to prayers, I expect a big, obvious answer, like lightning strikes or an earthquake (not literally of course). But to know that when we just feel good about an answer, it probably is right. Or if we're just not feeling it with another question, that probably means it isn't for us. That was so helpful to me!

Lastly I loved Elder Holland's talk. I wanted to post it but I can't find it yet. So I promise I will when it become available. Man, if you ever want to hear a deep testimony, this was it. I was so impressed by his determination to tell the world what he believes, with absolutely no doubt. Someday I will be like that.

So, it was a great weekend. Like always, it goes by too fast, and I can't wait for next April!