Thanksgiving

On this Thanksgiving day I would like to express my gratitude for two things, without which, I wouldn't be here today.

The first, is my family. It is because of their love, prayers, and efforts that I'm alive. When I was given only hours to live, my family rushed to my side from three different states, and stayed with me in the hospital for several months, while I recovered. We are a very close family, and I know I can count on them for any help that I might need.

The second, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is my knowledge of the plan of salvation, and my membership in the true Church of Jesus Christ that buoys me up and helps me make it through rough times.

For these two things, I am most thankful.

Psalm 100:4 "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name."

Count Your Many Blessings

Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Count Your Blessings
no. 241

1. When upon lifes billows you are tempest-tossed,When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,Count your many blessings; name them one by one,And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

[Chorus]Count your blessings;Name them one by one.Count your blessings;See what God hath done.Count your blessings;Name them one by one.Count your many blessings;See what God hath done.

2. Are you ever burdened with a load of care?Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?Count your many blessings; every doubt will fly,And you will be singing as the days go by.

3. When you look at others with their lands and gold,Think that Christ has promised you his wealth untold.Count your many blessings; money cannot buyYour reward in heaven nor your home on high.

4. So amid the conflict, whether great or small,Do not be discouraged; God is over all.Count your many blessings; angels will attend,Help and comfort give you to your journeys end.

Text: Johnson Oatman, Jr., 1856-1922

Music: Edwin O. Excell, 1851-1921

Cuss Tooth

Cuss Tooth is what I call people who use profanity, vulgarity, foul language, who swear, curse, or cuss. This is something that has always bothered me. I took a day trip once with a couple of my classmates from podiatry school, this was several years ago of course, and I got into a conversation/discussion/debate about this very topic. I don't remember exactly how the subject came up but, we were driving back to the city after spending the day together. I mentioned that I thought it was very disrespectful, and offensive, for, specifically, men to swear in the presence of women. This happened to be a male classmate I was having the debate with, and it was me with another female friend in the car with him. Just for the record, I feel it's disrespectful and offensive for anybody to swear in anybody's presence regardless of gender.

My classmate's position was that swearing was necessary to be able to fully express yourself. My position was, if you are an intelligent person with even an average vocabulary, you should be able to express yourself and get your point across without using profanity. He and I had quite the discussion (it was a long ride back to the city). Neither of us budged on our position, but hopefully I gave him something to think about.

Something that he brought up, which I believe is a valid point, is the issue of euphemisms. Is it any better to use a euphemism? It might not be better but, to me, it is not as offensive. Some of the euphemisms that we use sound very similar to the actual swearword. And, in fact, it is sometimes hard to decipher whether someone was actually using profanity or a euphemism. This is something that I have been trying to work on. I have substituted one phrase for many of the euphemisms I used to use. And as most of you know, that phrase is, good thunder. And you might ask, where did you come up with this? Well it all started with my brother's mission to Minnesota. There is a city in Minnesota called, good thunder, Minnesota. And that's where that comes from. I also like to use GT for short. So anyone who wants to wants to work on changing the euphemisms or swear words you use, good thunder is a great substitute :-).

One of the arguments I presented to my classmate was, swearwords pose no purpose to a sentence. You can completely remove all profanity from a sentence, and the meaning of the sentence will not change. I was going to give you some examples by inserting [blank] in place of the euphemism or swearword but, I decided I didn't even want to do that. I'm sure you can figure out what I mean.

The most offensive use of profanity to me, is probably the most common, and that is taking the Lord's name in vain. I read a statistic that 86% of the population of the United States is Christian. And if you include the Jews that number probably goes to over 90%. As far as I know, most Jews and Christians profess to believe the 10 Commandments. The third Commandment states:
Exodus 20:7 " Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."
Yet, taking the name of the Lord in vain, is extremely common. I can't even watch a benign television show like "House Hunters" without hearing it several times. This is quite disturbing to me. This is another topic I will talk about on a different post. That is, television shows and swearing.

So why is it that profanity is so rampant? Even amongst members of the Church. I have several hypotheses about this, one of which is, perhaps it is a sign of macho-ism. Which to me, is totally absurd. When I hear people using profanity, they go way down on my respect- o-meter. There is nothing cool or macho about it. Like I told my colleague, to me, it is a sign of lack of intelligence. [He didn't like that one too much] :-)

Another hypothesis I have is that profanity is so rampant because people don't consider it as offensive, and wrong, and disrespectful as they once did. There are some people I know, who don't even realize it, when they are swearing. If you tell them about it, and ask them not to use profanity, they might say they didn't realize they said anything profane. This is a sad sign of how desensitized we have become as a society. This again is another topic for later discussion. For now, that's my two cents.

Litterbug

Another pet peeve of mine it is people who litter. When I was on my mission, as part of our community service, we picked up litter off the side of the road. It was interesting to see the kind of litter that people throw out. I would say that probably 80% of the litter we picked up was beer cans or bottles, and cigarette butts and packages. The other 20% consisted of mostly fast food packaging, wrappers, sacks, cups and straws. This tells me something about the type of people who litter. I think it would be interesting to do a scientific study about the type of people who litter. It is my hypothesis that these people have a lower intelligence quotient than the general population. I have never understood why anyone would want to litter. It is not difficult to wait to throw your garbage away until you get home or to a garbage can. People who litter show blatant disrespect and disregard for others, and the planet Earth. That's my two cents.

Adoption

I get daily updates in my e-mail from LDS news. This is one that I received today and I felt it was worth posting. As probably most of you know, my sister Juliet recently adopted a baby boy. My nephew, Kingston, is such a sweet, happy, smiley baby. I am so happy he is part of our family. I would like to commend Juliet and Aaron for choosing to adopt. "In honor of National Adoption Month, the Church's First Presidency has released the following statement:The President of the United States of America, George W. Bush, has proclaimed the month of November as National Adoption Month. We endorse this proclamation and express our support of unwed parents who place their children for adoption in stable homes with a mother and a father. We also express our support of the married mothers and fathers who adopt these children.Children are entitled to the blessing of being reared in a stable family environment where father and mother honor marital vows. Having a secure, nurturing, and consistent relationship with both a father and a mother is essential to a child's well-being. When choosing adoption, unwed parents grant their children this most important blessing. Adoption is an unselfish, loving decision that blesses the child, birth parents, and adoptive parents in this life and throughout the eternities. We commend all those who strengthen children and families by promoting adoption."

The Real Celebrity

It's not everyday that you get to be in the presence of one of the 12 apostles. I had this privilege yesterday at our stake conference. Elder Russell M. Nelson was in attendance and spoke to us. We got there almost an hour early, but still had to sit about four to five rows back in the cultural hall. But, nonetheless, it was an awesome experience. Elder Nelson has always been my favorite apostle. I like him because he is a heart surgeon and likes to use medical references when he speaks. So, needless to say, he didn't disappoint. He explained to us the word origin of religion. Re meaning and again and ligion being derived from ligate meaning to tie or bind. He made a reference that all the surgeons in the room would know that ligate means for example to tie a blood vessel off. So I thought that was cool. He mostly talked about temples and Temple work. We were also lucky enough to have Elder Brinckerhoff speak to us. He is a member of the quorum of the seventy. Lisa did a much better job in her blog of explaining what was said, so if you would like to read her blog you may get more information. But what I do want to mention is that I find it quite interesting, for lack of a better word, that to most people in the world Elder Nelson is just another man. There was no fanfare, no paparazzi, no huge multitudes thronging to see him. There was no mention on the local news, of his visit. Yet, he is one of the Lord's 12 apostles. It was just a regular stake conference. If Brad Pitt, or Britney Spears, or any so-called celebrity, would have come to the Seattle area to visit it would have been all over the news, there would have been much fanfare and paparazzi and so forth. And who are they? People who act in movies and sing, who don't appear to have very good moral values, and are not good examples for people to emulate. I mean really, how messed up is that? That's my two cents.

Lessons in compassion

When I lived in Los Angeles do in my fourth year externship, I had a one-month rotation in infectious diseases. One day a week the ID clinic was dedicated to AIDS patients. This was always an interesting day and one I looked forward to. We saw many rare diseases that you don't see in immunocompetent people. And even regular diseases that aren't very harmful to an immunocompetent person can be devastating and much more severe in someone who is immunocompromised. One day as the resident and I were walking into the treatment room to see our next patient, I had an experience that taught me a lesson in compassion. Sitting on the exam table was a man dressed in what I would call Sunday best. He was wearing a woman's dress, complete with pantyhose, high heel shoes, fingernail polish, full makeup including lipstick eyeliner and mascara. It was obvious that he was trying his best to look pretty. But, what I saw was anything but pretty. He was afflicted with numerous unsightly skin lesions over his entire body. If I remember correctly it was psoriasis, but much more prominent and severe than anything you would expect. He had a very sad countenance and after speaking with him it was obvious he was very unhappy. It was also apparent, that he had made a series of bad choices in his life. Which were the cause of his unhappiness. Alma 41:10 "Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness." At that moment, I began to feel compassion towards this man. I felt very sorrowful for his unhappiness. I felt like I understood him, that the reason he was making such poor choices was because he was seeking to find happiness in his life. But, because he didn't have the Gospel to guide him, he was going about it the wrong way, making poor choices, and therefore, he couldn't find happiness. In fact, he just kept digging himself a deeper hole with each poor choice. He wanted to be accepted and loved, but couldn't find it. That day, I saw him as a child of God. And I learned a great lesson in compassion.

Handicapped parking

One thing that has bothered me since I was a teenager or maybe before, is people who park in handicapped parking spots who aren't handicapped. Whether they have a permit or not, it doesn't matter. I remember one time when I went shopping at the mall when I lived in Los Angeles. I saw a person park in a handicapped space, jump out, and run into the mall. I checked the license plates and the rearview mirror for a placard, but saw none. I don't know how long this person was in the mall, but I do know that they took the only handicapped spot available. This disturbed me very much and I couldn't enjoy my shopping experience because of it. Not only is it inconsiderate and selfish, but it creates a hardship for those for whom the space was intended. I mean really, how hard is it for an able-bodied person to walk perhaps 100 extra feet? There have been many times when I have gone to the store or somewhere out in the public and there were no handicapped parking spaces available and we have to end up parking in the North 40. If there are not two parking spaces next to each other we have to block traffic to unload. I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've gone to the store and have seen another wheelchair in the store. Yet, most of the time the handicapped parking spaces are full. Granted, there are people whose handicaps do not require wheelchairs. But, I don't believe these people should park in the same van accessible handicapped spaces as people in wheelchairs. I believe there should be a color-coded system where people who are confined to wheelchairs have priority in handicapped parking spaces available, namely van accessible parking spaces where wheelchairs can load and unload. And people with other handicaps such as emphysema, asthma, trouble walking etc. should have different color-coded parking spaces. For example, perhaps blue for wheelchairs with van accessibility, and maybe green for people with other handicaps. And maybe even a third color such as yellow to further distinguish the severity of the handicap. Many times as I'm unloading or loading I see young people jumping out of cars and going into the store after parking in handicapped spot. I think many of these are people illegally using someone else's placard. In the meantime, people with real handicaps have to park in the most distant parking spaces where there is room to load and unload a wheelchair. This has been a pet peeve of mine since long before I was in a wheelchair. That's my two cents.

Choice

There is a song by George Jones entitled "Choices". This topic is what I want to blog about today. First of all I want to quote part of the song. "I've had choices since the day I was born, there were voices that told me right from wrong, if I had listened then I wouldn't be here today, living and dying by the choices I made". To me, this is a very profound statement in simple terms. Here is my interpretation. From the day we are born we are faced with many choices on a daily basis. We are taught by parents, teachers, and the Holy Ghost what is right and what is wrong. If we listen to what we've been taught, and to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, we will make right choices. If we don't hearken and obey we will most likely make the wrong choice. Once a choice is made, there are consequences to that choice. Whether good or bad. If we make a good choice, the consequence is good. For example, if I choose to read my scriptures in the morning, I will be blessed throughout the day. The Holy Ghost will be with me to help me make right decisions throughout the day. Likewise, if I make bad choices, I must also reap the consequences. For example, if I choose to steal from somebody, I will most likely go to jail. These are simple examples but you get the idea. We were sent down to earth to prove ourselves, through our choices, that we are willing to follow the commandments. Abraham 3:25 " And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them". In the war in Heaven it was Satan's plan to force us to do what is right so that everybody would return to Heavenly Father 's presence and he would receive all the glory. It was Jesus's plan that we would be given agency, or choice, and because nobody is perfect, we would all fall short, and sin, He would provide an atonement, where He would take upon Him all of our sins, and suffer in the Garden of Gethsemane and upon the cross, that we may once again return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. And He would give the glory to the Father. Two thirds of the hosts of heaven chose Jesus's plan. The one third that chose Satan's plan, will never be given physical bodies. Everybody who has ever lived on earth and received a physical body chose Jesus's plan. What I find so ironic about this, is Satan, in his cunning way, who wants all of us to be miserable like unto himself, has used choice as one of his greatest tools to drag us down to misery and endless wo. The term, pro-choice is used by the abortion rights people. This is a great misnomer. The term should be pro-abortion. When a woman chooses to commit the act necessary for procreation, her choice has been made. The consequence of that choice, is possible pregnancy. And yet, she still has a choice of whether to keep the baby, or give it up for adoption to be raised by a mother and a father who can provide a stable family life, and the necessities of life. So, I don't see where any choice is being taken away. Abortion is not a right, it is murder. Our choices don't just affect us. If someone decides to drink and drive, they are not only putting their own life at stake, but the lives of innocent people who they might kill. When a husband decides to commit adultery, his wife and children must also suffer the consequences. If we make good choices we also affect people in a positive way. For now, that's my two cents.

Persecutions May Rage

Over the past few months I have been following the saga of proposition eight in California. For anyone unfamiliar with this proposition, it states that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Or something to that effect. Anyway, as most of you who are reading this probably know, about 10 years ago when I was living in San Francisco I campaigned for proposition 22, which basically said the same thing. Now, as you might imagine, campaigning for such an issue in San Francisco, wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done. As a matter of fact, it was quite challenging. But luckily, I wasn't assigned to canvass the Castro district :-). If I remember the numbers correctly, proposition 22 passed with a 67% margin. Unfortunately, this was recently overturned in the courts by a 4-3 count by the California Supreme Court. Therefore, proposition eight was born. After much effort by many people campaigning for proposition eight, it was passed by the people of California with a 52% margin. There has been much upheaval since the election by the gay and lesbian community, and those who are sympathetic towards them. For some reason, there has been violence and mobs protesting outside of LDS temples in Los Angeles and throughout the country. If I remember correctly, members of the church in California make up less than 2% of the population. So for these mobs to single out the church as the reason for proposition eight passing, is not accurate. There were many other people of all different faiths who voted yes on proposition eight. But, the church is being singled out and persecuted for voicing their opinion on something they believe in. The members of the church have been persecuted since before the church was even organized in 1830. And apparently, not much has changed since then. To me, this is a sign truthfulness of the church. Why else would Satan want to keep attacking it? As I think about these mobs assembling outside of our temples and persecuting the members, it reminds me of something that I had to memorize on my mission. It is called the standard of truth, and it was written by the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. "The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." The only thing proposition eight does is protect the sanctity of marriage. It does not take any civil rights away from those who choose to live a homosexual lifestyle. The gospel teaches us that everybody is a child of God. And we are to "love thy neighbor as thyself" but we do not condone nor tolerate sin. I recently read an article online about members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who are homosexuals or sympathetic towards them, who are now requesting that their names be removed from the records of the Church. Because of the church's position on homosexuality and the recent comments from the First Presidency asking members of the church in California to do all they can to protect the sanctity of marriage. The church's position on this matter has never changed. Let me just give you a couple of the examples that I read about. One was a young man who is a returned missionary and a self-proclaimed homosexual. He says he still loves the church but he is requesting that his name be removed now because he doesn't agree with what the prophets are saying. Another was a woman who is a physician and also a member of the church. The article stated that she donated $1000 to the no on eight campaign. She also says she still loves and believes in the church, but she doesn't agree with the church on this matter. To me, this is absurd. You cannot pick and choose which doctrines you are going to believe in. Second Nephi 9:28 "O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish."
If the Prophet or apostles happen to state something that you don't agree with, or doesn't fit in with your lifestyle, you can't just dismiss it and say you still believe the church is true you just happen to disagree on this point of doctrine. It doesn't work that way. When the prophets and apostles speak it is as if we are listening to our Savior, speaking to us.
Doctrine and Covenants 1:38 " What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."
This will not be the end of my discussion on this topic but for now that's my two cents.

The Eye of the Beholder

When I'm out in public I notice people staring at me, and occasionally making comments under their breath. I'm sure they are thinking, I am glad I am not her. Or, possibly feeling sorry for me, because of a very visible trial I have been given. The funny thing about that is, I am looking at them and thinking, I am glad I am not them. Because I have the Gospel, I understand that my physical handicaps are temporary. One day, I will be resurrected in perfect form. Alma 11:44 "Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil." So, the people that I see staring at me, who don't have the Gospel, or who don't live the gospel, have it much worse than I do.

Death and Taxes

I've heard it said that there are two things in life that are certain. Death and taxes. I would like to add one more to that list, and that is that life is not fair. I think, no matter who you are, there will be times in your life where you will feel that life is not fair. This is just part of life. The reason we are upon this earth is to be tested. We are given trials to make us stronger. A lot of people look at the trials in their lives, and think, life is not fair. When I look at trials in my life, I think, Heavenly Father must really think I'm special because He only gives us what we can handle. So, the more difficult the trial we are given, the stronger person we must be. Granted, trials are never easy, but this is how we grow, learn, and become stronger. So, as crazy as this may sound, I am thankful for the trials in my life. For I know that this is how Heavenly Father is shaping me to become the type of person I'm capable of being. So, life certainly isn't fair but, if it was, this life wouldn't be much of a test for us to prove ourselves, and progress towards exaltation. Doctrine And Covenants 122: 7 "And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."

Blogging

I have been thinking about starting a blog for several months now. There were several times during this past election season when I wanted to speak my mind. And I almost started a blog several times but I always talked myself out of it, until now. :-) After Lisa and Derrinda started their blogs, I guess I finally decided to jump on the bandwagon. I don't know who's going to be reading this, if anyone, but I hope nobody is offended by my opinions. This is not my intent. I have lots of stuff to say so let's get blogging!

One-word elaborated

I said in my last post I was going to elaborate on my one-word description so here goes...
mom-selfless. Mom has always put her family before herself. If there was only one piece of pie or cake left, suddenly she wasn't hungry. And it is especially evident now since she has dedicated her life to taking care of me. Thanks mom!
Dad-love. Dad always says I love you several times a day. He has done that as long as I can remember. Also, everybody seems to love my dad, especially little children. They seem to be drawn to him. All of his grandchildren go through a grandpa stage. Where they always want to be with grandpa. I love you dad.
Lisa-caring. Lisa always thinks of others. She always puts a lot of thought into the gifts that she gives. She's always willing to help in whatever anybody needs. Even though right now she has her own needs, she is still very caring and willing to help others.
Juliet-smiles. Juliet has always been a smiley person. She brightens up any room she goes into. She has the happy personality that draws people to her. I think this is probably why she was so successful at her job. Her smile is infectious. She even has a very smiley baby and I'm sure it's because Juliet is always smiling.
Michael-laughter. Michael is the one person in this world who can make me laugh when no one else can. I have always thought he was and is the funniest person in the world. And things become twice as funny when my plastic brother Jason is around. Even when Michael is not in a jovial mood he still manages to be the life of the party and make everybody laugh and have a good time.

In One Word

I received an e-mail asking me to describe someone in one word. So I thought that was a good idea and here's what I've come up with to describe by family.
Mom-Selfless
Dad-Love
Lisa-Caring
Juliet-Smiles
Michael-Laughter
In My Next Blog I Will Elaborate on Each One.

Blogging bandwagon

I guess I'm going to jump on the blogging bandwagon :-) let me just forewarn anybody who might be reading this that it is probably going to be mostly my opinions. So if you don't want my opinion, don't read this blog!