Beauty

A few weeks ago, I was at my sister's house, hanging out with 3 of my nephews. They love me. What!? I'm just being honest. They do. And I love them! Soooooo much! So, the day I was with them also just happened to be a day when I was feeling, well, let's just say "not pretty." You know those days when you just feel ugly? But I didn't really care too much, but my nephews (ages 7, 5, and less than 1) don't care what I look like. They love playing with me on my best days when I'm dressed up and pretty, on my tired days when I'm in my PJs, on my sweaty days when I just got back from a run, and on my bad days when I'm feeling ugly. They'll even wake me up at the wee hours of the morning to play with me while I'm still asleep. So, needless to say, it really didn't matter to them that I didn't look my best that day.

I don't even remember what we were doing, probably playing UNO or watching a movie, but I remember thinking to myself, one day, these boys are gonna grow up and be embarrassed of me on my ugly days. The thought disturbed me, but nonetheless, it was true. Or so I thought.

That night when I went home, I was sitting in my living room doing some homework when my roommate told me she had just read an awesome blog and wanted to read it out loud to me. Here's the link:

http://offbeatfamilies.com/2012/11/telling-daughters-im-beautiful#

This blog says it all. I don't really have much else to say except that our kids are who we make them. Yes, they have agency and personality and they are their own person. But really, for the most part, their attitude about life comes from us and what we say. And if I say I am beautiful, then I never have to worry about my nieces and nephews growing up and realizing that I'm not as beautiful as they always thought I was. Because I am as beautiful as they always thought I was.

Utah

I love living in Provo. I know, it's crazy, right? Most people I talk to here will say things like, "I can't wait to get out of Provo" or "The second I graduate, I'm getting out of this town," And I would imagine that if I talked about liking it here, people might even say, "wait, you like living here?" It's a widely made-fun-of place in all of Utah. But here's the truth, Provo is cool. I haven't always thought it was cool. In fact, I hated it when I first moved here. I used to feel the way that some other people do. I used to make fun of Provo and the people who live here. I hated the culture, the weather, the size, the proximity to other places, the everything. And honestly, every once in a while I feel like that still. Who doesn't get that way about the place where they live every once in a while, right? I don't know exactly how I went through the change of hating it to enjoying it. But I do remember one day, I was complaining to my roommate about all of the snow outside and she said something like, "yeah, but just look at the trees covered in fresh snow. It's beautiful! Maybe tomorrow it will be ugly again, when the snow falls off and you can see the dead branches again. But right now it's beautiful!" Of course I vocally denied everything she said. But she had a valid point. And her simple statement sparked the beginning of a change not only for my attitude about Provo, but for my attitude about life. I know it sounds cheesy, and it is. But honestly, that's when I started to see things differently.

From then on, every time I saw the fresh snow on the tree branches, I would remember how beautiful it was instead of how cold I was. I made a commitment to stop having such a negative attitude about Provo... about Utah... about life in general. I decided I would look at things with a different heart. When I saw the snow, I saw the beauty of an individual snowflake rather than how cold it would be to walk to school that day. When I thought of all the Mormons, I thought how cool is was to be surrounded by people with my same values rather than how weird it was that everybody was the same religion. When I had an encounter with a bad Utah driver, I thought maybe she's just learning to drive. When I remembered there is no ocean nearby, I thought about the other cool things I could do, like hike Mt. Timp. or go to the hot springs. When I thought about the people who lived in a bubble, I remembered my 2 roommates from Utah who are THE coolest people I know and remembered that it doesn't matter where you're from, you can still be awesome. The list goes on, and some of my negative thoughts I will have to leave out as to not offend too many people. But the point is that I learned that I was being stupid before. I had a stereotypical view about a great place and a generally good group of people. Eventually my attitude changed. Eventually I liked it here and I loved the people.

So my attitude started changing a few years ago. But tonight I was shown why I really love it here. I went to dinner with my roommates to celebrate our love for Bronwyn, who's moving back to CA in a few days. On our way home, Bronwyn and I saw a car stopped in the middle of the street with its emergency lights on. We assumed it was an car accident, but then noticed a girl lying in the street. A pedestrian had been hit. There were a few people surrounding her and when we looked closely we noticed that there were 2 men with their hands on her head, giving her a Priesthood blessing. In that moment, I felt the Spirit so strongly. It was like I could feel the power of the Priesthood coming from across the street and into my heart. And I realized, this is why I really like Provo.

I know there are men all over the world who hold the Priesthood, but it's not common for a place to be so filled with them that the majority of the people on a random emergency scene would be able to offer a blessing at a moment's notice. It was so powerful to see that.

In what other place could you walk down the street and knock on whatever door you want and most likely find a worthy Priesthood holder? I don't know how, exactly, to put it into words, but it was one of the more powerful experiences I've had in my life and definitely strengthened my testimony. I know that God has given men on this earth the ability to use His power righteously. And I know that is possible through Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.