Care for another slice?

July 22, 2013

Hello wonderful people that I love! 

I had two fun experiences that were the bookends of my week (7 days apart) so i will make them the book ends of my blog. 

EXPERIENCE 1:

I was given the gift of tongues. No, no, not THAT gift of tongues. My Spanish is as embarrassing as ever (I literally got corrected by a three-year-old. Try THAT on for a humbling experience!) I'm talking about the literal gift of chewy, chopped up cow tongues in a light chile verde sauce. Yep. All I could think was "my taste buds are touching taste buds, my taste buds are touching taste buds!" yeah, that experience was a little hard for me to swallow. I mean, I don't want to sound too tongue-in-cheek, but there was an actual tongue in my actual cheek! I managed to eat about half of it, when the hostess asked if something was wrong, or if I didn't like it. I was completely tongue-tied! 

Now I would like to take you on a little photo-journal of my week. 

This first picture is of California. I include it only so you can appropriately calibrate your level of jealousy. How luck am I to live in such a beautiful state?! 

 This next picture is of my first Californian rainy day (hour). I Loooooooove the rain, and the combination of palm trees, misty rain, mild heat, and a matching boots/umbrella combo inspired the foot-pop of happiness displayed below. 

The last photo is dedicated to my brother Paul because 1. From ages 7-11 80% of his body mass was made up of Kraft mac'n cheese (to this day he can't give blood because there are still cheesy, orange lumps floating around in his circulatory system) 2. He, my dad and I are forever faithful Phinias and Ferb fans. Fabulously fitting photo follows.    

End of Photo Journal. 

My WIWTK for this week: Many people that we talk to don't want to listen to our message simply because they feel that all churches are good and correct. They think that it is possible for someone to have a religion that is right for them, while another person can have a different religion that is right for them. The only problem with this thought is that religion isn't supposed to be based on opinion or preference, it's supposed to be based on truth! People tell us all the time that we all worship God in our own way, and it's all the same to God, because there's only one God. Yes, true, there is only one God (who is separate from Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost of course, but more on that at a later date.) But God is a God of order. Didn't he teach us how to pray? How to worship? How to do his will? How to live? The reason why there is only ONE way is because God's way is the BEST way, and there can only be one BEST. There are a lot of GOOD ways. I have met a lot of good people who have very good lives doing very good things. But they're not necessarily living the BEST way that they can with the MOST happiness. Granted, people are people and we're all human, so no one is ever living perfectly, but it's the teachings, not the people that are the BEST. They are perfect. 

I readily and enthusiastically know that many churches have a lot of truth. They teach correct principles and know correct doctrines. But think of this: You're at a party. There are many different tables, and all of them have your favorite cake on it. But one table only has half a cake. One has a slice. One has three slices. They all have a different portion of cake, but there is one table that has a whole cake. Which table would you choose to eat at? (keep in mind, this is calorie-free guilt-free cake.)  The one with the whole cake of course! This is strawberry-raspeberry-whipped-cream-deliciouness-with-extra-ghram-cacker-crust we're talking about!!! (For me at least. For you it might be carrot. bleh.) 

We know that there is ONE God, he taught us ONE way, because it is the BEST way. Why would you settle for a good life, when you could have the best that you possibly can? Why would you settle for two slices when you can have a whole cake? Why would you be so stuck on one piece of truth, that you wouldn't be willing to receive more? 

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, we rejoice in the truth you have! We celebrate it, we love it, we live it, we want to add to it. 

Care for another slice?

Challenge for this week: Think of someone you can invite to a church activity within the next two weeks. It can be anything from a no-pressure young-women's activity, relief society get-together, or scouting thing-a-ma-bob, to an actual church meeting. If you're not a member, find out where and when the Mormon church meets in your language, and attend. I promise that the Holy Ghost will bear witness to you that this church contains the fullness of truth.....and the missionaries will probably pass out with delight. 

The matching bookend: 

I am well known in my family for being a frog-kisser. Yep. like a literal frog kisser. Hey, I'm looking for my prince charming here! I've kissed frogs all over the -Yes- WORLD (Dominican republic, Canada etc.) and still haven't found the prince-making warty wonder. 

Family photo file, via la mom

Well... 

somewhere along the line, my past-time turned into kissing any amphibian-reptile like creature. 

So last night, when I saw a baby lizard, my first instinct was to catch it. It struggled in my fingers while I took it inside (against the council of my oh-so-wise-companions) to take a picture, because it was already dark out. I gave it a swift little peck and....IT BIT ME! 

Wow. I must be a reeeeally bad kisser! 

So I dropped it in surprise. The screams that my companions let out were so loud and shrill, I'm surprised they didn't interfere with the radio frequency. Hermana Woller ran out of the room and refused to open the door until I had caught it, which took about 15 minutes. 

needless to say, I will go a-frog-kissin' no more. 

love you this much <------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------>

(the arrows signify infinity) 

Hermana Thomas