Family History

Usually, I inwardly groan when I hear about family history. It's not that I don't value it, I just don't really like it.
Well, that's not really true. I enjoy indexing and I love learning about family stories but the finding names or adding them or whatever, that part doesn't really fascinate me.

So, of course, that being said, I come to find out that for Youth Conference (a three day conference for youth) one of the "homework" assignments is finding a family name for an important activity*. I did it...and this time I actually had some fun. It was still (pretty) tedious working out some things but I kind of enjoyed it.

Family history can be a lot of fun. And it's not just finding and adding names. It includes indexing (transcribing old documents), learning/hearing and recording family stories, and just looking at your family names.

I think family history is kind of whatever you make of it, in a way. It can be really fun. So, I challenge you to just look at your family tree, family photos, whatever even if you just have a list of names. They're real people like you and me. It's really interesting what you learn and what names come up. For example, I found someone in a census and he had a housemaid. To add to that, a dog was later named about this housemaid. Go figure. I've also come across names like Ora (not a name you see every day) and Parthania (another name you don't hear everyday).
I think it's those things, the unique (and the more common names too) and the small, sometimes surprising facts, that make it worth it, at least to me.


*So, in case you're wondering, this important activity is baptisms for the dead. I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-day Saints and we believe that even though someone has passed on, their baptisms can still be done by others through proxy.

Tag, You're It!

Kidding, you're not it.
Actually, I am.
I was tagged by Rae. It's for the Liebster Award (whatever that is).

Basically it's when you answer 11 questions from whoever tagged you and then you tag 11 other people. That's all I know about it. (Actually, that's not true, I lied. I Googled it and it's a little complicated, at least I think it is.)
(So, this will be interesting because I don't know if I'll be able to think of 11 people that actually have time to do this.)

Alright then. Ready, set, go!

1. What are your favourite books? (I know it's hard to choose a favourite so you can list as many "favourites" as you have. :)

First of all, thank goodness it's not "what's you're favorite book?" because as an avid reader I have at least a dozen favorite books. (I won't name them all.)

-The Giver by Lois Lowery

-Cheaper By The Dozen by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, jr. and Ernistine Gilbreth Carey.

-The Books of Bayern Series by Shannon Hale

-When Character Was King by Peggy Noonan

-Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

-The Percy Jackson series and Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan (except for the very last Heroes of Olympus one; I really didn't like that one)

-The Freedom Factor by Gerald N. Lund

-The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey

-The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes by Kelly Easton

-Made To Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

-and a lot of others ones

2. What type of music do you like best?

Um, I don't really know. I just listen to music I like. I don't listen to a lot of the more popular, last few years type of music...

I like parodies, they're usually pretty good. BYU's Divine Comedy group do some great parodies of popular songs.

3. Do you like Jane Austen? How many of her books have you read and which is your favourite?

I guess I like Jane Austen. I mean, I've only read Pride and Prejudice but I liked it. (I've also seen the the Colin Firth TV version of P&P like a bazillion times.)

4. Do you have a favourite actor/actress? Who?

I don't think I really have a favorite actor or actress. I have ones that I like but none of them are particularly my favorite.

5. What's your favourite flower?

This sounds kind of sad, but I don't have a favorite flower. They're all nice.
I guess maybe roses are my favorite, I don't know.

6. How many books have you read in the last week? Is there one in particular you want to share?

Uh...wow, I guess I've only one book this week. That's pretty sad, no that's terrible. Well, I guess that's only if you mean how many books have I finished. If you mean how many books am I reading at the moment, it's like four or five. Six if you're including Shakespeare.
Right now I'm in the middle of reading Belles On Their Toes which is the sequel to Cheaper By The Dozen by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. I also just got a load of books from the library.

7. If you could choose between meeting your favourite actor/actress and acting in your favourite movie, which would it be?

Like I said, I don't really have a favorite actor or actress, so I would pick acting in my favorite movie. (Except I don't have a favorite movie either!)

8. Do you play any instruments? What?

Yes. I play the piano.

I've actually skipped around on instruments a lot. I started playing the piano when I was about six and my Mom taught me a like bit but then I got interested in the cello (which my Mom used to play) and I took lessons and then I jumped back to piano. And in between I've done a little bit of the recorder. I've always wanted to learn how to play the harmonica.

9. What hobbies do you enjoy? 

Reading; writing stories, poems, and essays; playing soccer and basketball (not at the same time); singing; playing the piano; laughing; quoting lines and scenes from radio dramas, movies, funny YouTube videos, books, and anything else you can quote.

10. If you could make any book into a movie, what book would it be and do you have any ideas for the cast?

It would be Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. I don't know who'd play who, I just know that they'd have to do a really, really, really good or I would sue them! (Or something like that.)

11. Who's your favourite literary hero?

 I don't know. I think it kind of changes depending on what book I've read recently. Right now it might be Liberty Aimes from The Outlandish Adventures of Liberty Aimes by Kelly Easton. She's just very outgoing and has a great thirst for knowledge and books.

And there we go, all done!

Now, let's see if I can think of anyone to tag...

Okay, I can't think of anyone who isn't busy right now with end of school stuff and other things, so I'm just going to...not tag anyone. Yeah, party-crasher, I know. Sorry!! But seriously, who isn't busy with end of year things and life in general?
(Kind of a depressing way to end. My apologies.)

Don't Be Afraid To Be Different

You know what, it's hard to be "normal."

I mean, if you want to be with the "in" crowd, you have to like this certain stuff and do these particular things and just be a cool, awesome, popular person.
There's a lot of stuff hidden in those three categories. Yeah, kinda sounds like a lot of work to me.
So, maybe you should just...not do that. Like, just be yourself and make your own cool, awesome person stuff.
And, sure, that's not easy, but it actually seems a lot easier than being one of the "in" people. I mean, the "in" people aren't always "in" and all that other roller coaster, up and down stuff.
We should just be us. The person we really are. The person on the inside. Maybe that means you're actually the person who loves to sew or loves to invent.

While it's all good and well to be a part of a group of people, I don't think it's that great if those people aren't helping you be the best you.

So just be you. And enjoy it! It's not easy being different but in a way, it's freer. That probably doesn't make sense, let me explain: I don't drink. It's not a big issue for me now, but later in life it may. And people will say that I'm missing out but actually they are. Because I don't drink, I don't have to worry about drinking too much and then driving; I don't have to worry about staying away because if I get too close, I'll drink excessively. I still have to be strong and resist temptations but because I know now that I won't drink, it'll be easier later to turn away.

And that's a difference I can live with.

"If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be." - Maya Angelou

Just Be A Kid

   Most kids love playing in the rain; jumping in puddles, running around in the wet, it's something you don't get to do a lot (unless it rains pretty regularly where you live and it's not spring).

On the other end of the teeter totter though, a lot of adults don't like being out in the rain without an umbrella or at least a hat.

It's interesting, when it's raining and you have an umbrella or a hat or whatever, you usually aren't looking up that much. You know, it's damp, cool, you want to make sure you don't slip or step in a puddle.

But when you're being a kid and just enjoying the rain and being soaked, you don't care. You're looking for those puddles, you're already wet so why not?

It's a little fascinating really, the older we get the more lose the desire to do the things we did as a kid. And yeah, I know, part of that is some stuff we all did as kids we'd never want to do as an adult because it's way too embarrassing or whatever. 

For example, play acting getting married, splashing around in the bathtub, imagining that fake light saber you're holding are real and you're protecting you and your friends from the invading enemy. 

Yep, some of those things we did when we were younger are things we don't necessarily want to do when we get older. 

But maybe we should keep doing some kid-like things...

Okay, so look at the image below and tell me what you see. I don't care what it is, just say it. Just guess and I'll tell you what the answer is a little later.

Now, I'll tell you where I'm going with this.

There's a tv show called Brain Games which is super cool because it tells you all about different things that go on in your brain. There was one episode that introduced these drawings called droodles (well, they didn't created them but they talked about them). And the interesting things about this doodle drawings, is that there's not really a specific image that the artist had in mind.

That means you look at it and think about the different things it could be.

So, yeah, there's not really an answer to what the above picture is. The answer really just depends on you. (Personally when I look at it I see the Titanic about to hit that really pointy iceberg.)

But now here's the really interesting thing, according to this little picture, adults are less creative than kids.

Why do I say that?

First, how long did you look at that picture? I'm going to guess not very long. I'm just going to take a step in the dark and guess that you didn't study the picture or anything. (If you did, that's okay.)

The people at Brain Games took a few droodles to a public area and asked some volunteers what they thought the picture could be. Adults couldn't really come up with a lot of answers.

Kids though, they came up with more ideas and they were pretty clever too.

Go back to the droodle and think like kid. What do you see?

Chances are, you picked out something different than you did before. If not, maybe that means you're already thinking like kid…maybe, I don't know.

So, pretty interesting, huh?

Maybe next time it's raining you should look up and let the rain hit your face. That doesn't mean you have to get soaked but take a moment and enjoy the water.

Maybe next time you run into a problem, you should just take time to be a kid, take it simple. That's one of the things with the droodles; kids are better at coming up with more abstract answers because their brains don't really have limits. Think outside the box a little.

You know, kids are pretty amazing. Adults are too. But what strikes me is that kids always seem to be happy. And when they know something, especially younger kids, whether it's actually true or not, they have that I-know-I'm-right confidence. And to them, the world is a big wonderful place where anything can happen, good conquers evil and love and happiness are the true treasures. And those things are truths.

But why do we, as we age, grow out of that? I think that as we get older, we start to notice everything else going on in the world and the bad happening. And we focus on that, I mean, just watch the news, it's pretty depressing. I think it's a good thing to be aware of what's going on but don't lose that spark of hope and wonder.

In 2015 Disney came out with a movie called Tomorrowland that was, basically, all about thinking outside the box and making a difference. And that's important. The movie touched on how there are so many bad things going on and what are we doing? (It was a really good movie, though there was a pretty good dosage of language.)

So, there are times to be an adult and there are times to be a kid. Don't mix the two up and don't let one override the other. Let loose and be a kid.

#Elevate Easter

Easter is the time of year we celebrate Christ's wonderful, selfless act of love for each one of us.
It's not commercialized like Christmas, which is really nice, because Easter truly marks one of the greatest, if not the greatest, thing ever to happen in all of history.

At Easter, where do you find hope?
At first it can seem like a bit of a complicated question but it's not really. Where do you find hope, especially in the Easter season? That's what I think this question is asking, or at least I interpret it that way, maybe you see it differently and that's okay.
My answer is: in the scriptures, my family and my beliefs.
Without Christ's Atonement that takes care of all our sins, pains and sorrows, we'd have to shoulder the burden ourselves. If you think about it, that's really discouraging but, when we search the scriptures, we can find hope, peace and joy in His great sacrifice.

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 4 ¶Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

- Isaiah 53:3-5

I'm so grateful for the Atonement because I know that through sincere repentance I can be forgiven. I also know that because of the Atonement, He knows exactly what it feels like, He knows when it seems like no one else does. He knows.

I'm Thankful For....

This song comes from one of my favorite movies, White Christmas. It's sung by two of the four leading actors, played by Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney.

It's super easy to just go about your day and take stuff for granted. I do it, you do it, we all do it.In a way, I suppose it's hard not to take things for granted. I mean, especially if you live well off and all, it's almost second nature.
I read this article once called A Spoonful of Gratitude. I would have copied some of it onto here but in the end I'd basically end of copying all of it because it's so good. The article is about a young woman who got up one day, was super grumpy and not thankful for anything. However she saw a plague her Mom owned that read, "Blessings brighten when you count them." Well, this young woman was determined to be grumpy but pretty soon a thought popped into her head. "You know," She thought, "It'd be pretty hard to eat your cereal without a spoon. And what about a bowl? And the chair you're sitting in?"
And suddenly this young woman thought of dozens of things she was thankful for.

Look around you right now. Where are you? At home? In the car? On the bus? At a friend's house? No matter where are you right now, take a moment, just one, to think of at least three things you're thankful for. It could be anything from a roof over your head to the socks on your feet. It could be something you can see right now or something you can't.
But think about it, what are you thankful for?
Some people might say "my phone" or "WIFI" and that's okay.
Now, have you thought of your three things? I'll tell you mine. The three things I'm grateful for right this very minute are 1) my family, 2) the amazing power of the internet and being able to communicate through it, and 3) sleep (because we just lost an hour of sleep, if you do the daylight savings time thing).
So, think about your three things and ask yourself one question about those three (or more) things. "Why am I thankful for these things?" Think about it. Why do your three things mean so much to you?
I'll tell you why my three things mean so much to me. 1) My family is pretty awesome. We laugh a lot and have fun and we also learn a lot from each other. And we love each other. (You can't forget that part.) 2) Without the internet there's a lot of things I wouldn't be able to do (including writing this blog post and posting it one the internet). I take an online class for school, which wouldn't work without the internet. I enjoy indexing which also cannot be done without the internet. 3) Sleeping is pretty great. It's a time to just...sleep. You know, relax, rest. That basically sums it up.

So we should all be a little more grateful and pay closer attention to those things that we take for granted. It's so easy not to but it's so amazing when we do. I mean, look around again and maybe you see that pencil you grabbed the other day when you had to write something down really quick. Hey look, it's that box of tissues you needed the other day.
Just look around; I promise that if you look, you will find.

And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.
~ Doctrine and Covenants 78:19

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The video of the Count Your Blessings song was found on Youtube.
If you want to read the article, A Spoonful of Gratitude, here's the link: https://www.lds.org/new-era/2015/10/a-spoonful-of-gratitude?lang=eng. I would encourage you to read it, it's really, really good.

A Letter to YOUth

Dear Youth,

"You can't move mountains while sitting on your backside." That’s what Ephraim K. Hanks said. And he’s right. You can’t do anything by sitting and doing nothing. We’ve got to be doers, people who “go and do, [not] sit and stew.”¹ And yeah, sometimes that can be hard but it’s always worth it in the end.

I already mentioned Ephraim Hanks, now let me tell you about him because he’s a perfect example of a doer though he started out as what you might call a problem child. Or, at least, that's how his parents thought of him. Either way, Ephraim ended up running away from home at 16 and spending the next three years on a ship. At the end of those years, he felt he needed to go home where he met up with his brother Sidney. It was Sidney who introduced Ephraim to the Mormon Church. Ephraim would later go on to join the Mormon Battalion and after that he acted as a currier.

Now Ephraim is known for his rescue. This is what happened: One night Ephraim heard a voice say, “The handcart people need help. Will you go?” He answered, “Yes; I will go if I am called.” The next morning on his way to Salt Lake City to talk to President Brigham Young, Ephraim ran into a messenger from the President. The messenger informed Ephraim that President Young wanted to speak with him. When Ephraim got to Salt Lake, he met with President Young and several other men. President Young explained that there were still saints out on the plains and with winter approaching fast, they would need help. Many of the men committed to help, saying they’d be ready soon. Ephraim went the extra mile. In complete confidence he stated, “I am ready now.” And he was. Ephraim went out and, going through a blizzard, he found the handcart people and was able to provide the food and strength they needed. And trust me, they needed it. With very little food and many people suffering from frostbite, Ephraim’s aid was greatly appreciated.

And what about you? Are you ready? There will be many blizzards in our lives that we have to be prepared to push through so we can get to the people in need. Every Boy Scout knows to “be prepared,” it’s their motto. Being prepared is so important, especially today. With so many negative influences out there, we must be prepared now. Not tomorrow, not next month, now. If you’re not prepared yet, then you’d better start now because time is ticking. Now is the time, now is when we need to be ready. Get prepared and be able to say, “I am ready now.” You don’t have any time to lose.

Footnotes

1. John Bytheway.

Bibliography

Ephraim's Rescue. Dir. T. C. Christensen. Perf. Darin Southam and Katherine Nelson and James Gaisford. Excel Entertainment, 2013. DVD.

Hanks, Ephraim. "Ephraim Hanks." N.p., 15 Aug. 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2016.