Down In The River To Pray

Earlier this week, while driving to Boise, ID, the hymn "Down in the River to Pray" came on the radio. (Ironically, on the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Pandora station) It was a version sung by Allison Krauss on her album "A Hundred Miles or More". The song is sung completely A Capella, and the lyrics are virtually the same throughout, but at the beginning of each verse and chorus, the song addresses a new group of people. Sisters. Brothers. Fathers. Mothers. Then... at the very end... Sinners.

On the eve of General Conference, and another General Priesthood Session, this rings throughout my heart, like a bell being sounded in a bell tower.

The Church loves gender roles. There is always at least one talk that solely focuses on them, and countless others that mention and refer to them in one way or another. These talks are meant to emphasize (and usually over emphasize) that we are different, separate, and not meant to blend. (BUT STILL EQUAL!)

The simple fact is that we are different. We are remarkable, unparalleled, and extraordinary. We have different opinions, and different interests. We have different experiences, and have different talents. We are of different heights, weights, colors, ethnicity, and language. We are unique! (Just like everyone else...)

We are Sisters and Mothers. Brothers and Fathers. We are friends, and sometimes foes. But most importantly, we are sinners. We all sin differently. Many of us swear, and work on the Sabbath. Others may take something that is not theirs, and then lie to cover their tracks. A few of us may have even done something more serious, like committing adultery. But no matter what we have done, and no matter who we are, or what positions we hold, we are all sinners.

So we really are all the same. We have our petty differences, and the things that make us who we are. But we are the same. We have the same desires to be close to our Heavenly Parents. We have the same desires to be Christ-like, and to serve others. We have the desire to wake up the next morning as a better person than we were the day before.

But most importantly, in the prophetic words of the Book of Mormon prophet, Nephi, Our Heavenly Parents inviteth all that come unto Them, and denieth none. Black and white; bond and free; FEMALE and MALE, we are all alike unto God.

 

I Think I Found A Ward

I attended the 8th Ward today in downtown Salt Lake. And it was the most unorthodox ward I had ever attended. (And I say that in a very good way)

The ward boundaries cover a large chunk of downtown from 300 East to 400 West, and 500 South to 1300 South. Within the ward is a homeless shelter, multiple low income housing projects, and retirement communities. There are people with obvious mental/developmental handicaps and mental illness. And I don't think I have seen so many tattoos on as many people ever, much less in church. The ward welcomes everyone. Not just the Molly Mormon, Peter Priesthood "True Believing Mormons", but everyone.

The bishop is fantastic. He is a retired mental health professional, which makes him uniquely qualified to be called as the bishop of this ward. I have no doubt that his knowledge and background has assisted him in ministering to his ward. These are some things that really stood out for me...

1. He is completely fine with me being gay, and believes that I was born this way. This is extremely uncommon for members of his generation.
2. He is not concerned that I am living with my ex-girlfriend. He invited her to come to church with me.
3. He is not concerned that I have yet to (and most likely never will) form a testimony that celestial marriage is between a man and a woman only.
4. He is not concerned that I am a feminist, a liberal, an intellectual, or a homosexual... All of the things that Elder Boyd K. Packer warned were the "present dangers of the Church" in 1990.
5. He will jot force me to go through the repentance process. He will be there when I am ready, but until I am ready, he wants me to attend the ward.
6. He is bending over backwards to help me get my membership records moved into his ward. Since I do not live within the official ward boundaries, there are certain steps that need to be taken... One of which may have to be approval from the First Presidency. He wants me in the ward.

All in all... I feel good about where I'm going. It's not going to be easy... Especially if I decide to go through with the repentance process to prepare to go to the temple. But I have a bishop who judges no one. He welcomes all. He doesn't care about your past, but only about your future. And that's a special thing. It's special indeed.

A Most Pleasant Surprise

After posting my "coming out" story, I've had a lot of good reception. I have yet to have someone call me a degenerate, or sinner, or whatever. Which is a relief. For the most part, I've had people thank me for telling my story, because we change hearts and minds by showing people that we are just like everyone else.

But today, I had a pleasant surprise.

Katie Seibert was my "arch-nemesis" growing up in school. She was one of the popular kids. And while I had plenty of friends, I certainly was not a stereotypical "popular kid". If you would've asked me 6 years ago if Katie was my friend, or if I was Katie's friend, I would have laughed openly in your face.

Today, I opened my computer at work, and logged onto Facebook for a little bit, and I heard the little *ding* that tells me that someone had sent me a message. It was Kait. She had read my blog, and was apologizing for how she treated me in school. My heart warmed at what I was reading. I had never heard a more sincere statement in my life. She felt bad for making me feel different.

I forgave her. Not because I had been mad at her, or that she had hurt me, or even that what she did was wrong, but deserved to hear it from me. She reached out to me, and was humble enough to say that she had done something wrong, and she deserves that from me. And I wanted to give it to her. It also turned out that we have so much more in common than we ever would've thought 6 years ago. We talked about our lives since high school, and I think that we might be friends now... like real life friends.

I can't begin to tell you how much it means to me. Having her come to me and want to reconcile differences, gives me hope that one day, I will have that reconciliation with my parents and my siblings. She's not the only one who has come to me, and wanted to be friends again... Kait, Sophie and Anthony have been the most recent, and I've still retained friends from high school who saw me for who I was, and not how I acted. It gives me hope that my family will come around. But until then, its one person at a time. And I'm ok with that.

D-Day Plus 10

I find it really ironic that my break up coincided with June 6th, D-Day. So now... in the aftermath of my break-up/divorce/whatever you want to call it, I can count the day's as D-Day Plus 1, 2, 3. It makes me a mega nerd, but it's effective in keeping track of the days.

Last night really sucked. I couldn't sleep and Maggie refused to lay anywhere near me... which put a wrench into the whole theory that if she cuddles with me, then I won't feel so lonely and cold in my big empty bed. And it would have worked, if she wouldn't have been acting so anti-social. Trust me when I say that Maggie is a very... friendly... dog. Meanie dog face just wanted to hang out with Bridey... Traitor.

So now I'm sitting at work, and its slow, and I have too much time on my hands to think about everything I don't want to think about. Like all the dirty, nasty sex that probably happened on the other side of the Wasatch. Who in their right mind would want to be thinking about the love of their life having sex with another woman?? Certainly not me, and yet... here I am.

*cue the cane yanking me off the stage.*

On the good side of life... the one I haven't seen in what feels like a year... I got a new job! I am the newest employee with American Express! I had the interview on Thursday afternoon, and after telling me that I would find out by the next day, my interviewer called me back to extend the offer after about an hour... needless to say, I think they like me a whole lot :) And the salary is quite nice... I don't feel comfortable saying how much it is, but I'm making roughly double of what I've been making the last 2 years. And that's significant. I'll finally be able to go to the eye doctor and get new glasses with the stronger prescription I've been needing for the last year. I'll be able to update my wardrobe. I'll be able to buy a reliable car. Get some real furniture... So yeah... I'll be living like a normal human being, rather than a starving college student for the first time since I moved from Defiance.

AND... they have an on-site fitness center. So I'll finally be able to start losing weight, and getting back into shape without spending money I don't have, on a gym membership that I'll be too lazy to use. Now all I'll have to do is go to work an hour early, or leave an hour late... It'll be easy. No problem. Don't get me wrong... I'm still lazy, and I'll still not want to go more often than not. But at least I won't be wasting any money, and I won't have any excuse to say that its too far, or that I don't have time, because it's at my work. Piece of cake. Hopefully I'll be able to get a workout buddy, so I can't skimp out on it. :)

So... I'm a huge World War II buff... I absolutely love it. And I own a lot of World War II movies... Band of Brothers, Saving Private Ryan, Windtalkers, Flags of Our Fathers, Valkyrie, Letters From Iwo Jima, Saints and Soldiers, and U-571. Plus a bunch of other war movies from other wars. I'm looking for suggestions on other good movies (and books... I'll never say no to a good book) that I should look into.

Ok, I'm bored. And my shift ends in about 30 minutes, so I should probably go and do the things that I'm being paid to do.

Au revoiur!

In Other News

So I'm at the Coffee Garden in the 9th & 9th neighborhood in Salt Lake City. I ordered a hot chocolate, because the only seat available was next to the door, and it freezing outside. (For those of you outside of Northern Utah, Mother Nature decided to blanket us in 18-24" of snow over the last 2 days... and Snowbird got a whopping 50"!)

This was the heat sleeve they gave me... (I think they know...)

To-Do List

I have a bucket list, and its awesome... it has alot of boring, predictable things on it, but things that I want to do nonetheless...

Here are a few new things that aren't so boring ;)

1. Wear a shirt that says "Life". Hand out lemons on a street corner.
2. Hire 2 private investigators. Get them to follow each other.
3. Go into a crowded elevator and say, "I bet you're all wondering why I gathered you here," with a straight face.
4. Make tapioca pudding. Put in mayo jar. Eat in public.
5. Become a teacher. Make a test where every answer is "C." Enjoy the show.
6. Run into a store, ask what year it is. When someone answers, yell "It worked!" and run out cheering.
7. Buy a horse, name it "Oscar Takes The Lead," enter it in horse races.
8. Buy a parrot. Teach the parrot to say, "Help! I've been turned into a parrot."

EPICNESS

100 Reasons To Be A Lesbian

I found this on one of my lesbian friend's blogs tonight, and its freaking hilarious. This is all her, but I can relate to just about everything on this list. Read, and laugh... because it really is that funny :)



100 Reasons to be a Lesbian

1. Being able to say " What should I wear?" without getting made fun of by your boyfriend.
2. Sexy Santa outfits.
3. Because girls know how to be beautiful inside and out.
4. The way they get nervous.
5. Because you can't choke on a vagina.
6. Because the giggle or laugh of a girl who is in love with you is the most beautiful sound in the world.
7. Girls laugh cuter than guys do.
8. Girls get you.
9. Girls will be cute with you without being forced to.
10. She is the sun in the day, and the stars late at night, and when you're together, it just feels so right. I could never love a man like that.
11. The sound a girl makes when you nip at their lips or ears.
12. The way a woman's skin feels when you brush your fingertips against her.
13. Cute Halloween costumes.
14. The way they sound when they sing. The way they look when they dance. Swoon.
15. Belly button piercings are cute.
16. The dresses the women wore in "The Patriot".
17. I'm a lesbian because only girls can make my heart race.
18. If you had passionate sex with a woman then you'd know why I'm a lesbian.
19. Lady Gaga. She's got me like nobody.
20. Girl's lower backs.
21. Must I repeat the fact that girls are just cute?
22. Ladyparts > Manparts
23. Compare The Spice Girls to N*SYNC. Spice Girls win.
24. Have you seen the L Word?
25. I wanna be like Ellen and Portia Degeneres.
26. You don't have to lick balls.
27. You don't have to worry about kissing them with your lipgloss on... because they don't mind.
28. Christina Hendricks' breasts.
29. Girls aren't constantly adjusting their gentitals.
30. Megan Fox.
31. Because they don't have penises.
32. Joan Jett.
33. Angelina Jolie.
34. Nuff said.
35. All she ever needs is a look on my face to know what I want and how I feel.
36. You have an excuse to like Justin Bieber... He looks like one of us.
37. I can go into a gay bar and actually come out with a phone number.
38. Disgusted by men.
39. Because I can enjoy myself in the kitchen without hearing jokes about a woman's place.
40. Girls look better dancing.
41. To ruin every mother's dream wedding plans for her daughter.
42. Girls understand your love for kittens.
43. I'm obligated to be a lesbian because I like Tegan and Sara.
44. Girls look better in the morning.
45. I can actually have a platonic relationship with a man.
46. Girls know what girls like.
47. There are too many cute girls on tumblr NOT to be a lesbian.
48. Girls can sit with their knees touching without complaining about not having "room".
49. Girl's lips are softer.
50. The only problem with having an ex-girlfriend is the custody battle between clothes.
51. There were always more Barbie dolls than there were Ken dolls. Everyone can't date Ken.
52. I'm waiting on Kristen Stewart to come out of the closet.
53. Ellen Page.
54. Olivia Wilde.
55. Women are, more often than not, a fan of the felines.
56. They all love Tegan and Sara.
57. Women rarely tell you to suck it up and stop crying. Maybe she'll even cry with you.
58. Face it, women are just cuter.
59. Mom's are great... My kids will get two.
60. Sex is intuitive. Let's just say when you have the same parts, there's much less of a learning curve.
61. Look at a naken man. Then look at a naked woman. Now don't tell me that you seriously find the man more attractive.
62. Girls are way better kissers than boys. No thanks sloppy kisses.
63. Hello, have you seen Kiera Knightley?
64. Because body parts should not move on their own.
65. I like to be the one to pay for dinner once in a while.
66. Keep-in' it cool.
67. I love plaid.
68. NOTHING about a guy turns me on.
69. Girls are pretty.
70. Girlfriends know not to ask me if its my "time of the month" when I'm being difficult.
71. NO BACK HAIR.
72. Men's skin feels the same as sand paper.
73. Kissing someone with facial hair feels like rubbing your face on sandpaper.
74. We have similar interests in TV shows.
75. Legs, legs, and more legs.
76. We never have headaches.
77. Women don't sleep with their hand down their pants.
78. I don't want to be forced into a hunting trip.
79. We can eat lollipops without one of us getting the wrong idea.
80. Men don't get that telling us to calm down will only piss us off.
81. Men don't understand it when you say, "I need some ice cream RIGHT NOW."
82. I like to be the big spoon sometimes.
83. We can borrow each other's clothes.
84. Women don't burp on purpose.
85. I'll never have to do the dishes because "I'm the woman."
86. Boobs are always better than no boobs.
87. Only gay men take care of themselves as much as lesbians do.
88. It's all about the curves.
89. Barbies have always been better than Ken dolls.
90. I don't want a guido. Then again... I don't want a guidette either.
91. If you're not in the mood, blame it on cramps. Don't worry, she'll understand.
92. I'll never have to deal with beer guts.
93. Happy Trails. 'Nuff said.
94. Men are what they have. Dicks.
95. Women are gorgeous creatures.
96. Lesbians actually know what they're doing in the bedroom.
97. I don't have to worry about accidentally getting pregnant.
98. I don't want to ever HAVE to sit throught the Super Bowl
99. Have you SEEN Tool Academy?
100. Men have hair from head to toe. Literally.

Random Thoughts For The Day

1. I absolutely LOVE President Thomas S. Monson!
2. Star Wars, Dr. Pepper, BBQ Pringles, and fruit snacks are a wonderful combination at 1am.
3. Ski season is 49 days away!!!
4. Its supposed to snow on Thursday!!! SO EXCITED!!
5. My candles make my room smell like Christmas, but I accidentally got green candle wax on my carpet. I don't know how to get it out... uh oh...
6. R2D2 is my favorite droid ever. He's legit.
7. I miss you. I miss you so much. Come back to me.
8. I have a soccer double header tomorrow... I think I'm gonna die...
9. My deodorant smells super good. 
10. I cleaned my room yesterday. I'm proud of myself.
11. I love to go grocery shopping. Is that weird?
12. My boss is super legit. I wanna be like her someday.
13. The more I go to school, the more I realize that I'd rather be a ski bum on the side on a mountain in a tent for the rest of my life.
14. I'm getting my hair cut on Friday!! I'm super duper excited!!
15. My super good friend is coming back to Utah at the end of the month!! 
16. I'm going to buy a car. And its gonna be awesome!
17. He is always there for you. Ever loyal, and supportive, He is an unconditional friend who stands by you, always encouraging, and understanding you. What better friend could you have than the Savior?

I love the Church. I love God. I love Christ. I'm not perfect, and I'm flawed, and I make thousands of mistakes everyday. Some big. Some small. But I try. I try so hard to be the very best person that I can be. And that makes all the difference. 

So... to all of you out there... who judge me, and think I'm a lost cause... who think that I will never change, and never be the person you wish that I was... hate all you want. Because I am cherished, valued and beautiful through the eyes of God. And that's all I will ever need to know.

Do you ever have days where you just don't feel like you are worth your price tag? Today has been one of those days. When I was in institute Wednesday, Brother Cope had this quote up on the board. 

We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity—like perfect charity—will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection. -C.S. Lewis

This is definitely something I needed to hear... because I knew that the Atonement is there for me, but hearing it... that makes all the difference. I knew that Heavenly Father will always hear my prayers, and will always help me, but hearing it was all the difference. 

I've made a ton of mistakes in my life... so many that its not even funny. I've made so many mistakes, that my family doesn't speak to me. They have completely cut me out of their lives, and its 100% my fault. They had a hand in just about everything that happened, but they didn't make the decisions. I did. But I'm a good person. I'm a good person, and I try to prove that every day of my life. I hope one day my parents will see how the Church has made me a better person... I hope on day I can prove it to them.

Through Him... everything is possible.

Someday, I'll find my Prince Charming, and he will take me to the temple.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Two years ago, I was afraid of wanting anything. I was afraid of wanting to be loved, and I figured wanting would lead to trying, and trying would lead to failure. But now I find I can’t stop wanting… I want to fly somewhere in first class. I want to travel to Europe on a business trip. I want to get invited to the White House. I want to learn about the world. I want to surprise myself. I want to be important. I want to be the best person I can be. I want to define myself, instead having of others define me. I want to win; and have people be happy for me. I want to lose and get over it. I want to not be afraid of the unknown. I want to grow up to be generous and big hearted. The way that people have been with me. I want an interesting and surprising life.

It’s not that I think I am going to get all these things. I just want the possibility of getting them. The possibility that things are going to change. I want to be the change I want to see in the world. I want to change the world. I want to make a difference.