Love Language

I took the love language quiz and found out that I am highest on quality time, with physical touch second. I learned while taking this quiz that I don't really need gifts like some people do. I know people care about me when they want to spend time with me. It was interesting because I was talking to my friend Blake about this, I had text him the day before and asked why he "hated me" haha because we never do anything. Well Blake found out that I am all about quality time and realized that I asked him why he "hated me" because we never spent any time together. I am all about the quality time, it is such a big deal for me. When people don't spend time with me I really do assume they just don't care about me and don't care to spend time with me. Which is not a big deal for me, it just means I spend less time on building that friendship/relationship. Interesting.

And Nothing Shall Offend Them

Elder David A. Bednar
"When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else."

I love that Elder Bednar mentions that when we are offended it is by our own choice. We all have our agency and no matter the situation, we can choose to be offended by what is happening, by what others say, or whatever else it may be. It is almost empowering to know that we have the CHOICE to be offended or not. Sometimes we feel like we have the right to take offense, but I know that our lives are much more richly blessed when we choose not to be offended by what others might say or do.

Jamie Wheeler

It has been really good to take this class and look at my relationship with my sister Jamie, it used to be a challenging (not in a bad way) relationship and she still challenges me, but it makes me a better person. It makes me look at my life in a different way, and I can really appreciate that now whereas I didn't before. I am grateful for what I've learned about communication this semester and how it has strengthened the relationship that I have with my sister, I feel a lot more love for her and we are a lot closer. I can share pretty much everything with her!

Ariel Belnap

It was interesting this semester to see how the relationship I have with Ariel went in ups and downs. We would spend a lot of time together, then get busy, and then spend a lot of time together again. Overall I am excited to be living in the same room with her next semester so even when we're busy we'll be able to see each other more than we do now. I just love Ariel and I definitely feel like we have built up a strong friendship this semester. I am glad that I could learn about communication this semester and how to make our relationships with other people stronger.

Things As They Really Are

Elder David A. Bednar
"If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradually and physically from things as they really are. In essence, he encourages us to think and act as if we were in our premortal, unembodied state. And, if we let him, he can cunningly employ some aspects of modern technology to accomplish his purposes. Please be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pixels, texting, ear buds, twittering, online social networking, and potentially addictive uses of media and the Internet that you fail to recognize the importance of your physical body and miss the richness of person‐to‐person communication. Beware of digital displays and data in many forms of computer‐mediated interaction that can displace the full range of physical capacity and experience... To feel the warmth of a tender hug from an eternal companion or to see the sincerity in the eyes of another person as testimony is shared—all of these things experienced as they really are through the instrument of our physical body—could be sacrificed for a high fidelity fantasy that has no lasting value."

A text message could never replace a hug, no matter how sincere or heartfelt. There is something about human interaction, in person, there together, that makes a huge difference. My cell phone can't hug me, neither can my computer; that is something that I sometimes need from a REAL person, have their arms around me, and to feel loved. Nothing, in my eyes could ever replace a hug. If I had to trade my phone in for the opportunity to be hugged everyday, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Trust.

President Henry B. Eyring said, "He (God) knows how a lack of trust in Him brings sadness... You show your trust in Him when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then you go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song and prayer in this conference, you will find it. And if you go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you."

I found this to be so true when I was a missionary. I would trust the Lord that if I was obedient that He would bless me, so when I put my life into His hands and trusted that He would guide me He always did. He then trusted me with His children and allowed me to see people accept the gospel, He knew that He could trust me because I had done (in the past) what He had asked, and tried my best to be obedient. It's the same thing now. When the Lord knows that we are trying to do our best, he blesses us. I did my best when I came home from my mission to live the way I knew the Lord wanted me to; and when I came to school the Lord trusted me enough to put in a position (as Relief Society President) to serve and watch over some of His daughters... what a HUGE blessing.

My seeester

I find it harder to write about Jamie since we aren't in the same city, and our only real "interaction" is through texting. She has been a good anchor and influence in my life though, and I am glad that she can be there to support me. I absolutely love her and though our relationship has been a challenge in the past, I know that as we work on our communication with others we can strengthen relationships.