Urban Poly Princess

Yesterday after the EMZ party I spent a lot of time sleeping. I read Moroni 10 here and there but didn''t finish. I am keeping my television OFF and am going to do my reading along with my laundry and NOT turn on my television until that's done. I have a RS dinner with the sister missionaries at my second councilor's house. I have to take bread. I'm getting a loaf from my favorite bakery. I love the convenience of living in Salt Lake City.

Curtis posted a very hot picture of he and his Halloween date. She is cute. He looks amazing because he is clean shaven so you can actually see how fine he really is and he has some sort of wings attached to his suit. I'm not sure what he was for Halloween. He looks like he is having a blast which is good. He is such a sweetie and he deserves the best.

There was a Dee's dance last night but I really was exhausted from the EMZ party early in the morning and from making my sandwich mix late the night before. I still have more of it I'm eating with the loaf of sourdough I bought from the bakery last night. I also bought a couple gigantic sushi rolls. Although the concept is wonderful their execution leaves much to be desired. There were a lot of U students there getting deep-fried California rolls. That is just gross to me. Only Americans would come up with deep-frying a sushi roll. It is like those deep-fried twinkies I've heard about. I can't think about anything more disgusting to intentionally eat.

Moroni 10
27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?

There are so many variables. I feel so undeserving of so many blessings. I don't think I worked to initially have my testimony. Even now I can't imagine denying any part of my testimony. To do so would be to lie to myself. I know we have to cultivate this carefully and that only through intentionally reading the scriptures, reading from the words of our prophets will strengthen and make this grow BUUUT still before I did this and fostered my testimony it was there and it was deep and strong. It is something no amount of reasoning, no amount of anything really would change. I'm not sure where this came from. It's like I was born feeling this way and continued to learn and just become stronger in this belief. It doesn't seem fair.

I know other people struggle for this knowledge. I know people who were inactive that had to search. I never had to do that. If I fell away it would be to go against myself. I know God is just and true and if I have any advantage it's because of the choices I made before this life. I am grateful. Falling away has never been an option for me. That isn't to say there isn't much more I am capable of becoming. There definitely is that in spades. I love my life. I want my family, I want to be a wife and a mother but only because I know it is how I can best prepare for eternity and progress most. It is exciting to me.

I am grateful to be here in Salt Lake City. Interacting with professionals is the best. There is this Pharmacist Jared I just met at a Mid-Singles Institute class. He and Shem are the administrators of the Menace Facebook group. He is a high councilor in his stake. This girl Charity added me on Facebook. She is a Physician's Assistant and worked somewhere in Afghanistan with the army first. That is the highest paying major. If I could stand touching people and blood I would have majored in that. I love my major however. I love being a librarian and I look forward to being a library administrator. I hope I get that chance soon. Being unemployed just sucks.

Are We Not All Beggars? - Jeffrey R. Holland
So how might we “do what we can”?
Perhaps some have created their own difficulties, but don’t the rest of us do exactly the same thing? Isn’t that why this compassionate ruler asks, “Are we not all beggars?”¹¹ Don’t we all cry out for help and hope and answers to prayers? Don’t we all beg for forgiveness for mistakes we have made and troubles we have caused? Don’t we all implore that grace will compensate for our weaknesses, that mercy will triumph over justice at least in our case? Little wonder that King Benjamin says we obtain a remission of our sins by pleading to God, who compassionately responds, but we retain a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us.¹²
Amulek says, “After [you] have [prayed], if [you] turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if [you] have [it], to those who stand in need—I say unto you,… your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and [you] are as hypocrites who do deny the faith.”¹⁵ What a stunning reminder that richor poor, we are to “do what we can” when others are in need.
Now, lest I be accused of proposing quixotic global social programs or of endorsing panhandling as a growth industry, I reassure you that my reverence for principles of industry, thrift, self-reliance, and ambition is as strong as that of any man or woman alive. We are always expected to help ourselves before we seek help from others. Furthermore, I don’t know exactly how each of you should fulfill your obligation to those who do not or cannot always help themselves. But I know that God knows, and He will help you and guide you in compassionate acts of discipleship if you are conscientiously wanting and praying and looking for ways to keep a commandment He has given us again and again.
Fortunately the Lord’s way of assisting our own is easier: all who are physically able are to observe the law of the fast. Isaiah wrote:
“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? …
 bear witness of the miracles, both spiritual and temporal, that come to those who live the law of the fast. I bear witness of the miracles that have come to me. Truly, as Isaiah recorded, I have cried out in the fast more than once, and truly God has responded, “Here I am.”¹⁷ Cherish that sacred privilege at least monthly, and be as generous as circumstances permit in your fast offering and other humanitarian, educational, and missionary contributions. I promise that God will be generous to you
Brothers and sisters, such a sermon demands that I openly acknowledge the unearned, undeserved, unending blessings in my life, both temporal and spiritual. Like you, I have had to worry about finances on occasion, but I have never been poor, nor do I even know how the poor feel. Furthermore, I do not know all the reasons why the circumstances of birth, health, education, and economic opportunities vary so widely here in mortality, but when I see the want among so many, I do know that “there but for the grace of God go I.”¹⁸ I also know that although I may not be my brother’s keeper, I am my brother’s brother, and “because I have been given much, I too must give.

I too am overwhelmed at the requirement to help the poor and needy. I am grateful for this talk and to remember that this is how we have been asked to help those who in need. I am unemployed but I still get unemployment that allows me to pay my insurance and buy gas and food. I am grateful we all have a way to help through fast offering.