Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

Thank you President.

I got the news at a Ward Dessert Night. It never occurred to me until we said a prayer: all the people in that room could be considered the Hinckley Generation. Even though there have been 2 prophets in my lifetime so far, President Hinckley is the one that had the most impact in my 'Mormondomism.'

Interesting thing. The initial reaction was shock. The second: "He's with Marjorie, his wife."

Because I don't want to end up like

them. (If you don't want to watch the whole 10 minutes, here's the shorter version.)

When I first saw this, I thought this was highly entertaining. But now I'm not so sure. They are ridiculous. This is not even sharing your opinion. This is 'I'm-right-you're-wrong-and-if-you-disagree-with-me-I'm-gonna-smash-a-chair-on-your-head type thing.'

Why do politics release the beast in us? Why do nice people turn into such tyrants with red faces and veins popping out of their necks, and call it 'sticking to your guns?' Why must we always make sure we remain loyal to our political label, because if we don't, we'll be called a flip-flopper and indecisive. And ooooh, we certainly don't want that! Because looking back on the past, and learning from previous decisions is the last thing on earth we want to do!

It always surprises me (especially in Utah) to hear people bear powerful testimonies on Sunday, and then become monsters during the week when politics are released on them.
Why do people let go of their values and lower themselves, just to prove their point to people who slightly disagree with them? Can't we just 'not like' a political party and leave it at that? WHY do we have to insult each other just to prove that our so called 'way of thinking' is the correct way? And what is so glorious about doing it out in the open for everyone to see?

I am guilty of sometimes loosing it as well. Ok, probably not as bad as the example on top, but there are times when I came really close.
Well, I'm done with that. I don't want to end up like those decent women on the view. I think it's senseless to destroy your image over politics. So I've decided to do away with the political label. I am not going to fight.

When writing this post a few scriptures about worshiping other gods came to mind. Also the Scripture about being in one heart seemed appropriate.

And no, this does not mean Ellen is going to stop following up on the news and politics. Believe me, Ellen is still gonna have the label 'Liberal Mormon' on her forehead, and it's gonna take one heck of a laser surgery to get it of. And if I was at BYU this year, I would still be outside the JSM building, protesting against Mr. Cheney.

But I'm done with the fighting. It really does not make life easier to live with a constant hatred and fear in your heart, for something so abstract as politics.

I'm dead

"Ellen, you just committed suicide!"

Me: checks for pulse.

"Man, Ellen, you're in for it now. You just committed suicide!"


Not something you'd hear being said in the chapel.
The reason for my sudden death: My Relief Society lesson.


My habit of sitting in the back corner and quietly observing the sisters, and agreeing and disagreeing with them in my head is over.


It all happened on Saturday at midnight. My mom, who has been sick for over 2 weeks, finally decided that she wasn't up to teach her lesson. She had the whole thing written out, and she wasn't just going to let all that work go to waste (ok, you can always recycle a lesson into a talk or another lesson).

So, I offered to take her lesson over.


It was strange to let my voice echo across the chapel. Let's just say that the whole building was filled with the D's (*insert family name here.* no, I'm not going to make it easy for some sicko to find me) voices, because my dad was teaching Priesthood in the Cultural Hall.


But apparently it was fine. I mean, it was my first time ever teaching, and it wasn't my lesson, so the sisters were really mild for me. So I guess committed a positive kind of suicide :-).

Let's just hope they aren't going to receive divine inspiration (ok, if so I should take that as a compliment) and have me teach, oh let's say...primary??

Come Thou Fount and the Hymnbook

I posted it on the forum of 'Bring "Come Thou Fount' back to the hymnbook'on facebook, but I figured I might as well post it here too. The hymn 'Come Thou Fount' used to be in the LDS Hymnbook, but is not anymore, which really is a shame because it's a beautiful song. At the last General Conference Mo-Tab (the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) sang it.



Notice how they skip the part in verse 2 that says:
'Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I'll begin;
This seems to be contradicting the 2nd
Article of Faith :

'We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.'

Maybe we need an LDS re-write...

Satellite dishes

An observation:

People who actively practice a religion are more likely to invest in a satellite dish.
Seriously, drive through some neighborhoods of Antwerp or Brussels, and dishes seem to be the dominant thing on the 28-story apartments.

says the girl who bumbed her head against a dish when she was trying to get the garden hose to work :-)

It's the final countdown

So it's Spring. And I'm very happy. I don't leave the house anymore without my camera. I'm so excited to wear shoes without socks again, and have bleeding feet for the next 6 months.
But really. I love nature.
So General Conference starts in 15 minutes. I have windows for KSL and BYU TV open, and I'm ready to hit the 'Download Live' button as soon as my computer clock turns to 6:00PM. GC till midnight! Gotta love time differences With a 2 hour break in between, no worries people.
I remember as a kid in Belgium my parents would actually dust off the satellite dish for conference, and after much cussing (dang, fetch...) we'd finally get the familiar message: "This is the English Language Channel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If you are having technical difficulties, please call the number listed in your operator instructions."
I think I must have been about 7 or 8 years old when I had remembered this whole thing by heart. My English was prefect back then.

My parents would tape these conferences, and I'd listen with a half an ear in the kitchen, painting. Aaaaah...memories.

and now we are back in Antwerp, watching GC on my big screen laptop. aaah...i'm feeling all pioneer-y.

let's just hope my Internet is not going to explode.

It seems like everytime I express a thought on this blog, someone blogs about it as well

My post

Segullah's post

happy.

Testimony Theorization

You know what's bad? Wondering if you have a Testimony.

Compared to other people, you may say I don't. I've never giving my testimony (ok, in seminary, but that might have been a spiritual form of peer pressure). And I hardly show any physical emotional outbursts in church, or any church related activity. But I have a Testimony.

It seems to me, that we have this idea that a Testimony has to be 'perfect.'
There have to be certain steps, certain processes that we have to go through, before we can call our Testimony real.
It's done unconsciously of course. I think one of the problems with this, is that we as humans have a need to express ourselves to others (says the blog-addicted girl...). We always need to explain to people WHAT exactly things are like. And I think, one starts to question their [in this case] Testimony, if it doesn't match up to the dominant example.
I think, that if one has a Testimony, that there is no possible way to express this through words. After all, a Testimony, to me, is a very spiritual manifestation, projected through our actions here on Earth. And then we must always keep in mind that we are humans, and far from perfect.
That's why people cry. Happiness makes you cry. But, there are always those few people who don't cry. Who are just...different. Just like the people who do cry.

I know I have a Testimony. I know I do. I may not be perfect, but I know I have a Testimony. And I may not have all the knowledge I need. I may not know all the things I need to know. But the things that I do know, I have faith in.

wow

Remember how a week or so ago I wrote a post about Satan? Well, I was just browsing on BCC and the first thing that caught my eye was this.

Where IS Satan?

So I had an interesting thought a couple of nights ago. Something that was completely new to me, and that caused me to think.
I have been thought my whole life that during the War In Heaven, Satan took 1/3 of God's children with him. Well, that 1/3 followed Satan based on their free-agency. These children, including Satan himself, would never have the capacity of receiving a body of their own.
So...where are they? Because they have fallen from the presence of God, right?
And can't you only have a world of your own, when you have lived a mortal life, and acquired knowledge? So why does Satan get to have a world of his own?
Then these things came into my mind:
A. Terrestrial State
Our world once was up with God, next to Kolob. When Adam and Eve partook of the Fruit, to gain knowledge and be able to return to God, our world fell into a Terrestrial State. But, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the resurrection, he will be able to return and bring this earth back to it's Celestial State. Perhaps, Satan's world has also fallen to a Terrestrial State, or even lower (Outer Darkness), but with no hope of ever returning back to a Celestial State. They don't have a Christ like we do.
B. Part of The Plan?
In God's plan, there has to be opposition in all things. Perhaps God knew in one way or another that Satan would leave with 1/3 of his children. Hence, Heavenly Father had a world prepared for Satan. The purpose of our earthly life is to make choices between good and evil, and Christ to save us from our sins.
C. Satan on this earth??
I mean, we are tempted by him aren't we? Or is it just a term we use for opposition in all things? Because to us, Satan represents all that is evil, and goes against the will of our Heavenly Father. I stated b efore that maybe his world is equal to our Terrestrial world. But what if it is not? What if it is Outer Darkness (what many believe). One who is in Outer Darkness can't "upgrade" himself to a higher State. A Terrestrial World is still much more aspired to than OD.
E. Satan as a poetic figure?
Isn't the Bible full of Jewish/ancient poetry? Why couldn't the term "Satan" or "Devil" just represent something to call something evil? But then again, Satan DID take 1/3 of the Hosts Of Heaven with him. And that isn’t made up.

Now I'm not saying I need to know the answers. Personally, I agree the most with option A. That was the first thing that came to my mind. The other ones were other arguments, that do make sence in some way.
But the time to find out isnt't right. I don't want to know the answers. It's just a thought that came up in me.