I've been wanting to post this for a while, but have been wanting to wait for a moment when I felt more passionate about it. I think that moment has come.
Besides being my favorite memory, I think it is also one of my earliest, if not my earliest..
I remember once when I was about 5 years old, there was a little Russian girl that lived in my apartment complex about my age. For some reason, I was upset with this girl, Sacha. It was probably for some menial reason, and I told my dad that I hated her, without fully understanding the intensity of that word .
I remember my dad took me in his arms, and turned me away from him, so we were both facing the portrait of Christ that was on the wall next to our front door. Softly he asked me, "Muriel, what would Jesus do? Would he want you to hate Sacha?" Me not fully understanding the concepts of forgivneess, he continued, "Would Jesus want you to love her?" Despite the inexperience in my 5 year old mind, a feeling of shame came over me; and embarrassed I replied in a way I knew I should. I told him I would love her, and not hate her anymore.
That memory has never left me, and as I look back at it... yes, I was embarrassed at the time, but my dad taught me a lesson that day: Love, no matter what.
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I'm currently applying for the teaching program here at BYU and one of the essay questions asks about any personal experiences as to why you would want to be a teacher. Because this application pretty much means the world to me right now, I've been putting it off in hopes of thinking about it to try to make it as good as I can get it. So this weekend, I started reading through some old journals to see what stories I could find.
The day my brother went into the MTC.. June 29, 2011.. I was working as a Director up at Brighton LDS Girls camp. I had left camp to come down to the valley to see my brother off, and this is what I wrote that night in my journal:
"... It was weird going down to the valley. Even just spending the morning with dad I think just changed my whole countenance and perspective on everything.... my dad IS love. He is the definition of Charity. He is the most selfless person I know. All he ever talks about is someone else, or helping someone else, or principles of truth. And furthermore, he saves up all of his money...so he can give it away. It just hit me in the face today. Everything my dad has ever taught me has been centered around loving someone else. Doing good for someone else. Oh, I wish i could be more like him! So humble, and so concentrated on the gospel."
You might read this blog and think of it as a brag session i'm having for my dad, but that is not why I'm writing this, no, not at all. I honestly and sincerely believe that Love is the most powerful thing in the universe. It is what teaches people what they need to learn in this life, it is what gets people through this life, and without it we'd all be lost.
Love...do it. Not because it feels good, but because it IS good. It's sometimes hard to drop every distasteful thing and to do it, but of all the things I've learned in my life, it is that "Love is the answer.. to all of life's trials."
Besides being my favorite memory, I think it is also one of my earliest, if not my earliest..
I remember once when I was about 5 years old, there was a little Russian girl that lived in my apartment complex about my age. For some reason, I was upset with this girl, Sacha. It was probably for some menial reason, and I told my dad that I hated her, without fully understanding the intensity of that word .
I remember my dad took me in his arms, and turned me away from him, so we were both facing the portrait of Christ that was on the wall next to our front door. Softly he asked me, "Muriel, what would Jesus do? Would he want you to hate Sacha?" Me not fully understanding the concepts of forgivneess, he continued, "Would Jesus want you to love her?" Despite the inexperience in my 5 year old mind, a feeling of shame came over me; and embarrassed I replied in a way I knew I should. I told him I would love her, and not hate her anymore.
That memory has never left me, and as I look back at it... yes, I was embarrassed at the time, but my dad taught me a lesson that day: Love, no matter what.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm currently applying for the teaching program here at BYU and one of the essay questions asks about any personal experiences as to why you would want to be a teacher. Because this application pretty much means the world to me right now, I've been putting it off in hopes of thinking about it to try to make it as good as I can get it. So this weekend, I started reading through some old journals to see what stories I could find.
The day my brother went into the MTC.. June 29, 2011.. I was working as a Director up at Brighton LDS Girls camp. I had left camp to come down to the valley to see my brother off, and this is what I wrote that night in my journal:
"... It was weird going down to the valley. Even just spending the morning with dad I think just changed my whole countenance and perspective on everything.... my dad IS love. He is the definition of Charity. He is the most selfless person I know. All he ever talks about is someone else, or helping someone else, or principles of truth. And furthermore, he saves up all of his money...so he can give it away. It just hit me in the face today. Everything my dad has ever taught me has been centered around loving someone else. Doing good for someone else. Oh, I wish i could be more like him! So humble, and so concentrated on the gospel."
You might read this blog and think of it as a brag session i'm having for my dad, but that is not why I'm writing this, no, not at all. I honestly and sincerely believe that Love is the most powerful thing in the universe. It is what teaches people what they need to learn in this life, it is what gets people through this life, and without it we'd all be lost.
Love...do it. Not because it feels good, but because it IS good. It's sometimes hard to drop every distasteful thing and to do it, but of all the things I've learned in my life, it is that "Love is the answer.. to all of life's trials."
