RELIEF SOCIETY (Tribute song)

"When the Relief Society was formally organized on March 17, 1842, the Prophet taught the women about their essential place in the restored Church. He said, 'The Church was never perfectly organized until the women were thus organized'" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 451, as quoted in the February 2011 Ensign).

Productive Stupidity--NOT an Oxymoron

"Stupidity in Research"

...Basically, life should not be about being the smartest, but the one who encounters personal stupidity and figures out a way to solve it.  Genius, really.

Why Learn a Language?

Il faut dire plus? Mais non. :)

A Bit of Heaven on Earth

This Friday, my young single adult (YSA) student ward (church congregation) is putting on a Valentines' Day dance--kind of cheesy, I know, but it's great because everyone who decides to go has a date.  That is, those who don't already have a fiancé(e) or a boyfriend/girlfriend pick their top five people in the ward and are paired up by a machine.  Sounds funny and potentially weird, but I think it'll be fun and the guys are the ones in charge of asking us out once they know who their date is, so it makes us feel good to get asked!  That's beside the point anyway. 

You see, not all the girls have dresses to wear for this formal night, so our leaders put together a dress swap just for the dance.  I went, not expecting to find anything that would fit, but I actually found the perfect dress (and I am ridiculously excited about how well my date and I are going to match with silver and teal!).  Three of my roommates went, too, and it was all just so great to see these wonderful women I know offer to help zip each other up, offer clothes and hair accessories or offer whatever other services and compliments just to help another feel pretty.  One of the ladies heading up the swap sent an email this morning, expressing her gratitude: "So many of you have brought your roomies or neighbors down to the dress swap.  You have lent out ribbon, sewing skills, sleeves, cardigans, offered hair accesories and up-do services.  I have been so delighted to watch you make your friends queens and princesses!  I don't know how to explain that twinkle if everyone's eyes but I am pretty sure it is charity, as a result of each of your efforts to live the gospel of Jesus Christ and then receiving that pure love of Christ."  Like her, in that moment of seeing the excitement in the other girls' faces and seeing their service, I felt like we have our own little Zion here, our own little "heaven on earth".

Our Thoughts - Entertainment and Media Mormon Message

I am a Mormon and these are my friends. I'd say we're pretty normal people. :)

Beautiful Minds: Stephen Wiltshire

"All these gifts come from God, for the benefit of the children of God" (Doctrine and Covenants 46:26)

Les bonnes nouvelles sont réelles

Twice now I've woken up, incredulous that my life is real.  Seriously, I woke up, slightly disoriented and as I gathered my thoughts, quickly summing up who and where I am, I was inclined to think it's too good to be true, that this whole Europe business is a dream.  But then I remember that today I set a departure date and figured out a price estimate for flying into Paris and returning to the States from London, with traveling between France, Spain, Portugal, and England included.

Seriously, for me this is a modern-day miracle, considering all that has come together to bring me to where I am today and what is coming together to bring me to where I will soon be.  :)  And it gets better: I could easily end up by myself on a foreign, faraway continent, but it sounds like a good few of my friends, some family, and I just may be able to meet up and spend time together there!

I told a few of my professors today of my bonnes nouvelles, and their reactions were priceless!  My thesis advisor shook my hand, a committee member gave me a side hug and words of advice and congratulations, the graduate coordinator congratulated me, and my literature prof (who was the one who first put me in contact with the FLAS beca) pounded it with me.  Actually, unbeknownst to me, the graduate coordinator had been waiting to speak with my lit prof when I walked up and "cut in line."  I apologized to the grad coordinator, "Sorry, I didn't realize there was a line!  I just want to share my good news really quick!"

Soon, my lit prof piped up, "Let me guess: You got the scholarship.  You are going to Port-- no, France.  And you'll study in Paris."

"Toulouse, but yes.  How did you know??"

"You have been just so excited and I saw that special glint in your eyes."

When I thanked him for his help in my obtaining the scholarship, he modestly deferred the honor to me, saying that he just gave me information and then my own work and merit earned it for me.  He also highly recommended celebrating.  ;)

I am so grateful for friends who share my excitement, for professors who are wise, and for a Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers and never gives up on us--even when we do.

A Dream Come True

♫ A dream is a wish your heart makes…♫

What do you do when you find out that one of your biggest dreams is about to finally come true?  One that you’ve yearned for for years, but the timing was never quite right, but now you find that the time has finally come?  In all honesty, I’m nervous.  I feel like Rapunzel from Tangled, just before she sees the floating lights, lights she’s watched from afar for her entire life.  At the point of living her dream, she worries that the floating lights won’t be everything she’d imagined and that she won’t have anything to live for afterward.  To this, Flynn points out that it’s merely an opportunity to pursue a new dream.

Today I found out that I have been accepted for a Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) scholarship funded by the government to study In Europe this summer!  The reason why I feel Rapunzel-esque is that I’ve heard about my parents’ and brothers’ travels for church missions and whatnot and I know many, many people who have traveled in their lives, but the likelihood of my dream coming to fruition seemed as distant as the lights Rapunzel watched from her tower in the woods.  Whenever I found out that someone else I knew was going abroad, I would get jealous (though I have realized that I shouldn’t focus so much on myself and what I’m missing when I should be happy for them in the opportunities they enjoy).What’s more, I’ve been studying Spanish for a stinking 7-ish years, so I have often also felt a certain slight resentment/jealousy for the missionaries who pick it up in 18 months or 2 years, only to remind myself that I would be so scared to be thrown into a new language and culture as they are.  Besides, Heavenly Father blesses them to learn quickly.

At any rate, I’d hoped that I would one day make it to Europe, perhaps even to live there with my family one day.  Then again, it seemed like one of those dreams that was so grand that it bordered on larger-than-life.  I mean, I have tried to go for years, but each time I prayed about going, I did not have funding and the timing wasn’t right.  In retrospect, though, I can see how each denial was a step on my path leading me to where I am now: During my second year at university, I investigated a study abroad program, an internship abroad, and foreign language housing in my city.  Much to my chagrin, I felt prompted to go to the foreign language housing.  Consequently, I was able to develop my language skills and it was there that I decided to begin learning French and applied to graduate school; I’m not sure I would’ve done either had I not lived in that language environment.  Every once in a while, opportunities would arise, but they never seemed to fit with my plans.  Finally, this past October I finally felt  like God was saying, “Go ahead and plan to go next summer,” so that’s what I told my friends I wanted to do, despite not knowing if it really would happen, much less how.  

Then, about a month ago, my friend and colleague asked what my plans were for the future.  I couldn’t give him much of an answer.  Aside from finishing this semester and eventually MA, I didn’t know what I’d be doing in the near future.  I took the matter to heart, prayed about it, and felt like I should talk to my professors about programs and funding.  To make this long story a bit shorter, my literature professor helped my get in contact with the FLAS people and they accepted my application even though the deadline was the week before.  Because Spanish is not one of the languages funded by the program, I chose to go with French for six weeks for the language program, which is only available to graduate students, and then visit Spain for my own benefit.  This way, I can, in time, do comparative studies between Old Spanish and Old French.

I still have a lot to figure out with regards to particulars, but I think my dream is within grasp at last.  What continually amazes me is the foresight of God in helping guide the direction of our lives.  He respects our agency and will never force our hand, but he lovingly provides mentors and guidance as we progress in this life.  I especially love knowing that he knows me and how much I’ve yearned for such a chance as this.  France and Spain, here I come!  À plus!

God's hand

So, this semester has been crazy for me.  No, it hasn't been as hardcore as last semester, but I can't for the life of me get caught up on my medieval Spanish lit class.  At any rate, I haven't been very good at getting sleep this semester.  As a result, I woke up a bit late today.  Thankfully, I have wonderful roommates and convivimos quite amablemente.  As I spoke with one while getting ready this morning, I realized I was running late for class.  "It would be nice if someone would offer me a ride to school.  Meh, I need to walk and get exercise, so whatevs."  I left the apartment late, realizing that the odds were that I'd make it to class a few minutes late, but I'd deal.  Well, as I crossed at an intersection, I heard someone call my name, offering me a ride!  I know it's simple, but it was most assuredly a reminder to me that Heavenly Father knows me and hears my silent prayers.  

 Hehe, and it turned out that I still got a bit of a workout because I had to climb the massive stairs from the campus parking lot up to main campus, while making to class just on time.  Perfect.  And the day just got better.  Shoot, I even got in a mini siesta!

 Oh, yeah, another blessing: I enjoyed Valentine's Day boyfriendless!  (You'd think I'd be used to is by now, but...no.)  I was making quite a point of being a bah humbug in the true sense of the phrase, but I remembered some advice my mom gave me last year when I was acting the same way.  She told me to serve others and make it enjoyable for them. To follow her advice, I made peanut butter cookies to give away and I bought chocolates for my students.  Later, for Family Home Evening (FHE), I bought  SweetTart hearts for us to use in writing messages for absent group members.  

To my delight, I came home to daisies on my bed and a Little Mermaid valentine!  To end the day even more happily, my brother and his fiancée came over, bearing gifts of chocolate-covered strawberries, mini roses por parte de mis padres, and a book entitled, "A Certain Je ne Sais Quoi:The Origin of English Words Used in English."  My family sure knows me well and loves me!

Día de San Valentín

...AKA Síngle Awareness Day or Día de Amor y Amistad. Either way, I love my student's oso de peluche and appreciate the hombre guapo para mí. :D It is already more than I was expecting!

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Typos

I'm a linguist. I naturally sit and analyze what people say to assess grammatical correctness. Go figure I leave typos and unexplained nonsequitors in my posts. Thank you, Sister, for pointing out my errors in my last post so I can save face for whomever actually will end up reading this. ;)

Grab-bag madness

I find it interesting how differently I act when unbelievable gangas are on the line. Seriously, once a limited supply of free or practically free goods are on the line--food, clothes, you name it--everyone goes CRAZY. One minute, I go from being a normal Christian to being a ravenous, deal-hungry animal. In the crazed stampede, everyone loses their humanity and, in turn, deprives others of theirs. In an instant, theirs is just another face, another chance to lose an all too ephemeral "deal." Really, though, what kind of deal is it when I dehumanize others? Is it worth it? Perhaps monetarily, but it is emotionally draining! Interesting...Come to think of it, dehumanization of others drains my spirit, whilst serving those very same people rejuvenates me.

I bring this up because this morning two friends and I went to a consignment clothing store that was advertising a sale where you stuff a bag as full as possible and only pay $10. In a place where everyone is notoriously late, our arrival ten minutes before opening was remarkable. But as suspected, there was already a line. Just before opening, the store employees gave a brief instruction as to how the sale worked. We soon became enveloped in a clearance article frenzy and by the time my friends and I reached the clearance racks, almost everything was picked clean.

We combined everything into one bag and managed to find satisfactory items, finally making it into line. And then we waited. Just as we neared the front counter, we realized the line serpentined, looping around another clothing rack. After more than an hour of waiting and two and a half hours after arriving, we reached the finish line. "You would've spent $98 on this purchase if it weren't for the sale," the cashier told us. Somehow, that satisfaction of having saved money we wouldn't have even spent it there hadn't been a sale wasn't quite enough to make up for the pushing, bumping, and general malhumor. Yes, we poor students came away victorious with a great deal on clothing and succeeded in not letting that unhappy, sneaky skinny girl (note how rude my thoughts became) cut us after we'd been in line for an hour, but to what end?!

Order, clarity, and a bit more consideration for others rather than selfishness for self would've made it much more pleasant. This morning's grueling ordeal made me think of a book I read once, Leadership and Self-Deception. In it, the author discusses human relationships and how we generally have a gut instinct to help others, but we often ignore that inner goodness and start dehumanizing and emphasize all their perceived flaws. We justify our "self-betrayal," the betrayal of our shared humanity and goodness. There were some kind people at the store, and they were more likely to be kind and mutually helpful when I spoke with and looked at them. In that moment, we ceased to be competitors and became teammates joined in a common goal. It's just too bad freebie experiences aren't by nature that friendly. I, for one, know that I am more forgiving of others and less judgmental when I talk to them and realize yet again that they, like me, have problems and hard times, but they have strengths and good times, too. We're all human. Huh, fancy that novel concept.

Bon giorno, bonjour, buenos días

Considering that this is my first ever post on my own blog, I feel like I need to say something epic...Really, that title probably makes me sound more cultured or language savvy than I am, but it truly is a goal of mine to learn the major Romance languages in my lifetime. Considering my age and that I already know Spanish and some French, I think I'm at least on my way. :D