Everyday Heroes

Mitt Romney spoke in a forum today on BYU campus. While I didn't attend in person, I did watch most of his speech online. He talked about everyday heroes that he encountered during his campaign.
For example,

"At one of my first speeches in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the applause from the audience was instigated by someone with a loud, piercing shout. "Isn't he wonderful?" she would yell. Or, "we love you, Mitt!" "You're the best!" I can assure you, I was as pleased as I was startled.

After my remarks, a delightful middle aged woman named Joni Scotter made her way to the small stage and threw her arms around me. This was the first time I met Joni, but it was far from the last. Over the campaign years, I have seen Joni dozens of times. She drives to wherever I may be in eastern Iowa. And at every speech, her enthusiastic squeals of support energize both me and the audience. She is my hero." 

For the full text of his speech, click here.

What did I learn from these remarks? To be grateful for the everyday heroes in my life, particularly those who read my blog. You are my heroes. Thank you for your support and interest in my life.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

New President at BYU

My Thoughts from President Worthen's Inauguration:

I think it's awesome that our new president is a BYU Law alumni and former dean of the law school! It was so neat that the inauguration medallion has a picture of the law school with Y mountain in the background. While I realize that this doesn't make the law school any more important than main campus, it's nice to feel more integrated. I greatly appreciated President Worthen's remarks- as he promised, they were brief, but compelling.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

January Devotionals

There have been 3 devotional addresses this month:
"Why we do some of the things we do" -Pres and Sister Samuelson
The best part of this talk was when the Samuelsons explained why things have been changing so much with BYUTV programs. They explained how BYUTV has become a missionary tool through programs such as Studio C, the Story Trek, and American Ride. I thought that this was a great insight into why certain things happen at BYU.
See full news article here.


"And with all thy getting, get understanding" -Bishop Stevenson
The most memorable portion of this talk was a detailed story about Lucy Mack Smith and her journey with the Saints to the west. They were stuck on a ferry on the riverbank, as the river had iced over. Sister Smith leaned on the Lord's understanding and was patient as they weathered this trial. Within a few days, the ice broke long enough for their one boat to miraculously cross the river.
I also liked his opening line where he talked about all the things we may be 'getting': a car, an apartment, a job, etc. But how it is important through life to gain understanding.
See the full news article here.


"Courage + Action + Grace= Healing" -- Jonathan Sandberg
The part of his talk that I liked the most is when he told a story about a colleague who told him that he was two-faced. His colleague expressed that the felt Mr. Sandberg would follow the crowd more than his own personal convictions. Mr. Sandberg expressed how much this criticism hurt, but how through acting in courage and not following the crowd let to healing.
See the full news article here.


Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Statistics

The BYU devotional today was by a Statistics professor. There were two things I'd like to comment on from his remarks.

1. He shared a story about how he and his wife were trying to make a decision and after much deliberation, they decided to flip a coin because their pros and cons lists were equal. After they flipped the coin, it ended up standing straight, and not landing on either side. They had agreed just to flip it once, so they decided it was a sign that they should continue to study out their decision and pray more. I enjoyed this message because I've come to a crossroads as well: to graduate early, or not? So far, it seems like my pros and cons list are about the same length and I could decide with the flip of a coin. But deep down, I know that I too should wait for further instruction and insight as I continue to study my decision out.

2. He also shared stories about "surface judgements." We all have a tendency to judge others (be it for good or bad) on their surface level, before we get to know them well.  The most common example is judging that someone is a bad person because of their appearance or habits. A lesser known example that he shared was when we judge that someone has a "perfect life" or that they don't need help because of their appearance or habits. Maybe this person is cheerful all of the time. Maybe they seem to have success wherever they turn. But when you look deeper, they have problems just like everyone else. I agree with his analysis- I feel that too often, we withhold helping others because we assume that they "have everything under control" or "they don't need it." When in reality, if we dug deeper, we might often find that these people need more help than we realize.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

A Laugh a Day Keeps the Troubles Away

At the first devotional of the year:

Sister Samuelson talked about the value of laughter. “The ability to not take one too seriously and use humor in times of mistakes, small and accidental incidents, and stressful situations can help alleviate embarrassment, fear and even discouragement in circumstances."

This devotional was well-timed, given the experience I had later on in the day. I was going to get a new driver's license (since my name changed and all). I figured out where to go, and drove there straight from school as to not waste time. I got there in record time. There was no wait, and I filled out my paperwork quickly. I was feeling quite cheerful for getting all this done in less than a half hour, until I noticed the following sign: "Before you come to the desk, you need: your birth certificate, old driver's license, new social security card, and two proofs of your current address." Since I didn't need to bring my birth certificate to get a social security card, I has assumed that I also didn't need to bring it to get my license. Angry at myself, (as I had thought to bring all the documents that morning but had to decided not to) I had to take an hour long detour through Provo construction to pick up something that would have taken seconds if I had been prepared.

Have you seen the movie Despicable Me 2? There's this great scene where Gru is feeling happy and he skips to work, pausing to play in street band, participate in yoga at the park, throw a wayward frisbee back to its owners, etc. 

Then he finds out some terrible news that ruins his mood and he ends up walking back with storm clouds over his head, kicking instruments from the street band aside, pushing yoga women out of his way, and throwing a wayward frisbee down the gutter drain. 

While I did not do any of those things, I did have to laugh at the similarity of my mood swing with Gru's. And then I remembered the devotional earlier that day. Even though I was annoyed, I couldn't help but see the humor of the situation. 

Everything worked out (as it usually does) and I thankfully did not have to travel across town again for another forgotten item. 

Rhetorically,

Rebekah