The Sunday Post - Issue #18

I was late to church again.  Hooray.

I almost decided to not go to church today.  Even though I know I was going to be pretty late, when I got out of the shower I, for some reason, just started getting dressed for church.  I haven't missed a day of church for about a year now.  I couldn't break that streak now.  I'm not saying that was the final reasoning I decided to go to church.  It just felt like I should go even though I ended up not really contributing to any of the meetings in any way.

So, when I first got to church, I walked through the gym so I could get a seat on the less crowded side of the chapel.  Upon entering the gym, which was quite dark, I saw two girls in the southeast corner sitting on the floor looking at stuff on their phones, and sitting in the northeast corner was a couple who were talking and kissing.  All I could think was: "Really?  I mean, come on, seriously?".  This is church.  We come here for the sacrament and to be edified in the teachings of the gospel and to be spiritually fed.  We don't come to church to skip our meetings to converse with a friend or to kiss the person we are dating.  There is plenty of time to do that elsewhere.

In sacrament, I noticed a new girl in our ward.  I knew that she was new for sure due to her blue sheet she handed our bishopric that signifies you are a new member to our ward.  She is pretty cute.  :)  We'll see what happens, stay tuned.

Time to get a little more serious here.  Lately I have been feeling like not getting up and going to church, but I do anyway.  The best way I can describe it would be like this:  I'm on a giant set of stairs that seems endless.  Kind of resembling like and my progression in the gospel, my faith and conversion if you will, even just life in general.  Now, the stairs are not small steps that you can easily climb, they are bigger and take a stride or two, or more, to get across.  The way I feel is that the steps behind me are crumbling, they are the past but also just the bad things in life, darkness and whatnot.  I feel like I barely have time to get to the next step just as the one I'm on is crumbling as I leave it.  I feel like I am that close to failing and falling into the darkness.  All I can say is that it doesn't feel good.

Anyway, even though I'm friendly and know most people in our ward I'm still more of a lone wolf.  This guy named Josh, who just came back from his mission, has been sitting next to me and always talks to me.  You can tell that he genuinely cares and it is quite refreshing because there are far too many who don't.  Props to Josh.

The sisters in the ward are doing a Book of Mormon reading challenge which was brought up in elder's quorum.  So I guess its now a ward thing.  Josh and I shook hands on accepting the challenge together.  The challenge started today and ends March 2nd, to read the whole book.

Random thing I just remembered, we were reminded that next week is Linger Longer, a Valentine themed one at that.  Which made me think of Valentine's Day and all the crap that it's about.  That's right I said it.  It's just another scam of a day to market a bunch of junk and overpriced flowers/roses to any sucker who will partake of this holiday.  If I was married/engaged/dating someone, I would, of course take them out on a date on Valentine's Day.  I might, MIGHT, buy them flowers/roses or something as well.  But I still think it's all bunk.  I would be treating my wife/fiancee/girlfriend right all the time, not just when this silly "holiday" comes around.  She would be my special somebody all the time, my best friend.  I don't need a holiday to treat her like that, to show her, or know what she means to me.  Also, it doesn't help that I'm usually single when this day rolls around each year.  Not bitter really, just more of an annoyance if anything.

Quote of the Day(Courage):

"My young friends, be strong. . . . You know what is right and what is wrong, and no disguise, however appealing, can change that [truth]. If your so-called friends urge you to do anything you know to be wrong, you be the one to make a stand for right, even if you stand alone."  -  Thomas S. Monson, Video Presentation: I Have a Purpose, Ensign, May 2010, 124.