[10] Drinking and Driving

The title drinking and driving may have caught your attention and filled your mind with thoughts of car crashes and alcohol, but don't worry, this is not the case for this entry. 

So the other day I was with a friend and we had gone to the store to pick up some supplies for a bonfire and some food and drinks. After getting what we needed we headed back in the car and were on the road to the mountains to meet everyone else. For some reason the store shelves had not been restocked and instead of being able to get water bottles for everyone we had grabbed jugs of water because all other water containers were currently out. On the drive there I decided I was pretty thirsty and opened up a jug to drink out of. Right as I was mid drink my friend slammed on the breaks and sent the entire contents of the water gallon in my face, over my head, and down my front leaving me sopping wet for the rest of the night. 

Moral of the story is, don't drink and drive kids. (Or don't trust your friends while you take a drink. You can pick.)

[9] A Sister Missionary Challenge

My younger sister is currently serving in the Helsinki Finland mission. She left 5 months ago and has been loving every second. I am so proud of her and the work that she is doing, come to think of it I am so proud of all the missionaries out there and the work they all have done. It has been amazing to read her stories and hear about the power of the spirit influencing the lives of the Finnish people.
I think it is so great that our church makes such an effort to spread it's message to everyone everywhere. The gospel is such a blessing in all of our lives and brings us all so much joy that it just makes sense that we would want to spread and share it with the world.
I pass along her challenge to share the gospel or your testimony with a non member this week, or if you are a non member reading this, to find some missionaries because they would love to share their with you. Whichever category you fall under, you won't regret it! It's a great message and should be shared!

[8] Oh the places you'll go!

I have had the fortunate opportunity to travel all over the world and experience the different cultures in each place. As different as they all were there was one thing that remained the same on each continent, the Church of Jesus Christ and it's gospel.
No matter where I was, whether it be Norway, Egypt, Israel, Korea, or Mexico the teachings of the church remained constant. Whether it was a large ward, or a small branch the Spirit of the Lord was present. It is amazing that the restoration of the gospel has been so widespread and that people all over the world have the opportunity to hear the teachings of Christ. I am so grateful for missionaries and the work that they do. They are the servants of the Lord and superstars to the many they teach.
As we all go about our regular everyday lives we should be looking for opportunities to serve and have missionary moments because we never know who might be listening and how much of an impact it can make.

[7] Eat your Greens.

Last semester I took an anatomy class, which has been my favorite class since attending BYU. I loved studying the bones and muscles and seeing how they all were interconnected on the cadavers. It was amazing to see all the thought and detail Heavenly Father put into making us. And because we were created in his image it allows us to know him better by understanding not only how our own bodies function, but how His does as well.
There are so many contributing factors to keeping the bodies we were given healthy, major ones being exercise and diet. As we near Valentines Day, a major candy holiday, I encourage all of you to remember to take care by not eating too many sweets from your many admirers, but to throw some green and leafy things into your holiday meal as well! Happy Holidays!

[6] Torture

So I am one of 6 kids; 5 girls and 1 boy. Three of us have been, or are currently attending, BYU students, and the other 3 are in elementary/high school in South Korea. Recently my youngest sister and I have been emailing back and forth and the subject of school came up. I told her about my classes and what I thought about them and then asked her about her schooling. She replied, "I get dragged out to school everyday. I call it torture instead of school because they force me to do work against my will." Her reply made me laugh because I tried to remember the hardships of being in elementary school and thought it silly that a few in class and homework assignments could produce such a dramatic reaction. That was until I remembered me laying upside down on the couch the other day moping to my roommate about how I still had so many blog entries to write and I suddenly felt sympathetic. I'm not saying these blog posts are torture by any means, they have actually been relatively fun to write! That being said they still are homework assignments that need to be done.

So here's to all of you for pushing through the blog post assignment! We are nearing mid-semester and have made it about half way through our posts! I applaud all of you hard workers, and good luck with the rest!

[5] To Stop and Smell the Roses

So I passed by another quote this week and you lucky people get to hear about it!

So recently I have been running a lot. It started out with just leisurely jogs with a friend but has turned into marathon training because it gave such a high. After one of these run's I decided to post an instagram picture (because why exercise if it's not going to be posted online? Hah, kidding.) and wanted a running quote to go with it. The quote I landed on was "Go fast enough to get there, but slow enough to see." (by Jimmy Buffet)
We all have so much going on in our lives, with school, work, friends, and blog posts, it can get quite overwhelming. Time seems to speed away while we focus on getting things done. What this quote helped me realize is that it's okay for us to focus and move forward with all these things, because they are important, but we need to remember to slow down enough to enjoy the moments that we might sometimes speed past. So remember while your working hard and pushing forward to 'stop and smell the roses' per say, and to have fun while doing it.

[4] "To Flood the Earth" - Elder Bednar

In my Writing 150 class we were told to write about two talks Elder David Bednar gave about the internet, so here it is.

In his talks, Things As They Really Are and To Flood the Earth, Elder Bednar talks about the pros and cons of the internet and how to use it as a force for good. In Things As They Really Are he discusses the importance of knowing the dangers that the internet offers. He explains how easily it can being to control our lives and effect things that really matter. He encouraged us to not miss out on the things in life that online time can replace. He talked about how we all have real bodies in this life and should not throw it aside to focus more on a virtual one. This message he gave is an important one because we live in a world overcome with technology and the time and energy spent online grows with every passing day, so it is important to remember who we are and what is truly important.

That first talk paved the way for Elder Bednar's second talk To Flood the Earth. In this talk Elder Bednar switches gears and talks about how because the internet is an ever growing power we must embrace it with good. Because there are so many bad things out there he encourages us to flood the earth with uplifting things and to use it as a tool to spread the gospel. He explains how it can be a great missionary tool to reach those who otherwise would not receive those messages.

The first speech was geared more toward the younger generation because they were the ones who were being most effected by the ever growing change in internet usage. The second talk is more geared to everyone because now everyone is online and the more that know to uplift the internet the more good it will do. Both talks are very important and very relevant to today's world. We all need to be wary of the dangers the internet can bring, but understand the importance and effectiveness of flooding it with good.

[3] I Know Nothing.

      I came across a quote this week that caught my attention. It was “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.” 
This, as I am sure many of you know, is a quote by Socrates. Socrates is a world renowned philosopher, and considered a very intelligent man. For him to say that the one thing he does know is that he knows nothing means a lot. As I thought more about this I thought about my own life. All of us at BYU are here to learn, to expand our knowledge, just as Socrates did a long time ago. The difference between him and us is that we have the gospel in our lives, so when we say we only know one thing, it isn't nothing. We know all about the gospel of Jesus Christ and His plan for us, and what a blessing that is! Not only to know something that Socrates did not, but to have the light in our lives that the gospel gives us. We all have a testimony of the gospel and can firmly say that we know it is true. I am so grateful to be surrounded by so many others that share that knowledge and belief. 

[2] "If we are to live together in peace, we must come to know each other better." - Lyndon Johnson

Here's a little about me. I'm a 21 year old sophomore at BYU studying biology (because science is awesome). I moved from Belgium and miss it greatly. I'm american however because my Dad is a doctor in the Army I have lived my life in Europe since kindergarten. My family moved to South Korea right after I graduated and I've had the opportunity of visiting them every Christmas. I love traveling the world and spending time with my family and friends. I love sports, doing anything outdoors, chemistry jokes/pick up lines, and fruit. I am incredibly quiet, which I don't necessary like about myself, but I enjoy listening to others so it all works out. My guilty pleasure is Lord of the Rings, and could watch it for days. When I was little I was always torn between becoming an astronaut or paleontologist. My question in life is "where do kiwis come from" because they don't seem like a plant that grows on trees, vines, in the ground or on a bush. I know I could easily look up the answer to this but I like the mystery of not knowing. Lastly, I'm a Mormon and I love it.

So that's a bit about me. I'm excited to read everyone else's blogs to get to know the great people of Writing 150 better as well!

[1] To Start a Blog.

Hey everyone! To start off for those of you that don't know me my name is Cathy. I have never created a blog before and do not know the slightest thing about blogs (as my only experience with them is reading my missionary sister's updates on her blog that my mom sends me a direct link to). I'm not quite sure I look forward to becoming an avid poster, partly because I am not the best at writing, but mostly I have just never been a huge fan of blogs. I don't know what it is about them except that they have just never seemed enticing, so I have generally steered clear, but that is all about to change.
 I have been given the assignment of writing and keeping up with a blog for my writing 150 class. I'm not the most excited about this but I except the challenge and will try to make it a positive experience. We all know things are only as fun as we make them. So here I am, about to start the thrilling journey of becoming a blogger.  Hope it makes for a good read!