I Hope This Answers Your Questions

A couple of days ago a friend of mine who graduated from high school last Thursday asked me a question. I am not going to name this person because I am not sure how much they want every one to know who they are. It took me a few days to formulate a coherent response and as I was writing it down yesterday I thought that it was something that multiple people could benefit from.  The question actually has multiple parts so I will answer it in multiple sections. To the person that asked me this question I hope that this is the response that you were looking for. The question was and is

“What am I doing wrong? Why is it that all of these people who do drugs and get drunk every weekend have good jobs right out of high school and even while they are still in high school? Why do I not have everything that you have? You are one of the most successful people I know that graduated last year and I want to be as happy and as thriving that you are. I want to move out of state but my parents wont pay for it. I have always tried to get good grades and do the best I can but the best just seems to not be good enough. Why is life so easy for some people but so hard for others?”

Let me start by saying that I am in no way qualified to answer this question and anything I say is my own opinion and not fact. If your opinion differs from mine then that is fine and you are entitled to that opinion. With that out of the way I would like to address the last part of this loaded paragraph of questions. Specifically the part that says “You are one of the most successful people I know that graduated last year and I want to be as happy and as thriving that you are. I want to move out of state but my parents wont pay for it. I have always tried to get good grades and do the best I can but the best just seems to not be good enough. Why is life so easy for some people but so hard for others?” Now, this may not be the way that it was meant and if it is not please forgive me for my poor judgment. Please understand that my life is no way easy. I struggle every day. Yes, life is easy for some people. Those are the lucky people, but remember that those people too, have things that they are struggling with and neither you nor I know what those things are. I appreciate the compliment so thank you for that but I would have you know that you will probably not like the next thing I am going to say. It is not your parents responsibility to pay for your life. Your parents gave you a life until you gradutated high school. They gave you a place to live, they put clothes on your back, they put food in your mouth, and the put all of those fancy un necessary things that you have in your hands. That car you drive, that phone you use to text people how much your parents “just don’t understand you”, and all of the countless other things that you have, your parents gave you that. You did not earn those things. They gave you the first few because that is what parents are supposed to do. When your mother and father decided to have a family they knew that they were going to have to give you a place to sleep and food to eat and clothes to wear, however, what they were painfully unaware of if how entitled you would turn out to be. I promise that I am not aiming this at one specific person, so please do not take it that way. I too, was entitled. If I didn’t get everything I wanted I would throw a fit and pout until I got it. I did not grow up wealthy, in fact I grew up rather poor, but you should know that I never went without everything that I ever asked for. A car when I turned 16, a new phone every 2 years from the time  I was in 5^th grade, money for gas, food, and whatever else my blind and greedy little eyes thought that I needed. Now, back to what I was saying before, YOUR PARENTS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE TO PAY FOR YOUR LIFE AFTER YOU MOVE OUT. If you want to move out of state then do it. It was honestly the best decision I ever made, but please, please, please do not count on your folks to pay your rent and buy you everything. Never in your life should you say, “I want to do blank but my parents won’t pay for it.” Okay, so? Get a job. A real job. It is not going to be easy and at times, yes, you will need help and that is okay. Nobody expects you to be perfect and to be able to do it all on your own right off the bat, but what they do expect is that you try to do it on your own. There have been plenty of times since I moved out that I have had to ask for help financially and I am not embarrassed of that because I have done my best. I make my rent, my car payment, my car insurance, I buy my groceries, my gas, and everything else that I have. My grandparents still pay my phone bill and that is something that I am very grateful for.

Yes, I am happy. I am the happiest I have ever been, and yes, I am thriving, but that did not come without work. Happiness takes work. Do you really think that I would be happy if I was living under the bridge on university ave and eating food out of the dumpsters behind Wal-Mart? Well let me answer that for you, no, I wouldn’t be. Happiness takes hard work. Getting good grades through high school is awesome. I am proud of you. I really am, because the Lord knows that I could have done so much better in high school, but let me tell you something. Having good grades does not mean that you have common sense. It is hard for some people to swallow, but grades are not all that matter in life. Like you said, life is hard for most people. Most people are not born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Most people do not get to inherit their daddies law firm and billion dollars. Most peoples do not have a career just handed to them. Most people have to work their butts off to get it. Sure, there are those people who have that aspect of life easy, but just remember that they too have something they struggle with.

Now, for the first part of this question.

What am I doing wrong? Why is it that all of these people who do drugs and get drunk every weekend have good jobs right out of high school and even while they are still in high school? Why do I not have everything that you have? You are not doing anything wrong. You graduated high school literally a week ago. You do not need to have your whole life figured out. Go out, have fun, party, do all the things that you wont ever be able to do again after you become an adult. You are smart, you are going to go places in life, if you put forth the effort necessary.

As for the drug users having decent paying jobs while they are still in high school, I don’t have an answer for that. People do what they want to, they always will and sometimes life is not fair. I promise you that it will catch up to them eventually though, and when it does it is going to bite them right in the but. I have talked to many people who were just like them when they were younger and while it took  a while it did finally catch up to them.

Next, you may want everything that I have that you can see, but I promise you with everything in my soul that you do not want the struggles that I have had to deal with my whole life. I hide a lot. I don’t really show emotion. I have never been really good at expressing my feelings and that is something that I am working on, but I promise you that there is way more there than meets the eye, but with that being said you should know that I am happy. Also, I worked hard for what I have. The main thing that comes to mind is my car. I love her. Her name is Chloe, and she is my prized possession. It drives me crazy when people accuse me of having gotten her from my parents. I work so that I can pay my car payment and insurance and have gas. If you want to have things, you need to work for them. My life isn’t easy and neither is yours. We did not grow up and a privileged area. The life we lived while growing up is something that when you tell people about it they will look at you like you are crazy and think that Texas is the scariest place on earth. Most people that you will meet will think that we lived a rough life. A life that is scary and dangerous, when in reality we lived in a relatively safe area. It may have been dangerous at times and by that I mean at night on the wrong side of town, but we survived. You survived. Now what you need to do, is stop wishing on stars and start working. Work hard for what you want and I promise that you will get it. I also promise that it will be hard, it will be a struggle and you will want to quite and give up, but I guarantee that it will be worth it.

You are strong and you can do it, and I will always be here for you. 

I hope that this answers your question. 

Well... I just cried a river.

When I decided to write a blog today at first I had no idea what I was going to write about, but then I remembered back to ward prayer on Sunday and I knew exactly what I need to say. I am probably going to cry as I write this. These past 9 months have gone by so incredibly fast. This year I have met the most amazing people. Tomorrow, some of those people are moving out of Village and I wont see them again for a while. In fact, one of them left today. A lot of the time I don’t actually tell people exactly how much they mean to me, it is something that I need to work on.

Today, my friend Trevor moved back to Vernal. Trevor is a strange cookie, but I love the kid to death. Making him uncomfortable every time I saw him was always fun. Trevor is a good guy and he deserves the best in life. He is kind of shy, but he has the most amazing personality once you get him to open up. So, Trevor, you should know that you mean the world to me and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to get to know you this year. Also, you should know that we will go camping in Vernal this summer. Okay? Okay.

Tomorrow, Josh, Stockton, Rachelle, Brea, and Austyn are all moving out. I am going to miss all of these people so much. I have honestly never cared about someone as much as I care about these people. In high school and such, I had friends and I liked them, but I seriously love these people with all my heart. I would take a bullet for any of them any day.

I want to like write a paragraph about all of them but it may be cheesy… oh well.

Josh is seriously one of the most genuine people I have ever met. I knew that we would be really close the day I first met him and I farted in front of him and he just laughed. Josh is moving to St. George and I am going to miss him so much! I feel like I can tell him anything and he will never judge me for it. Actually, he makes some smart mouth remark about it that is hilarious and makes me forget all about it. Joshy, the last blog I wrote about you was not the nicest but I love you so much! You are great and I am so glad I met you.

Stockton, I don’t even know where to start. Stockton and Josh are kind of a package deal. If you want one the other just kind of comes with.  I am not saying that is a bad thing. These are the only pictures that I have of Stockton. Strange..Stockton is awesome. He means a lot to me. I have had so many little advice sessions with him and he always knows what to say to make me feel better. I am so grateful that I met him. He was so awkward around girls when I first met him because he had only been home from his mission for oh…. A few days. I remember he sat on the opposite end of the couch with his knees tucked to his chest and I sat on the other end. Once he became less awkward he is one of the funniest, most caring, genuine, awesome people that I have ever met. Stockton, I know you say you wont be here for my farewell but you should know that you really do have to come and that you are very important to me.

I met Austyn on the very first day that I moved into Village. I knew instantly that I wanted to be his friend. We were very close for the fist little while and then we kind of drifted apart. Recently-ish we started hanging out again. Austyn is like a brother to me. He means everything to me. I have never felt like he was judging me, even when I was at his apartment in October at 2 in the morning crying my eyes out he just sat there and listened to me. He has always been there for me if I needed anything since August. Austyn is an amazing guy and he deserves the best life. He will be married when I get home from my mission for sure, and all I have to say about that is that she is going to have to be one special lady to be deserving of him. Austyn, I want you to know how much you mean to me and I would do anything for you.

I just recently started hanging out with Brea. We have this strange bond because we are both going on a mission, but I have grown so close to her in such a short amount of time. I feel like I can share anything with her. I know I have said that about all of these people and it is true, but Brea is a special person. I have never heard her say anything negative about anyone. She is seriously one of the nicest people I have ever met. We have the best times when we are together and I know there will never be a time when we are not friends. She lights up from within with the light of the gospel and she is going to kill it as a missionary in Mongolia. I have no doubt that she will change lives because she has already changed mine for the better. Brea, you are an amazing person, and never ever let anyone tell you any different. Your friendship means more to me than you will ever know. I love you!

Okay… so I saved Rachelle for last because this is going to be the longest for sure. I love Rachelle more than I love most people. There are very few people who have made as big of an impact on my life as Ro has. She is crazy, outgoing, loud, and perfect. I don’t understand how anyone could ever dislike her. I live with Ro and I can’t imagine what it would be like had we not been roommates. I would be a completely different person. Sometimes I do things, and I will notice or other people will notice that it is something Rachelle would do. (I am crying at this point by the way.) I never thought that I could become so close to someone in such a short amount of time. I have never met anyone quite like Rachelle. She is a very interesting person and if anyone ever hurt her or even thought about hurting her I would not be very happy… and neither would they. Ro, you should know that I love you sooooo much and you mean more to me than you think you do. You have had kind of a rough time this year and I am so happy that you are happy. You deserve to be happy. You deserve the very best. I would take a bullet for you any day. If you ever need a kidney, just let me know. I don’t know why I am so upset because I am going to see you again, but I just feel so sad. If I had a sister I couldn’t imagine caring about her any more than I care about you.

So I know that this is the cheesiest blog post I have ever written but in all honesty these past 9 months with these people have gone by way to fast. I have made so many more lifetime friends but I know that I will see them more often than I see these people. My life is in Utah now. They say home is where the heart is, and if that is the case then Utah is my home. I would rather be here than anywhere else. I am so incredibly blessed to know these people and I know that they will be my friends forever.

THE END

The First Day of the Best Weekend in 6 Months

I have been thinking for the past couple of days about writing a blog but I just didn’t have anything to write about. Today was the start of General Conference. General Conference happens every 6 months and it is when the entire 15 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints come together to listen to the leaders of our church. We receive council and advice from them. They teach us how to be better people. Today I had the amazing opportunity to attend conference in person at the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City. It was an amazing experience. As we were walking up to the Conference Center and as we were leaving there were so many protesters outside calling all of us to repent. What I noticed was that they were angry at us, but I did not see one person say anything rude back to them. Nobody yelled at them, nobody argued with them, in fact some even stopped to listen to what these people had to say. I saw so many members of the church who just looked like they felt bad for these people, and in fact, I myself couldn’t help but feel a slight tinge of sadness for these people. There is however one thing that I would like to address. First you should know a little bit about what we believe. We believe that there is a living prophet on the earth today and that there always will be. A lot of people disagree with this and make statements saying that we have a false prophet. To those people I would pose the question, if Christ is as unchanging as he says he is and is stated in Hebrews 13:8 “ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever” then wouldn’t it make logical since that his church be the same? If there were prophets and apostles when Christ was alive and even before that then why would we now not have that? Christ loves all of his children the same. He did not love the people of biblical times more than he loves us. He saved us for the last days because we are his strongest soldiers. He would not leave us here without someone to guide us in the right direction back to him. What would make one think that one day Christ would just decide that “No more. No more revelation, no more direction. I’ve changed my mind and they can do it on their own.”? Christ’s atoning sacrifice had to happen for that specific reason. We can’t do it on our own. Making our way back to our Heavenly Father is something that we need help with. We all make mistakes, but that is why Christ suffered, so that we can still return to live with him after we die. Now obviously we don’t just get to do whatever we want. If you mess up you have to repent. Repentance is what gives us power to access the atonement. So the way that our church is set up is that we have a Prophet. Thomas S. Monson is the prophet today and he will be until he dies.

 Being the prophet is not something that is voted upon by a group of people but rather a calling from Christ. Everyone just sort of knows who the next prophet is going to be. It is divine revelation. Underneath the prophet are his 2 counselors. Underneath those 3 there is the quorum of the 12 Apostles.

 This structure comes from the New Testament. The book of Acts to be exact. Just as there were 12 apostles then there are 12 apostles now. Also, in Ephesians 2:19-20 it talks about how we are not strangers. We are all one. We are brothers and sisters. Christ’s church was built around prophets and apostles with Jesus Christ himself being the cornerstone. Faith in God the Eternal Father and in his son Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost is the first article of faith. The articles of faith basically explain in a nutshell what we believe. In fact number 6 reads, “We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.” If you want to read the rest of them you can find them here. 

There is one more thing that I would like to address tonight. It is a rather simple one I think. These protestors were also shouting that we are all damned to hell. I would have to politely disagree. I have a testimony of this gospel. It is Christ’s gospel. It is the true church. But lets just say for arguments sake that it is not. Lets say that Joseph Smith was wrong and we are all wrong. I highly doubt that that would send us all to hell. Latter Day Saints are some of the most Christian Christians there are. There is nothing in our religion that teaches anything but love, hope, charity, compassion, service, or any other good thing. Never are we taught to treat people bad, to do bad things, to treat our bodies bad, or anything else that would not be in line with any other Christians moral beliefs. Sure we may have higher moral standards than some people but I don’t think that is anything to be frowned upon. I highly doubt that when it comes to judgment day I am going to be standing next to a person of a different Christian faith and Christ is going to say to me, “ You know Brooke, you did a lot of good things, but you were just too pure. You didn’t have to do all of those things you did. You didn’t have to save yourself for marriage, you didn’t have to be modest, you didn’t have to refrain from drinking alcohol, and since you didn’t do any of those things, you get to spend eternity in hell.” I find it hard to believe that living by the gospel standards is going to sentence me to a life of misery. Even if the church is wrong, which I will never believe that it is, I think that we will all be just fine.

Even if you are not a member of the church, or if you are a member but you didn't have the opportunity to watch conference today, I would invite you to watch todays sessions as well as tomorrows sessions. You can watch them at lds.org. There are some talks that will change your life regardless of your standpoint on the church.