Erin's Entrys

To many people outside of the LDS religion, when someone thinks of a Mormon, they think of a person with outstanding moral character and fiber.  I would like to think of that as true, or at least hope that it is a goal that we strive for.  HOWEVER, recently have come to find that many also associate this character to mean that fun and humor is frowned upon.

Recently, I have noticed a common trend in much of my conversation.  Attempting to find a balance between my past prior to my baptism (childhood, high school, college including being a bartender, model, and all the crazy fun) and my life now.  Being newly baptized (nearly 3 years ago), I did everything I could to learn about the gospel and to implement it in my life.  I had an absolute blast in a new way…the Provo way…where alcohol is never around and people find creative ways to have a good time.  I loved it!  Then when I was married, I continued.  However, while I delved into the scriptures and tried to better myself, I ignored my past and wanted to pretend like none of it happened.  How ignorant I was.  Some of my favorite memories occurred during those times.  Some amazing friendships created.  Many lessons learned.  Granted, some decisions (well probably alot of them) were extremely poor choices, but I have since repented and been forgiven of them.  By not acknowledging and embracing my past, I had forgotten so much of what makes me the person I am.  We are molded by our experiences and become more prepared for the future if we continue learning (from both the positives and negatives) along the way.

I try to be the Mormon of outstanding moral fiber, but I maintain that a person can do that and keep thier sense of humor, thier love for life , and an open mind.  I learn from those of other faiths on a regular basis, relating both to things of a temporal and spiritual nature.  I know I’m not perfect.  Although I continue to strive for that, I recognize that its much more than not swearing (which I’m not all that great at), but instead a change of heart. For the past few years, I tried to be perfect in ways that were noticeable, to appear to be a good Mormon, but I have always known that my weakness is judging others primarily from thier appearance and making fun.  I’ve decided that instead of focusing on those things that make me appear to be a good Mormon, I instead need to focus on the not so noticeable, such as the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself.   I’ll be a work in progress.

 I am happy to be around others’ that don’t share the same belief system as myself.  It gives me the opportunity to remember why I believe what I believe and enjoy the company of some really awesome people.  I’m perfectly content being around my friends in thier comfortable settings even if that means in a bar or somewhere that alcohol is present.  I’m strong enough to resist temptation regarding the word of wisdom, but I’m not willing to miss out on the friendship of great people who share similar beliefs, but not identical.  In short, I won’t be shedding this personality in an attempt for perfection, I’ll just work on perfecting ME.

Things I love, missed, and recognize are AWESOME!  (and make me really happy!)

My College Friends (even the gasp liberal one) hehe Elise!

Hip Hop Music and dancing

Country dancing

People of different walks of life with different opinions

Throwing an absolute fit about Illinois Football

Laughing about the past

**Amended due to Whitney:  Dancing at Station…with or without a dance floor…because does it really matter if its not really a dancing kinda place?  NO!

**Learning to cwalk in the back of Joe’s…had it for about a year…tried again last week…NOPE don’t remember

This list is ALOT longer…Im just getting writers block!