Fences

Today was wonderful. The past few weeks have been surprisingly wonderful actually. I've spent a lot of quality time with my family and have deepened relationships with a quite few new friends (if you know me, which I assume you do, then you know how much I love my friends). I ALSO LOVE MY FAMILY so don't think this next thought lessens the love I have for them. With this amazing group of people I've been hanging out with lately we take time to think about other people and do activities for them just because. It's amazing!! If you know how much I love my family and how much I love my friends then you also know how much I love service. I feel like it's a great opportunity to help others feel good while at the same time creating better friendships with the people you're serving with. It's totally win-win; I love winning.

My farewell talk is this coming Sunday and I'm talking about Love. I'll probably throw in a few things that I heard from conference and a few tid bits of gold nuggets from my buddies (if you have any suggestions/comments please feel free to let me know). One of my most recent favorite ideas is that we need Love to become more like Christ and Heavenly Father. They love everyone and we need to obtain and work on that characteristic in order to become God-like someday. How cool, right!? If we all had love for each other then there wouldn't be so many horrible things in the world.

I went over to my buddy's house to sing a song for his grandparents - it was the best. In addition to being super loving grandparents, these two are so in love you could feel it from the front lawn. They are also incredibly spiritual. After we sang, his grandma sat us down and started talking to us about fences. At first I was thinking, "hrm. this is interesting", but after a few seconds I was so wrapped up in what she was saying I could have cried. I didn't - but almost did. She made me miss my grandmas. Anyway, Nonies wisdom, like I mentioned, was about fences. To every decision there is first a fence that either blocks us or lets us in. So true!!! It got me thinking, what are my fences? Do I have fences? Have I crossed some and gone through doors I shouldn't have? Are there some fences in place that need mending? Before she finished her pep talk I decided "yes" to all the above. In my effort to re-establish my fences, making sure they're thick, barb wired and electric like some of them should be, I'm going to write them down.

Fences for Myself
Don't make fun of people or their ideas, even in teasing; it's rude.
Always say please and thank you, don't forget to be respectful.
Stay out of a guys room! Bad things can happen when you're in there alone.
The same potentially bad things can happen if no one is home - go outside.
Don't kiss every boy who comes along. Kisses are not pretzels! That's just asking for heart ache.
Be nice! When you're kind people are usually more welcoming.
If you think it might hurt someone's feelings, it's probably best not to say it.
Stay away from places with drinking and smoking - staying away makes it easy to say no.
If you don't want to cuss/talk nasty then don't put that language in your head so listen to good music.
Don't try on clothes that aren't modest because it just makes it harder not to buy/wear.
Say 'I Love You' to the people you love or they might never know; don't over use the phrase till it becomes meaningless.
Eat your veggies and drink LOTS of water to avoid being unhealthy.
Listen to other people before talking about yourself - it makes for better relationships.
Don't worry about what you can't control so you're faith in God doesn't dwindle.

By the way, the photos are from a shoot I did last summer with my Jennie Rae.