"it's the end of the world as we know it"

Disclaimer: I am very passionate tonight, so if you are a feminist, sorry if I offend you, but read this.

I have always considered myself the antifeminist. I would love to just be home, raising kids, chilling in the kitchen. Just call me Donna Reed.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who told me I had no ambition because I have no desire to go to school. Thanks. Rude. My ambition in life is to be a mom. I don't care to get a degree, because I just want to have kids, I have not now, nor ever had any desire to have a career. My mom is my hero, not because she is some high standing lawyer, or because she runs a business, but because she is first and foremost, my mom. That woman has raised 10 children side by side with my dad. He works hard out in the world while she works hard at home. You push 10 human beings out of your body after being pregnant for a collective 90 months, feed them, change their diapers, heal their hearts, clean their wounds, and teach them morals and values and say your job is harder.

http://fox13now.com/2012/12/11/group-encourages-lds-women-to-wear-pants-to-church/

This post however is not about my dream of being a mom, it's about the importance of women. The link above leads to a story about a group of women in the church who are protesting for equality in the church by wearing pants this Sunday to their meetings. Nevermind how completely inappropriate that is, but how sad it is to me that these women don't recognize their value. Earlier tonight I participated in one of those pointless facebook posts arguing my point (have you met my mother?) and I saw a lot of people arguing the degradation and oppression of women in the LDS church...hmm...

"The Relief Society is the oldest and largest women's organization in the world. Relief Society was established in 1842 for women 18 years of age and older. Its purpose is to build faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and help those in need."

Really? We are oppressing women, but we have the oldest, largest woman's organization in the world? Good call. I was called a few weeks ago to be a secretary in my ward's Relief Society, and neither in this nor any other calling I have had, have I felt insignificant as a woman. The amount of service we do (not just in my ward, but as sisters) is incredible. We provide charity. Such an act is unsurpassable in this church, as stated in the scriptures. The women may not hold the priesthood or be prophets, but that's because we don't need to. Just like we are not charged with the duty of serving a mission the same as the boys, but we do have that ability. President Hinckley almost never gave talks that didn't at one point or another acknowledge the importance of women, and how special we should be treated. Men and women do have gender roles as defined in this church by The Family: A Proclamation to the World. But neither is superior. Merely different. I don't know if y'all have noticed by now, but men and women are different. Physically, mentally, spiritually. We are simply not built to do the same things or perform the same duties. Women think and feel differently than men. There's a divine reason we as women of this church are asked to stay home and have and raise and nurture children. There's a divine reason men are asked to go out and provide for their families. There's a reason they hold the priesthood.

Gordon B. Hinckley, prior President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said:
“Women do not hold the priesthood because the Lord has put it that way. It is part of His program. Women have a very prominent place in this Church. Men hold the priesthood offices of the Church. But women have a tremendous place in this Church. They have their own organization. It was started in 1842 by the Prophet Joseph Smith, called the Relief Society, because its initial purpose was to administer help to those in need. It has grown to be, I think, the largest women’s organization in the world... They have their own offices, their own presidency, their own board. That reaches down to the smallest unit of the Church everywhere in the world...
“The men hold the priesthood, yes. But my wife is my companion. In this Church the man neither walks ahead of his wife nor behind his wife but at her side. They are co-equals in this life in a great enterprise.”

Joseph Fielding Smith explains further:

"Women do not hold the priesthood, but if they are faithful and true they will become priestesses and queens in the kingdom of God, and that implies that they will be given authority. The women do not hold the priesthood with their husbands, but they do reap the benefits coming from that priesthood."

The priesthood is bestowed upon men by God. Once they receive the priesthood, it is their sacred calling and duty to honor and magnify it. Women have been given a different calling. They are chosen by God to be the mothers of men. Is one greater than the other? No, both are equally as important but each has its own responsibilities and tasks.

A man cannot receive exaltation without being married and sealed to a woman. And vice versa. "Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." 1 Corinthians 11:11. Those feminists who don't agree with this and feel the need to protest this Sunday obviously do not understand the principles of this gospel. If the Lord ordained men to have the priesthood, He has His reasoning, so who are we to even question that? I have always felt precious in this church, like a daughter of God, like a princess. Because we all are. Even the feminists.

get your legs flexin and your arms t-rexin and do the creep

LESSON 12: DON'T GIVE YOUR DATE A CONCUSSION

Apparently tonight was flashback night. First, while at work, the brother of an old..ish ex came in, and started telling me what beautiful eyes I had. Then he realized who I was, got his yogurt, asked how my night was, told me his brother was gay (not really gay) and left.

Afterwards, I went over to see some new friends, and at their apartment, I run into an ex of one of my close friends from home, whom I have not seen since...March? So also, a little weird. (Probably not weird to any of you who don't know the story, which is most of you, but it was definitely unexpected for me.)

Then, since apparently I can't go to bed before 2:00 am now, I started doing some creeping on a boy I had dated just before moving to Utah, we'll call him Pursuit. Sometimes I'm just a creep. (Like all of you aren't!)

I also take pictures of interesting strangers I encounter daily:

On my most recent trip to California, I encountered the One True Ruler of Middle Earth. Nbd.

Anyways. So I was just curious about Pursuit's life, so I'm just going through pictures and whatnot, when I remember a story. It's too bad things didn't work out because this would have been classic to tell our kids.

MY FIRST DATE WITH PURSUIT

Part of the reason I didn't go out on many dates before leaving home was the fact that I lived 40 minutes from any town. However, one night in my Institute class, I meet this nice boy, and he tells me he would like to take me on a date. Graciously I accept, and that weekend, he drives from town, picks me up, and takes me back into town for our date. That ends up being 160 minutes for him by the time he arrives home. Like I said, nicest kid. So, as the main portion of this date, he takes me to this country dancing night. Now, those of you that know me know how lethal that is. Not only am I completely and utterly uncoordinated, but I am also incredibly accident prone. I have 2 broken noses to prove it. I try to warn him, but he is so excited, and regardless of the fact that I shouldn't, I still and have always loved dancing, so I complied with whatever he wanted to try. That is, until everyone decided it was "tall, strong boy backflip over your weeny clumsy lady partner" time. I was supposed to do some fancy spin or other, then bend over and link our arms so he can back flip over me. Terrible explanation? I know. But it's the best I can do. End result: I must support him as he flips over me. Now, to be fair, I pleaded with him not to try it. I said over and over that I would fall over and I would drop him. Poor naive Pursuit thought I was being humble/silly/whateverIdon'tknowwhyhewouldn'tbelievemeIdidtheaterforsevenyearsdangit!
He would not listen, and wanting to be a good date and make him happy, I bent down and prayed that somehow, somewhere deep inside I would find the strength to hold up this 6'4" lifeguard, swim coach guy. Unfortunatly these hopes were folly, and the moment he put all of his weight on me, I collapsed like Lindsay Lohan under the pressures of drugs and fame. He managed to fall away from me, so I was fine, but Pursuit was not so much. Landing on his head, he ended up getting a concussion.

I  g a v e  a  b o y  a  c o n c u s s i o n  o n  o u r  f i r s t  d a t e.

Somehow though, we ended up dating for a little bit afterwards. Maybe I need to go dancing with boys more often?

Moral of the story: if a girl says she can't support you, SHE CAN'T SUPPORT YOU.

Perhaps things would have been different had I danced like this:
http://youtu.be/tLPZmPaHme0

remember who you are

LESSON 11: DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE A DAMSEL

I always have the most interesting people come in and talk to me at work. This week was no exception. So as I am sitting there, making parfaits, a guy comes in and strikes up a conversation with me. He begins telling me about a boy that he had observed come in, that so obviously liked me, under the authority that he is trying to write a book about dating and relationships. I however did not agree, because although that boy likes to talk to me a lot at work and whatnot, he hasn't asked me out. I have said it a million times and I'll say it again: if a boy likes a girl, he will ask her out. Period.

Then he offered this perspective: he said, take a look at the media today. Family Guy, American Dad, Simpsons, etc. the father figure in all of these shows is a lazy, bumbling idiot. He said, he feels that in society today, the man is portrayed as a couch potato type, sitting around waiting to be rescued by his wife. Roles of men and women have been reversed, and men no longer feel that women need them. Women have become so strong and independent, that they are not "damsels in distress" but rather the heroine that if she has time, will look for a man as her sidekick. The movie Brave. Case and point. He said its very intimidating to try to take on a role that has become out dated and seemingly unnecessary, particularly when it's mens' instinct to be the protector, to "wear the pants," to be the knight in shining armor, to feel needed. Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave an amazing talk about this in the last priesthood session of General Conference. Whether the reason for this change in "gender roles" be because men got lazy and women have stepped up, or because women became selfish and were not able to recognize that being a wife and a mother is the single most important position they will ever hold, or both, society reflects that such is the case.

So all I ask, is that those of us ladies that know what is right and important, that are still damsels waiting for our knight, let men know how important and needed they are. Say yes to dates. Be kind, and gentle, men's hearts are often more fragile than you know. And guys, take heart that there are still girls that dream of fairy tale love and are waiting for you. So be men, and ask girls out. Reclaim your territory dangit!