I have a confession to make. This is the first election I have voted in! My excuses are that in the 2000 election I wasn't 18 yet when everyone was registering to vote during senior year. In 2004 I was on my mission in Canada. I know I could have voted by mail but I felt like I didn't feel informed enough to really vote. Rex and I have tried to do our best to follow the church's council "to study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully, and then to vote for and actively support those [we] believe will most nearly carry out [our] ideas of good government." So we figured out what we wanted to do and then we went and voted on Saturday at the courthouse. Rex has class almost all day on Tuesday so we decided to go and get it over with.
Although we haven't actively supported certain candidates we have been supporting Proposition 8. This topic has been one of concern, especially here in Berkeley. I attended a special church broadcast in October that urged church members to do everything they can to help support this cause. I have friends that deal with same gender attraction, I love them and believe that God loves us all equally. After attending the church broadcast I read an article called The Divine Institution of Marriage that I already posted about
here. I also read an
interview done with Elder Oaks and Elder
Wickman on the issue of same-sex attraction. Both of these articles helped me greatly in understanding this important issue.
One of Elder
Wickman's quotes that really stood out to me was this, "For openers, marriage is neither a matter of politics, nor is it a matter of social policy. Marriage is defined by the Lord Himself. It's the one institution that is ceremoniously performed by priesthood authority in the temple [and] transcends this world. It is of such profound importance… such a core doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, of the very purpose of the creation of this earth. One hardly can get past the first page of Genesis without seeing that very clearly. It is not an institution to be tampered with by mankind, and certainly not to be tampered with by those who are doing so simply for their own purposes. There is no such thing in the Lord's eyes as something called same-gender marriage."
Rex and I believe this and feel that it is worth standing up for. On Saturday morning some of our friends that live in Oakland called and asked us if we wanted to help by holding signs at a big intersection in Oakland. Although we got soaked to the bone by the rain and got many mean glances and words, we also saw others who were in support of our cause. I've never done something like that before and I have to admit that I was a bit upset when we drove by an hour later and all of the signs we put up were taken down (isn't that illegal?). However, I am glad I did it!
We talked with a couple of the No supporters that were there and I really wished I had a picture of our friend Derek sharing his umbrella with one of the No supporters. Seeing them stand there together, each with their opposite campaign signs gave me hope that no matter what happens that we can all treat one another with respect and love.
When I went out shopping last week I ALMOST bought us a little tree a few times and then decided not to because I knew we would be out of town for Christmas. Rex suggested pulling out the tree that his family sent him on his mission to hang up on the wall (yes, he saves everything!). I didn't really want to but then I figured it was better than nothing. So we taped it up on Saturday and decided we could tape the decorations to it on Sunday so Rex could study some more. He left to go study at the library and when he came home he brought me a little tree. He could tell that I was bummed about not having a tree so he went and got one. What a great guy! He informed me that I will get a little gift each day until Christmas. Stay tuned...
We finally hung something up on the wall after having lived here almost a year. It feels so much more homey now. I guess I should have done it sooner.
I went to see Twilight with about 30 women from my ward. Here we are waiting in line with a bunch of high school girls to get into the theater. It was the best ladies night ever! (Thanks for letting me steal pictures from your blogs.)
Don't Alice (aka Karen) and Britney look awesome? Watch out humans!
I've been busy babysitting, teaching Cubscouts on Tuesdays, and teaching a primary class on Sundays. Last Sunday some prophets came to talk to us. The kids LOVED it! Our new primary presidency is the greatest.
We flew to Las Vegas to visit my family for Thanksgiving. I cut Rex's hair about a week before we left and told him I wanted him to grow a beard. Doesn't it look good? I think he looks hot but it is a bit scratchy. Anyway, we had fun with my family in Nevada. Steve cooked our turkey in a deep fryer. This was the first time we have tried it that way and it was DELICIOUS. If you haven't tried it before you need to at least once. We had fun eating, playing a little football, helping mom put up the Christmas lights and the tree, and playing Ticket to Ride. We also got to hike to some hot springs with our cousins.
We found one hot spring that was hot enough to get in but we decided not too. We didn't want to be wet and cold on the hike back to the car. We saw some pretty waterfalls and pools and enjoyed one another's company. By the end we got a pretty good workout. There was a lot of rock climbing involved in the hike. Thanks guys it was fun!
I also found this picture....
Rex wanted some proof that I hog the covers!
