recognize.

So the Relief Society Broadcast was last Saturday...I didn't get the chance to go.  Instead, I will be reading it when the Ensign comes out in November.  In the meantime, I went online and read a few of the highlighted excerpts from the talks that evening... I was filled with the spirit.  You know those moments when you are attending a meeting and everything the speaker is saying seems to be directly tailored to you and exactly applicable to your life?  Yep, that was one of them.  I didn't even get to read the entirety of the talks but every word felt as though it was something I needed to hear.

I have been thinking alot lately about things and with my changing lifestyle and new exciting adventure coming up, it has caused me alot of introspection and reflection on my life, past experiences, and how my personality affects my actions.  I've been thinking about how I need to not be so quick to judge situations and people.  I don't initially consider myself a very judgemental person.  I get along with most people and don't have alot of contention in my relationships, but as I started thinking about it more and going over things, I realized that internally I need to have a serious change of heart.  I was pretty humbled after reading the talks and thinking about different situations in my life where I could have been more Christlike.  I love what President Monson had to say, " If you judge people, you have no time to love them."  I realize that as we form negative judgements of people, whether they 'seem' to be justified or not, we have no right to be placing judgement.  We all know that we all have imperfections, some deal with those more tactfully than others, but even so there is good in everyone.

I want to make an effort to not hold anything against anyone, not classify people in a certain stigma, and have more patience with people that may have let me down.

All in all, I am realizing that oft times, I am the only one that is even aware of the judgement.  The other person is not affected at all, they have no idea what they "may have done" to cause me to categorize them.  Love and charity is such a personal thing.  It is important to recognize it within ourselves and make it truly a part of our character before we can expect to act that way with others.  I want to seek to be better at forgiving others for things I may hold against them and it's so comforting to know that through the atonement, Christ can help lift that weight and tugging off of our spirits and release the tension we harbor.  We can be cleansed and never remember it again, through the atoning sacrifice.

What a blessing the gospel and organization of the church is.  

U of U photography project "Architecture", May 2010