Passion Parties, Pres. Packer, and my Life's Mission

Many have heard of Pres. Boyd K Packer's (Quorum of the 12 Apostles of the LDS Church) talk last Sunday. All I have to say to his talk is AMEN! He is a powerful Speaker and is OFTEN attacked by specifically the Gay/Lesbian community for his assertiveness on speaking out against immorality. However, “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” (D&C 1:38.) Therefore, he stands by what he has said since “We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands, by those who are in authority to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.” (A of F 1:5.) And this is how Pres Packer has been ordained thereby becoming one of God's servants who may speak for Him.

Here is Another AWESOME talk .....

Anyway, I think that those who are living contrary to God's Laws always take offense when someone hints that what they are choosing is "wrong":

1 Nephi 16:2-3

2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken (a) hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the (b) guilty taketh the (c) truth to be hard, for it (d) cutteth them to the very center.
3 And now my brethren, if ye were righteous and were willing to hearken to the truth, and give heed unto it, that ye might (a) walk uprightly before God, then ye would not murmur because of the truth, and say: Thou speakest hard things against us.

I thought this passage of scripture was great timing! This past weekend, I was able to hear the words of our Prophets and Apostles at all 4 sessions of General Conference. I found myself humbled during many of the talks as I was taught of Christ's atonement and finding peace & happiness during my trials. I plan to work on my temple attendance and not complaining when it gets tough. Both of these I'm sure will prove to be difficult, but I am up for the challenge and hope to gain more faith as I strive to become more like Him.

What led up to these verses? What are the hard things spoken of?
After Lehi taught his family about the olive tree and tree of life, Nephi inquired of the Lord. Being grieved because of what he had seen, he talked with his brethern, Laman and Lamuel. Nephi spoke of the symbolism of between the olive tree and the House of Israel, as well as the tree of life.

A cross reference of the word "guilty" states this:
John 3: 20 (19-21).
20 For every one that doeth (a) evil (b) hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

And a cross reference of the word "truth" states:
Prov. 15: 10.
10 (a) Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth (b) reproof shall (c) die.

"These references remind me of a talk from General Conference (I don't remember who). He said to learn from the past or go through it yourself. We have been given the scriptures as a tool to guide our lives. The pride cycle is a reoccuring theme in the scriptures and still happens today. If we do not strive to humbly keep the commandments, we will fall into the same awful traps of sin to truth that makes them feel guilty for their choices."

Anyhow, this is how I feel about what Pres Packer has said and how people in the "other" communities are reacting to it.

Bringing me on to the topic of Passion Parties.

I was talking with Genelle yesterday on the way home from my party in Roy, UT which didn't bring the monetary profit I was hoping for. We were discussing what I consider success in my business, and I told her that I consider it a success any time I can get anyone to think outside the box. And it's true.

I didn't join Passion Parties to make money per se. I did it because I believe in the need for many people to get outside of their "Box" or "Bubble" and give "different" a chance.

You don't have to swing from "moral" to "immoral" but that's just it: Besides what I said above, what exactly is appropriate or inappropriate? The LDS Church teaches of fidelity, and appropriate intimate activities between Husband and Wife. The Proclamation on the Family defines what "Mormons" believe in terms of Family and Marriage.

However, I believe that many are uninformed on what is acceptable in the privacy of their bedroom and what is not.

There is NOTHING that speaks against Husband and Wife enjoying themselves in a mutually satisfying environment. You can use candles, massage, and yes, even sex toys if that is what you choose TOGETHER. I have my other blog for my soap box on this topic, and don't want to go into it much more on this one.

What I am simply trying to say here is that my goal with Passion Parties is not to sell sex toys. It's to help people be comfortable with thinking outside the box, being open minded, and not closing themselves off to the things they don't understand. Ignorance breeds fear. Fear breeds panic. Panic leads to forgetting our humanity. There are things out there that are without question immoral and wrong. Being open minded and thinking outside of the box does NOT mean opening yourself to immorality. It simply means educating yourself and making informed decisions.

It's like dieting. If you are too restrictive, you are likely to eventually indulge beyond healthy limits when you can't take the restrictions anymore. However, if you educate yourself about the spiritually/emotionally nutritional elements of different indulgences and let yourself have a lesser of the evils "treat" once in a while, you are less likely to rebel and engage in destructive indulgences.

I see myself struggling to find more than one word to describe what I am trying to say now, which means it's time to end this particular post. I hope you see and understand where I am going with this.

And keep it up Pres. Packer!!! We ♥ you!

A Little Help from my Friends

Can't even believe today. It started fine. We even made it to the park. Of course then the weather got chilly and looked stormy, and it was all down hill from there. But Fortunately, the things that went wrong were only surface.... all though they stung. We got a call saying that the job in Alaska is on hold for the time being. HOWEVER, when they DO interview, David is at the top of the list. BUT that could be June, or it could be February. And while having 2 parents available 24/7 is sure a lot easier than ONE parent, it doesn't do much for our financial plans ;-).

So, then I had a coupon for a free 48 oz carton of ice cream at Smith's that I just HAD to use. And some how, thanks to shallow pockets, I not only lost the COUPON, but $20 (we only had $40) as well. Which SUCKED because we had really been trying to be conservative. Since I went to a movie, I gave up my book (s) that I really want to get. So, that FREE ice cream actually cost us $25.

I come home, and yeah, it sucks ROYALLY that we're stuck possibly even LONGER in this situation, PLUS down $20, BUT David and I are getting along, the kids are doing realitively well, and when I have this kind of luck, I usually end up in jail and that ALWAYS costs us a MIN of $150.... so $20 isn't so bad in relation.

I'm really seeing the glass as half full, but really the only word to describe my thoughts is "SHIT!" ( which I said over and over again as I scoured Smith's for my missing $ and coupon)

And even though I actually apologized UPFRONT for my "abrasive" language, it's MY page, and I wanted to share "Shit!" ;-)

But there always has to be that ONE person, who not only doesn't understand the "pain" but has to make it about THEM. So, one of my Friends from HS, gets offended, and handles it ok, but NOT how the situation NEEDED to be handled. And Ginger hit it RIGHT on the head when she said that the person "...really knows how to pump a girl up when she's down, don't she? Maybe Terrenna should hide your status's if she don't like 'em. :D And I say this with love..." EXACTLY! I needed to be "pumped up" and EVERYONE could either see that and show their support, or see it enough to know NOT to get openly offended. So here I am trying to show Terrenna that I understand, but what she said didn't help any, and she goes one step farther and gets openly offended about offending me.

Meanwhile, I am trying to get in touch with My Mom. Who is not answering her phone or her door even though her car is home. My half full glass was draining REAL fast.

But seriously. Ginger came to the rescue so thoroughly. Because all I really needed was someone to understand. Then Kim. And David was GOLDEN. Then when I DID finally get a hold of My Mom, even she was above and beyond.

And I learned a few valuable lessons.... or rather had them emphasized since I've kind of learned them a bit ago:

1) I have a pretty positive attitude.
2) I am VERY blessed.
3) Education is Key. Terrenna could only be so offended over something so small because she lives in a box.
4) The TRUE show of someone's self esteem is how they treat people when they are hurt. Someone with a low self esteem will try to bring others down to their level, while someone with a healthy self esteem will HATE the thought of someone else feeling the way they currently feel and will try to elevate others.... which is the only REAL medicine for feeling bad about yourself, and pays off.
5) Along with #4, there are things, situations, what have you, that you can only understand if you've experienced it. And people will normally not take your word for it on THESE situations because they SEEM like a gamble. However these situations have "circle" type remedies: You feel bad about yourself, so you try to help someone else, rather than wallow. This leads to a sense of making a difference, which boosts YOUR feeling of self worth, which leads to a higher self esteem, which leads to more contribution. Love works the same way. So does helping/taking care of others.