History -- Fact or Fiction?

As a strong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I have understood and had faith my entire life. As taught to me since birth, faith is hope in things unseen which are true. Those outside of religion, atheists and scientists, believe in proof instead of faith. However, a short story I read today by Isaac Asimov got me thinking: can scientists really trust this "proof?" What if God just put all of their proof here on purpose? What if He created the world as already being 15 billion years old? What if He put the fossils here when He made it? (I'm not saying I believe this -- I believe something different about the Creation) The scientists really just have faith in their "proof" instead of in God. They don't know that the dinosaurs existed. For that matter, no one knows that anything before their own time even happened. It's all a matter of faith, whether it be faith in God, faith in fossils, or faith in man. In this day and age, anything can be fabricated. The entire history of the world could be fake, and we would all be none the wiser.
I'm not inclined to believe things; I'm a doubter. I've sometimes wondered if I'm the only real sentient being ever to exist, or if everyone else is in on a big joke or scheme and I'm the only one that doesn't know what's really going on. My childhood memories are spotty at best, and I sometimes doubt they even happened. I rely on others to tell me that they did. I don't even trust my own memory beyond a few years. However, I do know one thing: God lives. He loves me, and He loves you. I know that my Church is true. It is a great source of joy in my life. I know that Thomas S. Monson is God's prophet on the Earth today. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He loves us, and if we come unto Him, we can and will be saved. I love this beautiful world He has created for us. I have faith in God, in history, and in humanity.

Peace

I've been pretty happy with life over the past few months. I used to get into funks sometimes, but I'd managed to avoid them so far this semester until this past Sunday. It's not that it was a bad day or anything, I just was melancholy for whatever reason. There are a few things that can help me feel better, like playing video games with friends, singing, or going for a walk. Since I was unable to do the first two, I went for a walk. It was around 9:30, and it was freezing. My mind was just full of things that were making me unhappy at the time, so I wandered around the stadium, thoughts aimlessly streaming through my head. I sat down for a while outside the stadium trying to get my thoughts straight, but it didn't really help. Disappointed with my failure to calm my thoughts, I started home. As I reached the road by the stadium, I glimpsed the temple, shining as a beacon of hope in the night. New strength came to me as I started up the hill towards the temple. Somehow, I reached the top without fatigue, then dashed across the street. Serenity came over me as I reached the temple. There were a few cars in the parking lot, so I decided not to really linger, but just being there for a few minutes was all it took: my mind cleared and I finally felt peaceful and happy. As I walked home, I could feel God's love, and I just didn't feel so alone anymore. It was just a great experience. :)

Olympics 2010 - Vancouver

So tonight was the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. The day had a slight pall over it because of today's tragedy during a luge practice: a member of the country of Georgia's luge team flew off the track into a steel support and died. This is only the third person to have ever died in modern Olympic history. It's a sad way to begin this Olympics...my heart goes out to his family and teammates. However, despite this tragedy, the opening ceremonies went on pretty much as planned.
I love the Olympics. It always has an air of excitement about it, of the world's best athletes coming together to compete over a two week period in an atmosphere of PEACE! Even North Korea and Iran have athletes competing in this incredible biannual, international cooperative event. Iran even has a woman competing - she got to carry their flag! The Olympics is truly a beautiful thing, showing the beauties of the host country and the beauties of the strength and dexterity of the human body. Hopes and dreams will be accomplished and dashed over these next few weeks. Being there is an incredible experience, I'm sure. Those participating get to "fraternize with the enemy," and get to know those of other nations more than they could any other way. Two weeks of peace...incredible.
Sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to be from a country that isn't...well...the US. We win all the time! We have 316 athletes competing; many countries only have one. Something like 32 of the 38 countries competing have never even won a medal at the winter Olympics. Unlike in the Summer Olympics, we may not always get the most medals at these Olympics (I think something like Sweden usually does...unsurprisingly), but we come in second in that respect. What would it be like to not have anyone to root for? Or for my country's only athlete to not even have a chance at a medal? What they must think about us Americans...but I'm proud to be an American! This is the land of opportunity, after all. We have the population and the means to have all of these medalists in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. My roommate was wondering why India, the largest country, population-wise, in the world had only a handful of athletes. We have what they're lacking: money. We have the means to become whatever we want to be. Aren't we lucky? We can have people like the flying tomato and Apollo Anton Ono. We can do anything!

Go Team USA!

Age

Yesterday I turned 20. It is the weirdest thing in the world. Have I really left my teenage years forever? My memory is so patchy I don't feel like I've been alive for two entire decades. But at the same time...For pretty much anything else in this world that's been around for 20 years, with the exception of God's wonderful natural creation, being that old means it's getting time to die, or to be thrown out, or destroyed to make way for the new. This seems to be especially true in this world where technology is constantly changing, where anything over a year old is ancient. Computers that are twenty years old are antiques. And yet, my built-in super-processor is at its prime, just finished growing. Everything about me is at my prime...supposedly. The world is at my feet. And what am I doing with it? Not much. To quote Emily's little brother, I'm "an old lady, with no money, and no boyfriend." Story. Of. My. Life. Luckily, Emily will join in my old age on Sunday. Then we can old maids together. Haha...life will be good. Life is good! I love life.