49. Today I am grateful for opportunities to get to know people better

I enjoy being social and talking with others. Today I am grateful for opportunities to get to know people a bit better, Perhaps those who I haven’t had many opportunities to talk with or meeting new people. Everyone you meet has the opportunity to influence your life in some way. Likewise, you also have an opportunity to influence the lives of those you meet.

48. Today I am grateful for religious freedom

Last month, Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave a CES broadcast address titled “Truth and Tolerance”. One of the things he spoke about was religious freedom, a right that is increasingly being threatened. Elder Oaks stated, “Some influential voices even question the extent to which our constitutions should protect the free exercise of religion, including the right to practice and preach religious principles.” He then went on to say, “We must also stand shoulder to shoulder with other believers to preserve and strengthen the freedom to advocate and practice our religious beliefs, whatever they are. “

I strive to understand the religious doctrine and principles of others. I believe that we are all children of God and as such each person deserves to be treated with love and kindness.

In the past couple of days I have seen several postings on facebook linking to a clip of CNN host Anderson Cooper interviewing Robert Jeffress who is known for bashing various religions, most recently calling Mormonism a cult. I wasn’t offended at all by his comments and actually thought the interview was a bit comical. However, I do think it’s sad to see that some people are so misinformed about my religion and also sad that some feel the need to attack other religions. There have also been several follow up articles from non-LDS people supporting the fact that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are indeed Christians.

Here are two that I enjoyed:

Who says Mormons Aren't Christians - By Dean Obeidallah

Friend of Perry is enemy of almost everyone else - By Daniel Ruth

47. Today I am grateful for toothpaste and toothbrushes

Like most people, I brush my teeth first thing in the morning and at night before going to bed. In fact, I can’t start my day or go to bed without brushing my teeth. Well, there have been a few occasions where I haven’t been able to brush my teeth due to not having one with me and not having access to one. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. While brushing my teeth I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to live without toothpaste and toothbrushes. I am grateful that I don’t have to know.

46. Today I am grateful for the internet

We got the Internet set up in our home yesterday, after a few days without internet service. I will admit that I thought that in some ways it was nice to have a few days away from the internet at my home (I still had it at work). However, I also realized how reliant I have become on the internet: Every day things like communicating with others, banking, paying bills and looking up driving directions on maps. There is a wealth of information that can be found on the internet; of course not all of it is accurate.  I also love researching my family history and the internet is a wonderful tool for helping people find their ancestors.  

45. Today I am grateful for a day of gratitude

Today Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving, a day where we are encouraged to focus on the things that we are grateful for. I am grateful for a day of gratitude. There is power in a nation coming together in thanksgiving for one day. However, we should strive to live each day with a grateful heart. I really like what Elder Quentin L. Cook said during his recent general conference address: “We should be grateful for all the tender mercies that come into our lives. We are unaware of hosts of blessings that we receive from day to day. It is extremely important that we have a spirit of gratitude in our hearts.”

One of my favourite things about Thanksgiving is getting together with family and friends and eating good food. Today, I am grateful for friends who invited me over to have thanksgiving dinner with them. Yesterday a ward member invited my roommate and I over for dinner and today a friend of mine and his wife invited me over. It was neat because tonight half of us were Canadian and the other half were American. Two of those Americans have just recently moved to Canada and celebrated their first Canadian thanksgiving today, one of them being my roommate. I am also looking forward to celebrating American Thanksgiving next month!

Being that I have been writing in this blog for over a month now I thought it would be a good time to reflect on my experience. I was recently talking with my sister who mentioned that she hadn’t seen any posts on my blog lately and asked if I was not grateful for anything anymore. I had just been talking about some things that hadn’t been going well and replied that sometimes I think it would be easier to write about the frustrating thing of the day. However, I do feel that it has made a difference in my life to reflect on the day and the things I am grateful for and choose one to write about. I am trying to focus more on the simple things to be grateful for. It usually seems easier to think of the big and significant things but by August 27, 2012 I would like to see a list of 365 unique things that I am grateful for.

Also, there will be times that it appears I don’t have updated posts. What I do sometimes is save the topics as a draft and then go back to finish writing and posting for that day.

What are you grateful for on this Thanksgiving?

44. Today I am grateful for Sunday’s

Sunday is my favourite day of the week! I love going to church and having a day to focus on the important things in life. This includes my family whom I usually talk to on Sundays, gospel study and visiting with friends. I also enjoy participating in my family history research and going for walks on Sundays. Sunday can be busy but usually it is being busy with church and family stuff which I see as things that have more eternal value than the things we are busy with throughout the week.

43. Today I am grateful for the cute and funny things my nieces say

I not so secretly wish that I lived closer to everyone in my family. This includes my twin sister and adorable nieces. They are so sweet and loving and I wish I could spend more time with them. Little children also often say the cutest things in the most sincere ways which really helps me to appreciate the simple things in life.

I am grateful, though that my sister often calls me to tell me the cute things they do or say. Today was one of those days and she told me about a conversation who two oldest, age 5 and 4 had that I thought was really cute and funny.

 While picking up the 4 year old from Pre-school


4- year old: I Saw snow today!

5-year old: So did I! I almost thought it was December!


Hahaha ...


I am also grateful that it snowed in Provo before it snowed in Edmonton.