All Things Jennie Rae: what will you do with it?

I just got home from the last day of my strengthening marriage and family class.

what. an amazing. class.

(it's the one I was in when I decided to get rid of a distraction in my life.)

I always looked forward to this class... it's on the smaller side (probably 50 people) and the teacher (julia haupt!) is so incredible.

it was just so, so evident that she prepared spiritually for every single class. she didn't have to do this, but she knew it was right, and she was in tune enough to know that that's what we needed.

at the end of class she shared a story from her mission and of course got teary. that's a regular thing... but this time I got teary too. and when I went up to her afterwards to say thank you, I gave her a hug and she held on for so long and when we pulled apart, I said thank you and just totally started crying. and she continued crying. ahhhh!! I didn't know what came over me, but the spirit is so strong in that classroom. and she told me and another girl that even though she's taught this class for 25 years, there was something different about our specific group of students. she said when she would come into the classroom she could sense a YEARNING for the spirit and for information to better our lives. we weren't just taking this easy 100 level class to get it over with... we wanted and maybe even needed to be there.

I learned soo many things that have changed my life, but I probably couldn't name half of them. they're all so specific but tie together so much. but mainly:

you cannot judge anyone.

EVER.

you just don't know what they've been through. period.

the holy ghost will guide you if you let him. be in tune with the spirit always.

the family is soooooooooooooooOOOOOooooOOOooo important.

be genuine and show love. people just need love.

at the end she talked about how so many people have given us the greatest gift ever, which is their sacrifices. she specifically talked about our parents and the pioneers... but the list goes on and on. and she asked us what we're going to do with those sacrifices. she said we can never properly and fully say thank you to them, but we can pass it on and that will be a tiny morsel of the thank you that they deserve.

gahhhhhhhhhhh.

I just didn't want it to end. I ate up every single second of that class.

so if you need an amazing class (the teacher makes all the difference), take strengthening marriage & family with julia haupt. it changed my life!

I'll leave you with 2 things. click here to watch episodes of Real Familes, Real Answers. we watched all of these and they are so good!! they're each 30 minutes long and cover practically every topic related to the family. I know that probably sounds boring, but if you have a half hour to spare and were just planning on watching TV anyway... watch one of these. I will for sure own the DVD one day.

the second thing is this video. we watched it in class after talking about crucibles. a girl in our class who went through some really hard things would watch it whenever she needed comfort. she wrote an anonymous letter to sister haupt and said she could share it with the class. when she was done reading it we watched this video. it goes hand in hand with not judging others... you just don't know what people have been through. but Christ knows and understands completely, and it is through Him that we can find healing.