teamwork

In applying the principle of stand close together and lift where you stand, I really looked to my roommates. It has been a new set of challenges and blessings this year living in such close quarters with people. We entered as strangers and ended up with tight knit friendships. We have our struggles, though, and this principle seems to really describe the successful way to deal with challenges and help each other. When one roommate has troubles, it's easy for us all to lend support and a listening ear and lift from where we stand. It's when we all are struggling at the same time that we really learn and grow. In these times which have only happened recently, we are continuing to learn that we really need to stand close together. If some of us are pulling a huge weight load and nobody notices, it can make things very difficult for the individuals. Butif we all lift an equal amount, we can lift and take care of each other and become a more Zion-like group.

If Then Mosiah 4:27

In Mosiah 4:27,

If you take the time to order things in your life and prioritize, then you won't have to run faster than you have strength for.

This especially applies in my life to schoolwork. To avoid living in extremes and pulling all nighters and cramming, I can spread my work out and it will be better quality, as well as me being in better physical condition. I will be able to do all the things that are required of me.

D&C 60:13 "... Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known."

To me this means that if you don't waste your time, you can be building skills and talents and they won't be taken from you. I need to use my unstructured, free time to work on the talents I enjoy like songwriting and singing, so that I can be more constructive.

I also watched an hour of Olympics. While watching Evan Lysacek in his gold medal winning performance, I noticed that he seemed to make his jumps and spins look effortless in their landings. He would bend his knees just enough to absorb the shock and smoothly transition out of the move without any faltering. He was perfectly in tune with his body and himself, and knew how to adapt each trick to perform it without mistake. He was comfortable and confident enough to be bold and impress the audience and judges. This can be applied to being a good leader in knowing your self well enough to have confidence and direct others. If you are comfortable with yourself and know how to adapt in different situations of leadership, you will better be able to inspire and lead others

service challenge

This week was very rewarding doing the service challenge and trying to be more aware of others. I did my service in a lot of little ways that really seemed to add up.

First, I saw a family friend that I never really see or talk to on facebook posted that she was having the worst day of her life. I felt like I should do something about it even though we never really talk, so I texted her about it. A lot of things were going wrong in her life so I told her I loved her and then made her some brownies and took them over. She seemed really grateful that someone cared about her.

Then, I was talking to an acquaintance I had met the other night, and I knew it was his birthday. He was supposed to go out to dinner with his friends, but it ended up that they all went to Salt Lake and he was by himself. I told my roommates, and we made him a cake and took it over and played cards with him on his birthday. He told me after that I had made it special and he was really glad.

I also made an effort to make friends with or smile at people I didn't know on campus, and I started up conversation with I guy as we walked home. I was amazed how easy it was to make a new friend, and I know I always feel better when someone does that for me. I would really like to continue in this pattern of friendliness and awareness on campus.

Meyers Briggs

From the Meyers Briggs test and presentation, I mostly learned that people of different personality types depend on eachother. It's hard to accomplish anything without the strengths of each personality type.

Although I could learn a lot about myself from the test, I don't think it is necessarily an accurate relfection of my personality. I took this test about a year and a half ago and got completely different results, so it just seems like it depends on my stage and situation in life. It was good to learn all the different personality types, though, to apply the things that I think don't change in my personality.

It did help to learn about the way different people make decisions and view the world. It can benefit me as well as the people around me to understand and work well with them. By understanding your own personality, you can be confident in your own strengths and ablities. By understanding other's personalities, you can relate better, build relationships more easily, and utilize eachothers strengths. As a leader, if you know the personality types of those you are leading, you can better direct them and know which type of leadership to use.