The Value and Beauty of Life

So I just finished watching the Netflix series on Ted Bundy’s life. He committed some terribly atrocious crimes against women - murdering them in unimaginably horrible ways. I cannot fully comprehend how much evil influences a person to be willing to do something like what he did. There were 36 victims of his evil desires, and so many lives ruined. As the last episode concluded with his execution by electrocution, I couldn’t help but sorrow at all the people celebrating his death - people seemingly only concerned with displaying hatred for others to applaud. God knows each of us individually and has forever, and the sorrow He must experience at the loss of a soul must be great. There is so much we are born with - so much potential - that Bundy threw away. He lost all feeling of empathy and love in his life. He allowed the influence of the devil in his head and heart. Watching the episodes go through the events of his life and crimes, I felt disgust and horror. I don’t know that I felt real hatred. I might say that anger and righteous indignation are not real hatred. I only looked at him at the end of his life and felt pity and sorrow for the person he had been reduced to - all by his own will. Though there was a mortal accountability for his crimes, I just wonder what kind of conversation would be between him and his heavenly family (Christ and our Heavenly Parents). I also felt this way at the end of most Bones’ episodes. Just a sorrow that someone’s life was completely altered by a sinful choice (and most likely eternally altered) so beyond my human capability to comprehend how forgiveness fits in. I thought of that exactly as his sentence was declared - how could you forgive someone like that? How could I ? and I realized, that I could forgive him his crimes, but I was so sorrowful about every life that was involved - including his own. Forgiving doesn’t always mean forgetting, but I think with time and Heavenly help forgiveness is possible for all. We can only truly find forgiveness for the trespasses of others against us through the help of Jesus Christ and the enabling power of His Atonement. 

At the end of every Bone’s episode, when the killer would confess, I always felt a sadness. I was never super ecstatic that the person was now left up to their fate by the justice system of mankind - as good as it can be with what we know collectively as a people regarding choices and appropriate consequences. I always loved the expression of grief and solemnity that passed between Temperance Brennan and Sealy Booth each time a suspect confessed to a heinous crime. I feel that death of a criminal is not something to celebrate or that we should dehumanize them in their absolute state of vulnerability. It is a sad place to be and quite lonely as the convicted is left alone with all of their mistakes. I also think of the movie Murder on the Orient Express (based off a book) and the decision the detective makes to let all of the people go though they had all been responsible for the death of a killer. The vengeance is understandable, the intense feelings of sorrow and pain that are felt on all sides cannot be easily soothed, forgotten, or weighed. I just felt sick at watching all of the people outside of Bundy’s execution cheering and marching around with posters covered in inappropriate slurs and just a sad failure to recognize the value of a life to be lost. I felt such a sorrow looking at all of the faces of the beautiful, innocent women he murdered. No matter the person dying, I don’t think it is worth celebrating. I am in the process of researching the death penalty to form my own opinion, but I do think in certain cases like this one, it is a justifiable option. I always wonder after the people who gathered to watch public executions throughout history. I know for the Savior many were there to mock him, but many were there to mourn. In other times of history, it seems most people were excited to watch people die, like the beheadings during the French Revolution, or public witch hangings and burnings, Jewish mass murders in Europe - especially the Holocaust, sacrificing children or women to pagan gods, killing a prisoner of war - or an enemy of the state, lynch mobs against black Americans, and martyrs for their religious convictions. 

Despite all the evil that humanity is capable of, we are all born with the light of Christ. We were all born with immeasurable potential to do good, and when one strays from that destiny/path, it is heart-wrenching. Christ sacrificed himself for all of mankind - every single person who has ever lived or will ever live. No one is beyond the reach of His atonement - if only they will reach out and beg for His mercy. I cannot comprehend the forgiveness of God to a serial murderer, but I am not the one to say he could not be forgiven - that depends on the heart of the person. I know God is always willing to forgive us. It is the eternal law of justice that requires our eternal damnation as a fallen people, and the mercy Christ offers us that pays the demands of justice. Our Heavenly Parents would do anything to save the eternal life of their child, but that child must decide on their own to accept the mercy extended. We have what we’ve been given in this life, and for many of us we have the fullness of Christ’s doctrine that we need at this time. I know what it is I need to do for my salvation and I sorrow when I see that plan for another child fall to pieces in their own hands. Godly sorrow is a sadness misunderstood by many people who are very passionate about how they judge evil acts by imperfect people. I am not saying that I don’t absolutely despise the evil that Ted created in the lives of so many, but I cannot personally damn him to hell. That is not my decision and I am so very thankful for an all-knowing, all-loving God who will judge him at that Judgement Day. I have my own faults and shortcomings to deal with that I don’t want to dwell on the mistakes of others. I can only hope to influence good with the people I am around and to help change the lives of others through any means God leads me to.

BYU Freshman Bucket List

So you’re a freshman — at BYU Provo. Now what is there to do in lil’ ole’ Provo? Actually, there is so much to do — and it’s all so close.

My freshman year at BYU was full of busy work, fun, new experiences, stress, and adventure. BYU offers such an amazing variety of things to do for weekends, dates, and solo adventures! Provo — as a city — also provides a fun mixture of things to experience and things to see.

BYU Calendar 

Here are some of my personal favorite things to do:

BYU

• Plays and musical performances in the HFAC - all year long :) 
• Dance performances in the Richards Building (RB) - like the Senior performance during Winter semester
• Foam Party — sometime during September at one of the off-campus housing areas  — keep an eye on Facebook for something like this 
• Home Football games at LaVell Edwards Stadium — real fun is running to the spot on campus where the Line Passes are handed out to ROC pass holders — wait overnight in the ROC line 
• Football game projected in the Wilk or Marriott Center
• Club Tuesday nights at the Wilk 
• Devotional Tuesday @11am 
• 3D Printing classes at the Library (HBLL) 
• Window shopping at the BYU Store — DownEast and Deseret Bookstore 
• Creamery on 9th (and Helaman) Ice Cream  
• Eyring Science Center (ESC) Planetarium shows on Fridays
• Random events/performances in the Wilk — like Jamesthemormon 
• Hunger Banquet — Winter semester in the Wilk 
• Divine Comedy performances — they are gold <3

Provo Area

• Waling the grounds of the Provo City Center Temple or Provo Temple — and Baptisms ;) 
• Walking to Center Street for MANY ice cream shops 
• Provo Library — meet authors & book signings like Shannon Hale 
• Go jeeping in the mountains 
• Camping in the mountains — many trails for hiking and camping
• Participate in Y-Serve at BYU in order to travel and get off campus every once in a while
• Visit Provo Lake
• Hike the Y — early in the morning, day, and night!! 
• City Center parties and activities during September/October

Beyond Provo 

• Visit the Puppy Barn in Spanish Fork — need transportation of some sort
• Ride the Amtrak to Salt Lake City for a day
• Color Festival — Winter semester at Indian Temple in Spanish Fork 

Go exploring! It really is so great here! Cramped — and slightly dangerous — but awesome. There is so much to see. Lots of restaurants to try, and activities like the Escape the Room thing. 

Girls Volleyball game in Smithfield House ^

BYU Disney Club!! ^^

Theatre class Thursday productions ^

Awesome BYU theater program ^ 

3D printing class — just because ^^

The Wall — a cool “bar” like place where they have Karaoke Night on Wednesdays

NSO party ^

BYU home football game ^ ROC section

Random Wilk performances^

Divine Comedy show in Tanner Building^

Roc line pass ^

Healthy Fashion

What is healthy fashion?? Well, healthy fashion is dressing yourself in a way that makes you feel good about yourself—positive and good vibes— not only with clothes, but with personality, health, and mindset.

Healthy fashion is how you present yourself to the world! You should feel happy and positive about tackling life’s opportunities and challenges. You need to develop a positive mindset about yourself—being comfortable with being YOU.

Simple Steps to achieving this aspect of Healthy Fashion:

1. Self affirmations every morning :)
2. 5 minute meditation (deep, focused breathing)
3. Reading; the Bible, self-help book, favorite book, anything good
4. Yoga, abs, running, some sort of exercise!
5. Dressing for the life you envision yourself having (look at the fancy Europeans!) 

These steps are my take on a productive morning loosely based on the Miracle Morning by “Hal Elrod”. 

If you start with this solid, healthy foundation it is easier to feel good about yourself and cultivate the lifestyle you want for yourself.

Work on being yourself in public settings! Do a little something each day that scares you: talk to a group of new students and show them around a college campus; go to a new something — state, country, restaurant, city, park, club, bookstore. There are so many things to personalize your growth because we are all unique and have visions for our own lives.

Dress healthy too! Dressing up each day makes you feel confident and ready to take on the day. Adding a blazer to a t-shirt can greatly improve a casual outfit to being casually professional with little effort.

“Dress for the job you want” = “Dress your life for the life you envision for yourself!”

This is a great opportunity to change your life for the better. Forget the opinion of others, as they will most likely forget most of the “awkward” things you think you do. People aren’t so obsessed with you the way you are with yourself. It’s natural to overthink a lot of the things you do, say, and wear, but your opinion of yourself is the most important thing!

Love,

Jocelyn <3

Christ Encourages Change

We are blessed spirits to be here on this Earth — we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ, families, technology, and a hope for the future! God takes care of us, His beautiful children! 

My life has been beyond blessed to have Jesus Christ as my Savior and Redeemer. He rescues me everyday from sin and gives me peace and hope. I am encouraged to become my best self because He believes in me! 

I am currently trying to improve my life by being more positive and setting goals that I am determined to keep. I have so much to be grateful for and am thankful that God inspires change! 

As a disciple of Christ, I am willing to be different from the world and from the person I was yesterday. I have each new day as a fresh start to rely on Him and to bring His Gospel to all of the amazing people on this Earth. 

It is never too late to change and grow into the person you want to be. You can be happier, healthier, stronger, wiser, wealthier, and more spiritual through persistence and diligence in achieving these things. Christ promises us the ultimate joy and happiness when we rely on Him and realize that our trials can be overcome! 

Stay positive! You can only succeed at becoming who you want to be by actually being that person every day and eventually it will become a natural part of you.

Christ has paid the debt for our sins and has fallen to rock bottom. He is rock bottom, and He is the highest peak — He is everything — and He knows exactly how we feel and what we need to do to recover and rise above our circumstances!

God the Father has promised to forgive us when we turn to Christ and partake of His wondrous gift to us. We are never alone. God and Jesus Christ are and will always be with us — when we call upon God and when we are living in-line with His promised blessings. 

 

Sunshine Never Sleeps

“Happiness can be found in even the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light” - Albus Dumbledore 

I agree with the wise professor— but I also believe that light and happiness are always there, if only you remember to remove the blindfold, open your eyes, take a step back, and find the source!

Our challenges and problems in life can be so suffocating sometimes. Darkness that never seems to leave and light that never seems to find its way through. When that’s all we can see and all we know, it is hard to believe that there is light, that there is another way— a solution.

Yet we all know that the sun still shines in space when we experience nightfall; the light never goes out and its influence never gone unfelt.

If we consider what a bully, or an illness like depression, does to its victim or host we can recognize the greater symbolism for life. A bully will begin targeting a victim with little insults at first, escalating to repeated offenses that lead to casually stated death threats and such. Depression often begins with a sadness that lingers longer that normal, it grows over time or overnight and becomes a completely incapacitating enemy of our minds and body. If the victim continues to adhere to the bully’s whispers and threats, then the victim loses track of the light. They begin to believe the darkness and see it expanding endlessly before their very eyes. If they continue to look at the darkness all sense and memory of light is removed. Depression will feed on your very being if you give into its heavy presence.

The solution is to take a step back from the darkness and see what it is doing to you, see that its making itself appear bigger than it truly has power to be. The goal is to take a step through the darkness to the other side; all the light you thought you’d lost will be there. On the other side of the world, the sun is still shining. When you wake up, its back in your life.

The goal is seldom reached alone, help is always needed! Remembering the ones who bring light into our lives — the One who does — is essential to overcoming personal darknesses.

Right now, because of the media, it seems our country is crumbling to dust — our values and beliefs. If you think about it though, the darkness that seems overwhelming and ever present can be defeated. Don’t give it power to stop you from succeeding. Don’t let the overstimulation of bad news deplete your cache of positivity and hope. Sunshine never sleeps, and darkness can be destroyed with light!

Have hope for the future, and participate in actively restoring the light to the heavy but weak darkness.

We don’t have to bare these burdens alone, Jesus Christ is and has always been there to lighten the load and to take away the darkness. God also loves us beyond what we can imagine but has given us a glimpse through Christ, parents, family, friends, and humanity.

Fondly, Jocelyn Trishell

Thoughts About Going Away to College

Responsibility. It’s new(ish); it’s liberating; it’s terrifying; it’s exhilarating!

Becoming an adult has its perks.. one of them being freedom to make your own choices with high impact! ‘College' is typically considered to be an adult-fresh-out-of-high-school experience. <— If not relevant, college still rocks!

Leaving your family, friends, and life behind to go start a new one can be daunting. Here are some thoughts I had about going away to college:

Yay! You got accepted to college (preferably dream one)!! Now what? Do you have financial aid/scholarships/loans? Does it cover costs like tuition, housing, meal plan, books? Will I need a job? Can I even handle a job with all of my classes? **Try to get an on-campus job since they’re the most flexible with student schedules, or look at VERY nearby work positions to campus, or try something online. I worked on-campus my first semester at the food court, then my second as a custodian!

Woah. College classes! My teachers in high school always said to prepare for the college load. How do I know if I am prepared? **I suggest setting goals to manage your time during the week with a schedule/planner. Set aside time for studying, social fluff, and sleep! Don’t forget food prep, laundry and cleaning too :)

I am basically moving out! Where am I living? On-campus versus off-campus housing? Transportation to and from campus/classes. **I think many universities require freshman year on campus so definitely take time to research housing and locations to campus activities and classes! Keep up with cleaning since most housing on and off campus have some sort of cleaning checks. Delegate chores with roommates if applicable.

Classes! What is required for the general education credits? Do I have a major/minor? What are my grade goals? **I suggest looking through the classes offered for the GE’s and then look into preReq’s for your desired classes and major classes. Consider if you want all morning classes, afternoon classes, or evening classes. Plan according to what you know you can handle time wise but try to challenge yourself a little bit! Also consider your credits for each semester and sign up for what you can handle and have time to devote to those classes.

Meeting people and getting involved! Could we be friends? Does this club exist? How much should I really do right now? **Remember this is supposed to be as fun as it is challenging! Get involved in one or two clubs which typically meet once weekly and create study groups! Participate in most of the campus affiliated parties/activities because the student council and clubs have some pretty great parties!

I still have a family at home! How’s mom? How’s dad? How did my sister do in volleyball? How is my brother doing in chemistry? ** Your family misses you more than you could ever know! In the midst of all your fun stuff, remember to call your family once a week at least! They want to hear from you and your siblings look up to you. Your mom wants to hear about all the boys, girls-night-outs, and everything!

I’ve come so far since high school! I hope I have fun! I hope I achieve great things! I hope I have the best year ever! ** You have come so far! You’re ready to tackle your future and you’ll succeed if you really try! Remember it’s importance but keep a positive spirit because you’re on your way to conquer the world! Here’s to the best beginning!

“Draw Near to God” : Light the World

Jesus Christ gave so much wonderful counsel and advice to His apostles at the Last Supper. He commanded them to "love one another", to "let not your heart be troubled;" promising "I will not leave you comfortless," and " if ye love me, keep my commandments." He promised that His mortal death would bring about everlasting life. He shared with them that whosever believed in Christ and took upon himself Christ's name, that the power of God would be with him.

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubles, neither let it be afraid." St John 14:27 

I find myself stressed about my financial situation, finding motivation to begin work, and relationships with family, friends, and myself. However, I know that I don't need to feel those stresses when I have done all I can do, and am doing what the Lord has commanded. He provides a way, he always provides a way. He is the One to lift my spirits when I am feeling down, and He is the One who wipes away my tears. Christ is the One who can do what no one else can, Christ is my Redeemer, and my salvation! 

Christ knew life would be hard for His apostles when He left them, but He also knew that all of us would experience pain and hardship. His blessings and promises made of old apply to us, we can feel of His love and spirit as we take His upon us, love each other, and keep His commandments. We were not born into the world while the Savior was on the earth, but that doesn't mean His light and love don't apply to us! They apply more because we have faith in Him, without ever seeing Him. All of God's children will one day feel of His love and the Gospel! Those who are lonely, don't need to feel so because Christ is always there! His arms are extened towards you, turn to Him, and embrace the Savior!