I believe in dance

I bet many of you have seen this video already, but if you haven't, it is seriously one of the most touching things I have ever seen. I have seen it like 5 times and I still cry every time.



I can't believe that there are enough members of the church in Eastern Europe that there is a temple there now! And they are so grateful for something that we have like 2 miles from our house. They have to sacrifice so much to go to the temple...on the one hand I am so excited for them, but I am so humbled that I have what they want so desperately right across campus.

On to the dance aspect: this is why I love dance so much. I am in a dance and culture class this semester (for my ever-so-useful and marketable world dance minor :) ) and we watched and talked about this video today. There wasn't a dry eye in the room, but that is because we are all dance lovers. But one thing that my teacher brought up is that art is something that The Adversary has tried to slowly turn evil and contaminate, but at its core, dance and other art forms can be beautiful expressions to the Lord. The soul is comprised of the spirit AND the body, and so one cannot exist truly without the other. I think that we can use our bodies for good: for celebration, for praise, to express joy and love and I think that it is very possible to feel the spirit when we dance. Look how happy and united these youth were when they were dancing! I had the opportunity to dance in one of these temple celebrations for the opening of the Anchorage, Alaska temple when I was 15...it was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I don't really know how to put it into words, but all I know is that when I dance I am happy and when I am happy I often do a "happy dance". The two are interconnected.

D&C 136: 28-"If thou art ^amerry, ^bpraise the Lord with singing, with music, with ^cdancing, and with a ^dprayer of praise and ^ethanksgiving."

In other physical activity news, I have completed over 1/4 of my running goal this year (1,000 miles), 233 since January 1st, to be exact. I isn't as cool as it sounds when I add all of them together. If you could see how slow and how profusely sweaty I am it wouldn't really be impressive.