5 Lessons About the Right Way to Treat People

Thanks to Kristen for sharing this. I absolutely love it and it just reminds me of how every encounter with someone can positively or negatively affect their day.

1. First Important Lesson - "Know The Cleaning Lady"

During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?"

Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade."

Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say "hello."I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy.

2. Second Important Lesson - "Pickup In The Rain"
One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car.

A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.

She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home.

A special note was attached. It read: "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others."

Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

3. Third Important Lesson - "Remember Those Who Serve"

In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "50¢," replied the waitress.

The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it."Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired.

By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "35¢!" she brusquely replied.

The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.

When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

4. Fourth Important Lesson - "The Obstacles In Our Path"

In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand - "Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition."

5. Fifth Important Lesson - "Giving When It Counts"

Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year-old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her."

As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?".

Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

Tears and Worms

So this morning I walked out of my apartment to go catch the bus. I discovered it had rained last night which wasn't a big deal. So, I walk to the bus stop and start listening to my ipod. My eyes gravitate toward the ground where I begin to see hundreds of worms who are going to die because they don't have any water on the cement. See, they went from the grass to the cement when it was raining because there was water but now the cement was drying up along with the worms. Normally, I seriously could care less about the worms and their well-being. Today however I was reminded of a young Colby (that's my little brother) who started crying whenever he saw worms dying on the sidewalk. As I was standing there debating whether I should care enough to take care of the worms or not, I saw the bus like 2 blocks away. So I desperately started picking up worms and throwing them into the grass. Worms are not the coolest thing to hold so the more I had, the more creeped out I became. It seriously felt like a race to see if I could get all the worms before the bus came or passed me because I was on the ground picking up worms. Luckily however, I was able to get all the worms around me back into the grass and catch the bus. People looking at me probably seriously thought I was insane. So there Colby, I know you are 17 now but don't cry because I saved all the worms.

Ka-ching!

So... exciting weekend ahead of me! Tonight I am hanging out with my good friend Libby! I love her! And we have tons of fun together... then tomorrow I have work and then I get to go to the BYU vs. UNLV basketball game. Jealous? I know... SUPER excited! Anywhoo, I intend to take lots of pictures because I need more pictures in my life and I also need some new pictures to send to Cory... So yeah... just thought I would update you on my life! Tata for now!

Makeshift Houses

So... life is definitely crazy! I feel like I haven't been on here in forever and it is so true! I haven't been! Update on life... still single and loving it... and I am now an undecided major. It has its good points and bad points one of which being that I have no idea what the heck I want to do in life anymore! Any suggestions? They would be most helpful.

I got a letter from my friend Cory this week. He is serving a mission for the LDS church in Antofagasta, Chile. I just wish it didn't take like a month for a letter to go one way. It just makes me so happy because he is always so happy in his letters. I have never seen anyone in my life more excited to teach the gospel. Ever since I met him he just couldn't wait for the opportunity to serve. So I am just going to share a story he told me in his letter that made me just bust up forever... (preface... in his mission they have changes where they change companions for the day and this was on one of those so not his actual companion...)

"So anyways Elder Nielsen has 20 months and realls wanted to have more stories/photos/fun things to happen etc... on his mission so we went out with out cameras! WOOT! We passed a rundown house without a roof that was full of trash and had 2 makeshift houses in it so we decided to take a picture. So while I was taking a picture of Elder Nielsen a guy came off from the road and pass me saying "permiso" which is like "excuse me"... and he went to the makeshift house and grabbed a roll of tp and went around the other side of the wall to take a dump! haha. I just looked at Elder Nielsen and all he could do was just look at me! It happened so fast! We ran out of there busting up laughing! Good times."

This pretty much sums up our friendship... haha not at all but its hilarious anyway...

Anywhoo... I promise to fill you in on my life more... and please if you have any career suggestions send them my way!

Are you packin?!

This is seriously THE cutest frog EVER... This new species was just discovered in Borneo and they are super tiny! They cover about 1/4 of a pinky nail and they were just discovered this week. I think its truly amazing how we still are discovering new species of animals. These little creatures were found in the pitcher plants that gather water. It just made me take a step back and realize how amazing our world is and how intricate and beautiful it is.

Cause Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night

So... I found a couple wedding dresses I LOVE... and I am normally not the one to be all mormon-meets-crazy-bride and all but I just had to share.

This one I love... a little bit of inspiration for me...

Now this next dress I completely fell in love with when I saw. I got a magazine to look through for picture ideas and my mom was looking through it and said that this dress reminded her of me... and its totally true. I haven't found a dress since that quite fits me... So perhaps in a couple years, you will see me in it... haha

Cage matches are a fabulous thing...

So, I feel like I haven't written on here in FOREVER! Basically, I am done with school and currently just working at the MTC. I am trying to find another job in addition to or instead of the MTC job because I need to be working more hours... so, that is the current situation. I am also an FHE mom now in my ward, so that is going good... Its a lot of fun...

So, I'll keep it a bit short tonight and just wrap up with a movie that I recently saw... The Killers! I have been waiting to see it, and it was almost as good as I hoped. The ending was kind of anti-climactic, so you are left with some anticipation and confusion at the end. Up until that point though, the movie is hilarious and Kutcher and Heigl have the funniest chemistry and they are hilarious together. This movie gave me a new respect for Kutcher and his amazingly smokin bod... he always is pulling his gun out of the back of his pants or putting it away and everytime they have a close-up shot of his booty! And its a great one if I do say so myself! Haha, well, just my thoughts on the movie, let me know what you thought!