Finally, the semester is ending and I am coasting to the finish. I have one test, two short papers, one long paper, and finals left. Ahh.
Today I found out that I am not doing nearly so badly in Italian as I thought I was. Woohoo!
Call me crazy, but I love finals week. It is so relaxing compared to midterms. No homework, no classes. All you have to worry about is X number of tests. You can even sleep in a bit on some days!
In my English class today someone gave a presentation which included a slide about Audrey Hepburn and her role in Roman Holiday. One of the pictures on the slide was actually from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but I was prepared to let that slide, until the speaker went on to say that her character in the movie is that of a Southern Belle, and somewhat of a flirtatious brat. Did they get her mixed up with Scarlet O’Hara? No, because they also discussed her and Gone with the Wind, comparing the two characters by means of their Southern Belle similarities. So I wrote on the little review sheet for them about how Roman Holiday was actually set entirely in Rome, Italy some 90 years after the American Civil War, and Hepburn played a European princess, who, although a bit frustrated and upset in the beginning, is not a brat nor flirtatious for virtually the whole movie.
Anyway. Tomorrow is General Conference and we are going into the crowded hubbub of Salt Lake City for the day. I hope everything goes smoothly. I really hate every moment of being there for conference, except when I am seated in my chair. It is so noisy and crowded and people are on edge trying to fight crowds, and also the anti-Mormons are there yelling at us, which usually makes me cry at least a little bit, because I am a sensitive soul and cannot take much yelling or criticism. It’s never clear to me from the things they yell whether they are actually trying to save our souls or just making fun of us because they hate us. 
But it really is amazing to be there and see the prophet and hear the choir and stuff, and since Samuel has never been, I thought I would offer to get tickets from my dad, who gets them for his stake in Kansas.
Wow, you handled that whole Roman Holiday vs. Gone with the Wind situation better than I would have. WHERE did she get her information? Had she ever even bothered WATCHING the movies?????
The answer that I think of is that evangelism is a war —
Nowadays tribes — small people-groups — do not war with spears or guns much; instead they war with business strategies, politics, sports, and evangelism –
So this is violent — so there is hate — the “love and save” words are bullets in the evangelists’ guns, is all.
(But there is also fear amongst the young of them — that is how the young are taught to war, you know — they are taught things to fear about things they personally know nothing about.
(Next time, if you see a fourteen-year-old among those screaming and waving hate-tracts, hug her.)