We should all be this happy to be a Mormon!
Happy Mormon Girl: NEVER ALONE
This happy Mormon girl is Al Fox, a recent convert to the LDS Church. I love the way she shares her testimony with others via her own personal YouTube Channel 22AlFox. This is how she describes herself...
"My name is Al Fox. I got baptized in 2009 into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and I want everyone to know the happiness that it has brought me, and is bringing me!"
You can also find her on her blog: In The Head of Al Fox HERE.
Just look how HAPPY this video has made me.. I'm blogging in COLORS!!!
Don't you just want to run out and share this!!!
Don't you just want to run out and share this!!!
tDMg
Kathryn Skaggs
Oh, this is beautiful and a little heart-breaking. I love what she has to say and how she says it. And this little boxy Mormon in my head is looking at it and judging the hell out of her for stupid crap that doesn't mean anything. That's the one who noticed the tats and defacing her scriptures to make the video. And the problem is that I know there are Mormons out there looking at that and saying "She's not a positive example" although they will assume she inked up before baptism, and condescendingly cut her a little slack for it.
ReplyDeleteSomehow, she got the right messages, and that's wonderful. I just hope she doesn't hear from too many (or any) boxy Mormons like the one in my head. They could sweetness and light her right out of the Church.
@blain-
ReplyDeleteWell at least you recognize that your confession of "judging" her is totally wrong -- and I appreciate your honesty. I think what drew me to this video is the innocence of her testimony. I love new converts to the Church and how enthusiastic they are to share their testimony with others. I especially love her creativity in doing so. But yeah, I was a little taken back at a few things, initially, but was quickly overcome by the spirit that is brimming throughout this entire video. I mean, come on --- I blogged in COLORS!!! The Church has to be true! ; )
The girl's on fire. Be sure to read her letter to the mission president who was serving at the time she was baptized. Awe.Some.
ReplyDeletehttp://alfoxshead.blogspot.com/2011/08/my-2-year-anniversary.html
@Mormon Women -
ReplyDeleteYes she is! I love her letter and that is why I included the link over to her blog. She is simply adorable!!!
BTW, I think the process one might go through watching this is important. We need to look past the surface, and it doesn't take long to see what her heart and spirit are made of.
ReplyDeleteBut I think it's also ok to acknowledge the standards that Church members are given, and that there is a reason for them.
I can't help but think that having her tats show was deliberate, though, because the message of her video is: "Wherever you are, whoever you are, whatever you've done, God loves you. There's a place for you in the gospel and Church of Jesus Christ." In a way, the tattoes are symbolic to me, reinforcing that message. She's comfortable in her skin because she knows who she is, because she knows who God is, and because she knows that the Atonement is real.
That shines through loud and clear.
@MW -
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful thoughts. Thank you so much for sharing them. For me, it was very easy to feel of her spirit and heart in this video. I absolutely love where she is on her path, and agree, that her message of His love for her, and all of us who seek for that same path, is incredible!
I'm not sure that she was even worried about showing or not showing her tats. I actually believe that because she knows that God loves her, just the way she is, that such things are not an issue for her. Oh that we could all feel His love in the unconditional way that He would want us to -- and for her, I believe it is a gift.
Kathryn -- Oh, it's definitely wrong. Wrong in the judgment itself, and wrong in assuming the right to judge. For me, I hear that voice in my head, and in a fraction of a second it's "So? What's your problem?" What worries me more is the people who will actually say something to someone about it, and how wrong it would be for any of that to get back to her. And then knowing that it almost certainly has. And that's when I start to hurt.
ReplyDeleteCultural standards are culturally based, and are chosen to elicit and avoid certain social responses. They change with time and place, and have no eternal significance in and of themselves (although attitudes about them and demonstrated through them can, if not repented of). Rebelliousness and judgmentalism are both more significant than the cultural standards they are about are.
And I think I agree that she was simply showing herself as she is and how she and God have made her. Her heart seems very large and very pure, and my pain is in seeing that heart hurt for bad reasons.
Indeed. It's a beautiful gift that I'm so grateful she is sharing.
ReplyDelete@Blain -
ReplyDeleteNone of us are immune to that "voice" in our head, that initially finds itself judging others, and most of the time, wrongfully.
I agree with your assessment of culture, and our need to look beyond it, and seek better to apply true Christian principles as we interact with each other.