Thank You Mitt and Ann!!

I have been a huge Mitt Romney fan for a long time.  In the beginning, my sister, Celestia, studied all about him (back in 2006/2007) when he was running for President.  She felt very passionate that he would be a great candidate.  I was a bit skeptical about him and definitely about the chances of a Mormon becoming a nominee.  I was also worried about what that would mean for the church and other such worries.  However, as I did my own research, I also began falling in love with his character and his ideas.  I was especially impressed by all that he did in Massachusetts, turning around the economy and his health care plan there.  I was also impressed with the way he turned around the Salt Lake Olympics from a dire situation of much debt to one of profit, especially so soon after 9-11.  Through their own research, one by one, each family member of mine started to realize that this guy really knew what he was doing, especially when it came to economics.  Grant was also skeptical… until he read Romney’s book.  He was very impressed!  When Romney didn’t get the nomination in 2008, I thought he bowed out gracefully, and figured he would run again in 2012.  I had gone to the county convention, in support of Romney, however I changed my vote in support of McCain, who was looking to be the party’s nomination, not because I really liked him all that much but simply because that was just the right thing to do and what was best for the Republican party.

In 2012, when I heard Romney was going to run again, I decided I would do all I could to help.  I went to the caucus and the county convention just like last time.  And then since it was still looking good for him, I paid the $100 to go to the State Convention.  Then I even did some sign waving in support of Romney.  It was actually pretty fun!  We had a great turnout!  I was surprised in the liberal city of Olympia that we had so many people wave and honk and shout things in support of Romney!  It felt awesome!!  And I was pretty surprised at how respectful most Obama supporters were- they simply gave us a thumbs down, shook their heads, or shout “Go Obama.”  It was funny!  We all had fun waving and feeling the support for Romney, and I think it only made us all the more excited!

In November, I sat down and ate the yummy snicker-doodle brownies, which I made, (and which I found on Pinterest) and voted for Romney, and many other awesome candidates (mostly Republicans)!!

I enjoyed watching the news coverage during the week before elections.  The day of the election, I watched the ups and downs of the coverage until Romney gave his concession speech, which I bawled through.  It was so sad!!  I really felt that Mitt and Ann (and their family) represented themselves well and that they are very classy individuals.  They sacrificed a lot to help this country and received a lot of criticism and even lots of death threats (so sad that people are that mean!!)  I am thankful for their sacrifices.  I also feel that they represented the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints well and that the church received mostly positive news coverage because of it (some coverage was awful but for the most part, it was pretty good.)  I felt that the church was able to clear up some misconceptions about our church because of the church being placed in the spotlight.  Anyway, after he gave the speech, I turned off the TV.  I couldn’t stand watching any TV for the next couple of weeks.  It was SO annoying!  People turned so quickly from “he’s a great candidate” to “we never should’ve nominated him.”  It also really annoyed me that people on TV were talking about how Republicans better change their opinions or they will never elect anyone ever again- like we have been losing for 50 years!  First of all, I will never change my opinions of certain things, even if I am the last person on the earth that believes that way.  My feeling is that abortion will always be wrong (except of course in the case of rape, incest, or life of the mother) and gay marriage will always be wrong and I will never want to government to have more control over my life… etc…  I thought of Moroni, in the Book of Mormon, who was alone in the end.  He was the only person who still believed in Jesus Christ.  He lived out the rest of his life alone, never faltering in his beliefs.

I also felt frustrated that Democrats were annoyed by Republicans’ reactions to the outcome.  Whatever!!  It would’ve been way worse, if Romney would’ve won!!  I’m sure there would’ve been riots and probably even people injured or killed!  It is easy to stay calm when you win.  I feel that Republicans were just really mad because of all that was on the line, like Obamacare, so they took their mute button off and just said whatever they wanted (which is pretty much what some liberals do all the time, in my opinion.)

The next day, I was really angry and wanted to yell at a liberal.  I saw some people on my friend’s Facebook talking about politics and decided to let them have it.  After my first couple of comments, I decided this just wasn’t worth it… anger wasn’t helping me feeling better.  In fact, it was making me feel worse.  So I deleted all of my comments and decided I wouldn’t write anything about politics for another week or until I had calmed down, so that I didn’t ruin my reputation or say something in anger that I would later regret.

After going through the sad phase, and then the angry phase, I decided I needed some peace.  After all, I always said from day one that if God wanted/needed Romney to be President, somehow it would happen.  However, if it wasn’t part of God’s plan, then he wouldn’t become President.  Maybe all God needed for His plan, was for Romney to run for President and that was good enough… who knows.  Either way, I searched for peace.  I found a couple of quotes that really made a difference for me and helped me cope.

Two things really helped me find the peace I was looking for.  The first one was a quote by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, “The future of this world has long been declared; the final outcome between good and evil is already known.  There is absolutely no question as to who wins because the victory has already been posted on the scoreboard.  The only really strange thing in all of this is that we are still down here on the field trying to decide which team’s jersey we want to wear!” 

And the second was a talk given by Ezra Taft Benson (who was not only an LDS prophet but also served as Secretary of Agriculture under President Eisenhower) at BYU on September 16, 1986 entitled, “The Constitution—A Heavenly Banner.”  It spoke about basic principles of the constitution, agency, the proper role of government, God’s hand in the creating of the constitution, etc.  He then spoke about 4 things we must do to prepare to save the constitution. 

“1. We must be righteous and moral. We must live the gospel principles—all of them. We have no right to expect a higher degree of morality from those who represent us than what we ourselves are. To live a higher law means we will not seek to receive what we have not earned by our own labor. It means we will remember that government owes us nothing. It means we will keep the laws of the land. It means we will look to God as our Lawgiver and the source of our liberty.

2. We must learn the principles of the Constitution and then abide by its precepts. Have we read the Constitution and pondered it? Are we aware of its principles? Could we defend it? Can we recognize when a law is constitutionally unsound? The Church will not tell us how to do this, but we are admonished to do it. I quote Abraham Lincoln: ‘Let [the Constitution] be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges; let it be written in primers, spelling-books, and in almanacs; let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation.’ [Complete Works of Abraham Lincoln, ed. John G. Nicolay and John Hay, vol. 1 (New York: Francis D. Tandy Co., 1905), p.43]

 3. We must become involved in civic affairs. As citizens of this republic, we cannot do our duty and be idle spectators. It is vital that we follow this counsel from the Lord: "Honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil" (D&C 98:10). Note the qualities that the Lord demands in those who are to represent us. They must be good, wise, and honest. We must be concerted in our desires and efforts to see men and women represent us who possess all three of these qualities.

4. We must make our influence felt by our vote, our letters, and our advice. We must be wisely informed and let others know how we feel. We must take part in local precinct meetings and select delegates who will truly represent our feelings.”

Then the part that touched me the most was the last two paragraphs of the speech—a bit scary but oh, so powerful!!  I was really comforted as I read it.

“I reverence the Constitution of the United States as a sacred document. To me its words are akin to the revelations of God, for God has placed his stamp of approval on the Constitution of this land. I testify that the God of heaven sent some of his choicest spirits to lay the foundation of this government, and he has sent other choice spirits—even you who hear my words this day—to preserve it.

We, the blessed beneficiaries, face difficult days in this beloved land, "a land which is choice above all other lands" (Ether 2:10). It may also cost us blood before we are through. It is my conviction, however, that when the Lord comes, the Stars and Stripes will be floating on the breeze over this people. May it be so, and may God give us the faith and the courage exhibited by those patriots who pledged their lives and fortunes that we might be free, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”

The part about the flag flying when the Lord comes again made me cry.  I know that God has a plan for this nation, however we will also need to fight hard to help save this nation that we love.  And even though I wasn’t happy with the results of the election, I am thankful for the peace that God gave me to help me get through that week.