Blogging + Dreams... Dreamlogging? Drlogging?

I keep threatening to start posting about the clips that run through my subconscious mind between the hours of midnight to eight a.m.

Today's the day I start.

1) One of my friends screams from her computer for me to come see something. I run in and she has her beau's Facebook profile up, which was recently changed to "Looking for Dating/A Relationship." We scream.

2) My cousin Rachel and I are wearing matching shirts (yellow with white polka-dots and ruffle sleeves. I own this shirt; I don't believe she does.). I think how much better hers looks. We sit on a couch with a bunch of my other cousins and my cousin Ashley (who recently died) is standing behind us wearing all these colorful beaded bracelets. She is discussing her ideas for a huge party we are planning for her.

Last night: nothing too epic. I remember having tons of dreams but don't recall any of the subject matter.

This is not as interesting as I had hoped. Better luck next time.

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Now. Non sequitur.

I was reading the Book of Mormon yesterday: Alma 46. The end of verse 13 through verse 15:

...he bowed himself to the earth, and he prayed mightily unto his God for the blessings of liberty to rest upon his brethren, so long as there should a band of Christians remain to possess the land — For thus were all the true believers of Christ, who belonged to the church of God, called by those who did not belong to the church. And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ, or Christians as they were called, because of their belief in Christ who should come.

While the Christians were happy to take on this name, it was still someone else who dubbed them as such. This made me think of the name "Mormon." Same thing applies. While I am happy to take on the moniker, it was still someone else who assigned this title (the non-Mormons in the 1800's; based on our belief in the Book of Mormon). While these declarations are not the worst thing in the world (I certainly adore the fact that I am defined as Christian and Mormon), they are still evidence of someone else deciding who and what I am. There are a zillion instances of "the other" defining who/what we are (i.e. crazy media coverage, anti-Mormon literature, some scary lady yelling at my roommate at the bus stop because she was reading the Book of Mormon).

In the last General Conference, Dallin H. Oaks (of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles) said the following:

We live in a time when some misrepresent the beliefs of those they call Mormons and even revile us because of them. When we encounter such misrepresentations, we have a duty to speak out to clarify our doctrine and what we believe. We should be the ones to state our beliefs rather than allowing others the final word in misrepresenting them. This calls for testimony, which can be expressed privately to an acquaintance or publicly in a small or large meeting. As we testify of the truth we know, we should faithfully follow the caution to speak “in mildness and in meekness” (D&C 38:41). We should never be overbearing, shrill, or reviling. As the Apostle Paul taught, we should speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15). Anyone can disagree with our personal testimony, but no one can refute it.

To that I say, WORD. Though it is definitely scary at times to speak out for what I believe (I am consistently shocked at the vehemence/seeming anger of other faiths towards my own), it is so worth it. And at some point (maybe not soon, but I'm hopeful), people will cease to be hostile due to lack of understanding or belief.