the same.

today i went to church at a different building than normal.

we decided to go to church at the husband's cousin's ward building rather than ours (the one his cousin has been coming to) so that she can get to know the people around where she lives.

(for those non-members, LDS church members go to church at buildings based on boundaries where they live)

it was a wonderful experience and it really made me reflect on the LDS church compared to other churches.

i will use my old denomination of church (episcopal) as an example.

i could go to 8 different episcopal churches on the same day and each would have a different sermon, a different set-up and essentially different beliefs based on what the pastor believes. in fact you could ask 8 episcopals what they believe and most likely they would all have something different to say as far as their personal beliefs.

the thing i love about going to the LDS church is that no matter where you go it will be the same! church meetings will all have the same organization, sacrament meeting will always be the same, the classes will be teaching the same material and everything has the same structure...

but most importantly, and different than almost all churches, is that no matter what LDS member you ask, they will express to you the same basic beliefs.

i love that the church teaches us exactly what we believe...and that through the holy spirit we can come to know that the church teaches the truth.

i love that when someone asks me a question about my faith i can tell them what i, and what the church believes and teaches...

it is amazing to me that from washington state to florida, to france, to australia and china the church is all the same...just different people. :)

i love it.

i love it all!

my trip and some thoughts.

i just want to start out by saying...

charleston, south carolina is one of the most beautiful places i have ever been.

i am not exaggerating.

you know how usually you go on vacation and then by the end you want to go home, or at least you are excited to be home?!

nope. not this time. the husband and i didn't want to leave and we are already eager to go back some day in the future.

the rich history that surrounded us- plantation homes, historic battle fields, homes that housed the first president's of the united states...i mean seriously, how cool is that!?

not to mention, the architecture and charm of the city is unbeatable. being in charleston made me wonder what on earth we have done to our architecture. it doesn't get more beautiful than this:

yes, this is the house in the notebook. :]

i am pretty sure i took about a bazillion pictures of just houses and buildings because they were so beautiful.

i loved that charleston is proud of their history too... they have laws that prohibit anyone from removing ANYTHING over 75 years old...even if it is a tree branch that falls in the road, nature must take it's course. it was also awesome because a lot of the outdoor lights on houses are actually real flames and the city pays for them because they preserve the historic nature of the city...they are on 24/7 just like they were back in "the day"!

pretty awesome huh?!

anyway, one of the most interesting things about charleston was how many churches there are (and you thought utah was bad...) i mean we are talking steeples EVERYWHERE!

charleston is home to some of the oldest churches in our countries entire history!

lots of churches means LOTS of religious people.

on our last day, we were sitting in a 'chick-fil-a' (so good by-the-way) and an entire section of people in the restaurant grabbed hands and started to pray...not just any praying, i am talking intense-nodding-of-the-head-"amen"-interjections-type praying. it was a sight to see because...confession...i don't think i could EVER bust my heart out in a prayer in the middle of a fast-food restaurant and that just DOES NOT happen where i am from!

i have so much respect for those who are comfortable praying/preaching in public, no matter who you are or what religion you come from..because i am definitely not comfortable doing that.

seeing the way that the people in charleston accept religion was refreshing. it is so different than where i live in seattle.

seattle is one of the least religious states in the nation. you say your christian to someone and they will run the other direction half the time. to be honest, it makes me hate bringing up religion in any conversation.

for example, you are talking about a friend, and the other person asks, "where do you know them from?" and you say, "church". the response, "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh". or in some cases you get, "what church" and when i proceed to say the LDS church i get a wide-eyed stare back. its great. (not).

i am sorry for the random jumbled thoughts that make this post...but i swear i have re-written it 12x and my point that i want to make is just not coming out the way i want...ugh.

i think it's because i left my mind back in charleston. ;]

anyway, a) charleston rocks. b) charleston is very christian oriented which i like...which leads me to c) seattle needs to be less judgemental and more open to religious viewpoints.

there you go...my ideas in a, b, c, format.

and i'm done.