Credit Card Scam

 I was scammed last night and I've been dealing with banks and credit card companies all day. I'm so upset with myself that I let my guard down. Jenny has been great all day. She has reassured me that the criminals are professionals and I did my best to make sure I was not being scammed. I think we got it taken care of. I'll be checking my accounts regularly for a while. It's been an exhausting week. This was not a fun way to end the week. 

Sunday I was invited to dinner at the Brau's. We had yummy shepherd's pie. Soooo yummy. I love comfort food. Kamiko gave me a blessing for back to school. It was a wonderful blessing. Bekki took notes. Here's what she wrote down.

Back to School (Fall 2021)

Strength courage and balance

The Lord is making sure to give you guidance as to what to instruct your students 

He has taken great interest in your life

Blessed to feel spirit and be guided to help individual needs of students and students will help you

The Lord is impressed and pleased w how you have handled things

Blessed to endure whatever need to this semester and will only be small obstacle

God uses you as an example to spread his word to others. 

In the time revealed you will realize how chosen you are 

Keep eyes open for the ways God is guiding you 

I couldn't help but highlight in red what had me worried. Maybe I've already endured "what I need to endure" just this week. Maybe there is more. All I know is that today I'm feeling very overwhelmed. The world is in commotion, BYU is on edge, and I'm dealing with credit card/banking fraud. Life feels really heavy and sometimes it's hard to do life alone. I have great friends and family and I remind myself that I have my Savior, but sometimes I feel the weight of doing life alone. It's a lot. 

Monday Elder Holland spoke to faculty, staff, and administrators. It was a wonderful talk about upholding the standards of the church and of BYU. He said that we'll defend the church above being accepted by academia. I sat with Starlyn Hjorth, Natalie Hancock, Alyssa Arnold, Sheleen Ostler, and Dawna Baugh. I missed a bit while Allie and I were texting back and forth. During the bit I was conversing with Allie, Elder Holland said something about defending family and marriage between a man and a woman. BOY, that started days and days of an online/social media uproar. The LGBTQIA+ community has been very vocal about his remarks. It's so difficult for me. I don't think loving and following the gospel and loving those who are different than I am are mutually exclusive. In fact, here's my favorite quote from Elder Holland's talk. 

It's been a difficult week, full of emotions on all sides, especially hurt on the side of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

Tuesday was the university breakfast. I got a lot done after the breakfast. I'm pretty ready for the semester. I saw Jennifer Stevenson, from our American Fork ward. She's working at BYU in the Neuroscience department, working with graduate students. It was great to see her. Wednesday was the Family, Home, and Social Sciences day. We had messages from our new leadership, including Dean Walker and a faculty advisory council town hall. I got to take Kamiko to get his haircut at Gabe Jolley's house. It was great to see him. 

Wore a scarf that Allie got for me at her work at Madewell

Thursday was the School of Family Life faculty retreat at Thanksgiving Point. The theme was unity and it was much needed. Liz Darger, an assistant athletic director at BYU, spoke on having difficult conversations with love and understanding. She started by bearing her witness of the First Presidency and the 12 Apostles. She talked about finding common ground, about learning how people want to be identified and working hard to comply, about coming to the table and staying there, and about the fact that we don't always need to agree. She said she personally was uplifted by Elder Holland's remarks, but she acknowledged that it was difficult for others. We don't always have to agree. There doesn't have to be a right and a wrong. We walked around the grounds at Thanksgiving Point. I got to know some new faculty (Ashley Black and Andrea Busby) and I got to know others better (Loren Marks, Natalie Hancock, Spencer James, Roy Bean, Chelom Leavitt, and Sarah Coyne). I work with some pretty great people. The executive committee went to Atlanta, GA, and Montgomery, AL, a few weeks ago and Jeremy Yorgason led us in a discussion on unity and race. He had us look at The Family proclamation and the SFL statement on inclusion and diversion. As I read them, I noted that BOTH talked about the responsibilities of the individual and of the group. Spencer James commented that the recipe for a healthy family is also the recipe for a healthy classroom environment. Faith, repentance, respect, and wholesome recreation. We got done at 4 pm and I realized I had book club, so I killed time at the outlet mall and looking for a nightstand until 7 pm. I've decided I'm not buying a nightstand. Can't figure out what I want, so it's back to just one nightstand. Oh well. Instead I've spent my money on identity theft protection. LOL. 

Learned about Martin Luther King's desire for a Beloved Community

I took it easy on Friday. I got up and went on a nice walk, then I went to see Jenny Hebdon in Lehi. She's busy with her 4 littles. I stayed long enough to watch the 3 kids while she went and got Blake at 1st grade. I came home and cleaned the house. I got the rings out of my toilets with Borax and vinegar. Worked like a charm.