Hello all!
Soooooo my apartment was being remodeled and it's been absolute chaos but it's done now. It's still going to take me five million years to recover from it though, haha.
As I told you in the previous post, I had an interview with my bishop about starting my mission papers. It couldn't have gone better! I won't be able to start my papers for a little bit longer, so I can go to counseling. I'll let you know when we move on to the next step.
The missionaries have been beyond helpful and encouraging during this time. They are the bests friends I could've asked for, are incredibly positive, and have the best advice on everything. I have gotten so much comfort and support from writing them. I'm telling you guys, if you know any missionaries, write them. You well be blessed for serving the servants of God.
Today we're going back to the blog's roots and PUTTING THE LIT BACK IN LITERATURE.
The other week I was on the phone with Elder Carter Estes, about a week before he left for the MTC, so I could be sure I got to talk to him before he left. He was telling me about his mission, and how some of the missionaries have maids. Like, people to do chores for them. And I was not fine. He said he would totally be able to do that, but I said I wouldn't. He eventually talked me off of my "imagine someone else doing my own work for me" cliff, but I at first told him, "The Hufflepuff in me says no."
I guess that sounds pretty funny, but I mean it. I don't remember a time in my life that I wasn't a Harry Potter fan, and then Pottermore was created and we all were ecstatic. I was sorted into Hufflepuff, and I've always known how correct that was. I really identified with the house.
I follow this really good Harry Potter account on Twitter (@PotterWorldUK, if you're an HP fan give them a follow) and the other day there was the typical post reminding us about, to quote the post, "kind Slytherins," "brave Hufflepuffs," "stupid Ravenclaws," "twisted Gryffindors," all the things that are always brought up in order to defy house stereotypes. (Ugh.)
The caption for the picture? "Your Hogwarts house does not define you."
I mean, I guess? But isn't that why there were Hogwarts houses? I guess it's not the house that defines us, it's us that defines the house. There was a reason people were put there. It grouped together a bunch of people that valued the same qualities.
We all know that not everyone has every quality that their house is known for. And we all know everyone has qualities from every house. I have the honesty of a Gryffindor, the creativity of a Ravenclaw, and the ambition of a Slytherin. That's what hatstalls are all about.
But even still, as is discussed in a Sanders Sides video that I'm not gonna talk too much about because I could go on forever about what I think about it, Hogwarts houses have brought a great sense of identity to many Potterheads, and we know not everyone is exactly as they are expected to be, whether it's an accurate expectation or not. I've always been proud of the fact that I'm a Hufflepuff, because to me it made so much sense.
Hufflepuffs are known for their neutrality, which I don't think I would've ever thought I possessed because of how emotionally led I am. But then I remember my strange gift with objectivity. It's a cool writing tool, because I can jump from emotion to emotion pretty normally whenever I need to feel something for character purposes. I also possess this ability that is normally how people see this trait in Hufflepuffs, being able to listen to a problem someone else has and give them advice with as little bias as possible. I'm really okay with the fact that I'm unable to truly understand people, and I think that makes it easier for me to listen to them. Justice, balance, and peace are the ways of Hufflepuffs.
The trait I mostly associated my Puff self with was loyalty and that's because I've always had a strong sense of it. I stick with people. I'm a "we're friends once, we're friends forever" kind of person. I think of leaving people, and it just feels unthinkable. I would have to try to work it out. I can't leave one of my people. The only thing that ever makes me drop someone is if I feel I've been betrayed... so, essentially... the opposite of loyalty.
*in a Thomas Sanders-esque manner* Okay so quick STORYTIME on the subject of loyalty.
We're gonna flash back to my freshman year of high school. I was fourteen years old. It was late March. I was on the chamber singers trip in San Diego. (WOW I've been going back to the first two years of high school a lot lately and it's got me FEELING.) I was going to have to miss the last day of the trip to go to a color guard competition in Henderson. I was at dinner with the choir, the day we had sang, and I was having a really good time with my people, and then I found out. I had had to miss a guard rehearsal for the trip already, and they decided there were too many changes for me to be able to catch up on the day of the competition. They weren't going to let me perform.
I cried.
I was given the choice to still be in Henderson to support my team. They would love to have me there. Or I could stay with the choir and go to SeaWorld with them the next day. In the end I chose to stay with the choir. I knew in the end that that was the best decision, because I know I probably just would have cried more if I had gone to the color guard, been absolutely depressed, because I was there watching them but couldn't actually be a part of them. And I would've known that I left the choir as well. Staying with the choir, at least I was actually participating, being a part of them. That night even still I just felt like I was letting someone down either way. It was a sad end to the day.
Before we all went to sleep/have our scripture study session we so frequently liked to have on our trips, Mr. Duff pulled me aside and told me I was only feeling this way because I am such a loyal person and I didn't want to let either of my groups down. Those words were really comforting, and I knew they were true.
The final Puff trait I kind of want to address is their love for hard work, kind of what I was talking about when I referenced my conversation with Carter. This is a good thing, because it makes me incapable of giving up. It can also be a bad thing, because I never feel like I'm doing enough. (Lizzo, you completed multiple homework assignments. It's okay that you didn't ALSO write a chapter.) But at the very least it makes me very determined, whether or not I come through, which I try to as much as I can.
As far as hard work goes, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the Sorting Hat song, the exact words he sings about the Puffs' love for hard work is how they are "unafraid of toil". The word "unafraid" always really struck me. People like to think of Hufflepuffs as cinnamon rolls. That's the reason people feel the need to acknowledge that there are "brave Hufflepuffs."
I mean, really, guys? Are brave cinnamon rolls really that uncommon?
Because of course many Hufflepuffs are cinnamon rolls. I know that firsthand. So I guess this is pretty silly for me to say considering how not brave I am. But have you ever met a Hufflepuff? Like, really? They're fierce. It's fantastic, really.
Thank you all for the love and support. Sometimes out of nowhere I realize how much I really have and am absolutely amazed. I have an overwhelming amount of support. Thank you so much.
I love you right back.
--Lizzo
