10 Things to Expect After Having a Baby

So I just had my first kid like 10 months ago and man these last 10 months have been a freakin journey. There were some things I for sure didn’t expect. Here’s those 10 things you might want to anticipate for:

1. It shocked me at how weak I was after having a baby. I’ve been an athlete my whole life and so I’ve always been in somewhat good shape.. bruh. You might have to start at 0 when it comes to any sort of strength or conditioning. You’d be shocked at how many muscles you use just to jog. After 5 minutes on the treadmill my vagina would feel like I just had a 2 year long period! Muscles I never even knew I had would be sore! So expect your body to take a while bouncing back. My baby is 10 months old and I can finally do ab work outs. You body changes so much. Throw out the pre-pregnancy clothes, take care and enjoy your new mum bod 😃

2. For my birth, my kids head was way too big so they had to perform what’s called an episiotomy. Look it up. Because of this stupid thing, sex for me has been... uncomfortable to say the least. 85% of all women experience some sort of pain or discomfort during sex after having a baby. Also, if you’re breastfeeding, use extra lube. Hormones get in the way of you doing it’s job naturally if you know what I’m saying... it’s just now starting to feel somewhat enjoyable so communicate with your partner, you probably won’t be horny for a while and just take it day by day. If you have any concerns, please consult with your doctor!

3. The constipation. BROOO. The hemroids. BrOoOoO. I went 3 weeks without having a good, solid poo. It was hell. So load up on laxatives before you have baby. I’d start on them a month or two before baby comes with lots of water so the pipes are all good to go when the moment comes.

4. I was surprised at how I adjusted to little to no sleep. You just... go on with life LOL. I don’t know how I did it but I did. And you will too. Don’t stress.

5. Breastfeeding was... an experience that I got to have to 6 months. My baby had a really good latch from the beginning but it’s shocking how often babies eat! And how sore your nips are the first 3 months. Even if my nipples got a little hard from being cold, they were in fire! I went from a D to a freakin E!!!! But shockingly, I can’t wait to do it again. It’s something you just can’t explain until you do it. You gotta work at it and it takes time. But it’s really worth it! Breast is best BUT fed is the most important! So if you need formula, which we had to do, don’t stress! You’re doing just as good of a job as anyone else!

6. Your insides feel like they’re jiggling inside of you uncontrollably for a good month or 2 after you have baby. It made me nauseous. Maybe because my stomach was actually in the right place for once after 9 months.

7. All your pregnancy symptoms... the back ache, the heart burn, the pinched sciatic nerve, constant migraine, exhaustion, etc all stops the moment that kid pops out of you. It’s like when you have a really big pimple and the pressure is so bad it starts to have its own heart beat but once you pop it there is so much relief. That’s kinda what it feels like... and then you get new symptoms being postpartum 😂

8. The hormones are insane. I would cry and sometimes still cry, over absolutely nothing. Then 10 seconds later I wanted to punch a hole in the wall. Be patient with yourself and again, communicate with your partner. I’m sure he’s taking the brunt of it 😂

9. Being a mum has insane ups and downs. One moment you absolutely hate being a mum and breastfeeding and taking care of a baby. Then the next you’re a picture taken straight out of a 1950’s home making book 😂 Know that those feelings of frustration and wanting to give up or wishing for your old life back is normal. We all do it but when that baby smiles at you or laughs at something you do that’s not even funny just because you’re his mum and he loves you... yeah. The mum life is the best life. So cry it out, scream it out and then pull yourself together because that baby needs and loves you.

10. I was shocked at how being a mum came so naturally. It’s just different when it’s your kid. It’s instinct, biology, innate. You’ll surprise yourself. Evolution or God or both (whatever you believe in) made you for this moment. The highest and most important calling this world has to offer, motherhood. Trust yourself, you can do it 😊♥️

You go mama!

xx Madi

Dating Advice

I’ve been married now and looking back I was pretty damn good at dating. I’d like to think that I nailed it when it came to choosing a partner for myself (even though marriage is a living commitment that takes daily work to nourish). To those dating I have one activity for you sit down and do before you go on the next date or before you get back in the game.

It’s called the Negotiables and Non-Negotiables.

We’ll start with the Non-negotiables because they are the most important and can make or break a relationship/marriage. These are traits/things you want in your future partner that you CANNOT compromise. These are things like if you want kids in the future, want to get married, if you’re religious what kind of activity do you want in your church, etc. These are the the most important things in your life. For example, when I was dating my 5 non-negotiables were:

1. I wanted to always be active in my church and when I dated I only dated members from my church. This is important for any members of the Church reading this. Marriage is hard but when you marry someone of the same faith, usually that means you have the same long term goals, especially if y’all are both members. I asked questions about how felt about the church, cool experiences they had and asked if they could see themselves going to church. While my husband and I were dating, he struggled with his testimony for a little bit. Right then and there I said, “T, you gotta figure if this is what you want. My goal is to always have the church in my life.”

2. He had to want kids! I see so many people who date someone who isn’t on the same page when it comes to this... have this conversation before y’all get married because 9/10 a person isn’t going to change their mind on this subject. Kids are a HUGE deal and the ultimate commitment. My husband wasn’t very good with kids and always said he hated them. So I was a little reserved and ended up breaking up with him because I thought he didn’t want any. Turns out, when we actually had the conversation, he just hates other people’s and wanted 4 or 5 kids which is exactly what I wanted!

3. At some point you have to talk about money. For me I’m huge on not going into debt unless it’s for a house or education. Since that’s a teaching we share from our church, we were Allgoods.

4. He had to have a sense of humor and laugh off the dumb things that happen in life. For me this is important because this was something that is taught in my family. Shake it off, laugh it off and move on. It’s important that you see your potential husband/wife/partner is stressful situations. If they handle in a way that you can deal with for the rest of your life then.. cool!

5. He had to be an RM. I might get crap for this but for me, being an RM myself, I knew what a mission taught. It teach compromise, communication skills, living in your own with someone, hard work, and other life skills perfect for marriage. If you’re not Mormon, evaluate if the other person communicates in a healthy way that’s compatible with how you communicate.

Last thing that you do is make yolur negotiables list. These are things that you can compromise on that you wish your future partner would have but it isn’t a deal breaker. These are things like wanting your future partner to play sports or he has to have brown eyes or has to be tall. Hahaha. These don’t necessarily have to do with core beliefs or serious topics although they could be. I made 5 negotiables and 5 non-negotiables when I was dating but you could make more.

The most important thing is to NEVER compromise on your non-negotiables. Don’t go into a relationship expecting someone to change. You marry the person for who they are and change together, as a unit.

GOOD LUCK!!! Do not settle! There are so many people out there to choose from! It’s the most important decision and will effect every facet of your life! Choose wisely!

Self Love & Body Image

This post has been on my mind for a couple of weeks now and I think I have been able to gather all of my thoughts in order to write a coherent post LOL.

As I've been pregnant, it seems as though there is a common theme among my social media and things I notice society trying to teach me about my body. On my Instagram, I see all these fit mums doing workouts while pregnant and bouncing right back after their pregnancies. On Pinterest, I see crash diets for pregnant women and workouts I can do to reduce weight gain. On Facebook, they try to sell me oils that prevent stretch marks or reduce their appearance. I see on TV how the Kardashians lost the weight or the things they did to make sure they had their "sleek and sexy figure after having 2 kids". They teach me how to style my clothes so I don't look as pregnant as I am.

Pregnancy and the changes it causes both physically and emotionally can be an extremely overwhelming experience. You have hormones RAGING inside of you and changing with each new week according to what your baby needs to grow up healthy. That makes you sick, depressed, anxious, irritable etc. That favorite pair of jeans you love so much no longer fits, hell I can't even find a pair of underwear that doesn't cut of my circulation and make me feel like my legs are going to fall off. Your boobs are sore all the time, you start to get stretch marks and itchy skin. Honestly.. I've hated being pregnant. I have been sick half my pregnancy and when I finally started to feel normal enough to function, I popped all of the sudden and now my back hurts 24/7. I'm exhausted all the time and I just... doing everything mentioned in the previous paragraph are things that I wouldn't even want to do if I wasn't making a human being inside me.

And now I can't even look on my phone for more than 5 minutes without it telling me that this amazing experience is going to turn my body into what society deems as unattractive. The stretch marks, the weight gain, the "saggy boobs", the bags under the eyes from exhaustion, the messy hair etc. For the past 6 months I feel like I have been mourning what my body was and I haven't even given birth yet. I look in the mirror at my belly and think "I'm huge. I'm fat. My body is never going to be what it was before. I hate being pregnant. My boobs already look like loaves of bread. I don't want to breastfeed, it'll make them worse."

Then Heavenly Father came in time of need when I needed a spiritual "whooping". As I sat there in bed crying over the loss of my "perfect prebaby boobs" thinking my husband isn't going think I'm attractive anymore or that I'll never feel sexy again a thought came to mind. He said

"If you choose not to breastfeed than you're not letting your own body reach it's full potential. It's the most important reason why I made them. You're taking away their purpose and their higher calling."


In 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 it reads:


19. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20. For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

We NEED to change the way we teach about a woman's body, how we speak of it and how we treat it. Since that moment of revelation, I've made it a goal to take care of my body and make it as healthy as possible. Pregnant women aren't fat... THEY'RE PREGNANT. You gain weight being pregnant to keep both you and the baby healthy. The weight is healthy! Your boobs are not just cleavage. They're not just for sexual pleasure and appeal. They are the vessels of life. Did you know that you breast milk evolves overtime and adapts to every nutritional need of your baby? Your boobs are making LIQUID GOLD for heaven's sake! Those stretch marks are not ugly. Your skin was able to stretch itself and challenge itself to it's very limits so that a baby can be kept nice and safe for 9 months! Hell my husband has stretch marks because even men's bodies go through rapid changes in order to grow and progress. Your body is an absolute masterpiece and creation.

I am so sad to say that I have been absolutely cruel to my body. I am so proud of it and all it has accomplished. My body is amazing and it's the things that it is able to do that makes it perfect. Although I'm a little scared for what its about to go through come May 27th hahahaha... I know that my body will do amazing things just like it has in the past. We need to stop thinking that a woman's body is only beautiful if our boobs are perfectly round or whatever... or that our tummies are super flat... or that we bounce back right after having kids. We aren't going to look like what we looked like in high school because we're WOMEN now, not little girls. Whether you have kids or not, every woman's body goes through similar experiences like the ones above.

We need to stop comparing ourselves to celebrities because what they have isn't real. They've all had work done. I mention the Kardashians because it seems as though a lot of women try to be them. STOP! They have money. They're rich. They're oversexualised. You're comparing their life highlights to your everyday practices. For me, I've deleted social media and only hop on the weekends. When I get out of the shower and look at my body, I congratulate it on all it's accomplished. If I catch myself saying mean things to myself, I apologise to myself.

My body tells my journey. I wanted to get a picture of my belly and my tattoo bare to show where I've come from and where I'm going. By no means have I been perfect and I've made mistakes. I've had to repent, amend things with others and seek forgiveness from both my fellow man and God Himself. I haven't taken the best care of my body or used it for good all the time. But it has been God's light that has lead me to the life I have now. It's because of God that I am able to be the best mum I can be if I listen to His counsel. I got my tattoo when I was 16 years old in memory of my best friend's murder in a drunk driving accident. We promised to be each other's maid of honor's, have kids at the exact same time so they can grow up to be best friends and if it was a boy and girl get married so we can hang out all the time hahahaha. We even said we'd hold each other's hand while giving birth! My body has seen me through the worst times like loosing her and the best times, which is now creating a perfect little son!

My body has been through and carried me through so many different experiences and chapters in my life. A true gift from God. A temple.

I'm excited to see what my body is about to accomplish and can't wait for the opportunity it has to fulfill the measure of its creation. To create life and nurture it. Here's to learning to love ourselves and our bodies. No one else can do it as good as a woman can! 

xoxo. Madi

Shame and Guilt

Recently, while on Youtube I watched an interview between Ellen DeGeneres and the lead singer of Imagine Dragons. At the beginning of the interview he talks about his experience while he was attending BYU and how he was kicked out for having sex with his then girlfriend. He says, "I felt a bit of shame in my life over something I shouldn’t have been shamed about." In this post I would like to talk about the difference between guilt and shame, their effect and then draw from my own experience. Before we dive into this post, I want to state that he felt shame and guilt because he broke the Law of Chastity.

Guilt

I would first like to start off with a quote from Elder David A. Bednar where he says, "Guilt is to our spirit what pain is to our body—a warning of danger and a protection from additional damage." With that in mind we need to ask ourselves a couple of questions. First, who does guilt come from? What comes as a direct result from guilt?

Lds.org says, "as we strive to stay on the path that leads to eternal life, the Holy Ghost can guide us in our decisions and protect us from physical and spiritual danger." So if the Holy Ghost protects us from spiritual danger and guilt is a protection that is used to prevent us from causing further damage from sin then guilt comes from the Holy Ghost. If it comes from the Holy Ghost, then it comes from God Himself. For example, we are commanded that we do not partake in pornography. If I were to stumble across and start watching it, the Holy Ghost will give me a feeling of guilt. That could be a thought that you shouldn't be watching it, a pit in your stomach or an uneasy feeling. This is the Holy Ghost telling me that what we are doing is wrong and I should stop. He will continue to warn us until we stop listening! Guilt comes from God.

So then what are the effects of guilt? When you feel guilt and you listen that feeling, it triggers a sequence of events that may look similar to this. You can't get the bad feeling to go away because you know that what you did was wrong and the Holy Ghost is confirming that. Spiritual damage as been done and you need to heal. This guilt will lead you to pray, read your scriptures, talk to your parents or the best remedy, talk to your priesthood leaders. It will cause you to feel sorry for what you did and then renew your desire to do better. To be better. Guilt is the starting point to repenting and helps us to once again be worthy of the Holy Ghost. The results of guilt is positive.

Shame

We tend to think that guilt and shame are synonymous, when they never have been and never will be. For an example, I will us the story of Adam and Eve. God gave the two of them 2 commandments. The first was to multiply and replenish the earth and the second was not to partake of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. As the story goes, Eve partakes and so does Adam. Satan convinced them to break the commandments but the worst part is that he taught them to be ASHAMED. The conversation that takes place between Adam, Eve and Heavenly Father is as follows in Genesis3:8-13.

"8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

9. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10. And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

12. And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

13. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

From this story we can now answer the two previous questions. Who does shame come from? What are the effects of shame? We learn from Genesis that shame comes from SATAN! God asks Adam, "Who told you that ye were naked? To hide from me?" The effect of shame was the hiding, sewing the fig leaves and being afraid when hearing the voice of the Lord. Satan wants us to feel shame because it'll stop us from going to church because we don't feel worthy or good enough. He wants us to feel shame so that we are too embarrassed to talk with a priesthood leader. That they'll judge us and think differently of us, when in reality they just want to help. He wants us to feel shame so we don't read our scripture or talk with our parents. Shame stops us from doing what's right and progressing!

Personal Experience

My husband and I were supposed to get sealed in the temple over a year ago, on April 8, 2017. We had the date picked out and everything. His family was traveling across the world to attend along with all my family making the drive, the reception was to be right after and we even asked a member from my husband's mission to seal us in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It wasn't until a couple weeks before that we finally had the courage to confess to both our bishops that we were not fully keeping our temple covenants and therefor we were not worthy to be sealed on the date everyone was planning on. We decided to get married anyways and had a civil ceremony. We had to tell our WHOLE family and everyone involved.

Fast forward to June 10, 2018 as we are interviewing with our Stake President, both worthy and able to attend the temple to be sealed July 3, 2018. Looking back on the past year and how hard we've worked, I've realized the role that both shame and guilt has played in our repentance process. Shame kept me from posting pictures of our civil ceremony of Facebook because I was too scared of what other members of the church would say. Shame is what caused my own grandmother to disown my husband and I. Shame is what kept me from enjoying church every Sunday as I heard these perfect BYU-I couples talk about their sealing. Shame is what embarrassed me when other members of the church asked what temple we were sealed in. Shame is what stopped me from even talking about my wedding day. Shame is what caused them to always say 'oh' with a weird look on their face and then awkwardly change the subject. Shame made me hesitate to attend the temple again. Shame self inflicted. Shame is culture. It is not what the LDS faith or the Savior teaches.

But guilt? Guilt is what lead me to set up an appointment with our bishop in the married ward to start our journey to the temple. Guilt is what stopped us from taking the sacrament until we fully repented. Guilt is what started our habits as a couple to pray and read our scriptures. Guilt is what told us to take the temple seriously and not get sealed in the first place unless we were worthy. To start off our marriage with trust, honesty and respect for the Lord. I am SO GRATEFUL for guilt and the path it started me and husband on. Guilt is the spirit protecting us from spiritual casualty and allows us to realign our lives with the will of God. 

The Take Away?

Do not put guilt and shame in the same pot to mix together. Both have different purposes and consequences. We should never make others feel ashamed either! That's what Satan does! And we should never make others feel guilty either, that's the Holy Ghost's job! We are to love all and aid each other on our own individual journeys back to God's presence. Let the Savior take both the guilt and the shame away. Let guilt be the starting point of your repentance process and let it go once you give it over to Jesus Christ.

xoxo, Madi

5 Ingredient Shepard’s Pie

Hey guys!!!

Check out my latest YouTube video on how to make a Shepard’s Pie with only 5 ingredients! You will need:

1. 2 lbs ground beef
2. 2 lbs frozen vegetables
3. Mozarella cheese
4. Instant mash potatoes
5. Salt & Pepper

Here’s the link! https://youtu.be/MPuPfTCM9aE

I hope you enjoy it!!! 💖💖💖

Xoxo, Madz

A Letter to Myself

Every morning I wake up and I teach twelve 14-18 year old high school students. Some really have a good head on their shoulders and seem to be in the right space. Others seem to have lost what my mom calls 'the sparkle" in their eyes. They seem lost, wandering and frankly remind me of myself when I was that age. Tonight I just can't seem to get all of them off my mind, especially that 14 or 17 year old Madi who had no idea what high school was going to bring. To her I write this letter.

Madison,

The next decade is going to be the best of times and the worst of times. Life is going to bend you until the point where you feel like you are going to snap. There are so many battles waiting for you. Some you will win gloriously and others will rock your world. If you could see where you are now, I think you'd be proud. A little surprised but for sure proud! I just want you to know that you made an amazing life for yourself and I'm determined to make a future we can be equally as proud of. You graduated, furthered your education, served a mission and married an outstanding man. Sorry, you didn't end up playing for the BYU women's volleyball team. You didn't play college ball at all and I apologize for not reaching that goal for the both of us! I know it was something you really wanted.

Stop being so self conscious. Don't listen to them. I want you to not listen to the kids at school who tease you. They'll give you crap about being Mormon, a lot. Boys will make inappropriate comments and bully you for being a virgin or being prude. You'll find a man who loves you for you and appreciates the special bond of being each other's one and only. Don't listen to the girls who make fun of your frizzy hair, you'll discover mousse and a diffuser. You get a lot of compliments! You're not fat. For goodness sake, you're a size 00. Need I say more?! And don't be self conscious about your small boobs. They'll tease you for that too. You're a late bloomer and you'll get the ones you want, naturally. Trust the process haha.

Most importantly, hold tight. Hold tight to the morals and precepts you were taught you whole life. Don't let stupid, mean high school kids take away the happiness they bring you. Your junior and senior year will be one of the hardest years of your life. Big changes and heartbreak are coming, but it's nothing you can't handle. Remember to say your prayers and read SOMETHING out of the Book of Mormon every day. Do that and the world won't seem like it's falling apart.. well not as much! Don't let the small mistakes lead you to make big ones. Repentance is a beautiful process and needs to be done quickly. See bishop right away! 

You are an incredibly strong and persistent young lady. You honestly can do anything you put your mind to. God loves you. Always remember, always that God is love.

You can do this!

Your future self

Democrat in a Conservative LDS Community

DISCLAIMER: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has no political affiliation whatsoever. It is neither conservative nor liberal nor does it hardly ever make any stance when it comes to political platform. If you do want to know the stance of the LDS church on any topic, they ALWAYS come out with an official press release. If you have questions, please consult with lds.org. This blog post is purely written from my own personal experiences with other members of the church along with members who share the same political beliefs as me within the church.

Let's go ahead and set the scene before I really go into this blog post by telling you about my upbringing. I was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ which has been a conservative state in every election except in 1996 since becoming part of the U.S in 1912. I have been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints my whole life. My whole family is basically conservative (unless there are some closeted liberals I don't know about hahaha). If you asked me during the 2012 election which political party I associated with I would have said none but I leaned more to right. I would've regurgitated something I heard from my parents or something I saw on Fox News, as that was the only new station I really watched growing up besides the local news. I was taught that the worst thing you could be was a democrat in the way those around me talked about it and even people in my church growing up.

Now because of the teachings of the church and its doctrines, many members of the church tend to affiliate with right wing or the conservative side of the spectrum. And there is nothing wrong with that BUT I am sick and tired of being judged and persecuted in my own community for believing and thinking differently. I am going to get so much heat for this but I feel like I'm not the only one who feels this way and I want them to know they're not alone so here it goes:

1. I am not any less a disciple of Jesus Christ because I am more liberal in my view points. Stop sending me articles about people who are anti-Mormon converting to church, about repentance when leaving the church or returning to activity. I AM AN ACTIVE AND CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF THIS CHURCH AS MUCH AS YOU ARE. I keep my covenants, pay my tithing, attend the temple, partake of the sacrament and worship the same God as you. You and I have the same Heavenly Parents and Savior Jesus Christ. I love them as much as you do and maybe even more! Who really knows?! That's right no one and especially not you. You focus on your activity in the church, your relationship with God and your own salvation and I'll worry about mine. My salvation is not dependent on my political beliefs but on my obedience to the commandments and how I treat others.
2. "The world", "the adversary", "the devil", etc. is not interchangeable or synonymous with liberal or democrat. There are wicked men and women in ALL political parties who teach evil principles. Just because I am liberal does not mean I'm wicked or condone wickedness. Liberals do not exist to destroy righteousness and we are not the Great and Spacious building. We have not declared this imaginary holy war on all you hold dear and sacred, especially since mine are the same as yours!
3. Don't assume someone's reasons behind why they want certain legislation passed. I remember talking to another LDS liberal about the legalization of gay marriage and he sad, "I don't want the government to have that much power to define who loves who. It's not their place, it's God's."Here people assume that just because he wants equality for the LGBT community, he's a homo. When he states that he is pro-choice, he's automatically assigned the label 'baby killer'. When he states that he wants stricter gun laws, conservative members of the church assign the label "communist" or "fascist". When really all these stances he has taken is because he wants as little interference from the government as possible in the personal decisions of its citizens. In other words, he is pro-agency! He wants others to have the freedom to choose just like he would want that for himself.
4. Political beliefs are not church doctrine, so stop preaching them from the pulpit. Example: I was told from a high council member while attending a student ward at BYU-I that I would destroy the work of the Lord and His church if I voted democrat in anyway and he proceeded to tell the students how to vote. Trump is not ringing in the Second Coming nor is he doing God's work nor is he saving the world. That's all you, mingling the philosophies of men with scripture. If it doesn't come from the scriptures or directly from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, you are preaching false doctrine.
5. If your political beliefs fill you with hate for any human being, then they are not in line with the teachings of the gospel. I'm going to leave it at that and have you interpret that as you will.
I want to end by explaining why a Mormon might in fact, be a democrat.

1. The main reason why I vote democrat is because I believe in universal healthcare. There are just some things that should not be for profit and one of those things is good health. Now that I live in a country with universal healthcare, I'll never live in the States again. Solely for that reason. People who tell you that the American healthcare system is the only way and that other countries have people waiting in lines suffering or dying on some list, is lying to you. I have a chronic disease and I am seen IMMEDIATELY. I have lived it and America's healthcare system preys on the sick and takes advantage of them.

2. I'm pro-choice because women NEED the right to make their own healthcare decisions independent of the government. No one is pro-abortion. Do I think that an abortion is morally wrong? Absolutely. Is it a form of birth control? Absolutely not. But it's not up to me what another woman chooses to do with her body and child. And for that matter I LOVE PLANNED PARENTHOOD! Abortions are not the only things they do! Pelvic exams, free STD testing, free pregnancy testing, affordable birth control etc. Either way, women will find a way to terminate a pregnancy. I would give 100% of my taxes to provide a low-income woman basic healthcare and that's what they do! (these facts come from their website at plannedparenthood.org)

3. Welfare. I heard the same conservative story. They saw someone on their iPhones texting with their fresh manicure wearing name brand clothes while using their food stamp card in line at Walmart. Just so you know, you just witnessed a very small percentage. Right wing politicians want to make tax cuts to welfare but 45% of welfare recipients are children in the system under the age of 18, 9% goes to the elderly over the age of 60 and 10% goes to disabled adults. That makes a collective of 74%!!! People who literally cannot work or provide for themselves. Let me ask you this... Did Jesus Christ ever turn someone away because of the way they were dressed? Whether too rich or poor? No. He commanded me and you to ALWAYS give to the poor. Let God do the judging. He's the only one who knows the whole story. (https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/2012Characteristics.pdf)

4. I believe in stricter guns laws. No citizen should own a gun such as an AR-15. Some say it's a God given right and to you I ask, where does it say that in the scriptures? Conference talks? I couldn't find it anywhere. If you find, let me know. I'm not afraid of being wrong. In all honesty, if it was a God given right, he wouldn't given Adam an assault rifle from the beginning. Bottom line, the government would've have nuked us all a long time ago if it really wanted to get rid of us and guns that are meant for war, should stay there. I live in a country currently where they have strict guns laws. My father-in-law owns a gun. And they haven't had a mass killing since 1990.

5. I'm an isolationist when it comes to foreign policy. I loved that Obama pulled the troops out of the middle east and ended the "War on Terror". The most vague and useless war ever, right after the Vietnam and Korean war. It is my opinion, that any war after World War 2 has only been because some old guys up in Washington saw them useful for election. Thanks goodness them baby-boomers got rid of the draft or who knows what wars we would've been forced to fight since then!





That's my 2 cents. My opinion. Take it or leave it. That's why I'm a Democrat and can be as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not the Church of Trump of Latter-day Saints or the Church of Jesus Christ of Conservative Saints. Yeah, I'm little defensive but enough is enough dude. Stop taking my political beliefs so personally and can we all just work to get to the Celestial kingdom together. I'll vote how I want and you vote how you want. Let's discuss this in a respectful, educated and calm manner. To my conservative friends, I love ya'll. You're what makes this nation great, along with us Democrats.