The Color Code

I just recently finished a class on leadership, which focused heavily on personality tests. Normally I am very wary of personality tests, and think that they are just made up garbage meant to entertain. But these tests that we took made a lot of sense, and I could see how the results were reflected in my own life.
One of these that we took was the test in The Color Code by Taylor Hartman. This book states that there are four basic personalities htat are contained in some measure in everybody. These personalities are Red, Blue, Yellow, and White. To summarize, Red is driven by the need for power, Blue is driven by the need for intimacy, Yellow is driven by the need for fun, and White is driven by the need to avoid conflict.
I myself had a test result stating that I was Red and Blue in equal measures, and I can definitely see this in my own life. The Red is expressed in me by the way that I take lead in class when the teacher is gone, how I can't bear to see people do things in a way that I think is wrong, and how I almost always am organizing some sort of group. The Blue is expressed through my sensitivity, the way I get closely attached to people when I consider them my friends, and how I get upset when people take things flippantly.
White and Yellow were both very low in me, which I can see. I guess Yellow is expressed occasionally in me, with how I enjoy stake dances and such. I have been trying to develop more White qualities, such as being more accepting.

I would encourage you to take this test and read this book, because I believe that it helps each of us to improve ourselves if we gain a better awareness of who we already are. It also helps us to lead others and be a better friend when we know about others, so please share with people who you care about.

Ninniachel Mentoring

This year, I have been working on starting my own business. It is called Ninniachel Mentoring, and you can read all about it here: Ninniachel Mentoring. My classes start this week.

This post isn't just trying to promote my business, though. It's about what I have learned so far while doing this.

First, while preparing five classes, I have learned a whole lot about how much work it takes for people who teach full time. Preparing just one class was exhausting, and took hours.

Second, I learned about picking and choosing  what I need. For my Beginning World History class, I had to choose what parts I really feel like need to be in the class, and had to cut out some. This was very difficult, and a little bit saddening, because I had to leave out some of my very favorite historical events/people.

Finally, I have learned that when you do something like this, you have to dedicate yourself to it, or it will fail. When I don't think about this constantly, I don't put in the work I need to to ensure that these classes and my business will be great, rather than mediocre.


I have learned more, but this is all I feel like writing about right now.

My Garden, Part 5

My garden is growing much better now.
My pumpkins are green and look healthy. My two connected ones are really big. All of them have flowers now, so I did a little research on when pumpkins should start flowering and when flowers start to turn into fruits. Everything seems to be right on schedule. So far, I've only got male flowers, but that is okay because the female flowers don't usually come until later.
(The difference in appearance between male and female flowers is that the male flowers are on a long and thin stem, while the female flowers are on a short, round thing that looks like a little baby pumpkin.)

My beans are very big. They started growing a couple days after my last post. The only problem I see with the beans is that they are growing faster than the corn, although they didn't start growing unitl a few weeks after the corn.
I planted the beans three in a hole together, but I didn't have the heart to kill them, so I transplanted them to a different part of my box.

My corn is green again, because it's been getting enough sunshine. It is pretty tall, though the beans are taller.



I hope to post a picture of my garden soon, but I cannot transfer any photos from my camera onto my computer right now.

Giving our Lives

I have been reading the New Testament a lot lately for Seminary, so I can finish by the end of next week. I have been reading almost every day since September, but somehow I am still only in 1 Corinthians, and I should have been completely done two days ago. Anyway, as I have beeen reading in an attempt to finish, I came across this scripture:
"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
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

Sometimes, it is tempting to say that we deserve a break, and that we don't need to be constantly trying to become better. But we do need to carry on. I'm not trying to suggest that we have to be perfect immediately, or that we have to "run faster than we have strength", but I am suggesting that it is our responsibility and our privilege to be called to serve God with our bodies and our souls.

" Firm as the mountains around us,
Stalwart and brave we stand
On the rock our fathers planted
For us in this goodly land--
The rock of honor and virtue,
Of faith in the living God.
They raised his banner triumphant--
Over the desert sod.
We'll build on the rock they planted

A palace to the King.

Into its shining corridors,

Our songs of praise we'll bring,

For the heritage they left us,

Not of gold or of worldly wealth,

But a blessing everlasting

Of love and joy and health.

 

And we hear the desert singing:

Carry on, carry on, carry on!

Hills and vales and mountains ringing:

Carry on, carry on, carry on!

Holding aloft our colors,

We march in the glorious dawn.

O youth of the noble birthright,

Carry on, carry on, carry on!"

Carry On, Hymn # 255 in the LDS hymnbook