I'm German???

Well conference was waaaay awesome. I wrote down a ton, but haven't had
time to go over it all yet, so I think I will talk more about that next
week. But Elder Uchtdorf's talk in Priesthood (we watched that first),
really helped set the tone for the rest of Conference for me. I went in at
first thinking about all the things I needed to find answers for for
investigators, less actives, members of my district, and so on. But he said
some really great things that helped me realize that I can't help others if
I can't help myself first. So while of course I still looked for answers
for others, I really tried hard to see what I could learn too.
One of the other things I felt from conference was something I've been
thinking about a lot lately. When gaining eternal life becomes our greatest
desire in this life, we will achieve it. And by that I don't mean simply
wanting something. Of course when something is your *greatest* desire,
nothing will get in the way of you working towards that. There were quite a
few talks about distractions and let things get in the way of ultimate
goals. But when will we decide that eternal life is something to work for,
not just some distant dream?
Besides all of that, I think I've given up on trying to explain to people
where I'm from. I always get asked that, and I answer the U.S. Then they
ask where. So I say Utah, and that confuses them because they have no idea
where that is. "Is that in California?" is a usual reply. The question that
follows is along the lines of, "Then why is your last name German?". I
don't try to explain that it's Dutch anymore. I say that's where my
ancestors are from. "Oh so your father and mother immigrated to the U.S.?"
No, we've been in the U.S. for generations. "Then why is your last name not
American?" I try to explain that everyone in the U.S. is descended from
immigrants, so last names vary. Now, they are really confused because they
think the U.S. is currently full of Northern European immigrants. After all
of this explanation, the question usually comes again: So you're German?
Too frustrated at this point, I just answer yes. Then, occasionally, they
say, so your a Nazi...
So I think I will just start to tell people I'm German to save time and
energy.
Well I hope you all have a great week! Love y'all.