Was It worth it?

This is a paper I wrote for Key of Liberty:

Was it worth it? By Olivia Sutter
12-14-09

After thousands had died was it worth it? My true belief is yes. The men that died were proud to die for their country. I recall Nathan Hale’s last words: “My only regret is that I have only one life to give for my country.” Would he have said this if he hated America? The answer is no. Do people really enjoy death, War, Sorrow or Hurt? No, they don’t, but they were/are willing to go through it to have Freedom, true Freedom.
In the Declaration of Independence it states that “all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are Life Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” Notice the word liberty. The founding fathers didn’t fight the war so they could fight later over who was going to be the king. They fought for liberty, freedom of kings, freedom to own your own land, freedom of speech.
Patrick Henry made this remarkable speech: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" Do people ‘joke’ about stuff like that? No! They don’t. These men loved America they were willing to die for America. They fought for you and me. Would we even be here if it wasn’t for them? Would we have the gospel if not for them? They have every right to demand respect yet they don’t. They weren’t self-righteous. They were humble, decent men. Was it worth it to them? Yes. Was it worth it to me? Yes! Yes it was!!!

What made George Washington Great? How can I become like him?

This is a paper I wrote for my Key of Liberty Class it was one of my first written assignments!

What made George Washington Great? How can I become like him?
By Olivia Sutter
When you think about George Washington some of the “keywords” to his life were: honorable, brave, praiseworthy, virtuous, strong, and how he was a great man. George loved the people of America and was willing to die for them, he was also honest with them.
George Washington breathed his first breath on February 22, 1732. He was born to Augustine Washington and Mary Ball Washington who was his 2nd wife, while residing in “Pope’s Creek Estate” near what is now called Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. George was educated by his father and his eldest half-brother who was named Lawrence.
When George was just eleven tragedy struck, his father died. For, this required him to grow up at a much earlier age then most boys, since he had so many responsibilities. This is one way that Washington was made ready to be a great man for the future. Also, George Washington had faith and hope. Notably, in the Revolutionary War he knew that the Red Coats could beat them, but he didn’t give up on these things.
In the aspect of thinking; how can I become more like George Washington doesn’t mean that our Fathers have to die when we’re eleven. It means that we always have to have what George Washington had, faith and hope. Because George Washington was an excellent example of hope we need to look up to him. Study his life, his thoughts, and his actions. You can’t have a pure knowledge of the American Revolution without learning about George Washington. He made the path for the United States of America. Protect him which more or less means protect the Constitution and Declaration. And honor him.

Song

This is one of the songs I have been working on. I am preforming it on July 3rd at the Folk Festival up in Hailey. I got it a couple of weeks ago and only started practicing this week put it isn't as hard as it looks thankfully!

I love the Lyrics to this song! They are so appropriate compared to some songs! It is something that I can sing to the best of my ability because I really do believe in it. I know that it is true! The Lyrics are sure strong words!

Lost Generation

Note. This is a very direct post for me to write. Please to not read if you do not understand mine and my family's way of thinking. This is not meant to cause offense, it is simply food for the thought.

I've been thinking a lot lately about this generation. Why has our generation become like this?
Why do we need to set aside a specific night of the week to learn about the gospel. The early saints did stuff like this every night without the Prophet having to tell them to because they had such a love for this gospel and they knew it was the right thing to do. But now we need the Prophet to tell us to do that one night a week. Is this not example enough?

And then I can't help but wonder why half of the Church's members are even members if they don't believe in it(the doctrine taught). Is it because...do I dare say it...that it makes them look good? I mean who wants to do hard things?



I recently read a post here about the Temple being viewed on as a Venue not a Virtue. This is so scary!

I don't know what else to write. Other than this is so Sad!

Books

I thought it might be fun to make a list of some of my favorite books. So this is what you get:

Jane Eyre
Robinson Crusoe
The Princess Academy
Little Britches
Man of the Family
The Fields of Home
Pride and Prejudice
The Goose Girl
the Home Ranch
The Work and the Glory Series
The Screwtape Letters
The Little House Series
the Great Little Madison
Silas Marner
The Freedom Factor
The Dog in the Wood
The Constitution
The Declaration
Alex Rider
Blood Red Horse
Fablehaven Series
A Wrinkle in Time
Johnny Tremain
Book of a Thousand Days
Green Jasper
Blaze of Silver
Enna Burning
The Princess and the Goblin
The Winter of Red Snow
Strength And Honor: The Life Of Dolley Madison
Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (Book 1 of the Hornblower Saga)
The Proper Role of Government
The Hiding Place

These are anywhere from 3 to 5 stars on my goodreads shelf to most of them aren't my FAVORITES!

First of All...

I have so many thoughts going through my head and can't write them down properly so I am working on it. And improving my punctuation and grammar. It's so hard because I get a good thought going in my head and I start writing it down and it's coming into a post and then all of the sudden it just drops and makes no sense and I save it as a draft! You should see how many saved drafts I have! I have to go through and delete them every once in a while so I don't feel bad! One step at a time!

Outlaw Days 2010

Today was Outlaw days. We were in the Parade for my dad's campaign I walked Hank in it and then we ran home, saddled the horses and went over to the arena. We forgot the camera so I don't have any pictures. Caleb won the calf riding(all 3 of the boys did it) and I did barrels and poles. On barrels my time was 25.something and on poles my time was 35. something. It was kind of cool, because my goal times were 25 for barrels and 35 for poles!! After I just finished poles I was doing the half circle that I usually do right after my run so I don't run right into the gate(I've tried that and I almost FLEW out of the saddle!) but Bailey didn't want to stop after the half circle and I kind of lost my hold and almost fell off! I was like half on for a couple of seconds! Jared did barrels too(he didn't want to do poles). It was a fun day! Fanny got to go too because it was a travel opportunity, to meet new horses, be around lots of new sounds, etc. we didn't compete on her though. She just got to watch! And thankfully it didn't rain! It was supposed to earlier this month when we looked and we were watching it throughout the week and then one day it said it was only supposed to be cloudy! And it was PERFECT for a rodeo. I wore a short sleeved shirt even!

Favorite Quotes

"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."
— Thomas Jefferson

"Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have. The course of history shows us that as a government grows, liberty decreases."
— Thomas Jefferson

"It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible."
— George Washington

"Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth"
— George Washington

"It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a
knowledge of other people's business."
— Dolley Madison

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations."
— James Madison

"Americans have the right and advantage of being armed - unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms."
— James Madison

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
— Patrick Henry

"They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power."
— Patrick Henry

Trust me, I have a lot more!!!

The Word of Wisdom: Meat

In D&C 89: 12 it says "Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly" So, referring to this, do you need meat at every meal? As I have pondered this I have come to the conclusion that you don't! Now you may be thinking " what! an 11 year old girl telling ME what to or not to eat???" but really! Think about it, do you need it? We have found eating vegetables as our main course we have been stronger, have had more energy and have come closer to our Heavenly Father. Now you may be thinking something like this "but what about protein?" Well, Fruits and Vegetables have more protein then you may think. And you can still have all sorts of Yummy foods like this that we had today for lunch as the MAIN dish! You HAVE to try it!

So my point: How much meat to we need?

What is riding...

...without Barrels and an arena?????