I don’t know how to start this, so I’ll just go super straight to my point: Regardless of how heavy your problems are getting, cutting isn’t always the answer. In fact, it never is.

I was dying inside last night when one of my closest friends told me she wanted to cut again. She did it multiple times before, but with the help of our other friends, thankfully, she stopped. Last night, she told me she was having a lot of family problems and her boyfriend broke up with her a few days ago. She said it was too much for her to handle. Then she started telling me how she should’ve never been born and that everything about her was a mistake. I tried to contradict everything she was saying and I tried to show her that people care about her, but she was too blinded by anger, confusion, and hurt.

I felt so unhelpful that night. I couldn’t go to her house since it was late and my parents would never allow me to. I tried my best to comfort her and tell her everything I can in my power to stop her from doing what she wants to. But there’s still that constant fear that she’ll do it anyways. After a few hours of talking, she told me to go to sleep and then went offline. I couldn’t sleep, thinking she would go to school tomorrow with new cuts on her wrists.

The following morning, the moment I stepped off the school bus I went to her classroom and hugged her. She smiled and showed me her wrists; nothing but the scars before. I hugged her again and the joy I was feeling was indescribable. I was so proud of her. She thanked me for being there and she told me how stupid she felt when she was holding the blade last night. By cutting, she wasn’t only hurting herself; she was also affecting the people around her. She told me that although she hated the whole world, she loved us, even more than she loved herself.

The message I’m trying to send out to everybody reading this? Cutting won’t solve your problems. I know I won’t be able to stop everyone who cuts, but I know very well that they can stop themselves. The first step is always the hardest, but it’s something that only you can do.

I know that I’m just this stranger to you, but if there’s anything, anything at all, that I can help you guys with, don’t be afraid to shoot me a message. Plus, you have a father in heaven who hears every word. You don’t need an internet connection to reach him, you don’t need phone credits. You just need to find the time to kneel down and talk. =)

Andrea 

(for some unknown reason I can't upload my signature -_-)

I’ve noticed that whenever the weekends come to an end and weekdays once again begin, I find myself doing the things that I’ve already repented for. Like, for example, a major problem I’m facing these days is cussing. In the world we live now, cussing seems as normal as breathing. Especially to teens the same age as me. The last few months of 2013, I’ve become better at trying to stop myself from cussing, but when 2014 rolled in, I seemed to have forgotten my promise to Heavenly Father again.

I wanted to take action. It felt horrible to repent for a sin I know I’ll end up doing again. So, I decided to fill my phone with inspirational songs to start up my mornings, like for example, when I’m waiting for the School Bus, I can listen to the songs to remind me of my promise.

I even came up with the idea of creating posters and posting them onto the wall facing my bed, so every morning, when I wake up, I am reminded to choose the right words, to be spiritually ready. I'll post a photo of them once I'm done since I'm still working on it. :)

Also, I came across a video called “No Cussing Club” from the LDS Youth website and I decided to join the No Cussing Club started by 14 year old, McKay Hatch who had the courage to stand firm to his standards and challenge his friends to stop cussing. I want take the challenge once again too. I’ve done it before, and I know I can do it again. But, this time I won’t return to my old habits. I want to stamp out cussing completely.

But, this isn’t the last of it. I encourage you to join the No Cussing Club too. Take the No Cussing Challenge! Heavenly Father delights in seeing his children speak kind words to each other. :)

The Sempiternal Reader,

Andrea

As soon as I got home yesterday, I really wanted to grab my laptop and blog about my amazing day, but I was dead tired and my eyelids betrayed me. So, I woke up (not-so) extra early today to write! First of all, belated Happy Birthday to a British curly cupcake (the next post is dedicated to him)!

Alright, so yesterday, me, my mom, and my sister went to the mall and had a little Mother-Daughters Day. Generally, I just really needed to buy some materials for school, but then we ended up having a mini book haul with my mom and then eating out at Pizza Hut right after. And yes, you’ve read it right; I did a mini book haul yesterday!

All the books I’ve bought were really cheap thanks to Book Sale and their awesome crew for allowing me to sit on the floor and dig, literally dig on the shelves. Although, the negative side of this is that the covers aren’t exactly brand new. A few were slightly damaged, so I bought some wrapping paper and will wrap them up a little later. Thus, I will not be posting the photos of the books just yet.

Also, last night I attended our Stake Seminary! It was really fun and I made new found friends. Hopefully, I’ll see those faces at Youth Conference, which I’m really excited about! (Want to learn more? Visit lds.org or mormon.org)

And that’s it! I’m sorry I don’t have photos from yesterday; I honestly thought we were just going to buy school supplies. Haha. Anyways, since yesterday wasn’t much of a book haul, I’ll be doing another huge one by the end of February, hopefully. See you guys soon and I hope you guys had a great weekend too! J

The Sempiternal Reader,

Andrea