My Final Say on the Matter

I have removed the two latest posts. I am not doing this because I regret what I said and felt, but how it was perceived. I am relatively new to my ward and most do not know me. My friends and family came to my defense because they knew my character and the tone in which I was saying it.

I will say it again. I was not attacking these girls. Despite whatever their situation in life has been, I was uncomfortable with the musical number and didn't think it was appropriate for a testimony meeting. I would have felt the same towards anyone. However, what I said could very much be misconstrued by the way it was written. My tone in writing it was more lighthearted and sarcastic. I was not trying to make a public statement to chastise these girls. If I was truly that malicious, I would've had my opportunity to publicly humiliate these girls when I bore my testimony. But again, that was not my intention at all. I didn't even think that anyone in the ward knew my blog address, but if I had known, my opinion would be no different but I would have made sure that it was worded in a way that couldn't be misinterpreted. I don't mean this as an accusation to those who took offense, but as an acknowledgement that typed words cannot show the true intent of what was meant.

I would not have deleted these normally because everyone is entitled to their opinion both me, my friends, and those who were offended, but it became a battle of words between those who supported me and those who did not. I also didn't want to defend myself against things that I never said or meant to imply. I didn't want my post to become a rift in the ward. Ward members are meant to have unity and love towards each other, and I felt that leaving my posts would have disrupted that.

I am not going to allow comments on this post because I do not want another battle of words to ensue and defeat the purposes of this post. I cannot change what was said by me or those who commented, but I have no hard feelings. I was taken aback by the accusation that this was done in a mean spirited way, and then tried to make it clear what my true intent was. If I wasn't clear then, let me be clear now. I was uncomfortable with that portion of the testimony meeting. I thought that my family and friends would enjoy a comical take on my experience and my opinion of it. I do feel that testimonies are beautiful and should be done in the spirit and guidelines that the brethren have set forth.

I can only hope that everyone who was offended will read this, understand my true meaning, and view it as an honest misunderstanding.