9.11.01 Kam is ten months old
today and today was one of the worst days in America’s history. This morning
terrorists attacked America by flying two passenger jets into New York’s World
Trade Center, one jet into the Pentagon and a failed attempt at what officials
think was supposed to be the White House or Camp David. It ended up crashing just
outside of Pittsburgh. An hour or so after the Trade Center was hit, both
towers collapsed. They are saying that tens of thousands are likely to be
killed in New York. I woke up this morning and turned on the news right after
the first tower was hit. Everyone thought that it was just a freakish accident.
I woke up Lindsay and as we were watching it the second tower was hit. We saw
the plane come through the side of the screen and slam into the tower. When I
got to work we gathered in Craig Knight’s room and couldn’t believe what we
were seeing. It was hard to focus on work today. I talked to my students about
what was happening and the seriousness of what this may mean. My emotions were
on overload today and I am so saddened by the loss of lives. Since I began
teaching my U.S. symbols unit this last year I’ve grown to love this country so
much. The visuals I have seen on T.V. will be hard to forget. It will be
interesting to see if these events pull us into war. We’ll wait and see over
the next few days.
9.16.01 This has been a surreal
week. The events that happened this last Thursday have been unfolding. They
have only been able to find five survivors from the attack on the Trade Center.
They are estimating that the death toll will be over 5,000. President Bush has
said that America will find who did this and will strike back. The process will
take the patience of the American people, but it will be resolved. My students
are a little too young to understand all that’s going on and some of them think
it’s just a “cool” thing that’s happened. The Nation has really pulled together
on this and have mourned over what’s happened. Today in church Bishop Parker
gave a great talk on how we can better understand the attacks. In Helaman,
chapter 12, verses 1-3, Helaman is recounting the wars and what has happened to
the people. He says that when the people prosper they forget the Lord their
God. In verse 3 it says that the Lord visits His people with death and terror
and with all manner of pestilence and except He does this they will not
remember Him. Now this doesn’t mean that the Lord is responsible for these
events, but President Hinckley said this week that the Lord could have stopped these
things from happening, but you can see that His hand was involved. Today is a
day when most people in America worship the God of sports and recreation. But
today the Nation has gone to church. Today the Nation is remembering the Lord. All
over the country the people are worshipping God and looking to Him for answers.
Bishop went on to explain about all the innocent who lost their lives. Why did
the Lord allow these people to suffer so that we could remember Him and look to
Him? In Alma, chapter 14, Alma and Amulek are serving their mission and they
witness a group of women and children being burned alive and Amulek wants to
stop what is happening. Alma says that the Lord is allowing it to happen so
that the blood of the innocent will stand as a witness against the guilty.
Those who died this week are in Paradise. The innocent are in a better place
and the Lord is taking care of them. The Lord is also taking care of those who
caused this horrible tragedy, although I know His mercy is being extended in
ways I don’t know. There are wonderful things that have come from this attack.
The world is remembering God and looking to Him for peace. It definitely has
caused a stirring in my heart.
9.20.01 Right now I’m watching
a live broadcast of President Bush speaking to Congress and the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. I am amazed by him! He is a wonderful man and a great president. He
wants the world to be free of terrorism. He wants the help of the world to
support him in this crusade. His words tonight have been inspiring and poignant.
My emotions are high and I have been close to tears many times during his
speech. I want the world to have peace. I want to win this battle. May God
grant us wisdom in this battle. And may He watch over the United States of
America.
