Rastafari

On Sunday we went to our new ward. It actually isn't the ward that we are supposed to be in but it is the one we want to go to because it at 11:30 and it is basically on the way to DC. This ward is really friendly and an Army ward. It was weird though because it was so LOUD! We aren't really used to that. Our last ward had some kids but no big families like this one does.

After church we went to DC again. I was really excited because I love going to DC, I just want to see everything that is there during this summer. This time we went to the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian. It was huge. We saw an exhibit that was filled with all types of different animals, they were stuffed. We saw giraffes, bears, bats, monkeys, and tons more. We also saw an exhibit on dinosaur fossils, which was crazy! They were so BIG. They also have an exhibit on gems and the hope diamond. The hope diamond is this really old and huge diamond that is blue which is just crazy. One of my favorite exhibits was about the Rastafarian movement. It was really interesting because I heard about some Rastafari stuff and Bob Marley but there is a lot of stuff I didn't know. Pretty much all I knew was that it is popular in Jamaica and that they like to dread there hair, which I have always loved i'm weird I know.

Ok so this is what I learned:

The movement started by a man named Ras Tafari Makonnen -yeah that was his name- but he is now known as Haile Selassie. When he became an emperor in Euthopia, Africa then the people thought of him as a God, actually I think they thought of him as their Savior because of prior things that had been prophesied. So a religion formed from Haile Selassie rule as emperor. He did a LOT of good to help the African people. On Tim's mission, in the Caribbean, a lot of people followed the Rastafarian way of life. A lot of what we learned was interesting to him because they have some lingo that Tim really never knew what it meant. Like they always say i-an-i which means oneness. They add "I" to a lot of words. Like they call the emperor Selassie I, before this exhibit Tim actually thought this was his name because thats just what they always call him. They also say Jah which means God. Tim said that they would always say Jah bless instead of God bless. Its pretty cool. Even their dreadlocks have a meaning. Tim also said that real Rastafari people are really really nice. Some of their beliefs are that they believe in being equal with everyone, they believe in the bible, and living naturally. One of their central focuses is love. Bob Marley really portrayed this quality mainly in his music.

I don't know tons still but it is so cool to see how other religions share similar qualities as what I believe and it so cool to see other people so passionate about God and religion. I just couldn't help thinking what awesome Mormons Rastafarian people would make, well if they wanted to give up using weed. I guess I just always think this when I see someone so passionate about God and religion because I just want to show them all about what I believe about being LDS and just share what I am so passionate about, and how happy it makes me! "One love, one love..."