True Beauty

Hi everyone! Normally I would probably talk about General Conference and my thoughts on it from this past weekend, but today I want to talk about something different. I want to discuss true beauty.
     Being in high school can be a pretty challenging time for teenagers, especially teenage girls. You want to fit in, have a lot of friends, and have boys like you and ask you out on dates. The truth is, most of this doesn't happen for a lot of people. It's taken me until my senior year to figure out that those things aren't all that important to me and in the long run. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are supposed to stand out from the rest of the world and be different, not fit in. And the number of dates you have or friends you gain don't determine your worth. And that is where I want to start today: our TRUE worth in the world we live in.
     In today's society, there is a twisted conception of what beauty is. Magazines portray it as the skinny, tall, exotic girls that are flawless. In reality, nobody is like that. Many times, the people on the front of those magazines don't even exist! They take the eyes of one person, the nose from another, etc. to create the "perfect" person. But that's not how it works. Heavenly Father has a much more correct way of viewing beauty than any person in this world can imagine. He doesn't look on the outward appearances, but on the heart. He cares about how we treat people, what we say, and our personalities.
     I don't know if this is just a Montana thing, but most seniors in high school get senior portraits. My twin sister and I recently had ours done and we just saw the results. All of the pictures were un-edited and showed our true beauty and personalities. I, like the majority of women in the world, know every single one of my faults and imperfections, and it was interesting for me to take a step back and try and see those pictures how my parents and others see me. We all have a natural beauty about us that doesn't come from makeup, or clothes, or social status. It comes from our spirits and personalities-the things that make us US.
   Sorry that that was a really long post, but I thought it was a worthy topic to discuss. I hope you found something in there that can help you, and remember that you are a child of God and you are created the way that He wants you to be. You are already perfectly beautiful to him. And His opinion is the only one that truly matters.