Utah

UTAH...THIS IS THE PLACE (3:40)

Words- Sam Francis, Gary Francis

Music- Gary Francis

Utah! People working together

Utah! What a great place to be.

Blessed from Heaven above.

It's the land that we love.

This is the place!

Utah! With its mountains and valleys.

Utah! With its canyons and streams.

You can go anywhere.

But there's none that compare.

This is the place!

It was Brigham Young who led the pioneers across the plains.

They suffered with the trials they had to face.

With faith they kept on going till they reached the Great Salt Lake

Here they heard the words..."THIS IS THE PLACE!"

Utah! With its focus on family,

Utah! Helps each child to succeed.

People care how they live.

Each has so much to give.

This is the place!

Utah! Getting bigger and better.

Utah! Always leading the way.

New technology's here...

Growing faster each year.

This is the place!

There is beauty in the snow-capped mountains, in the lakes and streams.

There are valleys filled with farms and orchards too.

The spirit of its people shows in everything they do.

Utah is the place where dreams come true.

Utah! With its pioneer spirit.

Utah! What a great legacy!

Blessed from Heaven above.

It's the land that we love.

This is the place

Utah! Utah! Utah!

THIS IS THE PLACE!

That right there is the state song of Utah.  I always think about how wonderful it would be to live somewhere that's warm all the time.  Like California.  Of course, I think California is everyones dream hehe.  I just love being hot and the idea of going to the beach to lay out or play some beach volleyball just entices me!  Me and Clifton have talked about it a bit lately and I realized I really love living here in Utah.  We are all really blessed to live here where there are 4 seasons.  Sun all the time only creates dessert, and snow all the time only creates bitterness.  It's healthy for the earth to have the different temperatures.  And because of the cold climate we sometimes get here, we don't have to worry about certain things that others have to.  The termites can't really servive in the cold and neither can lots of other harmful bacteria or viruses.  At my dads house in Alabama every summer we have to powerwash the hedges, because a certain bacteria grows on them and kills them.  We don't have to worry about that here.  Obviously there are the downsides, but overall I really enjoy living here.  I know lots of people hate it, but I think it's great.  It's such a beautiful state!

Besides the cold, another issue is religion.  I think it can be really difficult for pretty much any religion to live in Utah.  Having a religion is hard enough sometimes anywhere, but I think especially in Utah it can get complicated.  Pressures to be a certain way create self-righteous people that lie about worthiness.  Things like that.  Me and Clifton have talked about that as well and think it's a good thing overall.  We won't force our religion on our kids.  We will let them choose if they ask us.  Whatever they choose, we will let them know that what we believe makes us incredibly happy and brings us joy that no other belief has.  We will also let them know that we will love them no matter what.  If they decide not to believe in God, so be it.  But if they decide that they need the gospel in their lives like we do, it will be nice having so many around that have the same basic beliefs that they do.

I'm grateful to live in Utah.  It really is a great place, and people don't give it enough credit.  They say people suck at driving and people are too judgemental; there are horrible drivers everywhere and perhaps people are too judgemental.  But it wouldn't be so irritating to those people if they didn't feel guilty about something like not living to their full potential.  I hate it when people bash on Utah.  It bugs me when people complain about the wacky weather every single year too.  Um it's not going to change, stop complaining or move...you've been here for over 2 years, you should expect this by now.  Other states are flawed too, stop looking for the negative.  Really, if you don't enjoy where you live then move.  If you can't move, then start enjoying where you live.  That's about all I have to say about that.  I love Utah.