911: A Day to Remember

Hijacked United Airlines Flight 175 from Boston crashes into the south tower of the World Trade Center

and explodes at 9:03am on September 11, 2001 in New York City.

It's hard to believe that 10 years ago there was a terrorist attack on our country.

I remember I was sitting in my 10th grade history class when our teacher flipped on the TV and we watched the destruction and chaos on the news. I remember thinking it couldn't be real. After class the halls were quieter and I remember the reality setting in. My thoughts were: Why did this happen? Will it happen again? and I felt so horrible for those that were involved and the people who lost family members and friends in such a tragedy.

I asked Derrick to type out what he remembers from that day, his recount was more detailed than mine:

"I was at school. I had just sat down in English class. All of the sudden my teacher swung the door open and wheeled in a TV. He hurried and turned it on and there was a live video of one of the towers smoking like there was a fire. Everyone was saying it was terrorists, and a bomb or something had gone off. As me and a few other students watched they kept getting more information, then said that terrorists had hijacked an airliner and flew it into the towers. I couldn't believe it! I was like, " WHO! Who would do that!" We just kept watching, and a few minutes later a second plane that had been hijacked flew into the second tower! I was kind of mad and shouted, "Why aren't they doing anything!" Little did I know that there was a lot being done, I just didn't know about it yet. I just remembered thinking when it was all said and done, someone is going to pay for this."

We can easily live in fear because we never know when or if something like this could happen again. Instead I hope this motivates more of the world to live more Christlike lives. We can treat others with love and respect. I hope we can all turn to the Lord not just when these things happen but in our everyday doings. I know that when I put Him first I have a much better perspective on life and my attitude and choices are influenced in a better way.

President Thomas S. Monson blogged for the Washington Post on Thursday. He said this:

"If there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from our experience of that fateful day, it may be that we owe to God the same faithfulness that He gives to us," President Monson wrote. "We should strive for steadiness, and for a commitment to God that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives. It should not require tragedy for us to remember Him, and we should not be compelled to humility before giving Him our faith and trust. We too should be with Him in every season."

Today many people are still affected by the tragedy of 911. I pray that those families are living their lives in a way that would make their deceased loved ones proud. We know so many people who are enlisted in the military and who are out there protecting our country against threats and harm. Thank you so much for all you do!