"they were patient in all their sufferings"

We all have our struggles and trials right? Some may seem bigger then others, and some may be harder for one person than another. This may seem like its simple and everyone knows it. Well, you're right, I think everyone knows it but does everyone really understand it? I know that it has taken me awhile to really understand this. Every time we, I, it could just be me I guess, have a struggle or we have a trial in our lives it can seem that it is the hardest thing, and that no one else really knows anything. Well..when I was doing my scripture study I came across this scripture in Alma chapter 20. In Alma 20:29 is says "And when Ammon did meet them he was exceedingly sorrowful, for behold they were naked, and their skins were worn exceedingly because of being bound with strong cords. And they also had suffered hunger, thrist, and all kinds of afflictions; nevertheless they were patient in all their sufferings." The last line really caught my attention for a couple reasons. One-I was having a kinda bad/hard day yesterday so reading this was such an eye opener. Two-I have had a hard time for awhile now so this scripture was just what I needed to read! The thoughts that I had reading this were that, my struggles that I have been facing are nothing. Look at all these difficulities that Ammon's bretheren faced, and they were PATIENT in ALL their sufferings!! So, I thought to myself, why am I complaining about all these little things when it is nothing compared what these men were faced with. Instead of thinking and feeling sorry for myself when I am having these hard times and struggles, I should be serving others, not thinking of myself. Isn't that the best way to become happy!? I just love that we have the scriptures and that we are able to read, study, and ponder them, whenever we want! It is such a blessing in my life!! :)

Promptings, Blessings, and Remember To Look Up!

The other day during my scripture study I was readying in Mosiah chapter 7. The talk, 'It Is Better To Look Up' by Elder Carl B. Cook came to my mind. I had the impression to read it. I was really tired that night so I did not read it right then, or even for a couple more days..okay it was almost a week before I read it, even though it had been on my mind. So, today I had the impression again to go and read it. After I got off work I went down to my room, picked up my Ensign and started reading it. This has truly testified to me that Heavenly Father knows what we need in our lives and when we need it. I absolutely loved this talk!! It hit so close to me, that I had to try to not cry while reading it. :) In this, Elder Clark, tells of some amazing advice that President Monson gave to him while in an elevator; "Now, remember, it is better to look up." He then speaks of what an amazing example President Monson is, "His attitude is one of 'can do' and 'will do.' He trusts the Lord and relies on Him for strength, and the Lord blesses him." The council that he gives following is, 'if we, like President Monson, exercise our faith and look to God for help, we will not be overwhelmed with the burdens of life...We will be strengthened, and our lives will be filled with peace and joy. We will come to realize that most of what we worry about is not of eternal significance--if it is, the Lord will help us. But we must have the faith to look up and the courage to follow His direction." I just loved this advice that Elder Cook gave! I think that it is amazing how much we are able to do and capable of doing if we just put our faith in the Lord and  look up. Lately, I have been having a really hard time with basically life in general and all the things that come with it. It has been a rough past week or so. It is such a blessing to me that I have the ability to receive promptings, and that when I act upon them they can lead to so much warmth and encouragement and feelings of hope. I am so thankful that I read this talk and that it could have such and impact on me!

As I said in the beginning this whole experience started while I studying my scriptures in Mosiah, I just want to share this verse that I really liked while I was reading then, it is Mosiah 7:33 "But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage."

Now, I'm not one to put things up on my mirror much so that I can look at them when I wake up in the morning and such, (I am not much of a morning person), however, I wrote down President Monson's advice, "Now, Remember, it is better to look up." And taped it to my mirror. It just had a huge impression on me when I read it that I wanted to try it.









P.S. Here is a link to Elder Cook's talk. 
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2011/11/it-is-better-to-look-up?lang=eng&query=better+look+up



Phineas and Ferb are...Examples??

I will just start by saying yes, I do watch the disney show Phineas and Ferb, in fact, I watch it all the time and I LOVE it. haha. It really is a great show. If you judge me, well..I guess just don't tell me that you are. :) As part of my 'bedtime ritual' I watch Phineas and Ferb as I go to sleep on netflix. I was watching it last night and I had a thought pop into my head. We all have those sibling rivalries going on in our families. Some are more extreme then others but that will always happen with basically everything. In this show, Candace, the older sister, can be pretty negative and sometimes mean towards her brothers. No matter what Candace does to Phineas and Ferb they are always so positive and willing to help her with anything. When it comes down to it we love them. This made me think, how many times are we like Phineas? Are we always willing to help our siblings or even our friends? I know for myself the answer is a big NO. However, the answer to this question should be a big YES. We tend to let our emotions take control of or actions. Because of this there are times when it can be a big problem and can lead to consequences that we do not want. We should all should it be one of our goals to be able to help WHENEVER we are needed. No matter what our emotions may make us feel at that moment. We may be missing out on some awesome serving opportunities all because we are just too mad, sad, angry, or what ever the emotion may be. King Benjamin tells us in Mosiah 2: 17 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

We Can Do All Things

Lately, there has been two things really on my mind. They are both actually kind of related to each other in a way if you really think about it. I just recently received a calling that is most definately not in my comfort zone. It's not something huge or anything, but for me I like perfection. I may have some OCD in my also which may be a possiblity as to why I find this calling a little difficult at times. I don't like mistakes. With these thoughts on my mind came the other thoughts about how we are constantly pushed out off our comfort zones. BUT, we are not pushed as far out as we may think we are in the moment. The scripture in 1 Corinthians 10: 13 came to my mind.

"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

 Now, why would I mention a scripture that has to do with temptation when I am talking about callings and being out of our comfort zone. Well, here it is. I thought of this scripture in this way. The Lord will not have me do anything that I am not able to bear. It could be my calling, or it seriously be anything else in my live that at the moment seems too hard. The end of the scripture says 'make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.' That is to me is one of the most important parts of this scripture. Everything that we are asked to do in this life, our Heavenly Father believes that we are able to do it! He does not give us anything that we are not able to accomplish. However; this does mean that we DO need to ASk for HIS help!! Nothing is too hard for the Lord. :) We can do all things! A quote that a friend had that I saw said this...'There is no growth in the comfort zone. And there is not comfort in the growth zone.'

The second thing on my mind is callings, and the importance of them. As I said before I did just receive a calling. Yes, it is one that I am not comfortable with. In fact I was talking to a friend and (jokingly) asked if you could take back a calling. Don't worry, I promise I was joking. It did make me think thought about it more. When I was called in to meet with the bishopric member I seriously already knew what it was about. When he extended the calling to me I told him I would accept the calling even though it will be one that will require a lot of growth on my part. I also mentioned that I knew when he called what the meeting was about. He said well then we know that is is what is right and what is meant to be. It made me really think about that statement. We all have callings that we love and callings that we struggle with that require a lot of growth on our part. The last two semesters of college I was a sunday school teacher for Gospel Doctrine. I Loved It!! I was so thankful for the opportunity that I was given to teach my class and to learn and grow from them. With my new calling I am actually, even though it still is a struggle, am thankful for it. It gives me the means and the reason to practice and develop more my talents. Bottom line is that calling are given to each person for a reason. We may not understand why at the time or in the moment, but every time if we take a step back and look at it we will discover one of the many purposes as to why we are given that calling. :)

We Are All Advocates!

Today in church one of the speakers turned to Doctrine and Covenants section 110. I decided to turn to it and follow along with him. As I did so I looked on the other page and read verse 4 in section 110. It reads, "I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father." I started thinking about the last part where is says, 'I am your advocate with the Father.' In this section the Lord appears through visions to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to accept the Kirtland Temple as his house. The Lord, Jesus Christ tell us that he is our 'advocate' with the Father. This got me thinking about how we are all advocates. Aren't we all an advocate in at least one way, if not more? I would say yes, and hope that we all are. So, what is the definition of advocacy? Merriam-Webster's Dictionary says that advocacy is the act or process of supporting a cause or proposal. Now, think about what you are an advocate for. What should you be an advocate for or you should be advocating? These are some things that came to my mind as I thought about this question; I am an advocate for children, families, eternal marriage between a man and a women, and I am an advocate for the gospel. There are many more but these are just a few that I put down. The next question I'm quessing would be how are or can we be advocates? This can be as simple as living what you believe, keeping your standards high, being an example to others, and can go as big as developing public organizations to help advocate and raise awareness. Start small and go from there. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we are are all to be advocates for the church. Some are set apart especially for this purpose. They would be those missionaries who are set apart to serve full time missions. However, we are told countless times that ever member is a missionary! Being a missionary is being an advocate for the gospel and the Lord. Share what you have to offer. It is too special to keep to ourselves. Others need and want to hear and listen to what we have to offer them. It is important that we advocate for what we believe in. If its advocating for children, families, eternal marriage between a man and a women, and the gospel we ALL need to make sure that we are doing our part to help advocate these purposes.

Peace Yo! :)










P.S. A song that has just been stuck in my head for awhile goes along great with this. It is called 'Dirty Dishes' by Scotty McCreery. (yes, those of you who know me know I don't really like country but this song is just too good!)

Here is a link to the song with the lyrics. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSNwrHY_Loo

I Finally Did It!!

I know that it is a little late, but I graduated college!! I am offically a college graduate now! I'm pretty excited about that. It hasn't really hit me just yet though. I'm not sure when exactly it will happen, but I'm sure it. Possibly when I don't have to go back to school in April or when I get my diploma in the mail. It will happen though!!

I Love To See The Temple

I had the wonderful opportunity to go to the temple this morning with my ward. I needed to be there at 5:30 a.m. I won't lie to you. I was contemplating if I should go or not because it was early in the morning, I had homework that needed to be done so I was up late. I was having this internal battle in my mind all last night wondering if I should go or not. The question actually is not should I go, its do I want to go, especially so early in the morning. After choosing to go I can't believe that it was such a hard choice for me to make last night. I should never think do I want to go to the temple. I should be thinking, I have the opportunity to attend the temple with my ward, or at other times, when do I have time to go to the temple. I had such an amazing experience while I was in there today. I realized that that is where I needed to be, that I miss the temple, and that I should NEVER have the thought is my mind 'should I go.' The temple is such a wonderful place, it truly is the House of the Lord. While I was waiting in the chapel the temple president asked if he could sit by me. Of course I told him yes. Although we did not speak much to each other I felt blessed to be sitting next to the president of one of the Lord's temples. He is such a wonderful man who is truly called of God.

Through out my life I have had many wonderful and amazing opportunities that involve the temple. I have experienced the ground breaking, open house, and dedication of the Billings, Montana temple. I also was able to help with the preparing/building of this temple. That temple means so much to me. It was the first temple that I was able to do baptisms in.

The Rexburg temple also has a place in my heart. I was able to witnesses it being built throughout the years and also attend its open house. I have done many baptisms there and have had many wonderful experiences within its walls. It is a beautiful building.