"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.

Patience is Vital

Lately there have just been some things in my life that are bothering, frustrating, and confusing me. It drives me insane! I went to devotional yesterday and boy was it amazing! Sister Gee spoke about patience. Perfect timing for what I needed in my life right now! :) I seriously think that one of my constant and ongoing trials is for me to learn patience. I just cannot get it apparently.
Here are some of the key points that I got out of Sister Gee's devotional. Patience is the key to developing a Christ-like life. I love that. It also means that I have a lot of work to do, but it is possible. She also said that we need to put our desires on hold and submit to Heavenly Father's timing. I believe that this is probably the hardest part for me. I believe that it is true with all my heart! However, it is one of the hardest things to do because we all, especially me, get lost in what we want at that moment in time, and what we think is best for us. Putting your trust in Him can help solve all these bothering, frustrating, and confusing things in my life. One other thing that was said was that we need to learn to accept changes in our plan. This I feel goes a long with putting our desires on hold and submitting to His timing. Being able to change our plans helps us be more able to submit to His timing.
I would strongly suggest for all to listne to this devotional talk. It is wonderful, enlightening, and help anyone with situations and problems in their lives that they are facing. It is called, 'Patience: A Process of Perfection' by: Sister Suzette Gee

Here is the link to go to it. :D
https://web.byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches/speeches.aspx

Peace!

The Power of Prayer

Recently my testimony of prayer has grown so much! My stake at school set a goal for us to try and have morning and night prayers. Night prayers are easier than morning prayers for me. I'm not a morning person, if you know me well or have lived with me you most likely know this already. So morning prayers have always been struggle for me to accomplish. Ever since one of the goals for the stake is to say morning prayers, I wanted to try and do better at it. I can certainly testify that every morning when I say those morning prayers, even if its just when I literally roll off my bed, which is most of the time, I can feel the difference in my day. I love the opportunity that I have to talk to my Heavenly Father and that He is always there and willing to listen. I love prayer! What a wonderful gift it is!

I love life

Sorry, I don't think there is sound for some reason.

My Gratefuls

One thanksgiving my mom gave us a little notebook. This notebook was to be our grateful notebook. We are to write down everything that we are grateful for each day. I will admit that I could do better at writing in it each day. I try to do it whenever I think about it and when I remember. Well, I was rereading some of the things that I have written down in the last little while. On September 22 this is what I wrote that sums up my feelings. "The gospel of Jesus Christ-I continue to be amazed by the wonderful gospel. What a gift it is and has been to me. I love that I can learn and discover and even rediscover principles of the gospel. I love prayer! I love that I ahve the opportunity to talk to my Heavenly Father whenever I want. The scriptures are a great blessing to me also. There is so much I can learn and understand from the scriptures." After reading this again, it just reminded me really, how grateful I am for the gospel in my life. What I said in september goes for now and forever! I will always be grateful for Jesus Christ and the gospel.
                                                                                 

 








I found this quote in one of my classes: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -Albert Einstein
                    

Oppostion In All Things

Last night for my scripture study I was reading in 2 Nephi 2. I got to verse 11 where is talks about having opposition. It says that if did not have opposition we would not know holiness, misery, good or bad. It got me thinking how it would be to not have any of these things. We would not have joy, or misery. We need opposition in order for us to know and and experience pure joy. Which lead me to think of how important opposition is in our lives. I can honestly say that during times of trials or just hard times, I don't usually think, 'I am so grateful that we have oppostion in our lives right now.' I should be thinking this though. Because with these experiences comes experiences of true joy and happiness. This got me thinking about the comment that was made in Relief Society that I mentioned about asking the question, 'why me?' I will restate it; "You can't ask the question 'why me' in time of great trouble unless you ask it in times of great blessings." This is so true! It is important that we endure to the end. Go through these hard times of opposition, endure them so we can find joy and receive the greatest gift, eternal life! Just as it says in one of my favorite scriputes 2 Nephi 31: 20!

Best Sunday Ever! :)

This past Sunday was a real good one! It was testimony meeting which is always great. I was pretty proud of myself I might say because I stood up and gave my testimony for the first time here at my college ward. I was pretty dang nervous I might add. I am so glad I did it and I don't regret making that choice. A guy bore his testimony on the meaning of the sacrament which hit me pretty hard! He shared his story about the first time the sacrament became real to him. He used to always play with the sacrament cups after drinking the water instead of putting it back in the tray. One of his leaders came to him and told him that every time he puts that cup back in the tray to listen to the litle 'clink' that it resembles one drop of blood that the Savior shed for him personally. After hearing this story I will never think of the sacrament same. What an amazing way to make the sacarament be personal to you!



Relief Society was amazing also! Someone is class made this comment that I really liked and thought I would share. , 'There is never going to be nothing good in your life.' Love that! One more that I thought was worth sharing is this: **You can't ask the question 'Why me?' in times of great trouble unless you ask it in times of great blessings!!**

MY TICKET!!

I got my ticket in the mail today!!!!!

DAVID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm going to a DAVID ARCHULETA concert in December!! The exact date is December 9! He is doing a christmas concert tour, and he added a show in Blackfoot, Idaho. Yes, I am going of course! Am I excited you bet I am!!!!! :D

Concert!!

On Friday night I went to a David Osmond concert with my friends Paige and Janessa. It was so much fun!! He is a really good performer. He came down into the audience and had us sing for him, called people out of the crowd, it was a blast!! Paige said that David should have come to me to singing because I knew almost all the songs that he had us sing with him. It was so cool, he did a mix of popular songs like, I Gotta Feeling-which he improved some words, pretty funny!-Signed, Sealed, Delievered by Stevie Wonder, Hey Soul Sister by Train, Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars, I'm Yours by Jason Mraz, No One, Alicia Keys, and many more that I just don't want to type. haha. Oh he also did The Way You Look Tonight, and How Sweet It Is! Classics!! He actually almost did come to us..freaked me out for a minute but he went to the girl in front of us instead. Hallelujah! haha. It was sooo much fun! After we went to Jamba Juice! Man I love that place!! Great weekend! :)
Peace Yo!!

Videos

Here are a couple videos you should watch. We made ours first and the boys copied ours so watch them in that order. haha. :) The first link is our video the second link is theirs.


http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2159865632424




http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2287769826660

I Fail

I have been failing lately at putting anything up on here. It is mostly because I don't honestly know what  to say. I haven't done a whole lot. haha.
On a better note General Conference this weekend was amazing!! I enjoyed it very much. I love President Monson. He is a funny man, amazing speaker and truly a prophet of the Lord! I can't wait to get the conference issue of the Ensign next month.
For this mornings session my roommates and I decided to make breakfast all together so we did. It was so good! I eat so much that I really almost vomitted. We gave the left overs to our home evening brothers. Hope they enjoyed it too. :) We also invited our home evening brothers to come watch the last session with us today..yeah..great idea..but not so great at the same time..haha. I will just say that it was a little harder to concentrate at times while they were there.
So..we 'used' to have this pranking thing going on with our brothers too but we put it behind us, but yesterday they left two of my roommates at their apartment by themselves while they went to the priesthood meeting. So to 'prank' them we went over and cleaned their apartment. :) haha. They better love us so very much! jk. hahaha!
Not much else has been going on. Oh hold on..mom, dad, and Ethan, all come to visit last weekend. That was a lot of fun. We just went shopping and had a good weekend. Now, I do believe that that is it for reals.

Peace Yo!

P.S. David Archuleta is in Blackfoot, ID in December! Heck ya! I want to go!!
P.P.S. Here are just a couple pictures from the semester so far...enjoy! :)
                                                                                             Yes, that is a quaffle, like from Harry Potter.

Home Evening..and Other Fun Things..

On sunday we got our 'home evening' groups. I don't like to brag but our group is Awesome!! I really mean that, they are pretty legit. I do believe that there are going to be some fun times and fond memories. And trust me it will happen because some have already started.

I saw my teacher today, Brother Godfrey for the first time since preschool last semester. I didn't know that I would miss doing the preschool program and everything so much here, but I really do! He asked me if I missed it and I told him that I really did. It was a stressful but fun experience. I really miss all the girls in my lab too. They are all just so amazing! It was such a blessing to get along so well with each other. We need to have a reunion happen! haha.

Oh, highlight of my monday-yesterday. One of my home evening brothers from last semester had this sweet car! I mean it was amazing and legit! Aubery and I would always dibs the car so we could ride in it. One day I look at my phone after work and see that I have a text from Cody. He is selling his car!!! No!!! He can't..well he did. So, we (his car and I) had to say our final farewell. Yesterday was the day because he sold it. I got to say my fond farewell to this wonderful friend. What a fond farewell it was. The best part of it......I GOT TO DRIVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah..maybe a little excited about that! Thank you Cody. hahaha. Sidenote: if you are wondering it is a 2004 Volvo S60. Lets just say that it was great and we formed a wonderful relationship. :) Holla!

Peace Yo!

School, Talk, that's about it!

I am so sorry that I have not put anything up lately. I haven't had much happen until school started. I got back to Rexburg for school on saturday the 10th. It was great to be back. Hope mom and dad do good not having any children at home anymore. I'm sure they will learn to manage and then not want any of us there anymore. :) haha. As I said I got back here on the 10th..well..I was asked to speak in church in my singles ward here at school for sunday the 11th. Yeah..only a day after I got here. It was great..oh I was asked to do it a little over a week before I came so I had time. I was asked to speak on Sunday Worship. I hope that it went well.
Our ward this semester is basically all foreign to me. That is saying something since I have not even moved a ward since starting school here in fall of 07. Yeah..that long ago. Everybody and their pig decided that they would move out of the ward for this semester. Funny story..some of the guys that moved out went to Georgetown..well this semester they rearranged our ward boundries and our ward got 4 apartments from Georgetown. Those guys that moved there missed being back in our ward by either 1 or 2 apartments depending on which one they were in. haha.
I have now offically had my last first day of school!! Excited a little..nervous a little also. It is starting to become more real then it was before. Let's just hope that all goes well so that it stays my last first day of school! :)
Last night I went to my old roommate Jessica's house and her husband's Chads. Crazy to actually say that now! :) I went with Lauren, Aubrey, Brooks, Tara, Hailey, and Blake. It was so much fun! I miss being able to hang out with them all the time and have our amazing talks that we have! It is just so great!! Love you guys!!!!!! :) :) :) :)
Oh I got a new computer that is now purple and has skype so..if find me and we can skype! haha. :)
PEACE!!!