Day 64-69.

Hey Everybody,
Just an update for today. In the recent week I've been spending time home with family and friends while being on winter break from college. I've had so much fun playing sports, eating ice cream (so much for my 40 day abstinent project), hanging out with family, going out with friends, and Harry Potter marathons. To be completely honest, I've almost completely forgot about getting back into the Word. There are times when I would look at my Scriptures and feel that it would be too much work to actually read a chapter or two. Blogging has seemed like a huge inconvenience and almost a hassle because I "never had anything spiritual to write about". I'm close to my first temple trip and I feel as unworthy as ever. There's no use in beating myself up because when I do that I only hurt myself and let the devil take over. I've decided to beat up satan. Starting tomorrow I am going to read at least one verse a day. I am going to study my preach my gospel and I'm going to pray more than I think. I want each and every one of you to hold me accountable! 
       I know I'm not alone in these feelings of laziness. There are times that we can all feel dragged down by needing to read the scriptures and pray but I want you to remember that these feelings are not your own. These are the feelings we have felt because of Satan. I encourage you to do what I'm about to. Find one verse from any of the scriptures and memorize it. On the days that you feel dragged down, quote that verse in your mind or out loud. I've heard that a verse a day keeps satan away. We don't have to read 5,000 pages a day to keep him away, we just need to read one verse and pray about it. Continue to ask the Spirit into your life and always keep your head up. There may be darkness now but darkness can never prevail over the light.

Day 51-63.

It's been a long while since I've written my last blog. It's not always ideal for me to write my blog but when I decided to begin it became an every day challenge for me as I prepared for my mission. It has been a rough couple of weeks to say the least. I've learned different lessons from my obstacles.
1) Pray, A LOT.
Never let your praying knees get tired. Prayer is one of the closest ways we can be to God, other than going to the temple. When we take the time and to pray and LISTEN, we recieve the answers we search for. Helaman 5:30 says, "And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—". The Lord does not speak in thunderous voices or through marvelous images, He speaks to us most through that still, small voice. We cannot hear His voice amidst crying, our own work, our busyness of our every day; we hear His voice when we quiet down and listen. Be faithful. We can recieve all things through prayer. I have a testimony of prayer. I know that our prayers are continually answered and I know that every prayer we raise to God WILL be answered.
2) Follow your "gut feeling".
That gut feeling you have is the Holy Ghost guiding you. I heard from a wise person once that our hearts and our minds may tell us different things but it's the feeling in your stomach that we need to pay attention to; this may just be the feeling of the Spirit. Personally, it is hard for me to describe what the Spirit feels like. President Boyd K. Packer explained: “The Holy Ghost speaks with a voice that you feel more than you hear. … While we speak of ‘listening’ to the whisperings of the Spirit, most often one describes a spiritual prompting by saying, ‘I had a feeling …’” He continued: “This voice of the Spirit speaks gently, prompting you what to do or what to say, or it may caution or warn you” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1994, 77; or Ensign, Nov. 1994, 60). Alma tells us that these feelings “will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.” (Alma 32:28.)
3) Never stop forgiving.
It can be hard at times to keep forgiving those that do you wrong. James E. Frost said, "If we can find forgiveness in our hearts for those who have caused us hurt and injury, we will rise to a higher level of self-esteem and well-being." “Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves.” As Jesus forgave, so must we. When we keep remembering our failures and mistakes, continue to harbor bad feelings against others, and refuse to forgive ourselves or others, we waste both time and energy. We accomplish nothing. We inhibit spiritual progress.
4) Don't give up on yourself.
These past couple of weeks, I've found myself in and out of discouragement. I was ready to give up and in some areas of my life I have. While speaking to some of my missionary friends, one reminded me that we learn from these experiences and that going through these feelings is normal. "You shouldn't be disappointed in yourself but I'm glad you hold yourself to such high standards." I heard one of them say. It's important to hold ourself to high standards but when we don't quite meet our standards, we shouldn't be disappointed in ourselves and give up, we need to see it as a time to press forward and correct ourselves. God never gave up on us, why should we?


I could go on forever with the things I've learned but the entire internet wouldn't be large enough for what I learn every day. It's important that we find something to learn every day. What is life but a learning experience? I am grateful for the time I have on earth. I am grateful for a loving God and the blessings He has bestowed upon me. I encourage all of you to seek to learn at least one thing every day. 

Day 50.

Only 300 days left until I am 21 and eligable for a mission!!!

I cannot believe that 50 days have already gone by. I haven't gotten so much accomplished, experienced much and have so much more left to do!

I've chosen to go on a mission for many reasons that I cannot explain. The biggest reason I have chosen to go on a mission is because I want to serve my Father in Heaven and bring to Him His children. I love the Book of Mormon very much and I also love my Heavenly Father very much and hope that I may be able to serve Him well. Below is a video from Mormon.org that will explain the importance of missionary work a little better.

AND ALSO

Day 49.

Look Not Behind Thee-- Genesis 19:17

Day 48.

Today, I had the privilege to say goodbye to a good friend of mine who is leaving for his mission on Monday. Saying goodbye to people, especially someone who you consider close to you, is hard to do. We feel heartache for the one who is leaving us but we know that someday we will see them again. I wonder what it must have felt like for God to give us His son. When Jesus left the Heavens to come to earth I wonder what His father felt. It couldn't have been easy but He knew that Jesus was going to return to Him after He had saved all of mankind. Just like we have friends that leave their homes to serve a mission for the church and bring others unto Christ, God must have felt that way too, proud, joyous, happy, anxious. God must have felt just like we do when our missionaries leave us because Jesus was the greatest missionary of them all and He made His Father very proud just like our missionaries make us feel.

Day 47.

Happy Friday!
I thought today we all needed a laugh after a long week of school, or work. BYU DivineComedy is a drama group at Bringham Young University in Provo, Utah. In the skit I have put below, it takes place in Relief Society and Elder's Quorum which are both groups within our church. I found this clip very humorus and I hope you do too!

Day 46.

                   I love BYU DivineComedy.. Actually I pretty much love everything BYU comes out with! I love this video because it shows how dishonest we can be sometimes in our conversations with others. We are to do unto others as we would want done unto ourselves. I believe if we want someone to listen to our problems or conversations we need to listen to theirs as well. How honest are you in your life? You may not realize it sometimes but all of us are! I know I can be.

Day 45.

It's day 45 somehow. It being a wednesday, I usually have a night class called Social and Ethnic Diversity.. which is essentially about racism. I started to think about this class as I sit in it for 3 hours once a week (I would hope I would think about it). The verse 16 in John 3 came to mind one night,

                  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

    A little background behind this verse; John 3:16 is one of the most widely quoted verses from the Bible and has been called the most famous Bible verse. It has also been called the "Gospel in a nutshell".  Did you know the phrase "John 3:16" is very short and can be written inconspicuously in out-of-the-way locations. In the U.S., the In-N-Out Burger chain prints it on the inside of the bottom rim of their paper cups, clothing chain Forever 21 and Heritage print it on the bottom of their shopping bags, and Tornado Fuel Saver prints it on the box.

While all of these facts are pretty cool, they're not the reason I thought of this verse. My wednesday night class challenges me to think about the various ways racism occurs, the reasons why and the people it happens to. While our modern world may seem important I went to the one place I knew was most important in my life; the Scriptures. In John 3:16 it is said that God loved the world so He gave His son to die for our sins. While reading that verse I didn't come across any specifications like God gave His son to only die for the sins of African Americans or for the Irish or for males or just females. The verse says WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish.

The atonement is not just for one group of people, it is for all those who come to Him seeking and desiring to love Him and therefore committing to follow his commandments.

The scriptures are what matter most in my life and so does God. God isn't racist. God sent His ONLY son, to die for EVERY PERSON'S sins. Let's not forget that.