MISSIONARIES!

I recently had the awesome experience of having my oldest cousin leave on her mission! 

Now, what a missionary for the Church does is leave home for 2yrs for boys, and 18 months for girls. They live there life totally for other people-- inviting them to come to Christ, and serving them.

In 2012, Pres. Monson changed the ages that men and women could leave for their mission: boys could now leave at 18 (before it was 19), and girls could leave when they were 19 (previously 21).
After this, there has been a HUGE increase in missionaries in the field. Here is a news article from the Church about it, and about the lives of some missionaries in New York, NY.

I personally am preparing for my mission. You need to pay for it yourself, so I am saving up my money. I'm also doing my best to live a life that would make my Heavenly Father proud of me, and that sets a good example to others.

The message of the missionaries (and of the church) is that through Christ you cam make it to Heaven, and be with Heavenly Father again. Even if you're imperfect, Christ has performed the Atonement for us, and we can change.

I'm going to end by sharing this poem (again):

After All We Can Do 

By Robbie Pierce  I had been in that hole for a very long time- 
In the dark and the damp, in the cold and the slime. 
The shaft was above me; I saw it quite clear, 
But there's no way I ever could reach it from here. 
I could not remember the world way up there, 
So I lost every hope and gave in to despair.   
I knew nothing but darkness, the floor, and the wall. 
Then from off in the distance I heard someone call: 
"Get up! Get ready! There's nothing the matter! 
Take rocks and take sticks and build up a fine ladder!" 
This was a thought that had not crossed my mind, 
I started to stack all the stones I could find.   
When I ran out of stones, then old sticks were my goal, 
For some way or another I'd climb from that hole. 
I soon had a ladder that stood very tall, 
And I thought, I'll soon leave this place once and for all! 
I climbed up my ladder, a difficult chore, 
For from lifting those boulders, my shoulders were sore.   
I climbed up the ladder, but soon had to stop, 
For my ladder stopped short, some ten feet from the top. 
I went back down my ladder and felt all around, 
But there were no more boulders, nor sticks to be found. 
I sat down in the darkness and started to cry. 
I'd done all I could do, and I gave my best try. 
But in spite of my work, in this hole I must die. 
And all I could do was to sit and think, Why?   
Was my ladder too short? Was my hole much too deep? 
Then from way up on high came a voice: "Do not weep." 
And then faith, hope, and love entered into my chest 
As the voice calmly told me that I'd done my best.   
He said, You have worked hard, and your labor's been rough, 
But the ladder you've built is at last tall enough. 
So do not despair there is reason to hope, 
Just climb up my ladder; I'll throw down my rope. 
I climbed up my ladder, then climbed up the cored. 
When I got to the top of it, there stood the Lord.   
I've never been happier; my struggle was done. 
I blinked in the brightness that came from the Son. 
I fell to the ground as His feet I did kiss. 
I cried, "Lord, can I ever repay Thee for this?" 
He looked all about. There were holes in the ground. 
They had people inside, and were seen all around.   
There were thousands of holes that were damp dark and deep. 
Then the Lord looked at me, and He said: "Feed my sheep," 
And He went on his way to save other lost souls. 
So I got right to work, calling down to the holes, 
"Get up! Get ready! There is nothing the matter! 
Take rocks, and take sticks, and build up a fine ladder!"   
It now was my calling to spread the good word, 
The most glorious message that man ever heard: 
That there's one who is coming to save one and all, 
And we need to be ready when He gives the call. 
He'll pull us all out of the holes that we're in 
And save all our souls from cold, death, and from sin.  
So do not lose faith; there is reason to hope: 
Just climb up your ladder; He'll throw down His rope

My Mom's Recent Post

This is a beautiful post that my Mom wrote for her blog. 
Please read it, it's wonderful!

Our Heavenly Father!

Our Heavenly Father created us. He loves each of us soooooooo much! He wanted us all to be the best that we could be. Since He is perfect, being like Him is the best we could be.
He knew this (of course) and so He told us that we would all have a chance to prove that we could be like Him. That is why He sent us to earth.
We got our bodies when we came to earth, before that, we were spirits. Those who chose not to follow the Father's plan didn't get bodies. They remained as spirits.
The reason we have trials here on earth is because those are the times we prove ourselves. It's like exercising. You have to feel the burn to know you're getting better :).
I know that Heavenly Father loves ALL OF US! WE ARE EACH SPECIAL TO HIM. HE LOVES US EACH MORE THAN WE COULD IMAGINE.
If He loves us so much, why does He let us experience trials. It's like that exercise analogy, and He's like the coach, or the running partner. He pushes us, and tries to help us through it.
He wants us all to return to Him in heaven, but in order to do that, we need to be perfectly clean from all sin. (we can be this way through the Atonement)
That is another reason why He gives us trials, "even though" He loves us. If we prove ourselves, He will be able to live with us again, and we will be like Him.

btw

Sorry it's been so long. I moved. I will start posting again, but a bit irregularly, since we're still settling in.

thanks for your patience :)

(Also, if you're interested, I'm going to be going through the Gospel Principles book with my posts)

Broken

I've noticed a lot of songs/stories about things that are broken.
Often, we see these things (trials, spilled milk, bad days) as bad things. But if we look at them with an eternal perspective, thinking about how it can help us throughout eternity, then most of those things turn into growing experiences for our good.

(Broken, by Kenneth Cope)

 We are also broken with our imperfection. Elder Holland said "Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we."
Here is a story that I love that illustrates how God can use our weaknesses:
 

A waterbearer in India had two large pots, one hung on each end of a pole, which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it. While the other pot was perfect, and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the mistress's house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to her master's house.
The perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream: "I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you."
Why?" asked the bearer. "What are you ashamed of?"
"I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your mistress's house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don't get full value from your efforts," the pot said.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in her compassion she said, "As we return to the mistress's house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path."
Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some.
But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?
“That's because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you've watered them.
“For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my mistress's table. Without you being just the way you are, she would not have this beauty to grace her house."

It is sooo true!

Here is one more song that is similar to the first

Thankfully, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become whole, and be made anew.

Moroni 10:32 32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

The Prophet Joseph Smith

A very important man in the church was Joseph Smith jr. He was the man who organized the church after the Apostasy, when it had left the earth.
Here is a movie about him. It brings up major times in his life, and shows how hard he worked to build up God's Church.

I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God, and that he led His church in righteousness. I know that he had trials, but he still pressed on, and was able to find comfort in his faith.
I am very grateful for all he did.

An Amazing Story about Love and Including Others

One Young Women group in Oklahoma sought Heavenly Father in prayer to determine how to best include a new Beehive who was deaf. They worked hard to be His instruments and His hands (quite literally) in helping this young woman. A miracle swept over their entire ward as they became the angels that would bear up Alexis, the new Beehive.

Alexis said: “I was nervous and excited to start Young Women. Mom always comes with me to sign for me because I am deaf. After the opening prayer and song, Sister Hoskin, my Young Women president, said, ‘Alexis, we have a gift for you.’ Then all the girls stood up and started signing something. I knew it was special. Later I learned it was the Young Women theme. All the girls in our ward had learned it to surprise me.

“I know Heavenly Father loves me because of wonderful people here on earth that show me love, especially the girls in my Young Women [class] and my Young Women leaders who sign for me and help me learn the gospel” (letter to Young Women general presidency).

Sister Hoskin, the Young Women president, had prayed diligently to know how to help Alexis. She wrote:

“I had been the Young Women president in my ward for only one week when I began to worry about one of my upcoming Beehives. Alexis is hearing impaired, and I worried about how I could help her fit in and show her that she was one of us. After being troubled for many days and after many prayers, I woke in the middle of the night from a dream where I saw my group of young women standing together, doing the Young Women theme in sign language. I knew the answer to my prayers.

“It was a big challenge. It took hours—one entire night of Mutual, then weekly practices before we were ready. When Alexis’s birthday came, everyone was excited and nervous about our surprise. I pulled Alexis and her mom in front of the girls and said (signing to Alexis), ‘We have a gift for you. Now you are one of us.’ Then we stood and repeated the theme and did it in sign language. The Spirit was so strong, and there weren’t many voices because we were all crying, but the girls did a beautiful job. Alexis was beaming. She knew she was one of us.

“We learned that Heavenly Father loves all of us and that there are times we will be His voice and His hands to help others feel that love. We learned that serving brings the greatest joy. I learned the importance of following promptings, even when it involves a lot of work and seems improbable” (letter to Young Women general presidency).

Imagine how through the years Alexis’s mother has prayed for her daughter, having all the same hopes and dreams for her that each mother has for her daughter. She said:

“As the mother of a handicapped daughter, I am used to doing a little extra to help things work out for her. Because she is deaf, I am often at her side interpreting for her. You can imagine the feelings that flooded through me as the young women all began to sign the Young Women theme for her. As I stood there watching with tears in my eyes, the verse that ran through my mind was from Matthew 25:40 [Matt. 25:40]: ‘Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.’

“The remarkable love and service these young women have shown just began on that day. Many of them have given of their time and effort to learn sign language and now help with interpreting at church for Alexis. My prayers for Alexis have always been that she would be happy, be progressing, and know that she is loved.

“As a parent, my testimony of the Savior has been strengthened as I have seen the service and love of these girls and their leaders. At times, our concern for our daughter has been a heavy burden, but it has been made lighter by the actions of these faithful young women and their wise leaders.”

This mother had prayed for the Lord’s help, and now through the help of others, angels on earth, she saw all things working together for the good of her daughter.

Other young women in this ward told how they grew in giving this service. The Laurel class president related that learning the theme in sign language was hard work, but they felt the Spirit helping them in this effort. She said, “We did not rush through the theme just to say it like usual. We thought about the words and signed it for someone else so that [she] could know the words too, and that made me happy to know that she could understand our theme and know that she was a daughter of God too.”

Even the young men got involved. They learned how to sign “Will you dance with me?” in preparation for an upcoming dance at a ward Mutual activity. Consequently, Alexis danced every dance. The priests learned to sign the sacrament prayers for her. The spirit of love enveloped the entire ward

(-Susan B Tanner, "All Things shall Work Together for Your Good", April 2004)

Forever Families

One of the most comforting beliefs in the LDS church is that families can live together FOREVER!! If you are sealed in the temple, and stay faithful to each other and to God then you can be together even after you die.

These are a few stories about people who have found comfort, and grown through this belief:

While Catherine and Kimball Herrod and their four young children, ages nine months to seven years, were driving home from a family dinner at their grandparents’ place, a double wheel from a huge semitruck on the opposite side of the freeway suddenly sprang loose, flew across the median, and pounded into the driver’s side of the family van. Kimball, the driver, husband, and father, was severely injured and unconscious. Catherine somehow guided the car to the shoulder and called for emergency help. While she watched the paramedics work on her husband and two older children, she sat in a police car with her two little ones on her lap and prayed vocally, “Heavenly Father, we know that Thou hast the power to heal Kimball if it is Thy will, but if not, we have faith that somehow Thou wilt sustain us through this.” Kimball was life-flighted to the hospital, but he did not make it there alive.

After the children were treated for cuts, bruises, and other minor injuries, dismissed from the hospital, and safely home in bed, Catherine returned to the hospital to say her final earthly good-bye to her husband. As difficult as it was, she declared to her parents, who were with her, “I know that Kimball and I are sealed by our temple covenants, and we will be together again someday.” In the most terrible trial of a young mother’s life, her covenants sustained her.

At the funeral, we were reminded of the power of covenants to sustain us in moments of distress and grief. As we joined in the closing song, we all heard above the crowd the voice of Taylor, the five-year-old son, loudly singing, “Families Can Be Together Forever” (Hymns, no. 300). It was joyous for the congregation to know that a child had been taught of the sealing covenants that would bind him to his father and mother. --Susan B Tanner (former YW's president)

I know that we can live forever with our families. I know that I can be with my little brother again, and remember him, know him, and love him.

Young Women are BEAUTIFUL!

"I wish every young woman assembled here tonight would know and understand that your beauty—your “shine”—does not lie in makeup, gooey cream, or the latest clothing or hairstyles. It lies in your personal purity." -Elaine S Dalton

What does it take to get beauty? Elaine S Dalton tells us in this video, "Deep Beauty"

Jenny Philips said it, too. In her song "Beauty Is" she shares that "beauty is found in the girl that believes in the power of her divinity."

You can show your beauty by the quiet things you do, but in the end, you will be noticed; and now you will be admired by those whose admiration counts

Remember, YOU ARE A DAUGHTER OF GOD!

Good Prayers

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, we believe in the power of prayer. But we pray a little differently than most other churches, as shown in this story:

Watoy paused under the colorful Filipino flag outside his school before heading inside.

“Good morning, class,” his teacher said. “It’s time for our morning prayer.”

All around, Watoy’s friends each touched their foreheads, chests, and shoulders to form the shape of a cross. Then they recited the prayer they always said at the beginning of class. As usual, Watoy didn’t join them. Instead, he closed his eyes, bowed his head, and said his own silent prayer. He prayed about different things each time, the way he was taught to pray at home and in Primary.

When he finished and looked up, he saw that his teacher was watching him with a confused expression on her face.

“May I talk to you after school?” she said.

Watoy swallowed and nodded. Was he in trouble?

When classes had ended for the day, Watoy’s teacher walked over to him.

“I see that you never cross yourself or recite our morning prayer,” she said. “Will you please tell me why?”

Watoy breathed a sigh of relief. His teacher wasn’t upset, just curious! He thought about how to answer.

“Well,” he began, “in my church, when we pray, we talk to Heavenly Father about many different things. And the cross reminds us of when Jesus died. But Jesus is not dead. He lives!”

His teacher thought about this for a moment and then nodded slowly.

“Thank you for sharing this with me,” she said.

As Watoy walked to football practice, he felt warm and good inside. He liked teaching others about Jesus Christ. (Friend Mar. 2013)

There is a short webpage about prayer published by the church. Here are some excerpts:

You have a Heavenly Father who loves you and knows your needs. As His child, you have the opportunity to communicate with Him through prayer. He does hear and answer prayers.
Through prayer, you can receive divine guidance, strength, and blessings from Him daily. Prayer can help you draw closer to God, receive comfort in troubling times, and know right from wrong.
While on earth, Jesus Christ taught that we should pray to the Father in His name (see John 16:23-24) Prayer should begin by addressing Heavenly Father and end with the statement "in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
When praying, speak openly and honestly with God. Express gratitude and thanksgiving for your blessings, acknowledge your love for Him, and ask for help, protection, and direction according to your needs. Prayer is not complicated. You can pray anytime, anywhere—out loud or silently—with perfect confidence that God will hear you
My mom had a thought the other day about expressing gratitude at the beginning of the day. She's read this book called the "Jackrabbit Factor", and it talks about expressing gratitude for what we want to get as if we have it now. She'd always thought of gratitude as a finishing thing, like "I'm gratiful I did that, now I'm done." But now she feels as if it's a motivation.
 
Someone else learned a lesson in prayer from their mother:

One of the important lessons my mother taught me by her example was about praying with a plan. She said it was important to pray that Heavenly Father would guide me. But I should also do my part by having a plan to help my prayer be answered.

One day when I was about six years old, I learned what that meant. I had earned a nickel, so I decided to buy some candy. On my way to the store, I started flipping my shiny nickel in the air. On its way down, I missed catching it, and it fell into some tall grass. My nickel completely disappeared.

I felt very bad, and I decided to pray. I knew Heavenly Father would help me find the nickel. As I finished my prayer, I thought about what my mother had taught me. What plan could I make to help with my prayer?

Suddenly I had a great idea. I would go home and get another nickel. Then I would come back to the exact spot where I had lost my nickel. If I flipped the second nickel in the same way, I thought Heavenly Father could help me find my lost nickel.

I ran home and borrowed another nickel. Then I went back to the spot where I had been before. I flipped the second nickel, this time watching carefully to see where it landed. When I looked down, I saw both nickels lying side by side. I knew that Heavenly Father had helped me.

Heavenly Father loves me, and He loves you. When you have problems in your life, remember to pray and also to think about what plan you will have after your prayer. Heavenly Father will always guide you (-Carl B Cook, Friend Apr. 2013)

I know that prayer can change people's lives. Prayer can help us through trials, and can also help us communicate with Heavenly Father to show our gratitude and happiness.