7 Ways to make Today a Great Day!

In Sacrament Meeting today, someone shared 7 things they do each morning to help their day go well. I was really excited, because I'm tired of feeling sad and grumpy in the morning. Unfortunately, I didn't write the things down :S. So here are my own 7 things to do each day, and how I'll get them in in the morning:

1.Stand up for my beliefs; post here :) (btw, sorry I haven't posted in forever. Life got to me, I guess :S)
2. Remember who I am; listen to a beautiful song from Youth Music, and share it on my Remembrance blog.
3. Remember Him; pray (with a question, preferrably), read my scriptures, and journal about what I've learned.
4. Smile!
5. Lift someone up; send an email, write a note to someone I'll see that day
6. Fulfill my responsibilities; make a list of things to do that day.
7. Look up, and see God's hand in my life; journal a gratitude list.

Here are some other lists that people use.
Ways to be Happy:
1. Smile
2. Say something nice about someone
3. Do something nice for someone.
4. Thank God for as many things as you can
5. Become an anti-complainer
6. Spend time with someone happy
7. Do unto others

Behaviors that can make you Happy:
1. Listen to or read something that inspires you.

2. Make your body stronger and more resilient.

3. Review and hone your plans for the future.

4. Do at least one thing that's worthwhile.

5. Help somebody less fortunate.

6. Spend 20 seconds appreciating what you have.

7. Record at least one good memory.

If you'll notice, all of these lists have two things in common: gratitude, and service.

This makes sense, if you think about it. If you're forever grumbling about what you don't have, or not realizing how blessed you are, you won't find any reason to be happy, either. 

Along with that, if you're always centered on yourself, you don't get a chance to feel real happiness. Service allows you to step outside of yourself. There's a story about a girl who had a really hard time with her self esteem and happiness until she went to Zambia. While there, she saw how happy everyone was, even though (by our standards) they had every reason to be unhappy. That helped her put things into perspective.

I know that even if you don't officially set aside a time to do 7 things, if you at least have an attitude of gratitude, and take opportunities to lift others up, that you'll have a happier and more fulfilled life.

A Gift for Christ

WHAT IS YOUR GIFT TO CHRIST?

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)

What Sacrifices would YOU make for the Savior?

Luke 9:23 ¶And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

Following are some stories of people who have made sacrifices for what they knew was right. They are examples to people today that if you sacrifice for the right reasons, you will be blessed.

Elder Gordon B. Hinckley spoke of meeting a young naval officer from Asia. The officer had not been a Christian, but during training in the United States, he had learned about the Church and was baptized. He was now preparing to return to his native land. “President Hinckley asked the officer: ‘Your people are not Christians. … What will happen when you return home a Christian and, more particularly, a Mormon Christian?’
“The officer’s face clouded, and he replied: ‘My family will be disappointed. … As for my future and my career, … all opportunity [may] be foreclosed against me.’
“President Hinckley asked, ‘Are you willing to pay so great a price for the gospel?’
“With his dark eyes moistened by tears, he answered with a question: ‘It’s true, isn’t it?’
“President Hinckley responded, ‘Yes, it’s true.’
“To which the officer replied, ‘Then what else matters?’

In the course of constructing (the) tabernacle, the local brethren ordered the glass for the windows from New York and had it shipped around the cape to California. But a bill of $800 was due and payable before the panes could be picked up and delivered to St. George. Brother David H. Cannon, later to preside over the St. George Temple being built at the same time, was charged with the responsibility of raising the needed funds. After painstaking effort, the entire community, giving virtually everything they had to these two monumental building projects, had been able to come up with only $200 cash. On sheer faith Brother Cannon committed a team of freighters to prepare to leave for California to get the glass. He continued to pray that the enormous balance of $600 would somehow be forthcoming before their departure.
Living in nearby Washington, Utah, was Peter Neilson, a Danish immigrant who had been saving for years to add on to his modest two-room adobe home. On the eve of the freighters' departure for California, Peter spent a sleepless night in that tiny little house. He thought of his conversion in far-off Denmark and his subsequent gathering with the Saints in America. After coming west he had settled and struggled to make a living in Sanpete. And then, just as some prosperity seemed imminent there, he answered the call to uproot and go to the Cotton Mission, bolstering the pathetic and sagging efforts of the alkali-soiled, malaria-plagued, flood-bedeviled settlers of Dixie. As he lay in bed that night contemplating his years in the Church, he weighed the sacrifices asked of him against the wonderful blessings he had received. Somewhere in those private hours he made a decision.
Some say it was a dream, others say an impression, still others simply a call to duty. However the direction came, Peter Neilson arose before dawn on the morning the teams were to leave for California. With only a candle and the light of the gospel to aid him, Peter brought out of a secret hiding place $600 in gold coins--half eagles, eagles, and double eagles. His wife, Karen, aroused by the predawn bustling, asked why he was up so early. He said only that he had to walk quickly the seven miles to St. George.
As the first light of morning fell on the beautiful red cliffs of southern Utah, a knock came at David H. Cannon's door. There stood Peter Neilson, holding a red bandanna which sagged under the weight it carried. "Good morning, David," said Peter. "I hope I am not too late. You will know what to do with this money."
With that he turned on his heel and retraced his steps back to Washington, back to a faithful and unquestioning wife, and back to a small two-room adobe house that remained just two rooms for the rest of his life.
This story is a favorite of mine, because I can totally relate to it. I love playing the violin, and would have the hardest time making this sacrifice.

A story written by Karen Nolen, which appeared in the New Era in 1974, tells of a Benjamin Landart who, in 1888, was 15 years old and an accomplished violinist. Living on a farm in northern Utah with his mother and seven brothers and sisters was sometimes a challenge to Benjamin, as he had less time than he would have liked to play his violin. Occasionally his mother would lock up the violin until he had his farm chores done, so great was the temptation for Benjamin to play it. In late 1892 Benjamin was asked to travel to Salt Lake to audition for a place with the territorial orchestra. For him, this was a dream come true. After several weeks of practicing and prayers, he went to Salt Lake in March of 1893 for the much anticipated audition. When he heard Benjamin play, the conductor, a Mr. Dean, told Benjamin he was the most accomplished violinist he had heard west of Denver. He was told to report to Denver for rehearsals in the fall and learned that he would be earning enough to keep himself, with some left over to send home. A week after Benjamin received the good news, however, his bishop called him into his office and asked if he couldnt put off playing with the orchestra for a couple of years. He told Benjamin that before he started earning money there was something he owed the Lord. He then asked Benjamin to accept a mission call.

Benjamin felt that giving up his chance to play in the territorial orchestra would be almost more than he could bear, but he also knew what his decision should be. He promised the bishop that if there were any way to raise the money for him to serve, he would accept the call.

When Benjamin told his mother about the call, she was overjoyed. She told him that his father had always wanted to serve a mission but had been killed before that opportunity had come to him. However, when they discussed the financing of the mission, her face clouded over. Benjamin told her he would not allow her to sell any more of their land. She studied his face for a moment and then said, Ben, there is a way we can raise the money. This family [has] one thing that is of great enough value to send you on your mission. You will have to sell your violin.
Ten days later, on March 23, 1893, Benjamin wrote in his journal: I awoke this morning and took my violin from its case. All day long I played the music I love. In the evening when the light grew dim and I could see to play no longer, I placed the instrument in its case. It will be enough. Tomorrow I leave [for my mission].
Forty-five years later, on June 23, 1938, Benjamin wrote in his journal: The greatest decision I ever made in my life was to give up something I dearly loved to the God I loved even more. He has never forgotten me for it.

You are His Hands

A story is told that during the bombing of a city in World War II, a large statue of Jesus Christ was severely damaged. When the townspeople found the statue among the rubble, they mourned because it had been a beloved symbol of their faith and of God’s presence in their lives.

Experts were able to repair most of the statue, but its hands had been damaged so severely that they could not be restored. Some suggested that they hire a sculptor to make new hands, but others wanted to leave it as it was—a permanent reminder of the tragedy of war. Ultimately, the statue remained without hands. However, the people of the city added on the base of the statue of Jesus Christ a sign with these words: “You are my hands.” (-told by Elder Uchtdorf)

Think about that. "You are My Hands"

Elder Uchtdorf continued "When I think of the Savior, I often picture Him with hands outstretched, reaching out to comfort, heal, bless, and love. And He always talked with, never down to, people. He loved the humble and the meek and walked among them, ministering to them and offering hope and salvation.
That is what He did during His mortal life; it is what He would be doing if He were living among us today; and it is what we should be doing as His disciples and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
On this beautiful Easter morning, our thoughts and hearts are drawn to Him—the Hope of Israel and the Light of the World.
As we emulate His perfect example, our hands can become His hands; our eyes, His eyes; our heart, His heart."

How can you be His hands? You can comfort people, laugh with someone, help someone up.
Here is a "Karma" video, showing people doing things that the Savior would do (no matter how small it was), and the effects it had:

My mom is an amazing person. She listens to the spirit, and if it whispers that she should call someone, or make an extra batch of rolls to give to someone else, she does it. And other people have told her (or told me) how much she's done for them. Even if it was something super small, like a quick chat or call, it made a difference to them.

To end, this is a video about a girl who recieved help, and how she helped others: