One blessing because of Joseph Smith

My best friend Courtney taught an awesome lesson in Relief Society today. She spoke of Joseph Smith.

One of the hardest concepts for me to grasp was that we have a living prophet here on earth. Someone who receives commandments, prophecies and revelations from God. But why not? The bible clearly states that there were prophets on the earth during that time, why would he ever think to leave us alone now.

I am grateful for Joseph Smith. I know in my heart that everything he did was inspired of our Heavenly Father. What really hit me during her lesson was something that I have slightly struggled with the past couple of weeks. Getting to church.

Now I am going to connect the dots in my mind to both of those things.

This church is AMAZING. The way that it is set up and organized, there is nothing else like it in the world. There are so many things accessible to us because of the restoration of the gospel and guidance from our latter day prophets. I know without Josephs Smith sincere prayer, we all still would be lost people. We have so many resources readily available to us to help us stay on the righteous path back to our Heavenly Father. Every ward, every activity within it, every devotional, fireside, general conference, FHE, etc is there for our benefit.

That is just a fraction of blessings that have come from Joseph Smiths example and sacrifices. Every prophet after that has contributed to the inspired building of this organization. It is so easy to take for granted, but I am grateful for all of it. Without it, I know I would be lost. It would be so easy to forget what is important. It makes it a little bit easier to strive not to be of the world.

You and Me and Her and He.

This past week, I realized how much I enjoy trying to understand people. What have they been through? What are their joys? Trials? If I could make a career out of getting to know and understand people and their motives, I would be the happiest girl.

I think that being an individual, having our own self identity, and being given the ability to make decisions for ourselves is an amazing gift. Being able to share experiences, and shed light from a new perspective helps us to grow.

So often we compare ourselves to others. Most of those times we bring ourselves down and wish we were or had certain things. We should try to always remember Heavenly Father has equipped all of us with the strength to overcome any challenge as hard as it may be. We don't need to have materialistic things in abundance. We have the personal choice to live a healthy life.

I have loved reading all the posts on Facebook and other social media sites, things that people are grateful for throughout the month of November. It's a great reminder of all the good in the world. I sincerely hope that along with sharing those things online in public, we have those placed in private in our hearts as well. And that those things that we are truly grateful for, take priority and show in our daily lives.

This upcoming Christmas season is an exciting one! As it is every year, we have another reason to spend time with our families and friends and cherish those relationships. We can share that love with others around us. We can focus on everything that Christ has done for us, and share that knowledge with others.

I can testify that my full happiness comes from the knowledge of our savior and being able to have a personal relationship with Him. We are never alone in the world if we choose it. Not ever. We have the choice to have Him in our lives. I hope this holiday season to strive to get to know and understand people around me more sincerely. That those surface level friendships can grow deeper, and find ways to recognize where we can help. Service can start with just building everyday relationships!

Love you all and Merry Christmas!

twenty something year olds.

I spent the majority of my 8, for slow drivers 9 hour drive from Utah to California talking with Ingrid and reading through things online. Oh, how convenient technology is!

We started discussing family. We both moved to Utah at the same time. It's almost been two years since I moved out of my parents house and to another state! It's been a wonderful adventure. 

It's funny how at this age we are in a weird limbo. Most of us have left our families, yet we haven't made our own. It's that awkward stage where you don't know where you belong. And then you have to hold on to the faith that there is a greater plan for us, than we can imagine for ourselves. This plan takes effort on our part, but we can be guided in our decisions.

I think back to when I made the decision to change my life and what a blessing it has been. We have the power to make big decisions even when they are scary. We can trust that as long as we are living worthily, Heavenly Father will make us aware if we've chosen an incorrect path.

I guess what I am saying is that, we need to TRUST and we need to ACT. We can't sit back idly and expect things to happen. We have to ACCEPT when our plan for ourselves, isn't the plan that Heavenly Father has for us. Things will work out. That job, that boy, that school that we wanted and needed so bad wasn't for us.

So here I am, laying on my sisters bed at my parents house. Im in awe of the experiences I've had in the past 2 years. It's been a whirlwind of self discovery, and I am nowhere near finished. But if I hold fast to that faith, and if I remind myself to strive to reach my potential, I know I can find happiness in making our Father in Heaven proud. Not only that, but my family. My friends. My future family. Myself.

Experiences

Today I feel grateful for this life and the experiences that come with it!

I can find so many things to complain about. Yet, I am blessed with SO much. These experiences, big or small, easy or tough are all a part of Heavenly Fathers plan. My emotional well being hasn't been the best this week and for a day or two I lost sight of whats important. I let go of the the trust and knowledge that there is a plan, I need to trust in His timing. He has a plan for me, better than I can imagine for myself.

I find so much peace in this, it's hard to remember where I turned to in hard times before I had this knowledge.

What are YOU grateful for today?

Guidance and Spiritual Promptings

Today I am grateful for guidance and spiritual promptings...

This was something that touched me more towards the end of the day. Without getting into too much detail, I was out somewhere and felt that it was time for me to go home. Wait, but it's Saturday night, should I be giving myself a curfew? It sometimes is as simple as that. I don't know if anything would have happened if I stayed out later, but I just felt that it was time for me to be at home. The recognition of a prompting is such a blessing, and even more so when you act on it.

Gratitude

The other day I was browsing through Barnes & Noble, one of my favorite stores. As I made my way around the store I came across all of their journals.

Last year I was very diligent in keeping a journal and it helped me learn a lot about myself. It was awesome to see progress made in my life clearly recorded. This year, I've been terrible. So starting fresh I wanted to make it more of a gratitude journal. Every single day I want to write something down that I was grateful for. It could be a simple sentence or a paragraph. Eventually, I think I will become more aware of the blessings in my life because I made it a rule to never repeat something I have already written!

As I have done this throughout the past week, I have been happier. I've thought a lot about being more active in my blog so here is where I want to start. I challenge everyone to record at least a word a day about something they are grateful for. I will try and share some of mine at least a couple of times a week and I would love to hear from you as well!

Here's to counting our blessings!

My first talk in Sacrament: The Power of Prayer

This past Sunday, was the first time I have ever spoken in Sacrament.

Don't ask me how I escaped over 2 years without speaking. I was nervous. It's a completely new ward, so I don't know too many people. I felt like my talk was shorter than it was supposed to be, and I was afraid I was just going to rush through and make zero sense. But, I survived.

All in all, I want to say things went well. I like doing new things for the first time. I think no matter what it is, in some way it helps us to grow as people and stretch who we already are. You draw strength and courage from places you didn't know you had.

I was assigned to talk about the power of prayer. There are always reasons for things, even if we might not yet understand them. I was able to think deeply about my prayers and how I say them, how much of my heart I pour into them. We have a Heavenly Father who is always there for us. Night or day. One second or thirty minutes. He created this earth, gave us these bodies, our families and is dependable. Nobody wants and knows better for us, than He does. I think that we all too often forget that. We forget that he has given us so many resources to turn to him, and we know where to find happiness. But this life takes effort, patience and trust. I have a ton to work on, but remembering how powerful prayer can be, took me back to the basics. Nothing will come if that foundation of a relationship with Him is not present.

Better yet, I had the support of my friends. I don't know if they are aware of how much that means. The four most important people to me here in Utah came to listen. I didn't even have to ask. He places the people we need in our lives, and I am grateful for that.

 Blog post are just better with pictures... Oceanside Sunrise

GENERAL CONFERENCE 2013

Saturday October 5th and 6th

Come listen :)

www.lds.org