Change Please :]

 

“Change is an essential part of life’s experiences.”

- Elder Steven E. Snow

Youth, you face MANY changes. Many changes start with your body...Some of you will get tall,  some of you will stay short. Your voices will change, you WILL gain weight, but these are all things that are just going to happen and so we have to LOVE it. As you get older temptations and pressures become a lot heavier. It all starts when you turn 12 and walk into Junior High. You are entering a new school, making new friends, and learning new things. It just sounds like A LOT of change because it is! To be honest with you change is going to be something that continues to happen to you. When I first went to college MANY things changed. I had a hard time with the big changes, until I picked up a Book of Mormon. I realized as everything around me changed, the Book of Mormon did not. I knew I could dive into Nephi building a ship and feel like nothing had changed. I came to realize how LUCKY I was because, I had been given something that DOES NOT CHANGE.

 

“Many of these changes come as we naturally make our way through our earthly journey. Our lives change as we progress from childhood through youth and on into adulthood and finally old age. Schooling, missions, marriage, employment, and retirement are all examples of milestones of change.”
- Elder Steven E. Snow

Youth....GOOD NEWS...Things are going to keep changing.  CHANGE is a good thing. When we come to a big life change and think of it as a NEW opportunity we can make it into something new and exciting. Always remember when you come to a change, think positive and make it Right :]

http://www.mormon.org/

CLV(C)2011

Going Green TO BE clean again :]

About a week ago Sister Wilkinson and I and quite a few others went and helped out at Cameron, a Place of refuge for those who are struggling in life. We got to paint the cafeteria! The goal was to make it a place where its guests would feel more comfortable and welcome. I think we accomplished that idea and made it a home sweet home for those who don't have them!

Synetra and her son Trinity who are getting baptized  this Saturday!

We started out by taping up the walls, prepped the paint, got the ladders out. Before we started to paint Cameron's Kitchen, I thought it looked pretty good. The walls were WHITE and it was a pretty nice joint to come and eat. At the beginning I thought, it already looks pretty nice why would we need to change it? We had a lot of work ahead of us, even though I didn't think the room needed it, I decided I was going to help paint and wait for the end results.

Sister Wilkinson and I

 As the painting continued I was still a little bit shy about how it was going to turn out, and how it was going to make the place look better. However as time went on I was able to see a change in the room. It started to have a warmer feeling, and you could tell the people that were painting where even starting to feel more comfortable in what they were doing.

I love my aggies :]

After about 5 hours of fun, we were done! I was shocked out how it turned out. It looked AMAZING. It was a complete turn around. I felt a little bit ashamed because of my thoughts and feelings at the beginning. Thinking that something that already looked good, could not look any better. BOY I was WRONG!  It was now even more beautiful then before and only with a bit of work :]

The Fourth City Missionaries. Wilcox, Larsen, Me, Wilkinson!

As Sister Wilkinson and I were driving back to the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, I started to think about some of the people we had run into earlier in the week. Whenever we would try and share our message about Jesus Christ, they would say, "ITS OKAY, I AM ALREADY SET." What I have realized is that, we may feel "SET" in life, and already lead a wonderful, HAPPY life, but I have learned for myself that when I decided to live the Gospel Of Jesus Christ my life went from the WHITE walls that were pretty nice, to come to have the Green Walls that were Perfect, welcoming, and beautiful. I was no longer "pretty nice." Some times we have to have the courage to get out of our "SET LIVES" and see if Jesus Christ really can give us green walls. I know that he can because he gave me green walls, and through Jesus Christ I was able to be clean. Just like it took courage to put PAINT MUSTACHES on, have the courage to check out www.Mormon.org and let it paint your walls green :]

I DO WHAT I WANT!

In life everyone has a life theme. Mine is I DO WHAT I WANT. I know it sounds a little bit CRAZY, and sounds a little bit DANGEROUS, but I DO WHAT I WANT! Let me explain how my life motto works for me and how I came upon it.

 Last summer I worked as an Especially For Youth (EFY Summer Camp) councilor. We had a valiant group of teenagers who were truly in the midst of their teenage years. I remember those years, because they were not to long ago. They were ROUGH years, and I commend and encouage any teenager that is going through those years right now. All that I can really tell you is that they end eventaully and your get to be an adult! At this particular week at EFY I wanted to instill CONFIDENCE in the youth that I was working with. I tried to help them understand that when we face hard decisions, we need not be ashamed of choosing the right but confident in it. I wanted them to fully understand that other peoples opinions did not matter, but only God's.

Remeber that :)

As a retired teenager I know how hard it is to be confident in the things we are doing. We can not hide it, they are so many peers that are judging us. Peers DO talk about us behind our backs, peers can be MEAN. We do not Always get asked out on dates, We do not always get what we want.

After learning that crucial lesson of we do not always get what we want is when I started to change my perspective and build up my confidence so that I could do anything I wanted to. How I did that is simple. I learned that I was a DAUGHTER OF GOD.  I learned that through many trials, many nights at the Latter Day Saints Program "Young Womens", and many hours reading the Book of Mormon and nights on my knees praying to God to know if....

1. If he exsisted

2. If He loved me

3. If I was special

What I came to find out is that God did Exsist, that He loved me and that I AM speacial. Once I understood that I can honestly say that I got a lot happier and had maybe too much confidence :)

I know that I DO WHAT I WANT is a big phrase, but by learning that I was a DAUGHTER OF GOD I knew that I could DO WHAT I WANT because I knew that it was what God wanted me to do. I was able to follow the FOR STRENGTH OF THE YOUTH phamplet, because I knew God loved me and he gave it to me for that reason. I knew that we hard decisions did rise that I could DO WHAT I WANTED!!!

As teenagers that is when you get to learn how to make decisions. I know that sometimes we make decisions that are not the best and can leave us feeling pretty crappy inside and somtimes outside. Thats where this life motto comes in one more time I DO WHAT I WANT, we can choose how we feel. When we are feeling bad about ANYTHING, we can choose to CHANGE our thoughts for the better.

When we are MAD we can choose to be HAPPY.

When we are not happy with life, we can STOP, RE-EVALUATE and CHANGE it.

I promise as you do, you will be happy. Never let someone elses words hurt you, just reply with im sorry you feel that way (in a kind way) and then tell them you DO WHAT YOU WANT. I will finish with this, I DO WHAT I WANT, and the things I want to do follow the FOR STRENGTH OF THE YOUTH pamphlet, I want to go to CHURCH, I want to get an EDUCATION. I want to be able to have a FAMILY some day. I want to make my PARENTS proud. I want to be ME!

I DO WHAT I WANT AND I LOVE IT!!!