"Testimony will come to
you in pieces as parts of the whole truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ are
confirmed. For instance, as you read and ponder the Book of Mormon, verses you
have read before will appear new to you and bring new ideas. Your testimony will
grow in breadth and in depth as the Holy Ghost confirms that they are true.
Your living testimony will expand as you study, pray, and ponder in the
scriptures."
-President Henry B. Eyring
Usually, I do not show pictures of myself stuffing my face...in this case I believe it’s
going to be worth it :)
This morning we woke up at an hour that I did not even
know existed…5 a.m.... So that my companion and I could attend early morning seminary and talk with the youth about serving missions. As we shared mission experiences,
I realized that it was not just one experience that made my mission but it was loads that did.
I started to think about my testimony and how I gained it.
I remember as a young woman I was never confident in the church. I
always felt that I was just there listening and not acting upon what was said.
As I got older I realized that it was not going
to be one event that secured mytestimony, but many. When we think that oneexperience is enough that is when Heavenly Father sends us another one.
Always remember that you must build upon what you have to continue to have that
firm testimony that comes piece by piece. You can see in my
pictures, it was not just one marshmallow that filled my mouth, but piece by piece
I was able to get 13 in and win the chubby
bunny contest :)
"As we go about living from day to day,
it is almost inevitable that our faith will be challenged. We may at times find ourselves surrounded by others and yet standing in the minority or
even standing alone concerning what is acceptable and what is not. Do we have
the moral courage to stand firm for our beliefs, even if by so doing we must stand alone? ...It is essential that we are able to face—with courage—whatever challenges come
our way. Remember the words of Tennyson: “My strength is as the strength of ten, because my heart is pure.”
YOUTH, you will
face challenges every day, like President Monson said, it is inevitable. We
cannot PICK
and CHOOSE the
trials we go through, but we can CHOOSE how we get through them.
It is our attitude and pure hearts that will
help us make it through the trial. I know that many of you are “looking the
bull in the eye” right now. What I have come to learn is that through the atonement, Heavenly Father will
give us that strength we need to get through the unfortunate events. It all
starts with our FAITH! Our FAITH in the atonement will
give us strength as we stare the adversary in the eye…
Now the question is how will you face the challenge?
A few
weeks ago I did a post labeled“Miracle on Lime Street”.Well, today my companion and I were able to see the beautiful
couple be sealed for alltimeandeternityin the Palmyra, New YorkTemple.
My Niece Madison First day of school
It
was such a BLESSING to see this couple
make such a sacred covenant, or two way promise. Many people think that the
things that happen in the Temple are SECRET…I am here to tell
you that they are not… They are SACRED. I like to think about it this way… My niece Madison
recently started first grade. She did all
she needed to, to prepare for this big step. She was ready
because she had gone to kindergarten. If I was to drive her to school, and say
okay we are going to put you in 11th grade instead, she would not
have completed the grades to prepare her. Entering the Temple is all about being prepared spiritually.
God wants all of his children to enter His Holy House one
day. Now youth, always remember that this is what you are working towards, a
"You who are members of
this Church must have a loyalty to it. This is your church. You have as great a
responsibility in your sphere of action as I have in my sphere of action. It
belongs to you just as it belongs to me. You have embraced its gospel. You have
taken upon yourselves a covenant in the waters of baptism."
-President Hinckley
I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints. I have learned the valuable lesson of being true to the church that I belong to. I remember one of my first weeks in High School, a boy had asked me about Mormon's. I decided to tell him all of the negative things that I thought about the people in it. Inside I could feel my heart drop, but was so angry at the people. Earlier that week, I had been greatly offended and as a 15 year old I took it pretty personal. So I decided to take it out on the church. I had easily forgotten that the people in the church are not perfect but the organization is and so was Heavenly Fathers love for me. I can tell you that to this day I regret not standing up for my beliefs. Now as I serve in the sacred sites of Palmyra New York, I get to bear testimony of the church and its organization. I get to stand in the top of the Peter Whitmer home where the first church meeting was held on April 6, 1830 and tell how I came to know that the church was true. At the end of every tour, I stop and say a prayer, thanking my Heavenly Father for letting me come here and testify of the truth, I know that I can not make up for the things of my past, but I can do my best now.
Through out my youth I found it very hard to get along with members of the church. It was stuck in my mind that Mormons, as a whole, were judgmentalpeople and that I did not fit into their category. As a teenager those are pretty common feelings. I decided to do whatever I wanted to do. This included not reading my scriptures. It was not until my second year at Utah State that I decided to read the scriptures. My best friend had started to meet with the missionaries and they asked her to read the Book of Mormon. So I decided to secretly accept that challenge, that I had never before conquered. I finished it for the first time on my 20th birthday. I knelt down and prayed, and received the perfect birthday present, an answer. It was true, and I was at peace. I had come to know for myself that the things in the Book of Mormon were for me. I could see within myself a change for the better. I realized it has nothing to do with people in the church but things I gain from the church. Now I get my second chance to be true. I get to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it changed my life and saved me. I can tell you what it is like to not have it in your life as the corner stone, and it is something you do not need to experience. Last week I got to go to the Hill Cumorah where the plates were found, and as I stood in the middle of the Forrest, I heard a whisper just as I did on my 20th birthday, Its all true...
"Be true to your own convictions. You know what is right, and you know what is wrong. You know when you are doing the proper thing. You know when you are giving strength to the right cause. Be loyal. Be faithful. Be true, my beloved associates in this great kingdom"
“I must also say a word concerning illicit drugs. You know how I feel about them. I don’t care what the variety may be. They will destroy you if pursued. You will become their slave. Once in their power, you will do anything to get money to buy more. ”
-President Hinckley
You always have a choice......
“I was amazed while watching a television
program to learn that parents introduced drugs to their children in 20 percent
of the cases. I cannot understand what I regard as the stupidity of these
parents. What future other than slavery for their children could they see in
them? Illegal drugs will utterly destroy those who become addicted to them.”
-President Hinckley
While
serving a mission I have been able to see MANY people with addictions. It is truly
the hardest thing for those we teach to overcome. The addiction runs their
lives and controls them completely. It can be anything from alcohol, cigarettes
to hard drugs. President Hinckley is right when he says you become a slave.
Recently, we taught a family about the Word of Wisdom. At the end of it they
brought us all of their cigarettes. We gladly took them so it was no longer a
temptation. Even though the temptation was gone they have still had problems, the addiction overcomes you and you feel you can not say no.
I have been
able to teach the Word of Wisdom a lot throughout my mission. After praying about a particular woman we were working with I had a dream. In my
dream we had sat down with her and she had put all of her cigarettes on the
table. One by one we took a sharpie and we wrote things that she was missing
out on life because of her addiction. When I woke up, I realized that was my
answer. Later that day we wrote on the cigarettes with her and in the end it
helped her toquite smoking.
If you feel the need to try something that you KNOW you shouldn't, stop and pray. Ask your loving Heavenly Father to give you the strength to overcome the temptation...Don't become a slave to something that will only cost you.
My Little Brother Max and I... a hug is my drug :]
“My advice, my pleading to you wonderful young
men and women, is to stay entirely away from them. You don’t need to experiment
with them. Look about you and see the effects they have had on others. There is
no need for any Latter-day Saint boy or girl, young man or young woman, to even
try them. Stay clean from these mind-altering and habit-forming addictions.”
As a Sister Missionary one of the BLESSINGS that we RECIEVE is the ability to study the scriptures for an hour a day, called Personal Study. So every morning from 8 to 9 we get to DIVE into things like the King James version of the Bible, The Book of Mormon (Another testiment of Jesus Christ), and Ensigns (Church Magazines). It is seriously like CHRISTMAS every day, to just sit down and read and have no other cares in the world.
The creen would not come out!
Today I was reading in the Bible in St. John chapter 10 http://lds.org/scriptures/nt/john/10?lang=eng (if you want to read it :), and it just HIT me. It was talking about how we need to enter through the DOOR and not theWINDOW. After reading that my first thoughts where how do I usualy enter a house, the answer was the DOOR. I thought of times when I have had to use WINDOWS and those have not always been the ideal situations. Seriously think about times you have had to use the WINDOW....Some may because you got locked out, your keys are lost, it may or may not be your apartment, or maybe you SNEEKINGout. In all of those situations it is a solution but not the easiest and even the cleanest. Think about how easy it would be if we could just use the DOOR.
Dont get Stuck in the window!
I started to think about my favorite people in the world the YOUTH. They have so many things comming up against them. So many times they are pressured into drinking, drugs, and things with chasity. I remember how hard it was to say no to things like that because I wanted to do what my freinds were doing, I wanted to fit in. However as I watched people "CLIMB IN THROUGH THEWINDOW," I saw how much harder life was for them. I had many freinds who would choose the "DOOR," and I was able to see how happy their lives were. I now have a new perspective when it comes to making decisions that will impact my life and the lives of others.... Am I using the DOOR or am I climing through WINDOWS. Another way to look at it is how would my parents react if they caught me climbing out the WINDOW late at night, my guess is not good.
In John it talked about how Jesus Christ is the door, I thought that if Jesus was inviting me into his house I would want to use the DOOR and would not be sneeking in through the WINDOW.
Now the DOOR and WINDOW can represent MANY different things, that is something I LOVE about reading the scriptures we can relate it to our lives....Feel free to COMMENT and give your thoughts or if you have questions!
