The Greatest Love Story

The past few months I have gone through quite the power struggle with God. With so much rejection, confusion, and uncertainty that I have faced this past semester, my ability to put my trust in the Lord and in his timeline for me has been an uphill climb. I want so badly to do his will, but if I am being totally honest I would like to know what his will for me IS exactly even more than that. Promising to do his will without knowing exactly what that could entail is frightening! What if I must fail? What if it hurts me or someone that I love? What if?????? I have been struggling with this all semester and have been really very frustrated with the fact that Heavenly Father is not telling me all the details of my future and what I need to do to get there and what decisions I need to make. But what I have realized is (and to quote Jon Bellion in his song "Maybe IDK") that God would not be God if I knew all of his plans. When it really comes down to it Heavenly Father loves us SO much and all that he wants for us is to be happy. His WILL is our happiness. So even if it hurts, it brings pain or tears, or it shakes our faith a bit, it is for a reason! And that reason is to lead us to a happier, more wonderful, joy filled life filled with His love and the light of our Savior Jesus Christ.

1 Nephi 11:17 says, "And I said unto him:I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."

I don't know what I am doing right now in my life. I don't know where I am headed or what my future holds for me. And perhaps I won't know these things for a really long time. But I do know that God loves me. God loves me so much. More than I will ever love anyone else or than anyone else will ever love me. More than I can even comprehend. And I know that because He loves me, He is going to do all that He can, being the supreme all-powerful omnipotent being that He is, to steer me in the direction of happiness. As long as I put my trust and my faith and my whole heart and soul into loving him back the best that I can.

Power of Music

D&C 136:28 If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.

 Music calms me down. It excites me, inspires me, and brings me to tears. It strengthens me. No matter what the circumstance, there is always a melody or set of lyrics that knows exactly what I am feeling. It gets me. Music is my best friend, my source of guidance, and my comforter. I know that regardless of the big bad trials that come huffing and puffing at my door, music will always be there for me, to build me up and to keep me standing strong against the winds of life. 

This is my testimony of the power of music. But if you take that first paragraph and replace “music” with “Christ”, it is also my testimony of the Savior. I am a firm believer that one of the strongest, most powerful ways that we can share the gift of Christ’s infinite love is through the majesty of music, and it is my deepest desire to be able to use the talents that I have been given to spread joy and bring others closer to the Savior.

I love this scripture so much because music plays such a vital and meaningful role in my life. I think that it is such a perfect way to connect with our Savior and show him our love and our gratitude for his atoning sacrifice and the gift that he has given us of eternal life.

But a Small Moment

D&C 121:7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

In this scripture, the Lord speaks peace to Joseph Smith's soul while he is suffering in jail in Liberty, Missouri. In this time, it would be so easy for Joseph to just cry "Why me? Why did all of this happen to me?". However the Lord reminds Joseph that these trials he is facing are just a small moment in the timeline of eternity. I think that this is such an important thing to remind ourselves each and everyday. Recently, in the past week I have had a lot of small trials that have seemed to add up and cause me a great deal of frustration. But by remembering to focus on the Lord these trials have become smaller and smaller. Life can be really, really hard. But by keeping an eternal perspective we can get through any trial that comes our way with a smile on our face and the light of Christ in our hearts.

Commit to the Lord

Proverbs 16:3 Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established.
Especially at this time in my life, there are so many things I want to accomplish, goals I want to reach, and plans I want to make. It is so easy to get caught up in pride and to foolishly believe that I am capable of doing all of these things on my own. This scripture reminds me that all things are possible through Christ. It is so important for me to dedicate my life first and foremost to the Lord, and as I do that, He will help me to do all that I desire, if it is according to His will. I know in my heart that Jesus Christ suffered all the pains and the afflictions of the world to give us the spiritual strength and power to overcome and accomplish anything. Reading this scripture has really inspired me to align my desires with the Lord's.

Pray, He is there

In D&C 6:36 it says, "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not fear not". I have always viewed this scripture as more of a general statement to always keep God in our thoughts and in our actions. But as I worked on strengthening my personal prayers this week, it took on a deeper meaning for my own method of praying. I have always struggled with staying focused during prayers. I find myself beginning my prayer and then realizing 5 minutes later that my mind had wandered off into La La Land without even realizing it. Every night this week I began to write down an outline of what I wanted to cover in my prayer and keep it in front of me as a reference. This has really helped me to stay focused on the Lord in my prayers and give Heavenly Father the love and respect that he deserves as I approached my daily prayers fully prepared. 

So to me, this scriptures explains the importance of having a sincere prayer, and even though it can be easy to lose focus, if we keep our thoughts only on our Father in Heaven he will take away our fears and our doubts and bless us immensely.

Wonderful

2 Nephi 19:6


6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
One of my professors shared this scripture in class this past week and I have been thinking about it a lot. I really love all of the different titles that Jesus Christ can hold. Not only is he our Savior, but he is our counselor, our God, our friend, our example, and our comforter bringing forth peace. I think that it is a good reminder for us to think of Christ as not just one but all of these things, and that he is there to help us through anything that we may need. 
I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I will be eternally grateful for the atoning sacrifice that he made for me, specifically, so that I might be redeemed and forgiven of my sins, live with him and my Heavenly Father once again, and have eternal life.

Feed My Sheep

John 21:16
“He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.”
The Savior tells us that the best way for us to show him our love is to feed his sheep, or to serve others. I know that this is a divine and wonderful way that we can become closer to our Lord, and I also really strongly believe that we can become closer to those that we serve.
Someone once told me a story about a man talking to another man from India. The Indian man was explaining why they believe in arranged marriages. He said that they truly believe that the more that you serve a person over time, the more your love grows for them exponentially. I think that this is so true. Well, not necessarily the arranged marriage part, but about serving others. I think the more that we do our best to help and lift those around us, our relationships with them and our love for them will grow. And I think this is precisely what the Savior wants for us.