Endure all things

 Yesterday, I gave a talk on the thirteenth article of faith, which reads,

"13 We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

 In preparation for this talk I spent somewhere around 4 hours on Saturday reading, researching, pondering, and writing about this article of faith. It was a really wonderful experience because I really got to study it in depth and apply it to experiences in my own life. I have never gone on a mission, but I can't imagine how amazing it must be because just simply in attempting to teach other people about a certain topic and share my testimony with them, I have learned and grown so much! I love having the opportunity to speak in church because it really gives me the motivating opportunity to really dive into the scriptures. I really need to study like this a whole lot more because I think it would be such a beneficial experience.
In my talk, I spoke on the part that says "we hope all things, we have endured many things, and we hope to be able to endure all things". I spoke on hope and how Jesus Christ is our true source of hope and that hope is never lost. I also spoke about how trials are an essential part of our lives and that Heavenly Father has hand picked each one of them for our specific benefit. And in the end I talked about how enduring all things to the end means constantly coming unto christ and becoming perfected in him.

Who Shall Separate Us?

I truly believe that Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need to hear and that he uses other people to help give us precisely that. Once again, this week Heavenly Father used the people around me to show his love for me. My visiting teachers came over yesterday and shared with me this scripture:

Romans 8:35, 38-39
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is one of the most beautiful scriptures I have ever read. Recently, I have been pleading with the Lord to help me feel his love for me. I think that this scripture shows, in the most eloquent way, precisely how strong the bond between Christ and us really is. And what holds that bond so tightly together is his true and everlasting love for us and the gift of the atonement. 

Why do you keep me so far away?

This week I bought a book from Deseret Book Store called Let God Love You: Why We Don't and How We Can. As I have been reading it this week it has really started to affect the way that I think about my relationship with my Heavenly Father. In the book, the author talks about an experience that she had where she heard the spirit clearly ask the words, "Why do you keep me so far away?" several times. When she was finally willing to put herself in a vulnerable position and let Heavenly Father close to her, she felt his arms wrapped around her. I have been constantly thinking about the words of that piercing question all week - in the shower, as I am driving around town, while I am walking to my classes, etc. - and it has really been made apparent to me that it is us who keep Heavenly Father so far away. He is simply waiting there with open arms, ready to embrace us and shower us with his love, and all we have to do is let him.

John 14:18 says,
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

This scripture is really special to me because it truly testifies to me that our Savior really knows our daily struggles and our emotions. He knows when we kick ourselves about missing a deadline, when we feel insecure about other's opinions of us, and when we just feel sad or scared about our future. He feels what we feel. And he is just waiting for us to take the gifts of comfort and peace and all consuming happiness that he has so graciously extended to us. He is just waiting for us to love him so He can shower us with oceans and oceans full of the love that he already feels for us. He will not leave us comfortless! We just need to be sure not to keep him so far away.

Nevertheless I Went Forth

1 Nephi 4:6-7
"6 An I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.
 7 Nevertheless I went forth.."

This month has brought a lot of confusion and uncertainty about many different aspects of my life and I have been feeling a little lost lately.
It is so very true that Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need to hear, and so in church this week the Sunday school lesson was on revelation. This was so perfect because I have been praying a lot recently about the direction that my life is supposed to be headed and whether or not I am on the right path. I know that answers from heaven can sometimes take a long time, but it gets frustrating at times not knowing what the Lord wants of me. In my class someone said "If we are wondering why Heavenly Father is being silent, perhaps it is not that he is silent but that we are just in a really really loud place". I think it has always been easy for me to get distracted with the business and the distractions of the world that I don't take enough time each day to sit in a quiet, undistracted place and listen to the spirit. Also, I need to be working on doing all that I can to follow the commandments and live my life the way that I should be so that when I do receive revelation I can have confidence that it was the spirit testifying to me and not just my own thoughts because they will be the same.
We talked a lot about Elder Bednar's analogy of the patterns of light in reference to revelation and I feel like what is going on in my life is very similar to the analogy of the foggy day. He is giving me just enough light to only take a few steps ahead.
It is important for me to be like Nephi, and to know, although I may not be able to see what my future is, that Heavenly Father has a plan for me. He is just waiting for me to trust in him and move forward with faith so that he can unleash a boatload of blessings that he has handpicked out of love.

Love Letters from God

God is so real.

He is all around me. In every drop of rain, every cotton candy sunset, and in every smile. His love can be felt in so many ways. And I know that he knows and loves me personally and answers each of my prayers. Most of the time, these prayers are answered by the burning of my bosom or a warm peace of mind. Although I am so grateful for this type of personal revelation, truthfully I have always thought it would be kinda cool if Heavenly Father could just shoot me a text, an email, a letter, (or heck I would even get a pager) that says, "NOPE YOUR'E GOING THE WRONG WAY" or "YOU GO GIRL! GREAT DECISION!" or something like that.

Well today I got one.

Today while I was eating my lunch at school, I looked up from my phone and a random stranger had left this note on my table with the sweetest message. I truly felt like it was a letter directly from Heavenly Father showing and expressing his love for me in written word! It was amazing and I immediately felt the spirit so strongly.

One of my missionary friends also sent me this scripture today:

D&C 84:88

And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

Heavenly Father is so mindful of me and my needs and from this scripture and this incredible experience that I had today I know that He is just searching for every possible way that he can show me how much he loves me. We always have a friend to rely on and someone to give us comfort. I will be eternally grateful for this and the joy and comfort that my Savior and my Heavenly Father have blessed me with. And I am so beyond grateful for this love letter from God.

Duty to God

This past week has felt really long. I think mostly because it is the first time since the 5th grade where my life has not been crazy busy. Going to school part time and still on the hunt for a job has given me a great deal of time and it has been difficult to feel accomplished or like I am progressing towards something.

In my scripture study this week, I came across Alma 7:22-23. It says:

22 And now my beloved brethren, I have said these things unto you that i might awaken you to a sense of your duty to God, that ye may walk blameless before him, that ye may walk after the holy order of God, after which ye have been received.
23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.'

This scripture really reminded me of my duty to Heavenly Father. Though it may seem like I have a lot of free time on my hands, there are so many things that I must do to improve myself and to please my father in heaven. It is really important for me to use this time to strengthen my testimony as well as my relationship with my Savior. I am going to do all that I can to better myself by going to the temple more, studying my scriptures and praying as much as I can, and serving those around me.

I Will Lead You Along

          The start of this new year has already brought a great deal of changes. Back in December, when I was rejected from the major that I wanted to pursue, I had to reevaluate a lot of my passions, desires, and goals for the future. The first few days back at school were really tough as I switched my major multiple times, causing issues with my schedule and prerequisite classes. One of the biggest issues that I ran into as I talked on the phone, met with, and emailed countless advisors was that I had too many credits and that BYU has a strict set number of credits that a student must have in order to apply for certain majors. When I finally decided on an obtainable major to apply to, I needed to make a very important decision of whether or not to go to school as a part time student and save credits or to continue as a full time student. I had been very confused and uneasy about what I should do so I began to pray about it countless times a day. Because of recent events, I felt at times like I did not have a place in the world and was really struggling during this confusing time. I studied my situation out in my mind and wrote out the pros and cons and then took it to the Lord. On Thursday, I went to the temple. As I sat in the temple, I began to plead with Heavenly Father to grant me with guidance and to find comfort and peace in knowing that He has a specific plan for me although I cannot see it right now. I decided to open the scriptures to a random page and see if I could find any comfort. When I did this, I found Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-18,

"17 Verily, Verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own  hands and prepared for you;
18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours."

         I was immediately overwhelmed with joy and peace. My Heavenly Father knows me, He knows what I have been through and exactly where I am going. And if I am just patient and trust in the Lord, He is just waiting to grant me with blessings that he has handcrafted specifically for me. Life does not always go the way we have planned, in fact, it usually never does. But that is because Heavenly Father has far greater plans for our future then we can ever imagine. And if we only let him, he will lead us along.