Saturday, October 26, 2013

You Have a Loving Heavenly Father.

Have you ever thought you were alone? That no one loves you? In everything you do, nothing ever works out? Doesn't it sound good to know that you have a Heavenly Father who loves you more than you can ever imagine? He sees you as you may become. If you are doing good things and making right choices, you can feel that love every day in your life. 

Our prophet on the Earth today, Thomas S Monson once stated, "Heavenly Father wants you to check in with Him through sincere and fervent prayer. Remember, you are never alone. Never forget that you are loved. Never doubt that someone surely cares for you." Whenever you feel down or need to be lifted up, pray. Prayer is the phone number to your Heavenly Father. You have him on speed-dial and most people in this world don't even know it! 

Another leader in the Church declared, "You will not feel loneliness, sorrow, pain, or discouragement forever. We have the faithful promise of God that He will never forget not forsake those that incline their hearts to Him. Have hope and faith in the promise. Learn to love your Heavenly Father and become His disciple in word and deed." (Dieter F. Uchtdorf). If we are serving Him and doing so with humility we will feel His approval from on High that we are doing the right thing. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ bless those who are disciples in their everyday lives. 

In the book of Jeremiah 1:5, Heavenly Father is telling Jeremiah his purpose. I love the first part of this verse: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee." I think this shows that if He knew Jeremiah, He knows all of us. Think about it this way. Think of your best friend, you know him/her a lot right? You've seen them through their hardships, you've laughed together, you've argued, but after everything you two have gone through, you both love each other (hopefully). Same goes with our Heavenly Father. He knows us and wants the best for us. He loves us so much that He gave His Only Begotten Son for all of us so we can live with our families and our loved ones forever!! I can't think of a greater blessing.

I'd like to end with a quick quote and then a video. This great quote is by Henry B. Eyring. "We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in The Lord's service because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and right to bear us up. And He always keeps His word." 


I know that we all have a loving Heavenly Father. He is always watching and doing what is best for us. He knows our trials and gives us them because we can overcome them. I know that my Redeemer lives and I hope to become a great Father someday. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Monday, October 14, 2013

I will L, L, L, and L. Take the Pledge!

This past weekend our stake had the marvelous opportunity of having an Apostle come to Stake Conference! It was so great! :) I thoroughly enjoyed it! Elder M Russell Ballard is a man of God. I will talk about this past weekend later though. I feel like I need to talk about something else. It was from something I read in the New Era a few months ago. It is entitled, "Four Words to Guide You". 

When I read this message he put together I felt so inspired and felt like it was something I needed to do. I hope that you will not take my word for it and pray about his message and act on what your answer you receive. I know that if you listen to the Holy Ghost as you read President Monson's message that you will know what you need to do.

I will Listen:

Listening is important in any relationship. If you want to keep a job, be able to have peace in your home, and interact with friends, you need to have the ability to listen. If you do not listen to your parents or others, how will you ever listen to the promptings of the still small voice? We won't be able to hear the Holy Ghost prompting us if we are in unholy places. As one of my great friends put it, "The Holy Ghost is the perfect gentleman; He only comes when invited!" Therefore, return to an environment where spiritual truths are spoken. When you have the Holy Ghost with you, you will listen. Listen to your leaders. Listen to your parents. Listen to the prophets. And above all, listen to your Heavenly Father. I will listen.

I will Learn: 

Gaining knowledge on this Earth is essential because what we learn in our mortal lives will come with us when we enter heaven. Get involved at school and in seminary. Ask and answer questions in Church and school. If you do these things, you will increase your learning. Learn from the words of the prophets in the scriptures and from living prophets today. Make a goal to read every day from the scriptures. It is through little things that we come closer to our Heavenly Father. Take advantage of the new curriculum. Come, Follow Me can increase your testimony immensely because we are teaching each other the doctrines of Christ. I will learn.

I will Labor:

"It's not enough to wish, it's not enough to dream, it's not enough to promise. We must do."

Labor requires effort on our part, but it brings great blessings. The satisfaction of knowing that you did your best. The knowledge that you didn't take shortcuts and gave it your all. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day-Saints is not a church of shortcuts. You cannot cheat Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Work hard in everything you do. Help others if they need it. If you don't procrastinate and get things done, you will be prepared for many things in life. Same goes with the Church. Kindle your testimony so when you feel that you need to share it with someone you come in contact with, you will touch their heart. When you can better listen and learn, you will be able to labor with the Holy Ghost. You will have the knowledge that this is the true Church and you will listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. You will have all the tools. Now, will you commit? I will labor.

I will Love: 

Love is a quality that many lack or even understand in today's world. We have been commanded by our Heavenly Father to love Him with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. And the second is like unto it, love thy neighbor as thyself. When you love Heavenly Father, you will see others as He sees them. You will love your family more when you listen to this commandment. You will love your enemies. I have found that a quick way to love someone is to serve them. You are thinking about others before yourself. And when you serve others you are serving God. The key is to serve. That will create a love that you thought could never be possible for the Gospel, for your family, and for your friends. I will love.

Now the choice is up to you. 

Will you listen

Will you learn

Will you labor

Will you love?

I know that if we heed to President Monson's words and other living prophets that our homes will be filled with love and peace. We will better be able to serve our brothers and sisters. We will become a tool in the hands of the Lord. I take the pledge! And I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.



 

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

With a Prophet. . .

Hello everyone! I would just like to welcome all of you who have been added by your amazing friends! I hope that you come here and feel uplifted every time you read! And since there are so many new people, I actually have this on a blog! I use the facebook group for people who don't have a blogger, or who are just too lazy to check their email about it. :) (I think it's only for gmail.) 

So, this blog was started up about 15 months ago, and it was all inspired from one lesson that I had at a church camp in Utah. One of the counselors shared a lesson on sharing the Gospel through media and he challenged us to share it some way. Well, about 50 posts later and I don't know how many words, this is the result! I am so grateful that I chose to do this and I would like to thank everyone who has supported me! 

Okay here comes the really good stuff.

This past conference was amazing! I'm so happy that we have prophets on the Earth today so that we can learn what God would have us do. There were numerous messages that I got from Conference and I will share some of them later. And I encourage you to share your favorite parts! :) 

I was contemplating after Conference about what we would do, where we would be in life without prophets. We would be lost. We would seek our own revelation and may get it confused with our own human thoughts and desires. Without a prophet, we wouldn't have that communication with God that our prophets have. There wouldn't be the Word of Wisdom, there wouldn't be missionaries serving missions. Without a prophet, where would our Church be? We wouldn't have over 15 million members. And we wouldn't have the comfort of knowing that God speaks to us through His prophets today. 

With a prophet, we have everything. Since we have a living prophet on the Earth today, we know that we are being led in the right direction. With the guidance of our Heavenly Father, this Church is growing. It is reaching all over the world. Our Prophet, Thomas S Monson, talks with God. Knowing that, it may wake all of us up to listen to President Monson's words especially. I challenge you all to reread every word that President Monson spoke this past weekend. There is something in there for each of us. Along with President Monson, others gave fantastic talks that were inspired because they prayed about what to speak on.  Thanks to President Monson's faithfulness and trust in the Lord, missionaries now go serve at ages 18 and 19. I am so grateful for the examples that our prophets have been for us and I cannot wait for April to come around! It'll be warmer, and another weekend to listen to our prophet! 




Highlights from each talk from this past weekend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QHenusMCRA&list=PLAYgY8SPtEWHVWGP2AvYqUJLWeDMZJIpF 



I know that we need a living prophet on the Earth today and I love this Gospel and the peace it brings into my life. Don't ever leave this Church. It will continue to bless your life even if you don't see it. I know that Joseph Smith restored this Church upon the Earth and translated the Book of Mormon through the power of God. I am grateful that families can be together forever, and I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 


Questions? Suggestions? Contact me through Facebook or email!