Forgive Yourself

Forgive Yourself!

You've heard before that "your biggest critic is yourself". How incredibly right is that? The natural man tends to judge itself in every single aspect of life. You yelled at your little brother, or didn't eat your broccoli and suddenly you're feeling like there's no hope for a home in Heaven for you. Ok so maybe it's not that juvenile, but I recently talked to someone who felt as if he had committed a serious sin and that he wasn't worthy enough to go to church anymore. He felt that he had to punish himself because he thought his sin was unpardonable.

I know that there are so many of us out there that are "Judge Judy's" to ourselves and I'm here to tell you that the only judge is our Heavenly Father. Elder D. Chad Richardson explains how sinning is like spilling ketchup on your white shirt. The ketchup stain might always be there where we can see it, but our Heavenly Father no longer sees the stain, but the rest of the sparkly white shirt after we've repented. He also says "When we sin or make mistakes, our Heavenly Father wants us to quickly resume our journey home with a new and even stronger grip on the iron rod."

My Heavenly Father has been trying to teach my stubborn brain this lesson lately. When we sin, we need to repent, then FORGIVE ourselves! It's not our job to judge our worthiness or assign ourselves to a kingdom. It's our job to repent and continue on in life trying to do the best that we can. We shouldn't wallow in our sins and tell ourselves we'll never be worthy enough. My dad would say "build a bridge, and get over it". Repent and move toward your Savior! If you ever feel unworthy to go to church, I've been there and it's Satan that is telling you that. Church is a place for those of us trying to become better. A very intelligent man once said that the best smell in a church building was the smell of cigarette smoke, because it showed that people were coming to better themselves. Forgiving yourself is the key to a less anxious, just all around happier life! You'll feel like this!

 

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/1989/04/on-being-worthy?lang=eng
http://www.lds.org/ensign/2007/03/forgiving-oneself?lang=eng

Thy Will Be Done

"Cognitive dissonance". That AP psychology term has been running through my head my entire mission. Sometimes I accidentally blurt it out completely off topic... just kidding. Cognitive dissonance means to have two conflicting ideas going through your head. It causes great distress and makes you just want to bury your head in the sand! Yesterday I was able to attend a great mission conference where the spirit taught me loud and clear that I needed to a line my will to God's will. I've had a nasty ear infection the past few weeks and yesterday it hurt to even move my jaw, so I took that as a sign that I needed to just listen for the entire meeting instead of talking nonstop to other missionaries like usual. He knows what he's doing.

Throughout my mission I've been faced with the constant battle between the natural man's will and God's will... hence the cognitive dissonance. I realized now more than ever that I can't be fully happy unless I'm giving myself over whole heartedly to my Heavenly Father. He has a plan for each one of us and it's perfect. There's absolutely no flaw in it! The only way that we'll ever be able to enjoy all the blessings that he has in store for us is by submitting ourselves to Him. "Thy will be done, not mine."

Franklin D. Richards says "As we apply “Thy will be done, not mine” in our lives, we will likewise move toward perfection and true happiness. But how can we know God’s will in order to make our life conform? The Savior said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Live so that the Holy Ghost will guide and direct you.Seek to grow in knowledge, wisdom, and understanding by continuous study and contemplation of the words of Christ and those whom God has appointed to teach and instruct us.And pray always, remembering the promise given to us: “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you. …”As we live in this type of environment, we will know God’s will and have the desire and courage to conform."

So now that I've tried to use a lot of big words in this post (had to look up most of them) I'm going to end on a simpler note. Heavenly Father knows us inside and out. He knows exactly what we need, and He always will. Let Him take control and you will be the happiest you have ever been. You'll be filled with hope! You'll feel like you just won the last House Cup! Pray to have the desire and courage to change your will to His. I know He'll change you because He's changed me:)

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1972/10/thy-will-be-done-o-lord?lang=eng

Temples

Sorry for the awkward layout of the pictures... still figuring out how to use a computer. But today I want to show you these beautiful temples. There are temples all over the world today and they are all unique. I get the chance to go to the temple tomorrow morning and so today, as I was studying (I stayed awake the whole time thank you very much), I started thinking a lot about how amazing it is that we have a house of God on this earth today!

LDS temples are sacred places of worship where we make covenants with our Heavenly Father. The feeling inside is indescribable. Inside the temple there are endowments, sealings, and ordinances for the deceased done. The part that most people know about is that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints believe that by being married and sealed together as a family in the temple, we can be together with our family forever. That just makes me feel all warm and goosebumpy:) I am so excited for the day that I can be sealed to my future family in this wonderful House of the Lord. I think one of the most beautiful temples is the Logan Utah temple. Not only because it looks a little like Hogwarts.... but because my parents were sealed for time and all eternity in it. Because of that decision, I can be with them forever!

“The Lord will bless us as we attend to the sacred ordinance work of the temples. Blessings there will not be limited to our temple service. We will be blessed in all of our affairs”-Ensign

Strive to live worthy to enter the temple one day! And for those of you that aren't married yet, live your life so that you'll be worthy to take that special one there someday and bring blessings to your family for eternity.

Go to this website to learn more about LDS temples.
http://www.lds.org/church/temples?lang=eng

Faith Like A Seed

 

A friend gave us a little basil plant to take care of out here (because it's the closest thing to a pet that we're allowed), and we came home at lunch time to it being completly wilted! I though for sure it was gone, but my companion wasn't about to give up on it! She put it back in the shade and we went on our merry way. That night we came back and to my shock, the plant had come back to life! It was standing strong and firm in it's cute little pot in the shade.

 

Elder Holland (an apostle in the LDS church) gave an incredible talk this last general conference about faith and its stages of growing for each of us. In Alma 32 (the most rockin' chapter ever), Alma compares faith to a mustard seed. In Elder Holland's talk, he does the same thing.

"hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes. Jesus said, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know."

 

This talk changed my life and helped me to know that I just need to go off of the faith that I DO have right now, and eventually my mustard seed of faith will grow into a beautiful weeping willow tree of faith (had to throw a HP reference in somewhere). Go read this talk right now! It's amazing.

 

And since I've written a novel today, I'll keep going so you have to read even more:) Our poor little wilted basil plant was not too far gone for saving! The same as with our testimonies. We may go through times in our life where our faith wavers, or we doubt things. Do not fear! I've been there, and I can tell you personally that with a little spiritual TLC, your faith can regrow right back and grow on. Read you scriptures and pray everyday. Don't miss a day of church! Ask Heavenly Father to "help your unbelief", and most importantly be patient with yourself. If you're doing the right things, your testimony will only grow up.

 

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/lord-i-believe?lang=eng

 

 

Come Come Ye Saints

 

"Come, Come, Ye Saints"

 

Come, come, ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear;

But with joy wend your way.

Though hard to you this journey may appear,

Grace shall be as your day.

'Tis better far for us to strive

Our useless cares from us to drive;

Do this, and joy your hearts will swell--

All is well! All is well!

I was walking across the BYU campus one really tough day (tests, lack of sugar, etc), and the famous bell tower struck the hour and started playing this wonderful hymn. That was the first time that I had actually paid attention to the lyrics as I started singing them to myself. That hymn became my favorite then because of how much comfort those last three words brought to me; all is well!

If any of you haven't seen the movie "17 Miracles", go get it right now! It's not Harry Potter, but it is the most tear jerking, fantastic, amazingly awesomest...every good adjective.... movie about the pioneers that I've ever seen. It brought me to a harsh realization of how horrible the reality of being a pioneer actually was. It goes through 17 individual miracles that happened along the trail as the saints traveled in handcarts across the country to "Zion" in order to escape persecution. Yet amidst all the starvation, snow, disease, death, and everything else they had to endure, the saints still found hope and happiness in their Savior Jesus Christ. He was their everything to them. They knew that as long as they were faithful, they could truthfully sing the words "all is well". I'm so grateful for the pioneers (I endured Trek and that was enough) and their example of following their Lord through ANY circumstance.

Joseph Smith

I've always loved this picture. Joseph's blue eyes show how deeply he cared about his calling as the first prophe of the restored church. This blog's title is from Albus Dumbledore's quote (excuse the Harry Potter fanaticism) "There are all kinds of courage". Joseph Smith is one of the first people that comes to my mind when I think of the word "courage". Like Paul, he had seen a vision and he could not deny it. Despite the mocking, violence, and contsant state of uncertainty that he and his family had to live in, he still remained faithful. He knew that the Lord would take care of him if he obeyed and remained faithful. I'm so grateful for the courage that he showed because now I have the knowledge that I can be with my family and Heavenly Father forever.

Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest."