Remain Strong When Fatalities Occur Along Your Journey

It is expected that there will be rough times along our journey. There will be diversions, distractions, and often fatalities along the way. These things will come when least expected, but we must hold tight to what we know will keep us from veering off the road.

Throughout our lives tragedies will occur, hearts will be broken and faith will be tested. These are the times we must uphold our strength and press on. There will be times when we feel we can't go on or that we have no strength. But the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. He will push us further than we ever thought we could go. We must stay strong when fatalities occur along our journeys and find strength in the Lord. He will never leave us without comfort and never allow us to fall from his reach.

"...I would that ye should remember, that as much as ye  shall put you're trust in God even so much ye shall be delivered out of your trials, and your troubles, and your afflictions, and yes shall be lifted up at the last day." (Alma 38:5)

Finding Joy And Happiness In The Little Things

Recently I've been contemplating "the little things". It is so true that the smallest things are actually the biggest things. There are so many small things in each of our lives that we allow to affect us in big ways. And many of these things can be looked at in a negative way, such as a stranger frowning when you smiled, or spill on your favorite dress, or being late to an appointment. But why not turn these silly little things into positive things?

A friend once told me: "Find joy in a little innocent child falling asleep in your arms. Or instead of being upset that it's hot, find joy in the fact that the sun is shining when it could be cold and gloomy".  I have thought on this a lot... And how happy I am that it has affected my outlook in such a great way.

So why not be glad you smiled at the stranger even though they frowned because maybe you were the only person who has smiled at them and you made their day. Be glad you spilled on yourself and not the person sitting next to you. Be okay with the fact that you were late to your appointment because had you been on time, you might've been in the middle of the wreck that occurred on the street you take to get there.

Some things we shouldn't let bother us, and it can often be difficult to push them aside. If anything, have the most positive outlook in every situation. Find joy in the most simple and silly things. This positivity will ultimately help us become genuinely happy.

Now all of my days can be good ones. It doesn't mean that some will be more difficult than others, but I can make them the best possible.

So please, find joy in the little things and I promise that your world will become the prettiest of places.

He Loves Unconditionally

You are never too far from the reach of His loving arms.
The atonement, forgiveness, and repentance are so real and ever so healing. No matter what you have done, how far you think you have traveled away from the path if righteousness, or what situations you are in, you can always, always come back. His arms are always extended toward you.

He will comfort you every step of the way.

I'm so grateful to be part of this gospel. It's so comforting to know that I can be forgiven for every mistake I have made and for the mistakes I continue to make. I'm so thankful for my Savior and for the love and comfort He gives me each and every day. I am human; I make so many mistakes and He loves me regardless. I don't know what I would do without that knowledge.

Establishing & Maintaining a Strong Testimony

In the October conference of 2001, Richard G. Scott, of The Quorum of The Twelve Apostles, said "Your personal security and happiness depend upon the strength of your testimony, for it will guide your actions in times of trial or uncertainty.”

Having a strong testimony can help keep you safe from harm, but how do we ensure that our testimonies are strong enough to withstand the storms of life and how do we make sure to keep our testimonies growing? My best friend is currently serving a mission in San Jose, CA. When I told him of some struggles I was having some time ago he told me that fear is the opposite of faith and we must have faith and put our full trust in the Lord in order to have a testimony.

So first, we MUST be committed. There’s no ‘maybe I believe’ or ‘it might be true’. We either believe and put our faith in our beliefs, or we don’t believe at all. Having a strong testimony starts with your sincere and constant desire for the companionship of the Savior and the Holy Spirit in our lives. You are either constantly feeding your testimony, or you’re starving it, but you can’t be doing both at the same time. And without a desire to be closer to Christ, it is much harder for your testimony to grow. It may seem simple and almost like common sense as to how to build and keep a strong testimony. We know all the answers and all the little things we should be doing such as reading our scriptures, praying, attending church regularly, keeping the commandments, serving others, etc., but sometimes we get so caught up in everything else that is going on in our lives, we forget about the small simple things we should be doing, or we let them get set aside thus, leaving the bigger things aside as well such as faithfully serving in our callings, acting on the promptings of the spirit, attending the temple regularly, etc. It can be hard to jump into some of those big things, so if we start out with the small things and let our Heavenly Father assist us, they will become easier to us. Throughout my life there have been times when I haven’t been very consistent with praying or reading my scriptures and I would put other things higher on my list of importance. When I wasn't doing those small things, it was much easier not to care about attending church or keeping the commandments and I know that during those times, my testimony definitely wasn't being fed like it needed to be, so it was obviously being starved and over time, it became very weak and unstable. I’m sure at some point, you have heard of a testimony being compared to a burning fire before, but think about how a fire is built… If you try to light a big log at once, it probably won’t catch fire. You have to start out with some sort of kindling, like small sticks or leaves, to get the fire going. Just like small experiences can help kindle the fire of your testimony. Sometimes people will put lighter fluid or gasoline on a log, this makes the flames become large and bright, but once the lighter fluid or gas is burned, the fire dies down because it was the lighter fluid and not the log burning. Your testimony may sometimes be flamed by a strong spiritual experience or by the testimony of someone else, but that may not be enough to maintain a constantly burning testimony. Even if you have a nice fire burning, it will eventually die out if you don’t continue to put wood on it and take good care of it. Just like you must continue to feed the fire of your testimony so that it doesn't smolder out.

In order to strengthen your testimony, it’s very important to have the Holy Ghost with you and to listen to His promptings. In our world today, it’s too often that we become sidetracked by the things of the world and it’s very hard to hear the Spirit’s promptings, when you’re distracted and caught up in other things. In Alma chapter 5: verse 26 says; “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” If we have experienced the feeling of having a testimony before and Holy Ghost has confirmed the truth of it unto us, Do we still feel that now? Are we doing everything we can to keep that testimony strong? And are we helping it grow by increasing our faith in our Savior? Or are we letting it die and only feeding it when we attend church? We need to be more than just “Sunday Mormons”. Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said “The inspiring influence of the Holy Spirit can be overcome or masked by strong emotions, such as anger, hate, passion, fear, or pride. When such influences are present, it is like trying to savor the delicate flavor of a grape while eating a jalapeño pepper. Both flavors are present, but one completely overpowers the other. In like manner, strong emotions overcome the delicate promptings of the Holy Spirit” We need to be trying our hardest to be obedient to our Heavenly Father at all times, not just at church, and by doing so, our testimonies will be strengthened and we will have the Holy Spirit with us at all times. When we put our faith and our knowledge to test by living the gospel every day and striving to be better examples of Christ for ourselves, our faith will grow stronger as will our testimonies. It is SO important that we are constantly strengthening and feeding our testimonies. We need to be doing the small things so that we are able to do the larger things so that we can be strong when there are trials in our lives and stand tall as example of this wonderful gospel.. It’s important that we are faithful and that we are continually feeding the fire of our testimonies; making them bigger and brighter each day. Our beloved Prophet, Thomas S. Monson said: “We can rely on the faith and testimony of others only so long. Eventually we must have our own strong and deeply placed foundation, or we will be unable to withstand the storms of life, which will come”

I know that if we are doing all that we know we are supposed to, and we are constantly putting forth effort to listen to our prophet and to the teachings of this gospel; if we are obedient, have faith, trust in the Lord, and feel of the sweet and Holy Spirit, our testimonies will be strengthened and they will continue to grow and the testimonies of those around us will be strengthened as well. I love this gospel and all it has to offer. I don’t know where in the world I would be without it. I know that Thomas S. Monson is our prophet today and that he is truly inspired. I know this church is true without a doubt and I’m so so grateful to be part of it. I say these things humbly, in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

TWENTY-THIRTEEN: A Roller Coaster Ride

2013 was definitely a year to remember. This year was a year of big change in my life. I feel like I'm a completely different person. I've changed and grown so much! I said goodbye to all my favorite coworkers when our store closed, I experienced the drama of high school, I finished high school, I said goodbye to my best friend for 2 years, had a great and very adventurous summer, and then moved up to Provo to attend Brigham Young University. Since then I have met many people from all over the world and successfully finished my first semester of college. WOO! This year I made many decisions both good and bad, I had many sleepless nights and often wanted to give up, it was quite the roller coaster ride, but most importantly, I learned so many great lessons and experienced so many feelings I never thought even existed! Being at BYU the past four months I have met sooo many people; so many wonderful people. And although there were many times when I thought I wouldn't survive, I made it through with the help of those I've met and I'm still so thankful for all of them. I'm so grateful for those who had an impact on my life over this past year. I want to thank all the people I've met as well as all those who I've known over the years. Each and every one of you have had such a great impact on me in some way or another, so THANK YOU. Here are some of my favorite moments from the past year. And let the NEW YEAR begin!

THANKS FOR SUCH A GREAT YEAR!!