Cleaning? Important? What?

      Today I wanted to focus on something that I personally had to discover for myself. I know that my parents have told me over and over again "keep your room clean!" And it would get to the point it was just annoying to hear it, but I have to say as I get older.. Mom and dad you are right. Now, let me explain how I have come to discover this amazing truth.

     When I grew up of course I felt that I knew everything that parents had to say and that I was all that and a bag of chips when really the reality is that I just was a teenager... 'Nuff said.
Now that I'm older and I have an apartment and a roommate we discovered quickly that mom and dad are not here and we needed to be the ones to step up our game as I remind you, I mean quickly. It started with small things, finger prints on the windows, dust is becoming visible, then the classic pushing the garbage in the can farther and farther so you don't have to take it out, the dishes, rugs look not normal, clothing pile is now a monster... I mean the list is continuous but I think you get the idea. But it's not just the things that are building inside the home, but the "monster" that grows inside your heart which everyone calls "Mr. Grumpy." You and your roommate start becoming a bit snippy at each other and then you don't want to be around them and all you want to do is leave your safe spot which is your home.

  My dear friends, it's by small and simple things that grows into great and spacious things. It starts with just leaving a napkin on a table to destruction later. My young adult advice to the world is to just take the napkin in it's rightful place, because that's when laziness starts to build inside.

   Something that I really love is a scripture that I found and it says..
"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;"  Doctrine and Covenants 88:119
    
I love it so much because with these things, you feel a presence in your home of peace. A home of comfort, a home that people love coming into, a home that no one would ever want to leave. This is a house that is possible. Now, there are some parents out there with 2-12 children... I promise one day they will learn. I appluade you and the example that you set for your children, the kids may act like they don't hear you and roll there eyes and say something uneducated in there little minds but I PROMISE they do hear you and do remember ONE day that you are right.

   The feeling that I was expressing earlier is called the "Holy Ghost" which testifies the things that I say are true, it's a comforter, a protecter, a guide. This is the feeling that each individual seeks after in there lives. It's the best fuzz feeling in your soul, and it's a gift from our Heavenly Father. Everything that has been said here are things that Heavenly Father has asked of us, to be clean in both body, mind, and spirit, and our home. Our home is our protection, our safety. This is what he exclaims to the world, and this is what will help us build stronger relationships with those around us.

 Until Next time.

Optimism and Trials?

   I have been compelled to share the thought that has been heavy on mind which is our attitude during trials. I can say that normally I don't hear "opimistism" and "trial" go in the same sentence, but I have to say that I have met people in my life who are the kings and queens at being so happy even in the darkest of time.

     I pray that anything I will share today will help those who read this and to know there is always hope. Even if you have a twig of hope, you will always have the strength to keep moving forward. My hope that I rely on more then anything is Jesus Christ and the Atonement. Part of the Atonement is when he was in the garden of Gethsemane, and suffured for our sins. This means that He understands even the lowest of feelings, whether it is loneliness, abandonment, heart break, anything that you have felt He has felt it. So He would be able to understand how we have felt, so we can have that hope of light that someone out there truly understands us. He did this understanding that there is more for us in our future, because of Him our sins can be forgiven. Even in the walls of prison, every son and daughter has this chance to be forgiven, and to be given the strength to endure to the end. Now isn't that a beautiful thing to know? To know that there is hope, no matter what the situation. Now, back to the people who have a happy attitude during hard times..

   I have a friend who has survived breast cancer, and she always says things along the line that "she's too fabulous for cancer, I'm going to bet this thing because I'm a daughter of God duh!" And is always, always laughing. She is taking care of her daughters, decorating her home, shopping for jewelery, playing with cats and dogs, etc. And I asked her how she can be so happy, and she shared with me her sweet testimony of Jesus Christ and the suffering that he did for her so she will have the hope to endure, without her hope she wouldn't be happy. But because she has taken the time to really focus on Christ, and to really rely on him for help she can take the time to recognize the many gifts that our Heavenly Father has giving her such as her daughters, her husband, her pets, her jewelery, being able to walk, her being able to have wigs, move into a beautiful home. She feels his love for her every day. 

   I know that for myself in my short life I know I can endure anything Heavenly Father has given me, because he put these trials in my path knowing I can become a better person. Someone more refined, shaped, and uplifted because He know's my potential and He knows who I am. I am His daughter and I can overcome anything, with the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the love that he gives to me to be able to understand anything and everything. Whether it be the smallest thing in the world and really doesn't matter, to the biggest things in the world that really hurt the core of my being. He will always understand and will always be there for me.

  Who wouldn't be happy during a trial knowing these things are true?

   This is the beauty of life, knowing that Jesus Christ is my Savior, that he died on the cross so that I can be refined, reshaped, and strengthened. That I can have all of my sins forgiven, so that I can be clean and knowing that taking the sacrament (bread and water on Sunday's) is remembering Jesus Christ and all the many things that he has done for me. This is pure joy. This is something to be happy about.

Just Nails and a Cross?

    Last night I was privileged to be at someone's home for dinner with some of her friends and I can say for all of us that it was a great time. We laughed and listened to each other's stories from their childhood, talking about career's, and getting to know each other better. Then, one of the ladies asked my friend, Sister Savage, and myself and our host if we would be able to help her on a lesson that she is teaching in February and of course myself being so eager to have a better understanding of the Gospel in general I said yes. Because she wanted 6 different friends to help her out, us being the first people she had asked we got to choose first. As I was looking at the different topic's that she needed help on one title screamed at me that I needed to just look at this paper. This is what grabbed my attention...

 "… No man could do what he did for us. He did not have to die, he could have refused. He did it voluntarily. He did it because it was a commandment from his Father. He knew what the suffering was going to be; and yet, because of his love for us, he was willing to do it. …

The driving of the nails into his hands and into the Savior’s feet was the least part of his suffering. We get into the habit, I think, of feeling, or thinking that his great suffering was being nailed to the cross and left to hang there. Well, that was a period in the world’s history when thousands of men suffered that way. So his suffering, so far as that is concerned, was not any more than the suffering of other men who have been so crucified. What, then, was his great suffering? I wish we could impress this fact upon the minds of every member of this Church: His great suffering occurred before he ever went to the cross. It was in the Garden of Gethsemane" - Joseph Fielding Smith

    I know that for myself it really struck me, because I know that Jesus Christ suffered for my sins. I know He did that because He loves all of us, and He made it possible for us to have our sins forgiven, to have the ability to have our families together forever, that one day we will be able to reunite with our Heavenly Father. So whenever I thought of Jesus Christ some pictures would pop in my mind of Him doing service, teaching people about the Gospel, raising the dead, healing the sick, Him being hanged on the cross.. And not enough do I imagine Him being in the Garden of Gethsemane.. for me. He bled from every pore (Luke 22:44) in agony, praying to the Father that "the bitter cup might pass, nevertheless it not be my will but thy will be done."  He did this understanding more then we can comprehend. He did it knowing who we will become. That is the reason for sacrament (taking the bread and water in remembrance of Jesus Christ: Matthew 26:26-28) that for 1 hour, we will remember what He did for us. 

    I am so grateful for the knowledge I have, to be able to know there is a purpose as to why I am here on Earth, and knowing I am a Daughter of God. That someone, loved us so much that He did that for us

   

Prayer

    I've been inspired to start sharing with the world what my thoughts are and pray that someone will be effected by my personal experiences, inspirations, study time, and personal revelation. I'm a missionary right now serving in the Oregon Eugene Mission for 18 months, representing Jesus Christ and really strengthening my relationship with him and Heavenly Father.

    As a missionary we go and teach people about Jesus Christ and how we can strengthen our relationship with him and Heavenly Father. And a key to this is prayer. There are many reason's as to why people don't pray; they don't understand the meaning of prayer, they don't have a belief in God, or they don't know how too.

    For me, prayer is something that I truly rely on, something that I look forward to saying because it's the ability to communicate with my Heavenly Father. I was reading in the Bible Dictionary on prayer and it said, " As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God, then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." As I start my prayers I begin by saying... "Dear Heavenly Father" "Heavenly Father" which ever one that I feel to say at the moment, then I will ask him a specific question because I need help all the time and need that guidance, I'll tell him what's going on in my life (even though He already knows) and tell Him how I feel about it. I ask Him to give me the strength I need to carry on my days, to bless my family, and loved ones. I'll ask Him to bless them that need specific things in their life. And I ask Him always to put a special blessing for me, because I need it. I always thank Him for the blessings that He has given me, even the ones I don't notice right away. And I close in Jesus Christ's name, Amen. 

     I know that prayer is very real, and has helped me out so much in my life. Prayer is an act of faith and by my actions I know that Heavenly Father knows that I love Him. I'm so grateful for the knowledge that I have to be able to understand prayer and how powerful of a tool it is for me to grow and strengthen my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I encourage, you as the reader, to take the time to pray so that you can strengthen your relationship with our loving Heavenly Father.