Just this last Friday I was able to go to the Draper, UT temple with my aunt, mom, older brother, and grandparents. Me and my brother did baptisms for the dead while the others did sealings. We had been planning it for awhile but it seemed like every time we would have it planned, something would come up or get in the way and we would have to reschedule. Sometimes that happens and so this time we decided that no matter what... we would make it. And we did! On the way up there it was already pitch black and pretty late so the temple was already lit up all nice and pretty! About 10 minutes before we got there, we had some music playing to have the spirit with us and prepare us and stuff like that. So here is a link to the song we played below. It is called "I will rest in you" Click away, you won't regret it:) https://youtu.be/e_Tn0CHG4G0 As the song was ending, we finally made it and could see the top of the temple that showed the angel Moroni. It's hard to put into words what I felt but just how the temple was lit up and glowing I just thought of the light of Christ. I physically felt so much peace and love that it was overwhelming. I've been thinking a lot about that experience and what exactly I was feeling. I know it was the Holy Ghost telling me like "Yeah, you are meant to be here." As soon as I entered the door, I just felt at home. I felt loved. I felt peace. Click the READ MORE button!:)
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The dictionary definition of Fear says: An unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat. Synonyms: Terror, fright, horror, alarm, panic, distress, etc. No one likes those feelings, but why do we have them? 2 Nephi 2:27 says : "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." Satan is the creator of these emotions. We need to recognize that those feelings do not come from Jesus Christ or Heavenly Father. Christ brings peace which is the total opposite. We must never mistake the 2. The link below is a Mormon Message called: Men's hearts shall fail them. If you've seen it already, that's okay watch it again! :) If you haven't click away and watch. It is one of my favorites! https://youtu.be/EMwKxmTLaCs I love how Russell M. Nelson said that, "If you've got faith, you can handle difficulties. With an eternal perspective, all will be well. Be patient with yourself, perfection comes not in this life but in the next life. Let the Lord help you." My mom has a quote hung up in her bathroom that says "The scriptures tell us to not fear 365 times, that is a daily reminder from God to live everyday without fear."
Scroll a little more to see the new Ponderize of The Week! Omni 1: 26 "And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved." For the past few days I've been struggling to find just the right topic to write about for today. I usually have it all planned out in my head of what I'm going to do, but this time I just had no clue. So I thought "I'll probably figure it out once church is over." Sure enough I did.
And Kim (my YW's leader) shoutout to you if you're reading this cause I felt I should add my thoughts and testimony based on your lesson you gave today. Love you girl! it was perfect. So before I jump right in, here's a video you can watch that really hit home for me! Click the link below! :) https://youtu.be/wiiadnMvm20 (Click the READ MORE button) Ew, school. No one likes that word or the place. Sooo, I thought I'd lighten up the word a little bit to help your week out! I might even end up giving myself a little pep talk as I write. Ha!
For me, school doesn't come easy. I have never had a 4.0 even though I've been close many many times. No matter how hard I try, I somehow just don't get it. Everyone is different and that's perfectly fine. School isn't about how much better you can be compared to someone else. It is about improving yourself, YOUR grades, YOUR assignments, YOUR tests. I have been guilty of that, thinking "Why didn't I get a good grade on that when He/She did?!" I think we've all done that and it can kind of be hard to switch around our thinking a little bit. Just try to focus on what your goals are and how you accomplish things. School can be super stressful with so many assignments due, projects to make, essays to write etc. So it's always a good idea to stay organized and balance your time. Having a planner is a great thing. For me, I use my Note app on my phone. I put in all my classes in order and type in next to each one what I have to do that day. Then, i delete what I finish and add extra notes about upcoming assignments and whatnot. It's super helpful especially since I have my phone with me all day at school. Switching gears a little bit, a quote that has stuck with me by Ezra Taft Benson says...“When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities.” I have noticed that in my life, If i put Him first everything works out. When we ask for help, He is there. Whenever I have a super hard test coming up or school is getting so stressful I can bearly handle it, I say a prayer. He wants to hear how your day is. He wants to know your concerns and your worries. He wants to help. We just need to ask. I hope the tips I mentioned helped somewhat:) Keep smiling, life is great, God is good, you got this. Have a fab week. Ness Scroll a little bit farther to see The Ponderize Of The Week.... Lately I've been thinking a lot about temples and why they are so important. One day in particular was when I got a little glimpse of why. Back in May I was able to go to the Payson temple open house. During that time I was in a really dark place (If you read my Motivation Monday: Trials and struggles I talked a little bit about it there.) Mentally I wasn't really all there, as I was trying to push through this certain trial. That also crippled my spiritual state. I was eager and excited to attend the open house hoping that I would receive the spiritual lift I desperately wanted but most of all needed. Exiting the freeway, you could see the temple plain as day. I can't exactly put into words what I felt but I just KNEW i was meant to walk into that temple that day. Despite the gloominess around it, the temple had its own glow to it. It shown brightly on a particular dark and dreary day. So we( My mom and my older brother) parked, got out of the car, and noticed that we had some time to spare before we were able to walk to the nearby church and watch the video they have set up before walking through. We walked around the grounds and snapped a few pics of the flowers and all kinds of different angles of the temple. I stopped and looked up to the very top of the temple where the angel Moroni was standing and observed the sky as a little black bird flew across and thought "Are you really there? How long is this going to last? Why can't this end already?" being a little bitter I just walked around- waiting and hoping for an answer. It didn't come. Yet.
Our spare time was up and my phone said 2:00pm so we headed over to the church just several feet away. We gave the door greeters our ticket and went into one of the rooms, sat down, and watched as people piled in. 2 sister missionaries waited quietly until everyone was ready to start. I don't remember exactly what the video said but I remember little bits and pieces of several apostles talking about the importance of temples and all the close opportunities that we have to go to the temple with so many surrounding us in Utah. I was able to snap my brain out of the bitterness and thought of how lucky I was to be able to walk through the Payson temple that day. Very few people get to experience that. I stopped thinking of all the things going wrong and began thinking of things that were going right. I simply counted my blessings. Walking through was just the best thing ever. I really began to actually feel my Heavenly Father's love for me, my family, and every one of his children. If I thought he didn't love me, why would he make such beautiful temples just for us? The adversary tries to sneak in that way telling us lies and deceiving us. That's what Satan does best. He deceives. He lies. He has no good to offer us. I thanked Heavenly Father for that opportunity and apologized for my bitterness. Temples are an amazing blessing. Making covenants with God in them is the most beautiful thing. Ever since I was little, I dreamed of being able to go through the temple with my future husband. I plan on fulfilling that. I couldn't imagine being married in any other place than that. I am so grateful for the help of my Heavenly Father and my Savior for pulling me out of that dark place and helping me TRULY see and notice the light at the end of the tunnel. I couldn't have done it without them. No doubt about it. All I had to do was reach up, and they took my hand and refused to let me fall. Happy Sunday everyone. Have an amazing week. Count your blessings. God loves you. Amen. I loved Elder Devin G. Durrant's talk and his amazing idea of ponderizing. I thought "Why not put that as our Motivation Monday?!" It is so important to not only listen to conference the day of but to follow through with the teachings and take them into our lives everyday thereafter. Al (fox) Carraway said this on one of her insta posts "Be the type of person that shares the gospel online when it's not #ldsconf." So true and will be so rewarding if we do so. So the scripture I chose for this week to ponderize is Mosiah 3:19. it says... " For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and puteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Elder Durrant said " 80% extended pondering, 20% memorizing. Create a higher place for your thoughts to go." Try not to get too overwhelmed of the memorization part, ponder the meaning. I hope you will decide to join in on the ponderizing. I know a lot of good will come out of it. Hope you all have an awesome week! Much love. Wow. That is the word that comes to mind for this Fall conference. As I thought about what I'd talk about in this blog post I just felt an overwhelming influence of the spirit. There's so much I want to say. Bear with me as I try to organize my thoughts :)
I hope each of you have received inspiration and have felt the spirit. It is so important to have not only open ears but an open heart as you listen to conference. Did you sense the theme of this conference? I noticed it has been focused on improving ourselves (Strengthening our weaknesses) and coming closer to Christ. The very first speaker of the first session yesterday was Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I kept thinking "What a great way to start off." Everything he mentioned just hit home for me. I loved how his talk focused on the simplicity of the gospel. That is also what I want this blog to portray. Like he mentioned "The gospel is so simple a child can grasp it." I also loved how he said: |
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Ponderize Of The Week:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." - James 1:5-6 Quote Of The Week:
"Give it to God and go to sleep." - Unknown |