Prayer: It is for You

  I had a talk with someone recently that has brought some thoughts to my mind. We discussed remaining calm when upset or frustrated. When I was alone later with my thoughts I wondered how do I stay calm when I am upset or frustrated. We are all human, but how is it that I stay positive and calm? I used to have a very bad temper and I would fly off the handle over little things, but today that is not who I am. You might wonder what has changed and that is my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I learned how to pray.

 This topic is for everyone. We can all pray to our Heavenly Father and the more we do it the easier it becomes. We should not only pray in time of need, but also to give thanks for all the blessings we do have. When I first joined the church I disliked praying. It felt uncomfortable and I felt like my prayers sounded silly. In fact the first time I prayed out loud in front of anyone I told the missionary, who requested that I say the prayer, that I hated him. I said it in the middle of my prayer. Not a proud moment, but a view at how much I disliked it. Over the past couple years I have learned to pray to my Heavenly Father.

  How does being frustrated and upset all the time have anything to do with prayer? Well every morning my husband and I say a prayer together. It is typically about the same things. We are thankful for our blessings, our good night rest, we hope to get to work and return safely, and that we will each have a great day. Simple and to the point, but I have a testimony that those prayers are what get me thru the day. There have been days when I am in a hurry and run out the door without saying a prayer. I can feel the change in my attitude and my outlook on the day.

 Our rule is that we pray daily at least three times. We make it a rule so that eventually it will become a habit. I challenge everyone to make prayer a priority in your life. Even those of you who are not members of the same church as me can still pray. We can all use the guidance and we must learn to talk to our Heavenly Father. How will He ever know what you are seeking if you do not ask? He will listen to everything you have to say and remember it always. My challenge to all this week is to get on your knees at least once and say a prayer to Heavenly Father, even if the prayer is silently in your own head while on your knees. You will feel a change start to happen and if you make prayer a priority then you will see a change in your life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.

 

Righteous Friends

  This topic has been on my mind often and I felt the urge to get out of bed at 6am on my day off to write about it. I have been thinking about friendships. I believe that it is so important to have friends of other faiths because if we did not then who would we teach the gospel too? However what happens when those friendships start to bring you down?

  There are some friendships that I no longer have because I chose the gospel over them. However that does not mean I do not miss those individuals. I realized that when you feel as if you have to live two different lives then you are not being true to the gospel. This is how I felt. I felt that I had to be fun and crazy. I felt like I had to take bad about others and make fun of people because that's what made us laugh. What I quickly realized was the was against what the gospel was teaching me. This was against what I truly believed. I was striving so hard to have a home centered around the gospel, but no matter how hard I tried I did not feel it. It saddened me and I could not pinpoint the reason why. When others pointed out that I might not have the best influences around me I started to look deeper in to my friendships.

  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated,"...that living the gospel and being true to gospel principles is the key to true, lasting, triumphant friendship." What I learned about my friendships was they were not making me a better person. They were pulling me away from the gospel and so I made the decision to walk away from them. I was worried that I would have no one. These friends knew everything I had been thru and loved me anyway. Would new friends that shared my same beliefs love me if they knew all that I had been thru?

   Months have past since I made this decision and I can honestly say my life is on the right track and in the right place. I have friends who know the truth about my life and they love me still. I have friends that help build me up and not break me down. But what I really learned was that there is one true friend who will never leave me alone no matter what I do and that is Jesus Christ. He has felt the pain I have felt and has loved me still.

   Friendships are so important and I challenge everyone to make a new friend. Don't be shy about getting to know new people. Find people that will raise you up and that can help you become a better you. I have a testimony that have righteous friends will help bring you closer to the gospel and help you get thru trials. A true and righteous friend will love you no matter what. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

"Even the Best Fall Down Sometimes"

The lines from Howie Day's song Collide has been in my head for weeks now and every time I get in my car it happens to play. At first I thought it was a coincidence, but I have realized that nothing is coincidence. The line I am referring to is, "Even the best fall down sometimes." This got me thinking that no matter who you are that you are not exempt from trials. No matter how much you serve, no matter how much money you donate, no matter how well you do your calling, no matter how many times you go to the temple, and  no matter how much you center your life around the gospel you will face trials.

I work hard every day to ensure my home and life are surrounded by the gospel. We implemented rules to ensure that this happens, however my trials have not ceased to exist. What I have realized is that I have the tools to get me thru these hard times. Growing up I always felt that those who served others and did all they were supposed to would not face trials. Now that I am on the other side of that I see it differently. What I do know is that Heavenly Father loves me and he trusts that I can get thru these trials.

 In the October 2012 talk given by Elder Neil L. Andersen it states,"

How do you remain “steadfast and immovable” during a trial of faith? You immerse yourself in the very things that helped build your core of faith: you exercise faith in Christ, you pray, you ponder the scriptures, you repent, you keep the commandments, and you serve others.

When faced with a trial of faith—whatever you do, you don’t step away from the Church! Distancing yourself from the kingdom of God during a trial of faith is like leaving the safety of a secure storm cellar just as the tornado comes into view." 

We must remember these things when are in the midst of our trials. We must stay strong. The Gospel is there for us. We must continue what we are doing and not let these trials lead us astray. We must stay strong no matter what so that we may live with our Heavenly Father again. I have a testimony of trials. I have a testimony that Heavenly Father allows these to happen because He loves us and because He knows we can overcome them. As hard as it might be we can do it and when we do we will come out stronger. We will have more faith and be prepared to make it thru our next trial. No one is exempt. We were sent here for a reason. We were sent to prove ourselves to Heavenly Father. It is my goal to make sure I prove worthy. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.

30 Days of Thankfulness

I always intend to do the full 30 days of being thankful in November and I have tons to be thankful for. However I forget to post on some days and so I wanted to sit and think of 30 things I am thankful for and compile my list.

Day 1: I am thankful for my Heavenly Father for everything I have is because of Him. He has provided me with the things that make me happy.

Day 2: I am thankful for my incredible husband. I am so thankful to have him as my eternal companion. I don't know how I went so long without him. He is my world.

Day 3: I am thankful for my mom and dad. They have provided me with a great life and possibly spoiled me lots.

Day 4: I am thankful for two little brothers. I love them both so much and cherish every moment I have with them.

Day 5: I am thankful for my step dad Chuck. I am thankful that he attends church with my mom and without him there would be no Isaac. 

Day 6: I am thankful for my mom's family. They live far away so I don't see them much, but I am still thankful to call them family. I am also thankful for those who played a part in raising my dad. Those who showed him hard work and dedication.

Day 7:  I am thankful for the Haynes family. From day one they have always treated me like family as if I had always been there. I love them all so much for that.

Day 8: : I am thankful for the Lybbert family. They accepted me with open arms even though I might not have been the ideal match for their son. I was a convert and not a very strong one at the time, but they loved me anyway and helped me become strong.

Day 9: I am thankful for Jesus Christ. Without Him it would not be possible to live with my Heavenly Father again some day. I am thankful that suffered for my sins and that thru the Atonement and repentance I can be forgiven. 

Day 10: I am thankful for the Gospel. I could go on and on about the reasons why. I know that my outlook on life is positive because I know the truth and I know it because the Gospel has taught me.

Day 11: I am thankful for temples. I am thankful that I can go do my family work and feel at peace with my Heavenly Father. 

Day 12: I am thankful for the scriptures. I love that I can access them so easily and read them daily.

Day 13: I am Thankful for the power of prayer. I love that I can talk to my Heavenly Father.

Day 14: I am thankful for the priesthood. I am thankful that my husband is a worthy priesthood holder and has helped me with it.

Day 15: I am thankful for patriarchal blessings. I am especially thankful for mine. It is comforting to read Heavenly Father's words to me. 

Day 16: I am thankful for Amber Winter. She showed me what it meant to love anyone even if they didn't believe the things you did. She changed my life the day she sent the missionaries to speak to me and without her my life would not be what it is today.

Day 17: I am thankful for the missionaries who taught me. I am thankful to the ones I wasn't very friendly too and I am thankful to those who changed my mind Elder Akina, Elder Redpath, Elder Choate, and Elder Bowers.

Day 18: I am thankful for my friends. I am thankful that I have so many great people in my life who help me stay strong.

Day 19: I am thankful for my puppies Rylee and Remy. Also our cats Roper and Reese (even though she makes me crazy). Since we are struggling with starting a family it is fun to spoil them and treat them like our kids.

Day 20: I am thankful for my job. I love working with children even though some days they might make me a little crazy.

Day 21: I am thankful for our home. I am thankful my husband bought it for us so that we would have a place of our own the day we were married.

Day 22: I am thankful for my car. I am even more thankful that it's the car I had been wanting forever and my husband gave up him nice truck to be able to get it for me.

Day 23: I am thankful for the Prophet and that I can hear his words and know he is a man of God.

Day 24: I am thankful for technology. I am thankful I can use it to watch my brother grow and keep in touch with all my family and friends.

Day 25: I am thankful for the military. I am thankful that my dad, brother, father in law,  grandfathers etc have so willingly served. I am thankful to those who fight for our freedom and given up their lives to do so.

Day 26: I am thankful for the Plan of Salvation. It helps me to know that I will be with all my family again one day.

Day 27: I am thankful for my health. Although I am struggling with some things right now and I catch every sickness. I am still able to walk and talk.

Day 28: I am thankful for my calling. I love serving in Young Womens. It has brought me great joy and some of the greatest friends.

Day 29: I am thankful for my ancestors and genealogy. I am thankful that I can do their work and meet them one day.

Day 30: Although I have much more to be thankful for I am going to repeat one because none of this is possible without. I am thankful to know that I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father. I know the he loves me unconditionally. I know that when I remain worthy I will see him again.

I actually struggled keeping my list under 30. I have done this before and have struggled to keep going to 30. The only thing that changed is that I found the Gospel and found faith in my Heavenly Father. He has provided me with all the things I am thankful for. I encouraged everyone to look and search deep in your hearts and not only post on Facebook what you are thankful for, but pray that you are thankful for it.

Dare to Change

I have been horrible about my weekly blog so I decided to take some time and just do it!  I have made it my life goal to always better myself. I believe we should always strive to be better so I find faults I have and ways to fix them. I know I will never be perfect, but I can try. =) I can't take credit for our most recent changes, but I got the idea from Al Carraway( Fox). Her blog is http://waysofthecarraways.blogspot.com/2013/10/intro-to-us.html
  They have some really great ideas and when I read this post it really got me thinking. I try to make changes in my life, but there are some things I feel I really struggle with. Even more so some of the things they touched on were things that I didn't focus on before. Many of the reasons I think my first marriage did not work out. I am a technology addict. I just like reading news and whatever I can find to do. I found myself on the computer more than I focused on my marriage. I was always texting and facebooking that I never focused on the important things. So I wanted to get this thing right in my marriage now. So when I read this blog I thought that Clint and I could use a list of rules. So here is what we came up with together for a Family Home Evening activity. Some of these things have been very difficult to keep, but we have this list hanging in our home. We find ourselves talking more and discussing all sort of things. We have been more active and it has been amazing to discuss the gospel together on a daily basis. I never thought I would marry a return missionary, but it has been amazing for me because I am new to the gospel. My husband amazes me when I give him a topic I want to discuss and he can throw out scriptures that will fit that. Studying scriptures together has made me love him even more than I already did. This plan might not work for all, but you can't make your life better if you don't make changes. So dare to make a change even if it is just one!

What I Believe Part 1

It has recently come to my attention that I have a lot of friends who are non members reading my blog. I have also learned that some are worried about offending me by questioning my beliefs. For today's post I have decided to share some of the things I believe as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints aka Mormons.

I believe that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I believe it to be the word of God. With that being said I also believe the Holy Bible to be the word of God. When we use the term scriptures we are referring to our Book of Mormon as well as the Holy Bible. Many of us have them all combined into one book.

I believe that Joseph Smith received a vision in the Sacred Grove. I believe Joseph Smith translated the Gold Plates he received and those Gold Plates. Those Gold Plates are now the Book of Mormon.

I believe in the Priesthood in our church. That all worthy men can hold the priesthood.

I believe Jesus Christ died for us. He died and felt all the pain we have felt. He did this so that we may return to live with our Heavenly Father.

I believe that we lived in the pre-mortal existence. We were asked to take this test and come to Earth to again return with Heavenly Father.

 I believe that when we are married here on Earth it is "til death do us part." It literally is until we die. However I believe that if you are sealed in the Holy Temple that you can be together for eternity.

I believe that we can return to live with Heavenly Father. We will be judged on our works and that will determine where we will live in the after life.

I believe in the Word of Wisdom. This means no coffee, no black tea, no smoking, no alcohol, no drugs.

I believe in treating our bodies as a Holy Temple. Dress modestly and cover up.

I believe in the Law of Chastity. This law states that we should not have any sexual relations before marriage and once married we will be completely faithful to our spouse.

There are so many other things that I believe, but for today I want to keep it simple and not overwhelm those who are non members. I hope that if any of my friends have questions about my beliefs that they will ask me. I am not afraid to explain why I believe certain things. I know the fact that I believe many of these things is hard for some to grasp because it is a complete 180 from where I was prior to joining the church.

I believe this is the true church and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.

Missionary Work

  With missionary work expanding so quickly it got me thinking about these young men and women that are spending two years expanding this gospel. One of the missionaries who had a huge part in converting me has been staying with us and it has really had me thinking if these young men and women realize the impact they are making.

   I was not willing to accept the gospel and I sat down with many sets of missionaries. I didn't enjoy their lessons and the fact that I felt like I was being preached to. It wasn't until I met a couple of missionaries that changed my view on the church. They didn't try to just teach me, they tried to be my friend. Once we had more of a friendship I was more open to listening to their lessons and I was much more open to being baptized.

  I hope all the missionaries and return missionaries understand that they are changing lives and giving people  a chance. Without those young men that taught me I would not be where I am today. I would not be sealed to my best friend and I would simply be married until death. However because they chose to go on a mission I can now spend eternity with my family. I know that Heavenly Father sent certain missionaries in my life. I know that I often worry that maybe I was baptized too soon or I wasn't fully converted yet, but I know they changed my life. I am eternally grateful to them for what they did.

  To all those who are thinking of serving a mission please do! People like me need you and without your work it might not be possible! And to those missionaries who changed my life: Elder Redpath, Elder Choate, Elder Bowers, and Elder Akina I am eternally grateful for all of you because my life would be no life at all without this gospel! I am so thankful that you believed in it enough to leave your families for two years so that I can be with mine forever!

  I have a testimony of missionary work and even if you don't serve a full time mission you can still be a missionary! My life has been touched by many that have been missionaries every day! I know that if you serve a mission Heavenly Father will bless you for the work you do and the lives you change!