Personal Revelation!!!!

I was talking to the Elders after our district meeting on Wednesday and they wanted to know why I decided to come on a mission. The answer is a pretty easy and simple one. Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to serve a mission. In fact, I would dress up in my dad's suit and wear his name tag pretending to be a missionary. Then when I was in high school my seminary teacher would have the return missionaries speak to our seminary class, and during my 4 years of seminary only 2 girls served missions. When they spoke to our seminary class I felt a wonderful and peaceful feeling come to me as they spoke. One would later serve as my Releif Society president at the singles ward I attended and the other became my neighor. Their examples and talks with me will never be forgotten. While at college I took quite a few institute classees, but the one that I will never forget is Sister Atkinson's Old Testament class. It was around confrence time and she challenged us to have a few questions we wanted answers to and then to take notes as we watched confrence to find our answers. I decided to take the challenge and what I found was the answers I was looking for. I got my answer from the talk by Silvia H. Allred who is a counselor in the General Relief Society. Her talk was called, " Go Ye Therefore," and she talked about how she came into the church, her own mission, and the importance of missionary work. As I was listening I felt a warmth come over me and I knew then that serving a mission was the right choice for me. You might wonder what all this has to do with personal revelation? The first step in recieving personal revelation is to have a desire and once you have that desire seek for experiences that will help you learn more. The last part is to pray to know if the decision is right and then search for the answer. I know that if you do those steps that you will recieve answers to questions and prayers.

Our own Liahona!!!

What can we do to return to our Father in Heaven? How can we know where to go and what to do? There is a story in the Book of Mormon about Lehi. Lehi was a prophet who took his family into the wilderness at the time Jerusalem was a bout to be destroyed. As they were traveling in the wilderness he went outside his tent and found a ball of curious workmanship with pointers that pointed the way that they should go. There were also things written from time to time on the ball. This ball was called the Liahona. Wouldn't it be awesome if we had a liahona to guide us today? I am here to tell you that we do have a liahona today. The liahona we have is the Prophet and the scriptures. The prophet tells us the things that our Heavenly Father wants us to do and so do the scriptures. Together they are our own personal liahona. The liahona didn't always work for Lehi and his family. It only worked according to the faith, diligence, and heed that they gave unto it. The same is true for us. If we don't have faith and are not diligent in heeding the things the prophet and scriptures tell us to do then they can not guide us back to Heavenly Father. We are so blessed to have a prophet today and the scritures to help us along the way as well. I hope that all of us will do our best to heed the things the scriptures and prophet tell us. I know that if we do, we will be guided back to our heavenly home, where we can have joy and rest from all our cares.

The Truth!!!

We have all heard the saying, " The truth shall set you free." That is all well and good, but what does it really mean? I have thought about this and have come up with a few ideas. The first idea, is that when we are honest and tell the truth then we are free from guilt. When we lie there is a guilt that we feel for knowing we are lieing. I don't know about you, but I always feel better when I just tell the truth. The second idea, is that when we tell the truth we are free from having to lie even more. There is a popular saying,  " oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to decieve." That is a great picture of what lieing can do to you. If you tell one lie you most likely have to tell another one and it just gets messier and messier. When you tell the truth, you are free from lieing period. The last idea, is that we become free from doubt. Think of the little boy who cried wolf. After three times of saying there was a wolf when there really wasn't then the people doubted him when he really was telling the truth. I don' t know of many of us that would believe someone who tells lies most of the time. If we tell the truth though, people will trust us and listen to what we have to say.  There were a group of people in the Book of Mormon who were known for their honesty. In Alma 27 verse 27 it says:

 And they were among the people of Nephi, and also numbered among the people who were of the church of God. And they were also distinguished for their ^azeal towards God, and also towards men; for they were perfectly ^bhonest and upright in all things; and they were ^cfirm in the faith of Christ, even unto the end.

I hope that all of us may be distinguished for our honesty and that people will trust us enough to tell them the truth.

The importance of Unity!!!

There are billions of people in this world. We are all unique and indviduals, with our own thoughts and opinions. This is the way it is supposed to be. If there are that many people in the world, how do we ever become unified? Why would we need to be unified? I believe the answer is that more work and learning gets done when we are united on the same goal. When I think of a people that were united I think of Enoch and the city of Enoch. The people in the city of Enoch were so united, and because of it their city was taken up into heaven. In Moses chapter 7 verse 18 it says:

18 And the Lord called his people ^aZion, because they were of ^bone heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them.

Now the question is how do we become united? We become unified by looking to help others. I think of how at Christmas time or Thanksgiving we are all thinking more about others. There is a feeling of unity felt at that time of year then at anyother. If we were looking out for the poor, needy, and hungery all the year I believe that we would be unified. I hope that as we look at our lives we may look for the things that will help us make our famlies, communities, and countries united. We can still be ourselves and be united and that is something I am working on.

Gratitude!!!

When I think of Gratitude I think of the words "thank you." This to me is one of the most important sayings in any language. The only one greater would be " I love you." President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism, you walk with a spirit of thanksgiving that is becoming to you and will bless your lives.”<sup>3      

When I think of Gratitude I think of the 10 lepers that were cleanesed by Christ. Only one came back to thank him. Isn't that amazing how out of 1o, 1 said thank you. How many of us are like the 10. Are there people in our lives who have done something for us, without thanks from us? There have been times in my life where I have forgotten to say thanks to someone who has helped me, and I am now doing everything I can to walk with gratitude everyday.</sup>

President Thomas S. Monson said, "We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others." May we all walk with gratitude in our hearts and try our best to find things every day to be greatful for.

Why Patience!!!!

We have all heard the saying "patience is a virtue", but how many of us believe that? How many of us are truly patient? I know that I am not, that is something I have had to learn the hard way. Most of the people I look up to are able to realize that if you are impatient, it doesn't make anything happen any sooner. My dad is a great example of this. My dad and I golf alot together, and if golfing doesn't teach you patience I don't know what will. The hard thing about golf is that when you hit a bad shot, if you get mad or if people in front of you are slow then you play worse. My dad would just stand there and talk to me if there were slow people in front of us and I realized that those are great oppertunities to talk to each other. If we are impatient and are focused on the people playing faster, then we miss out on some wonderful time to talk and get to know each other. The Lord has given us a promise if we are patient. In Alma 32 verse 43 it says:

Then, my brethren, ye shall ^areap the ^brewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth ^cfruit unto you.

Here Alma is talking about prayer and scripture study and that if we are patitent and diligent in doing those two things, then we will feel good. We will feel the love of God and it will be fruit for our soul. It will make us happy beyond belief. That to me shows how important patience really is. My hope for all of us is that we will learn to stop and smell the roses, and appricate the time when we have to wait.

Look for the Good!!!

One of my favorite stories was told by Thomas S. Monson, who is the prophet of the church. It is about this elderly woman who passed away and had three canaries. Two of them were beautiful yellow color and were to be given to her friends. The third one was yellow, with gray on it's wings. No one wanted it, but the woman left a note for President Monson to make sure that this canarie go to a good home. She said while it might not look beautiful, it had the best song. He goes on to say that when Christ was on earth he was constantly found among those who would be considered poor, loners, and people who were looked down on because of their outward apperance. How many of us judge someone by the way they look on the outside? I know I do sometimes, and that is why this really made me think. One scripture that also has made me think of this is in 1st Samuel 16 verse 7, which says:

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord ^aseeth not as ^bman seeth; for man looketh on the outward ^cappearance, but the ^dLord looketh on the ^eheart.

The world is filled with yellow canaries with gray on their wings. The pity is that so precious few have learned to sing. Let us be more mindful of those yellow canaries with gray on their wings, and help them. Just like the Savior would.

People of Integrity!!!

I have been thinking a lot about what integrity is and how we devolope integrity? Like most people I was curious and was looking through the scriptures for an answer. I was so excited that I found my answer that I want to share it with everyone. I was reading in the Old Testament about a woman by the name of Ester. Ester is a jew and the king not knowing she was a jew chose her to be queen. What an honor to be queen and especially since she was a jew. Well, the king's adviser Hammon didn't really like the jews and gets the king to approve a decree that says the jews are to be killed. Ester knowing this has the terrifying resposiblity of telling the king that she is a jew and about Hammon's plan. Doing this could cost her her life, but for the benefit of her people and because it it the right thing to do she does it. After reading this I have come to know that integrity is doing whats right no matter what everyone else says or does. How many of us could do what Ester did? I know it would be hard for me, but with the lord's help we can do anything. Before Ester goes to the king she and all the jews pray for help. If we pray for the strength to do whats right no matter what, I know that we will be blessed and be able to have integrity just like Ester. 

The Plan

Have you ever wondered where we came from? Why are we here? Where do I go when I die? If you have, then I am here to tell you that there are answers to these questions. The Plan of Salvation is the answer. Before we came to earth we lived with Heavenly Father in Heaven. We didn't have a body like him, and we wanted to be like him. He came up with a plan for us to gain a body, and then return to him. We accepted this plan and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ created the earth for us. Adam and Eve were the first people on earth. We know that Satan tempted them and they used their angency and chose to eat of the forbidden fruit. That chose caused them to be cast out of the Garden. This needed to happen, and in 2nd Nephi it tells us why.

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.
23 And they would have had no ^achildren; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no ^bjoy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no ^csin.
24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who ^aknoweth all things.
25 ^aAdam ^bfell that men might be; and men ^care, that they might have ^djoy.

We all have agency or the power to chose and because Heavenly Father knew that and that we would make mistakes he sent his son Jesus Christ to perform the atonement, so that we could repent of our sins and return to live with him. After we die our bodies stay here and our spirits go to the spirit world to await the ressurection and final judgement.  After judgement we will be placed in 1 of 3 kingdoms of glory. The Celestial Kingdom, where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. The Terrestial Kingdom, or the Terrestial Kingdom.

Love and Obedience!!!

My mom always told me that love is an action word. You can tell someone you love them, but it doesn't mean anything if there is no action to support that. I have come to know for myself that my mom is so right. I was reading in John about Christ and he is the perfect example of all things. There is a verse in that really struck me. Verse 21 says:

He that hath my commandments, and ^akeepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be ^bloved of my Father, and I will love him, and will ^cmanifest myself to him.

How interesting to think that love and obedience go hand in hand. I know that we have the commandments to protect us, and I know that if we are obedient to them we will be happy. We will also be showing our love to Christ and our Heavenly Father. May we all strive to show our love by being obedient is my prayer. I am so greatful for the commandments and being able to show my love by following them.

The Unseen Battle!!!

In Ephesians chapter 6 it talks about the battle that we are in today. It is unseen by many people, however it is very real. In Ephesians it talks about how we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world. That sounds pretty scary to me. It would be a lot easier to battle against flesh and blood rather than Satan and his followers. How do we protect ourselves from the evils of the world and become prepared to battle against Satan? Ephesians chapter 6 also gives us the answer. We are to put on the whole armor of God. Now you may be wondering how you do that? Well, the best thing to do to put on the armor of God is to pray, read scriptures, and spend time together as a family. I know that these things are so important and that if you do them you will be prepared everyday to battle the unseen battle against Satan. Do we want him to win? I know I don't and I will go to battle everyday so that doesn't happen. That way when the battle is over I can say as did Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 4  verses 7 and 8.

 7 I have fought a good ^afight, I have ^bfinished my course, I have kept the faith:

 

 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a ^acrown of ^brighteousness, which the Lord, the righteous ^cjudge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

 

My hope is that all of us will be able to say that, because we have done all we can to conquer and fight the unseen battle agaist Satan.

Being like Ruth!!!

One of the stories in the Old Testament that I really like is the story of Ruth. The biggest reason is probably because it is one of the few stories about a woman in the scriptures. Ruth is a woman that shows to me the importance of being charitable. In the face of losing her husband, father-in-law, and brother-in-law she willingly agreed to leave her own family to take care of her mother-in-law. I love her response in Ruth 1 verse 16 and 17 which says:

 

16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from ^afollowing after thee: for whither thou goest, I will ^bgo; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy ^cpeople shall be my people, and thy God my ^dGod:

  17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

 

How many of us would be willing to give up something that means something to us to help someone else? I think that if we were all a little bit more like Ruth, this world would be a better place. I am trying to do my best to be like Ruth and I know that with the Lord's help we can all strive to have more charity and compassion for others.