Come What May and Love It!

Always a good reminder... 

Happy Wednesday! :) 

To Be Good, and to Do Good

I have always had the desire to look for the good in those around me, but as of lately, one of my goals has been to more fully recognize the Light of Christ in others, which all have. It's my constant prayer to be able to  at least to some degree see others how our Heavenly Father views his children. I know I cannot fully comprehend or see this, since that is a Godly characteristic, but this has definitely allowed me to more fully love all those around me and to see the good in others, along with not being quick to judge.  Service and looking for the good in others has been a strength to me, especially throughout the past few weeks. It's something that I always want to be striving to do in my life. It often becomes easy to be consumed in one's own life, especially when you're sticking to a schedule of school, work, gym, homework, bed... repeat. Anyways, I came across something PERFECT on Twitter today. It was a nice reminder of the definition of light and then further explaining the light of Christ.

The quote that stuck out to me the most was...

"As we yield to that influence, to do good and to become good, then the light of Christ increases within us. As we disobey, light is decreased, and can ultimately be diminished."

All of us have been blessed with the Light of Christ, which the scriptures defines as "The Spirit of Jesus Christ" (D&C 84:45). The blessing of having the gospel in our life is that through obedience and the desire to be more like our Savior and Heavenly Father, this light in us can increase, allowing us to do good and become better children of God. I lovee this. And of course, the opposite, disobedience can cause this light in each one of us to decrease. I think one of the best attributes that people can have is that of being a good example, especially through the Light of Christ. Through being good examples, we are able to let our light so shine, encouraging others to also do good and be good.

President Boyd K. Packer simply explains this perfectly:

"To describe the Light of Christ, I will compare or liken it to the light of the sun. Sunlight is familiar to everyone; it is everywhere present and can be seen and can be felt. Life itself depends upon sunlight.

The Light of Christ is like sunlight. It, too, is everywhere present and given to everyone equally.

Just as darkness must vanish when the light of the sun appears, so is evil sent fleeing by the Light of Christ.

There is no darkness in sunlight. Darkness is subject unto it. The sun can be hidden by clouds or by the rotation of the earth, but the clouds will disappear, and the earth will complete its turning.

This Light of Christ, which gives life, is within you. The evil one will attempt to obscure it. It can be so clouded with confusion so far as to convince you that it does not even exist.

Just as sunlight is a natural disinfectant, the Spirit of Christ can cleanse the spirit."

I know that if we understand the reality of the Light of Christ in everyone we see and in others, in every meeting we attend, and within ourselves, and understand the great challenge that we have- the surroundings in which we live, the danger which sometimes besets us- we will have courage and inspiration beyond that which we know. 

I'm so grateful for the Gospel and how it gives me the desire to become a better person and to strive to always recognize the Light of Christ in others. I know I am not perfect in this area, but I'm grateful for this knowledge. 

D&C 50:24

"That which is of God is light; 

And he that receiveth light

receiveth more light, 

and that light groweth brighter 

and brighter until the perfect day. 

The Refiner's Fire

Someone shared this talk by James E. Faust, called The Refiner's Fire a while back. The past few weeks have definitely had some trials. I've been trying to stay strong and this has been such a good source for me as I try to remain full of hope and try to find the strength to face these trials. This is the part of President Faust's talk that stood out to me the most...
"Into every life there come the painful, despairing days of adversity and buffeting. There seems to be a full measure of anguish, sorrow, and often heartbreak for everyone, including those who earnestly seek to do right and be faithful. The thorns that prick, that stick in the flesh, that hurt, often change lives which seem robbed of significance and hope. This change comes about through a refining process which often seems cruel and hard. In this way the soul can become like soft clay in the hands of the Master in building lives of faith, usefulness, beauty, and strength. For some, the refiner’s fire causes a loss of belief and faith in God, but those with eternal perspective understand that such refining is part of the perfection process."
One of the reasons we face trials is truly so that the Lord can mold us into the sons and daughters he wants us to be. This message has shown to me that even though we are doing the right things, some things in life aren't always the way we want them to be like. We're not perfect and sometimes were are going to have to endure trials that we often feel are not fair or even seem to hard to endure. Although this is true, the Lord will never give us more than we can handle. He is always there for us. He always has his hand extended out to each and every one of us. If through these hard but refining periods of our life we turn to the Lord and pray to our Heavenly Father for comfort and help, it will always be available.
I think the most important part of this talk is that as long as we keep an eternal perspective through these refining moments of our life, we will understand that the reining process is apart of us reaching our potential of perfection. Sometimes it's easy to get down on oneself when trying to endure such things, but this is so true. I know that if we keep this eternal perspective through the trials and experiences of life, that we will truly be molded into amazing sons and daughters of God, and that as we embrace and have faith through enduring these things that we will only grow closer to our Heavenly Father and Savior. They love us and only want us to become more like them as we face these things in life.
I love this closing remark from President Faust...
"Out of the refiner’s fire can come a glorious deliverance. It can be a noble and lasting rebirth. The price to become acquainted with God will have been paid. There can come a sacred peace. There will be a reawakening of dormant, inner resources. A comfortable cloak of righteousness will be drawn around us to protect us and to keep us warm spiritually. Self-pity will vanish as our blessings are counted."
This is soo true and I love it. Out of the refiner's fire we really can be delivered. It gives us a dose of humility and learning to become closer with our loving Heavenly Father who knows what is best for us. I love the gospel and that we have a knowledge of these things.

"Come Unto Me... And I Will Give Ye Rest"

I came across this video on YouTube at the most perfect time. What a perfect example of people in the gospel and what a testimony it is to me that we can overcome trials in our life if we put our faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and try to endure them to the best of our ability. During times of trials, we are invited to come unto Christ and he will give us rest. The past month or so I have hit some hard times, often finding it easy to get down on myself. Just as in this video, sometimes through trials, many find themselves asking, "my God, where art thou?" However, God is always there. That's one of the greatest messages of the gospel is that we are NEVER alone. This video says it perfectly: "When lonely, cold, hard times come, he is there. Prays are heard, and when we weep, he and the angels of heaven weep with us."


Everyone here on earth has their challenges and difficulties, which are part of our mortal test. The reason for some of these trials cannot be readily understood except on the basis of faith and hope because there is often a larger purpose which we do not always understand. This often makes it hard to endure trials, but through faith and hope, we can receive peace through these bumps in the road. In the scriptures it says that if we endure our trials well God shall exalt us on high. How we handle and endure our trails is huge. "Sometime in the eternities to come, we will see that our trials were calculated to cause us to turn to our Heavenly Father for strength and support. Any affliction or suffering we are called upon to bear may be directed to give us experience, refinement, and perfection. Turning to our Heavenly Father in times of trials is the best thing we can do. I believe this is one of the greatest reasons we have trials. He is the only one that knows us perfectly and who can help us cope during these times.


Tribulation, afflictions, and trials will constantly be with us in our time here on earth. In John 16:33 it says "In the world ye shall have tribulation." Therefore, the great challenge in this earthly life is not to determine how to escape the afflictions and problems, but rather to carefully prepare ourselves to meet them. We have been promised that Heavenly Father will never give us an trial or tribulation that we cannot handle. There is such great comfort in this. Sometimes we often feel that we cannot overcome trials, or we allow trials to overcome us. I know that if we turn to our Heavenly Father during these hard times that we will find peace through them and the we can learn and grow as we choose to grow closer to our Heavenly Father through these experiences. Heavenly Father is truly watching over us and he is trying to mold us into the best people we can become. As I've studied this a little, I've made a goal to face my trails in a more patience, hope, faith in a more enduring manner so that I can recognize the good of certain afflictions I face. After all, as the scriptures say, these trials are for our good and learning, and if we face them correctly often times they are only for a small moment.


I don't know what I would do with out the gospel, especially in times of trials. I'm also so grateful for being at BYU too with the many people who have been put in my path to say the right things and to help provide in times of comfort. I'm also grateful for the Atonement, that allows us to overcome trials and sin. Elder Hale said: "When the challenges of mortality come, and they come for all of us, it may seem hard to have faith and hard to believe. At these times only faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement can bring us peace, hope, and understanding. Only faith that He suffered for our sakes will give us the strength to endure to the end. When we gain this faith, we experience a mighty change of heart, and like Enos, we become stronger and begin to feel a desire for the welfare of our brothers and sisters. We pray for them, that they too will be lifted and strengthened through faith on the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ." How great of a messages this is.

Just Some Thoughts.

The past month or so has just been so amazing. I have felt soo much peace with everything. It's been amazing to feel that I'm in such a good place in my life. I'm surrounded by so many great people, with my family and friends. I'm just so grateful for the gospel in my life. It has always been and continues to be what keeps me strong on a day to day basis. It really is amazing how the gospel makes my life so much easier. When I wake up each day, because of the gospel, I know that I have a purpose for why I'm here. It also gives me direction. The gospel is so goal oriented, which inspires me to want to progress and always be moving towards being perfect like Christ. I know we all aren't perfect and that we makes mistakes, but with the gospel it allows us to want to become better people and hopefully end up in the presence of our Heavenly Father. I heard the perfect quote today by Elder Christofferson... "Exercising agency is a setting that sometimes includes opposition and hardship is what makes life more than a simple multiple-choice test. God is interested in what you are becoming as a result of your choices. He is not satisfied if your exercise of moral agency is simply a robotic effort at keeping some rules. Your Savior wants you to become something, not just do something." Of course I know there is more to being obedient and making sure we dedicate ourselves to the gospel, rather than just going through the motions daily, but I guess I haven't thought about it this way in a long time. He wants us to become something and he really does care about our progression as we strive to be obedient and keep the commandments. This is just a testimony to me of how amazing of a Heavenly Father we have and how not only does he take care of us and know us collectively as his children, but also invidually as his sons and daughters. Wow, the gospel's amazing!

Happy Sabbath! 

Favorite hymn right noww...

Sunday Will Come.

Life has been crazy lately, and I feel like I've been focusing a little too much on everything I need to get done, rather than taking time for me. It's nice every once in a while to just take a step back and remind myself of all that I've been blessed with, especially the gospel. The next few months are going to be CRAZY as I apply to grad school and make some pretty major decisions. It's actually kind of scary. Along with that, there have been some things that have happened in the past few weeks that have been a little tough, that have made hope a little challenging... but then I think of the gospel. I think hope is one of the best synonyms for the gospel. Perfect enough, my roommate came home last night after an FHE she went to and talked to me about hope and a video by Elder Worthlin, entitled "Sunday Will Come." Elder Worthlin makes a perfect analogy of our life compared to the events leading up to the Atonement, and especially that dreadful Friday, on which our Savior was crucified. However, the following Sunday, our Savior broke the bonds of death, and because of this we can all have hope through the Atonement and through the gospel... because of this, through him, we can overcome our sorrows and pains. He continues to say that we will all have our Fridays, where we feel broken and everything around us is shattered, sometimes to the point where we feel we can't be put back together again... BUT Sunday will come! That's the hope that the gospel brings us. I'm soo grateful for the Atonement and that because Christ died for each of us we can have a great hope of things to come. Because of this we can return to live with our Heavenly Father again. Watch this video! It's amazing... such a blessing my roommate showed this to me! :) 

#inspiring

God's Love is Perfect.

This weekend has been quite uneventful... I think I spent too much time with Harold this weekend. I'm just soo grateful that tomorrow is Sunday, so I won't have to focus on school and will just be able to relax. I'm going to need it because, guess what I signed up for this semester without knowing?... yeah, 2 rounds of finals. This next week I have 5 tests, and then another one the following Monday. I really don't think they're going to be that bad if I study hard, but it'll be interesting with shadowing, school and school assignments. Basically, pray for me. I'll need it. Bring it, this next week. I'm ready to dominate you, and then guess what? Only 1 more test until finals week... pretty good, huh? Besides this craziness life is still dang good. Here's a message for the Sabbath.... :)

My awesome home teachers came this past week and talked about prayer and got me thinking throughout this whole week. Especially during the past few weeks I have found myself getting a sloppy with my prayers, mainly because I have been soo tired and have forgotten a few times. One of my home teachers told us to imagine Heavenly Father standing in front of us while praying so that it will be even more of a real conversation. This was aweosme for me, because I know I can definitely work on being more sincere with my prayers. Praying as if Heavenly Father is right next to me has been such an awesome challenge this week for me. It has made my prayers a lot more sincere and I have been able to feel of his presence and love even more in life. I would recommend this to anyone. It's soo helpful!
My home teacher also mentioned an aweosme quote by Elder Neil A. Maxwell... "God is in the details." And this is soo true. As incomprehensible it is for us to understand with the millions of people on th earth today, Heavenly Father really does know us all and he wants to be apart of our life. He wants to know every little detail, especially our desires, which we should bring to him as often as possible. He truely cares about each of us, more than we know. How amazing it is to have a loving Heavenly Father who is always willing to be there for each of us. I know for myself, I need to be better about knowing that I can pray whenever, not just before I go to bed and I when I get up in the morning. He is always there with his ears open, ready to hear our prayers.

God's love is PERFECT! Our Heavenly Father desires that we draw 

near to him, so that he can draw near to us!  

I love the gospel and it is soo true! 

Happy Sabbath :)