Thank You For Loving Me Enough to Cut Me Down.

There is an AMAZING lesson to be learned through this video, "The Will of God," by Elder Christofferson: 

One of my weaknesses in life is being stubborn, and although I am far from perfect in this area and have more to learn, I have learned that seeking out help and willingly receiving guidance in this life is one of the biggest blessings we can partake of here on earth, especially through the help of our loving Heavenly Father. The message above is perfect in explaining this.  Our Heavenly Father truly knows what's best. Life is scary sometimes and is full of big decisions, especially as we get older. Even when things seem to be or are really fine, often times there is more of a lesson for us to learn or something completely different that our Heavenly Father has in store for us. I have learned that living the gospel to the the fullest gives us more access to our agency as we become more entrusted by our Heavenly Father, when we truly keep the commandments desire to make the right choices in life. On the other hand, even if we are living the Gospel to our best ability, sometimes it takes more than ourselves in making decisions and so forth. There are angels here on earth who really are the Lord's hands who are put in our paths to help us, whether it be our parents, friends, or people we hold dear to us. From someone who is sometimes stubborn, sometimes I think I can make all decisions on my own, when the more correct thing to do is to seek out help or listen to the advice of others. Of course we have our own agency that we exercise on a daily basis, but I do believe that answers and help often come through the people we are surrounded by. We also, of course, have a loving Heavenly Father who loves, knows, and understands us perfectly. No one knows us better. He knows the desires and intentions of our hearts, and knows how to perfectly help us when we are in need. Here on earth we have this wonderful gift of agency that we have been greatly entrusted with. I have found it wise in my life to seek out God's hand in all things, but sometimes He leaves it up to us to make decisions.  Many times Heavenly Father expects us to step into the dark and make these decisions. It can be a scary thing, but Heavenly Father knows best and he will never lead us astray in making our decisions as long as we live our lives properly and rely on the Spirit in all things. Other times, Heavenly Father is anxiously waiting for us to seek out his hand and full help in our life. He really does know what is best for us and will never help us or lead us to anything that will harm us in life.

There's one part of Elder Christofferson's message above that sticks out to me and has taught me a lot, especially when battling bmy stubbornness. I love when he says that in order to meet God's high expectations we must willingly accept and even seek out correction. The story of the current bush is a perfect example of how I and I'm sure a lot of other people feel throughout our lives feel, but the moral of the story is the important thing. It is the pruning or in different terms the molding that our Heavenly Father aids us with, that we become what he wants us to become. Often times I ask myself, "but why? everything seems fine; I'm doing the things I need to." Often times I feel like that little current bush crying out to the gardener, "How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth and now you've cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here." That's where our trust in our Heavenly Father comes in. He is our "gardener." He and our Savior Jesus Christ made it possible so that we have this wonderful, yet often trying, experience here on earth. But because of that, they know what's best for us. That's why we'll always get a response like: "I am the gardener here and I know what I want you to be. I don't intend you to be another tree. I want you to be a current bush. And some day you'll thank me for loving me enough for cutting us down." We often have great visions for ourselves, but the wonderful yet often hard thing to see if we don't open our eyes and ears a little wider, is that we have a loving Heavenly Father who knows what's even better for us. Heavenly Father again knows our hearts and desires and most of the time, if we live our lives right, he wants to give us what we desire, but sometimes our desires are not enough. Sometimes we need a certain pruning or molding in our life to make us become an even better someone our Heavenly Father sees best fit for us.

So we need not be afraid of what the "other plants" think of us and we don't need to be stubborn so we don't miss out on Heavenly Father's plan for us or miss out on the advice or help from others. Step into that darkness and exercise your agency properly, but always be willing to seek out the help and advice of others, especially from our loving Father in Heaven who does know us perfectly and always sees the big picture with everything. We can't expect the same outcome in life if we just do the same things and keep to ourselves. There are loved ones around us who want to help us and will help us stay on the straight and narrow. Seek out Heavenly Father and others for help. If you have the Spirit with you and you are choosing the right, chances are Heavenly Father and others who you go to for help won't lead you astray, because ultimately God knows what's best for us and he knows what to do for us and he knows what people to place on our path to help us here on earth. So get on your knees and give thanks to our gardener, our loving Heavenly Father, for loving us enough to cut us down. I know that through doing these things we can become more grateful, more eager to seek out God's help and others' help in our life, and that will better be able to see the eternal perspective of all things, and truly see the hands of our Heavenly Father and Savior on a daily basis. For however small or great our capacities are, we are all able to meet the high expectations of God, just as long as we pray for his love-inspired correction.

An Atitude of Gratitude

Today was such an amazing Thanksgiving and I have soo much to be grateful for. Lately, I think gratitude is something I could have a lot more of. Today was a great day to take a step back, look at the big picture, and reflect on on the many blessings/everyone and everything I have to be grateful for.
Something I have been focusing on studying this past week and trying to implement in my life is focusing more on the things in life that matter most. I've reading and rereading President Uchtdorf's talk "Of Things That Matter Most." Sometimes I get a little caught up the rush of life, not realizing that life doesn't have to be going a million miles per hour. Life isn't about constantly checking off our to-do list or wanting to things to go at our pace. President Uchtdorf's advice is: "We would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that mater most... diligently doing the things that matter most will lead us to the Savior of the world." I was thinking today and I think gratitude better becomes apart of someone's nature when they really focus on the important things in life, rather than getting caught up in the haste in life. I think that's how I can personally develop a better attitude of gratitude in my life. Focusing on the essentials and the things that matter most is what can bring us true happiness, help us forget ourselves and more fully serve others around us. All of this can help us develop more of a grateful heart and attitude in life.
In a talk a while back, President Eyring talked about keeping a journal and asking ourselves "Have I seen the hand of the Lord in my life today?" I was sitting in my family room today and looking at all the amazing people, things, and knowledge, especially of the gospel, I have in my life. The Lord's hand is definitely in my life on a daily basis. This Thanksgiving has taught me that I need to slow down, open my eyes and ears a little more, and more fully recognize the Lord's hand in my life. Our Heavenly Father and Savior are aware of each of us and know exactly what each of us needs and even know our greatest desires. If we slow down a bit, recognize the hands of the Lord, and focus on what matter most, then we will achieve the greatest happiness in life. So let us all have a better attitude of grattitude. I know I could  I can and have the desire to improve in this area, along with others. I know that slowing down and focusing on the things that matter most will definitely help in being more grateful.

I'm so grateful for so many things. Here are a couple of them... 

1) The gospel 

2) A loving Heavenly Father who loves all of us perfectly 

3) Our Savior and the Atonement 

4) A loving and supporting family, especially my parents 

5) Being adopted into a wonderful family that have the blessings and knowledge of the gospel 

6) Being sealed to my parents and siblings 

7) The scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon 

8) Modern day prophets and apostles 

9) The best friends anyone could asked for who love, support, and help me in my life

10) My family living so close to BYU 

11) BYU and the oppotunity to gain an education 

12) My church leaders 

13) Having a job 

14) Fun

15) The outdoors and everything beautiful about the world 

16) Skiing 

17) Traveling and the opportunity to enjoy other cultures in the world 

18) My Jerusalem study abroad- Not a day goes by that I don't think about this wonderful experience 

19) Learning experiences and the oppotunity to learn new things every day 

20) Trials which teach us the biggest lessons in life. 

And the list goes on and on. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I couldn't find the video on blogger so here's the link... such a great message!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjl9oNUApKg

He is ALWAYS There!

‎"God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe." -Jeffery R. Holland

God is always there and is fully aware of us at all times, in all things, and in all places. This is one of the greatest pieces of knowledge I have gained through living the Gospel. What a blessing it is to know of such love, an all-encompassing love that we can't even fully comprehend because of it's power and measure. Knowing that God loves us changes everything. What a blessing it is to know that Heavenly Father is ALWAYS watching over us, no matter if we fall short at times. It's a more than perfect love :)

Nearer My God to Thee.

This song has always been such a comfort to me. I love this video... such good memories from last year with this girl! 

So grateful for the Gospel, great friends, music and all the many talents we all have been blessed with! 

The Gospel is Perfect

"However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don't have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have NOT traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible for you to sink lower that the infinite light of Christ's Atonement." -Jeffrey R. Holland

Simply put, this is the perfection of the Gospel. 

So Profound.

I've been doing a lot of studying and reading about things that I can improve on a daily basis. I came across this quote tonight and it really stuck out to me. It makes me want to work on these characteristics each and every day. Enjoy... :)

"May God help us to be a little kinder, showing forth greater forbearance, to be more forgiving, more willing to walk the second mile, to reach down and lift up those who may have sinned but have brought forth the fruits of repentance, to lay aside old grudges and nurture them no more."

Christ shows us these characterstics perfectly, so why can't each of us strive to better develop these traits in our life each day. Afterall, we are striving to become perfect as he is. Be more kind and so forth and you can find more happiness in life. I love the gospel and the principles we are taught. 

So profound. 

"His Unwavering Love Invites Us to Love in Return"

I saw this on a friend's facebook today and it just spoke to me. Such an awesome perspective to keep in life, just exactly what I needed to hear...

[“This is the most important part,” her voice cut through the many she was conducting. More palpable than her voice, however, were the chills that ran through many spines as a beautiful, devoted and heartfelt promise was brought into being: “Take my heart, oh take and seal it. Seal it for thy courts on high.” Then it was over. There was silence, and time for the poetry to sink in and press itself on the souls of a few present. It was just one of the many moments in Men’s Chorus where I have been prompted to renew my love of God.

What was it like?...
It was like the many other moments of spiritual confirmation that have told me yes, I really do want to give my heart to God. I trust Him, love Him, and hope to make Him proud. It was a reminder to keep a soft heart, one that the Lord can mold and shape to His own will.

There are so many moments when I am beset by sin. My faith waivers and doubt creeps into my heart. I begin to see everyone and everything in a different light, one that dulls the brightness of their humanity and diminishes the beauty of its simplicity. Negativity comes by default because everything else is now a chore.

Prior to such negativity my life revolved around people and things outside myself—my roommate, my friends, my family, my classmates and coworkers—it now revolves around me. There is no more beauty in friendship, and no more joy in my hobbies. There is now only a desire for fulfillment, which desire transforms the people around me into potential corks, and the activities I previously so enjoyed into time constraints that widen the hole. Sometimes it even gets so bad as to make people out to be obstacles to my happiness. At worst they are seen as the cause of my despair.

When there is a hole it must be filled. And if it can’t be filled, it must be justified. There must be a reason for its existence. We are already too fragile to admit ourselves as the cause. We cannot break ourselves, so we fortify ourselves, and attack outward. “O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men!”

If only we knew that our balm of Gilead lays in personal honesty, in truthful recognition of the fact that the emptiness and misery is a result of our change of paradigm, our lack of faith, our constant need to prove ourselves. Simply recognizing this truth begins the process by which we come to ourselves yet again.

Contemplating the truth of what has led us to where we are opens our eyes enough that the light of Christ comes through. His unwavering love invites us to love in return. There is no more emptiness, because there is no need for us to be validated. Love has been felt, and so we are fulfilled. Love has been felt, and so we feel to love in return, both to Him who loved us first, and to all those that surround us.

Our world sets itself right, focusing outward rather than inward, and we become who we were intended to be. We become who we are, and were, and always have been, stripped of emotional turmoil and the effects of a faithless heart. There is no more doubt. There is confidence begot by confidence, love begot by love, and joy begot by joy.

The love from the Atonement sets me free by teaching me how to love. I commune with God to be free, to feel joy, and to be my true self. “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”]

Soo powerful! I have such a strong testimony of this. What a blessing the gospel is and the opportunity we have to know and understand such eternal principles.