Tuesday, June 28, 2011

share what you know.

"...and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all--they were...true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.

Yea, they were...of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him."



" ...be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith in purity."

When you don't think that
your beliefs,
your example,
your words,
your actions,
or
your invitations
can make a difference,
they can.

You can make a difference.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

la oración de la fe.

"Oh Senor, mi corazon se halla afligido en sumo grado; consuela mi alma en Cristo! Oh Senor, concedeme que tenga fuersas para sufrir con paciencia estas aflicciones que vendran sobre mi...
"Y el Senor les proveyo a fin se que no padeciesen hambre, ni tuviesen sed; si, y tambien les dio fuersa para que no padeciesen ningun genero de aflicciones que no fuesen consumidas en el gozo de Cristo. Y esto acontecio segun la oracion de Alma; y esto porque oro con fe."
[Alma 31:31,38]

Oracion y la fe. No estoy segura de que hay un otra combinacion mejor.
Las escrituras son evidencia repetidas veces que oraciones estan contestadas segun la fidelidad que tenemos en Dios y Su habilidad de contestarlas.

Yo se que Dios nos escucha y se que El contesta cada oracion que decimos. A veces, no es en la manera que esperamos, pero siempre Dios contestara. Dios esta esperando nuestras oraciones porque El es nuestro amaroso Padre Celestial. El quiere ayudarnos. El quiere bendicirnos. El quiere que seamos felices.

prayer of faith.

"O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me...
"And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith."
[Alma 31:31,38]

Prayer and faith. I'm not sure that there's a much better combination.
The scriptures are evidence over and over again that prayers are answered according to the faithfulness that we have in God and His ability to answer them.

I know that God listens to us and I know that He answers every prayer that we say. Sometimes, it's not in the way that we hope, but God always answers. He is waiting for our prayers because He is our loving Heavenly Father. He wants to help us. He wants to bless us. He wants us to be happy.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Trust in the Lord.

I've been thinking a lot the last few days about the amount of trust that our Heavenly Father has in each of us. And I've come to the conclusion [and this is just based on things I've witnessed] that it's a massive amount.

As we anticipated our transfer calls on Saturday I found myself worried and trying to guess what would happen. And when we finally got the call, I was pretty instantly overwhelmed. I honestly didn't think that I would be able to take over the area after only being in the mission for six weeks. I still don't know very many people here and I was legitimately afraid that if the area was left in my hands, it would just crumble.
My fear only got worse when I heard that I was going to be the only one of four of us missionaries in our branch to be staying.

As I knelt in prayer that night, I asked my Heavely Father for His counsel; for anything that could help me feel more peace about the next six weeks to come.

My answer was not one that I expected, but it was one that brought immense peace.
I, almost instantly, received an answer that everything was going to be okay. That I didn't need to fear. That my Heavenly Father was telling me that He has full confidence in me, so I should too. My life, especially as a missionary, is completely in His hands, and I know that He will lead me to where He needs me to be.

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said it this way:
"Faith in the Lord is trust in the Lord. We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing. As a result, no matter how strong our faith is, it cannot produce a result contrary to the will of Him in whom we have faith. Remember this when your prayers do not seem to be answered in the way or at the time you desire. The exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will and wisdom and timing of the Lord. When we have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord, we have true security and serenity in our lives."
I know that as we put our trust in the Lord and align our will and desires with His, we will be able to do all things that we are asked to do. They will be hard. And we may struggle. But with our struggles, we grow stronger. We learn. We progress. We gain more trust from and in our Heavenly Father and the plan He has for each of us.

Friday, June 10, 2011

1 Nefi 17:13

"Y tambien sere vuestra luz en el desierto; y preparare el camino delante de vosotros, si es que guardais mis mandamientos. Por lo tanto, al grado que guardeis mis mandamientos, sereis conducidos hacia la tierra prometida; y sabreis que soy el que os conduce."
-1 Nefi 17:13

"And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shal keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led."
-1 Nephi 17:13


I am constantly realizing everything that the Lord did for Lehi and his family as they were leaving Jerusalem.
At the same time, I'm realizing everything that He still does for us.
That the same still applies.
That He is still our "light in the wilderness" and prepares the way before us if we but keep His commandments and follow His teachings. He still leads us and guides our paths.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

mis pies.

Monday we were at an apartment complex that some members live at and all of our plans [and backup plans] fell through.
We sat down on some steps to pray for some direction in where we should go, who we should go see, or what more we could do to receive some guidance.
As I opened my eyes I saw this.

I'm really thankful for my feet.
Random?
Maybe.

True?
Definitely.

But really, sometimes I think that I'm just not thankful enough for my body. And of all things, I don't think I ever think about my feet. [Except when they hurt..] But really. Life would be much harder without them.. Or if they didn't work as well as they do. And I wouldn't be able to have the great blessing of being here, in Nashville, Tennessee, on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and more importantly, for my Heavenly Father.

Flashback:
I used to never wear sandals. Ever. All through middle school. Until like my senior year of high school.
Why? People told me I have weird toes. [I do.]
But after spending way too many years sufficating my feet, I got over it.

How? Because our loving Heavenly Father has given us our bodies as a gift. Sure, they definitely have their limitations. Each one differently. But they're all gifts. Without which, we could have no possibility of returning to our Heavely Father's presence. He wanted us to have all that He has. In order for that to happen, we needed a body. Because He has a glorified, perfected body of flesh and bones, but we were only spirits.
True, our body that we got when we came to Earth, isn't perfect. Yet. We all have our individual strenghths and weaknesses. But ultimately we will all be resurrected, just as Christ was. And as we are here on Earth, and we do the things that we're here to do, if, as we are tried and tested, we make good choices, then we will have the chance to live in the presence of our Heavenly Father again and truly be as He is.

So I am truly grateful for my body because it allows me to live in the presence of my loving, Heavenly Father again.

I'm thankful for my feet.
[and comfy sister missionary shoes..]

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

the Prince of Peace.

So I'm reading "Our Search for Happiness" by Elder M. Russell Ballard, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
This morning I read this:

"It's hard to have a negative attitude about things if and when your life is focused on the Prince of Peace."
So as I was thinking about this, it hit me that no matter what is going on in our lives that seems to be bogging us down, it ultimately doesn't matter. What matters is that we have our "life focused on the Prince of Peace" then everything else falls into place.

for example:

Right now [or possibly ever] it doesn't really matter that I can't really speak Spanish very well.
[Or that every time the phone rings I sort of dread it..]
What matters is that I try.
That I do all that I can to show the Lord that I am doing everything I can with everything He has already blessed me with.
I'm showing him that I'm trying to magnify what He has given me and I'm proving myself so I can better help those people who I have been called to serve.



It doesn't matter that sometimes cicadas attack when you try and take a picture of them...
Because under the direction of our Heavenly Father, Christ created the Earth in all it's beauty. And I guess even the gross things are here for a reason. ;)



It doesn't matter that sometimes people don't like us here because they have their "own beliefs".
But it doesn't matter because we know the truth about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of God's Plan of Salvation.
We know
And because of that, we know that God loves us, that we are His children, and that he knows each of us individually.
He has always known that because He gave us mortal bodies, we would make mistakes and we would sin.
And, once again, because He loves us more than we can comprehend, He blessed us with the greatest gift He could ever give: the gift of His Son Jesus Christ. We know that through Christ we can overcome whatever challenges we are presented with in this life as we use His Atonement.

And as we focus our lives on Him and make choices that help us follow Him and lead us one step closer to our Heavenly Father, we really don't have any reason to be negative about anything in our lives.

Our life is a gift.
Good, bad, ugly, or more beautiful that you could possibly imagine.
And as we focus on our Savior, ultimately, everything is positive.