The Atonement

The Atonement is so personal to me, and I decided to express my thoughts on it.

First, I want to emphasize that Gethsemane, the trials (whipped, spit upon, mocked, etc.) and the crucifixion were ALL part of the Atonement. They are all extremely important and part of the process, not just the cross, and not just Gethsemane. 

Gethsemane is Greek from the Hebrew word "The Sacred Oil Press"

Gethsemane is a garden where they would take olives (not the soft, black squishy olives we are used to, but like an extremely hard nut) and roll a HUGE stone over them, until the crushing weight causes the olive to break and causes the oils to "bleed out" from the olive. 

Don't you think that this is significant?

Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane where he was crushed and bled out for our sins, just like the olives. 

In Mark 14:36 Jesus prays to Heavenly Father and says "Abba, Father" 

If you look up Abba you will discover that Abba has two meanings. 

1. Papa

2. Father

I'd like to think that he called him "Papa." It's a little more intimate and personal :) I believe Jesus had that kind of relationship with the Father. 

Anyway, he pleads, "Take away this cup from me..." In the verse prior to this, 35, it says that "he went forward a little, and fell on the ground".

I don't know if we were allowed to watch from Heaven as this happened. I don't know if we were able to hear the plea in his voice, but I'm willing to bet that the moment that Jesus fell to the ground, Jesus, He who had never shown any sign of any weakness, that when he fell to the ground in fear and pain, all of us wanted to reach out to Him. I'm willing to bet that many of us were cringing as we watched our loving brother struggle... so much that he could not even stand.

As EVERY sin was thrust upon Him, he bled from every pore. 

Now, I want you to think about this for a second. 

What do you feel after you've sinned?

Guilt. Shame. Loneliness. Embarrassment. Regret. Pain. Depression. Fear. Anxiety. Loss of Love. Etc. 

He felt those for the first time that night.

But worst of all, He was cut off from God. 

And when you're cut off from God, you feel the full fury of Hell thrust upon you. You feel God's wrath. 

Jesus went to Hell for us. 

His whole body/soul was being crushed. He was bleeding out of every pore. Every part of His body should have been screaming to kill itself and give up the ghost. 

But He didn't. 

Most people say, "I'm grateful that Jesus died for me." 

I'm grateful for that too.

But, I'm most grateful that Jesus lived for me. I'm grateful that He didn't give up. I'm grateful that He held onto His life and completed the Atonement so that I could be saved. I'm grateful that Jesus took away the pains of Hell so I wouldn't have to feel them myself. I'm grateful that because of Jesus Christ, I can repent of my sins and return to live in Heaven. I'm grateful that He was risen from the dead and was victorious over the sting of death. I'm grateful that he lives today. 

Don't forget to be awesome! 

Love Inspired Correction

Today I'll be talking about John 14 and John 15.

First, I'd like to denote Jesus's character just moments before he goes to Gethsemane.
In verse 1, he tells his apostles "let your heart not be troubled"
If anybody should be worried, it's Jesus. He's about to suffer for all mankind! Yet, he tries to ease others before himself. I think this is a great example for all of us. We all have troubles and things to overcome. We're all busy. But! If we focus on others...even if their problems aren't as significant as ours, it actually does help. This is where service comes in :)
Service takes your mind off of yourself and puts love and focus on someone else. Service - also known as charity- is the pure love of Christ. So, if you are serving, you are focused on Christ.
Yay! Good job!
If you are focused on anything else but Christ i.e. yourself, television, games, websites, you are going the wrong direction. Whatever you are truly focused on, you will turn to in your spare time. So ask yourself, what are you doing in your spare time? That will give you the answer.

In John 15 Christ talks about cutting the branches off of a tree.

One of my absolute favorite message over this was given by Elder Christofferson. It is titled The Will of God.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr8xvw0cgw0

I don't think you can get a better explanation that.
Sometimes we are given trials and setbacks when we think we are doing so well.
The purpose of God "cutting" us down is so that we can refocus our energies to what will bear more fruit for the Kingdom of God.

So thank you Mr. Gardner for cutting me down, and loving me enough to hurt me.

We all need love-inspired correction.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Talented in Sufficiency

I think everyone who has a basic knowledge of the bible knows the story of the 10 Virgins - found in Matthew 25.

There is a TON of of symbolism in this story.

For starters, did you really ever think about why they were all virgins?
Virgins are clean and without major sin.
You NEED to be a virgin of sin to get to Jesus.
... but you need to be more than that.
Even though all of them were virgins, only half of them actually got into the wedding.

Being clean of sin is necessary, but not sufficient.

We need to be double prepared.

Anyway, more symbolisms!
We are betrothed to Jesus.
Guess who betrothed us? Heavenly Father.
The price for the bride (us) was paid for by the Atonement.

The comparisons are endless!

Moving on -
Also in Matthew 25 is the parable of the talents.

I want you to think of every major decision you have ever had to make.
Every major decision is based out of faith or fear.
Which ones were yours made out of?

5, 2,  and 1 were the amount of talents given to three different people.
I mean, that has always kind of bugged me. How was that fair?

Well, as it was explained to me, they all had different capacities and they received what got according to their ability.
This makes me feel better anyway.

Anyway, the guy with 5 talents acted in faith of the master's request and doubled his earnings as a reward. The guy with 2 talents did they same and doubled his reward to 4. - BOTH acting on faith.
The guy with 1 talent acted in fear and had his taken away.
Poor guy.
So have faith in what you're doing. I'd hate for your talents to be taken away.

Don't forget to be awesome!

For Elect's Sake!

The Pharisees always thought they were extremely righteous. That's why they didn't like it when Jesus told them what to do. For example, the Pharisees prayed all the time!
...except it was in public for excess amounts of time.
If they were really trying to make a connection with God, they would pray one on one in a meaningful manner, not in front of everyone to show how righteous they were.
No one likes that person who drags their prayer over the pulpit for five minutes.

In verse 13 of Matthew 23 it says they were "shut up from the Kingdom of God" Yes, they followed rules, but they were following so many that they were missing the point. Not only were they missing the point, but they were condemning people who weren't following the rules they made up.

You know how we have these rules that we are never to break?
So we create other smaller rules and boundaries for ourselves so that we don't break the big rule.
It's the same thing.
Which isn't a problem until you start judging people who don't follow the rules you do.
Not everyone has the same issues you do.
Relax.

The Second Coming has always been an interesting topic to me. Matthew 24 talks all about it. The signs and warnings can be both terrifying and interesting.

We've got wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes.
Next, we have persecutions, murder, betrayal, hate, false prophets, and iniquity.
Not to mention the darkened sun and moon ... plus the stars falling from heaven.

So that can be kind of scary.

Except Jesus didn't tell us all this stuff to scare us. He didn't want to scare us into righteousness so we wouldn't be burned or whatever.

Time and time again he says "for my elect's sake" - meaning he is telling us this so we won't be taken by surprise and be afraid when this stuff happens. He's telling us that these wars, earthquakes, etc. are going to happen and that we need to prepare ourselves.

Don't you love a good heads-up? I do.

Don't forget to be awesome :)

Being a Donkey

If you read my most recent post, you should now understand the relationship between Martha and Mary. If you haven't read it, go read it :)

Picking up a new Martha and Mary story in John 12, Jesus returns to Bathany where Martha and Mary lived.
Again, Martha was busily making supper while Mary was sitting dumping costly ointment onto Jesus's feet. This ointment costs 300 pence...which translates to 300 days work That's pretty much a year!
Judas then complains in verse 5, "why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?" (haha, as if that's his worry)
So here it goes again, finger pointing at Mary.
And Mary, probably feels bad, AGAIN.

Jesus rebuttals this accusation in verse 7 saying, "let her alone."

Jesus does not like it when we accuse or judge others, so stop it.

The story of Jesus riding on the donkey on Palm Sunday has never been one of very much interest to me, much less a miracle.
But think about it, how easy is it to ride a donkey?
Probably not.
How easy is it to ride a random donkey?
Probably even harder.

The fact that the apostles were able to find a random donkey, drape clothes over it, and that the donkey allowed Jesus to ride it's back surrounded by multitudes of people is pretty amazing.

Did you realize this is your story?

You're the donkey :)

The donkey was probably scared out of it's mind. It had never done this before. Being thrown into something like this would be extremely overwhelming.

Don't you feel that way sometimes?
Thrown into a new calling? Into a new job? A new parent?

No worries!

Everything turned out okay for the donkey, everything will turn out okay for you too. As long Jesus is on your back and directing you where to go, trust him, you will be okay.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Be true to yourself

If there was any of the fives senses I would not want to lose, it would be sight. I think it would be so hard! Imagine never knowing what colors were. Faces. The sky. Buildings.

In John 9, Jesus heals a blind man.
Imagine you're the one who's blind and you're standing outside of the temple. The rest of your senses are heightened to try and compensate the loss of your sight. So, as you are standing there, you can sense someone coming up to you. Then you hear that person spit onto the ground.

Maybe that's a little rude, spitting at you at stuff. I mean, you're blind.

Not only that, but you hear them pick up the clay that they have now created.

Personally, I would be worried they were going to throw it at me.

Not this guy though, he doesn't react.
He just stands there as Jesus comes closer and puts the smushed clay onto his blind eyes. Not only that, but he then tells the blind man to wash in the Silom pool...the furthest pool of water from the temple AND there were many, many steps. That's a tough journey for a blind guy.
Jesus is going to make you work for your salvation. That's how it's always been.

So after this miracle of the blind man washing and receiving his vision, the Pharisees decide to question him.
First of all, this man was healed on the Sabbath day. This is a big no, no to the Pharisees. How could someone who did this kind of work on the Sabbath be the son of God?
Jesus was a sinner for spitting on the ground during the Sabbath. He could not perform miracles.

Again and again these outside forces were questioning this blind man's faith and this miracle. However, his testimony was only strengthened.

A lot of the time, we think that outside forces will try and tempt us to lose faith in our testimony. Outside pressure isn't what causes our faith to shake, it's internal doubt.
If you know, and I mean really know something to be true, you are not going to abandon that truth.
If anything, those outside pressures are going to solidify what is true to you.
If you are already doubting what is being questioned, you'll begin to lose it.

As Elder Holland so boldly stated, "Be true to the faith you do have."

Transitioning to Luke 10 -the story of Mary and Martha-

As a woman, this story has always bugged me.

How was it all fair that Mary was considered the better part, when Martha was busy trying to make everything comfortable and pleasing to the Lord?
I mean, wasn't Martha being the better hostess? Isn't that how we are supposed to be? Doing something?!?

Then, in Sunday school we were told that it was more important to be listening to the Lord's word.
This was still unsettling to me.

It wasn't until my New Testament class that things made a little more sense to me.

Let's pretend to be Mary for a moment.
In verse 40, Martha says "Lord, dost though not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me."

Okay.

Totally awkward.

Oops! I probably should be helping my sister.
She probably feels totally embarrassed. I would.

But remember that Jesus never congratulates the condoner. He never says to the Pharisees, Scribes or Saducees, Oh, you're right. So-and-so, go and do this. 
Nope.
So when Martha points a finger at Mary, Jesus doesn't tell her she is right.

What if Jesus was telling Martha to be Martha and let Mary be Mary.
We aren't all the same person. We have different strengths and do different things.

I know I'm extremely guilty of this. I get frustrated when people aren't doing what I'm doing.
I know what I'm doing is the right thing, so why can't they be like me?!
Because not everyone is me.
No one is me, but me.

Mary and Martha were both doing good things. The chastising came when one of them pointed a finger at the other telling them to be different.

I feel much better looking at it this way. The focus shouldn't be trying to better other people, but to better yourself.
Being different isn't a bad thing.
Focus on your own strengths and weaknesses, not others.

Don't forget to be awesome!

The Faith of a Woman

By Matthew 15, Jesus is pretty much a celebrity. You've got the haters (Scribes and Pharisees) as well as his fans (apostles and other followers). You can imagine that many people were seeking out Christ for miracles and teachings. Typically, we think of Jesus as a pretty nice guy, right? He blesses, heals, strengthens, forgives, etc. Which is why Matthew 15 is a bit surprising in regards to Jesus's character.

Staring in verse 22, a woman of *Canaan decent approaches Jesus saying her daughter is sick.
*Note - this means she is a Canaanite and of different decent (stuck with darker skin). Despite her different race (and there is a lot of racism at this time), she still had the courage to seek out Jesus.

In other stories Jesus would act according to her faith, telling her according to her faith her daughter would be healed. However, he doesn't do that in this story...at least not at first.

In the very next verse it says that, "but he answered not a word." Jesus was not paying any attention to her. How incredibly disappointing. This was supposed to be the almighty Jesus who could calm the seas, heal the sick, cure the blind, and be a friend to all mankind, yet, he wasn't listening to this woman who was pleading for his help.

Then in verse 25, she drops down and begins to worship Jesus saying, " Lord, help me." At this point, she would have had every reason/right to turn around grumbling about the so-called "Jesus Christ." Instead, she pushes her faith even further and worships Him. I think we could all learn to be a little bit more like this woman. If there are challenges standing in our way, disappointments, frustration, keep standing firm and don't give up. In the words of Elder Holland, "doubt your doubts, before you doubt your faith"
This woman knew that Jesus would help her.

Yet, in verse 26 Jesus responds to her worshipping with, "... It is not meet to take the children's bread, and cast it to dogs."
Okay, I think at this point I would have been totally insulted and probably given up.
This woman is way stronger than I am. She responds saying, "Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs, which fall from their masters' table."
Wow. What an example of complete faith. Even when the answer was no, she showed all of her testimony, even if it was just crumbs.

So finally, after three attempts of getting Jesus to heal her daughter, in verse 28 Jesus says "O woman, great is they faith: be it unto thee even as though wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

Is it possible that Jesus knew all along that he was going to heal her daughter? Maybe.
 I do think that also He wanted to test the woman's faith and see how far she would go, laying out her testimony and then solidifying it for herself.
If every time we asked for something, and Jesus just gave it to us, we would become (as my professor so graciously put it) spoiled spiritual brats. He wants us to work for it and not be greedy just because we asked Him for help. Remember that.

Don't forget to be awesome!

All who wonder, really are lost.

One of the best parts of the Bible is all the parables. Parables are so great because they allow us to learn lessons in the form of a story, making it easier to remember them. Another really great thing about parables is that they allow us to make personal connections. One misconception that a lot of people, myself included, think that parables have a lot of different interpretations, they don't. Parables only have one interpretation. However, they do have an infinite amount of applications. That is what makes them so cool!

The parables I find the most interesting are what are known as the "lost" parables found in Luke 15. They are known as the lost parables because in each story, something is lost; a sheep, a coin, and a son. Together, these also three make up the 3 ways to leave Jesus Christ.
 1. The first parable is the sheep that wonders off from the rest of the heard. Mind you, this was a slow process. I really don't think that the sheep woke up that morning and decided to leave the safety of it's herd and try and survive on its own. More than likely, the sheep became too focused on what was in front of it (what it was eating) thus drifting farther and farther away without looking up and rechecking where it was. The sheep was more interested in what it wanted, than it's own safety. In verse 4, it says, "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"
I don't know about you, but this really bothered me growing up.
Why should we risk leaving 99 good sheep just to go get 1 lousy sheep that wondered off?
I finally have a good answer, and hopefully this makes sense to you too. The 99 other sheep all have each other. They should be able to strengthen and protect each other. If the shepherd has to leave, the sheep are being trusted to carry on what they are doing and rely on each other for guidance. However, the lost sheep needs extra help to come back. The lost sheep has no one to look to. Hopefully that helps clear that up, because it definitely helped me!
2. Is about the lost coin. In this parable, a woman turns her house upside-down looking for a coin she misplaced. This "person" was lost because of neglect. Someone did not do their job. It makes me sad, but the only reason the coin became lost was because someone did not care enough to remember who/where it was. Whether this be not loving a person in our congregations or not opening our mouths when we were supposed to, souls can be lost. People always need to be looked after and cared for. It is our duty.
3. The Prodigal Son. This lost soul didn't wonder off. It wasn't misplaced either. Instead, it just flat out rebelled. This one chose to leave. Instead of caring about the relationship with his father, the son only cared about the here and now and what he, himself wanted. Referring to an earlier post, he wanted instant gratification to make him happy. The problem is, instant gratification (or sin) will always leave you in want. You can never fully be happy, because it is not eternal. The difference between the wonderers and misplaced is that for them, you can go find them and invite them back into the fold. For those who rebel, reaching out to them only pushes them farther away.
Have you ever tried to convince someone who has purposefully left the church to come back? Sinned? How often does it work? It doesn't.
The hard part about this, is that the lost have to come back for themselves. They have to learn the lesson for themselves. The most we can do is to do as the father did, and pray/watch for them to return.

That's it for this week. Don't forget to be awesome :)

At least you aren't a pig

One of my favorite stories is found in Mark 4:36-41. This is the story of Jesus and his disciples on the boat crossing to Capernum when it starts to storm. The apostles start to panic and think they are going to die. It's interesting that they are so frightened when their profession is fishing. They are on boats all the time! It must have been pretty bad for them to be shaken up. However,  they failed to realize that there is NO way they are going to drown when Jesus is with them.  Heavenly Father and Jesus aren't going to let them fail if they are with Christ. 

Like the apostles, we often feel overwhelmed. We get scared, think we are going to fail, and possibly drown. I know everyone feels this way. How many times do we think to ourselves 'I can't do this anymore' or 'I'm failing at everything" ? It happens all the time in school, family life, and our professions. We need to remember that if we are in Jesus's boat, He is not going to let us drown. We are pushed and tested to prove our faith. Sometimes, it is a reminder of where we should be focused. 

I also find Legion's story very interesting. He's the guy who has been possessed by many devils. It has driven him to the point of uncontrollable despair. I sort of feel bad for the guy. However, I want to think about the devils for a moment here. They are spirits and they don't have bodies. They will never have bodies. There is nothing they wouldn't do to be able to have a body of flesh and bone. They will tempt anyone and everyone so they can get inside and reside within a body. They don't care about the body shape, size, color, skill etc. They don't care what it looks like, because without flesh and bone, you can't progress. Our body was a gift from God for our spirit to reside in. We take our gift of a body for granted. 

We complain about the way we look. 

We complain that we wanted straight hair instead of curly. 

We complain that we are the wrong size. 

We complain that we are too tall or too short. 

You know how insulting that must be for God? From a young age we are taught that when we are given a gift, we are to graciously accept it and be thankful. Our body is a gift from God, we should appreciate everything about it. 

When Legion asked Jesus to release the spirits from him, the devils asked Jesus, "...Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them." The spirits would rather have a pigs body, than no body at all. That is how important having a body is. So, love yourself. Be happy you have a body. They are important. 

Don't forget to be awesome!

2 Tips of the Mount

If you search "perfection" on dictionary.com, it will define it as, the highest proficiency, skill, or excellence, as in some art. Typically, when we think of Christ, we think of him as the only perfect being who has walked this earth. While we take Him to be our perfect example, He excluded Himself as being perfect during his early earthly ministry. 
In Matthew 5:48, it says, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" Notice that He immediately referred to Heavenly Father as the only perfect being. 

You may be wondering, "But Jesus never sinned! How can He not be perfect as well?"
Jesus had a different definition of being perfect. To be perfect, you had to be complete. Think of it as a download. You start at 0% and climb to 100%. Until you are at that 100%, your "mission" is not complete and it will fail. Often times, during our download, we have hiccups, bugs, buffers, etc. that make hinder us from completing our task. However, Jesus did not have all these blemishes, instead He had the task of completing the Atonement before he could become 100% complete. There was still more for Him to accomplish, so He wasn't considered perfect. Luckily for us, Jesus gave us steps to erase our imperfections...THE BEATITUDES!!! 

Seriously though. If you look at it, the beatitudes could be an outline for us to follow and become perfect like him. It's not just each group of people receiving blessings, it's Him wanting us to receive all the blessings by gaining each attribute! So cool.

Another thing we talked about was in Matthew 5:29-30, they say, "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast in from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell." "And if they right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of they members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."
Reading these, I first thought, "Oh, that would be really painful to pluck out your eye or cut off your hand. Better not offend God if it will be worst than that! Yikes."
But there is so much more to learn! The particular selection of the eye and the hand is actually quit interesting. Think about it.

The eye is a major source for input in your life. The sight your eye gives you, puts in a large portion of knowledge into your brain. Your eyes help create the world around you. What is the counsel here? If whatever you are inputting into your life offends God, PLUCK IT OUT! There is no other way. God is telling us it is much easier to be half blind and get to heaven than have full vision also being swallowed in sin.

The hand is a major output for your life. You use your hands to effect the world around you. Your hands were given to you to do good in the world. What is the counsel here? If we are using our hands to offend God, CUT IT OFF! This could mean harming others, denying the gospel, or even being idle in our time. We were placed on this earth to do good with our time. If we are so caught up in playing games, watching shows, etc... in other words doing NOTHING, how offended will God be when we come back to heaven so much wasted potential? It would have been better to fully cut off whatever wasted output we have than lose the potential bonds/love we could have experienced otherwise.

The virtual addictions have to stop (this also includes pornography). I cannot even begin to describe how much wasted time goes online. Sometimes, the only way to get rid of the addiction, is to do exactly what Jesus says, and pluck/cut it out of our life.
"But not having a smart phone/tablet/laptop is super inconvenient! We need these things today!"
...yeah well so would be losing an eye or hand. This is what Jesus counsels us to do. I suggest we do it.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Rebuilding OUR temple

 This year I am taking New Testament as my religion class at BYU. For part of it, we are required to write a reflection each week about something we have learned. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to put those writing/thoughts onto my blog. So, here ya go :) 

This week we read in Matthew 4. This is the story of Jesus fasting for 40 days and then is tempted by the devil. One thing that stuck out to me was that Satan and God have different ways to make us happy. Satan will appeal to us in instantaneous gratification. Instantaneous gratification is to experience the pleasure of something you wanted without delay. Basically, we get whatever we want at that moment without thinking about the past or future, a.k.a always living in the now. God, on the other hand, tells us to trust him. He even tells us that if we follow him, it won't be easy. That alone can cause others to stray from the light of Christ. Today, our world is so used to getting things instantaneously. We have lightning fast internet, ovens, light, phones, etc. If there is any sort of delay, we easily become frustrated and fussy. This is a huge advantage for Satan. If we are down and distraught, it is easy to fill the agony with drugs or being some place we should not be...something that will fix the pain immediately. While this indulgence will last for hours, or maybe days, it is not eternal. God wants us to follow him, step by step, until we are perfected by Him. The joy we will feel at the end of the journey to Him, will be far greater than any instantaneous gratification we would ever experience. 

It would have been so easy for Jesus to fall into the enticings of instant gratification. In Matthew 4:6 it says, "And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: an in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash they foot against a stone."

It was not easy for Jesus to gain followers in the beginning of his ministry. Many mocked him, thought him to be a fraud, and cast him out. If he were to through himself off the pinnacle and an angel to come and catch him, all of the people below would witness miracle. Witnessing miracles is a quick way to convert someone. Jesus would have had an instant following, a lot less work for Jesus. However, as we know, witnessing miracles is not enough to convert souls forever. Moses's people witnessed many, many miracles. The plagues, parting of the Red Sea, manna from heaven, etc. Yet, they were not strong enough and strayed from Gospel of Christ. The best way to convert people, is by small and simple things. 

We also covered John 2. This chapter covers Jesus cleansing the temple. In verse 19 it says, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." This can apply metaphorically to our lives as well. In church we learn that our body is a temple. Jesus can come and clean inside our "temple" just as he did for the temple in Jerusalem. Our temples are blemished with sins and temptations. If we let him, Jesus can cleanse our temple through the atonement. However, just as it was for the temple in Jerusalem, it is not a pleasant process to go through. He will "pour out" parts of us that we have held onto for so long. He will "overthrow" our habits and "drive away" anything that is not inline with heaven. This is so powerful. He can rebuild us and make us as pure as himself and our Father in heave. The Atonement can do this for all of us. 

Don't forget to be awesome(: 

To be a "Y's" man is to be a wise man

I never thought I'd be the typical blogging Mormon, yet, here I am. I'm beginning my Sophomore year at BYU. It has already been a whirlwind of crazy adventures and learning opportunities. This year I am taking New Testament for my religion class. As part of it, we are required to write a reflection each week of something we have learned. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to put those writing/thoughts onto my blog. So, here ya go :) 

This week we celebrated Christmas as we studied the birth of Christ. I love the story of Christ’s birth, but more in particular, the story of Mary and Joseph.  The amount of faith that Mary had to have after being told that she would be in charge of the life of the Son of God, would be incomprehensible. Could you imagine being told as a very young virgin, that not only were you going to have a baby, but a baby that would be the redeemer of all mankind? The pressure would have overwhelmed me, as I would suspect it would for most of us. Luke 2:19 says, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” Ponder in the footnotes means to study, pray, and meditate. What an example Mary is to us. When the impossible happened, she turned more unto the Lord for guidance. On the other account, Joseph would have had to have an incredibly compassionate heart to obey the Lord’s command and go to Mary. Put in his shoes, I would have so many doubts. How could this even be possible? I would like to testify that the Lord knows us better than we know ourselves. He will qualify us in whatever we are called to do. Whether that is be a Primary teacher, a Bishop, the parents of a disabled child, or even a student, he guide us with angels on our left and our right, as long as we put our faith in Him first.

My professor, Brother Griffin, made this really great analogy of the wise men. As students of BYU we are all “Y’s” men. For us, it is not enough for us to hear about God, we need to earnestly seek him as the wise men did. Like the wise men, we offer him gifts. Not expensive physical gifts as the wise men did, but expensive spiritual gifts of a broken heart and contrite spirit.  With the title of being a “Y’s” man, we are the wise men of today. What an amazing comparison!

In closure, I’d like to leave you with my favorite scripture from this week. Luke 2:52 says, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” If you pay attention to this verse, he progressed in four different areas: wisdom, stature, God and man. In other words, he is expanding his mind (intelligence), body (physically), spiritually (God) and socially (family/friends). Is this not the areas we are to better ourselves in as well? What a perfect example for us to follow. If we are to become like Him, this verse gives us a basic outline of what we are to do.  

Why I didn't go on a mission

I get asked this question a lot, "Why aren't you on a mission? You should go!"

I know, I've heard this probably a hundred times. Everyone goes on a mission now. I should go too. Almost everyone my age has received their mission calls and are now serving the Lord by teaching people all over the world what the gospel is. The age group between 18-21 is almost non-existent because they have all left.

I felt like I was being left behind. 

Don't get me wrong, I want to go. I think it would be amazing to be in complete service of my God, teaching others the wonderful news the Gospel brings. I want to share the joy and peace it brings me. I'm completely a mission supporter 100% of the way. Most of my closest friends are out on missions and I long to be doing the same thing. I think everyone who knows they are supposed to go on a mission, should go.

 I just don't think it's for me. 

For a while, I tried to force myself on the mission boat. Getting to hear many of my friends open their calls to exotic places and speak foreign languages was so inspiring! I wanted it to be my call every time one was opened.

There was this one night after hearing a mission call opening, I returned to my room and had a panic attack. I couldn't get the thought of going on a mission out of my mind. But the more I thought about it, the more stressed I felt. I couldn't concentrate on anything else except that I should get started on my mission papers and catch up to everyone else. I was feeling so incredibly pressured, panicked and a little sick to my stomach. I read some scriptures and kept saying to myself, "This is just nerves, or Satan telling you not to go." 

I then thought and prayed about what would happen if I stayed here. I felt so much peace. I felt as if something had calmed the storm that had been waging war inside of me for a few months. I wasn't worried anymore. I can't explain it in words, but I felt like I was supposed to stay. I realized I could still change lives and teach people around me. For some reason I had a greater calling to stay here and not go. I promised myself I would find people who crossed my path and be open about my beliefs. While it is still too early in my life to know why I wasn't supposed to go, I can see the small rippling effects of my example being here. I'm glad I stayed. If I had left I would have missed out on opportunities to share the gospel with those I have already found. I don't have to tell people I don't know if I'm going on a mission yet, because I can say I'm serving here. I still have the opportunity to answer questions and post videos, quotes and scriptures on social media. 

...I almost feel like serving a mission is a certain status placement now. Like, if you don't go, you aren't as strong as the rest of everyone who went. 

Missionaries actually need references and help finding people to teach. That's their biggest problem. With a large portion of the young adults being gone, there is not a lot of people still here to be that example, influence, or plant the seeds of the gospel. That can be me. That can be you. That can be all of us. Missionaries still need support from young people while they are out. Part of my service here, is writing to them. I send my favorite quotes and scriptures when they are going through a hard patch. I listen and pray for them. I send jokes, stories and ask random questions to keep Mondays fun and interesting. Sometimes I feel like writing everyone on their mission...is a full time mission.

So when people ask, "Why haven't you gone on a mission yet?" 

I can say, "I'm on a mission. It's just not the same one you are on."

BYU part 1

I've been to a lot of places and seen a lot of faces. 

Most of my summers have consisted of traveling around the U.S or even outside of it. Adventures has always been one of my family's favorite things to do. However, up until August 2013 I always had the same home to come back to. My family never moved. 

Leaving home was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I was leaving my 3 younger siblings to go on with their lives without me. It was crushing. I was going to a college where my family was over a thousand miles away and I was solely going alone. On top of everything being new and me being completely lost, I am introvert. I was terrified. However, I had heard so many wonderful and exciting stories of BYU. 

"It's the best time in your life!"

"You'll never be happier!!!"

While I believed in BYU as some sort of fairy-tale, I felt like I was leaving one behind in Oklahoma. 

My first semester was one of the most trying times in my life. Perhaps this was because I tried so hard to be someone I'm not, or maybe it was because I didn't have the support of a mother anymore. I felt like I was carrying the whole weight of the apartment on my shoulders and slipping in school. On top of all this, EVERYONE was dating...except me. I mean, I went on dates. It wasn't ever successful though. Stressful. 

I remember staring at the ceiling with my heart aching. I wasn't as pretty as everyone else at BYU, I couldn't compete. I didn't have the social skills, special talents, intelligence or spiritual aura the rest had. 

It wore me down piece by piece, day after day. 

I made friends, well a best friend. I was blessed with the tender mercy of having a roommate who was just enough like me that we were best friends, but also different so we didn't butt heads. I immediately felt like I could talk to her about everything. We'd lay on our beds and talk into the wee hours of the morning about life. Family, love, our worries, fears and future. If I didn't have her, I think I would have given up and gone to live at home. I don't think it was an accident that we were roommates. We were set up by a family who lives in my town and told me we should be roommates. Call it destiny or fate, but we both needed each other. God looks out for us, he always has :) 

But I struggled with my other two roommates. They were nothing like me. Now looking back, I think they were my roommates to teach me things so that I wouldn't have to go through those things myself. I quickly learned to clean after myself and dating wasn't what it all it was cracked up to be. I became an expert listener as I heard sob stories and a teacher when asked for advice. 

I learned to love the mountains. They were magical as I watched them turn from green to golden colors of red, brown and yellow then finally to white. I've always been in love with snow, it's so peaceful as it falls from the sky. You can always see God's beauty when it snows.

Here are a few things I learned my first semester:

1. Any boy can break your heart if you give them the power to.

2. I'm not even close to as smart as I thought I was.

3. Roommates make or break your semester. 

4. God is there, God is always there for you. 

5. You can ALWAYS call home too :)

Online Etiquette - Keeping it Instafresh

In recent events, I have decided to dedicate my blog to thoughts on what is SOCIALLY acceptable on SOCIAL media. 

This is not professional in any manner or meant to be offensive in anyway. My intention is to inform the general public that there are unspoken rules of using Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. and I see these rules broken more than I would like.

Instagram is probably my favorite social media out there. I love it so much because it usually isn't full of clutter like Facebook or Twitter. This is because Instagram is set to share only photos or videos. No status updates, page ads, friends who liked links, etc. Instagram is clean with a picture/video and a caption. 

Until someone screenshots a status, tweet or note and posts it as a picture. 

Do you people not get it? That is what Facebook and Twitter are for. Chances are, the people who follow you and Instagram are probably on your Facebook or Twitter too. We've already seen it, and now I'm seeing it twice. Instagram is for actual pictures of actual life. Keep your statuses and tweets where you originally wrote them. 

What I find even worse is the people who have gone around that and create a note, screenshot it, and upload it to Instagram. There is a reason that Instagram does not have a place to only write an update about your life. As my faithful site Wikipedia defines Instagram,"It is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables it users to take pictures and videos, apply digital filters to them, and share them on a variety of social networking services." The main purpose is photos and videos, that is all. 

Which brings me to another point. Do not post memes. Ever. I will admit I did post one a year and a half ago...but I made it and I'm the one in the picture. I also fell trap to posting the memes about finals back in the day. Those were deleted when I realized they don't belong on Instagram. KEEP THEM AWAY. 

Instagram also has this day theme every week. 

Man Candy Monday

Transformation Tuesday

Woman Crush Wednesday

Throwback Thursday 

...etc...every week.

I've always found this kind of odd. 

I really don't mind if you do post using the #mcm or #tbt but, for the love, please do not post the same man or women every week of your significant other. One thing I can not stand is seeing the caption, " My #mcm every week" No. Just stahp. Don't use celebrities every week either. They don't even know you exist. 

You can't say that I don't understand celebrity crushes. Because, honey, I do. I'm a strong fan girl of many fandoms. I don't feel the need to plaster their face for everyone else though, just my desktop will do.

And don't you ever "#fbf to last weekend!" NO. No, no, no, no, no. You should have posted that last weekend. DO NOT WAIT A WEEK JUST TO RELIVE IT AGAIN WHEN WE ALREADY SAW PICTURES A WEEK AGO. Go, do something new this weekend and then let me know about it. 

I always did like a clean Instagram. So hows about some spring cleaning?

Online Etiquette - How Pinteresting are you?

In recent events, I have decided to dedicate my blog to thoughts on what is SOCIALLY acceptable on SOCIAL media. 

This is not professional in any manner or meant to be offensive in anyway. My intention is to inform the general public that there are unspoken rules of using Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. and I see these rules broken more than I would like.

I will admit, Pinterest is addicting. It has something for everybody. You don't have to be crafty, fit, artistic, intelligent, rich, etc. to use it. Really, Pinterest is used to form ideas into your head. To help oneself to become more recreational. I recently took a Communications class at Brigham Young University. The Professor asked the class, "I want you and a partner to come up with a list, in order, of the top influential social media sites." Facebook was at the bottom of the list. I don't know about you, but I rarely feel inspired to do anything while scrolling through a jumbled mess of so-and-so liked this picture and so-and-so was tagged in 3 photos. The top influential website was Pinterest, followed by Tumblr. So, if Pinterest is so influential, why does it only have 70 million users compared to Facebook's 1.4 billion? Well, because it is designed to draw in the female demographic. 

Pinterest has this stigma of being girly. I hate that. Yes, it has wedding stuff and home crafts, but it also has home repair tricks, hilarious photos, gadgets, workout routines, etc. I don't know why it has been deemed for girls only but I guess, why is video games deemed only for boys?

If you Urban Dictionary Pinterest you will find the definition -a social networking site that allows you to figuratively "pin" pictures of your likes/interests in a simple, organized fashion. Organized. That is the main influential factor of Pinterest. It allows the user to organize and visualize ideas they like into different categories so they are an easy find when needed. No one is going to plan their wedding, birthday party or home from start to finish with their pins on Pinterest. That would be absurd. What Pinterest is actually used for is to look and pin what you like, for example, styles, color schemes, photos, etc. Then after getting an idea of what ideas capture your interest, you put it all together and creat your own thing. Hence being influential. 

Being influential is not what I have beef about with some Pinterest users. What I am opposed to is the users who decide to pin 50+ pins from the same category in one sitting. Whether it is interesting to me or not, it is completely overwhelming. 

If I am seeing a 100 quilt designs or 45 pictures of the same celebrity, I'm not feeling inspired. I'm feeling like I need to frantically scroll to where I can see anything else besides the same thing over and over. It gets old real quick. Plus, I know there is no way any one individual is going to go back and find that one pin that they really liked. Pinterest should be used for the ideas that get the mind to whirl, not give you every cake idea under the sun. If you want to pin a bunch of the same thing, just mix and match! Pin a recipe here, a quote there, an outfit, and then another recipe. That way, we're all not overwhelmed on the receiving end of your pins. 

The not so ironic thing about Pinterest is that the purpose of it is in the name itself. Pinterest.  Find the things that interest you and share them with anyone who follows you. Don't shove your favorite celebrity down the rest of our throats; that is what hidden boards are for. Use Pinterest to inspire your fellow pinners to paint their nails, not drive them to see every design possible. If they wanted to see all  the designs for themselves, they could just search for it in the search bar. 

So, let's keep things Pinteresting for all of us, and we could be pin-pals. 

Online Etiquette - The Facebook Baby

In recent events, I have decided to dedicate my blog to thoughts on what is SOCIALLY acceptable on SOCIAL media.

This is not professional in any manner or used to be offensive in anyway. My intention is to inform the general public that there are unspoken rules of using Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc and I see these rules broken more than I would like. 

The first thing I would like to address is mother's forcing their children down your throat. Okay, I will admit I am not a mother. However, I do love children and I absolutely support motherhood. I think moms rock! I know for sure when I have kids that I want my friends to know how rockin' of a mom I am and that my kids are totally awesome. Mom's do so much for their kids and they deserve to have their accomplishment's realized. Mom's love their kids so much! 

...but do you have to love them 5 times a day on Facebook or Instagram? No. What cracks me up the most is that the kids don't actually have a Facebook or see any of this stuff until they are older... which the public has already seen...how embarrassing! There isn't any tagging and sharing with the kids like Facebook and Instagram is supposed to be used for. The over excessive kid pictures seem to be just a ploy to obtain more likes or notice on the web. "Oh I love them so much!!!" Really now? Did they know how much you love them, because, yes, you stated it to the whole world but they didn't see that. 

I'm kidding though. Of course you love them :)

Babies are so darn cute! I could hold one all day if anyone asked me, but if I am scrolling for 30 seconds and seeing the same child's face with the captions "just woke up :)", "lunch time", "play time", "he loves his dog", "aw, he fell asleep on the floor", "daddy is home! Yay!", "bath time", and "bed time". Please, for the love, no one needs to see a picture of everything your kid does that day.  And for heaven's sake do not put photos of the aftermath of an accident. We don't want to see your kids crying faces with scratches, bruises, sickness, rashes, broken bones, etc. I mean how am you supposed to respond to that? You can't "like" it. -Yay, kids look great with scrapes on their face!- The only thing you can do is comment, "Ow, I'm so sorry they hurt themselves." ...which is usually what the first 3 comments say but with different wording. I'm willing to bet the parents are already sorry that their child is hurt. So why post a picture? A plea for pity?

However, I do love seeing kids winning awards, taking their first bath, making huge messes, playing sports, and celebrating birthdays... and I really love seeing moms IN pictures with their kids. If you spend you're whole life behind the lens trying to capture every moment, you'll miss the actual moment and only remember it through the screen of a phone camera.

 I, too, have experience with missing moments. I wish that I would not have lived through so many lake days, holidays, and vacations trying to snap pictures for memories because my greatest recollection of those moments have ended up being the taking-pictures part. 

Annie Leibovitz, an american photographer, said, "The camera makes you forget you're there. It's not like you are hiding but you forget, you are just looking so much."

I like this quote a lot because sometimes I forget to just sit and watch the sunset instead of taking picture after picture trying to get the perfect lighting. 

I'm not saying to never take pictures; I'm just saying take less. Keep the moments for yourself, don't give them to the camera. Be selfish. Those are your kids, not Facebook's. Don't "share" all your moments because it's your story, not ours. 

Our Future and Awkwardly Facetiming

I've often wondered what our future will be like. Being the first generation to grow up fully submerged in technology we will be able to watch our fellow high school grow up, get married, land jobs and have kids. Our posts, tweets, pictures, and videos will live on in the past as a sort of dialog about our life. ...sort of like this blog! :D

I first started thinking about this when Amy (my freshman BYU roommate) and I started a vlog on YouTube. The thought occurred to me that my future kids could go back and watch me in moments when I was at college. HOW STRANGE!
The most I was ever able to get was the letters my mom wrote while she was at college, which were actually quite hilarious. It would be SO cool to see my mom talking to the camera when she was just a fresh college kid, instead of always being my mom.
I could see past boyfriends/girlfriends, family vacations, hit videos and songs that were happening in that era. Anyway, it was just a weird thought for me.

Onto story time! So Amy and I were sitting together trying to watch Pushing Daisies and while we trying to figure it out I got a phone call from our other roommate, Katy, who was a bit lost finding our mail. Anyway, we tried FaceTiming so we could see where she was at and direct her where to go.
*ring-a-ling* *ring-a-ling-a-ling* someone answers annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd IT'S NOT KATY. This older woman popped up on the screen and was like "hello!" 
...........
......................
...................................... oh brother.
We just kinda looked awkwardly at the screen and I sort of muffle/whisper to Amy, "where's Katy?"
I guess the lady realized we didn't mean to call because she said "I think you have the wrong number."
*awkward looks between the three of us* Amy says, "Uh, oops, Kaybye." As soon as she hung up I about peed myself laughing so hard. I was down on the ground unable to handle what just happened. C'est la vie.
Although I'm not sure why you would pick up a facetime from an unknown caller but that just happened.

Blogging old school

Perhaps I will start blogging again. Not for the heck of it in the random numbered happenings of my life anymore but more like I used to, with stories and moments of my life rather than facts of it.
Also, I do this for myself. I write for my enjoyment because writing used to be my way of journaling out my feelings and a way of self-reflection.

So my first thought for today! I've watched a lot of crime shows. Actually, I think I just prefer crime shows to any normal T.V. show because it makes me think. My dad introduced me to the show Psych a few years ago and I busted out a season every weekend and it just got to the point where it was all so predictable. I thought maybe the show had just gotten lazy? That could be the case but I remember watching other crime show episodes in class, telling my neighbors of who the culprit was and the astounded looks I got when I was always dead on.
*story time*
(If you haven't seen Psych, I recommend it. Basically, it's this guy who has amazing observation skills for details and he uses them to solve crimes, sorta Sherlockian)
It was lunch time and I sat with people I really didn't know. You see, that's the trouble of dating someone older than you in high school, at least for me, we didn't have the same friends. There was this girl who always sat directly across from me. The only thing I knew about her was her name and that she was dating someone. On this particular day I wanted to get to the table first and observe what I could from people as they sat down. There was this girl who always sat directly across from me, Christina, the only think I knew about her was her name and that she was currently dating someone. As she approached the table and set her backpack down I noticed animal hairs on the bottom of her bag. She had cats.
And that is the story of the day that I correctly made a deduction and was Sherlock.
Speaking of Sherlock...

I've been obsessed with a lot of shows in my lifetime. Actually, I'm just obsessed with a lot of things. There are few questions that I hate more than those that start with "What is your favorite...." Honestly, how the flip am I supposed to pick just ONE out of hundreds of choices in flavors, music, movies, etc.
But I actually do have a favorite something.
In fact, I'm convinced it's the most brilliant show ever written.
Sherlock on BBC is the most beautifully, crafted show I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Even with my expert crime television skills I have only been able to solve one episode before it was all revealed.
What's crazy is that the first time I watched it I thought that Sherlock, played by Benedict Cumberbatch was the most sickly, alien looking person I have ever seen *um ew* but now I'm madly in love with this man. They say once you fall in love with someone's mind you never fall for looks again (although I'm inclined to believe that looks have an advantage).
What is magical about this show?
The episodes are more like movies, a solid 90-ish minutes per episode. This allows enough time for plots to be extremely clever.
It's British and who doesn't love those accents?
The dynamic between John Watson and Sherlock shatters every friendship I've ever seen. Despite all of the cruel and unusual things Sherlock has done to Watson, John always, ALWAYS trusts him. He thinks highly of Sherlock when no one else does, including Sherlock. Even Sherlock who seems to have no concern for anyone is bothered when John takes interest in anyone but himself. It's actually kind of adorable watching him be a smidge jealous for once.
The villain is probably the scariest man I've dealt with. He's not scary looking with crazy pointed teeth or anything. It's more like the calm and collected person who has every move calculated and then he goes insane because THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE DO and then comes right back down to being civilized.
But that's not all what makes this show worth it. It's the fandom. Once you enter Sherlock you are sucked in by all the madness of theories and jokes. It sort of feels like being adopted into a family if you will. I feel an immediate bond once I find out someone watches Sherlock. The best way I can describe it is *you feel all the emotional craziness I do* :)
In short, if you're Sherlocked, no matter who you are, we are family.