How I Found My Wedding Shoes

I have never been good at decision making. 

Not that I make poor decisions. 

It’s the little, everyday, decisions that trouble me. The ones that don’t effect your day much, but you still think about it.

Like smiling at a stranger. 

Staying home instead of going out.

Saying something in church. 

Going to a different store first instead of the one you planned. 

Changing your route home. 

Sometimes I’ll regret it. Sometimes I won’t think about it ever again. 

When I end up following my usual schedule despite these feelings, nothing happens anyway. When I follow these thoughts that cross my mind, nothing happens either. 

I’ll often hear these stories of “I followed this prompting and something amazing happened, etc”

But I think I’ve had a hard time distinguishing between my own thoughts and promptings I might be having. 

My brain just likes to overthink these little decisions and sometimes I’ll stress about it. 

This has been my life for twenty years. 

Recently, I’ve had kick in being more diligent and meaningful about my prayers. During this change, I’ve not only decided to change in my prayer habits, but to change as a person in other ways as well. This last week I prayed for opportunities to follow promptings. 

Shortly after this change, I felt after a Relief Society lesson that I should thank the teacher for the lesson. 

Even though my heart was beating like mad in my chest, I did it anyway. 

I felt good about it afterwards :) I even hugged her!

My sister and I decided to take a random shopping trip. We both had been stuck at home most of the week. Our first stop is always Rue 21, because we usually score pretty big there and don’t end up going other places.

While we were there, I found plenty of clothes for a decent price. I’d definitely wear them and I’d be getting it all for about 30$. 

This was about normal for me. 

Except I had this feeling to not buy any of it. Confused, I went and tried them on again. They didn’t have any weird stains, and they fit me fine. 

But, I still didn’t feel like buying them, so I put everything back on the rack and told Celeste I simply didn’t feel like I should get them.

Together, we walked to the store next door, Payless. 

Immediately going to my size section, I found these beautiful white shoes. Actually, they were perfect for a wedding. They had silver gems and were something I could wear without dying too much. They were pretty, I liked them.

Unbanounced to me, I would be finding my wedding shoes that day. I wasn’t going looking for them, they just happened to be right there... for the same price of $30! (They were on sale!!!!) 

If I hadn’t put the clothes back, I would have either spent double, or completely skipped going to the store altogether. 

Even though it wasn’t anything significant, I felt like I was given an opportunity to follow a simple prompting. 

I encourage everyone to pray for opportunities to change for the better in some way. Whether it to be have a chance to practice forgiveness, patience, or promptings :) I promise God will give you ways to grow, sometimes you just have to ask.

Don’t forget to be awesome!

Numbers

W.E.B Du Bois said, "When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading books. You will be reading meanings."

In the scriptures we see a lot of repeated numbers. This year, I finally started paying attention, and I've learned some meanings along the way :) 

Three is usually associated with heaven. For instance, the Godhead has three members. There are three degrees of heaven. There are three degrees within the Celestial kingdom. Three is also superlative, meaning, if something is repeated three times, you better dang pay attention because it's important. Superlative is the highest degree of something. 

Four is associated with earth, creation, and nature. There are four corners of the earth, four seasons, four directions, four elements... all these amazingly powerful essences wrapped up in the nice square package of four. 

Six is just short of perfection (next paragraph). Because six isn't whole, it is considered to be evil and bad. Make the number 666 (superlative!) and it's the ultimate evil... thus Satan's number.  

Seven is considered to be perfection. Seven is complete and whole. What makes up seven? Three (heaven) and four (earth). Isn't that neat? Where three and four meet is considered completion. For example there are 7 days of the week, 7 dispensations...

Eight is a symbol for new beginnings. Eight follows after the number seven (which was complete) and thus is starting anew. Ironic that eight is the age for accountability and when we are to get baptized? 

12 is considered God's power and authority. It is also a sign of completion. For example, we have 12 months in a year, the 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles...

 

Aren't number patterns cool? There are so many more! 

Numbers are especially prominent in Revelations, and knowing the basic meanings of numbers is especially helpful. 

For example is Ch. 4...

Verse 4, it talks about 24 seats (two sets of 12) 

Verse 5 talks about seven lamps (or Spirits of God)

Verse 6 talks about four beasts

Verse 8 says that these beasts have six wings and were saying "holy, holy, holy" (superlative!)

You get the idea.

I encourage you to invest a little time in numbers. It's really helpful how they are used and what they mean. 

Don't forget to be awesome! 

How old are you?

The concept of time has always been one of interest to me. 

It is so abstract. 

To help understand it, we’ve constructed a system of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years to help us keep track of time passing. 

But is time something of age?

Possibly. 

However, time doesn’t tick at the same rate everywhere in the universe. 

For instance, if you were traveling into a black hole, time to you would remain constant. 

However, time to others outside of the black hole would speed up. If you were to look back and be able to see people further away from the black hole, everyone would be moving at an accelerated rate and aging much quicker than you. 

However, for the people outside of the black hole looking into it, time would appear to have slowed down, everything would be in slow motion. 

Interesting. 

This concept of time really doesn’t make much sense when you think about it. 

In 2 Peter 3:8 it says, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand year, and a thousand years as one day.” 

So one day in heaven equals a thousand years on earth. 

1000yrs (earth) = 1 day (heaven)

So recalculated you could find … 

1.44 x the number of years you are = heavenly minutes you’ve been gone. 

Calculating my age 

1.44 x 20yrs = 28.8 heavenly minutes 

In regards to heaven I haven’t even been gone 30 minutes. 

That’s like no time at all.

And we constantly beat ourselves up so much for the sins we’ve made over such a short time. 

Don’t let the sins you’ve committed define you. 

You’ve lived so much longer than however old you are on earth. 

We all accomplished many great things before even coming to this life. 

Don’t forget about all the good you did to get here. 

And don’t forget to be awesome!

Prayer

James 1:5 "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upabraideth not; and it shall be given him."

We have read and memorized this scripture a million times as members of the LDS church. This passage of scripture is what prompted Joseph Smith to go pray in the Sacred Grove.
We learn about prayer at an early age, as early as we can talk (so long as you grew up in the church).

What I love about prayer is that it is so simple, yet, also so complex.

Praying is easy. It's constructed like a conversation.
A greeting.
A "talk about the good things in my life" segment
A "talk about the hard things in my life" segment
A farewell.

But it's also so much more than that.

We often think that offering a prayer is for God, that He needs to hear from us.
But prayer wasn't designed for God. It was designed so that we could hear from and talk to Him.
He already knows us perfectly. He knows our thoughts, hearts, life, etc. He doesn't need to get to know us.
He gave us the gift of prayer so that we could seek counsel, comfort and strength from Him.

We should feel honored that God has given us a way to talk to Him. He's the ruler of the universe.

But that also shows how much He loves us and that He wants us to succeed.

So if we are praying, we should also expect to hear answers.

A lot of times we expect to hear answers while we are on our knees, and sometimes it does happen this way, but most of the time they don't. A lot of the time answers will come while we are out living our lives. They can come through feelings, thoughts, other people, dreams, etc.
But what if they don't come at all?
This often worries and frustrates a lot of people.

Be grateful for silence. Silence is a sign that He trusts you to make the decision. In a way, it is a vote of confidence for you.
If you are sincere, He's not going to let you go too far down the wrong path when you make a mistake.
The purpose of this life is to grow and  to learn, and that won't happen if He is giving us all the answers on a silver platter.
We'll become spiritual spoiled brats who can't do anything on our own if that's the case.

So be thankful for prayer and be thankful for silence when it does come.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Anxiety

I'm one of those people that can overthink anything.
If I think about any one thing long enough, I start to worry about it. I'll get anxiety over almost anything and it is draining.
Not only is it draining, but it's also very uncomfortable.
Sometimes stress out so much that I'll get clammy and my breathing becomes much shorter. Sometimes it feels like someone is pressing a hot rag against my whole body, making me feel closed off. Sometimes I feel like my mind is at war with itself and it won't stop wheeling at full speed. I can't unclench my fists. My muscles are locked tight.

This is not a good feeling.

Charles Spurgeon said, "Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but it only empties today of its strength"

This feeling is not coming from God. God does not want us to feel weak.

In 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 it says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

I love this verse.

Just this last weekend I had sort of a brain meltdown. I become overly anxious. Something didn't feel right.
I was happy, but I was also being introduced to old and new stimuli and it was stressing me out. It was making me question the peace I had felt before.

Doing what I only knew how to make myself feel better, I decided to read some scriptures and say a prayer. Instead of the busy chatter that had been filling my mind, I began to think about the feelings God brings.
 I realized my feeling of initial peace is what was from Him. The feelings of wrongness and worry was not Him. I don't think it was God trying to tell me that I am headed down the wrong path. Instead, I think that was Satan trying to deter me from what I already knew.
Perhaps that was Satan's attempt to distract me; it was definitely a feeling I did not like.

God didn't make us a cowardly people, He built us to be both strong and peaceful. That's what he promotes.
So if you feel like you're at a disequilibrium, know that if you're following the Lord's path you will only find peace. Trust me, it's a good feeling.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Getting Dressed

We get dressed for lots of reasons. For school, church, interviews, bed, war, weddings etc.
If you think about it, each type of dress is preparation for something or someone. It's as if everything we are getting dressed for is for some sort of ritual.

In Ephesians chapter 6, it talks about putting on the armor of God.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

 Growing up, we always dressed a figure in battle gear in order to represent this concept. I've always connected this passage of scripture with fighting and protection. However, this week I made a new connection. Symbolically, we are getting dressed with truth, righteousness, preparation, faith, salvation and your testimony. This what we also need in order to be in the presence of our Heavenly Father.

Heavenly Father is a King.

Traditionally, before you enter the presence of a King, you would need to be dressed in certain robes. Jesus Christ is helping us with this special attire. He will be bringing us into the presence of our Father, and He intends for us to be properly dressed.

I invite you to think about this as you get dressed for certain events from now on.
Don't forget to be awesome!

You can't choose consequences.

Growing up in the bible belt meant that a lot of people I associated with, was not of the LDS faith. When the discussion of Mormonism was brought up, the "rules" we have almost always followed.
No alcohol.
No sex before marriage.
No coffee.
No smoking.
No swearing.
Etc.

A lot of people seem to be under the assumption that we can't break a rule, otherwise we'll be kicked out of the church. Or that if you did those things, you were a bad Mormon.
This felt unsettling to me for a long time. I wasn't sure how to answer these assumptions. It was difficult for me to explain that these "rules" were not the core of our religion.
The church is there to welcome people from every manner of life, no matter how "good" or "bad" you are. The church is a place for people to make themselves better, no matter where they are at on the "righteous" scale.
It's not that we can't do any of those things, we totally can, it's the consequences that you can't choose.
For example, every member of the church is allowed to choose whether they drink coffee. We don't kick people out of the church for breaking that rule. They are there so you don't have to suffer the consequences of things, like addiction.

In Acts 27, Paul is goes on a perilous voyage. Before departing, Paul foresaw into the future and determines that this voyage would be a disaster and warns the people to not leave. Despite Paul's warning, the voyage continued because all of the conditions seemed to be perfect.
In verse 14-15 it says, "But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive."

They lost total control of the ship. That was the consequence of their actions.
They had the option so sail or not, Paul didn't take that away from them, but since they went against what he advised, they had to suffer those consequences.

I think that's why a lot of members follow the rules we have. It's not because we'll get kicked out of the church, it's because we don't like the consequences.
You are always free to make your own choices, but you're not free to make your own consequences.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Two Roads

Sorry this will be kinda short!

I know I've mentioned this before, but we all go through trials. They are supposed to make us stronger, but sometimes they don't feel that way. A good explanation of what the purpose of trials are can be found in Romans 5:3-5 

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Basically it is saying that tribulations are there to allow us to make a choice, the higher road or the lower road. 

The higher road allows for Godly attributes, such as patience, experience, hope, and not feeling ashamed.

The lower road allows for Satanic attributes, such as impatience, regret, despair, and being ashamed. 

Sometimes in the midst of our trials we feel as if we aren't good enough for anything. That we have no strength and can't fix our own problems. This is not true! Choose the higher road and don't feel ashamed if you're struggling. God wouldn't want you to feel that way. He wants you to feel hope.

Don't forget to be awesome! 

Being a mini Christ

Everyone goes through hard times. There is always some sort of struggle in everyone's life, even if it's not very visible. Sometimes, things are much harder than other times.
I know I'm guilty of this, but when things get harder I'm always on my knees praying more, reading scriptures more, and trying to be everything I can to get the blessings to come.
What I forget is that when I am comforted and feel peace, I need to be going out to help other people who are struggling.
In II Corinthians Chapter 1, verse 4 is says, "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."
This brings me reassurance. It doesn't say He will comfort us after our tribulations, it says that He will comfort is in (during) our tribulations.

Sometimes it feels like eternities while we are in the midst of our trials. Sometimes they seem to disappear in the matter of an instance.
Do you ever wonder why God comforts us? Well, first of all He loves us. He loves us so much that He wants us to be happy and tries to guide us to the happiness He has planned out for us.
But He also comforts us so that we can help others.
He wants us to spread your comfort and happiness with others, and that's hard to do when you're in your own dismal state.
In a way, He is making a small extension of Himself within you by giving you the capability to help others.
That's pretty cool!

I have a personal experience with this. For a few weeks I had this constant anxiety and was feeling pretty alone. I felt like I was being abandoned by people that I cared about, and it was making me hurt deep down inside. It was like a constant ache in my body and it consumed most of my thoughts.

One day, I went to the temple while this thought was on my mind. It began with the usual pit in my stomach and an overwhelming feeling of loneliness grew inside of me. I closed my eyes and began to pray, even beg, for this to be taken away from me. I needed to be feel okay again, even if it was just for a moment.
Then, an overwhelming feeling of unconditional love washed over me like a wave. I had never felt such an increase of peace in one single moment. The thought then came to mind, "I will never abandon you"
And then I knew that I would be okay. People are going to fail you, but Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ can always be counted on. They are not going to leave you, even if everyone else does.
It was as if everything I had been depressed about disappeared, and I had a new light was shining within me.
This feeling of peace made me a happier person. I spent more time talking through other people's problems. I was able to listen to others without being consumed by my own thoughts. I felt more able to be with other people, instead of staying shut away in my room. My mind was cleared so I could see what things needed to be done around my apartment without grumbling. I became an encouragement to other people.
I'm happier than I have been in months. I'm not saying I don't struggle anymore, I do, but they are only brief moments. If I keep my main focus on helping other people, I know I'll be comforted so I can keep aiding His other children on earth, and that's what matters.

Don't forget to be awesome!

Why I want to be a mom

There have been some really good leaders throughout history... and some really bad ones.

What makes the good ones is this, they don't just direct/inspire people, they are down with them. They put themselves down to their level. The greatest people succumb to be the lowest, so that they are relatable and can better lead people, not boss them. 

Here's a visual! 

I like relating this to the Atonement. Jesus was very almighty and powerful. He did not have the temptations and sins we suffer, yet, He allowed himself to suffer so that He could know how we feel. He already was a great leader, but now He understands us on every level. 

In I Corinthians Chapter 9, it says, "19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more."

The greatest people we remember are those who effect us personally by serving us. 

Role-models become our role-models not because they are just really successful, but because they gave back. 

Our favorite bosses/presidents/leaders are the ones who takes time to know us personally.

In class we talked about the amazing sacrifice mothers make. Women, especially today, have a lot of exciting career paths and talents to expand upon. The pressure for motherhood vs career is on. 

I think being a mom is awesome. Children are work. It's basically a full-time job! Anyone who has babysat for 8+ hours knows that. 

A lot of women give up their careers to dedicate their time to being a mom. 

AND I THINK THAT'S AWESOME!

He is trusting women to be an incubator for one of His precious spirits. There is a lifestyle you should live while pregnant and adjustments have to be made... diets, exercise, sleep, etc. 

But He is trusting you to raise them and to lead them.

You have to be there for them and serve them 24/7. 

And I think that's awesome.

I think a lot of women think they are giving up their life by having children. I think it's the opposite. They are GIVING life. They are literally giving a life to someone else by becoming a servant to the Lord for his children down on earth.

And I think that's awesome.

A quote I've always liked says, "You rock a sobbing child without wondering if today’s world is passing you by, because you know you hold tomorrow tightly in your arms." (Neal A. Maxwell)

And mom, I think you're awesome. 

Being Elected

We talk a lot about how the United States is a democracy and how great it is that we can vote and that the government is run by the people.

In my anatomy reviews, the TA always has a vote on what lectures we want to go over during the review. Whatever section gets the most votes, we end up covering/reviewing.
He always says, "Isn't democracy great?! We get to decide what to do in the most fair way possible"

I think voting is pretty great, and I wish people did it more. EVERYONE NEEDS TO VOTE.
(Here's a link to the spectacular Hank Green who talks about voting!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avj7XUDCdEk

Anyway, in Thessalonians 1, chapter 1, versus 2-5 it says,

"2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers;

 3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father;

 4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

 5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake."

In verse 4 it says "election of God" and you probably thought that it could mean "since we elected God we have all this patience and hope, etc, etc." 

I want to look at it in a different way. What if God is the one who elected us? Maybe He elected us to carry out His work (foreordination anyone?) I don't know about you, but I find great comfort in this. I feel like I'll always have a cheerleader throughout my life. There is someone who will always believe in me. He'll be at all my big games. He trusts me to make the right decisions, and He'll be there to encourage me when I fall. It's a pretty awesome feeling. 

As much faith and trust we have in God, I think He had faith and trust in us first. He voted for us to come down here and do what needed to be done.  He knew we could do it, and I think we can too. 

Don't forget to be awesome!

Thoughts from the Edge

I've been thinking a lot about the different social views everyone has. Opinions are so heated.
I feel like there is a constant war between two sides on practically everything.

For a long time, I've felt that you have to fully pick a side without reservations, or no one will accept you. Or that if you pick a side, you can't value any part of what the other "team" has to say. I've seen and felt a lot of rejection, neglection, and even ludicrous for having a certain opinion. That, somehow, what I think is always wrong, and there is no possible way that I can justify why I think the way I do, because I'm wrong and that's just the way it is.
"You're wrong, so we don't like you, and therefor anything you do or say from now on will also be wrong."
There's a lack of being empathetic towards the opposing view. This causes hurt between people.
I don't like hurting people.

This is why I try to agree with as much as I can on both sides. This doesn't mean I don't have strong beliefs, I do, and I intend to defend them if they are being threatened.
However, I will not shove my opinions down anyone's throat, post it all over social media, become defensive, comb through articles/comments and tell people why they are wrong. That just causes turmoil and there's a 99% chance you aren not going to change anyone's opinion anyway.
It's more important to make people feel like you are their friend than be right.

One of my favorite quotes: "Opinion is really the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another's world. It requires profound purpose larger than the self kind of understanding" - Bill Bullard

People are always saying, "Have an open mind!" I don't think this should necessarily be true. If you're going to be wishy-washy on everything, you won't be able to stand strong on anything and people can use you like a puppet.
The saying should be "Have a firm mind, and an open heart."

Rather than being totally on one side of the border, I think that it is okay to come to the edge to meet the other opinion. That is where compromises and unions are made. Things become more fruitful there.
One of my favorite YouTubers, Hank Green, explained this concept much better than I ever could. Hank studied ecology. He notes, that in instances where the ocean meets the land (called an ecotones), they tend to be more diverse and fruitful than either biome alone. The "edge" is a fantastic place, but it also tends to be a violent one. While there are many benefits from being able to use resources from either biome, there is also a lot more access for predators... and getting pummeled and dragged around can be exhausting. But because of the intermixing biomes, there is much larger adaptability, productivity, diversity created here. The key is to stay strong where you are, but have the ability to use the other side if you can. Here's the link if you'd like to watch what Hank has to say about the matter. (It's under 4 minutes, I highly suggest it :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WHRerf-lrw

Anyway, on a more spiritual note, in Acts chapter 14, Paul and Barnabas are praised as if they were gods... and then are heavily stoned...by the same people.
The problem is they had too open of a mind. First, they saw Paul perform a miracle and they were convinced that he was totally awesome. Then, in verse 19, it says, "And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead."
All it took was for someone to come and tell them that Paul was not awesome and they stoned him. They had no firm opinion of their own.

Now, I'm not saying you should never change your opinion. I think recognizing that original opinions were wrong can be hard. No one likes to admit they were wrong. I highly respect people who can do that. But if you truly believe and know something, stick with it! Hold fast to it! Be passionate about it!
I just beg you to not push other people away because your opinions.
I would consider myself an edge dweller. I connect well with people on both sides of the spectrum, even if my values belong on one side. I try and connect with whatever I can, even if it's small. Being on the edge allows you to learn a lot from both sides. It makes it easier to communicate to the other side without offending, but most importantly they feel like they matter.

In the words of our beloved prophet, Thomas S. Monson, "Never let a problem to be solved become more important to be loved."

Don't forget to be awesome!

Coming to know Christ

I frequently wrote in my journal as an 7 year old. Sometimes, I like to go back and read what I wrote. For instance, one of my favorites read, 

"We learn about Jesus every Sunday. I think I know almost everything about Jesus."

This makes me laugh every time I read it. I thought I knew so much because I had heard the stories over and over. The lessons all seemed the same. Now, I recognize that when I was seven, I didn't know Jesus, I just knew the stories. I didn't have a personal relationship with Him. 

Which also reminds me of a story I was told in Young Womens.

"A man died and was resurrected and waiting in a room to be interviewed. Another man was ahead of him. The door opened, the man entered, and the door closed. The man on the outside could hear the conversation on the other side of the door. The interviewer began: “I want you to tell me what you know about Jesus Christ.”

“Well, He was born of Mary in Bethlehem; he lived thirty-three years, spending the last three organizing his church, choosing his Apostles, and giving the gospel to direct our lives.”

The interviewer stopped him and said: “Yes, yes, that’s all true, but I want you to tell me what you know about Jesus Christ.”

“Well, he suffered and died so that we could have eternal life. Three days later he was resurrected so that we might return to Heavenly Father.”

“Yes, yes, that is true, but I want you to tell me what you know about Jesus Christ.” The man, a little perplexed, again began: “Well, he restored the gospel in its fulness to the earth through Joseph Smith, reorganized his church, gave us temples so we could do work to save our dead. He gave us personal ordinances for our salvation and exaltation.”

The interviewer again stopped him and said, “All of what you have said to me is true.” The man was then invited to leave the room. After he left the door opened and the second man entered. As he approached the interviewer he fell upon his knees and cried, “My Lord, my God.”

This story has always slightly haunted me for years. I feel like for a lot of my life, I have only studied the scriptures to just to put things in my knowledge bank. I thought this would make Christ happy. Sure, I could answer questions, I could retell the stories, I could describe what Christ tell us to do in certain situations, etc, but I never worked on developing a personal relationship with our Savior. 

This is the same story of Saul in Acts chapter 9. 

Saul knew every fact about the Old Testament and God. He could rattle of verses, laws, stories, etc. However, he failed to recognize Jesus when He appeared to him, and that scares me. 

In verse 5 it says, "And he (meaning Saul) said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks."  

It doesn't really matter how much we read the scriptures, how often we attend church, of if we ace every religion class, you can still fail to recognize Jesus despite how much you've studied and attended.

For one of my YW value projects, I went through a jar that was given to me by one of my leaders. In it, there were 21 slips of paper. Surrounding the jar were the words 21 days closer to Christ. Every single day you were supposed to read a certain passage of scripture, a story/talk, and then there would be a daily challenge relating to that topic. 

It taught me how to be Christlike and, therefore, closer to Christ. I testify that it is not enough to simply have knowledge of Christ. We need to know Him, and I mean really know Him. I have seen the blessings of having Christ in my life, especially over the past year and a half. I'm happier knowing Him. I can see all the blessings He has placed in my life. I can rely on Him. He is my guide. He is my friend. He is my Savior. 

Don't forget to be awesome!

Optimism Rules!

It can be really hard to separate ourselves from the wants of today.

They seem so important right here, right now.
It's just so enticing.
To have more money.
To have more fame.
It's just something we all want and I can't tell you why.

And a lot of the time, deceitful schemes are involved to get more gain.
A white lie here.
A white lie there.
Boom. Instant recipe for money/fame.
Then you collect your winnings and be on your merry way.
Right?
RIGHT?!

Let me ask you this. Do you think thousands of years from now, up in heaven, you will say, "Oh man, I wish I would have lied more to get more money" ?
Probably not.

Haha, I know it seems comical putting it that way, but I'm serious.
I'm willing to bet that you'll be glad that you didn't lie for money (hopefully). That just seems really selfish, and it will probably be embarrassing.
At the end of it all, we're not going to wish we lied for more money during our mortal life.
So next time you are faced with an easy way for money, think of the question I proposed. If it entails lying/cheating, DON'T DO IT.
I mean, it could also entail death.
In Acts 5, Ananias and Sapphira lie about keeping a portion of property from the church, and they lost their lives. Yikes.

Continuing on in Acts 5 we find that Peter and John get arrested and beaten for testifying of Christ.
A lot of the time, we are told that we will be protected for loving/serving the Lord. For most of us, if we got beaten we'd probably think, "Thanks Lord...? I defended you and I got beaten. What is that about?!"
But that's not what Peter/John thought.
I actually really love their reaction.
In verse 41 it says, "And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer same for his name"
They felt honored to be beaten!
If you need a good example for optimism, look at Peter and John.
That's optimism.
Instead of being bitter, they were better.
I like those two words, "bitter" and "better", because if you look at the difference between bitter and better, it's the "i". Being focused on "I" or myself makes us bitter. Remember that :)

Don't forget to be awesome!

Starting 2nd half of the New Testament

I've never intensely studied the second half of the New Testament, so I'm sure I have a lot to learn this semester, and I'm excited to share it with you!

In Acts 1:3 it says, "To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God"
---The "he" in this verse is referring to the resurrected Jesus Christ ---

In class we pointed out the words Luke used "infallible proofs." Infallible means absolutely or certain. This indicates that he probably showed the markings on his hands/feet/side. No one else would be alive and bear the same marks He did.
Have you ever thought about how when we resurrect, we are to have absolute perfect bodies while Jesus, the only one to truly deserve a perfect body, will be the only one bearing scars?
That's pretty powerful. He has engraved us onto his skin so he cannot forget our suffering. He will stand with us and plea for the forgiveness of our sins.

Which brings me to my next point, being a witness. In verse 8 it says, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
In Young Women's we recite a theme that starts "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us and we love Him. We will stand as witnesses of God at all times, in all things, and in all places..."
Now I want you to think about being called as a witness in a court.
If someone called you up to a stand and asked you to be a witness of the resurrected Jesus Christ, could you?
Do you have enough personal testimony of bear witness of Him?
That's how strong you have to be.

A lot of people like to take Acts 2:21 in isolation and hold onto, "... that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved" If you ever run into this problem with someone, I encourage you to tell them to read on. There is a lot more to salvation, and the details are beyond that verse :)

The last thing I would like to cover is the lame man who is healed by Peter and John in Acts 3. In verse two it tells that this man laid daily at the gate of the temple. If you think about it, Jesus probably walked by and through that gate a hundred times. Why did He never heal him?
We don't know.
Perhaps Jesus knew the timing wasn't right to heal this man. That the miracle would be better performed by Peter and John.
Jesus knows the better plan for us, even if we don't. Our timings might be different, but we need to have faith in the Lord's timing.
I know this can be difficult. Being a BYU student, I can see lots of struggles of wanting things now. A spouse, an acceptance to medical school, a child, etc. Sometimes the answer is no, but it's not no forever. It would probably be great to get those things when we want them, but there could be something better for us/others just around the corner if you just wait.