Tuesday, October 11, 2011
1 Peter 5:10
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Happy Sunday!
Can I just say that I have moved into the best ward and made the BEST friends ever. Yes, my friends are better than yours. And my ward is better than yours. So get over it. But seriously, I don't think I have ever been in such an amazing ward before. I've hardly been in the ward a month and I've already made so many wonderful friends and feel apart of the ward, and like I belong. It's because there are so many amazing caring and friendly people in my ward, and you can just feel the love and concern everyone has for one another. We truly have a ward family.
Today was fast and testimony meeting and I woke up with that "dang it, today I need to bear my testimony" feeling. You know the one that nags you all day long and you try to reason out of or ignore because getting up on the pulpit is so nerve wrecking. But then sacrament meeting starts and that feeling turns into a pounding of the heart that beats so fast and hard you cannot ignore it, and so you finally make that move to get up from your seat and walk to the front in between testimonies. (Making that first move to get up truly is the hardest step) Anyways somehow I made it up there and blubbered through my testimony. I was so anxious I don't remember half of what I said. But I'll share a little of my testimony here. I know we have a father in heaven who loves us and knows us by name. I know that his son, and our brother, Jesus Christ, loves our Heavenly Father and loves us, and because of that love his will was swallowed up in the will of our father, and he atoned for and sacrificed himself for our sins, so that we might be perfected and saved through him. I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and that he is a Prophet of God, and that he restored Christ's church in these latter days. I know this gospel is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God, and another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that as we prayerfully study it we can come to know Christ, and that as we abide by the counsel and principles taught in it we will find joy. I know that although in this life we will feel loneliness and sadness and at times even forsaken and despair, that Christ can succor us. Christ too felt forsaken and bore the full weight of the atonement on his own for a moment in the garden of gethsemane and on the cross. Heavenly Father completely withdrew his presence. Not because he didn't love Christ, but because he had to let him accomplish so humbling and painful a task on his own so that he could have all glory. Such is the case at times in our lives. Sometimes we feel as if our Heavenly Father is not there, that we are on our own. But it is during these times, if we remain faithful and keep God's commandments, and continue to pray and seek guidance and endure, that we learn and grow and receive more strength than we ever thought we were capable of. And Christ understands. :-) I know that this truly is the gospel of happiness and that we can inherit all that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have. We can be with our families and Heavenly Father and Christ for the eternities. What could bring more hope and joy than knowing that? This life is not it. :-)
On another note, the rest of my Sunday was just as beautiful and wonderful as church was. My roommates and I had a delicious picnic with our good friends Tyler, Stu, Trevor, and Logan. We cooked this time and in two weeks they are cooking for us, aren't they the best? We enjoyed each others company out in the crisp Utah air, eating casserole, chips, apples and watermelon, and drinking dr. Pepper, trying to pretend it was still summer as we enjoyed the sunshine. After our fun little picnic I went and celebrated my cousin in laws birthday and spent a fun time with family, and then went to ward prayer where I received and gave hugs and smiles, and felt so loved. Oh and ate delicious cookies and drank hot chocolate around a warm fire. I love my ward. I love my life. I love my friends. <3
Today was fast and testimony meeting and I woke up with that "dang it, today I need to bear my testimony" feeling. You know the one that nags you all day long and you try to reason out of or ignore because getting up on the pulpit is so nerve wrecking. But then sacrament meeting starts and that feeling turns into a pounding of the heart that beats so fast and hard you cannot ignore it, and so you finally make that move to get up from your seat and walk to the front in between testimonies. (Making that first move to get up truly is the hardest step) Anyways somehow I made it up there and blubbered through my testimony. I was so anxious I don't remember half of what I said. But I'll share a little of my testimony here. I know we have a father in heaven who loves us and knows us by name. I know that his son, and our brother, Jesus Christ, loves our Heavenly Father and loves us, and because of that love his will was swallowed up in the will of our father, and he atoned for and sacrificed himself for our sins, so that we might be perfected and saved through him. I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and that he is a Prophet of God, and that he restored Christ's church in these latter days. I know this gospel is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God, and another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that as we prayerfully study it we can come to know Christ, and that as we abide by the counsel and principles taught in it we will find joy. I know that although in this life we will feel loneliness and sadness and at times even forsaken and despair, that Christ can succor us. Christ too felt forsaken and bore the full weight of the atonement on his own for a moment in the garden of gethsemane and on the cross. Heavenly Father completely withdrew his presence. Not because he didn't love Christ, but because he had to let him accomplish so humbling and painful a task on his own so that he could have all glory. Such is the case at times in our lives. Sometimes we feel as if our Heavenly Father is not there, that we are on our own. But it is during these times, if we remain faithful and keep God's commandments, and continue to pray and seek guidance and endure, that we learn and grow and receive more strength than we ever thought we were capable of. And Christ understands. :-) I know that this truly is the gospel of happiness and that we can inherit all that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have. We can be with our families and Heavenly Father and Christ for the eternities. What could bring more hope and joy than knowing that? This life is not it. :-)
On another note, the rest of my Sunday was just as beautiful and wonderful as church was. My roommates and I had a delicious picnic with our good friends Tyler, Stu, Trevor, and Logan. We cooked this time and in two weeks they are cooking for us, aren't they the best? We enjoyed each others company out in the crisp Utah air, eating casserole, chips, apples and watermelon, and drinking dr. Pepper, trying to pretend it was still summer as we enjoyed the sunshine. After our fun little picnic I went and celebrated my cousin in laws birthday and spent a fun time with family, and then went to ward prayer where I received and gave hugs and smiles, and felt so loved. Oh and ate delicious cookies and drank hot chocolate around a warm fire. I love my ward. I love my life. I love my friends. <3
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Happy Halloween!
Ok I know Halloween is still a few weeks away but I think all of October should be dedicated to celebrating Halloween! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays... I love everything about it....dressing up and going all out, carving pumpkins, HAUNTED HOUSES that scare me silly, eating pumpkin seeds, trick or treating, and Halloween parties!! Last night some new cool dudes that I met in my ward put on a super fun Halloween dance party at classic skate...shout out to Brandon, Marcel, Skyler, and CJ, I love you guys! They are so much fun and becoming such good friends! Ashley and I went dressed up as Taylor Swift and Silk Spectra...it was so fun getting dressed up in all the glitter and glam and going out with all my wonderful friends and partying up, letting loose and dancing and singing like crazy! Things even got a little crazy in the cage, oh snap! Ash and I danced the night away looking super cute and sexy with our friends Noelia, Karen, Mylee, Kiffin, CJ, Marcel, Brandon, and Skyler. It was such a good, good night. Here's to Halloween and great friends! 
Friday, October 7, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
