I hope I can be hopeful!

During my Friday Free Day "Requests" post Trudi asked a question regarding hope and my favorite scripture that talks about that. One thing that I feel I have been blessed with in my life is hope. I say this not to brag, but to express thanks to my Heavenly Father, in a public setting, for one of the blessings that I see God giving me in my life. I believe that hope comes of faith, and faith in things like God and Jesus Christ is something that I've always been able to have in my life and such faith is able to give me hope. I'm reminded of a scripture in the book of Ether, from the Book of Mormon, "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."- Ether 12:4

One scripture that was recently mentioned by blogger Tiffany is in 3rd Nephi from the Book of Mormon. She says, " I love reading in 3 Nephi about when Christ comes to visit the Americas. After reading about all the wars and contentions, (in Alma specifically) and still more wars, then you read about the destruction of the earth and the darkness for days etc, it's so refreshing and peaceful to read about Christ coming after He was resurrected. He teaches, He blesses the little children, He lets people feel the nail prints in His hands, and it's lovely to read. All of those chapters give me hope."

I know that because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we can hope for things to come, both in this life or in the eternal scheme of things. I'm really excited to see everybody's answers to questions on my blog as well! Any other ideas or topics that people would like to discuss? I would love to hear about them!!

Movie Monday- Practice makes Perfect!

When I was in high school I was into music. Well... I've always been into music, but in high school I had an organized outlet for my interests. I was in a couple of choirs in jr. high and enjoyed it so much that I decided to join some choirs while I was in high school! My senior year I had the opportunity to be in the large A Capella choir, as well as the chamber choir which sang the most difficult pieces that our teacher taught her students. It was a really wonderful experience and I learned a lot of things that I have taken away from it and incorporated into my life. One of those things is diligence and patience as we learn.

During my Junior year when I was in the large A Capella class we sang a song titled, "The Battle of Jericho". At first when we practiced it we sang it really, really slow. I wondered as we did it why we were practicing it that way. Having never heard the song before I wasn't quite prepared for the complexity and the difficulty of keeping everything exactly at the right tempo. Fortunately for me and the other people in my choir who complained about the tedious practicing, we had an excellent teacher who understood the importance of learning the basics with diligence and patience. When we finally did put the whole thing together it sounded like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hiz54OHyCAg

Our Gospel understanding is much like this. We sometimes don't realize the importance of the little things like saying our prayers or attending church. We rationalize by saying, "one time missing church will be okay." But I can promise when we are diligent and patient with the "little things", that we will be practicing and learning principles that will help us when the difficult things in life come. We'll be able to do such things as, recognize the Holy Ghost speaking to us, or be able to take comfort in our prayers during those difficult times. God will always be there to bless and help us. May the Lord bless us all that we might be diligent and patient as we follow the example of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Friday Free Day- Requests??

Over the past month or so you've had the opportunity to know a little bit about my testimony, and learn about the things that I like to see/read/listen to. Now it's your turn! I want to find out what YOU all want me to write about. Of course I'll only discuss topics regarding the Gospel of Jesus Christ, but anything within that goes!

Have a question you want to ask?? I'll answer it on a blog post!
Have a favorite scripture that you want me to talk about?? I'll post it, and talk about what it means to you, or me, or both.
Have a favorite church video that you want other people to see?? Tell me about it and I'll find it if it is anywhere online!
Comment on this post, or message me on Facebook. You can even email me if you would like! Whatever way works best for you.

Let's start the insanity. ;)

Testimony Tuesday- Slow and steady...

Recently Elder Baird and I have taken up running as part of our daily exercise. Since we don't get much physical activity during most of our day we have the chance to spend time at the end of the day doing something active. Anybody who has been to our part of Provo, Utah knows that we live on the side of a mountain. It doesn't really matter the direction we go when we run because we are inevitably going to run into a hill at some point along the way. The first few times we ran, those hills terrified and discouraged me. I was not a good runner at first. This was not because I was unhealthy or out of shape, but because I did not think positively about the path ahead of me. I would think to myself, "How am I ever going to make it up that last large hill?? I've already run for several miles, and I am tired!" Always, this pattern of thought was crippling once I did reach that hill.

The Bean Counters

I remember reading an essay in high school entitled "The Bean Counters" which chronicled three theories made by a very observant girl regarding the Bean Counters of life. Her conclusion was that she was not here merely to count beans; but to count them, organize them, and even make them in to bean soup should the mood strike her.

So often I find that to be the case in life, and especially in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are welcome to become preoccupied with counting our beans, carefully cataloging and organizing, making sure that everything is just so-so. Or we can refuse to count beans all together, and miss out on the joy that is the bean! These two extremes rarely lead us to the place that we want to go. This place that I am referring to is, of course, safely back into the presence of God, our Heavenly Father.

Testimony Tuesday- A prophet of God

I had the opportunity last weekend to be part of an MTC Choir that sang in the Priesthood Session of General Conference. It was a really special experience for me, and probably something I won't get the chance to do many more times in my life. The sweetest part of that trip though was the chance I had to hear President Thomas S. Monson speak. I can tell you that watching him on TV is a great experience, and that you can feel the Spirit as you watch. But there is also something special and powerful about seeing him in person. I testify that He is a prophet. He is the 16th prophet since the reorganization of Christ's Church to the earth in 1830. Find out for yourself! :) Go watch him speak. Pray about it. I know he is a prophet. You can know it too. Just in case you can't find one of his conference addresses for yourself, here is the one from Priesthood Session that impressed me. :)

Movie Monday- General Conference!

So of course all my posts today and yesterday are going to have something to do with General Conference which occurred this last weekend. However, I believe that there are prophets and apostles on the earth once more. They have very important things to share with us, and to teach us. In order to be able to learn many of the things they want us to know, we have to listen to General Conference. So hopefully a little exposure will help each of you to come to a similar appreciation of the special witnesses of Jesus Christ to the one I have.

Scripture Sunday- Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice

This weekend was a very special weekend for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the weekend when we have our semi-annual General Conference. The time when the entire worldwide church is able to come together to be instructed and uplifted by Prophets and Apostles; Special witnesses of Jesus Christ that convey to all of us those things that our Heavenly Father wants us to know.

In Amos chapter 3, verse 7 it reads, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." When we listen to General Conference we are able to better understand the counsel and advice that God would have us know at this specific time.

It has been confirmed again to me today that there is a living prophet on the earth today. His name is Thomas S. Monson. He stands as the leader of this church, under the direction of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. I promise that as we follow the counsel that he gives we will have a pure joy in this life. We will be able to follow the commandments that God would have us follow, and we can one day return to live with our Heavenly Father again. For anyone who missed any session of Conference, I would urge you to watch it, and to be open to the Holy Spirit as it speaks to your heart and mind about the truthfulness of the doctrines that were shared. Here is a link: http://lds.org/broadcast/gc/1,5161,9199,00.html

Click here for original image

Elder Thompson's Last Day

Part of missionary life is the constant change. For good or for bad, missionaries really never can plan for the next 6 months, because who knows what will have changed! One of those changes that happened today is Elder Thompson reaching the end of his mission. He served faithfully in 2 different missions; First in San Antonio, Texas and then here in the Referral Center. He was an example of faith and dedication. He bore a testimony today to all of us that He knew that God lives, and that He loves each of us, and that this is His work. I echo that testimony that I know that God lives, and this IS His work, "For behold, this is my work and my glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."- Moses 1:39

E. Thompson's motivational scripture reminds me of my duty and privilege as a missionary: "Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad..."-D&C 128: 22