Who Do You Rely On?

     Life is great. Why is this? It's because my Savior allows me to take baby steps. He's willing to walk with me even if it is slow and simple steps. Because the Savior loves us, he doesn't matter how quickly we move as long as we are moving towards progression. D&C 78:18 says that we can't have all things now, but that as we continue to be happy and move forward, the Lord will eventually reveal all things to us. As I've talked with people, I am continuously reminded how blessed I truly am. The Lord gives us so much. A few things I've realized within the last few weeks are: the Lord gives more to those he trusts, how much I truly rely on my Savior and how much of a choice being happy is.
     There are a lot of people close to me who struggle so much. From the outside, it isn't obvious, but once talking with them, it's obvious the heartache and struggle they hold within their hearts. The biggest thing I've learned from this is that the Lord gives us trials sincerely because he knows we can handle them. In the midst of struggle, I too know that it is easy to forget this and forget to recognize his hand in our trials, yet he will never leave us. Alma 36:3 can remind us of this as it says, "I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day". For those of you struggling, turn to the Lord. He knows all of our struggles and simply wants us to learn from them. Wants us to learn to work hard and learn to rely on him.
     As I've realized how much I rely on the Lord, I've come to know that there's no way I could do what I'm expected to without his help. Knowing that there's a power greater than my own gives me comfort to move on in time of doubt. It pushes me take baby steps knowing that he will be there to catch me when I need it. 1 Nephi 10:6 explains that unless we "rely on this Redeemer", we will be "in a lost and fallen state, and ever would be". Because of Christ, I can move forward with faith knowing that he will help me when I fall, and that through him I don't have to be lost.
     Depending on how we decide to react to trials, life can be very difficult or a humbling ride. I know that as we strive to be happy amidst life's challenges, the Lord will help us to find the good in all things. He doesn't want us to suffer. He allows us to struggle, because he knows we can make it through. He won't ever allow us to go through something that we can't bare. He helps us as we individually need it. He judges us by what he's given us, not by everyone else and what they're doing. He knows us better than anyone else-let yourself also come to know him. As we turn to him, he will lift us and help us become happy. Through him, we can be happy no matter life's challenges.

Continuously Learning

It's interesting how you can learn the most about life when you least expect it. This week I had a lot going on with school and work, and although I struggled through it, I learned a lot. The biggest thing I learned is how amazing the temple is, and how much my testimony has grown in the short 3 months I've been endowed. I go to the temple every week, usually towards the end of the week yet Tuesday I kept getting a strong impression that I needed to go. I had a lot to get finished and 3 tests to start studying for yet the feeling kept coming to me throughout the day. Once I finally decided I would go on Tuesday and headed there, I found myself rushing and thinking I might not make the session in time. I know now how much the Lord wanted me there that day because I made it just as the session was starting and was able to make it in. Along with my busy week, I had also just been feeling off. Sometimes it's hard to understand why we feel the way we feel, but we just know that we're off. My testimony was strengthened so much as soon as I sat down in the temple. The 'off' feeling immediately left and I was overcome with comfort. I don't often have experiences like this so I was really blessed to have it happen at this time. Throughout the session I felt so happy and comforted.   Leaving the temple that day I felt such relief and so much better. I know that because I listened to those promptings to go Tuesday, the Lord was able to help me. Because I know that the Lord will direct, especially in his house, I know that the Lord will direct me there when I most need it. A scripture that goes along with this is Doctrine and Covenants 78:18 which says, "ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along". Reading this scripture this week gave me even more evidence that my Savior is aware of me. I know that as I strive to be of good cheer, despite life's challenges, my Savior truly will lead me to happiness. With this knowledge I am driven to live righteously so that he can guide me in the right way.

You too Can Walk on Water.

     Today's society makes it so easy to focus on our challenges in life. We hear so much talk about trials and difficulties in people's lives. Why does Heavenly Father allow us to suffer? Why are things hard for us? As kids we're taught to live a righteous life so that we are blessed. I can only imagine how often people doubt Christ and what they've been taught when they run into trials. People simply don't realize how blessed we truly are but focus so much on the negative.    
     How do we come out of this type of slump? I realize that there are completely real struggles with depression and other problems like this, and I pray for people that struggle with that. I know the Lord will help you in your struggles. Turn to him! But for the people who don't struggle with depression and such, but still feel confused and frustrated that the Lord lets difficult things happen to us, realize that it's only because he loves us. Maybe that sounds weird, but I know he lets us struggle because we learn so much more, and the impact of what we learn is so much greater when we are allowed to struggle. Allowed. Think of it as a blessing!
     Matthew 14:24-33 tells the story of Christ's disciples on the sea. They had been fishing on the sea for quite some time when a storm started to toss the ship among the waves. All the disciples were worried for their lives. Shortly, the disciples saw Christ coming towards them, walking on the sea. Seeing this frightened them and they cried out saying "it is a spirit!". Then the Lord called out saying "be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid". Peter answered him and said, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water". The Lord then summoned Peter to come to him. Peter stepped out of the ship onto the water and walked on the water to go to Jesus. "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried saying, Lord, save me". I find this next part so amazing. The Lord immediately reaches out with his hand and catches Peter and asks him "didst thou doubt?".
     Christ could easily make things easy for us, but as a disciple of Christ, we have contrary winds. Christ loves us and who we are becoming much more then he wants us to have a simple and eased life. This is how it is when we sign up to be one of Christ's followers. We commit to struggle, with faith, knowing that he will reach out when we start to sink.
Something new I realized while studying this story, is that most people think less of Peter because he doubted and then started to sink, yet how great is it that he even stepped out of the boat. Do we have the faith to step out of the boat and walk on water when the Savior calls us? Are we willing to even take the first step? The first step to repentance for whatever we're struggling with. He knows the intentions of our hearts. If we turn to him trusting that he wants the best for us, he will catch us. Let that idea comfort you.
     Keep your eyes on Christ, not on the things keeping you from him or else you will sink. Peter started to sink when he noticed/focused on the winds and waves around him. He took his eyes off Jesus. Keep your eyes on the one who loves you the most.
Trust in him and walk on water.

Get Out!

     The past 6 months, I have led my life by a personal motto. "If you always do what you've always done, you'll get the results you've always got". Ever since I decided to live by this, my life has been so much better. When I think of why, it's because I've had the courage to do what I truly want/need to do. It's so easy to become caught in the flow of everyday life, forgetting to do what we love. Forgetting to step out of our comfort zones and do something new. There are numerous scriptures that talk about courage that have special meaning in my life. Two of these are Mosiah 4:27 and Philippians 4:13.
     The scripture in Mosiah says that we need to do things in order. We need to not worry so much about all the little things in life holding us back from what will make us happy, but that we need to step out with courage and do the things we've always desired. At first, making changes and doing new things is daunting. But like this verse says, we shouldn't "run faster than [we have] strength...we should be diligent, that thereby we might win the prize". I know that as we pray for confidence and strength, the Lord will help us be courageous and do new things.
     Philippians 4:13 says that through Christ, we can do all things, because he gives us strength. I know that this is true. Christ wants us to succeed and in order to succeed we must progress. Whether it be major changes, career decisions, marriage decisions, etc., Christ wants us to be happy and he will help us as long as we turn to him.
     Since I've realized this, I've become more confident in my decisions and in the way I lead my life. I'm more willing to do things outside of my comfort zone because I know that "there's no comfort in the growth zone and no growth in the comfort zone". Knowing that my Savior wants me to grow, I will pray for strength so that I can continue on through the help of my Lord. So get out of the comfort zone and walk with God. He will lead you to what he has planned for you.

It's There. Just Reach and Take Hold.

     You know those people in life who can't forgive anyone? I've recently had people close to me tell me of people they don't think they could ever forgive. Then, of course, the next day in class, we talked about Christ's atonement and the power of repentance and forgiveness. And then 3 days later, I taught my visiting teachees the monthly lesson, which was also on Christ's atonement and his love for us. The Lord's timing is impeccable.

Because of our Savior's infinite love for us, we are given the opportunity to start again. With ourselves and with others. Romans 8:35, 38-39 lists many things that cannot and will not ever come between us and Christ's love for us. No creature, height or depth can separate us "from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord".

     The suffering of Christ in the garden, allows us to takes steps to come unto Christ. We are told in Moroni 10:32 to "come unto Christ and be perfected in him". Okay, so we know that we are to come unto him, but how?! We know what we want/want to do, but the struggle is understanding how to come unto him. Matthew 5:3-10 tells us step by step how to come unto Christ, through the atonement. The steps are: humility, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, become pure in heart, become a peacemaker and be persecuted for righteousness. We can't expect to come to know Christ without using the atonement that he graciously suffered for us, so that we could be forgiven and be released from suffering.

     Because Christ suffered for us, we must use his atonement to show our love and commitment for him. If we can't forgive others, we're saying "I'm good enough to use the atonement but you aren't. What you've done is greater than Christ's sacrifice". When we do this, we completely undermine the significance of the idea that Christ's atonement is for all. We must use the steps given to us in Matthew to truly forgive. We must fill the gaps in the stairs and take the next step. We can't sit down on the steps and hope things will become better on their own, or think all is lost and quit.

     Ironically, the hardest person for most of to forgive is ourselves. It's sad, but true. When we don't forgive ourselves, we sit on the steps and stop any progression. We allow ourselves to be defined by our past mistakes rather than our future potential. We tell Jesus no! We tell him that what he suffered isn't enough because our badness is bigger than his goodness and grace. We can't let the 'history' part of us hold the 'present' us from moving on. Don't let it hold you hostage. Satan wants us to be bound by our badness, not our potential greatness.

     I know that by using the steps given to us, we can truly forgive ourselves and others. When we become pure in heart through humility, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirsting for righteousness and mercy, the Lord takes care of the rest. He wants us to come unto him and be perfected. We must allow him to help us. He's already given it to us, we just must reach out and accept and use it.

Through Christ, all Things are Possible.

3 Nephi 27:13-21

This week, in class, we learned about how much the Savior truly helps us. Sometimes I feel as if every blog I post is the same, but I think that's because the overarching topics are often so similar. We are helped, because we are loved. How great that knowledge is. Anyways, in 3 Nephi 27 it talks about obedience, sacrifice and agency. In verse 13, Christ says that he "came into the world to do the will of [his] father, because my father sent me". I love that he says he came, because his father sent him. How often do we do things solely because we've been asked? There's always an alternative motive that drives us to do things, more than just because we've been asked. From Christ's example, I will strive to do things when people ask me, for them and not 'secretly' for myself.

Sacrifice is obvious throughout this chapter. Jesus Christ was lifted up upon the cross by men for what reason? Why such an intense sacrifice?? Couldn't Heavenly Father asked his Son to do something less traumatic? I believe that he could have, yet Christ's obedience and willingness strengthens my testimony in Purpose. In verses 14 and 15, it says that he was lifted up upon the cross "that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil". This purpose behind Christ's sacrifice leads to the theme of agency. When verse 14 and 15 says that we will be "judged of our works", what does this mean? Because of Christ's sacrifice, we are able to repent and be baptized in his name and then endure to the end. As we do this, or works, we can choose to draw near to the Lord, or choose a path that leads us further from Christ. With either choice, we will eventually be brought to Heavenly Father where we will be judged. Verses 13-15 and 16-21 have an interesting distinction. 13-15 goes over Jesus' Atonement, Judgement and Resurrection-which Christ does completely alone. 16-21 goes over our agency-which is our part, yet he is still helping us. We are never alone. We are to learn, yet we won't ever truly be alone.

I know that by living an obedient life we can be truly happy. The word happy comes up a lot in my blogs. I know that that's because through Christ, I am happy. Because he has given me the agency to choose to be happy, and with that agency I will choose to be happy. Being happy is the least I can do to show my gratitude for the sacrifice of my Savior.

Prayer and Faith Lead to Happiness.

This week I was able to go to the Provo City Center temple! It's pretty new and I hadn't had the chance to go before this week so I was super excited. As I went to the temple, I had a lot on my mind. I have a crazy week coming up and I seem to be...having a harder time than usual, at balancing my time between fun and school work. Boo. As I entered the changing room in the temple, I sat down and quickly said a prayer that I would be filled with peace and confidence that I would be able to do all that I need to. Then I went and waited for my session to start and I opened up the scriptures. I rarely read in the bible, but for some reason I picked up the bible and opened it to Psalms, which I also never read. I'm glad however, that I was drawn to this book, and specifically chapter 27. Immediately as I began to read, I was filled with the love of my Savior.
The first verse reminds us that the Lord is our light and literally our salvation. With this knowledge, who should we fear? It then goes on to talk about David being afraid of troublemakers and all that they might tempt him to do, yet he calls on the Lord to raise him up upon a rock so that he will be protected from sin. I love this because it reminds me that when we seek the face of the Lord, he will speak to us and protect us. He says multiple times that because of what he knows, and the help he knows the Lord will provide, that he has confidence. This word obviously grabbed me as I had been praying for this. I know that with confidence and through faith in God, we can do all things.
As I continued reading Psalm 28 and 29, I was even more comforted as the words strength and peace were repeated over and over. "The Lord is [our] strength". No matter what is going on in life, he is always there to help us. When we least believe in ourselves, he is always there. "The voice of the Lord is powerful...my heart trusted in him, and I am helped" (Psalm 28:7; 29: 4). I'm continuously amazed, every time I realize how great the hand of the Lord is in my life. How aware he is of me. I know that through prayer and faith, I am truly happy.