Preparatory state

Hello dear friends and family! 

This past week in our reading, there were a couple of verses that really stood out to me in Alma chapter 42. Verses 10 and 30 hit me kind of hard with principles that I haven't thought about for awhile. Verse 10 is kind of fuerte (I am not sure what a good word for that in English is... but I guess it means kind of blunt or strong?) It says, "this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state". It made me think about how important it is to be striving to prepare to meet our Heavenly Father and Savior one day. This is the time right now that we have to prepare and we aren't going to get this time back! In my mind I related it to finals week (right now) because everyone here at BYU is so stressed and frantically running around trying to get all the assignments and extra credit and tests done. And not to mention studying for the actual finals! AHH! But everyone is so focused and is preparing everyday a little bit more for finals. I thought about what that might be like if we took that same motivation and energy that we have to prepare for finals and used it to prepare for the day that we will meet our maker. Wouldn't that be wonderful?? It's hard because that day seems so far away! But we need to strive to have an eternal perspective and try each day to prepare a little bit more and a little bit better to become like our Savior, Jesus Christ. And to do this we can follow the counsel in verse 30 where it says, "have full sway in your heart". if we can let our Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Gospel have full sway in our hearts that we might almost even burst, then we will want to become better each day and share that conviction with our people! In Relief Society this past week, our teacher taught about how neat it is to relate this to wildfires... when a wildfire is SUPER hot it just can't contain itself and starts spitting out chunks of fire around it. That's what we should be doing too... we should be on fire with the love and light of Christ and the Gospel that we just can't even contain it and we start spreading it all around us! 

I am so grateful for this Easter season when everyone is so focused on our Savior, Jesus Christ! Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could strive to focus on Him THIS MUCH throughout the entire year?! I think that would be a pretty amazing gift to give Him. And not only would it be neat, but we would truly be living covenants that we have made at Baptism to take His name upon us. I know that I can do a better job at striving to be more like Him and think about Him throughout my everyday life and do as He would.

Himni and Helaman

Hello Friends and Family!
Ethan and I read in the middle of Alma this week and I found some really neat insights that helped strengthen my testimony. I wanted to share something interesting from Alma 31 verses 6-7:
During these verses I thought about the conversations and thoughts that must have been going on when Alma decided to leave to go teach the gospel. He took with him Ammon, Aaron, Omner, Shiblon and Corianton. BUT he left Himni and Helaman there in the land of Zarahemla. If I were to be Himni and Helaman I of course would say "Yes Alma I will do whatever is needed of me" and then in my mind I would be complaining "But I really want to go with all my friends and family and go teach the gospel!!! I want to be a missionary too!!!" However, they didn't whine and complain, but they willingly stayed back to fulfill their callings and do what the Lord needed them to do to build up His church in different (but just as important) areas of the land. I thought about this a lot and how sometimes we want to do the thing that everyone else is doing and we want to go with our friends and be with our family doing what seems to be the "fun" thing or the "cool" thing that the "group" is doing. But that's not always what the Lord needs us to do. I thought about this in relation to two aspects of my life...
First, I thought about how I had to come home from my mission after only 9 1/2 months due to a stress fracture in my hip causing me not to be able to walk. In my mind I thought "Why? Why do I have to come home? I want to go out and serve with and like all of my friends" But reading this verse (and reflecting on my experiences and how grateful I am that it lead me to get married to my BEST FRIEND) I realized how important it is to go where the Lord needs us even if it isn't necessarily what we had in mind.
Second, I also thought about how this might relate to motherhood for me one day. I might feel like some days are long and I might think it would be nice to just go be with my friends or go to school or work or something. And again, reading this verse I thought of how special it will be to have an opportunity to raise some of Heavenly Father's special children and fulfill and sacred calling. And this I can do by following the example of Himni and Helaman. I am grateful for their examples and for the scriptures that open up the doors to so much personal revelation.
Hope you all have a great week!

Patience and Trust in the Lord

Hello friends and family! This week was very eye opening for me. I spent a lot of time in the ER and at doctor's appointments. As I was going through this horrible pain, Ethan and I came across a verse that struck me very strongly in our daily scripture study. Alma 26:27. I really think this verse is a powerful example of the people going against their enemies even when they are scared and feel like they won't succeed, but the Lord does a wonderful job at comforting his people in times of trial and affliction as long as they will turn to Him as the people in this verse demonstrated with great courage...   "Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." 

I love that verse and realized that when I feel like I want to give up during trials, tribulations and afflictions that if we will just turn to the Lord and bear with patience our afflictions then He is going to give us "success". I felt that a lot in this past week as I dealt with this health challenge and tried to figure out what was going on. Sometimes I got a little depressed at times and wanted to "turn back" and wished the problems would just go away. But as we were reminded by this verse and so many general conference talks... that when we are patient and rely on the Lord through hard times and continue with faith in doing the little things, everything will work out in the end however the Lord needs it to in order for us to grow and progress in His timing! 

Women, The Unsung Heroes

I was reading all about Alma this week and I was especially intrigued by a certain occurrence at the end of his words and the beginning of the sons of Mosiah. I am so grateful for what Brother Griffin has been teaching us, because it is thanks to him that I was able to realize this. He has been teaching us that we should make the stories come to life. We can try and imagine what is going on in the lives of these Book of Mormon Characters. Often times it is what isn't been said or told that is important in understanding what is going on in their lives. 

This insight comes from the second to last verse in the fifteenth chapter of Alma. After leaving Ammonihah they are now going to the land of Sidom. At the end of the chapter it explains what Amulek has now gone through. He has lost everything that used to be important to him and some things that are still important to him. He  even lost his family. Imagine being in that situation. He is now realizing that he has nothing, not even a home to go to. I imagine him with his head down wondering what to do and where to go. Then Alma his kind companion invites him to his own home where he will always be loved and taken care of. Then I thought about the wife of Alma who must have been there when they walked in the door. She must have been so glad to see her husband. As I thought about his wife I realized how long Alma might have been gone. And how often he was called away to do his duties as a prophet. Then It dawned once that his wife was raising a future prophet and future missionaries and the work she was doing could be seen as just as important as Alma her husbands. Women play such an important role in the church and home and they are often overlooked. I want to give a shout out to the women of the church and for their faithfullness and willing work as mothers of Zion! 

Fighting off Satan

Hi friends and family! Ethan and I had a great week reading more about Alma and Amulek! Alma 11:23 was a verse that really stood out to me this week in my studies.  "Now Amulek said: O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?" Now, I know this isn't the "happiest" of verses. But I think it is a neat verse to think of in relation to satan. It's really like Zeezrom is playing devil's advocate here and Amulek is speaking back to him as if he were speaking to satan. It made me think about all of the times when we are tempted throughout our lives... everyday temptations and fiery darts of the adversary are thrown at us! What are we doing to combat those?? I think it would be so neat if we could stand up to Satan just like Amulek stood up to Zeezrom and tell Satan that we aren't going to yield to such temptations because we are trying to lead righteous lives! Sometimes I wonder "why isn't it that easy??" and then I have to stop myself and think... well maybe it is. If we will but do the small and simple things daily (scriptures, prayers, service, etc) then it will be a little bit easier to stand up to Satan and recognize those weaknesses and temptations in our own lives. Now, that doesn't mean that the temptations will leave forever... but it just means that we will get a little bit better at fighting them off because we will recognize that we have the Lord on our side! I had a sort of hard week thinking about weaknesses and how I am not doing 'enough'. And when I read this verse I realized that all of those negative thoughts are coming from Satan. I set a goal for myself to be better at standing up to him and "fighting him off" by telling him that I will not yield to such temptations/thoughts because I am trying to live a righteous life by following my Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.

"Pride is the root of all sin"

Hey friends! This week Ethan and I read in the beginning chapters of Alma. Alma 5 is one of my favorite chapters EVER! I love all of the questions that Alma uses and it really does feel like a self reflection/evaluation that I get to take every time I come to this chapter. My dad always said to read this chapter carefully because these are good questions that could be on the "final exam" when we get to heaven one day :) The verse that really hit me this time was Alma 5:12. The very beginning of the verse says, "And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart." I loved this image in my mind! I thought about the difference between faith and temptations. If we let our faith start to grow within us then we ACT upon it, it will lead to eternal happiness and righteousness. However, if we let temptation sink into our hearts and ACT on that, then it leads to sin. Ethan and I were talking about this after I shared it with him and he said something that really struct me, "pride is the root of all sin". So if pride is the action of temptation which leads to acting and sin, then in order to truly act on our faith... that means we need to get rid of our pride!!! And let me tell you, that is NOT an easy thing to do! This is something that I think I can work on, we probably all can. I want to try to not be so critical of others and stop thinking that I can do things on my own or that I did a great job at certain things.... because in reality I didn't, or I don't, and I never will without the help of my Heavenly Father and Savior. Without them, I am nothing and I need to remember to humble myself enough to recognize their hands in all things! I am so grateful for the insights found in the scriptures that push me to be better and better everyday! 

Alma 7:17 "And now because your faith is strong concerning that... which I have spoken, great is my joy," I love that he says that his joy is great because of others.  This is a true principal of the gospel. We will find the most joy from focusing on those around us. As college students it can be very easy to focus on ourselves always and the things that we love to do. The principle that Alma lived and taught is that true joy comes from giving to and serving those around us. 

This  week at one point I was very focused on myself and all of the things that were going wrong in my life and how I was a hard day. I was thinking about how I didn't really feel happy in that moment. It seemed to linger with me all day long. I started to ask myself why I wasn't feeling happy, when usually I do feel happy. I then tried to change my mindset and give more to my wife and those around me and I learned that I was happier when I was giving and serving her and others. It seems like we have heard it all our lives but it is true that you can start to feel complete and joyful when you start to let go of yourself. College students can learn this by giving to their neighbors or trying specifically to make someone else day better. Whatever it is there are always different ways that we can each serve others and find true happiness.