Serve where you are!

Ethan and I started in Mosiah this past week and I always love reading and learning about what King Benjamin said to the people. This time around as we were studying, Mosiah 2:17 really struck me. I know this is a verse that we read a lot and don't pay a lot of attention to because it is shared frequently. But as I was reading it this time, I saw it in a new light. That morning I had been listening to a recording of Sister Linda K Burton as she talked about the importance of teaching our children about service. Sister Burton said that serving doesn't mean "doing more", but it simply means lifting where we already stand. The whole day I thought about how I can better look outside of myself and serve those around me. I tried really hard this week to simply serve in the circumstances I am placed in and love every minute of it. I didn't have to bake a cake and spend 2 hours serving at a hospital or something extravagant like that. As college students, we don't have time for that! But I was able to find ways to serve in my everyday routine. I felt SO much happier and closer to my Heavenly Father and Savior because I felt like I was able to help accomplish a little bit of their work! I know that service, and teaching the importance of service in our homes, will bring joy in our lives, in others' lives, and especially to our Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Jacobs Parable

This week Allie and I were reading in Jacob, when we came to the very large Chapter 5. I wanted to try and find something that I could apply to my life. When I read verse 15 it caught my attention, it says, "and it came to pass that a long time passed away, and the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Come, let us go down into the vineyard, that we may labor in the vineyard." The Lord of the vineyard was not working in the lives of those trees everyday forcing them to do what he thought they should do. Rather he nurtures them and tries to direct them in a pattern of growth that he knows will bring good fruit. Then he waits and lets them grow. Our Father in Heaven and Savior do the same for us. They will come and show us and send help from those around us to show us how best we can find peace and happiness. However, they honor our agency and will let us decide what to do with that help and guidance. Then when we are in need of some help because our fruit has turned bad, They will prune us and graft in good fruit. This is not a pleasing or easy process, but it is a process that will bless us in the long run. My patriarchal blessing teaches me that some of my trials will be my greatest blessings. That is what this parable means to me. It shows me that we have a Father and Savior who love us dearly and are willing to let us grow and experience life and see the wonders of choosing the right. I love to read this parable and feel of the love that our Savior has for us!

Esta semana Allie y yo estábamos leyendo en Jacob, cuando llegamos al gran capítulo 5. Quería tratar de encontrar algo que pudiera aplicar a mi vida. Cuando leí el versículo 15 me llamó la atención, dice: "Y sucedió que pasó mucho tiempo, y el Señor de la viña dijo a su siervo: Ven, bajemos a la viña, para que podamos Trabajo en la viña ". El Señor de la viña no estaba trabajando en la vida de esos árboles todos los días forzándolos a hacer lo que él pensaba que debían hacer. Más bien los nutre e intenta dirigirlos en un patrón de crecimiento que sabe que traerá buen fruto. Luego espera y los deja crecer. Nuestro Padre Celestial y Salvador hace lo mismo por nosotros. Ellos vendrán y nos mostrarán y enviarán ayuda de quienes nos rodean para mostrarnos cuál es la mejor manera de encontrar paz y felicidad. Sin embargo, honran a nuestra agencia y nos dejaron decidir qué hacer con esa ayuda y guía. Entonces, cuando necesitamos ayuda, porque nuestro fruto se ha vuelto malo, nos podarán e injertarán en buen fruto. Esto no es un proceso agradable o fácil, pero es un proceso que nos bendecirá en el largo plazo. Mi bendición patriarcal me enseña que algunas de mis pruebas serán mis mayores bendiciones. Eso es lo que significa esta parábola para mí. Me muestra que tenemos un Padre y un Salvador que nos aman mucho y están dispuestos a dejarnos crecer y experimentar la vida y ver las maravillas de elegir el derecho. ¡Amo leer esta parábola y sentir del amor que nuestro Salvador tiene para nosotros!

Communicating with the Holy Ghost

This week was neat to read through Jacob, Enos, Jarom and Omni with Ethan. I think it was definitely inspired by our Heavenly Father to have multiple people keeping a record to one day become the Book of Mormon because we can learn so many unique things from each person writing. I loved in Jarom 1:4 when he says, "And as many as are not stiff-necked and have faith, have communion with the Holy Spirit, which maketh manifest unto the children of men, according to their faith". This scripture left me to ponder on how we can communicate with the Holy Ghost... or I guess How we can communicate with our Heavenly Father and Savior through the Holy Ghost as well?? This verse gives us the answers! We need to have faith. And not just any kind of faith, but faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Then, we need to unstiffen our necks. What does that mean?! I think Jarom was helping us to understand that we need to let go of our pride, humble ourselves and be willing to listen and actually ACT on the things that the Holy Ghost is trying to communicate to us. I know that as we have faith and learn to be humble that Heavenly Father will be able to show and tell us things through the Holy Ghost that we didn't know before in order to help us become who He needs us to be. But, it is up to us to CHOOSE to let the Holy Ghost INTO our hearts. He can come UNTO our hearts but once He is there then we need to open up and let him in.

Testify of Christ

I figured we should start differentiating between who is who when we are writing. Sooooo this is Allie :) This week I loved reading in 2 Nephi 25. One of my favorite verses of all time is in this chapter... verse 26. It says, " And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins". 

I know that our Savior Jesus Christ is who we are to focus on everyday of our lives. I am grateful for the constant reminder in the scriptures that help us to focus on our Savior in all that we do. I also like that it says we are to talk, rejoice, preach, prophesy and write about our Savior that our children can know who they are to look to in all things. I just wrote a paper for class about how we can teach our children about how lead righteous lives in a morally degrading world. I believe that this is one of the best ways we can do it! If we teach our children (or future children) about our Savior, they will be able to feel His presence in their lives and be strong in fighting the fiery darts that Satan sends. 

The Will of God

I love reading about our Savior, Jesus Christ, and how we can better follow Him and be His disciples while we are here on the earth. In 2 Nephi 10, verse 24, it says, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved." 

I loved reading this and being reminded that we need to be willing to humble ourselves enough to surrender our worldly wants and desires and try to "reconcile" ourselves to God's will and what He is asking of us. It might seem hard to do or we might not want to do it, but it is going to bless us so much more than doing what we wanted in life. Our Heavenly Father loves us and has a plan for us. If we will trust Him and strive to follow Him and the example of His son, Jesus Christ then their paths will allow us to better become who God needs us to be to accomplish His work on the earth. I think the key though is to have a willing heart. Just like if you were to play the "jello/museum" game with someone where you shape them into something and then you all go around and see the different "sculptures" in the room (maybe I am spending too much time learning how to be an elementary school teacher haha). BUT. It works for this analogy. When you are "sculpting" someone into something, but they aren't willing to hold the shape that you are turning them into, then it's not going to work... they aren't going to look like what the "master" wanted them to look like. It will be the sculpture's own idea of what they wanted to be. It is the same way with Heavenly Father. We have our agency and can choose the kind of person we want to be. However, if we will let Him and our Savior into our lives and make the decisions WITH them, then we will start to recognize the blessings that come from reconciling ourselves to God's will. 

I was reading in the early and middle chapters of 2nd Nephi. The idea of the gift of Agency kept coming to mind. Jacob Recounts the Jewish History, the coming of the Savior, the Last days, and preaches repentance to his people. As I read each chapter and pondered over the things that they said and the different circumstances of each group of people I realized that everything from the beginning of time was dependent on our agency. If we could not choose there would be none of this. There would be no need for a Savior. That is why they call agency a gift. That is why we should treat it like a gift. 

I think one of the best ways we can use our agency is to repent. Repentance is a sign of humility and love for the Savior. He chose to use his Agency to redeem the world. He chose to save us all. He didn't have to do it! Just as we do not have to obey, but when we do we will be blessed. We must show our true love and give our lives to the Savior. It boils down to many small decisions in a day and all we need do is choose the hard right rather than the easy wrong.

Estaba leyendo en los primeros y medianos capítulos de 2 Nefi. La idea del don de la Agencia seguía volviendo a la mente. Jacob cuenta la historia judía, la venida del Salvador, los últimos días, y predica el arrepentimiento a su pueblo. Al leer cada capítulo y reflexionar sobre las cosas que dijeron y las diferentes circunstancias de cada grupo de personas me di cuenta de que todo desde el principio del tiempo dependía de nuestra agencia. Si no pudiéramos elegir no habría nada de esto. No habría necesidad de un Salvador. Por eso llaman a la agencia un regalo. Es por eso que debemos tratarlo como un regalo.                                              Creo que una de las mejores maneras de usar nuestra agencia es arrepentirse. El arrepentimiento es un signo de humildad y amor por el Salvador. Eligió usar su Agencia para redimir al mundo. Él eligió salvarnos a todos. ¡No tenía que hacerlo! Así como no tenemos que obedecer, pero cuando lo hagamos seremos bendecidos. Debemos mostrar nuestro verdadero amor y entregar nuestras vidas al Salvador. Se reduce a muchas decisiones pequeñas en un día y todo lo que necesitamos hacer es elegir la derecha difícil en lugar de la mala fácil.

The joy of the Gospel, El gozo el evangelio

This week we have been reading in the last chapters of 1^st Nephi, I was especially struck by a verse in chapter 21. Verse 13 begins by saying, “Sing, O heavens: and be joyful, O earth: for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established: and break forth into singing, O mountains;” I have been watching people at my job this last week. As people walk in the front doors it is so interesting to me to see the emotions that you can see at a first glance. But rarely would I say that I say that I see someone walk in with a joyful expression. Maybe this is because few people are thrilled about going to the dentist or maybe because it is kind of weird and uncommon to walk around with a huge grin on your face greeting everyone in sight. (only missionaries are allowed to do that without it being “weird”) But I wish I could ask each of them what they are really feeling in their hearts and if they feel joy often. I think as we try to keep our covenants and we strive to remember our Savior always we can have joy in our hearts and in our continence more frequently. The verse I read earlier finishes by saying, “for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” This is the reason we have to rejoice! All we have to do is remember him and what he did for us and I would bet that we could find more joy in our lives.

Esta semana hemos estado haciendo nuestro estudio en los últimos capítulos del primer Nefi. Me llamo mucho la atención un versículo en capitulo 21. El versículo 13 empieza diciendo, “Cantad, oh cielos, y alégrate, oh tierra, porque serán asentados los pies de los que están en el oriente!” En mi trabajo esta semana, he estado mirando a las personas que entran. Es extraordinariamente interesante que cada persona viene con una emoción diferente en su cara. Pero casi nunca vienen con una cara de gozo. Quizás es porque es un pocito raro caminar con una sonrisa grande saludando a todas las personas (solo los misioneros lo hacen eso sin ser raro) Pero me gustaría preguntar a cada persona que entra a mi trabajo y preguntarles lo que realmente están sintiendo en sus corazones. Yo creo que mientras estamos tratando a guardar nuestros convenios y recordamos el Salvador siempre, podemos tener gozo en nuestros corazones. El versículo que leí antes terminé diciendo, “pues el Señor ha consolado a su pueblo, y de sus afligidos tendrá misericordia.” ¡Esta es la razón que podemos regocijar! ¡Solo tenemos que recordar al Salvador y lo que El hico para nosotros y yo diría que podríamos encontrar más gozo!