Farewell Talk

Today I gave my farewell talk.  

Even though I've had the topic for a few weeks, I chose to write it yesterday.  Good thing I've written a bajillion papers for school and that prayers for inspiration are answered, because the talk actually turned out to be not too shabby.

I even made them laugh.

Well, it was more a mass chuckle (NOT a sympathy laugh, it was real), but it was enough to keep me going.

My topic was "Sharing the Gospel through Word and Example" and of course right now I have a lot of thoughts on that topic, so it wasn't too hard to write, and I was able to speak without looking at my notes too much-something I always try to do.

So, favorite parts of my talk:

This story:
"I'm sure I'm not the only one to have seen this, but as I was sitting in the foyer one day, I noticed a little boy pushing on one of the glass doors with all of his strength, trying to get it open.  Quietly, his father came up behind him, and pushed above his son's head, where his son couldn't see him, and together they opened the door.  This little boy was ecstatic at his own strength and was too young to really notice the influence his father had had in his success, but the father knew, and I'm sure as this little boy grew older, his father continued to help him.
This is how it is with missionary work.  The glass doors represent barriers we have, but as we push against them, Heavenly Father will be pushing with us until we open them together."
(cool analogy, huh?)

And these quotes:

“At of the end of the year 2010, there were 52,225 missionaries serving in 340 missions throughout the world. Missionary work is the lifeblood of the kingdom.”    

-President Thomas S. Monson

“The study of doctrine will change behavior faster than the study of behavior will change behavior.”   

-Elder Boyd K. Packer

“Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade?”  

-Benjamin Franklin

My re-wording: "Hide not your testimony.  It is meant to be shared.  How will it guide even your own life if it's hidden away?"  

(Also, look for the symbolism in the sundial analogy.  It's awesome.)

"The sun never sets on righteous missionaries."

-Elder Neil L. Anderson

(Look for the symbolism in this too.  Sun=Son)

“Many of us create to do lists to remind us of things we want to accomplish.  But people rarely have to be lists.” 

-Elder Lynn G. Robbins

“One of the greatest sermons ever pronounced on missionary work is this simple thought attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: “Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.”  

-President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives.”

-President Thomas S. Monson

“Mediocricy will never do.  You are capable of something better.”

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

So there it is.  A very water-down version of my talk.  Hope you enjoyed it.

P.S. If you want a full copy, just comment that you do and I'll send one to you.

K-town

It has been a long time since I went back to Kingman, and when I did go back this past weekend, in a small way, it felt like I was going home.  

But my real reason for going was that Tegan's boyfriend, Bryan, was getting baptized!  It was a beautiful day.  I love the spirit that I feel at baptisms and there was definitely a special feeling at Bryan's.  He was already a wonderful person and I'm excited to see what he becomes now that he's taken that first step towards exaltation.

In Christ Alone

Sunday Quotes

(In relation to visiting teaching.)


We are what we believe we are.
C.S. Lewis



Self-discipline is when your conscience tells you to do something and you don't fight back.
W.K. Hope



It's not our abilities that show what we truly are; it's our choices.
J.K. Rowling



A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.


Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.


Never, never, never give up.
Winston Churchill



Mediocracy will never do.  You are capable of something better.
President Hinckley

Power

Power is proportional to one's divine attributes.

John 17:2, John 19:10-11, Alma 12:15, 

"Knowledge brings power; purity brings power; love brings power.  The acquisition of each diving trait brings power.  Power and godhood are directly related."



I've always put a negative connotation with the word power, but realistically, God is omnipotent, or all-powerful, and God is good.  Power comes with divine attributes because the people who have those spiritual gifts should know how to use the power they receive.  Power is a gift, more than it's a prerogative.  Power is a good thing because it shows potential for leadership.  Ultimately it is a way to bring people to Christ.

Easter Day

President Hinckley said, "Without Easter, there would be no Christmas."

How true that is.

I've always admired the beauty of Easter Sunday.  It seems like the perfect time of year.  New growth, new baby animals, and a new hope.  There's something rejuvenating about making it through the bitterness of winter to the freshness of Spring. It's healing.

And it's very fitting that Easter is always on a Sunday.  Sunday also represents a day of renewal and growth.  And for that reason, I love Sundays.  Sundays give me the hope to make it through the week, as every Spring gives me the hope to make it through the year.

Hope is such a strengthening power.  Yesterday, I had a prompting that I should use this gift of hope to help others not only to make it through the weeks, and years, but through life.  One of the speakers in church said that if we treat others as they are, then we are doing them a disservice, but if we treat them as they may become, we could change their lives.  What inspires hope more, than looking for the potential in all of the people of this world, and treating them as the inspiring and noble children of God that they are? This earth would truly be a new and beautiful place.

So on this beautiful Easter day, and in the following days this Spring, I hope that you take the time to rejuvenate your spirit 

and  

share your hope 

with the world.

I Love to See the Temple

I've been singing that song since I was a little girl and today it finally came true.  

This morning I went through the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. It was beautiful. 

Almost thirteen years ago, I was baptized at age 8.  I only remember two feelings from that day: clean and happy.  And that's exactly how I felt today: clean and happy.

Mission

I got my mission call!

I'm going to the Washington D.C. North Mission, speaking English.  I'll be in the Visitor's Center for part of it and I leave on June 8th! I can't wait.  

Reverencing Womanhood

About a month ago, I was praying and pondering on what I should teach for my Relief Society lesson.  I was supposed to teach the first Sunday in February, and I was actually trying to prepare early.  Well, I went to a stake training where they introduced the topic of reverencing womanhood.  The next hour of this training was a discussion on modesty.  It's amazing that even on BYU campus, this area of our lives can be improved.

I knew very early on in this discussion that this topic was the answer to my prayers and pondering.  I needed to teach about modesty.  More importantly, I needed to teach about reverencing womanhood.

This was not an easy lesson for me to prepare because I knew I was going to have to be blunt.  Personally, I love it when people are blunt, because I know they're not being fake, but it's really hard for me to be blunt.  I don't have any problems being sincere, I just want to make sure I don't hurt feelings.

However, I loved preparing this lesson because of what I learned and how I grew.  I took a lot of my thoughts from this fireside talk, which was incredible.  I also paid a visit to the elders' quorum and asked the men there to write down their thoughts on modesty.  Wow.  I was so impressed by what they had to say.  I read probably 5 or 6 papers by men who said they were looking for a modest woman to marry because they want their children raised modestly, especially their daughters.  Quite a few said that modesty is really more attractive.  One paper was particularly impressive.  It said that a "woman who understands her divine nature will avoid dressing in a manner that would compromise her virtue."  That is the eternal perspective.

So, I shared thoughts from the talk, and a lot of the papers from the guys.  I ended by sharing the most important thing I learned: as women come to understand their divine nature, and realize that they truly are daughters of God, they will be more modest because they will know who they are.  Then it will only be natural to take part in the celestial cycle of reverencing womanhood.

The Way to Be

I think I will always remember President Hinckley as the prophet of my childhood.

And because of that child-like love I had for him, he will always be dear to me.

I read something by him recently that inspired me.  He was speaking of Marjorie's passing when he said, 

"My children and I were at her bedside as she slipped peacefully into eternity.  As I held her hand and saw mortal life drain from her fingers, I confess I was overcome.  Before I married her, she had been the girl of my dreams….  She was my dear companion for more than two thirds of a century, my equal before the Lord, really my superior.  And now in my old age, she has again become the girl of my dreams."  

Even after his death, President Hinckley's perspective and goodness continue to teach me.  There is such a purity in his love for Marjorie that I couldn't help but feel that that is what life is about.

I Love to See the Temple

This is a story that my Dad likes to tell:

When I was about three, he took me to a park that was close to our house.  He says that I was having the time of my life on the playground, until I decided to go down the slide on my stomach.  As you can imagine, it didn't end very well as I came off of the slide.  I don't remember if I cried or not, but I do remember him saying that I decided it was time to take a break.  So I went over to a bench, and sat on it backwards, with my legs poking through the space in the back.  Then, as I was feeling sorry for my little three year-old self, I looked up, noticed the temple, and started to sing, "I love to see the temple; I'm going there someday..."

How precious (and a little embarrassing).  I'm so glad that my parents taught me primary songs when I was young, and more importantly, to love the temple.  I've always kept that love for the temple and developed a desire to be there as much as I can.  As I was reading the Ensign today, it told a couple stories of people who were able to go to the temple only a few times during their life due to expenses of travel.  How blessed we are to be able to go so frequently! The temple really is a special place, and I still feel a sense of wonder whenever I see this piece of heaven on earth.  Temples are miracles and we are truly blessed to have them.

Creation

Yesterday in Relief Society we talked about the creation. And I learned something. In Genisis 1, the footnote for create says "always divine activity". Although I’d never read this before, it seemed like familiar doctrine, like something from the Family Proclamation. I’ve learned that when creating life, it’s a sacred act, which Satan knows, and so he has cunningly convinced people to defile the act of creation. Yet this epiphany also gave a new meaning to the value divine nature. If God, who is divine, performed the divine activity of creation, then it logically follows that our nature would be divine. This also means that our potential is divine. That thought prompts so many questions about the future…but also evokes so much awe for the Creator’s eternal wisdom.

With All Your Heart

Everday I get a little "gem".  

I signed up for daily thoughts on lds.org and now every morning when I check my emails, I'm greeted with a spiritual message.  I love these.  They help me to center my focus and start the day out right.  Today's gem was about God's love.  I liked it so much, I thought I'd share.

"Since 'God is love' (1 John 4:8), the closer we approach Him, the more profoundly we experience love. But because a veil separates this mortality from our heavenly home, we must seek in the Spirit that which is imperceptible to mortal eyes."Heaven may seem distant at times, but the scriptures offer hope: 'Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart' (Jeremiah 29:13)."
 -President Uchtdorf 

Stand for Virtue

Tonight I'm with my good friend Ashley in Taylorsville Utah.  We're having a sleepover.  The last time I had a sleepover was...well, actually a couple of weeks ago with Tegan in the living room.  A little ridiculous, I know, when our beds are only a couple feet away, but we were watching a movie and just fell asleep on the couches...

Anyway, I'm here with her and we're working on this project called Stand for Virtue.  She created a Facebook group with the same name and I just want to invite all of you to join and invite your friends to join.  This is a project in the works and it is going to grow into something even more amazing very soon that I know all of you will want to be a part of! So hurry along and join!

Weaknesses are Blessings

Tonight I went to a a Stake Relief Society Activity entitled "Love Yourself." It was wonderful, and a night when that spiritual cup was filled.

The speaker was Dr. Wendy Ulrich, who has quite the resume, but more importantly, has quite the testimony.  She spoke on the difference between sin and weakness.  The key to understanding both is that Satan is the author of sins and God is the author of weaknesses.  Our weaknesses are literally given to us from God; they are gifts from him.  I'd never thought of a weakness as a gift before, especially my own.  It's interesting that I've heard the scripture, "I give unto men weakness that they may be humble...and have faith in me, then will I make things become strong unto them," multiple times, but I had always focused on making weak things become strong.  I realized tonight that we have to have weaknesses to experience what it is to be human.  Our weaknesses may become strengths in time, but they may also always be with us and if we strive to improve, we will be blessed later and in greater ways.  Sister Ulrich offered another interesting perspective.  She said that sometimes God will use our weaknesses to bless the lives of others.  What a humbling and overwhelming experience that is when God uses our shortcomings to bless others!

The most important thing I learned tonight is that weaknesses are given to us because God loves us.  A weakness is a gift, in it's own way, and although it's important to strive to improve, it's just as important to always remember that God loves us.

Nauvoo

What a wonderful experience! Since I didn't blog at all on our Nauvoo blog, I just wanted to write a couple of the things I learned and relearned while I share some pictures of this place I fell in love with.

First, be positive. Our directors taught us in a new way of the principle of bad fruit and good fruit. There was never any negativity coming from them and it was contagious. There was a positive energy all the time and that feeling is something I don't want to lose.

The directors were also great at keeping our perspective on the purpose of the pageant: to bring souls to Christ. One of them said that although Nephi was commanded to build a ship, the ship was not the thing; it was the promised land. I was reminded how important it is to keep the big picture in mind and how much easier it is to do the nitty-gritty things when I do remember the full perspective.Third, we learned about the difference between dependence, independence, and interdependence. By studying just the definitions of these words, it's easy to see the progression and then apply them to the gospel. The directors made the point that interdependence is what is found in Zion.The last teaching that touched me was the instruction to open my soul. This was reinforced at different times and by different people, but they all had the same basic message. By opening my soul, the spirit can work in me and then through me. I saw this happen in the music we sang, and in the performances we had, and in our missionary efforts. We were always blessed the most when we were the most open.It's hard to express the things I learned in a blog when I feel like I learned them in much deeper ways. But hopefully you get a glimpse of our experience here and a more day-by-day experience on the Nauvoo blog. It really was a life-changing two weeks and I hope that all of you will at sometime be able to visit that beautiful city.

Elder Cook: Mormon Message

Go HERE to watch a great, dramatized conference clip of Elder Cook's talk, "Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time."

Easter Message: None Were With Him

This video is part of Elder Holland's last conference address with added visuals. Click HERE to see. It's wonderful. Enjoy.

S.E.E.D.

In our apartment, we recently started a new program entitled S.E.E.D. which stands for Seeking Enlightenment Every Day. We've finally started reading scriptures and praying daily as a 'family'. It's amazing how quickly it changed the mood in our dorm and in ourselves. I hope that as we continue this, the metaphor of a growing seed will come to pass and that our faith will grow every day.