The Great and Spacious Building!

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, why is it that the great and spacious building represents pride?  Why not just iniquity, or some other general sin?  I figured there must be some interesting point that the Lord wants to make by specifically focusing on pride.  So, I delved into the scriptures to find out some characteristics of the great and spacious building and the people who entered.  First, they gathered together to fight against the apostles of the Lord.  Second, a great gulf divided them from the Tree of Life, or love of God.  Third, they mocked those who partook of the fruit of the Tree of Life.  Fourth, many people risked becoming lost in forbidden paths just to enter the building and partake of worldly pleasures. 

Characteristics of Pride:

Does not receive correction (a great gulf divides them from the Lord)

Has to be better than others  (mock the believers)

Does not follow the commandments of the Lord (fight against the apostles)

Loves the world more than God (seeks to partake of worldly pleasures in building)

We can learn from these characteristics, that pride inhibits our success and our spiritual progress.  Pride destroys love.  Pride weakens our trust and confidence in the Lord, and pride follows after the desires of the natural man.  It is for this reason that pride is epitomized in the great and spacious building.  How can we ever become all that our Heavenly Father wants us to be if we are prideful?  How can we serve and love others as Christ did, if we are prideful?  How can we keep the commandments and trust in the Lord if we are prideful?  How can we seek after all that is righteous and virtuous if we are prideful?  Pride will never give us success.  Just as the great and spacious building suffered a great and terrible fall, pride will destroy each one of us.

The opposite of pride is humility.  In James 4:10 it says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up!”  When we are humble; when we willing receive correction from others; when we love freely without competing to be better; when we follow all the commandments of the Lord, trusting that His will is best; and when we seek after the things of God first; we will be strengthened and lifted up. Christ promises us, “blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  When we seek after humility and develop it in our lives, we will receive a much grander prize than anything this world can offer.  We will receive eternal life in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father!

5 Crowns and Life

Life is like a game of 5 Crowns – sometimes you know exactly how to play your hand...and then other times you’ve got to be real creative to make some matches and combinations with the crazy cards you’ve been dealt! Yet, with a lot of improv, some crazy luck, and perhaps some hidden skill, you manage to pull it off! That’s basically a baby description of my week! About a month ago, I was assigned to work with three other students in my Program Management class to create, organize, and run a program. We let our creative juices flow, and came up with a spectacular idea, adaptive hockey! Two weeks later, we received notification, that the program would not be able to go as planned. Undaunted, we went back to the ‘drawing table’ and came up with our second spectacular idea, an 80’s roller skating party! One week later, we received notification that only one group on campus had permission to use the roller skates…by now, we had less then a month to implement our program, and we had already created the rough draft plans for the roller skating program idea. Instead of redoing our entire program, which would have taken a lot of time, we decided to put it all on the line and try our luck. Thursday morning, we got an email saying that we could do the activity, but that the only day we could schedule the ballroom for skating was November 14, in exactly one week! Yep! At this point we were holding one crazy hand of cards! Our options weren’t that terrific, but we let the adrenaline kick in and went to work. Between me and one other girl in our group, I think we contacted every possible organization on campus that could help us! When we walked into the scheduling office to schedule the ballroom for our activity, the woman at the computer looked up and said, “Oh, you’re the ones with roller skating! We’ve been so confused! We’ve had about 4 different groups of people call in today trying to schedule the room, and we couldn’t figure out if it was all for the same group or if they were all different!” Long story short, by the end of the day, we had the ballrooms scheduled for skating, and our program was on track, a very fast track, for November 14!

It was incredible for me to see how a simple idea, almost dying at that, could go from just ink on a paper to active implementation! So many weeks had passed by without much action, and without much hope of really making it happen. Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere we had a full-fledged program on our hands. How did that happen? Where did we get that kind of motivation and drive!? It made me think a about my own life. What kind of spectacular ideas do I have, that are still just on paper? What’s it going to take to create that motivation and drive within me to take those inactive ideas and turn them into reality? We each have tremendous potential; we just have to figure out how to release that incredible power from within us. Sometimes I think all we need to jump start this ‘drive’ is to wake up one day and say, “I am going to do this!” Whether it be goals to daily study the scriptures daily, pray more intently, marry in the temple, serve a mission, pay tithing, have food storage, or obey the word of wisdom; we have all the necessary capabilities. It doesn’t matter what ‘hand of cards’ life deals us, the Lord can help us do great things if we just believe and put our trust in Him!

Candy in Heaven?!

This past week while I was at the temple, I noticed that one of the Sisters had a basket of candy on her desk. I couldn't help myself and walked over. Motioning to the candy, I asked, "So does this mean that there is candy in heaven?!" She just laughed and didn't give me a direct answer, but I took it as a 'yes'!

I never actually met this Professor, but apparently, we have a Professor in the religion department who had his hand blown off by a firecracker when he was younger. As we were learning about the miracle when Christ heals a man with a withered hand, our religion teacher told us this story. He said that this Professor with the missing hand was talking about the healing of the withered hand, and said, "I can't imagine how wonderful it would be to have a right hand again. However, I think, that when the day comes for me to approach Christ with my 'withered' hand, knowing full well that he can completely restore my hand, I will quietly slip my 'withered' hand into my pocket; and then when I stand before Christ I will point to my soul and say, "please, heal this." I don't know why, but this story kind of touched me and made me think about how many times the Savior physically healed people in the scriptures and said, "thy faith hath made thee whole," and then, I thought about the account of Enos when the Savior spiritually healed him and used the same words, "thy faith hath made thee whole!" Often, I think the world becomes consumed in the desire for physical perfection and physical healing. Yet, physical healing really isn't all that difficult or important. The experiences and lessons of this life can be learned in whatever body we our blessed with, no matter how healthy or disabled. Also, despite what physical ailments we have, we will all be resurrected to a perfect form regardless of what we've done or how we've lived. However, to be healed spiritually is somewhat different. Spiritually sicknesses are much more difficult to perceive in others, and ourselves but we all have them. They are pride, procrastination, hypocrisy, disobedience, immorality, dishonesty, etc. To be healed from such ailments, we have to complete certain requirements such as baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, temple covenants, and enduring to the end. Unlike physical healing, spiritual healing won’t just happen to everyone once they die and go to heaven. This is our ultimate goal in this life; to be spiritually healed, to "put off the natural man and to become a saint through the Atonement of Christ". That is why missionary work is so fantastic! Just think about what we are doing! We are aiding the Savior in his mission to spiritually heal His children. Through the teachings of the Gospel, the covenant of baptism, and helping people to become worthy of going to the temple, we not only help to spiritually heal those who become members of the Church, but we also bless the lives of our brothers and sisters, our family members, and ourselves! Just as Christ focused on healing while He fulfilled His earthly mission, He continues to seek to heal each one of us. I know that as we teach and live the principles of the Gospel we will be spiritually healed; and that one-day, we too will stand before Christ and hear Him say, "thy faith hath made thee whole!"

The Parable of the Chocolate Chip Cookie

Ingredients:

1 cup faith     

1 cup hope

1 cup charity

2 trials of faith

2 teaspoons tribulations

3 cups all-purpose prayer

1 teaspoon weaknesses

2 teaspoons Atonement power 

½ teaspoon strengthened testimony

2 cups semisweet repentance

1 cup chopped pride

Directions:

1.      Preheat refiner’s fire to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2.      Cream together the faith, hope, and charity until smooth. Beat in the trials of faith one at a time, and then stir in the tribulations. Dissolve weaknesses in Atonement power. Add to batter along with strengthened testimony. Stir in prayer, repentance, and chopped pride. Drop by large spoonfuls into one’s life.

3.      Bake for about 10 minutes in the preheated refiners fire, or until ‘natural man’ is completely ‘put off’.

I grabbed the recipe book and anxiously flipped through until my eyes took in the words, Chocolate Chip Cookie.  “I found the recipe!” I shouted to my mom.  “Great!” she replied, “let’s get started!”  I had been counting down the days to the appointed time when we would make these delectable treats, and now I just wanted to get those warm chocolaty cookies in my mouth!  I looked over at my mother and watched as she organized the ingredients on the counter.  Next, she pulled out some measuring cups and carefully measured the various ingredients before putting them into the bowl.  She seemed to take great pride and care in each step.  “Why did she have to be so precise,” I thought.  “And why does it have to be such a drawn out process?  The best part is eating the cookie!  The faster we get to eating, the better!”  My mother looked up from her work and tipped the bowl up for me to see.  “Doesn’t this batter look delicious!” she exclaimed excitedly.  I stared disappointedly into the bowl.  I couldn’t see anything delicious.  What I saw was a clump of brownish goop.  “This isn’t a cookie,” I remarked with frustration, “I wanted a chocolate chip cookie, not brown goop!”  My mother smiled as she placed the bowl back down and picked up the bag of chocolate chips, “yes,” she replied, “but a chocolate chip cookie can never become a chocolate chip cookie without first being brown goop.” 

Lesson #1: Our Heavenly Father knows who we can become.

Our Heavenly Father knows our divine potential and who we can become.  The process of reaching our divine potential cannot happen with minimal effort or time.  Just as a chocolate chip cookie must go through various steps; mixing, rolling, baking, and cooling; we also must pass through various ‘steps’ in our own lives to reach our divine potential.   Sometimes these ‘steps’ come in the form of trials and tribulations.  Often, in such moments we may wonder if our Heavenly Father truly knows what He is doing because we surely cannot see how the current ‘brown goop’ of our life can ever become a delicious chocolate chip cookie.  Yet, our loving Heavenly Father patiently reminds us,  “Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.  For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory.” (D&C 58:3-4)  The Lord knows our true potential, and He knows what we must experience to become like Him.  If we trust in Him and never give up, even when we cannot ‘see’ how our present circumstance will ever be beneficial to us, we will one day look back and recognize how we were shaped and molded into an exquisite son or daughter of God.

Lesson #2: Find joy in the journey!

President Dieter F Uchtodorf has stated, “my dear brothers and sisters, we would do well to slow down a little, proceed at the optimum speed for our circumstances, focus on the significant, lift up our eyes, and truly see the things that matter most.”  In the parable of the chocolate chip cookie, what mattered most to the child was the end product, eating the chocolate chip cookie.  However, what mattered most to the mother was the process, the ‘journey’ of making the chocolate chip cookie.  The child completely disregarded the simple joys of mixing, eating raw dough, and spooning the dough onto a cookie sheet; while the mother took great pride and precision in completing each small step.  Our lives are very similar to making chocolate chip cookies; they are a process, a journey, and while we all know that the end product will give us great happiness, we must not fail to remember to find joy in the journey.  President Thomas S. Monson states, “Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love.”  We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us…Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family.”  And so, as the mother took great pride and care in each small step of the cookie making process, we too should slow down, love more freely, appreciate the little things in life, and find joy in the journey!

Elevation Excitement

Just for fun, I did some quick research this week and found out that for my entire mission in Brazil I never went above 1,000 feet in elevation.  For the last five months of my mission I served in Joao Pessoa, which is only at 149 feet (46 meters) elevation.  You might be wondering what sparked this interesting research…well, it all began when I decided to venture out into the Rexburg climate and start running again.  I got about halfway up the huge hill heading up to the temple and felt as though my lungs were the size of a ping pong ball!  I could not breathe!  I guess that is what happens when you go from 149 feet elevation to 4859 feet (1481 meters); the air gets a bit thinner! 

Since I’ve been back from my mission, I’ve been trying to catch up on some of the movies that came out while I was gone.  This week I watched “The Croods”!  There was one part in the movie that made me smile.  The Croods, a family of cavemen, find another young man who has an animal friend.  At some point, the Croods get hungry and attempt to eat this animal friend.  The young man kindly informs them that his animal friend is not food, but that it is a pet.  The Croods then ask the young man what a pet is.  He answers, “A pet is an animal you don’t eat.”  The Croods reply, “Oh, we call those children!” hahahaha  A pretty fairly accurate definition if you ask me! haha 

On a mission, life is pretty basic; study, preach the Gospel, serve others, eat, and sleep.  While choices are still present, the categories of choices are minimal.  All the ‘frills’, worries, and complications of a normal life are shaved away and all of your energy is focused on one goal.  Coming home, I have felt the slightly overwhelming wave of choices and options again.  There are so many different ways to spend my time, so many good choices!  Yet, while the world we live in offers innumerable quality activities and pursuits, we need to be careful to not fill our time with good and better, neglecting the best!  As Neal A. Maxwell wisely stated,

“If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead!” 

So, what are we choosing?  Do our choices regarding church attendance, prayer, scripture study, temple attendance, tithing, visiting teaching, home teaching, etc reflect our desires to choose the Kingdom of God first?  I testify that this is a true principle.  When we stand before our Heavenly Father at the last day, it won’t matter how beautiful our house was, how many exquisite vacations we went on, how many trophies we won, how many concerts we played in, who won last year’s Super Bowl, how up you are on your pop culture, or if you know the plot lines of the New York Times Best Sellers.  All that will matter will be if we have chosen the Kingdom of God!  Life isn’t complicated, just put the Lord and His Gospel first! 

Sleep, a Learning Tool?...

My recently began pattern of posting once a week was thrown off a baby bit this past weekend when I went down to Salt Lake City to attend General Conference.  Sorry for the inconvenience, but WOW! What a great experience to listen to the Prophet and Apostles in person.  As my siblings and I were walking to the Conference Center, I couldn't help but exclaim, "I feel like the people of King Benjamin gathering to hear his words in front of the temple!"  What a blessing it is to live in a time when we can be guided by a living Prophet and Apostles!

In my Psychology class, we have been addressing the fascinating subject of Memory.  This week, we learned the causes behind ‘memory forgetting’.  One of these causes is called ‘Interference’, which simply means that something you learned in the past interferes with new learning, or new learning interferes with something you learned in the past.  Consequently, our professor informed us that studying various subject topics one right after another will decrease our capability to retain and recall learned information.  Naturally, as college students with various subject matters and very little time, we wanted to know how we could avoid such a dilemma.  We were all a bit surprised by our teacher’s response.  “If you want to avoid interference in the learning process,” he said, “you should take a short nap in between studying different subjects!”  YES!!  So, now you all know; the next time you see me crashed out somewhere, I’m just avoiding interference and allowing my brain to absorb newly learned information! hahahaha  

This week as I was at the temple, I witnessed an interesting scene that got me thinking.  As we were waiting in the chapel, an elderly temple worker in a wheelchair entered the room and made her way over to the organ.  Another Sister helped her to get out of her wheelchair and move carefully over onto the organ bench.  As I watched, the thought struck me “In the Lord’s kingdom there is a need and purpose for everyone!  There is neither ‘great’ nor ‘small’, ‘important’, nor ‘meaningless;’ everything and everyone has divine purpose and value.”  During this past General Conference, Elder Edward Dube said,

“The Lord through His servants calls us to serve in various callings, which we accept with total commitment. When a release has been extended and a call in a different assignment has been issued, we joyfully accept it, knowing, as our forebearers knew, that “in the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how”…As I travel throughout the Church I marvel at all the positive things that are occurring. Yet I never feel that we, as a people, are living up to our real potential. My sense is that we do not always work together, that we are still too much interested in aspirations for personal honors and success, and show too little interest in the common goal of building the kingdom of God.  May we all unite in a common objective “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man!” 

I love these remarks by Elder Edward Dube!  Truly, every one of us has a divinely important role in the Lord’s service.  The Lord doesn’t care if we are Stake President, First counselor in the YW, nursery leader, Camp Director, or the Gospel Principles teacher.  “In the sight of the Lord, it is not so much what we have done or where we have been, but much more where we are willing to go.”  Let us be willing to go with Lord wherever He calls, and to serve with all our heart, might, mind, and strength in unity with our fellow brothers and sisters!

Mormon Culture

Our world is full of different cultures!  These cultures dictate what people eat, how they dress, how they act, and what is and is not acceptable.  As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have the marvelous opportunity to take part in the "Mormon Culture".   It is a great culture, and is accented even more by being a student on the BYU-Idaho campus.  Let me just give you a taste of what this culture entails by two experiences that I had this week.

First, I just returned from my morning classes, and was making lunch before I had to head to my afternoon class, when I heard a tap on the front door and then the creak of it opening.  I walked out into the living room, and saw a girl standing inside of our apartment.  I expected her to say something, but she just kind of stood there.  So, I broke the silence and said, “Can I help you?”  She looked around cautiously and then replied, “Is Amber here?”  I replied that she was not, and that I didn’t even know an Amber.  The girl stepped further in and tentatively continued, “Oh, well last semester, I always came here in between my classes to sleep on the couch.  Amber always let me.”  She paused, and then continued, “Would you mind if I slept on your couch?” -- Let me pause here, and just give you a brief illustration of the current situation that I found myself in: 1) A random girl has just entered my apartment without being invited.   2) She has now already shut the door and is standing within inches of our couch, and  3) although her question allows me to respond ‘no’, her actions are clearly demonstrating that she fully intends to sleep on our couch…Naturally, I do the only sensible thing a person can do in such a situation, I agree to let her sleep on the couch.  As she happily situates herself on the couch, I figure that it would probably be good to at least know her name.  I ask her politely to tell me her name, and she replies, “Oh, you know!”  I stared at her for a while, not quite believing if she was being serious or joking around with me, and replied, “No…I don’t know.”  She laughed, and repeated, “no, it’s ‘oh-you-nah’! hahaha  Random people entering your apartment to sleep on your couch...yep! only at BYU-Idaho!!  

Second, since it is the beginning of the semester, our professors like to go around and have everyone introduce themselves.  It was a classic display of Mormon culture when one professor began his class by saying, “alright,  let's go around and introduce everyone.  If you’re married, please tell us, so that we can take you off the dating list!” hahaha   I love Mormon college culture!

This week, I went to the temple for the first time in the 'States' after my mission.  I had heard that there was a new movie, but I had never seen it.  Wow!!!  So neat!  If you haven't been to the temple yet to see the new movie, GO!!  You will learn a lot!

While studying the book of Moses this week, I came across some interesting analogies.  In the first chapter, Moses has an encounter with the Lord.  During this interaction with the Lord, three interesting things take place.  1) The Lord tells Moses that he is a son of God  2) The Lord commands Moses to only worship Him  3) Moses cannot remain in his natural state while in the presence of the Lord.  After this encounter with the Lord, Satan appears to Moses.  Pay attention to the difference between these two visits: 1) Satan tells Moses that he is a son of man  2) Satan tells Moses to worship him  3) Moses can remain in his natural state while viewing Satan.  It is interesting to note that while the Lord raises Moses to a higher level and encourages and inspires him to live up to his divine potential, Satan demeans Moses and attempts to diminish or even destroy his divine potential.  As we navigate our way through this world, we need to be ever watchful for those things that demean and destroy our divine potential.  As Moses was able to recognize these harmful influences by the glory or lack of glory that he felt, we too have the powerful gift of the Spirit to help us to recognize and avoid the temptations and tactics of the Devil.  I know that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father.  We each have divine potential!  If we strive to strengthen our testimonies, stand in holy places, and listen to the spirit, we will be protected and blessed in our journey of life!!

Missionary Work!- Never Give Up!

This week, I was studying about four missionaries in the Book of Mormon; Abinadi, Alma, Nephi, and Samuel the Lamanite.  I learned a few interesting things that I would like to share with you!

Abinadi (Mosiah 11:20-29; 12:1)
1) Was commanded to preach the Gospel

2) The people did not listen

3) He left the city, but was commanded to return

4) It still wasn't easy, but he did everything to fulfill the will of the Lord

5) Was greatly blessed - Alma the Elder was converted!

Alma (Alma 8:9-18)

1) Was commanded to preach the Gospel

2) The people did not listen

3) He left the city, but was commanded to return

4) It still wasn't easy, but he did everything to fulfill the will of the Lord

5) Was greatly blessed - Amulek and others were converted

Nephi (Helaman 10:1-13)

1) Was commanded to preach the Gospel

2) The people did not listen

3) He left the city, but was commanded to return

4) It still wasn't easy, but he did everything to fulfill the will of the Lord

5) Was greatly blessed - Nephi baptized many people  (Helaman 16:1-4)

Samuel the Lamanite (Helaman 13:1-5)

1) Was commanded to preach the Gospel

2) The people did not listen

3) He left the city, but was commanded to return

4) It still wasn't easy, but he did everything to fulfill the will of the Lord

5) Was greatly blessed - the people who listened to him were baptized by Nephi (Hel 16:1-4)

These example teach us a few things: 1) Missionary work isn't easy!  It never was and never will be.  Yet, the Lord has called us to this work because He knows that our salvation and the salvation of others depend on it!  2) The Lord doesn't want us to ever give up.  Sometimes, it feels like no one wants to listen, and that no one is accepting our message.  We are tempted to 'leave' or to just give up; but just like these four missionaries, the Lord calls us out again each day to preach His Gospel, using new ideas and efforts to find those people who are prepared.  3) If we do our part, work hard, never give up, and do all we can to do the will of the Lord, we will be blessed!*

*Interesting thought: Sometimes, we will not see the fruits of our labors in this life.  Abinadi had many fruits!  Just think about the generations of faithful saints that came from the conversion of Alma the Elder, but Abinadi was killed before he was able to see these fruits!  Also, think about Samuel the Lamanite.  All the people whom he taught wanted to kill him!  After he fled the city and returned to his land, he probably had no idea that there were people who listened to him, repented, and were baptized by Nephi!  So, what can we learn from this?  Never give up!  We are making a difference!!  Our efforts are blessing the lives of many people!!  Each of us is a powerful force for good in the Lord's army!!! 

After 18 Months...

You know you’ve just gotten back from a mission in Brazil when eating American food gives you diarrhea, and not ‘feijao e arroz’; when 50 degree weather makes your teeth chatter; when you eat more than the guy who took you out on a date; when you accidentally throw Portuguese words like ‘também’, ‘vixe’, and ‘acho’ into your normal conversations; when you wear high heels for the first time after 18 months and just about break your foot; and when you receive 2 hugs throughout the day and feel that you were hug deprived!  It’s interesting how much a person can change in such a short time.  I know I’ll adjust, but I can’t help but feel a bit like a stranger on these Rexburg streets.  As I walk around campus, wheezing because of the high altitude and cold, I can’t help but think to myself, “I’m not a Rexburgian, sou Paraibana!!”  Yet, whether it be on the streets of Brazil or the sidewalks of Rexburg, the adventures keep coming and the life lessons keep multiplying!

My first Sunday home was fantastic!  Even though I had a short time before I headed back out to school, I had time to visit my home ward.  After Sacrament meeting, my Mom asked me if I would like to join her down in the primary.  I happily accepted, not only to spend more of my meager ration of time with her, but also to enjoy the spontaneity of the primary children!  At one point, the chorister asked the young children to introduce themselves to her.  One girl raised her hand and said, “My name is Amanda, or Mandy, but I prefer to be called Amanda.”  At this point, another girl sitting two chairs over, looked at ‘Amanda’ with horror in her eyes and exclaimed, “What?! You mean you don’t want me to call you ‘Mandy’?!”  hahaha  It’s always rough when the ‘best friend’ doesn’t get the memo on the latest name change.

Monday I flew out to school, and by Tuesday what had been my ‘life’ and ‘soul’ only a week ago (a missionary in Brazil), suddenly seemed to be but a dream.  The life of a college student; classes, homework, studying, reading, work, and social life, gave me no mercy and jumped right into ‘advanced mode!’  The already hectic schedule is great for me; I have no time to think, I just kind of walk around in a daze from class to homework to work to apt, and repeat!  It’s pretty much the best!  My first day of work, I happened to be wearing a skirt because later that afternoon there was a campus Devotional and I wanted to be dressed up.  While my new boss was training me, he stopped for a second, looked down at my skirt and said, “and just for the future, you should know that this job requires you to NOT wear a skirt!”  My whole soul screamed, “wooohoooo”, and I smiled and said; “now that’s my kind of job!”  Blessings from a mission, right!  Not only do I have an awesome job, but it also doesn’t require a skirt!!

As I was studying my scriptures this week, I came across the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehi’s and their resolve to bury their weapons of war to keep themselves unspotted from sin and firm in their resolve to follow Christ.  Alma 24:18-19 states,  “And this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that they never would use weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood; and this they did, vouching and covenanting with God, that rather than shed the blood of their brethren they give up their own lives…and thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm…” These Lamanites experienced a ‘change of heart’.  They were truly converted, and resolved to remain so, come what may.  They also understood, that this change that they had experienced would require sacrifices, courage, and diligence to maintain.  Each of us has experienced a change within us.  We too have also had experiences when we have become truly converted in some aspect of the Gospel.  What have we resolved to do about our personal conversion?  Can it be said about us, “When (insert name) was brought to believe and to know the truth, they were firm?”  Maintaining our personal conversion will never be easy.  It will require sacrifices, courage, and diligence, but if we resolve to be true to our personal conversion, like these faithful Lamanites, our posterity and we will be greatly blessed.