The Importance of Teamwork

Love your companion like you know you would love Christ. Be open with your companion. Work together as a team. The Lord expects us to work as a team, much like a family and the Godhead (Three separate beings, one purpose and one goal=Bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man). The Lord doesn't expect perfection, but he does expect love and compromise. The windows of heaven will pour out on you and your area and everything will work out for the best. I promise. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

God has Good Timing

Lately I've been reading in the book of Mosiah as part of my personal study. I read Mosiah 23-24 this morning and it is about how Alma (a prophet and recent convert to Jesus Christ and refugee leader because the king of his city kicked him and the other Christians out) had found a land where everything was fine and peaceful. They built a city and were relatively happy. And then there was an army that came and conquered them and made life very hard for Alma and his people. They prayed and prayed for help. Alma received word from the Lord and the Lord promised He would make their burdens light as they relied on Him. The people continued to pray and maintain hope in the Lord. A few days after Alma received this first revelation, he received another that the Lord would help his people escape that night. They did and as the left the city and were fleeing the army that had originally conquered them, they made it to a safe city with a kind and wise king.

I love this story because it shows how obedient these people are and how much they trusted God. We don't know God's timing and we don't know the purpose of many of the trials we go through. Every transfer is hard in some way, and they always seem to fall apart and come together at the beginning of each transfer. I know that the Lord is going to pour out the windows of heaven in the next couple of weeks and I know that the gospel is true. As we rely on Jesus Christ and his atonement, we have strength and hope. We are able to get through the day when it is hard. He loves us so much and I am so grateful to know and love Him too. I know that He lives and because He lives I will too. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

You Will Never be Alone

 "10 Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

 11 For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.

 12 And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.

 13 And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!

 14 Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.

 15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" D&C 18

You will not understand these verses until you have truly been able to see how much another soul is worth to our Heavenly Father. I know a shred of this with Laura and it is astounding. She is so wonderful and I love her so much. I testify to you that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love you! They love you so much that Jesus CHrist was sent to earth to live a perfect life and then feel all that we feel so that he can help us. He then died to conquer death and rose again so that we may also. You are never forgotten and you always have a Savior who love you and knows exactly how to help you. You need to reach out to him and he will do the rest. And you do this through faith in Him, repentance for our sins and shortcomings, baptism to wash away our sins, the gift of the holy ghost to help and guide us always, and endure to the end in righteousness and love. I know that these things bring joy and will always always always be there for you. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Being a Missionary Every Day

Missions are hard. On our missions we learn so much and grow so much. Missions are the boot camp for life afterwards. They teach us so much we can't even put it all on one blog post. But a missionary isn't invincible when he or she comes home. They don't grow super powers to permanently stay in the church or resist Satan. I never want to be the same after my mission. I want my mission to change me and I want to be a forever missionary. Being a missionary isn't wearing a name tag, it's living the gospel as Christ would want us to and inviting everyone learn more. I want to be an amazing memeber missionary when I get home. I never want to not read my scriptures or say my prayers everyday. No one is perfect but I want to stay strong in the gospel because it has changed my life. That is my invitation to each of you. They gospel should change you. Your missions should change you. You will lose that growth if you don't nurture it at home too. If you're behind now, get up and start today! It's not hard, it's just the little things every day! I know that this gospel blesses lives and I know that it has changed me. I knwo that it will change if yours, if it already has, then let it change it again and again and again. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

God's Blessings are Greater than your Fear

Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isaiah 41:10)

As a servant of God I have no reason to fear anything but fear itself. Am I following the commandments? Am I worthy to hold a temple recommend? Am I worthy of my calling? Am I working hard to be obedient to my God? If the answer is yes, then I have nothing to fear. He is always there as I ask for help. He is my strength as I work as hard as I can and rely on Him.

I am the happiest I have ever been and it is because all I am doing is service and I am loving the people of North Creek. I am being the best missionary I can be. I have the amazing blessing of serving my Savior by preaching His gospel for only 18 months (now 16   ). Why waste it? But each of you have a duty to your God as well. He has blessed you so much, you need to share it. More blessings come as you do, I GUARANTEE it. I have seen it in my life so many time, I can't even count. And you have nothing to be afraid of. If a friend reject's the testimony you bore out of love, that's their loss, not yours.

I testify that the Lord will support you as you live righteously and work hard to follow Him and his example of love and care. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Where is Your Focus?

My whole Sunday seemed top have a theme. In Sacrament meeting the thing that stood out the most was, "Do we see the world and people as they really are/how Christ sees them?" and n Relief Society our lesson was on "Centering our Lives on Christ". It was beautiful and the questions that were asked were inspiring and very thought provoking. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/the-joy-of-living-a-christ-centered-life?lang=eng Y'all need to check it out and ask yourselves these questions: Do I see people how Christ would see them? What have I given to center my life on Christ?
A story I found very profound was one the teacher gave before she opened up for discussion with questions:
She was Christmas shopping and the cashier asked her if she was finshed christmas shopping. She said no, she had only begun. The cashier told her that in his family they don't give gifts. It began when his family was struggling for money and couldn't afford gifts for his entire extedned family. They first objected to not sending gifts, but eventually everyone relented. As Christmas time came around, everyone enjoyed Christmas more, and there wasn't any feeling of competition at all. It was wonderful. He said they had a more Christ centered Christmnas than they had in a very long time.
I'll leave you with this question, how can you best center your life on Christ in this coming New Year?
I testify to you that as we serve Him and His children we will be blessed, guaranteed and we will be happier. It might seem like a sacrifice but He already gave the biggest sacrifice, I'm sure that we can give Him something. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

A Christmas Message

Never forget the reason for the season: A Savior is Born! christmas.mormon.org is a wonderful website with two videos about why we celebrate Christmas. We celebrate because we have been blessed with the opportunity to repent and try again, we celebrate because He knows how we feel and can help us, we celebrate because He allows us the opportunity to live with our Heavenly Father again. He celebrate because He lives again! I love my Savior and through Him I can do all things and He strengthens me. I testify that we can repent, we can be forgiven, we can overcome so much, because we have a Savior. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.