Breaking Destructive Cycles

Recently I have been able to be a cheerleader for someone who was struggling. This friend has been such a blessing in my life and I am thankful for them. Through my many strugglings over the last few months, he has been a wonderful support. On Thursday it was my turn to be his support. 

He had something huge due that he was really struggling with, and then suddenly it was the day before it was due. Panic set in. I also know that feeling all too well. He didn't have a direction with this assignment, or he did but it was vague. He kept spiraling back into, "I have so much to do and it is due tomorrow!" It is that panic that is crippling and doesn't get anything done. I was able to help him focus back onto his assignment and finishing. Every so often I'd send encouraging texts like, "You can do it!!"

This can be compared to our Savior and repentance. Sometimes we become overwhelmed by our trials and sins we feel trapped. Satan tells us that we can't escape. BUT WE CAN. Repentance is possible and very real. It isn't going to be like before. Our sins will not be wiped from our memory. BUT we can be made clean again. We can have our garments washed clean. We do not need to continue to walk around with our sins. We must wake up and stop our destructive cycles. We must begin to repent. I have. I have many many many times. And I am grateful every time.

I bear my testimony to you that repentance is real and possible. Through Christ's Atonement we are able to become clean. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love isn't just about two people

A few weeks ago in institute I heard a quote on marriage that really clicked. “Marriage is more than your love for each other. … In your love you see only your two selves in the world, but in marriage you are a link in the chain of the generations... Just as it is the crown, and not merely the will to rule, that makes the king, so it is marriage, and not merely your love for each other, that joins you together in the sight of God and man. … So love comes from you, but marriage from above, from God.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison,ed. Eberhard Bethge (1953), 42–43.). This idea that marriage is more than just for two people has stuck with me.

The other day I was listening to some music and I heard that idea again. Ingrid Michaelson is really good about having love songs that are cheesy but also follow this new definition of love that I discovered. Love is progressive, and it isn't just about two people.

Granted, I'm not married, in a relationship, or even considering marriage within the next couple of years. But I do know what I have seen between my parents, and I want that.

I bear my testimony to you that that God loves us and he wants us to find love also. If we are married in the temple, and maintain our covenants, we will be able to progress toward the celestial kingdom with our spouses. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.