Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Water kick-ball
Last night for FHE my ward played water kick-ball and it was a BLAST!!! We had a great turn out and there were only a handful who didn't want to get wet. Everyone else were great sports. Adam picked me up and threw me in one of the kiddy pools before we even started playing. lovely. Note to self: ware clothes that dry faster when participating in ward water activities.
Learn from life's experiences
The following is, in detail, the things that are unmistakably happening in my life. It is a great blessing to realize true and sustaining lessons are taught through words of the prophets.
"The voice of the Lord is clear and unmistakable. He knows you. He loves you. He wants you to be eternally happy. But according to your God-given agency, the choice is yours. Each one of you has to decide for yourself if you are going to ignore the past and suffer the painful mistakes and tragic pitfalls that have befallen previous generations, experiencing for yourself the devastating consequences of bad choices. How much better your life will be if you will follow the noble example of the faithful followers of Christ such as the sons of Helaman, Moroni, Joseph Smith, and the stalwart pioneers—and choose, as they did, to remain faithful to your Heavenly Father’s commandments.
With all my heart I hope and pray that you will be wise enough to learn the lessons of the past. You don’t have to spend time as a Laman or a Lemuel in order to know that it’s much better to be a Nephi or a Jacob. You don’t have to follow the path of Cain or Gadianton in order to realize that “wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10). And you don’t have to allow your community to become like Sodom or Gomorrah in order to understand that it isn’t a good place to raise a family.
Learning the lessons of the past allows you to walk boldly in the light without running the risk of stumbling in the darkness. This is the way it’s supposed to work. This is God’s plan: father and mother, grandfather and grandmother teaching their children; children learning from them and then becoming a more righteous generation through their own personal experiences and opportunities. Learning the lessons of the past allows you to build personal testimony on a solid bedrock of obedience, faith, and the witness of the Spirit.
Of course, it’s not enough to learn these lessons as a matter of history and culture. Learning the names and dates and sequence of events from the printed page won’t help you very much unless the meaning and the message are written in your hearts. Nourished by testimony and watered with faith, the lessons of the past can take root in your hearts and become a vibrant part of who you are.
And so it returns, as it always does, to your own personal faith and testimony. That is the difference-maker, my young brothers and sisters. That is how you know. That is how you avoid the mistakes of the past and take your spirituality to the next level. If you are open and receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit in your lives, you will understand the lessons of the past, and they will be burned into your souls by the power of your testimonies.
And how do you get such a testimony? Well, there’s no new technology for that, nor will there ever be. You cannot do a Google search to gain a testimony. You can’t text message faith. You gain a vibrant, life-changing testimony today the same way it has always been done. The process hasn’t been changed. It comes through desire, study, prayer, obedience, and service. That is why the teachings of prophets and apostles, past and present, are as relevant to your life today as they ever have been.
That you may find joy and happiness and peace in the future by learning the great and eternal lessons of the past is my prayer for each of you—for my grandchildren and all of the youth of the Church, wherever you may be—which I offer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
--Elder M. Russell Ballard
April Conference, 2009
"The voice of the Lord is clear and unmistakable. He knows you. He loves you. He wants you to be eternally happy. But according to your God-given agency, the choice is yours. Each one of you has to decide for yourself if you are going to ignore the past and suffer the painful mistakes and tragic pitfalls that have befallen previous generations, experiencing for yourself the devastating consequences of bad choices. How much better your life will be if you will follow the noble example of the faithful followers of Christ such as the sons of Helaman, Moroni, Joseph Smith, and the stalwart pioneers—and choose, as they did, to remain faithful to your Heavenly Father’s commandments.
With all my heart I hope and pray that you will be wise enough to learn the lessons of the past. You don’t have to spend time as a Laman or a Lemuel in order to know that it’s much better to be a Nephi or a Jacob. You don’t have to follow the path of Cain or Gadianton in order to realize that “wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10). And you don’t have to allow your community to become like Sodom or Gomorrah in order to understand that it isn’t a good place to raise a family.
Learning the lessons of the past allows you to walk boldly in the light without running the risk of stumbling in the darkness. This is the way it’s supposed to work. This is God’s plan: father and mother, grandfather and grandmother teaching their children; children learning from them and then becoming a more righteous generation through their own personal experiences and opportunities. Learning the lessons of the past allows you to build personal testimony on a solid bedrock of obedience, faith, and the witness of the Spirit.
Of course, it’s not enough to learn these lessons as a matter of history and culture. Learning the names and dates and sequence of events from the printed page won’t help you very much unless the meaning and the message are written in your hearts. Nourished by testimony and watered with faith, the lessons of the past can take root in your hearts and become a vibrant part of who you are.
And so it returns, as it always does, to your own personal faith and testimony. That is the difference-maker, my young brothers and sisters. That is how you know. That is how you avoid the mistakes of the past and take your spirituality to the next level. If you are open and receptive to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit in your lives, you will understand the lessons of the past, and they will be burned into your souls by the power of your testimonies.
And how do you get such a testimony? Well, there’s no new technology for that, nor will there ever be. You cannot do a Google search to gain a testimony. You can’t text message faith. You gain a vibrant, life-changing testimony today the same way it has always been done. The process hasn’t been changed. It comes through desire, study, prayer, obedience, and service. That is why the teachings of prophets and apostles, past and present, are as relevant to your life today as they ever have been.
That you may find joy and happiness and peace in the future by learning the great and eternal lessons of the past is my prayer for each of you—for my grandchildren and all of the youth of the Church, wherever you may be—which I offer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
--Elder M. Russell Ballard
April Conference, 2009
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Eclipse
But more than the movie entertainment was the enjoyment of being in such good company. I love my friends. I'm grateful they all still want to be my friends. It's so nice to have a few pretty faces in your circle. I'm lucky.
oh and the previews for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows looks *AMAZING*
Part One: November 19, 2010
Part Two: July 15, 2011
Can't wait
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Awesome new phone!!
I just got the new DROID by motorola and it amazes even me and my nerdy tech-loving brain. I'm posting this from my phone as we speak! loving it.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.4.7
Sunday, June 20, 2010
If life were easy, it wouldn't be hard
Contrary to popular belief, this life isn't meant to be easy. I'm reminded of this pretty consistently these days. It seems like mankind's natural instinct is to wish that everything we do would be "easier" or cause us "less stress". Haven't we learned by now that the best things come through hard work and struggle? Think of the things you have in life that are most valuable to you. Did they come easy or do you think at some point some real initiative had to be take to obtain those things? I feel that is how it is my life. The things that have come to me free and easy without struggle or stress or hardship don't mean nearly as much to me as the things that have caused me heartache over the years. Buck up and see that things are hard and we make mistakes but we can still be happy.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Things I'm missing...
I'm having issues with missing people lately. The hard thing is that there is nothing I can do about any of the situations. I miss my best friend who's serving a mission. Things seem more complicated without him here. But I can't do a thing about that one. I miss my other dear friend who is so dear and special to me. We roller costered through a number of things and a number of years knowing one another...but he decided there wasn't something there worth fighting for and now our friendship isn't the same to me. There is nothing I can do about that. I miss my heart. It is in so many different places, held in hands other than my own...I can't do anything about it. It's not mine any more. I thought I couldn't get it back from giving it away once, but I did. I fought for it and I got it back and started giving it away again and now...hmm...perhaps my heart is lost and that is what is causing the emptiness. It's somewhere in between being given away and being received. Limbo heart. Can't quite calculate it all but I'm missing something. I hope it will come round soon.
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