John Denver

Have you ever heard the phrase "Why do all good things come to an end?" or John Denver's "Leaving on a Jet Plane?" That's about what I'm feeling right now. The end of my mission is quickly drawing nigh, and I don't really even know what to even do with myself. Over the last couple weeks, I've been thinking a lot about how my mission has changed my life. It's been the greatest experience I've ever had. In so many ways, it has blessed my life.

Before my mission, I thought I had gone through hard times, disappointments, and discouragements. But there have been times on my mission where I have never felt so alone, so disappointed, discouraged, so weak, flawed, and useless. Missions are hard, I knew that. But I could have never expected some of the things I faced. However, there have been times on my mission where I have never felt so loved, so full of joy, so strong, so fearless, so full of love for others. I have never felt so close to my Heavenly Father and my Savior, as I have on my mission. It's been awesome and I'm going to miss it. But it doesn't mean I'm going to stop what I've been doing over the past 18 months. Because...

I know that the church is true. God is really our loving Heavenly Father. He loves us so much that He sent His Only Begotten Son to the earth to atone for the sins of the world (John 3:16-17). Jesus Christ established His church on the earth when He was here, and it has been restored through a living prophet named Joseph Smith. The Prophet Joseph translated the Book of Mormon through the gift and power of God. It truly is another testament of Jesus Christ. We have a prophet on the earth today, Thomas S. Monson. He receives direct revelation from God for our day. This is such great news! If you don't know any of these things for yourself, go find out. Pray about it. Heavenly Father will answer your prayers and let you know it is true through the power of the Holy Ghost. (Moroni 10:4-5). You may face challenges, but don't worry, you'll be fine. God will help you.

I'm going to miss Montana. I'm going to miss ALL of this SO much!

Everything's Not Lost

I'm a fan of the band, Coldplay. One of my favorite songs of theirs is Everything's Not Lost.

When you thought that it was over
You could feel it all around
Everybody's out to get you
Don't you let it drag you down

Do you ever feel like you can't go on? What's the point? Like you want to fast forward and skip all that you're going through? Have you felt like you strayed to far off the strait course and you don't know if there's a way back?

Well, I can assure you that there is a way back. There is always hope. 

Just a couple weeks ago, I had a head cold, and I tell you--it was not my friend. The cold itself didn't last very long but the after effects did. I felt so exhausted and so weak and worn out. All I wanted to do was sleep. As a missionary, you don't really have time to sleep whenever you want. And I feel bad napping when I could be using my time to help others. I didn't know if I would find the strength to keep going. 

According to Preach My Gospel (a guide to missionary service), hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. As we have hope and look to the future with optimism, courage, and confidence, we will be provided with the patience and the strength to endure whatever may lie before us. An apostle, James E. Faust taught: "The unfailing source of our hope is that we are sons and daughters of God and the His son, the Lord Jesus Christ, saved us from death." We can have the faith and hope that the Atonement of Jesus Christ has covered all. There is always a way back. Because...

If you ever feel neglected
If you think all is lost
I'll be counting up my demons

Hoping everything's not lost

Pedal to the Metal!

Car door open. Climb in. Slam door shut. Keys in ignition. Turn car on.....

What good would a car do you if you just let it sit in the idle position? The car would be on, but it wouldn't be in gear in order for you to go anywhere. You have to put it in drive (or reverse, I guess, depending on the direction you want to go). YOU have to MOVE! or you're not going to get anywhere.

Same thing in life. We can sit there idley waiting for things to happen, for blessings to come, but nothing will unless we keep moving forward, doing the things that will take us place, get us somewhere. Then, the blessings will come.

Here's why I decide to write a blog about this: Probably about 6 weeks ago or so I was feeling kind of down. I didn't know what else to do to help the area grow where I was serving. I tried to have faith and hope that things would continue to be strengthened, but didn't know what to do about it. So I prayed. And this analogy came to my mind-about the car just sitting in it's idle position. I then remembered a verse in the Doctrine and Covenants. And was also reminded that I need to just keep going. Put the car in drive and well...DRIVE! "Behold, I say unto you that it is my will that you should go forth and not tarry, neither be idle but labor with your might...and thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life." (Doc. and Cov. 75:3, 5)

We will be CROWNED with honor, glory, immortality, AND ETERNAL LIFE, as we press forward. The Lord, in this verse, was speaking to missionaries, but it applies to all of us. As we start our engines, and shift into drive, then put the pedal to the metal, and GO, great blessings await us and we will be able to reach our destination or our goal with happy hearts. 

James Taylor had some good Advice

As you may have noticed from the title of this post, I may or may not be writing a few things about my good friend James Taylor. Actually, more like using some words from his song.

I know I have posted a blog or two about prayer before, but I feel like it has been something on my mind lately and that I have really strengthend my testimony of it.

Prayer. What is it? Prayer is personal communication with our Father in Heaven. Not only is it us talking to Him, but He communicates with us as well, through the Holy Ghost. We have to be listening and paying attention to what God is telling us. Sometimes our answers don't come right away or in the way that we expected. But they do come. And Heavenly Father is always there listening.

Let me tell you how prayer has helped me recently... Last week, I was having a tough go. I had a really bad cold, and it gave me time to think about some things. I thought about how my personal prayers hadn't been as meaningful lately as they should be. And because of that, I felt that my relationship with my Heavenly Father had become somewhat distant. I mean, I still prayed every morning and night, but more to just say that I did it. I wanted that to change. I wanted to feel closer to God. So I started praying more often and in a way that made it feel like I was actually having a heart to heart conversation with Him. I've started talking and praying to my Father like He's my best friend, because that's what He needs to be. I tell my best friend everything, so why not let Him be my best friend. And I tell you, ever since then, I have felt our relationship getting stronger and I feel His love for me more. That all happened like 9 days ago! It's amazing how quick and how powerful prayer can be.

There's a song by James Taylor called, "You've Got a Friend." Relating it back to prayer, we have a friend in Heavenly Father. I've changed a word or two, but it's important to remember that we can always call on Him...

You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am
I'll come running to hear you again.
Winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call and I'll be there,
you've got a friend.

So, just call on God's name, He'll be there for you. I promise. And in the words of Turboman, I always keep my promises because I want to keep my friends.

First Place: Gold Medal: Eternal Life

So...you're done with the game. Now what? What happens after we die?

Well, our bodies and our spirits are separated. Our physical bodies are buried in the ground and our spirits go to what's known as the spirit world...where we wait. We wait for the "awards ceremony." We wait to found out how well we did in the "game."

When Jesus Christ comes again, we will be resurrected (our bodies and our spirits will be reunited, never to be separated again) and we will be judged. We will be judged according to our works and the desires of our hearts. Because Christ overcame the obstacle of physical death, we will also. Our bodies will take on their perfect form (Alma 11:42-45).



My sisters and me



After we are judged we will be placed into one of three kingdoms of glory. The highest, the celestial kingdom, is the gold medal. That was our goal for coming here to earth, we wanted the grand prize! ETERNAL LIFE! Living in the presence of our Heavenly Father, our Savior, and living with our families FOREVER! Who wouldn't want that?! We can have this gift of eternal life as we follow the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that you can do it. I miss my family like crazy, and I love them to death, no matter how weird they might be. I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to be with them forever.

To find out more about how your family can be together forever...check this site out http://mormon.org/family/

M.V.P.

Game time. Are you ready? You're about to walk onto the field for the championship game. Yeah. You're excited, anxious, and nervous at the same time. Adrenaline is running through your blood, because you have the risk of getting injured, losing, etc. Everything is on the line. So why do what you're about to do? Because it's the only way you'll have a chance for winning right? You can't win if you never play.

artwork by Greg Olsen

And so it is with life. In making the decision to come to earth, we knew it wasn't going to be easy. We knew we were going to face challenges, be tested and tried, slip and fall. But we also knew we were going to get back up again, that even though we would experience hardships and disappointments, we would also experience triumphs and victories. We realized that we had to come to earth to prove to God that we could do what He wanted us to do. "And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve God." (Alma 42:4) so that we could have eternal life, so that we could win. We also knew that we couldn't win on our own, we needed an MVP. We needed our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24) Only through Him, are we guaranteed to win, if we accept Him and follow His teachings.

To go into a game, you need the proper equipment. I mean, you wouldn't run out onto the football field with swim trunks and flip-flops. You need a helmet, shoulder pads, football cleats, etc. In life, we have been equipped with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with the scriptures and living prophets. All have been given to us to help us endure to the end, no matter how exhausted, how frustrated we may feel at times. We must not give up. We must keep going to reach our end goal, eternal life. It wasn't made to be easy, but Jesus Christ is here to help us.

There was a point on my mission just a couple months ago where I just felt worn out. I was physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually drained. I didn't know if I could do it anymore, if I could have the patience to endure. So I prayed, because it's what the scriptures told me to do, and what a really good friend of mine told me to do. I prayed for the strength to continue. I still pray for it everyday, because it's the only way I can do it. The Lord is my strength. He is our strength. He has given us the means to receive eternal life. He overcame spiritual death by suffering the penalty of our sins and He overcame physical death through His resurrection. It's only through Jesus Christ that we can be cleansed from sin and live again.

The Perfect Game Plan- Key Players

There are two key players in the plan of happiness: Adam and Eve.

The following is taken from mormon.org.

Adam and Eve Gave Us the Gift of Choice

You may know the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, but did you know it was they who paved the way for the rest of us to come to earth, make choices, and become like our Heavenly Father?

As God’s first children on earth, Adam and Eve were living in their garden paradise. They didn’t feel any sorrow or pain, which might seem nice, except that without it, they also couldn’t feel joy. They didn’t remember their pre-earth life. If they hadn’t eaten the forbidden fruit, they would have lived like that forever and never had children. Mankind never would have been born or the world populated.

As we know, Adam and Eve succumbed to Satan’s temptations to eat the fruit and disobeyed God who had commanded them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. As a consequence, they were separated from God’s presence physically and spiritually—an event we refer to as the Fall. They became mortal—just as we are—subject to sin, disease, all types of suffering, and ultimately death. But it wasn’t all bad because they could now feel great joy. “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” (2 Nephi 2:25) But as they were obedient to the Gospel of Jesus Christ Adam and Eve were able to receive God’s inspiration, revelation, and even visits from heavenly messengers.

Once out of the garden, they were able to progress and learn to become more like our Heavenly Father. In addition, they could have children, which meant the rest of God’s spirit children (all of us) could come to Earth, experience physical bodies, and be proven by our daily choices. Just like Adam and Eve, there are consequences to all our choices, good or bad. Lasting happiness and progression come from choosing to do what God wants us to do. The key word is “choosing.” Generally God does not step in and prevent us from making the poor choices Satan tempts us to make. He will, however, offer his love, divine guidance, and warnings when we open our heart to Him.

The Fall of Adam and Eve was part of God's plan. We now have the ability to take part in this great "game" plan. Because of the Fall, like it says, we can be separated from God spiritually and physically, and we needed a way to overcome this....to be continued.

The Perfect Game Plan-The Perfect Coach

Every good team needs a good coach. Rather, every good team becomes good because of a good coach. The coach knows what he's doing. He presents the game plan that will benefit the team the most. He knows what plays are going to work best for the team, and which players to play at certain points in the game. He loves his players. He is saddened like they are when they lose, but he rejoices with them when they win.


God is our loving Heavenly Father. We are literally His spirit sons and daughters. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God" (Romans 8:16). He loves us and we lived with Him before we came to earth. We wanted to become like Him, so He presented to us a plan. A perfect plan of happiness, that if we followed it, we would be able to return to live with Him again and with our families forever. I am so happy that I have this knowledge that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me so much that He's given me a guaranteed way to "win" everlasting happiness, if I follow His plan.

I'm sure you all can testify that God has given you some remarkable gifts and blessings throughout your life. God also gave us gifts in the pre-earth life. One gift He gave us was agency-the ability to choose and act for ourselves. We could make our own decisions. So when our Father in Heaven presented the Plan of Salvation to us we could choose to accept it. And we did! We know that because we are here on earth! We have bodies! Just like He does! (Genesis 1:26-27).

He also chose a Savior who was Jesus Christ (our team captain or MVP, if you will) to make it possible so we could succeed and return to live with our Father in Heaven. (John 3:16)



I love life. Look at how happy we are because we chose God's plan!

And so we've been sent here to earth to follow our Coach's plan and the example of Jesus Christ, to "play" in this "game" called life...

To be continued...

The Perfect Game Plan

So Super Bowl Sunday is tomorrow. I just found that out like 2 days ago. (Hey, as a missionary, I don't follow sports or anything). I think it's the New York Giants and the New England Patriots playing. Yeah? I want you to think about all that both teams have done to prepare for this big game. I'm sure there are several things that you can think of. Practice, drills, diets and exercise, etc. But what does it all start with? A plan. The coach presents a game plan. He plans out what plays to run, what he wants each player to do, and he goes from there what the best strategy might be to win the game.


God has presented His own game plan to us, the Plan of Salvation. He is our coach. However, with His plan we are guaranteed to win! The odds are in our favor. The object of His plan is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)  Who wouldn't want to follow His plan?! His plan is perfect, and in the next few blogging segments, I'm going to break down His plan a little more. Deal? Stay tuned...

p.s. I don't really know much about football, so if these analogies don't make much sense, don't make fun and just pretend they do make sense. Thanks.

Exercise! Do Your Daily...Repenting?!

Many of us have made New Year's resolutions for 2012 (that's weird to type). And I'm sure many of you have made resolutions to exercise more and to eat healthy, maybe even try and lose a little weight.

As a missionary, each morning, we are to get up at 6:30 and to exercise for 30 minutes. I'll admit, I haven't always been the best at this-BUT it's something I'm working on and am getting better at. And I have actually really come to see the effect that exercising can have on my attitude and on my energy level for the day. I feel more tired and less happy the days I don't get in a good workout, and I seem to have a lot more energy and enthusiasm when I do.

I think we all know how hard it can be to get up and going, to get moving and exercising. Especially, when we haven't done it in a while. The first workout can be hard. Our muscles get sore, we can be in pain, and it can be difficult to get the motivation to do it. But the more we do it, the better it feels, and the better we get at it. The stronger we become, and the more experienced we are. It becomes something we want to do daily, it helps us to improve our attitude and increases our energy and happiness levels.

Repentance is the same way...At first, it can be painful and maybe even difficult to find the motivation to do it. Maybe we don't want to give up our old ways, but it's something we know we have to do. And as we repent, it makes us stronger. Our relationship with the Savior increases, we can experience greater happiness than before as we have that "mighty change of heart." (Alma 5:12-15) The more we repent, the better we feel, and the better we become. When we recognize the blessings that come from repentance, we actually want to do it.

I've had times, recently even, where I wanted to continue doing something I shouldn't have been. But I also wanted to live worthy of my Heavenly Father's trust (I wanted that even more). It's hard to forsake some of our sins, it can be painful and difficult, but in the end we are happier when we repent completely, and daily, just like exercise.  I know that we can all feel the strength that comes when we use the Atonement of Jesus Christ every day. We, like the Book of Mormon prophet, Nephi, "will no longer droop in sin." Our "souls can awaken." Our strength will not "slacken because of our afflictions" and we "will rejoice." (2 Nephi 4:28-30)