The Real Christmas Cheer

One thing that strikes me most about Christmas is spending it with our loved ones. With loving words echoing throughout the home, with arms wide open to love and embrace one another. To be more forgiving of one another and mostly, to be willing to try and see things more like the savior. It's something about the majesty of celebrating his birth that brings about miraculous things that allow us, the children of men to love more freely. To cherish one another more freely. The birth of this babe has caused such goodness and love to be spread so vastly throughout the world. Our families gather to honor and praise his birth and to give thanks to him for the over abundance he has provided in our families.

Christmas is a time of great reflection within ourselves, within our families, and within the world around us. People give more freely of the money they earn no matter how meager that may be. People extend themselves to bake cookies for loved ones, friends, and even strangers. People want in on the action of Christmas that brings man such joy into their hearts. I am so grateful for this time of year. It is so important for each of us to reflect on our lives and how we can learn and improve ourselves. To draw closer to the Savior, to honor him and his life in the coming year more fully. It's the birth of Jesus Christ that brings us such joy and happiness.

How grateful I am for that little baby that was the king of all the world who would redeem us all of sin, was born in the most humblest of circumstances in Bethlehem. How humbled I am that he in all of his holiness was not born of fine linen, gold, or worldly riches (which would be expected at the birth of such a majestic being.)  He was born to loving parents and in a manger he laid with straw and animals abound. If he, the Master and Savior of us all was born in these circumstances, than who am I to have any earthly possession? He is the exemplar in every sense of the word of how we are supposed to be. He shows us by example that the important things in life are not seen by man. Surely he brings glad tidings of great joy to my soul, and makes me want to shout hosannah for knowing him as my Lord. He has brought life and light into my soul that can never be replaced by any worldly thing. I am grateful for his life and his death which makes it possible to return home to our Father in Heaven one day. I am grateful that I live in a country that allows me to freely worship him and his Father. He is the best friend to all of us. He knows us intimately, even more than we know ourselves. In sunshine and in shadow he is there to assure and smile upon us. May each of us remember the 'sunshine' he brings into our lives, and slow down enough to see the light he brings into our lives. It's not the fancy things that gives us joy, it's him that brings us the ultimate joy that will last throughout eternity. I'll forever be grateful for that baby Jesus that has impacted my life more than any other person to ever walk this earth. May each of you be able to live more fully in the JOY that only he can offer each of us!

Merry Christmas to each of you!

He called Some Apostles..For the perfecting of The Saints

So last Friday I had the great opportunity to go see David A. Bednar in Orlando across from our temple. It is such a rare occurrence to have an Apostle in our area, let alone a fireside with one. He did a Q and A session for 2 hours, which was very enlightening and uplifting for everyone in attendance. Some highlights of things mentioned were..(I'm mainly recording this for myself) It's going to seem very unorganized, but the answers depend on the question of others.

That it doesn't matter where any of us came from as far as background in the church, we have the potential inside of us to become anything we want or need to be. It doesn't matter if we had the priesthood, family prayer or Family home evening in the home. All that matters is that we have the desire to have that in OUR own homes in the future. He then went on to say that when his wife was pregnant with their son, she threw up constantly and by the time she was at the end of her pregnancy she was physically exhausted. Their son had colic and was up all during the night. She would breastfeed him and he would stay up for hours with him reading scriptures to him while he had the Mormon tabernacle choir playing in the background. He said no body told him to do that, but he always wondered what kind of family he would have if he did those things. He never had a father with the priesthood and he wanted to be that example in his own family. The main point he was trying to make was when Heavenly Father is with us we truly can do anything and be the type of parents he wants us to be regardless of our backgrounds.

He said When we raise our hand to sustain someone in the church, we are promising to help them succeed. That means to help them in anyway we can. (I thought that was an interesting thought).

When someone asked him how to keep the Holy Ghost with us more frequently, he said that we shouldn't gear up to receive the Holy Ghost, but rather simply keep our covenants that we have made at baptism, sacrament, temple etc. It's not studying the scriptures a certain way that better benefits us, it's how we live our lives. Asking, and seeking is how we receive revelation.

Along the same lines he talked about prayer and how it's a common misunderstanding about prayer. Too many people want the assurance and sit and wait for the answer to their prayers when that isn't how God answers prayers at all. We need to have more FAITH in things we hope for and can't see. FAITH is the principle of action he wants us to take the STEP and the LIGHT assures us we are on the right path. So our prayers should work like this

• FAITH
• ACTION
• ASSURANCE

He then went onto say that Peter didn't know he could walk on the water until he took the FAITH and stepped out of the boat and through his ACTION he got the ASSURANCE.

That was one of my favorite points of the night.

The gift of tongues is not just learning a bunch of languages, but rather the gift of tongues is knowing the right thing to say at the right time and place through the spirit of the Lord.

The reason Pornography is so detrimental to our society is that it darkens our understanding of what God intends for us as his children on earth, and we forget who we are and what heavenly father wants for us. We need to be prepared to face the evils of the day and know how we will stand up and be a man or woman of integrity. We make that decision one time in our lives and we never waiver. If you don't know how your going to handle a situation when you are faced with it, you are spiritually dead. He went further and said that it isn't enough to have a testimony. It's simply the beginning not the conclusion. A testimony is not enough for you to withstand. You need to be converted to the Lord. To be converted, you stand up and are willing to follow the Lord. That's the way we all must be. Alma 23:5-6*

The #1 thing he wants for all of us is to be doctrinally grounded in the simple doctrine of Jesus Christ. We live in a world that thinks Good is evil and evil is good. Unless we understand the simple doctrine we will wonder in the darkness of the world. We want those around us to know WHY we obey, WHY we attend church meetings-- To feel the companionship of the Godhead (Holy Ghost) That's WHY we become doctrinally grounded and the power of Satan will have NO hold on us.

Someone stood and asked how we learn to forgive what seems like an unforgivable sin. To which he responded.. YOU cannot forgive them. It's only in and through the power of the Atonement that we CAN forgive. You cannot forgive someone of your own will but of the Lord's.. When we take the sacrament we do it for a remission of not only our sins, but others. Mosiah 24:13-15

Notice that the covenants are central to ordinances.

The power of Godliness is manifest in the power of the priesthood.

and the power of Godliness is the atonement of Jesus Christ.

The Ordinances of the gospel is what helps us forgive and manifest the power of godliness.

Forgiveness of sins is overcoming the sins of the fall of Adam.

We forgive through and only through the power of the Atonement!

He also said that Satan only attacks the things he hates.. The reason he HATES it so much is because he will never have those things, and so he attacks them the strongest. He will never have a body, he will never have a family, he will never be able to make covenants, he will never have eternal life. How much sense that makes! I had never quite heard it like that before.

He invoked a blessing on us that according to our faithfulness that we would not let our fears rule our lives. That we would never take council from our fears.

*Most of this is me paraphrasing what he said, as a result it's not word for word. It's my own interpretation.

What a blessing it was to see an Apostle of the Lord! I do know that we are a blessed people to have such men of God lead and guide us in a way that is pleasing until the Lord. I know that if we follow their counsel and direction that we will make it safely back home to our father in Heaven and he will tell us well done thou good and faithful servant! :) What a wonderful time it is to be alive and to be able to participate in such goodness! It was evident as I shook hands with him and he looked into my eyes that he was a servant of the Lord. He brought the love of the Lord with him, and I felt it so deeply.

One Step at a Time

Today had an unexpected turn towards the right direction! When I went on PSC's website to register for graduation in May, I was informed that I had two classes to finish up aside from the one I'm currently enrolled in. My heart sank as I had prepared for this to be my final semester at PSC, and now to have this hurdle in front of me made my mind spin. Yesterday I walked into an adviser (a new one because my old one retired) and she said the same thing, but called the advisor coordinator. He said he would review my information and would meet me the following morning at another campus to go over it all. I woke up early so I would be early for my appointment, and as soon as he saw me he said I have some very good news for you, you won't have to take those classes *sigh of relief* , so I'm just going to go over to administration and make sure we input it into our system. So I sat there for what seemed like forever (25-30 minutes) and he finally comes back and has a huge smile on his face and said "It's your lucky day, not only do you NOT have to take those classes, but you've fulfilled all the requirements, and have GRADUATED, congratulations!!!! I looked at him dumbfounded and said, you mean after this semester, right? He said no, right now, today, You're graduated! I couldn't believe my ears.. What!?!, I don't understand, I don't know what to say was all I could say. He said with a smile on his face, yes, you are finished with your AA!! I was completely shocked and didn't know how to react! How thankful I am to be FINISHED! -At least with my AA, now on to my BS!! I'm more than excited, and what an incredible way to start off my day! I don't think I've ever been so happy and felt so accomplished any day of my life so far! :) Heavenly Father has blessed my life so richly, and so over-abundantly! My debt to him just gets bigger and bigger!

=D Life is so very GOOD!!!

The Prime of Our Youth!

As of last Sunday my brother, Rusty got called to serve as the Young Mens president of our ward. I would have been excited for him anyways, but I'm even more excited because I'm the Young Womens president, and that means that I will get to work right along side my brother! :) I was called as the YW president in August of last year. My mouth hit the floor and I couldn't believe that I was being called because I had never heard of a single sister being called as the president. Once I understood what he was saying, I felt mounds of inadequacies surround me. I then knew that I had to rely on the Lord that obviously he was aware of something I wasn't.

It's now been 6 months since I've received this calling and I can't believe how much it has changed my life. I've never felt so humbled, so called out about my own weaknesses (due to assessing myself), so helped and brought to the level I need to be in my entire life. I never thought I could love someone the way heavenly father loves someone. To see, act and feel personally his love for each of these girls. I'm in love with my calling, I'm in love with these girls and all the things they bring into my life. I couldn't imagine myself without the growth that these girls and my fellow counselors have afforded me. I have so much fun it hardly feels like a calling. This past Wednesday we did Just Dance 2 on the nintendo Wii, which the youth had an absolute blast, and the attendance was up more than it has been in a long time. I'm just over-whelmed by the fact and knowledge of how much Heavenly Father cares for these youth and allows me to see and feel of his love for them. I feel so unworthy to be in this calling, and yet I'm so very thankful that for some reason I'm being allowed to witness all of these fantastic events. I'm so grateful my heavenly father loves me enough to show me so many of life's lessons! :)

How blessed we all are!

Time for 2011!

I think of the movie Ghost when I hear that song about time. "Time goes by so slowly, and time can do so much." With another year passing it seems like there is no stopping the clock. I kind of feel some panic that I might not accomplish all I need to. The minutes slip into hours and the hours fast forward into days which leads to weeks and then to months which speed into years. How precious our time on earth is. I look at all the people around me and I can't help but think of the things they have done with their time. Some have done adequate amount of things, some have not been so ambitious. I sincerely hope I'll be able to sufficiently use my time to allow opportunities to open for me. To press forward and allow myself to grow and learn all that I need to. To be in situations that allow me to learn new material.
The past several months I've observed people of all stages of life and have checked their mentality. Things that are important to them, the things that they don't care about any longer, the things that make them happy, sad, lonely, accomplished, defeated, etc. In observing them and how they might feel in situations, I've come to see how fast the cycle of life is. It seems like yesterday I was a shy timid little girl, and yet years have gone on and I'm an adult of my very own. My siblings have families of their own, my young parents are now grandparents, my grandparents are now older, and some have passed on. Time is so valuable! I see the loneliness they battle when I visit, and my heart hurts every time I leave them because I don't like them feeling that way. My parents house that was once the cause of much chaos and noise is now very quiet without the rest of us.
I think we all take for granted the time we've been given and don't use it sufficiently. We all think we will always have the time to do as we want, and that not today, but tomorrow I'll do it. Well what if tomorrow is too late? I just feel like for me, I need to manage my time more efficiently. Expand my mind on a greater scale, love on new levels, and have great adventures exploring the fun facts of life! I think that is the greatest resolution I have for myself this year.
Hope you all had a great 2010 and an even GREATER 2011!!! Cheers to a new year of learning and growing into who we need to be!

Ps. Another aunt moment... After the flu has violently been spread around my sister's home, my 5 year old niece says "Lydia, I think my belly is mad at me" hahaha She is too dang cute!