Tires and Charity

Flat tire. I really don't like flat tires. On cars they are fine, I feel confident enough that I could change a tire on a car. Now I am not so confident on a truck, they are just to big. Well we got one. Yep a flat tire on our truck. Yuck. Our options were to try to change it ourselves or call someone for help. We called someone for help. Then it turned out that our windshield whipper was broken as well. Through the kindness of people I have learned what really makes someone a true christian.

1st person: We called him to help us with our tire and he came right away. It was pretty cold that day and he could have came up with excuses to not come but he didn't. Then he took care of the whole thing himself and paid to get our tire fixed. When we tried to pay him back he wouldn't let us.

2nd person: After we got our tire fixed we went to the nearest automotive store. We explained that our windshield whipper was broken and we needed to replace them. The employee there was wonderful. He found the right sizes and then changed them for us. When we went to pay he said that it was on him. Again another kind act.

As I think of these two people I am awed by their kindness and charity. Not once did they think, "What is in this for me?" They served out of love. They are true Christians. They did exactly what the Savior would do, the reached out to people in need. When we serve others we are also serving God. Mosiah 2:17 "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

So my challenge to you this week is be a Christian. Look for opportunities to help others and then do it. I guarantee that it will make your week 100% better

Who we really are

When you look in the mirror what do you see?

I see a girl with redish hair and premature smile wrinkles. I see a girl who is shortish, has pretty white skin, has some freckles, and brownish eyes or as some people say fish eyes. Sometimes I see as girl who is full of spunk, who loves to laugh and have fun. I see a girl who won't back down when she knows what is right. I see a girl who has many faults, who is prideful and makes a billion mistakes.

Luckily for us we don't have to live life based on what we see of ourselves but of what God sees of us.

"God sees you not only as a mortal being on a small planet who lives for a brief season—He sees you as His child. He sees you as the being you are capable and designed to become. He wants you to know that you matter to Him." President Uchtdorf

What God sees:

A divine daughter that is a princess.

Prayer! What is it?

According to a dictionary.com

prayer

1. a devout petition to God or an object of worship.

2. a spiritual communion with God or an object of worship, as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession.

3. the act or practice of praying to God or an object of worship.

4. a formula or sequence of words used in or appointed for praying: the Lord's Prayer.

5. prayers, a religious observance, either public or private, consisting wholly or mainly of prayer.

What does prayer mean to you?

 Here is what prayer means to these people. 

 Sister Asendente: "Prayer is a line that connects us to our Father in Heaven. It is a line that doesn't get busy. So you can call Him anytime."

 Emily Wray: "Pray to me is a connection to something bigger than human, a light that is in all of us, and feeling, brightness. A relief that when you pray, God hears. A connection that not only God see's but what other people can feel."

Elder Sabin: "Prayer to me is like having the ability to communicate with somebody who knows all the answers."

Sister Mace: "Prayer is what keeps me sane and gives me the capacity to keeping going, even when I think I have reached my limits. Prayer is my source of strength and is a direct communication with a loving Heavenly Father who not only listens and hears every word, but answers all of the fears, concerns, frustrations, and questions that we all have. Prayer is also how we can give thanks for all of the many blessings, patients, love and understanding he has given each of us in our times of need."

Sister Green : "Pray is vocalized Faith. It is the opportunity to talk to and recieve guidance from a perfect Father. It is the will of us aligning with Him and allowing us to recieve the blessings he wants to give us but is conditional upon us asking for them."

Lacey Griffiths: "Prayer is a moment that I can take, anytime, anywhere, any way I get a face to face moment with God. In those few precious moments I am am not judged, ridiculed, nor am I passed judgement! I cherish each moment I get with my Lord and Savior to ask for and thank him for the blessings bestowed upon me and my home!"

Jessica King: Prayer is proof to me of a loving Heavenly Father. He has provided a way for us to communicate with him at any time. He is always there when I need him, always within listening distance. It just shows me how much He loves me.

Laura Lehman: Personal prayers are my favorite. I can completely let down my guard and have a conversation with my Father in Heaven. I also have the time to listen for, and feel the answers.

Sister Tuckett: Prayer gives me peace, it lets me know that everything will be alright. I know that I can pray and that God will answer and that I can have strength. He has been there for me so many times in my life.

Prayer is one of the most special gifts that we have been given by God. It allows us to know that we are not alone and that someone loves us unconditionally. If it has been a while since you have prayed talk the time to open up your soul to the Lord and come to know that He is always there for you. Then think about what prayer means to you.

Shh... Whisper!

One time when I was in high school my friend Teddi and I went to her house for lunch. Well we looked out her window and her horses had gotten out. Now I grew up in the country on a farm of sorts but we had sold our horse when I was maybe four so I really don't know how to handle horses. Teddi really didn't know what to do either because she didn't grow up with them. So here we are two teenage girls trying to get two horses into a corral. Luckily one behaved and trotted right back in. The other one was a tad more stubborn. Everytime we would get even a tiny bit close the horse would run off in the other direction. Finally a random thought came into my mind. Put some oats in a bucket and have the horse that is in the corral eat it and the other horse will come then you can lead him around to the gate. Nothing else was working so it was worth a try. Well it worked and we were kind of shocked but extremely grateful.

Later that evening I told my mom that story. Afterwards she made a interesting comment. First she asked me where my idea for the horse came from since I really didn't know anything about horses. Pretty sure my answer back was, "I don't know, it just popped into my head." In response she told me that it was from the Holy Spirit. What? The Spirit? Then she explained that the Holy Spirit will tell us things pertain to every part of our life if we are listening not just religious things. Also the Spirit talks to us in a still small voice so softly that sometimes we don't recognize it from our own thoughts. This really was something different for me because I had assumed that the Spirit would speak loud enough to me that I would automatically recognize it or that it would yell at me.

As life has gone on I have realized how true my mother was. I have never had the Spirit yell at me. I have never seen an angel. I have never had a life altering experience like you see of the people in the scriptures. But I have had the Holy Spirit talk to me. I have had ideas pop into my mind that most definitely didn't come from me. I have had warm feelings of peace. I have had feelings of joy, or rightness, or love... etc. (Galations 5:22-23) I am also sure that most people will have experiences with the Spirit talking to them the same way that I did.

Remember that the Holy Spirit doesn't yell at us, it talks softly. To make sure that we are listening we have to stay in tuned by reading the scriptures, praying, going to church, and keeping the commandents. At first it may be hard to recognize the Spirit but the neat thing is that the more you listen the more you will hear.

Songs of Christmas

With Christmas season here what is your favorite Christmas song?

Oh I have a couple:

• Oh Holy Night 

• With Wondering Awe 

• Christmas Bells

 Last year I acquired a new favorite Christmas song: Christ the Lord is Risen Today

You may be wondering why one of my favorite Christmas songs is a traditional Easter song. Well I will tell you why. Last year I was watching the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional (check it out here). Anyways the idea was presented that it is important to celebrate Jesus' birth but if it wasn't for His Atonement, suffering for our sins, dying on the cross, and resurrection, there would be no need to celebrate His birth. So in my own way I show that Christmas is much more than celebrating a birth it is celebrating a life.

How do you know?

The other day a man asked me a very interesting question.

"How do you know that Jesus is your Savior?"

I thought a lot about that and then applied that questions to other things. Like how do I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church on the earth again. How do I know that the Book of Mormon is true? How do I know that there is a prophet on the earth again? How do I know?

Well let me answer by first asking another question. How do you know that the floor is there in the morning when you are lying in bed? I mean I always trust that the floor is there every morning but I still have to try it out and put my feet down. I have to act and do my part. If I lay in bed and just say that the floor is there doesn't really help to know if the floor is there.

Nephi also teaches us how we can know certain things of God. Here is a converstaion that he had with his brothers.
"And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?

And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.

Behold, I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?

Do ye not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you."

So to answer the question of how do I know. I know because I have acted. I know that Jesus is my Savior because I have accepted Him and then I have followed Him. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church on the earth, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and that we have a prophet on the earth today because I have prayed and asked God and then I followed my answer that I have received.

One last thing, I know that you can come to know these truths for yourself. All you have to do is ask God with a open heart and then be willing to act. Be willing to take that step on the floor. I know it will change your life and make it better than better.

Run Run Run

Once upon a time in High School I took a PE class. For the most part it wasn't too bad. We did fun things like badmitton, and volleyball, and swimming. Then we had to take these tests like how many sit-ups we could do and how long we could jump with a jump rope. Most of them weren't that bad but the worst one was the mile. To get a decent grade for the mile you had to run it in 8 minutes. Now I think the fastest I have ever run a mile was in maybe 9 minutes and that was when I was in really good shape. So here I am having to run the mile knowing that the best grade I could get on it was a D. Knowing this I could have just given up and walked the mile. I mean if I was going to get a bad grade I better not kill myself. But instead I decided that I would run the whole thing. It wasn't easy but I felt that I had tried my best and even though I didn't get a great grade I still knew that I had given it my all.

You know that really is all that Jesus expects us to do. He knows that life is hard and that there are certain things that we don't want to do. But if we really try and give our all then He will make up the rest. He will take our D and turn it into a A+. He wants us to succeed but we have to do our part as well.  "For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." (2 Nephi 25:23) So go ahead and run that mile, go and keep the commandments, go and follow God. It won't be easy but it is possible and Jesus will help us.