Our True Identity

Today you readers are going to do a little activity with me. Yay! (I know, you love it!)

If you want to leave your answers in the comments, that would be great! I know you will help others with your testimony! But if they are too personal to share, then by all means, it had better go in a journal or something. I won't be offended :)

Fill this out in your head or on a piece of paper (or in my comments. That's great too!)

(Alright people, don't quit! I promise this is an uplifting exercise! I'm not trying to be gloomy)

Wait wait! But this post isn't supposed to be gloomy!

Soooo..... What I like/don't like about myself______________________________________________

Names I have called myself in the mirror (keep it PG, kids) _____________________________

What I wish I could be like______________________________________________________

What I would do if I weren't scared_______________________________________________

Now do this part honestly:

Times I have complemented myself today (hard to remember?) ______________________________

Times I have thought negatively about my situation, appearance, skills, gifts, etc today _______________

If you are anything like me (and the rest of the world) then there are a ton of things you would change about yourself, tons of opportunities you hold yourself back from because of fear, little good about you that you see, lots you wish you could have, and there are more negative thoughts about your life than there are positive.

Why is this? It's sad really.

There is so many more uplifting things you can do than point out the wrong in your life. But we do it all the time, self-consciously. When you look in the mirror, give yourself a break! Nobody is perfect!

So, now, wipe all those negative thoughts about yourself away. (Thanks Eliza. You just made me unhappy. Now what am I supposed to do?!) It might take a little work. Need some help? Watch this video: (Please, it is only like 3 minutes long, and I promise it will help change those negative feelings to positive ones)

Okay, that was a tear-jerker. But it is so true! Who has ever felt like the ugly duckling? Like no one loves him/her, like they are unusually large (I am SO there with you, bro) or ugly or untalented. The world taunts you because of your imperfections. But that is because they don't know who we will be.

Heavenly Father sees us as we truly are and who we can become. When you look into the mirror next time, I hope you can see beyond imperfections, and see the true beauty that lies within you.

So try this again:

What I like about myself_____________________________________________________________

What I can do to remind myself of my true worth (like putting a sticky note on the mirror to remind you to not let those criticizing thoughts creep up on you, but that you are a child of God) __________________

What I will do now_________________________________________________________________

Things I am grateful for, reasons I am grateful for being me____________________________________

If I were to meet Uchtdorf, what I would say to him :) ________________________________________

How I can help others realize they are swans________________________________________________


I feel like I use this topic a lot, but I think it is really important. Remember that God made you who you are, that all trials will work together for your good, and that you are a swan. Even if you feel like an ugly duckling, you truly are a swan!!

<3 Eliza

Sparrows/One by One

(Copyright Intellectual Reserve)

Okay first I'll share the scripture, and then ill share an experience I had. I couldn't decide which title this should be so I left both!

Matthew 10 says (and listen hard to this, because this is YOUR SAVIOR speaking:)

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. 

Look at that sparrow up there. Now, I love birds. I spent a majority of my middle school years bird watching. But believe me when I say I had to look long and hard to find a sparrow picture that was pretty. And even that one is not as effervescent as a hummingbird or as glorious as an eagle.

So, I guess it's worth is not in beauty. Maybe function? The sparrow serves as prey for snakes and cats, it eats seeds, and lives a couple years. Not much of a niche to brag about (haha ecology word!). We can count out function. The sparrow is not valued for its strength, or cunning, or beauty.

It's the value of their meat then! That must be it! No wait, Christ just said they were only sold for half a farthing (I looked it up, it was the smallest roman coin in use, and small in Greek as well. Under the value of two US dollars)

So why is it that God is aware when just one falls? It is because God loves the sparrow, he created it, and nothing more is needed to earn his love.

What about us? We are of more value than many sparrows (thanks, that makes me feel a lot better :). But hold that sarcasm. Because God knows when each sparrow falls.  There can be no doubt in our minds that he knows our small victories and weaknesses, our service and shortcomings, our pity parties. We are God's children, and he is our Father, and he loves us. 

Never fear! God loves you. However, these things are easier said than applied. The world just wants you to get down on yourself.

These past couple months have been kinda a roller coaster. I have days when everything's great, I'm so grateful to have moved away from drama and into a great neighborhood, I have friends, and everything's great. Then it seems in a few hours I could be crying and pleading to feel God's love for me because I don't feel love anywhere else. Sitting alone at lunch is awful. People gossiping about you is awful. Not having inside jokes with people or knowing everyone's history is awful. But you can know that God is always there for you, and knows your struggles and joys.

One thing that is so great though, is that God gives tender mercies to all his children. I'm so grateful for the tender mercies I've been shown just this week. For this week, two people who i admire so much from Va emailed me to see how I was doing.  I don't think that's a coincidence. It really helped me see just how much my Heavenly Father cares about me.

God loves us one by one. He knows your name, and all your pain. He knows your smiles, and wants to help you. One of the greatest comforts to me has been this song. Listen to it, and remember, there is always someone who loves you.

A Little Princess

So I was watching A Little Princess yesterday. Absolutely love that movie.

We are all princesses. Well, or princes. You know what I mean. ;)
You are a daughter of Heavenly Father, who loves you. He is the most high King, and he knows you personally. As his daughter, you have the potential to become like him, a queen. You can do things beyond your imagination.

Through Christ is the only way that we can inherit the kingdom of God. As we follow the path he has laid out for us, we will be able to find our own happily ever after.

Someday, we will meet that prince and get married in a beautiful castle. Someday we will live together forever in happiness.

Remember, you are a princess. There was a talk in conference a couple years ago about a prince who was visiting neighboring countries. His friends tried to tempt him to lie, cheat, and take advantage of this opportunity away from the scrutinizing eyes of his kingdom and parents. When asked why he wouldn't partake in these immoral actions, he said that he couldn't imagine returning to home without being the best example of a prince. He would not compromise his honor for some fun. 

I hope we may all remember that one day, we truly will be queens. Be humble, kind, compassionate, faithful, loving, virtuous, and patient like a queen and princess should be. Even when you feel small and insignificant, never forget who your eternal dad is. He will protect you, and he knows the beauty and grace that is inside you. 

You are a princess. Now live up to your potential. 

Are you a diamond?

(Copyright Intellectual Reserve)

There is a myth out there that if you crush coal it will turn into a diamond. Scientists are still debating whether it is true or not, but there are a couple things they do know. Coal and diamonds are both made of the element carbon. When carbon is put under a lot of pressure and heat, it is incredibly transformed into the beautiful, valuable jewel we have now. However, you can see that if the conditions are not quite right, you will only be able to have coal.

In our lives, Heavenly Father gives us trials to test us. Just like the carbon, as we react with a good attitude to this pressure, we will become something beautiful. God knows what type of trials we need in order to make us humble, teachable, righteous, patient, and strong. Then, through the refiner's fire, we will be polished and molded to become the best we can be, to reach the potential of what He knows we can become. There are so many things you can do beyond your imagination, and as God gives us trials and heat, we can get closer to our full potential.

Many have said that through adversity, we grow spiritually ten times faster. We learn and grow better, and as we turn to our Father in Heaven through our trials, he will make us stronger. Have faith and hope that God will get you through. And remember, the only difference between a piece of coal and a dazzling diamond is how they responded to pressure. ;)

You have the potential to become the beautiful diamond that God knows you can be. Trust him, and he will lead you on.

Crayola is Smart

(copyright Intellectual reserve and lds.org)

Okay, so it might just be the artist in me, but I just love Crayola.

So, on Sunday our lesson was on unity. They asked us how we could describe unity in an object lesson. I came up with this:

So, say everyone is assigned a color. We are all crayons, and your color is brown. That kind of stinks, you think. You can't draw beautiful rainbows, or paint a night sky. You can't make awe-inspiring sunshine like yellow, and you didn't even get a color that stands for beauty at all. But it was the luck of the draw, and you are stuck with it. 

As you continue on your career as a crayon, you notice you are the last color picked. Little children have loved and worn down all the purples to a stump, yet you've only been used once to draw a girls hair. No love for you. Soon the box is discarded and you are left alone with the other colors, only half used and unloved, while they taunt you because the only thing you are good for drawing is dung. 

Alone, you feel ugly and unwanted. Looking at the other colors, you notice red is too rash and glaring, orange too prideful, yellow is somewhat unkind. Green gets jealous often, blue is depressed, and purple seems to be hiding something. Alone, all the colors have lost their beauty. You start to wonder why the world even invented crayons, if every color alone is disgusting. 

But there is one who sees your true worth. That is Heavenly Father. The world is like a child, telling us we need to be perfect this and perfect that. It uses us for a short scribble, but quickly the trends change and you are discarded. Remember, Satan is never there to lift you up. 

Heavenly Father sees the worth in your humble color. Though you may not have apparent beauty, God sees your full potential. He is the Master Artist and Creator, he sees us as we can one day be. 

The Artist finds the discarded colors and is sad. The world has degraded and belittled us. But he knows how to guide us to become a beautiful masterpiece. We just need to put our crayon in his hand and let him do his magic. 

This picture of deer is what a true Master can do. And look! Your humble brown is the main event! No longer can blue and red belittle you, for you were made to do amazing things!

 I guess I strayed a little from the unity aspect. The truth is, our self worth is so important when we work together. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses, but when we come together and work together, led by a loving Heavenly Father, we can do incredible things. 

Remember there is always someone who loved you!

<3 eliza

A Peach Tree

It's a new year, time for a rejuvenation of our goals and good intents, time for a remembering of what is truly important. A time to turn our hearts over again.

I was watching Kung Fu Panda today. One of my favorite things in the whole world is finding metaphors for truth in everyday life. Joseph Smith once said that "we accept truth wherever it is found, no matter the source. For this is a gospel of truth." I didn't quote that completely, but you get the gist (jiste, jist, giste?).

What does this have to do with Kung Fu Panda? Well.

Po is a panda who finds out that he is the Dragon warrior, a hero of legend destined to save the world. But no one believes in him, not even himself. Just like us, he puts words like fat, dumb, ugly, short, tall, skinny, unskilled, untalented, and clumsy in front of his true name. In reality, our Heavenly Father sees us as beautiful, graceful, learning, growing, honorable, and of great worth.

But he still doesn't believe it. Even when we know all those things, we love to say "there's nothing special here. Move on to what others can offer."  With a sigh, we leave it at that.

There was one wise old turtle who knew the worth of souls, though. He compared it to peach trees. You see, we all start out as a seed. As we grow, there may be knots in our journey, but as long as we are growing heavenward, we are moving towards our destiny and potential. Someday, we will be clothed in beautiful blossoms, a foreshadowing of the even greater joy to come. And one day, we will be able to taste the fruit of our labors, the warm, enveloping peace and love of a peach. ( I kinda mixed my two metaphors together. Hope it makes sense! ;)

Another thing the tortoise said was even if we want apples or oranges, we will still get peaches. There are incredible things, incredible potential within each of us, and it is never the same for anyone. That is the beauty of it. We all have our strengths and weaknesses, and we all have our own path to discovering them. I think that must be one of our Heavenly Father's favorite things, helping us discover our true worth and potential. Can you imagine what amazing things he has in store for us when we take our place at his side?

You can't force yourself to be something you are not, and you cannot force the timing of your destiny. The secret ingredient is yourself, and believing in who you can become. Christ has promised that we can become as he is!

So this new year I hope we all try a little harder, reach a little higher, and do the things that it will take to get closer to that fruit. Have a little more faith, love a little harder, and always remember that you are worth so much to your Father in heaven. My favorite quote from general conference was the one by President Thomas S. Monson. He truly is a prophet of God:

“Your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes, it is simply always there.”