Oh my goodness it has been a while. Gotta get back ontop of it!
I have no idea what this post will be about :).
Don't you just love springtime? It is new beginnings, Easter, growing, beauty, love joy and peace. I love all the flowers and birds and no snow. After a whole crazy winter, with -25 degrees and more inches of snow than I could count, I am grateful for the warmth. The sun on my face. The short sleeves. I love it!!!
This is the greatest video ever!!! What has changed in YOUR life because of Jesus Christ?
As we celebrate Easter, I hope we remember all the things Jesus Christ has done for us.
Don't forget to share on social media with the #becauseofhim!!!
This song is just amazing. I'm gonna share my favorite lines:
He's the one who healed the leper, and who brought the dead to life,
He's the one who fed the hungry, and gave the blind their site.
He's the one who walked on water, and who brought them safe to shore,
And whenever you may need him, he's the one you're looking for.
So let him in: and he will take away the pain,
Through his love, you'll never be the same,
Come unto Christ, come unto him.
And by his grace be made holy again.
He's calling your name, he's waiting for you:
With arms open wide...come unto Christ.
It seriously is an amazing video and song. Please don't let the words fool you: THIS WILL TOUCH YOUR HEART.
And even though this post is getting kinda long, I would like to bear my testimony of Jesus Christ, my Savior.
I love Jesus Christ. He is my best friend. If you ever feel hopeless, he can heal you. If you ever feel alone, he will stand by you and comfort you. If you are ever doubting you left worth, he will open your eyes to the value of your life. He performed miracles in his life, and can do it for you right now. Jesus Christ died for you and for me. He knows every pain and sorrow, he has felt it. Your Savior willingly suffered the weight of your sins so that you could become clean. He makes it possible for us to have eternal life.
Because of Him, I can be forgiven, and I can forgive.
Because of Him, we will be reunited with our families.
Because of Him, we can have hope. There is always sunshine after the rain.
Because of him, I can be a better person.
Because of Him, I don't need to be afraid.
because of him, I can be happy. Because of Him, well, all that I have become and will become is because of him.
In seminary yesterday, we learned about the refiners fire. They told this story that I really liked.
This lady was in a scripture study group when they came across how the days before Christ's second coming will be like a refiner's fire. She wanted to find out exactly what a silver smith does to "refine" the silver, so she went and talked to one.
When asked how he purifies silver, the smith said (oh my goodness! Coincidence that Joseph SMITH was the prophet that restored the church? ;) the smith said that he heats the metal up to temperatures extremely high, and he has to hold the metal over the center of the fire where it is the highest. This will soften the hard metal, causing impurities to rise to the top to be taken out.
She asked him if he sits and watches. The smith said he had to watch extremely carefully, because if the metal was left in the heat even a little bit overtime, then it would be damaged. Then she asked him when he knew it was done being purified. This man didn't know that she was doing this in a spiritual study, but check out what he said:
"Oh that's easy! The silver is done being purified when I can see my image in it!"
Wow!
God gives us the heat turned up way way high, to the point we are melting. But those trials soften our hard hearts and purify us. And when are we done? When his image is reflected in us.
It kinda reminds me of "have you received his image in your countenance?" idea. (Alma 5)
Well, I just thought that was super cool. Gives us a new way to look at our trying and fiery times.
For those who do not know, us Mormons have a special broadcast twice a year where we listen to living prophets speak to us. Today we had two two-hour sessions and they were GREAT! If you wanna listen in tomorrow, you can on LDS.org, byutv, mormon channel. You should totally join in on the conversation at #LDSconf (btw guys it's trending right now on google+, how awesome is that?!?!). Anyway, yeah, at 12-2 and 4-6 eastern time or 10-12 and 2-4 mountain time. Prophets lead the church and they recieve revelation from God on how to guide the church. It's super inspirational and you can feel the Spirit a ton.
And now some of my favorite quotes from today and past general conference:
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!!
So today during the last ten minutes of school, I find myself sitting uncomfortably in Mr. Fidelibus's office (isn't that an AWESOME name for a vice principal? Anyway...). This morning started out kinda stormy, I felt sick, seminary wasn't too great (I hate it when that happens), I had a quiz later that I hadn't studied enough for, yadda yadda yadda. The end of the day was the only part that was actually fun for me, hanging out with friends during activity period, and now I was missing it.
He was dealing with another student, so it gives the next victim (me) time to have the wheels in my head turning about what I did wrong. Frantically, I grasped about what I could've possibly done. I hadn't skipped fourth period lately (or ever), I didn't cus at a girl or punch a boy. But still, being in that office scares me. It felt like the walls were going to close down and tell me all the mistakes I had done and that I would have to stay after school for the forsaken detention. Scary, right? (I think I've actually had nightmares about the principals office)
Well, nothing was wrong! I was only being asked to stand as a witness in an act that I had seen happen. I had thought I was innocent, but to hear him tell me "you're not in trouble" was so nice.
I was thinking about that. Life is like this. It starts out a little troublesome maybe, there's some mistakes and trials we need to go through, but by the end we should be all clean and joyful, with a strong family and testimony and joy and peace because we've repented. Then all of a sudden, we are summoned away (however, it will probably be joyful, not "bummer I don't get to talk with my friends." Although... I guess we will miss our family members for a short while...). Anyway, we die. We go to the spiritual "waiting room" and then we finally get called into God's office. I don't know about you, but I think it would be the most amazing thing to hear "you're not in trouble" from my Father in a Heaven. I want to stand as a witness for Jesus Christ.
To make sure we can have that peace in this life and in the next, we need to constantly be reflecting on our actions and faith. Are we on the path God would have us be on? Are we praying? Is there anything we need to repent of?
I want to be ready.
I am so grateful for my Savior, who makes it possible to be forgiven of our sins and to have the peace and feel the Spirit.
<3 Eliza
Ps. Oh! And I finally added pics and memes to the pics and memes page! Thanks for bring patient. :D
