Come Unto Christ 2014

(Copyright Intellectual Reserve and lds.org)

Come Unto Christ is the youth theme for 2014! I love it!

We've had some great themes the past couple years. Keep arising and shining and standing and be not moved! But I think this years is amazing! Truly an inspired theme!

Moroni 10:32 says:

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. (Moroni 10:32)

I have personally felt the effects of coming to Christ. Truly, after being cleansed and forgiven and made perfect through Christ, there is no way I can now deny my testimony. I know that God lives and loves us, for he sent his son. I know for a fact that God is real and is watching over us, for he has changed things in my life I could not have changed by myself. Attitudes have been improved, thoughts have been purified, despair has been vanquished, and hope has replaced all the darkness of the world. There is no earthly or humanly possible way I could have done that on my own, for I had already tried. Only when I humbled myself and truly asked for God's help was I able to feel that peace.

To come unto Christ means to leave behind our doubt, fear, and sin, and humble ourselves. Let him heal you.

One of my other favorite parts of this verse is "his grace is sufficient." No matter how many mistakes you've made, no matter how many times you've stumbled or doubted or feared or rebelled, no matter how short you may fall of the glory of God, Christ's grace is sufficient for YOU. He loves  Helen, Mady, Rachel, Marie rose, Katie, Nicole, Sherri, Valerie, Caroline, mark, John, Amanda, Eliza, James, Seth, jack, Madison, Dylan, McKenna, Mckenzie, Gerdy, Mary, Alice, Tyler, Makayla, Adam, Stacy, Victoria, Brandon, Matthew, Max, Elizabeth, Samantha, Whitney, Brittany, Stephanie, Sarah, Gwen, Bryan, Brad, Gabby, Emily, Louiza, Lissa, Molly, Megan, Bailey, Parker, Brock, Austin, Jake, Lindsey, and: You. If I missed your name leave it in a comment and I'll add it on here, because Christ loves you.

Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.

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.”