As of late my mind has been on gratitude. Gratitude for everything, our country, our religious freedom, windshield wipers, toothbrushes, roommates, and the list goes on. I spoke in church a few weeks ago along with my roommate so we had a lot of discussion on gratitude. Why do we show gratitude? The Lord has given us so much and in the Coctrin and Covenants it teaches us to confess His hand in all things. My talk was focused more on being grateful for the little things that the Lord has blessed our lives with. I truely am grateful for little teaching moments that happen daily in my life where I know that the Lord is with me. It makes me so happy to have windshield wipers! I am so grateful for little things like being able to feel the sunshine. That isn't something that is necessary to help us reach eternal salvation but it is something that the Lord has given us to let us know He loves us.
I went to the Fiesta Days Rodeo on the 24th of July and the feeling of being proud to be an American and having gratitude for those who have a are currently fighting for the freedoms that we have. To know that we could pray before that rodeo and have the freedom to do so really touched me that night. I love rodeos and part of that is because I'm reminded so much of the love that I have for the country that I live in. Too often I forget about the outside world and really how blessed I am to be here. I love July for this reason and am sad to see it go, fortunately just because July is gone doesn't mean rodeos aren't and our freedom is here with us everyday!
I am grateful for my roommates and the people around me that help shape me into the person I am becoming. The gospel is so important in my life and I have been blessed with roommates that have the same goals as I do. We want to live in a place where the Spirit can reside. I love living with people where I learn and grow in the gospel as well. I'm grateful for their example and love that is in our apartment.
In my talk I challenged everyone that each night as they are brushing their teeth to think about the things that happened that day that they were grateful for. If it was something as simple as being grateful to be going to bed. Recognize the Lord's hand in our daily lives because he is there! He never leaves us and has promised that as long and we keep our promises to Him that He will be there to guide and protect us and for that and all these things, I am eternally grateful!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
The Lord's Hand
The month of July has been an incredibly spiritual time for me. So many things have happened and I've learned so much!
The beginning of the month my brother got his mission call. He is going to Bogota, Columbia! He opened it early Friday morning before we all met in Wyoming to go camping. I am so excited for him, quite possibly more excited than he is, though I don't think so. I am so proud of him and his decision to serve the Lord with everything he has. It is a little different for me because we have always done everything together and last week when he went through the temple I was a little bit sad that I wasn't there with him but at the same time I was so proud of him and his preparation and worthiness to receive his endowments and make new covenants with our Heavenly Father. I love my brother and I'm thankful for his example of faith and trust in the Lord through anything that comes in our lives.
The next thing that happened was such a special experience to me. I was having a terrible week and couldn't figure out why. I was living my life in accordance with what the Lord would have me be doing but I still had a constant flow of temptations and bad thoughts and things like that. I even came home one night physically sick because of all these temptations I was having. I talked to my roommate about it and we didn't really know what was going on. Finally on Friday when I was headed to work I stopped my to pick up the mail. There was a letter to me from the office of the President of BYU. Those kind of letters don't come around everyday and at the rate my week had been going I was worried that I might be losing my scholarship. I opened the letter and before I could even read it all I was so overcome by the spirit of the Lord and as clear as I had ever heard in my mind, I knew that the Lord had spent months preparing me for this calling. I was called to serve for the next year on the Women's Conference Committee. I have never received a calling like this and known so clearly in my mind that this calling was for me and the Lord had been preparing me and knew what things I needed in my life to prepare me for it. I still am not 100 percent sure what I am doing but I know it will be a great experience and it's only the beginning.
i have never had a week be so tempting and spiritually hard than that week and then when I got the calling. The more i reflect on it the more i can see the Lords hand that guided me through all of Satan's traps.i was in tears because i knew what had just happened and that Satan knew what was about to happen and when i was called i have never been so overcome by the spirit knowing that the Lord had called me specifically for this calling and that the call wasn't from the president of BYU but it was the Lord calling me. I learned even more so that relying on him He will take us through any challenge or trial and even the happy times. Staying close to our Savior will help us keep His perspective on our lives and help us from being torn down by the things of this world. I'm grateful for my faith in our Savior and knowledge of the gospel and the strength and power the Lord gives me everyday to not only make it through my day but to help someone else along their way.
The beginning of the month my brother got his mission call. He is going to Bogota, Columbia! He opened it early Friday morning before we all met in Wyoming to go camping. I am so excited for him, quite possibly more excited than he is, though I don't think so. I am so proud of him and his decision to serve the Lord with everything he has. It is a little different for me because we have always done everything together and last week when he went through the temple I was a little bit sad that I wasn't there with him but at the same time I was so proud of him and his preparation and worthiness to receive his endowments and make new covenants with our Heavenly Father. I love my brother and I'm thankful for his example of faith and trust in the Lord through anything that comes in our lives.
The next thing that happened was such a special experience to me. I was having a terrible week and couldn't figure out why. I was living my life in accordance with what the Lord would have me be doing but I still had a constant flow of temptations and bad thoughts and things like that. I even came home one night physically sick because of all these temptations I was having. I talked to my roommate about it and we didn't really know what was going on. Finally on Friday when I was headed to work I stopped my to pick up the mail. There was a letter to me from the office of the President of BYU. Those kind of letters don't come around everyday and at the rate my week had been going I was worried that I might be losing my scholarship. I opened the letter and before I could even read it all I was so overcome by the spirit of the Lord and as clear as I had ever heard in my mind, I knew that the Lord had spent months preparing me for this calling. I was called to serve for the next year on the Women's Conference Committee. I have never received a calling like this and known so clearly in my mind that this calling was for me and the Lord had been preparing me and knew what things I needed in my life to prepare me for it. I still am not 100 percent sure what I am doing but I know it will be a great experience and it's only the beginning.
i have never had a week be so tempting and spiritually hard than that week and then when I got the calling. The more i reflect on it the more i can see the Lords hand that guided me through all of Satan's traps.i was in tears because i knew what had just happened and that Satan knew what was about to happen and when i was called i have never been so overcome by the spirit knowing that the Lord had called me specifically for this calling and that the call wasn't from the president of BYU but it was the Lord calling me. I learned even more so that relying on him He will take us through any challenge or trial and even the happy times. Staying close to our Savior will help us keep His perspective on our lives and help us from being torn down by the things of this world. I'm grateful for my faith in our Savior and knowledge of the gospel and the strength and power the Lord gives me everyday to not only make it through my day but to help someone else along their way.
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