Against All Odds

So I don't exactly know what I want to blog about, but a friend reminded me that I should be doing this more often. So here we go!

I'm not usually the person to say something like this. Not too long ago I was pessimistic. But life is incredible. Incroyable! Sometimes I look around and I think, "How can I possibly deserve everything that I have?" What amazing thing did I do to be given so much? I make so many mistakes and I fail so much that I can't possibly have actually earned what I have! There's no way! And yet I know that God wants to give me more. A lot more. He wants to give EVERYBODY a lot more. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing you do, nothing you say, nothing you become will ever cause God  to love you less. Who can love so perfectly but God Himself? The Savior Jesus Christ who suffered for everything you will ever go through. Everything He did, does and will do is for the sole purpose of your well-being. Is there anyone else who can truly say that? Parents and family can come close, but we're all human and make mistakes. But God is faithful and all He does is motivated by His love for us. He wants to bless us!

Do you want to know a secret? The more thankful you are for what you have, the happier you are. All true and lasting happiness is a result of gratitude for any blessing in your life. So next time you are feeling down in the dumps, remember something you're grateful for. The greatest happiness comes when we recognize that God is the source of our blessings and not us. When we are humble and grateful, the Holy Ghost is unrestricted in filling us with joy.

Some of my greatest joy has come  from seeing what the Lord has molded me into. Without taking credit as the source of any goodness that I have, I can be proud of what God has made me, and not because I did it myself. It's because I realize that I was completely incapable of refining myself on my own that I marvel at what He has shaped me into. I know my weaknesses very well, which is why I know that I was not the source of change. Even with all my weaknesses, I have been blessed to take on small parts of God's Divine Nature. Me? No. It isn't me. It is purely the Grace of God.  Speaking of which, do you know what Grace is? Let me tell you!

"It is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, made possible by his atoning sacrifice, that mankind will be raised in immortality, every person receiving his body from the grave in a condition of everlasting life. It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts."- LDS Bible Dictionary

Grace is a power beyond our own that is available to us so that we can receive eternal life after all that we do. It is also a power that is given to us every day if we are trying. It takes our best efforts and sanctifies them for the Lord's work. Grace is an incredible strength.When I serve in my church calling, it is by Grace. The reason that imperfect people can have great success in moving forward the sacred work of God is Grace. By Grace we are counted worthy to have the Holy Ghost with us. By Grace our faith and prayers are honored by Heavenly Father. By Grace only is priesthood power effectively exercised. By Grace the 2,000 stripling warriors defeated tens of thousands of Lamanites without losing one soul. By Grace we may find ourselves at times exhibiting Christ-like attributes to a degree that is not normal for us, but that it needed for the benefit of another. Anything that occurs by virtue of one's calling occurs by Grace.  Now do yo want to know the cool thing? Grace is directly influenced by gratitude and humility. Someone who is humble and grateful to God is by nature receiving, even exercising Grace. The more we humbly recognize and seek help for our weaknesses, the more Grace we have. The Savior Himself said, "my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) He also said, "my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." (Ether 12:27)

Humility is power. Gratitude is power and the gateway to happiness and more blessings. This is true because of Jesus Christ. His suffering, death and resurrection is the source of and reason behind Grace. This brings me to the focal point of this whole post. Everything that I have said can be boiled down to one principle. I know that my Savior lives! I love Him! I love Jesus Christ! Oh sweet, the joy this sentence gives: I Know that My Redeemer Lives!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc

Against all odds. The world may reason one way or another saying that God does not exist, that Christ did not actually resurrect, that there is no life after death or any number of hopeless messages. But I promise that against all odds, all reason, all negativity, Jesus Christ gives Hope and life to everyone, and stands ready always to lift the weary, comfort the afflicted and save the meek who follow Him. After what my Savior has done and continues to do for me, I hope to stand with Him as brother Holland says, "Even unto death." Though even that can never repay His sacrifice for me. My friends, this is happiness. In the name of  Jesus Christ. Amen.

Whate'er thou art, Act well thy part

This week I feel like talking a little bit about how to grow. I think a lot of times we look at examples of what or who we want to be and we imagine that there must be a huge long process or a miraculous experience associated with transforming ourselves like that. It seems like something that could ever happen right now right here. In the past year, I've learned that this ideology is only partially true.

In my experience in my church duties and calling, I find that I do a lot of stuff that I would think require a previous transformation, but only require faith. I receive assignments to do and be things that often feel intimidating and bigger than me. Elder Richard G. Scott says that "we become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become." That is so true! A lot of times when I'm faced with something I don't feel ready for, I just put my faith in God, say a prayer and then go to work. And all of the sudden I'm doing it and becoming what I want to be! I am inspired and strengthened. I know it only happens because of Christ, because of Grace. I know my weaknesses all too well, so there is only one explanation to it all- it isn't me. But I still get the growth and even the blessings for it. It is incredible. When things like this come up, you have to just ask for God's help, put your Faith in Christ and step up to the plate. He's the only way to hit a home run.
"I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things." -Alma 26:11-12

Become who you want to be today.


Now, for another thing that makes me happy. Theatre! This weekend I saw Little Eyolf at BYU. At the start I was afraid it was going to be a little dry. But I should have known better. >:) This play was heavy, and at the heart of it was emotionally-loaded dialogue between two people. I love both of these things! The actors were outstanding and the emotion they felt and portrayed was true and deep. I loved it! It made me think do much and my love for theatre was just burning! Aaaaahhh!!! It made me want to improve my own talents so badly. I honestly don't know how I am supposed to balance developing these talents and passions along with family and chrurch and pre-medicine and everything else, but I know I have to do it. I'm so excited! And now, in hopes of helping you understand my passion at least a little bit more, here's a clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AAM_mdNVek&feature=related

Oops! How'd that get in there? Here's the real clip. ;)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uJBOAkMsSc

I know it's Shakespeare, so all of the language isn't clear, but you can tell what they mean so many times by how they say it. I love watching their emotion and their changes in thought and feeling. I have not been able to express in words what I love about performances like this, except that I love the emotion and honesty of the characters! This is what touches me and inspires me in my own special way. This is my passion that God has blessed me with. :)

Thinning the Veil

Hello! It has been awhile since I last wrote, I know. But I am going to try to post more frequently. There's something about blogging that seems to dull down my writing style. When I write in my journals I feel like it flows easily and things are communicated the way I want them to be. But when I blog I feel like Moroni in the Book of Mormon who talks about the awkwardness of his hands restricting him from writing as powerfully as he speaks (though I still find his writings to be powerful in spirit). Anyway, shall we proceed to explaining the title of this blog?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the different ways we can see the world. We can be pessimistic and point out everything that is wrong with the world. We can be optimistic and point out the many things that are right with it. We can also choose to be apathetic about whether the world is good or bad and basically only worry about ourselves. Recently, I've been discovering what I think is the best way to see the world and the people in it. I try, and of course only sometimes succeed, to see the world the way that God does. I try to see people through the eyes of their Father in Heaven. I try to listen to the Spirit to hear what God's mind is. This isn't easy of course, but it is a special perspective. I find it happening a lot when I think of others and try to help them, and especially when I love others. I feel it when I counsel in my church calling about how to help people in our flock come closer to Christ. I get little tastes of what God has in store for them if they will follow Christ, and it is magnificent.

As I do these things, I not only see other people more completely, but myself as well. Believe me, most of the time I discover more of my weaknesses, but when it is with God's perspective it isn't as much discouraging as it is an opportunity to chip off another piece of marble in getting closer to being like Jesus Christ. This also allows me to use His Atonement, which makes me stronger than if I didn't recognize my weaknesses at all. I find that when I take my weaknesses to Christ, I must be humble, and as I seek His help humbly, then I receive Grace, which is power, to overcome my weaknesses. I am convinced that this is one of, if not the only, way to have great power and be greatly humble. I have learned that humility is power because it unlocks the power of the Atonement, and when I see the world with this spiritual perspective, I am both humble and confident.

As I mentioned before, I have this greater perspective when I am serving my God and especially when I am exercising the Priesthood. I have given many Priesthood blessings and all of them allow me to know what that person needs to hear for comfort and strength. But there have been a few in particular that were very special experiences. In these select blessings, the Spirit has spoken through me some marvelous things. I have told the recipients that they were being watched and wept over in Heaven by Angels. I have told them that there Father in Heaven was, at that time, standing near them and that the veil was thin. I have revealed small parts of God plans for them. Again, when I say that I "did" these things, I mean that I was only blessed to be the instrument to deliver these blessings. All true blessings come from God. But what a blessing it is for me to get to witness these kind of miracles!

In conclusion, whether I'm giving a blessing or just hanging out with friends, I see miracles and opportunities for miracles everywhere when I try to look at things through God's eyes. I see others' potential. I see pieces of God's plan. I see opportunities to learn, to grow and to please my Father in Heaven- which is my greatest desire.

Super Powers

I don't know about you guys, but when I was a kid, I always wanted Super Powers. I wanted to be able to heal people with flashes of green light that went "woosh" when I used them. I wanted to be Spiderman and use my spidey-sense know things others didn't. Or the greatest of them all- A Super Saiyan. A ridiculously strong superhuman that could fight, fly and power up with bright yellow light, and turn into a completely new fighter that was bigger and better. As I grew up, I came to realize that those kinds of powers don't exist in our world. I was doomed to accept that people were normal and did normal things without cool noises or flashes of light. After a while I was over it. I'd accepted that Super Powers didn't exist and I moved on in my life to try and discover what was actually worth pursuing.

Then I started to really learn the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I first learned that Faith in Christ brings miracles, and that no miracles are done without people's Faith. I learned that Faith can move mountains- mountains of suffering, guilt and pain as well as the great Rockies themselves. I learned that Grace "powers us up" and gives us strength beyond our own. I learned that obedience could physically and emotionally heal someone through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I learned that through the Atonement we can become completely new fighters in our lives. We can change. I learned that the Holy Ghost can tell me things nobody else does, or better yet, tell me the same thing it's telling someone else. I learned that Priesthood blessings have the power to change lives and peek into Heaven. There are super powers everywhere. You just have to know where to look. I'll give you a hint, it's not in the flashes of green or yellow light, or a radioactive spider. All true Super Powers come from God the Father and His priesthood and Jesus Christ and His atonement. God is a God of Miracles.