I'm so blessed.

This week, for my weekly quote, I decided to keep last week's quote up but I also added a little different one. "Life is so good." Because, really, life is so good. I am so blessed. Even though I hate the hours, I'm glad that I have a job. I am also glad that I am able to go to school here at BYU, where so many people have the same standards as I do. I'm glad that I have been making lots of friends, even though sometimes it's hard and drags me kicking and screaming out of my comfort zone. ;) I'm so glad that there are so many great examples out here! I've had many awesome examples of righteousness in my life, and I'm just so glad that it can continue here at college. This is where I've always wanted to go, but I also know that this is where I'm meant to be. 

Xoxo

Mattie

He loves you so much.

Today was such a good meeting!! In testimony meeting, everyone kept talking about how Christ will always be there for you and He will always love you. Another repeated topic was that, "I use the Atonement every single day." One of my friends said in her testimony today, "If Christ is not the center of your life, what is?" That really struck me, and I feel like someone needs to hear it. Make the necessary adjustments so that He is the center of your life, and your life will realign itself and be easier to bear–it won't be easy, but it will be easier if He is the center of your life. <3

In Relief Society, we talked about the Sacrament, and how it is a gift from God, and a time to reflect on the past week, and think about what we can do in the upcoming week to be better. We also talked about how our thoughts, actions, and choices should emulate Christ. We talked about how the Atonement is there for us, even if we don't use it. He has already paid the price–He sacrificed His life so that you could return to live with our Heavenly Father–the least we can do is accept Him and not let His sacrifice be in vain. <3

I know that He lives. I know that He loves us, and I know that He is always there for you, and that He will always send you the things, people, and experiences you need (to grow stronger, and to comfort and love you) when you need them. I know this because I know that He knows me, and I know that He knows YOU. 

I am so grateful for Him, and for His sacrifice, and His love, and His blessings. I know that I will be blessed as I follow Him and try to become more like Him in every way. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Today was kind of hard. But that's okay.

So, as the title says, today was kind of hard. But that's okay. Hard times make me stronger (though, I'm going to be honest, sometimes I wish I could become stronger in other ways). This morning was super fun–I went to rehearsal today and, though some of the pieces are challenging, I am excited. It's going to be so much fun!! Plus, I love spending time with my friend. :) After rehearsal, though, I was just so overwhelmed. I have a nature experience proposal due in Biology on Monday and I have absolutely NO idea what to do. It has been bothering me all day, and it is what has made today hard (that, plus the fact that my shoulders/back are super sore for who-knows-why and are killing me). But I was really looking forward to the General Women's Broadcast tonight. :) I was super excited!! I was not disappointed!! It was such a great session! I loved it! I am so excited for General Conference next weekend!! There were SO many good messages spoken that I needed to hear!!!

Sister Rosemary M. Wixom said:

Life is a gift, and God has a plan for each of us.

Our divine nature comes from God.

Because you are His child, He knows who you can become.

I love this. This is such a great reminder that we are His, and He has a plan for us, and all that we have been blessed with comes from Him. <3

Sister Linda S. Reeves said:

We will be blessed if we exercise faith in our Father and go to Him.

The reward is so great, so eternal...

As we keep our lives pure and clean...we will one day receive all that the Father hath.

I love this! We will be blessed as we keep His commandments–I love that she got emotional as she talked about how, when we see the Father in Heaven, we will be amazed at how awesome the reward is, and how all we had to do was get through our trials that seem extremely hard now, but, in the end, will be nothing compared to the reward. <3

Sister Carol F. McConkie said:

We must love one another and see in one another the beauty of the soul.

In the strength of the Lord we can do all things.

We repent so that we may be better.

"In this cause [FYI, she said that "we are here to serve a righteous cause"] we are all valued. We are all needed. The righteous cause we serve is the cause of Christ. It is the work of salvation."

I love this. I can't even add anything to it. <3

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf:

He told a story about a young girl who visited her Great-Aunt Rose over the summer while the girl's mother recovered from a surgery. These are some of the things he said as he told the story:

If we trust Him, we can find the brighter, happier things in life.

The best things take patience and work.

Brooding and worrying makes it worse. (this stood out to me in particular. <3 <3 <3)

God didn't design us to be sad. He created us to have joy.

Now is part of eternity. 

Faith will fortify every step of the way.

I love President Uchtdorf! This was such a good talk! I loved the story! Such a cute story, and very relatable. <3 <3

I absolutely LOVED this session!!!! God is watching out for me and He knows exactly what I need. <3 <3 <3 Can't wait for next weekend!!!

Xoxo
Mattie

Blessings.

I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father. This week, my quote is, "You are beautiful, capable, and strong. <3" and I've really needed that this week. It's been a tough one, and I still have two days left! I'm going to the health center tomorrow morning after work because my throat hurts when I swallow and my cough has gotten worse than it was (which was just coughing when I laughed, but this past week it has gotten a little worse). I hope it's nothing too serious!! I just started in the a cappella club at BYU and I really don't want to have something bad happen to my throat!! Please pray for me to feel better and to go back to full health soon. I know that I was inspired to create that quote this week for a reason. God loves me and He loves you and I hope you remember that. 

Xoxo

Mattie

Quotes of the week, trials, forgiveness.

HEY!! So, I have been trying to have a quote of the week every week on my white board. The first week's quote was, "Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith." ~Pres. Thomas S. Monson. The second week it was, "Music makes me really happy." Last week's quote was, "Find your dream and follow your heart." This week's quote is "You are beautiful, capable, and strong. <3" I am loving this quote thing! The first week I found a quote, but all the other weeks I have come up with the quotes! It's a great reminder during the week to be happy/positive. Plus, it's been fun to make a quote look cutesy on my white board. :)

School is going as well as school goes, I guess. ;) But I'm not dying because of a homework overload [yet ;)]. 

(The following are out of order, but that's okay.)

Today in Relief Society we got our visiting teaching assignments. I am excited to get to know these girls better! Also!! I was set apart today. I am a Compassionate Service Leader. :) I'm really excited to be serving the girls in my hall!! 

Today we talked a lot about following the prophets in sacrament meeting, and how President Monson is the mouthpiece of the Lord, and we will be blessed if we listen to him. 

In Gospel Doctrine, we talked about overcoming tribulation, as well as forgiveness and forgiving others. Overcoming tribulation: Through our suffering, we become stronger and closer to God as we rely on Christ. Someone said something very poignant as we talked about forgiving others. She said, "Do what's best for the other." And I love that. It's better for them if you forgive them; and, in the end, forgiving them will bring you peace. Sophia said that "There is no peace in reflecting on old wounds." This all applies to forgiving others, yes, but we also shouldn't forget to forgive ourselves! I don't know about you, but I always have the hardest time forgiving myself. But it's true: there is no peace in reflecting on old wounds. If you can't let go and forgive yourself, it just makes it harder for you to live in the present, and for you to move on with your life. 

You have to learn to let go with the help of Jesus Christ. That's the only way to bring you the peace you need. He will help you heal, and He will help you be able to forgive whom you need to forgive. <3

Xoxo
Mattie

Multi-Regional Stake Conference.

Today was the Multi-Stake Regional Conference. It was so good!! I was able to attend at the Marriott Center, and it was sooo packed!!! There were tons of people who didn't get to go in because it was so full. There were a lot of great messages shared today, so I'm just going to talk about a few of my favorites. :)

Bishop Davies talked about patterns in the scriptures and in our lives. He said if we read the Book of Mormon, those who ask about it in faith will get an answer. He also said that reading the BoM will bring to you an understanding and peace of mind.

Sister Burton talked about how we show the Lord that we honor Him and keep His Sabbath day holy. She said that there are many different ways that families have decided that they will try and keep the Sabbath day holy. She said that Sister Stevens (of the Primary General Presidency) said that she tried to prepare for the Sabbath on Saturday. There was a family who tried to focus on the sacrament, before, during, and after the sacrament, throughout the whole week. They would pick something to think about during the sacrament and then they would talk about it at home.

President Hallstrom talked about who is hastening the work of salvation. The answer is the Lord is hastening His work in His own time–He may be using us, but He is the one who is hastening it. He also said that Satan is hastening his work, too, and that we cannot be saved without effort on our part.

Elder Ballard's talk was wonderful! He talked about how our contributions are significant and important. He talked about maintaining healthy [spiritual] practices/habits, like sincere daily prayers, regular scripture study, and worshiping in the temple. He also talked about how it's okay to ask questions, and that we need to help others answer their own questions–it's also okay if we don't have all the answers. :)

It was such a wonderful session!! I'm really excited for General Conference in a couple of weeks. :)

OH! And I'm going to be going home to visit later this afternoon. I'm kind of excited. :)

Xoxo
Mattie

Fragile.

People are fragile. Mentally, emotionally, and sometimes physically.

Fragility is a delicate thing (how ironic). Some people don't like to let others know that they're fragile, or that they're hurting, or that something is wrong.

People want to be (or at least appear to be) strong. This results in people not always telling the truth to the questions "Are you okay?"; "How are you?"; and "Did you have a good day?", etc. Sometimes it's because you're not explaining what's wrong. (I admit that I, too, have been guilty of this a time or two)

But: 

"It's not about your scars 

It's all about your heart" 

(All About Your Heart, Mindy Gledhill)

We all have scars. But that's all they are: they're scars--meaning they've healed over. What matters is your heart—what's on the inside. I know sometimes we are delicate around certain scar subjects, and that's okay, but you need to know that it's okay to have scars. It's okay to have stories. Without your scars, you wouldn't be who you are today, and—because of that—other people wouldn't be who they are today and so on. 

Just know this:

You

Are

Important

Now and forever. 

There is nothing to be ashamed about in having scars. It's completely normal. I have some scars and yeah, it's hard. Definitely. Especially because it's not something I really talk about. But the experience has made me a stronger person—a better person. 

And guess what? God loves you no matter what. And I love you, too. That's the way it's always going to be. If you really are scared, turn to Him. He's there to help you and to heal you. <3

He loves you.

During the sacrament today, I just kept thinking about the fact that Jesus Christ died for us, but He also died for me. He suffered for me. If I had been the only person on earth, He still would have suffered and died for me. He loves us that much. No matter what you do, He will always love you. You can always turn to Him. He will never leave you, nor will He turn you away. He loves you so much. He loves you so much that He will send you people when you need them! He loves you so much that He will bless you beyond anything you've ever imagined.

Today was fast and testimony meeting, and a lot of people repeated the phrase, "I know we're here for a reason." It was just reassuring to me to know that I am in the right place, and there's a reason why I'm here. I don't know the reason yet, but there is a reason. One of the guys who bore his testimony said that, "It's our choice." It's always our choice–we're all adults and it's our choice as to whether or not we go to church, or go to class, or do our homework. It's our choice, but we don't get to choose the consequences of our actions. 

Sabrina (my roommate) and I gave a lesson in Gospel Doctrine (my first lesson ever), and we talked about switch points in our lives, and how they can change our lives. President Hinckley gave a story about switch points:

"Many years ago I worked in the head office of one of our railroads. One day I received a telephone call from my counterpart in Newark, New Jersey, who said that a passenger train had arrived without its baggage car. The patrons were angry. We discovered that the train had been properly made up in Oakland, California, and properly delivered to St. Louis, from which station it was to be carried to its destination on the east coast. But in the St. Louis yards, a thoughtless switchman had moved a piece of steel just three inches. That piece of steel was a switch point, and the car that should have been in Newark, New Jersey, was in New Orleans, Louisiana, thirteen hundred miles away” (Elder Gordon B. Hinckley in Conference Report, Oct. 1972, 106–7; or Ensign, Jan. 1973, 91)

We talked about a lot of things that can be switch points in our lives, like the relationship between you and your spouse and God, the Sacrament, Spiritual Gifts, and the Resurrection and the three degrees of glory, and how they can be positive or negative switch points in our lives. It's amazing how a few inches (in the case of President Hinckley's story) or a small event/action in our lives can change it, for better or for worse. It was a really good lesson; there was a lot of participation, which was great. :)

I just want you to remember this:

He

     Loves 

           You

I know that He loves you. I know that He will always love you. I know that He will bless you and send those that you need to you when you need them. I know that, as you pray and read your scriptures, and begin to serve others, you will be able to feel His love more. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Reading-heavy classes.

All right...First two days are done! Seems like my classes are going to be fun (except maybe American Heritage but we'll see). They have a lot of reading...which normally is okay, but I think all of my classes will require a lot of outside reading. Wish me luck–that's a lot of reading.

ON the plus side: my teachers are really fun :)

And work is going good...except for me being up before the sun even realizes that it needs to be up in a few hours.

I am missing my friends and close peeps, but I am meeting a lot of new people :)

This is going to be such a fun semester!! :)

I know that God will help me keep up with my homework as long as I do my part. Time management might be a little difficult the first couple of days, but I know that I can do it! :)

"Sometimes all you need is a sincere smile." ~Mattie Radke

Xoxo
Mattie