He lives!

Happy Easter! So grateful for my Savior, and for His sacrifice, and for His support, and His love. I know that He lives! I love Him and I am grateful for all that He has done, and all that He does, and all that He will do.

Today in Relief Society, we talked about being an example, and a light, but the overall message that I received (because we talked about it a lot) was about love. These are some small pieces of wisdom and truth that my friends said (or that I thought) throughout the lesson that I loved:
-None of what we learn (in church) matters unless we take action.
-Faith is not by chance but by choice.
-Our Savior is the greatest example of being an example in word and in conversation. He treated everyone with the same amount of respect and love, no matter their status.
-If we have it in our hearts to serve, anything is possible.
-There is nothing we could ever do to make Him stop loving us. (This reminded me of the song Miracle, originally done by Celine Dion but another version I love is by Daniel Beck, found here)
-Once you love those around you, everything else falls into place.
-This point that my friend made was beautiful and powerful. She said (going off of what I said that when we love and serve others, we are loving and serving Christ) that whatever we do to others, we do to Christ. Going off of that, another friend said that it's really hard to be mean or unkind to someone when you think of how much Christ loves them.

The last thing that was said was so powerful to me. The Spirit can help us focus and want to do things. The more good we do and put into our lives, the less room there is for evil/sadness in our lives. 

I am so grateful for the girls in my hall. I love and learn from these ladies every day, and I'm so blessed to have them in my life! I am so grateful for my Savior, and for the Atonement. I know that He lives, and I know that as I follow Him, I will become who my Heavenly Father knows I can become. 

Provo City Center Temple Dedication

So, today was the Provo City Center Temple Dedication!! It's such a beautiful temple, and I'm so excited that it is now dedicated! I hope to be able to do baptisms for the dead in it sometime soon!

I was able to watch the final dedicatory session in the Marriott Center with my friends. It was so special! I could really feel the spirit and I heard several things that I needed to hear. I'm going to share some of my favorite things that were said (some of them...actually, most of them are paraphrased).

-We are empowered when we come to the temple.
-The Savior will never give up on us.
-This temple is a reminder of the Atonement of Christ.
-There is always hope.
-Even when we fall, though the Atonement, the hands of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are extended towards us still.
-No matter the problem or difficulty we face, as we press forward, beautiful things will come through.
-We are His masterpieces. 
-He is so very patient with us.
-We do not overcome our weaknesses at once. Sometimes it takes years. 
-Faith and patience are keys to becoming and overcoming.
-From ashes to beauty.
-Every member is precious.

I was so blessed to be able to attend the dedication!! I was reminded that overcoming weaknesses takes time, and I have to have faith in the Lord (and in myself), and I have to be patient. That is sometimes a struggle for me, but I am working on it. I was also reminded that my Savior won't ever give up on me. Even if I give up on myself, He won't give up on me. I am so grateful for this new temple, and for the wonderful symbolism in its story–from ashes to beauty. This is so true for some of the trials that we have to go through. I know that it is definitely true for my biggest trial, and I am still being reworked into the person that God needs me to be. But I know that He knows what He is doing, and so I am putting my trust in Him.

Oh! I almost forgot that I wrote down some of my thoughts as we were waiting for the dedication to start:
"We're waiting for the dedication to start. I'm so excited!! Friday and Saturday were kinda rough days, for multiple reasons, but sitting here, in the Marriott Center, which is an extension of the temple [right now], and listening to the prelude music, I am feeling love, peace, and gratitude. I feel better than I have all weekend. I don't feel rushed or worried. Just peace and love."

It was so special. I'm so glad I got to go. <3

Conversion helps us become something better.

Okay, I've been thinking a bit about what to write today. Last week after thinking about what to write, I wrote a poem (which can be found here if you're lazy ;) ) and it turned out better than I expected. Pretty sure today won't be another poem.

Anyway.

Today in sacrament meeting the topic was personal conversion. So I thought that I would address that because I feel like since conversion is an ongoing process, we need to be reminded about how to be converted quite often. 

• Conversion, as I said before, is an ongoing process. It's something we have to work at daily.
• Conversion is helping us become something better–a better version of who we were meant to be. If we're not becoming something, then we're not being converted.
• We will know that we are progressing when a couple of things happen: 1) When we lose our desire to do evil; and 2) When we see things, and people, as Christ does, and when we do what Christ would do.
• One thing that I loved that someone said was that personal conversion doesn't always happen because of some big event or some big thing. It's often because of small and simple things that great things are brought to pass (Alma 37:6).
• Another thing that I loved was that you can't become converted without a testimony. Your testimony is the basis of your conversion, and if you don't have a testimony, you can't become converted.
• Also, you can't share your conversion. Like, you can't say, "Hey, friend, I got converted because of this" and then your friend is converted. No–it doesn't work like that. You have to work on your conversion yourself. 
• Just like a testimony, your conversion begins with a seed. It is also deeply rooted to your testimony. 
• Our hearts should be continually changing. Because if it's not, then we're not being converted because conversion is a continual change/process; so, our hearts should be continually changing, too.
• This life was never designed to be easy. I'm sorry, but it's true. If it was meant to be easy, then we wouldn't have to go through such hard things, and we wouldn't be able to change our hearts and our selves. Trials make us stronger, can bring us closer to Christ, and they can help us on the path of conversion.
• Anything that stands in our way of personal conversion/testimony isn't worth it.

In Relief Society we talked about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. Kea shared a quote by President Howard W. Hunter that I loved: "No matter our status in life–no matter how much or how little money we have, no matter our possessions or careers–God can work through us and with us to do good in this world." I love that. Joseph Smith was a 14-year-old boy who had a question, and that question led to the restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ on this earth. You don't have to be a giant world power or a famous person to be able to do something great for God, or to be able to speak to God, or to be able to receive an answer from God. Just be you.

Being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has shaped me into who I am today. Being able to depend on and turn to my Savior when I am going through something tough, or when I need forgiveness, or when I need comfort, has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. The other blessing is that I, in turn, get to help my friends and family (and sometimes random strangers). I get to help them physically, and emotionally, and spiritually, and it's the best feeling in the world!!! I love helping my friends and family with whatever it is they need help with. I love being Christ's hands. I know that He would love to be able to help us all physically, but He can't, so He sends us people. He sends us our friends and family, and sometimes He sends us random strangers. I love being the person that He sends. I love representing my Savior. I know that I won't always be able to represent Him as perfectly as I'd like to, but I do my best, and I am grateful that He is there to help me know what I need to do for each person whose life I touch. 

I'm not perfect, and I struggle with things, but the one thing I don't struggle with is helping others. I can't help it–seeing the smile on their face when I help them, or seeing the gratitude on their face, is worth it–it's worth more than all the mashed potatoes and gravy in the world. (FYI, mashed potatoes and gravy are my favorite food in the entire world, which says something about how much I love serving others: way more than my favorite food)

I'm so grateful for all of the opportunities that I've had and will have to serve those around me. I'm so grateful that those opportunities bring me closer to my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I'm so grateful for Their love and support, and I'm so grateful that They are there for me whenever I need them, and I'm so grateful for all of the people They've sent to me when I've needed them. I know that They love us, and that Jesus Christ died for us, to save us from our sins, and our sorrows, and our iniquities. I know that because of Him, we can live again. I know that we will be able to see those who have passed on again. Because of Him, we can be together again. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Don't forget.

I have been thinking about what to write for a little while. First, my idea was to write a poem. That is still an option but I can't think of what to write, how to start it, etc. Now I'm at an impasse.

So, as I said, I've been thinking for awhile...

And I want to say this:

Don't forget.
Don't forget you are needed.
Don't forget you are loved.
Don't forget who you are.
Don't forget whose you are.

You are a divine child of God.
You are His child.
He made you!
He loves you.

Don't forget your divine nature.
Don't forget your worth.
Don't forget why you came to this earth.

Don't forget to be–
Be you,
Be kind,
Be grateful.

People are imperfect.
People have moods.
People will come and go.
But God is perfect.
God is always constant.
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
He will always be there for you.
He will always be with you.

So please don't forget:
Don't forget whose you are.
Don't forget to be you.
Don't forget that God will always be there for you.
~"Don't Forget" by Mattie Radke

I know that He loves you. I love you, too. You are precious to Him and He sent you here for a reason. He knew that you were needed here. Someone needed to meet you, or to learn from you. Someone needed you. In order for them to become their best self, they needed you. So don't forget that you are needed and loved. Because you are.