Sunday, July 10, 2016

God loves us enough to gift us with testimonies.

Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday morning I had the opportunity to go to Heber Valley Camp with my YSA stake for an overnight camping trip. I had so much fun! Friday night we had a fireside speaker, a Casey Hermanson (spelling?). He talked about a lot of things that were just absolutely great but I was so enthralled I forgot to take notes while he was talking. So I took a couple mental notes about some of the things that stood out to me the most.

One of my favorite things that he talked about was that I'm a child of God (and you are too!!). We have deity in us. He talked a little about The Lion King, and how Simba forgets who he is. You need to remember who you are: a child of God. :) "He lives in you." Build upon the rock that is Christ and you cannot fail.

Another thing he talked about was Elder Bednar's talk "Converted unto the Lord", and the parable of the ten virgins (you can find that talk here). He (Brother Hermanson) said that a testimony is not enough. You need conversion. Do all the things you need to—scripture study, pray, attend church, go to the temple, etc.

He quoted someone who said, "You can't quit five minutes before the miracle happens." I love that. You have to keep going! I know it's hard and you don't want to go on anymore, or you just want the pain to end. But a miracle will happen. Blessings will come. Maybe not in this life, but Elder Holland has promised us that "they will come".

So I typed up all that^^ before I left for my friend's homecoming talk this morning (he came home at the beginning of this month. That whole week I was like, "Wait a minute! It's been two years already?" It's like...at first it seems like two years is a long time, but then BAM! It's two years and they're home) and he and the other speaker both talked about conversion, and my friend talked about Elder Bednar's talk! I was like, "Oh my goodness, that's so funny! I just started writing my blog post this morning and talked about that a little bit." I thought that was so cool.

Anyway, first I'd like to talk about something that I noticed for the first time about the hymn "In Humility Our Savior" during the sacrament. The line "when thy heart was stilled and broken" hit me today. I realized that that line is talking about the moment that Jesus Christ died and gave up the ghost–He died of a broken heart, and for some reason that line never clicked with me until today. I am so grateful to my Savior for His love and sacrifice. I will never be able to repay Him, but I certainly can try by following His example and preparing to return home to my Heavenly Father.

Okay, so one of the things that my friend said today really stood out to me. First, though, definitions: a testimony is a gift from God through revelation, and conversion is a deepening and broadening of a testimony. So my friend said (and I'm paraphrasing here), that we convert ourselves in order to give gratitude to God for our testimonies. I loved that. He also said that as we have doubts and questions, we need to put those aside in order to gain revelation. We have to have an open mind in order to receive revelation from the Holy Ghost.

I'd just like to finish by saying that it's been a great weekend. Life is actually really good right now, and I'm really grateful. I've been blessed lately to be able to not stress and worry so much and to just let things be (don't get me wrong, sometimes I still worry hahaha; that won't ever go away). I'm grateful for the people in my life who know just what to say and do to help me. I'm grateful for those who just let me talk when I need to. I'm grateful for those who, by doing simple things, just remind me that I am in their thoughts and they love me. Most of all, I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father and my Savior, who send me these people when I need them. :) I'm grateful for the love and peace that I feel from my Savior when I need it. I'm grateful for His example and His sacrifice. I just realized I don't think I've ever been quite this happy and at peace for a little while, and it's a great feeling. I am saddened by the events that have happened recently, and I pray for the families of those that were lost. I hope and pray that we will all be kind to one another, and that we will all be courteous towards those that we might not agree with on some issues. I know that things happen for a reason, and though we may not know that reason right now, someday we will all have answers to all of our questions. I know that someday everything will make sense. I hope and pray that someday we can all feel happy, at peace, and that we can all feel the love of our Savior and our Father in Heaven. 

No comments:

Post a Comment