Faith can overcome fear.

Today was GREAT! I had an awesome thought during Gospel Doctrine that I'll share in a moment.

First, some thoughts I had during the sacrament.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about people and feelings (not sure why; it just happened). Sometimes we might offend someone by what we say or do, and sometimes we are offended by others. But there is no way that those who offended will know unless you tell them. Sort of going off of that, I read an article the other week that said something to the effect of, "you don't always have to forgive someone to bring you peace. If being angry at them makes you feel good, that's okay." And I remember thinking, "Well, that seems counterproductive." For me, I personally hate being angry/annoyed with someone for a long period of time. Sure, sometimes it feels good to be mad at them, and to not forgive them. But after awhile, there comes a point when the anger or annoyance starts to affect other parts of my life–and not in a good way. Yes, sometimes there are cases where extreme anger or frustration towards someone is warranted, but if you are always angry at them, they've won–maybe again. You are still thinking about them. Their actions still cause you anger and hurt. In forgiving them, though, you win. You've become the bigger person, and you can be at peace. Now, in no way at all am I saying that by forgiving them you approve of their actions. Not at all! But by forgiving them, you can let go of the hurt and pain that they caused you and you can finally begin to heal. Holding on to things for a long time isn't always the best cause of action. Sometimes you have to let go. If you feel like there is no possible way that you could forgive them (because it was too awful), that's okay, too. But don't hold on to it any longer than you have to. Just let it go.

 A couple of things stood out to me in sacrament meeting today:
-Obedience isn't black and white. It's greyscale.
-Sometimes obedience is selfish–we obey not because Heavenly Father wants us to, but because we gain something, like social acceptance or something.
-Sometimes Jesus lets us struggle through challenges in order to help us strengthen our faith in Him.
-Faith can overcome fear.
-Asking for help is the ultimate sign of faith and humility.

In Gospel Doctrine, I had an awesome thought. We were talking about the fulfillment of Samuel the Lamanite's prophecies about Jesus Christ. And we were reading in 3 Nephi 10, where Jesus Christ says, "How oft have I gathered thee as a hen gathereth her chicks?" And someone said that when a hen puts up her wings, the chicks can run underneath her wings, and sometimes she dies protecting her chicks. Immediately I had a thought about the analogy: Jesus is the hen. And when He was up on the cross, His arms were raised up, and He died for us. He invites us to come unto Him always, and His hands are always stretched out towards us. So of course I shared that thought in class (except the italics; that part I only thought of as I was recalling the story to transcribe it to you, dear Reader) and then wanted to share it here because I loved the imagery in that analogy and I'd never thought of that before.

Today was fifth Sunday, so we were combined (in two rooms, I think). Bishop talked about some things before the actual lesson. He said that sometimes challenges in life can help us in our lives. I loved that. Sometimes challenges in our lives help us become who we were meant to be.

The lesson today was on keeping the Sabbath Day holy. He shared four questions that we can ask ourselves (there are many others) to try and decide if we're keeping the Sabbath Day holy.
1. Is my action hold or of service to God?
2. Is it doing good?
3. Does it keep me unspotted from the world?
4. Is it honoring the Lord, or am I selfishly following my own desires?

After that, Sister Anderson spoke to us for a little bit. She talked about the new Thanksgiving Garden statues exhibit, about two of them specifically. The one that depicted the story of the woman who was found in adultery, and the one that depicted Jesus Christ carrying His cross up to Calvary. For the first one, she said that Christ was brought here to love us and save us. Not to condemn us. For the second one, she said that He is here to help us through and to love us. She said that we are going to have to fight and sacrifice to keep our testimonies. I know that is so true. You have to hold on to your faith and testimony. Hold on to what you know to be true. Just hold on.

I'm so grateful for a Savior who knows me, and loves me, and sacrificed His life so that I could return to live with my Heavenly Parents. I am so thankful for the sweet spirit that is in my ward; I love the people in my ward so much and I am always learning things from them. I'm so thankful for the Spirit, and for His love and direction to guide the right answers and actions into my life and for His guidance to me to be able to share with those around me. This has been a crazy couple of weeks and sometimes I was super worried and scared that things wouldn't work out, but they did. I'm lucky to have had my Savior with me to help me get through it. I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had to be Christ's hands this past week and I look forward to the opportunities I will have this upcoming week. Stay safe and remember you're so loved! <3

Xoxo
Mattie