With Him we can. :)

Today is Palm Sunday, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem before His great sacrifice for us. Easter is next Sunday! I'm so excited! I'm going home (again. Wow, I have gone home so much this semester) and am hoping that I will be done with most of my homework by that time so I can rest and relax. We'll see how this week goes. :)

Sacrament meeting was AMAZING and I definitely needed it today! Before I get into that, though, here are my thoughts from during the sacrament.

Some day, life will make sense. I am counting on that day. Right now, however, nothing makes sense, and I struggle all the time, as we all do. Lately, it's been really hard to be positive and optimistic and happy. Mainly because it's the end of the semester and I have a LOT of things to do, but there are other suspicious factors, too. Anyway, it's just been really hard to look on the bright side of things, and I want to wallow all the time, but I don't have time for that right now. I am really grateful for my Savior. I don't deserve all of the second (and third) chances that I get, yet He give them still. If that's not love, what is? I am grateful for my Heavenly Father, who sent His Only Begotten to die for us. I've been struggling with some things a little bit lately, but how can I fail with my Heavenly Father and Savior's love and help? 

Speaking of struggling, guess what the topic in sacrament meeting today was? If you couldn't guess (you probably couldn't), it was about attitude, adversity, and trials, and how to get through/overcome them. It was a blessing! I really needed it today. :)

So, some of my favorite things that were said were:

• When we face adversity, we forget about all the great things going on in our life.
• Don't try to change the things that you can't control.
• We are free to choose joy.
• We need to realize that we have EVERYTHING that we need to be happy in that moment.
• Adversity has a purpose–to help us grow and change.
• God will be with us. We should not be afraid. We are not alone.
• The only thing we can control is ourself, and our actions. 
• We need to trust that God sees the whole picture.
• He shows us our weaknesses so that we can work on them.
• We need to have a good attitude. Yes, sometimes it's hard. But we need to "Hold on to the hope that there are good things in the world," and realize that "Even darkness must pass."

In Relief Society, we talked about visiting teaching, and one of my favorite things that was said was that Heavenly Father uses other people to remind us that He loves us. My last favorite thing was that we're all trying to go to the same place; we need to lift each other up.

Don't forget that God is with you. With Him, you can do anything. That reminds me of two things: one is this scripture that we talked about in Sunday School. It's the Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew 19:26, and it says, "But Jesus beheld their thoughts, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but if they will forsake all things for my sake, with God whatsoever things I speak are possible." The bolded parts are the parts that are changed/clarified from the Joseph Smith Translation. I loved this verse when we read it in class. And this reminded me of the song, "With Him We Can", which you can find here. It's a beautiful song that talks about how with God, we can do things that we never thought possible.

I'm so grateful for my ward! I love the people I've met, and I cherish the friendships I've made. God knew exactly what He was doing when He put these people in my life. I love them all so much and I wouldn't change anything! I'm grateful for my family, and for my friends. I'm grateful that I have so many people to depend on and turn to. I'm grateful for my Savior, and for all He's done for me, and I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father, who knows exactly what I need to grow and be better. I'm still working on it, and He's right there with me. I hope you have a peaceful Sabbath and a wonderful week!

Xoxo

Mattie

Take a leap of faith.

I had the opportunity to go to my friend's farewell today, and he did a great job!! He and his brothers also sang a beautiful a cappella arrangement of "I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go" and it gave me goosebumps!!

He gave his talk on the importance of the Holy Ghost, and the importance of living worthily to have the Spirit as a companion. He based his talk off of President Henry B. Eyring's talk entitled "The Holy Ghost Is Your Companion". He said that the Holy Ghost gives us the power to discern truth from falsehood, and that the truth that matters most is verified only by revelation from God. The Holy Ghost also gives us hope and comfort; we are able to know of things that we otherwise might not see or feel. We need the Holy Ghost so that he can give us guidance and direction.

I know that this is so true!! Sometimes I've felt like I should say something or send something to a friend and I didn't know why, but I would later find that what I said or sent them was something that they really needed at that time. So grateful for the Holy Ghost and so grateful for the opportunities that I have had to be the answer to someone's prayers. <3

The speaker after my friend was a man in his ward. He based his talk off of Elder James B. Martino's talk entitled "Turn to Him and Answers Will Come". He talked about Lehi's dream. He said something very intriguing. He said that our parents led us to the iron rod. And then he said that missionaries lead the lost and wandering to the rod. I thought that was very cool; I've never thought about that before, but that's what the missionaries are doing.

He said that to continue holding on to the rod, and staying on the right path, we need to:

• be converted to the Gospel (and to Jesus Christ. That's my two cents)
• continue in obedience. We need to follow the commandments. Remember when you've felt the Spirit. He said that a lack of spiritual habits seems to make you forget those times that you've felt the Spirit. He said don't give up. Never give up.
• Trials! I thought this one was interesting. Our trials are a great teacher. They give us experience and are for our good. It's never occurred to me that trials help us stay on the path–so long as you turn to Christ. If you let your trial take over your life, then it can lead you astray. So long as you turn to Christ, and Heavenly Father, your trial will help you grow.

His talk gave me a few insights into Lehi's dream, and staying on the path, that I'd never thought of before.

After my friend's farewell, I went back to my home ward. I pretty much missed Sunday School, but in Relief Society, Sister Nelson talked about adversity!!! I was like, "HEY! I had a trial this week!" It's still a trial, but man, was this lesson a blessing! 

We talked about how everyone has trials, and we always have trials. We are here on earth to have trials. Trials help us grow. When we remember that our Heavenly Father has helped us through our trials, that helps us be positive–we've been through them before, and He has always brought us through them, so He will bring us through this one. The Savior is also with us, and we are never alone. He is always there to help us. You just need to turn to Him and ask. 

We then talked about how the world is becoming more and more dangerous. But we don't have to fear because we have the Gospel, and we have the Savior. He will never leave us. He will come when the time is right. We need to remember that the Lord knows what He is doing. He will always be in front, beside, and behind us. "Doubt not, fear not."

Then we talked about things that can help us not fear the tribulations of the last days:

Faith and hope:

-They can dispel fear.

-Faith and fear cannot exist at the same time.

One of the ways to dispel fear is to stop fearing and just do it. Trust in the Lord. Take a leap of faith, and just step into the darkness. He will not let you fall.

In our trials, there is always a lesson to be learned; you just have to find it. The Lord is watching out for us. Our trials are for our good; they are to make us better. Some things we can only learn through our trials (as I posted yesterday). Our Heavenly Father is molding us for something more–He knows who we can become. 

And because today is Valentine's Day, I want to say something about that. :)

I am single this year (not that that's a significant change from any other year). And this is to all of my other single friends (and also to those who already are in a relationship). You have to love yourself first! You are the person who is going to be with you forever–even when no one is around. You're sort of stuck with yourself. So learn to love yourself. Figure yourself out first. That's what I'm doing right now. I am learning about myself. I've had to take some leaps of faith–I am still a shy person, so it's been difficult sometimes, discovering things about myself, but on the whole it's been fun. :) I'm grateful for my Savior, and my Heavenly Father, who love me unconditionally. I'm grateful for my friends and family–they love me, even on my bad days. They're always there for me, and I know that I can turn to them whenever I need them. This year has been great so far, but hopefully it will be even better than I imagine it will. :)

Adversity is difficult, but through it, Heavenly Father is making us stronger.

So, my birthday was two days ago, and I got a new laptop! I absolutely love it, and I have been using it constantly. And, because I got a new laptop, this means that I will soon be able to post me singing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" to the tune of "Come Thou Fount" and I am so excited to have you guys listen to it! I am still sick this week, so I might not get it done until next week, but we will see.

Today I want to talk about adversity. We talked about it in Young Women's, and I learned a lot about it that I had never thought about before. There were several scriptures that we read about adversity:

2nd Nephi 2:11~ For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
                ~We talked about how adversity is a part of life. There can't be happiness if we don't have misery. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve didn't understand misery or happiness, and they just were. They lived in the Garden but weren't necessarily happy or miserable. Once they partook of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, however, their eyes were opened and they had to be cast out, and they were able to have happiness, and sadness, and all other emotions we have (King James Bible, Genesis 3)
Mosiah 23:21~Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.
                ~Adversity tests our faith and makes it grow. Without adversity and trials, we can't grow. We stay where we are, which isn't good. We are always changing, and adversity helps us change and grow more.
Ether 12:27~And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and 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.
                ~We are given weaknesses so that they can become strengths. Adversity makes us want to change, to be better, and become stronger. Without weakness, we aren't weak, nor strong. We just are. Weaknesses help us become stronger.
Doctrine and Covenants 58: 2-3~2) For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithfulin tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven. 3) Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.
                ~If we have faith to get through our trial and we get through it, we will receive many blessings.

To conclude, I have a story about adversity. Four years ago, my great-grandpa died a few days before my birthday. The day before my birthday, we went up to Idaho and my birthday was the day of the funeral, I believe. Anyway, it was hard for me. I really miss him, but the way that I got through that trial was I was able to go to his funeral. I was able to get some closure. It was still hard, but I was able to get closure. A year and several months later, my great-grandma died. Again, it was really hard for me, and I miss her so much, and I wasn't able to go to her funeral. I still got closure, though. The day after I found out that she had died, the whole ninth grade at my school got to go to Lagoon. So that whole day, I spent it with my friends, and I was able to take my mind off of the loss of my great-grandmother. It was still hard, and still sad, but both times I was able to get some closure. I know that I will get to see them again, and I know that they are rooting for me, and helping me, and I hope that I can make them proud. I know that families are forever. I know that, even though adversities and trials are so hard, I know that they can make us better people, and I know that blessings come from enduring through them. There is a song entitled "Blessings" by Mercy River. They are an amazing group! I love their songs and the messages that they give. This one is about adversities and trials, so go look it up! It's a good one. :)