We’re His children, too.

“Our experience at church is meant to provide vital connections with the Lord and with each other that are so needed for our spiritual and emotional well-being. Inherent in the covenants we make with God, beginning with baptism, is our responsibility to love and care for each other as members of the family of God, members of the body of Christ, and not just to check off a box on a list of things we’re expected to do.

Christlike love and care are higher and holier. The pure love of Christ is charity. As President Nelson taught, “Charity propels us ‘to bear one another’s burdens’ [⁠Mosiah 18:8⁠] rather than heap burdens upon each other.”

The Savior said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” And President Nelson added: “Charity is the principal characteristic of a true follower of Jesus Christ.” “The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire. … How we speak to and about others … really matters.”” (Cheering Each Other On, Sister J. Anette Dennis, Oct. 2025)

We talked about Sister Dennis’ talk in Relief Society today, and this was one of my favorite sections from the talk. I love the emphasis she places on emulating charity like Jesus Christ, and loving and supporting the other members of our wards, neighborhoods, and communities.

One question that was posed during our discussion was, “How can we cheer ourselves on?” It’s very easy to cheer on our friends and neighbors, but self-love and self-cheering can be really difficult for many of us. We often feel like we don’t deserve His love, or that His charity is for others, and not ourselves. His charity is for us, too. We’re His children, too. 

One thing I’ve been doing recently with some friends is we talk about what we’ve accomplished that day. It’s helpful for me to talk about what I did get done, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to get done that day, or if it wasn’t as much as I wanted to get done.

As someone who lives with anxiety, depression, and PCOS, one major thing that I struggle with daily is energy, or a lack thereof. Some days I don’t have a ton of energy and I feel guilty for not getting a lot done. But I’m learning to be grateful and notice the things I do get done, and I’m grateful for the opportunity I have to learn more about self-love and care.

Lately, I’ve noticed I’m having more good days, and I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful for amazing friends who help support and cheer me on with love and respect. 💜

I hope you have a wonderful Sabbath Day and a great week!

Xoxo
Mattie

What's the point? Love.

There are times when I feel very lost, scared, and alone. There are times when I feel insecure, unloved, and broken. There are times when I feel like I made a terrible mistake, and that I should have known better. But when I look back...I might have been lost and scared, yes, but I wasn't alone. I might have been insecure and broken, but I wasn't unloved. I might have made a terrible mistake, and I probably should have known better, yes, but mistakes are meant to be learned from.

I think that negative feelings are meant to be learned from, too, because all of these times were times that I learned something. I learned that God is always with me, and I don't have to be scared because I'm not alone. I learned that God takes my brokenness and uses it to build me up again because He loves me so much. I learned that sometimes I'm human, and I make mistakes because I'm human...but that doesn't mean that God doesn't love me still.

When I learn from my mistakes, and I don't make them again...I'm taking a step forward. Sometimes I repeat the mistake again...and that's okay. I'm not perfect, and sometimes it takes awhile for things to sink in. But no matter what...God still loves me. He is with me every step of the way, and He is supporting me through all of my mistakes and decisions...every. single. time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What's the point? What's the point of being here? I think that the point is to love. We do this by 1) gaining a relationship with our Father in Heaven (Love God); 2) gaining a relationship with ourself (love yourself); 3) gaining a relationship with our neighbors (love your neighbor); and 4) spreading love and kindness. This is the Gospel according to Mattie, so it's not doctrine, but I think it's a pretty solid foundation to at least start with. Because this is really what Jesus did...Jesus loved everyone, and aren't we trying to be like Jesus?

I think it's really important to love others. I really do. I think it's important for everyone to feel loved, listened to, and to feel like they matter, because they are loved, and they do matter. It's important for everyone to have someone who supports them in their trials, and it's important for everyone to have someone in their life that they can count on to be there, through the good times and the bad times.

I know that when I am focused on serving other people...my struggles and trials seem to slip my mind...and they become less important, and less of a worry. And everything seems to work out. The things I am worried about not only fade into the background, but somehow work themselves out.

When I am focused on my relationship with my Father in Heaven, I find that I have more time for things. Not only do I have more time to do my homework, but I also have more motivation to do my homework. I have more time to study my scriptures, and go to the temple.

God is so loving, you guys. He really is. He has made it possible for us to be able to return to Him through the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ loves us so much that He was willing to take upon Him all the pains, afflictions, sins, and temptations of the world...as well as many, many more things. He knows all that you have gone through, and He knows how to help you through it. You just have to turn to Him. He will bless you and be with you the whole time. There is nothing you have experienced that He hasn't also experienced. He knows how it felt when you broke you arm falling out of the tree that you climbed to impress your friends; He knows how it felt when your best friend moved out of state; He knows how it felt when your dad passed away...He knows all of these things and more. Any heartache you've experienced, He has, too. Any mistakes you've made...He knows how to help you through them.

I highly recommend you listening to this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7aXoDGSKos It's an amazing cover and it's so, so, SO beautiful! I am so happy that I was able to find this song because it's such a special song that bears testimony of the love that God has for us no matter what.

I hope you know that I love you. I really do. I want you to be happy. And I know that God loves you too. He loves to hear from you–He loves to hear about your day, and He loves to hear about the things that you are going through. He loves when we pray to Him and ask Him to bless those around us. He loves when we pray and ask to feel His Spirit, and when we ask for help in blessing those around us.

I hope you have a wonderful week! I hope you are able to see the hand of God in your life this week–even if it is just once this week. I hope you are able to understand and recognize His love for you this week.

Xoxo
Mattie

Honor thy mother.

Today is Mother's Day, and I am so thankful for my mother, and for all the women in my life! I learn so much from each of them and I really look up to them. I am grateful for their examples of love, service, kindness, charity, and how to be a good woman, mother, and daughter of God. I don't know where I'd be without their love and examples.

Sacrament meeting was full of beautiful messages about mothers:
-We have no need to doubt, for our mothers know, so we can know.
-The relationships we have with God and with our mother are of equal importance.
-You can't remember mother and forget God; nor can you remember God and forget mother.

"If we want to be Christlike, honoring our mother is a crucial part." Bishop said that in Relief Society as a summary of the messages of sacrament meeting, and I loved it so much. My brother spoke in sacrament meeting today and he talked about how Jesus Christ treated His mother. Christ is the epitome of how to be Christlike (I mean, who else would be?) and He loved and respected His mother so much. If we are to be Christlike, we must treat our mothers as He treated His.

There are so many women in my life that I am so grateful for, look up to, and love so very, very much, but I'm just going to talk about a few of them.

I am so thankful for my mother. I have learned so much from her, and I know that she will always love me. I am blessed to have such an amazing example to look up to. She does so much for my family, and I hope that someday I can be even half the woman and mother that she is.

I am so thankful for my grandma. I love my grandma so much! She is always thinking of others and she is such a wonderful example to me of how to minister and care for those around you. She blesses my life and I am so, so thankful that I have her in my life.

I am so thankful for my aunts. I love them so much! They are all wonderful examples to me of Christlike love. They all do so much for their families, and I know that if I ever need them, they will be there for me.

I am so thankful for my Great-Grandma Harker and my Great-Grandma Radke. I am lucky enough to share a name with each of them (as well as my mother), and I learned so much from my Great-Grandma Harker when I was growing up. I never met my Great-Grandma Radke, but my dad has told me that I am like her in many ways. I am grateful for their examples and I am so thankful to bear their names! I hope that I can be as strong as they were, and I hope that I can do as much good as they did.

This is just a small portion of the women in my life, but I am so blessed to have so many wonderful women in my life! I know that they are and will be blessed for their service, love, and efforts to follow the Savior, and I know that I will be a better woman as I follow their examples.

Here are a few links to several different songs about mothers that I love and wanted to share with you.

I know that the women in our lives are some of the most important and special people to ever walk the planet. I am so thankful to have so many wonderful examples of beautiful and amazing women to follow in my life.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the women!! May you have a beautiful and special day filled with love.

Xoxo

Mattie

Challenges bring me closer to Christ.

Well, this week was challenging.

To give you a short rundown as to why, I fell off of my bed onto my knees on Sunday night, and Monday morning I woke up with my lower back/upper leg hurting (on the right side, but that's not important).

After being in pain all day, getting up and down from my seat in classes, and just walking around, I was able to go to the urgent care that night (courtesy of my friend with a car who was kind enough to drive me). After some questions and tests of pain tolerance (basically he had me move my legs around and asked when and where it hurt), he concluded that I'd fallen in just the right way on my knees that some of the muscles in my back spasmed. I basically got a Charlie horse in my back. Go figure. Anywho, he prescribed me heat, a muscle relaxant before bed, no bending, he told me to take 3 ibuprofen, he told me to have patience [the one thing I lack ;)]. So I went to the pharmacy (still courtesy of my friend) and picked up the relaxant, and then I went home. My grandpa dropped off a heat pad for me. So I got ready for bed and took the relaxant. I could feel when it started to take effect (it made my insides all fuzzy), and then *bam*! I was out like a light. On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the most, my pain was at about a 7.

Tuesday I had work, and it was a little awkward, getting used to not being able to bend without pain (I had to squat and I felt like a pregnant lady, hahaha), but I managed to get through the day just fine. I was able to get a priesthood blessing from some of the young men in my ward and I am so grateful for the worthy young men in my ward! I heard some things that I needed to hear. Also, apparently, that night the relaxant made me high...I saw these creepy purple tentacles with teeth on the end and had this weird feeling of my body shrinking and I questioned how my insides could fit...well, inside me. ;) My pain was about a 7 again. Not too much different from Monday, but slightly better.

Wednesday I had classes, and I was able to get through the day without too much trouble, though it was still painful. Some of the girls in my hall and I went to deliver valentine's gifts to some of the boys in our ward (we split them up between the three Relief Societies). And of course I forgot that I was in pain and I started to jump and skip like normal. Nope–bad idea. Anyway, learned my lesson the hard way and walked the rest of the time. Was able to go to bed relatively quickly. On the same scale, this day my pain was about a 6.

Thursday I had work again, and I had to work all by myself for about an hour and a half because I'm the only student worker right now, and all of the chefs had a meeting, so I had to hold down the fort. I did a great job. :) After work, I studied for a test and walked up to the testing center to take it; then I went back home and was able to have dinner with some friends (I think...I can't remember hahaha). Then we had ward prayer later that night and after that I went to bed. My pain was about a 4.5 or 5 that day.

Friday I had classes again, but it was less painful today!! There was still pain, yes, but not quite so much! After classes, I did some things–think I tried to read some, and started to pack (I came home this weekend), and I listened to music (as always). Went to dinner with my friends for awhile, and then after that, I decided to practice my violin and then I did some more packing, and some more listening to music. Then I got ready for bed and took a little while to get to sleep but I did. :) My pain was about a 4.

Saturday (today) was pretty painless. There's still some pain, but it's not quite as bad. My muscles must be almost done relaxing! I hope so! I was pretty much done with the pain and the waiting by Tuesday morning!

Some of the things I learned this week:

• Maybe not you, but I can injure my back by falling on my knees. (I have the luck of falling just right, but you probably don't have that luck. Lucky!)
• I am so grateful for priesthood blessings!! I love that I can turn to all of the young men in my ward and ask for a priesthood blessing! God knew exactly what I needed to hear in that prayer. 
• Following the doctor's orders of not bending down was less painful! Who knew? ;)
• I have some of the greatest friends in the world. I have some very sweet, kind, and thoughtful hallmates and friends, and I am so grateful for them!! Sometimes I feel sad, left out, or forgotten, but there are always those girls that say hi to me as they walk by my room, or they invite me to eat dinner with them, and I love that! It makes me feel loved and important. <3
• I am so grateful for humor! My friends have made me laugh many times this week, which has been a great blessing. I had to learn to be positive throughout this experience (yes, me) and having a great time with my friends was a blessing. :)
• Finally, I learned that I am grateful for this experience. At the beginning of the week, I was talking to myself and arguing about which day would have been best for me to have injured myself, and I finally decided that yes, Monday was the best day–I won't explain to you why because you won't get it (I barely do). I was also trying to figure out what I could learn from this experience. As you can see, I learned quite a lot. But this last one–this last lesson–was by far the biggest blessing from this experience. This week has been challenging–I had to learn to work with/around my pain. And sometimes it was hard. But I did it!! I am SO grateful for all of my friends' support and love this week. This experience helped me realize that I'm not forgotten, and I'm not alone. God is always there, and when I need something, He will send me His love through my friends. Sometimes I have to put myself out there, but He will show me how much He loves me by sending me my friends. 

Wow...

As I've been thinking about this experience, I've been thinking about what I learned. 

In the moments of this week, I wasn't thinking about what I was learning. To be honest, most of the time I was thinking, "This is painful, and I just want to be done so that I can rest and not move." Maybe not in so many words, but that was the gist of it. 

But as I've been going back through this week, I realized many of these things that I learned I probably couldn't have learned in any other way. 

I could sit here and try to explain, but I'm having trouble coming up with all of the right words, so I'm just going to say this: my quote this week was "All you need is Jesus Christ." And I definitely learned that this week. This challenging experience has brought me closer to Christ. My Savior has been with me this whole week–though my friends. My friends are definitely Christlike in every way, and they have been such a blessing to have this week. I love them and I am so grateful that they were there for me this week, and that they were loving, and kind, and thoughtful. I know that they listened to the Spirit this week because they came when I needed them. <3

Charity never faileth.

Today in Gospel Doctrine, we talked about the Liahona, when Nephi broke his bow, and when he was commanded to build a boat. Here are a few of the things that I learned as we talked about these events and applied to them our day:

• Lessons from their experience with the Liahona:
• The Liahona only worked when Nephi and his family were faithful and righteous.
• The words of Christ (the scriptures, words of the prophets, etc.), the Holy Ghost, our patriarchal blessings: these are all examples of Liahonas in our day.
• By small means the Lord can bring about great things. 
• Lessons learned from when Nephi broke his bow:
• Be faithful and proactive. If you try to work things out by yourself first, the Lord will let you know when you need to do something different than what you are doing.
• Don't be afraid to ask your parents. They are more experienced at life than you are and they are there to help you and to guide you.
• Lessons learned from when Nephi was commanded to build the boat:
• Nephi trusted God; he had never built a ship before, but he trusted the Lord and listened to His guidance and direction.
• He prayed for help and inspiration. 
• Heavenly Father knows where we are in life, and how much knowledge we have gained, so He will guide us from where we are to where we need to be. 
• The Lord will seldom do for us what we can do for ourselves. Nephi asked God where to go to find ore to make tools to build the boat. He did not ask God for tools, but rather the materials he could use to build tools.
• The Holy Ghost speaks to us through our spirit, and our mind, and we have to be open and willing to hear him.

In Relief Society, we talked about charity. The Relief Society motto is "Charity never faileth." In the Bible dictionary, it says that charity is "the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ." Charity is Christlike love. We read several scriptures about charity, and in Moroni 10, it says, "Except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God." We also listened to President Nelson's talk from last conference,  "A Plea to My Sisters", and it was so powerful. As he talked about the deaths of Elders Perry and Scott, and President Packer, at the beginning, he was so emotional and I wanted to cry all over again. 

He said a couple of things stood out to me:

"Your virtue, light, love, knowledge, courage, character, faith, and righteous lives will draw good women of the world, along with their families, to the Church in unprecedented numbers! We, your brethren, need your strength, your conversion, your conviction, your ability to lead, your wisdom, and your voices. The kingdom of God is not and cannot be complete without women who make sacred covenants and then keep them, women who can speak with the power and authority of God!"

"Today, let me add that we need women who know how to make important things happen by their faith and who are courageous defenders of morality and families in a sin-sick world. We need women who are devoted to shepherding God's children along the covenant path toward exaltation; women who know how to receive personal revelation, who understand the power and peace of the temple endowment; women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen children and families; women who teach fearlessly."

And then he said this, and it stood out to me so much:

"My dear sisters, nothing is more crucial to your eternal life than your own conversion. It is converted, covenant-keeping women...whose righteous lives will increasingly stand out in a deteriorating world and who will thus be seen as different and distinct in the happiest of ways."

I love that. I have so many wonderful examples of converted, covenant-keeping women to look up to, and I am so grateful for them!!! They may not see it, but I see them changing the world every day. There is a song by Hilary Weeks that I love called "Hero" and every time I hear it, I think of these women. I love them dearly and I know that I can always ask them about/for anything and they will always help me. They are all wonderful examples of Christlike love and service. <3 <3 <3

I try so hard to have charity in my heart and to love everyone. I love to serve people and make them happy or ease their burdens. But sometimes it's a little hard, and so I remind myself that they are children of God, too, and He loves them just as much as He loves me. And, though that doesn't automatically make it easier to love them, it helps me remember that they are imperfect–like me–and they are just trying to do their best, like me. Charity never fails, and everyone needs charity because that's the best kind of love: Christlike love. That is what I am trying to show and have every day. I am trying to be like Jesus, and I am trying to be His hands, and one of the best ways to do that is to have Christlike love for everyone around me.

Be His Hands.

So today in seminary we had our seminary conference, which is run by the students. We are the speakers and musical numbers. I absolutely loved the fact that even though none of them were given a topic, they all spoke on similar things. The musical numbers were awesome! I performed last and only got to do one verse, but I did quite well considering how nervous I was! I performed Joseph Smith's First Prayer to the tune of Come Thou Fount. It's my most favorite arrangement ever! Maybe I'll record myself singing it one time and post it on here.

I'm so grateful for the messages that were shared today! Messages about service, Christlike love, life, and depression. The talk on depression gave me insight as to what depression is exactly and how to deal with it. And the topic of service (which was the starting message) basically came full circle. Just be there for those with depression. Just talk to them, or listen, or hold their hand. Be whatever they need. Being full of Christlike love means you emulate His example—do what He did. He served people, and loved them. Though He is Lord of All, He was born in a stable, and cared for all people. He helped all people. Since He is no longer on the Earth, we can be His hands. We can serve Him by serving those around us. Be what they need. Heed the promptings of the Spirit. Feel like you need to compliment someone? Do it! They may be having body image issues. Feel like you need to give someone a certain present? Do it! You never know what following the promptings can do for someone else. Be totally and completely aware of what's around you. Actions speak louder than words, and the small things are what counts. People feel genuinely loved if you remember their name! If you remember something they mentioned once about their weekend activities, or their family, they feel loved, and listened to, and important. All because you paid attention. So please, take heed and pay attention. You never know: a small thing can have a big impact.