There are so many out there who need you.

What a weekend it's been!! It's been a good weekend but because I've been little off/not myself lately, this weekend was also a little hard and a little bit of a struggle. But God know what He's doing and He gave me the BEST roommates for the summer, and that's been such a blessing. They've helped me a lot this weekend and I know that they'll help me more as the summer goes on. Saturday afternoon was probably the most difficult time, but I went to Kristin Chenoweth's concert at the de Jong hall last night and it was FANTABULOUS and made up for the whole day; I couldn't stop smiling when I was walking home. That is, it did make up for the whole day until I got home and saw that one of my roommates had decorated my wall with things about me and had written me a card, and so together those things made my day one thousand percent better. I'm so blessed to have them in my life, and I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father and my Savior. I've got the best support system and I know that they love me and will always be there for me.

I heard a LOT of things that I needed to hear today, so I'm just going to share my favorites from each meeting:
Sacrament Meeting:
-Press forward. We are to endure. We need to allow our journey to shape us.
-Oh this was my favorite. So in Matthew 5:48 it says, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which in heaven is perfect." And in 3 Nephi 12: 48 it says, "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." And I loved what Cheyenne said about it. She suggested that "being perfect" means "being FINISHED" ( i.e. completing our mortal mission on this life) because in 3 Nephi Jesus added that we should be perfect even as He is, and this is after He's been resurrected.

Gospel Doctrine:
-You need to prepare your heart to go to the temple.
-The Lord will bless you when you are ready.
-Be worthy to be there.

Relief Society:
So the lesson was entitled "Nurturing the Eternal Partnership of Marriage". Which is funny, living in a singles' ward. BUT Clarissa took the perfect spin on the lesson and it was something that I SO needed to hear, so I'm grateful for her and her special way of approaching this topic. Relief Society was absolutely perfect, and I needed it, and I'd like to thank Clarissa so much for the lesson! 

-"Because you do not happen to be married does not make you essentially different from others. All of us are very much alike in appearance and emotional responses, in our capacity to think, to reason, to be miserable, to be happy, to love and be loved." ~President Hinckley
-We still have worth. We are still valued.
-"You are just as important as any others in the scheme of our Father in Heaven, and under His mercy no blessing to which you otherwise might be entitled will forever be withheld from you."
Someone said later, "The blessings aren't being held back; you're just not there yet."
-Living a righteous life will make you happy. You have to find your happiness now. Someone else said that getting married won't fix any problems, and by itself it won't make you happy. You have to find your happiness outside of any other person.
-What we do does matter, and we can make a difference in the world.
"Do not feel that because you are single, God has forsaken you. The world needs you. The Church needs you."
-The experiences that we're having now are building us up.
-"There are so many out there who need you... Keep you spiritual batteries at full charge and light the lamps of others."

I'm so grateful for the lesson, and for the words of President Hinckley and all of the women in Relief Society today. It was perfect and just what I needed to hear. I'm needed and I can make a difference in this world. I'm still loved.

Sometimes it amazes me how well God knows me and knows what I need. Like, most of the time I don't even know what I need or want! But God is all-knowing, and He made me, and He loves me, and He knows who I am going to be, and He knows how to take me there. He also knows what I need to hear, and when, and who I need to hear it from.

I went hospital singing again today and it was SUCH a blessing! I love singing with my friends and bringing the Spirit to those in the hospital on Sundays. It might be a day when they were feeling lonely or when they were feeling sad. Every time, though, it puts a smile on their face, and more often than not, tears to their eyes, and I can just feel God's love for them so strongly! He truly does love us, and care for us, and He knows what we need, every day.

Xoxo
Mattie

God hasn't given up on you.

Had a great last Sunday today!! We had some cute visitors (granddaughters of our stake high councilor) who sang "Gethsemane" beautifully during sacrament meeting. And several of my friends performed "Because I Have Been Given Much" and it was so good!! I had a great Sunday morning and I'm so blessed to have been able to live with and learn from and love the girls in my hall!! It's been a great freshmen year and I wouldn't change it for all the money in the world! ❤️

Some lessons I learned today:

In sacrament meeting about enduring to the end:-You have to prepare for trials now. -It's not enough to just have faith and pray. You have to also continually do good. 

My sweet friend Olivia shared these thoughts today in sacrament meeting:-It's not enough to endure. We must endure it well. -The Lord doesn't ask us to have a rock-solid testimony. He asks us to have faith and trust Him. -He gives us our trials because He loves us and wants us to grow.-Endure means to go about your life in faith.

One of my other friends, Shane, shared these:-We came here [to Earth] to be perfected.-You will only be able to endure if you face and overcome.-"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then is not an act, but a habit." ~Aristotle.This next one he didn't say exactly like that but I still thought it was a good piece of advice:-God hasn't given up on you. So don't you [dare] give up on yourself.

In Sunday School we learned about the Allegory of the Olive Tree (Found in Jacob 5):
-God is never going to leave us.
-Christ has done everything He can for us, and He still wants to do so much more, even after we've fallen.
-You have to focus on the roots (the Gospel, your testimony of Christ, etc.).

Relief Society was SO GOOD YOU GUYS!!!! I'm going to miss learning from my favorite ladies.
-The church isn't led by men, but by Jesus Christ. He is the head of the church.
-The church has always had a prophet, seer, and revelator.
-Christ is always at the head, and directs the prophet.
-God passes on the to the prophet what we need to work on now in order to prepare for the future.
-We have to open our minds to the revelations of the prophet.
One of the topics we talked about was "In this day of spiritual famine, we can find spiritual abundance."
-We can't find the spiritual abundance if we don't listen to it.
-If we're humble and teachable, we can have the abundance come to us.
-We also have to look for it.
Another topic we had was "If we follow the teachings of the living prophets, we will not go amiss."
For this, we watched a video with a portion of a talk by Sister McConkie, and she said, "Following the prophet is always right."

I had a GREAT last Sunday with my ward. I love my ward so much, I love the girls in my hall so much, and I am so blessed to have had such a great freshmen year!! I heard many things today that strengthened my testimony and answered questions I've had recently. God is so good, guys. I know that He lives. I know that He loves, leads, and guides us. He loves us so much! Now and forever. I know that He will never leave us when we fall away. He is always waiting for us to come home. You can never fall far enough away that He will say, "It's a lost cause" and leave you to fend for yourself. I know that from personal experience. You can always come back to Him. He is just waiting for you! He loves you so much! He wants you to come home. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Happy Easter! Conference weekend. :)

But when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, (for it was very great,) and two angels sitting thereon, clothed in long white garments; and they were affrighted.
But the angels said unto them, Be not affrighted; ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified; he is risen; he is not here (JST Mark 16: 3-4)

I know He lives! I know He loves us. I know that He is always there for us. I hope you have a happy Easter. #BecauseHeLives :)

Conference was absolutely wonderful!! Here are some of my favorite quotes:

Saturday Morning Session:

God is our father. His mercy is without limit. ~President Packer

We are here to help, lift, and rejoice with each other as we try to become our very best selves. ~Sister Burton

If we are not rooted in the teachings of the gospel and regular in its practices, any one of us can develop a stony heart. ~Elder Oaks

Believing in Him and in His redemptive power is "the true path to peace". ~Elder Clayton

The entire theology of our gospel centers on family and marriage. ~Elder Perry

Saturday Afternoon Session:
"If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners. If we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters. If we don’t allow others to try, we’re latter-day hypocrites." ~Elder Renlund

Following His light and example will bring us joy, comfort, and peace. ~Elder Cook

In His mercy God promises forgiveness when we repent and turn from our sins. ~Elder Renlund

Sunday Morning Session:
"He still extends unending grace." ~Elder Holland

"Grace unlocks the gates of heaven and opens the windows of heaven...The grace of God is our great and everlasting hope. The plan of mercy appeases the demands of justice...His Grace refines us, and helps us become our best selves." ~Pres. Uchtdorf

Sunday Afternoon Session:
We must not forget that moral agency is an essential part of God’s plan available to all his children. ~Elder Hales

Enduring to the end is the great test of discipleship. ~Elder Pearson

We see God’s miracles in His wondrous work and in our lives...God is mindful of every people...His mercy is over all the earth. ~Elder Andersen

Faith in God engenders a love for the Sabbath. Faith in the Sabbath engenders a love for God. ~Elder Nelson

This weekend has been a great weekend, full of fantastic messages from our church leaders. I had many prayers answered, and I am so grateful for the messages that were spoken! I'm so excited for spring break–we leave for tour on Wednesday, and I couldn't be happier!! Literally, my body is super excited!! Hope you had a wonderful Easter and conference. Bless you all! :)