I do not know everything, but I know enough.

It has been a little bit of a crazy week but I'm glad it's over!! I have hope this next week will go a little more smoothly!

Today I was thinking during the sacrament about how grateful I am for my Savior!! I am so grateful that He patiently waits for me to be ready. Forgiving yourself can be really, really hard, but once you have, your life becomes so peaceful and happy! I am grateful for the lessons I have learned in my life,  but I hope to never again experience that long period of time where I felt so uncomfortable with who I was. I believe that my inability to forgive myself has been one of the main reasons I have been unable to fully hear my Father in Heaven. But now that I have come to forgive myself, and am taking medication for my anxiety and depression, and am trying to study my scriptures every day, I believe my ability to hear Him is no longer clouded by noise. And though I do not know what the future holds for me, I am so, so blessed to be able to say, "I am just trying to take things one step at a time." There are times where my anxiety/depression takes over, but I am more capable now to shut it down as quickly as I can. God has really blessed me in the last year, and I am full of gratitude for His love, assistance, and guidance. He has blessed me immensely in the last couple of months, too, and I am so, so grateful for that. His love and the peace that I have felt in my life recently is a blessing in my life.

Today was our ward conference, and one thing that I loved that was talked about was the fact that sometimes we might have our own '4-9' season, but we can make the changes we need (with the help of our Father in Heaven) to have a perfect–or close to perfect–season. 

There have been a lot of changes in the church recently, and one of the Stake Presidency said that it is because the leaders are trying to help us become a more righteous people. They are trying to help us minister as the Savior did and does. 

Alex talked in our Relief Society meeting today about anxiety and depression. She said that perfection is our ultimate goal, but we need to be realistic. It's not going to happen in this life. So we need to be kind to ourselves. And most of all, we need to never lose faith in Heavenly Father. We are vessels in the hands of a divine potter. He is molding and sculpting us to be the best person that we can be. She also said that broken minds and hearts can be healed just like broken bodies. I love that and KNOW it to be true!! 💜💜

Sister Card said that when we are in the darkness, we are more likely to lose hope. Darkness does not mean there is not light, though. Often it means that we are in the wrong place to receive the light. We can choose to walk in Christ's life. With His light comes HOPE and HEALING. 💜

We do not need to be perfect. But we do need to be good at getting better. 💜

The light of the Gospel of Christ will cut through the darkness, confusion, and discouragement. 💜

Learn to love you, right where you are. 💜💜💜

Be grateful for the small victories. 💜

Sometimes it takes time to forgive yourself. He's already forgiven you; He is just waiting for you to catch up. 💜💜💜

Revelation from God brings (and is) PEACE. 💜

I do not know everything, but I know enough. I know that my Savior loves me. I know that my Heavenly Father wants me to be happy, and I know that He wants me to return to live with Him someday. I know that, as I minister to those around me, and as I love and serve my friends and family, that I will be blessing those around me, and that I will be blessed for blessing them. I know that I am a daughter of God, and I know that I am loved by the most Divine Being. I know that He is always there for me, and I know that He has blessed me with so many beautiful friendships that can help me and others to know that we are never alone. I know that nothing is impossible with God if it is His will, and I know that together, He and I can do marvelous things. 💜

I hope you have a lovely week! And I hope you have a peaceful Sabbath day. 💜

Xoxo
Mattie

One.

Today I was able to go to my friend's farewell talk, and I'm so excited for her–I know that she will do great things and I know that she is well-prepared–and I am grateful for her example, and I am so blessed to have gotten to know her. :)

Today was also my first Sunday back home, and it was great! A little hard, because I miss my friends, but also really great, because I was welcomed back with loving words and open arms. :)

There were a lot of great things that I learned today, but I want to focus on just one thing today: one. 

Now, that may seem confusing but bear with me. 

Everything is about the one–one soul. You. 

Heavenly Father loves you. Jesus Christ atoned specifically for you. Everything He does, He does for you. He wants you to return to live with Him. He wants you to become more like Him. He wants you to show others that He loves them, and wants them to return to Him. He wants you. If you had been the only person on earth, Jesus Christ still would have suffered the Atonement for you.

In Luke 15:4-7, it says, "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repententh, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

In this parable, Jesus teaches to go after the one. Why? Because they're important. A lot of lives can be changed by one person. But, most importantly, that person's life can be changed if they're saved. 

You are important. You are loved. You are enough. God's love for you is infinitely more than anyone on earth's love for you (even though I love you a lot, God loves you waaaay more). He loves you as you. He loves your personality. He loves the way that you smile when you're happy. He loves the way that your eyes sparkle when you're sharing something that you love with a friend. He loves the way that you love. He loves the way that you know when you've done something wrong and you try to fix it. He loves everything about you, and He loves you perfectly. 

He knows your struggles, and He knows your pain, and He knows how to help you through them. No one else knows exactly how you feel. But He does. And He wants to save you. You just have to let Him in. This is the 2014 Mutual theme, and I love it, and I had to share it because that line (you just have to let Him in) is sung in the song. And also, it's a good song. Let Him in–He's calling your name, and He is waiting for YOU! :)

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.

How we can know Heavenly Father.

Today in Young Women's we learned how to come to know Heavenly Father. First, let me ask you something. Think of someone you know really well. What are some of the qualities they have that help you, or make you love them?

Here's a list of some of the things we thought of:

Believes in me

Loves me

Cares for me

Trusts me//two-way trust

Food

Unconditional love

Friendship

Fun

Kind

Someone to look up to

Motivates me to be a better person

Always there

Listens to me

Helps me

One other question I have is this: Do you know the difference between knowing of someone, and knowing someone? Knowing of someone is knowing the basics. Their name. Their hobbies. Knowing someone is knowing them personally. Knowing why their favorite color is green. Knowing that they are allergic to peanut butter. Knowing why they like the things they do. Knowing them for who they are. Heavenly Father knows us personally. That list of characteristics up there? Heavenly Father has a lot of them. He cares for us. He believes in us. He knows our likes, our dislikes. He knows our hobbies. He knows our hearts. He knows everything about us. How much do we really know Him, though? In order to get to know Him, we can read the scriptures and pray. Spend time with Him. In order to get to know someone, we have to spend time with them. So spend time with your Heavenly Father. Get to know Him. It's never too late. He's waiting for you, and His arms are open.