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! :)

No problem is too small for Him.

Couple of things today. One: Another one of my friends is leaving on his mission, so I went to hear him speak today and he talked about how your ancestors' attributes can help you on your mission and in life. It was very sweet. He's a swell guy and I'm excited for him to go, though I'm going to miss him. Two: I have a couple of pictures that have some really great quotes on them:

I love this!! If it's important to you, then it's important to Him. <3

He knows exactly what you're going through, and He
knows how to help you. <3

He loves us so much that He died for us!
Even if you had been the only person on the Earth,
He still would have died for you. <3

He loves you so much. Nothing you are going through or having trouble with is too small for Him. His love for you is so much bigger than you could ever imagine. He knows you, He is concerned for and about you, and He loves you. Nothing you say or do will ever change the fact that He loves you.

He Will Ease Your Burdens.

Well, today in sacrament, Sunday School, and Relief Society, I heard a lot of things that I really needed to hear. Sometimes, telling people what you're having problems with helps you because then it's not just inside you. You're not the only who knows about it anymore. It makes it more real, and you can finally do something about it. We talked about the talk by Elder Bednar entitled "Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease", which you can find here. The only way that Elder Bednar's friend could make the truck go when it was stuck was to fill the truck bed with firewood. He says that "Sometimes we mistakenly may believe that happiness is the absence of a load. But bearing a load is a necessary and essential part of the plan of happiness. Because our individual load needs to generate spiritual traction, we should be careful to not haul around in our lives so many nice but unnecessary things that we are distracted and diverted from the things that truly matter most." Yes, we all have loads. Whether the load is that you don't know if you're being a good mom, or if you don't know what you are going to do when your friend is sick or dying, or if you don't know if Heavenly Father loves you anymore, we all have loads. They are necessary for us to grow. Jesus Christ said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest...For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11: 28-30). Go to Him! He loves you so much and He wants to help ease your burdens because He knows. He knows how much your burden hurts you, and He knows how to relieve you. We have burdens so that we can turn to Him. He will help you ease your burdens. He wants us to know that we need Him, because we do. We can't do it all alone. I know, because I've tried. It doesn't work. You need Him. I know that He loves us. I know that He wants to help us with our burdens. I know that if you turn to Him, He will help you because He loves you and He wants you to come to Him.

My favourite Christmas gift.

I don't know about you, but my Christmas rocked! I received lots of new and nice things that I'm so grateful for, but my favourite gift—the one I'm most grateful for—is the gift of my Savior. His sacrifice for me—He didn't have to do it at all, but He chose to. Guys, He could have saved Himself; He could have showed His power to the nonbelievers, but He didn't. He wanted to sacrifice Himself because He loves us. Even when we don't deserve it—even when we are complete morons (because, let's face it—at some point, we all do something so incredibly stupid at least once), He still wanted to save us. He still wanted to give us the option to be able to either accept Him as our Savior, or to decline Him. If we decline His offer, we have to go through what He went through for us. I don't know about you, but I'm so grateful that He suffered for me so that I don't have to. It makes me sad that He had to suffer for every single person who's lived or will live on earth, but I'm so glad that I'm not alone. No person on earth has ever gone through exactly what I have, which makes it hard sometimes to sympathise or empathise, but He has been through it—completely and exactly the way that I have. And I'm so thankful for that. That means that I can turn to Him, and He will know exactly how to help me. I'm grateful that He and my Heavenly Father love me enough to give me a way out. Granted, it's not an easy way out—it does require a bit of work—but it's better than nothing. And I'm so thankful for the way out—sometimes I do something so bad or I lose my temper, but I know that I can be forgiven if I do it the right way—His way.