Songs and service.

So, today was the day I performed in sacrament meeting! Unfortunately I have not been feeling well the past few days/weeks, and I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a stuffy nose. I was terrified!! I needed to be able to sing today before everyone goes away for the summer! So I drank a LOT of water, took some medicine, took a little nap, and prayed that I would be able to sing well–even if I got worse afterwards. And it went better than I thought it would! So grateful!! Of course, after that I did spiral downwards in health. I am now super tired and extremely sick. It's fine. I will live. I'm just going to go to bed super early tonight.

So, as I was sitting in sacrament meeting, thinking about the Savior, and my upcoming solo, and being nervous (the STAKE PRESIDENT was at sacrament meeting today), my roommate–sensing my nervousness–leaned over, patted my arm, and said, "You're gonna do great." A few moments later, one of my friends in the ward texted me and said the same thing. TENDER MERCIES!! So grateful for their words and love.

Also grateful for the messages in sacrament meeting:
-If you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, you'll be blessed.
-We need to look for and be those positive examples of obedience.

In gospel doctrine, we talked about spiritual gifts, and there were some wonderful things that were said about them, and about how we can gain them, and I wanted to share some:
-We should be acting in accordance with how God sees us, and how we wish to be.
-God doesn't want us to be down on ourselves.
-You have to put in the effort for the spiritual gifts, to be better and them and to better yourself.
-God needs us to bless other people.

In Relief Society we talked about Elder Bednar's talk from the October 2016 conference entitled "If Ye Had Known Me", and we talked about four things he said can help us come to know Christ.
1) Exercising Faith in Him
Nicole shared a scripture that I loved and wanted to share. It's 2 Chron. 14:11, and my favorite line was "It is nothing with Thee to help". I loved that. Whatever we're going through, as long as we have faith, and as long as we have God to help, it is nothing.
2) Following Him
We need to do the work, put in effort. We need to do our part. We can't just leave it all up to Him.
Sometimes we have to put aside our will to follow Him.
Heavenly Father keeps us where we are because He loves us and knows what is best for us, and what we need.
3) Serving Him
Okay, I learned something new today, and this was way cool. So, Elder Bednar said in his talk, "We grow to love those whom we serve." Mosiah 2:17 tells us that when we are in the service of others, we are in the service of God. Ergo, as we come to love those whom we serve, we come to love God. Well, serving others is my favorite way to serve God and love others, so I'm on the right track! :)
4) Believing Him
Believing Him invites perspective and peace into our lives.
This gospel is an eternal gospel. It will last through the eternities.
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will always respect the agency of others.
He knows you. He knows your strengths, weaknesses, desires, hopes, dreams, wishes. He knows what you need to feel loved.  He knows that when you're SUPER sick, you're basically a useless worm.
HE KNOWS. He knows it all. And He still loves you.

I am so grateful for my Savior, who stands by me. I am so grateful for my Father in Heaven, who sends me messages of love and comfort through friends. I'm so grateful for the Holy Ghost, who comforts and calms me when I'm nervous or scared. I'm grateful for the love of my Heavenly Parents, my Savior, and the Comforter. I am grateful for their hands in my life. I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to sing in church today. It was so great to share the message of the song "Beautiful Savior" with my ward and my friends (Fun fact: that song is President Acerson's favorite song). I'm grateful for my family, friends, and roommates. It's been a crazy year, of which I will share a little bit next week, so stay tuned. ;)

I love you all! I wish you a blessed Sunday and a happy week!

Xoxo
Mattie

You are seen, loved, known, and remembered by a loving Heavenly Father.

First, a little thought from last night:

For some reason this quote by President Uchtdorf has been popping up in my newsfeed like every day this week. I'm grateful for this sweet and simple reminder that through everything I am going through, I am seen, loved, known, and remembered by my Heavenly Father. ❤️ 

Now, on to the thoughts of today! I'm so excited! I had TWO missionary homecomings today! So grateful for the examples of my friends and their willingness to go out and serve the Lord. I look up to them (both physically and spiritually ;) ) and am excited to see where they'll go in life. :)

While I was sitting and waiting for sacrament meeting to start this morning, I had this thought: People will come and go in our life. And their coming or going will change us, and oftentimes teach us something. It's important to remember that, most of the time, only we can decide for ourself what we will take from them, and from their presence in our life. Jesus Christ will always be there for us. He will be there to help us learn or recognize what we've learned from the people in our life. He is there to help us, guide us, comfort us, love us, and save us. He will never let us fall, fail, be, or feel alone. ❤️

One of the speakers today spoke on light–the light of Christ. One thing that she said that I loved was that we must displace the darkness that will appear in our life by introducing light. Sometimes we have to be that light, and sometimes we have to find the light, but that light will get rid of the darkness. Maybe not all at once, but it will get rid of it, and you can go to your Heavenly Father for help in getting rid of it.

One of my friends repeated something that I've heard before but it stuck out to me today. He said that the Lord expects progress–He expects us to try to be better. Our Heavenly Father knows we're not perfect, but we can at least try to be better today than we were yesterday. And He will help us with that. My friend also shared a quote that I loved and wanted to share: "Obedience brings blessings. Exact obedience brings miracles." I love that.

My other friend said something that I'd never thought of before. He said, "If it's a good thing, why be afraid?" He was talking about speaking in church, but it applies to a lot of things, and I just really wanted to share that. He also said that being humble is a sign of spiritual strength, and I thought that was just a really great thought. :)

There were two songs that played on FM100.3 while I was writing this that I really loved. The first one was called "Something Sacred" by Aaron Edson. I can't find a YouTube link to it (it can, however, be found on iTunes and you can either buy or listen to a snippet there, or on FM100.3's recently played page, there is a part where you can search for songs and play a clip from it there) but I really loved it. Its message is that though we may all have different beliefs and religions, we can still have respect for the things that others of different faiths believe are sacred. The second one was called, "It's Not About You" and you can find the song here. It's a great song that talks about how sometimes the things you go through aren't for you. They're to help you be who you need to be to help those around you.

I'm grateful for the power of music, and for the messages that were shared today. I know that things can be really hard sometimes, but I also know that Jesus Christ is there for you, and I know that your Heavenly Father won't leave you alone. He has given us the greatest gift: He has given us the gift of His Only Begotten Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He loves you, and He is always watching out for you. There is nothing that you can ever do that will take you far enough away from Him that there isn't hope you for you and He will give up on you. That is not the kind of God that He is. He is always there for you, you can always come back (though it may take some time), and He will always love you. ❤️

It will all be okay.

Now, I know I already posted today, but that was about my birthday. :)

This weekend was stake conference, and there were many messages shared that I needed to hear, so I will just share some of my favorites.

-We are not converted to the church but to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
-The Plan of Happiness (or Salvation) was created for families.
-Conversion is a process.
-God gives us commandments because He loves us. He wants us to grow and become a better person.
-Be a Latter-day Saint.
-Sanctification is a process.
-Sanctification is yielding our hearts to God.
-Never give up on yourself.
-The body and spirit are the soul of man.
-We are dual beings. We have a physical body and a spiritual body.
-Heavenly Father speaks us through our spirits by way of the Holy Ghost. Only you can discern his voice for yourself.
-God loves us, speaks to us, guides us, and teaches us.
-He will guide you along your path.
-Stay in tune.
-Let the Holy Spirit be your guide.
-All good things in your life come from a loving Heavenly Father.
-He knows you better than you do.
-Be a little more. A little more Christlike, a little more patient, a little more loving, a little more kind, etc.
-When we open our hearts and souls to the Lord, He will change us.
-The Gospel changes everything. The Gospel is full of effort every day.
-We must return with honor, and we must bring someone with us.

Those were all great messages, but these ones are the ones that I really needed to hear:
-Heavenly Father loves you.
-He has given you the gift of the Holy Ghost.
-Pray to Him! He knows you and loves you.
-It will all be okay.

That last message–It will all be okay–is my favorite. I really needed that message, and I'm so grateful that Sister Carden shared it with us Saturday night. It's been an edifying and uplifting weekend and I am so grateful for the messages that our leaders shared with us. I am so grateful for my Savior, and for my Heavenly Father, and for Their hands in my life. I am glad that I can count on Them because They know what is best for me, and They know how to help me change and become the great person that They know I can be. I am not perfect, but I am trying to be the best that I can be. <3

He lives and He loves you.

So, one of these days I'm going to post a video of me singing/playing a hymn or Primary song. But our house is too loud right now, so the lyrics will have to do for now:

A Child's Prayer

1) Heavenly Father, are you really there? And do you hear and answer ev'ry child's prayer? Some say that heaven is far away, but I feel it close around me as I pray. Heavenly Father; I remember now Something that Jesus told disciples long ago: "Suffer the children to come to me." Father, in prayer I'm coming now to thee. 

2) Pray, he is there; speak, he is listn'ing. You are his child; His love now surrounds you. He hears your prayer; He loves the children. Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav'n. 

I love this song so much. The first verse is a little child, talking to their Heavenly Father, asking Him if He is really there. And by the end of the first verse, the child has remembered and wants to pray to Him. The second verse is a parent (or grandparent), bearing testimony to the child that He really is there and that He does listen. 

I know that He lives. I know He loves me. I know He loves all of us, whether or not we believe in Him. And I know that He will always listen and that He wants what is best for us. And I know that He sent His Son to die for us, so that we can return to live with Him. He will never, ever, ever turn away from you—He is always waiting for you to turn to Him. Whether that be again or for the first time, He is waiting for you because He loves you very, very much.