"For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him."

It has been quite a few months–life gets busy so quickly!

First update–we are expecting a baby girl in December! We are so, so grateful to God and for His hand in the science that helped us find all the answers we needed to move forward. We are also just really excited and can't wait to meet her! She is quite the little mover already and I know she is going to be just as adventurous as her daddy.

Second update is that I have received my certificates in Digital Content Creation and Computer Science, as well as my Associate of Science in Software Development! I am so, so thankful for all of the friends I made and the the knowledge and experience I gained during my time at Ensign College. I am grateful to be finished and look forward to the opportunities in the future that will come because of it.

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This week in Come, Follow Me, we have been studying Psalms. I was reading the introduction of the week's lesson, and I wanted to share it, because I think it's a great reminder of what we can find in the scriptures–not just in Psalms, but all of the scriptures. 

"The writers of the Psalms shared deeply personal feelings in their poetry. They wrote about feeling discouraged, afraid, and remorseful. At times, they even felt abandoned by God, and some psalms carry a tone of frustration or desperation. If you’ve ever felt that way, reading the Psalms can help you know that you aren’t the only one. But you’ll also find psalms that can encourage you when you’re having such feelings, because the psalmists also praised the Lord for His goodness, marveled at His power, and rejoiced in His mercy. They knew that we are burdened by evil and sin but that the Lord is “good, and ready to forgive” (Psalm 86:5). They understood that having faith in the Lord doesn’t mean that you’ll never struggle with anxiety, sin, or fear. It means that you know who to turn to when you do." (emphasis added)

I love the faith that we find in the people of the scriptures. They know that they can always turn to God. They know that He will always give them peace. They know that He will never leave them, nor forsake them. They know that their relationship with Him is as that of a parent and child, and that the love they feel from Him is constant, and will never go away, no matter what is going on in their life. 

As humans, we are imperfect. We make mistakes in many, many ways, but God's mercy is for us all, and covers everything. The important thing to remember is that God loves us as we are, but He also loves us as He knows we can become. Everything we go through, and everything He teaches us, is to help us become more like Him and His Son. We read in Matthew 5 of how to become like Him.

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

In Mosiah 18: 8-9, we read:

8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;
9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life.

I wanted to show a few examples of Jesus exemplifying the characteristics in Matthew 5 that we are taught to be like. Jesus has never asked us to do or be something that He has not had to do or be.

Starting with "Blessed are the poor in spirit", this meaning is those who are humble.

We see Jesus humbling Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew 26:39 says, "39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." Jesus knew He needed to do this for us, but He also experienced what we feel every time we experience hardships. We never want to go through the refiner's fire, but as we humble ourselves and recognize that we do need to experience the changes that will come to us as we go through our hardships, we draw closer to God, and come to know Him in new ways that we never would have before.

"Blessed are they that mourn."

In John 11: 35, "Jesus wept." We see Jesus mourn with Mary and Martha for the death of their brother, Lazarus, who was also Jesus' dear friend. We see Jesus mourn with Mary and Martha, but He also mourns for His friend. Jesus shows us how important it is to mourn with those who mourn, and comfort them, but He also shows us how important it is for us to mourn personally.

"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake"; "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake."

Jesus is persecuted, reviled, scourged, hit, spit upon, and crucified by men who do not believe in Him, or His Father. He knows they are wrong, but He also knows two things: that one, no matter what He says or does, they will still not believe Him; and that two, He needs to finish His mission on earth so that He can be there for us in all our times of turmoil, persecution, and all other ways that we will suffer in our lives. 

Jesus has always stood with those who mourned, comforted those in need of comfort, and He has always stood as a witness of God, no matter what He was going through. 

I am so grateful for my Savior, and for His love and example of how to do and be what He has asked of us. I am so grateful for His love and mercy in all things. I am so grateful for all of the experiences of His people in the scriptures, and for the love and comfort that I find in connecting with them, and seeing the Lord's hands in their lives. It is not always easy to see His hand in our life when we are going through it, but I am grateful to see His hand in the lives of His people in the scriptures, and His hand in my life as I look back.

I hope you have a wonderful Sabbath Day and a wonderful week. I hope you are able to see Him in your life this week, and see where He was in your life last week.

Xoxo

Mattie

It's okay to be imperfect.

It's okay not to be perfect. In fact, it's okay to be IMperfect. Our Heavenly Father loves us as we are right now. Imperfections and all. But He also wants us to improve ourselves. We all have weaknesses. Some of them we can't fix by ourselves. We need His help. He has given us all the tools we need to be able to improve ourselves and work to be better people. One of the things that He has given us is His Son, Jesus Christ–our Savior. Our Savior knows what we are going through. He knows what we have gone through. He knows how to help us get through our trials. 

According to the Topical Guide, weakness is "the condition of being mortal and lacking ability, strength, or skill. Weakness is a state of being. All people are weak, and it is only by God's grace that they receive power to do righteous acts." In Ether 12:27, we are told that God gives us weakness to become humble, and if we humble ourselves and have faith, He will take our weaknesses and make them strengths. If we take our weaknesses to Him, and tell Him that we need help overcoming it, He will help us. He will help us make it into a strength. It might not always be what we were expecting, but it will be what we need, and sometimes it will be what others need from us. 

You might be asking, "How does this work? How does He use our weaknesses and turn them into strengths?" Well, I found an article that helps discuss just that! You can find it here, and I will share a few quotes and things from it for those of you who don't want to read it. ;)

"At first blush, it seems counterintuitive that the Lord would call upon the weak things of the earth to accomplish a mighty work. To appreciate why the Lord calls the weak, remember that the Lord says his work must be accomplished in His own way and by the power of His Spirit: His ways, in other words, not our ways. Those who perceive themselves to be “strong” do not turn wholeheartedly to the Lord for guidance. Instead, they rely on their own wisdom and their own understanding, “the arm of the flesh.” As a consequence, they are left to their own strength; and they will find in the end—to their dismay—that their strength is insufficient."

I love this! Sometimes I think the Lord uses our weaknesses, and other weak things, in order to prove that He is God–to prove that He can do all things. In Judges, God takes Gideon's army and downsizes it from 32,000 men to 300–and they won against an army of 135,000!! If that doesn't show the power and strength of obeying God, and the power and strength of something that appears weak but God has made strong, I don't know what does.

In the Book of Mormon, when the Nephites go to war against the Lamanites with the strength of the Lord, they always prevail. When they boast of their strengths, and forget the Lord, they fail.

There is a difference between humbly accepting your weaknesses...and just plain old tearing yourself down because you think you're not enough or you've just done things wrong. Stop tearing yourself down! I, too, am guilty of this, I am not going to lie. I have a problem with it. That is one of my weaknesses (and personally, I think it is one that everyone struggles with but I am not going to judge). When you get on your knees, and tell the Lord, honestly, and full of hope and faith, "I struggle with this. Will you help me?" He will help you. He loves when we turn to Him because that means that we are being humble! Knowing that we cannot do things on our own, and turning to Him for help is being humble! It's accepting that you can't do it by yourself, and you need the Lord's help.

God has a work for us to do...and He uses us in our weakness to strengthen those around us.

I have a new goal for myself. I am trying to focus on being worthy to go through the temple. I'm not sure when I will be ready to go through, but I am wanting to at least be worthy to go through for awhile before I actually go through. I have been thinking about it for awhile, but haven't really focused on it yet, and now I want to focus on it. I think that one thing that has been stressing me out about the future is that the only 'goal' I have so far to look forward to is one that I don't really have opportunities for right now. So, if I have this goal to work on, I have something to look forward to. I have something to work towards.

I'm going back to Bear Lake today! I'm so excited! I've had a great week spending time with my family. It's been good to relax, and I'm excited to go back to work! The rest of the summer is going to be so fun!!

I hope you have a wonderful week!! And I hope that you know that God loves you so much and He wants what's best for you!!

Xoxo
Mattie

You need to be.

"Face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and triumph with humility" (President Thomas S. Monson). I LOVE this! Be courageous in times of trouble; be strong and stand firmly in holy places. Be cheerful in disappointing times; be an example of the believers. Be humble when triumphant. Remember, you are loved even if you fail.