He is there to help us at our most vulnerable points.

I find that even the craziest weeks go smoothly when I take the time to study my scriptures. I'm not perfect at always remembering to do so, but when I do remember, my days seem to go better. I'm less stressed, more alert, and more in tune with the Spirit. On days when I don't, I'm more stressed, more forgetful, and more anxious, which tends (at times) to drive the Spirit away. Not a lot, but enough that it throws my whole day off. I know I'm blessed when I take the time to study my scriptures. I'm blessed with more time–or, at least, time well-spent and managed–and with a more alert mind. I'm also blessed with the Spirit. So grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who blesses me with the capacity to see and understand when I am blessed because I obey Him.

Sacrament meeting was wonderful today! We had two beautiful musical numbers and two awesome talks.

Misfortune happens to us all the time. It doesn't depend on your personal worthiness or unworthiness; life just happens to everyone.

Reasons why we obey the commandments:
1. Simple Obedience
2. Habit
3. Fear of Punishment
-Affliction is not necessarily evidence that one has sinned (Job)
-Neither prosperity nor suffering can easily be interpreted
4. Desire for Blessings
-Promises to groups don't mean consistent prosperity for all the people in the group all the time
5. Out of love for the Lord
-Our nature and purpose on this earth is to have joy
-The joy we feel has little to do with our circumstances and everything to do with the focus of our lives.

In Gospel Principles, we talked about prayer. It was a very enlightening lesson and I learned a lot.
-God cares about us, so what we care about is also important to Him.
-You can't get an answer by praying, "Should I...?" because you're asking Him to take away your agency. You need to first make a decision, and ask, "How can I go about this decision?" And God will guide you.
-Heavenly Father accepts what we bring to the table. He wants to help us.
-If you do your best, God will do the rest.
-Look for what God wants, not what you want.
-He is there to help us at our most vulnerable points.
-It's okay to be honest and tell God how you feel, as long as you are humble enough to listen to what He has to say in response.

In our 5th Sunday lesson, Sister Harline said something that I loved. She said, "Be prayerful in your dating and ask for guidance." I forget that that is a thing that I can ask for help with. God cares about all the things that I do, and dating is included in that. :)

So thankful for the lessons today! I'm thankful for my Heavenly Father's guidance and the lessons that He teaches me that I need to know. He is there for us always, and He listens to us in our most vulnerable states–our most emotional times. He will always listen, but we have to make sure that we listen to Him in return.

Xoxo
Mattie

Life is messy.

Today was our multi-stake conference, and I'm really grateful for the things that I heard today. I definitely needed to hear a lot of the messages today! I'm going to share a few of my favorites. :)

Even though we missed the beginning of Elder Cook's talk, I loved what he said about the Book of Mormon. He said, "There is power in the Book of Mormon." I fully believe it. I am reading the Book of Mormon for my religion class, and it's been a source of peace and comfort, and has given me strength as I've read it.

Sister Franco talked about being of good cheer.
1. Understand that we have a Father in Heaven and a Savior who loves us.
2. Understand that we have a Heavenly Father who gave us commandments to help us be happy.
3. Understand the importance of gratitude in our lives.
4. Understand that service brings joy to our lives.

Elder Uceda said that, "Mighty prayers overcome apathy." He said that mighty prayers are prayers from the heart. My favorite thing he said was, "As we search the scriptures, understanding comes to our mind, and doubts go away."

Elder Stevenson talked about humility, obedience, and virtue.
Humility:
Humility is willingness to submit to the Lord. The opposite of humility is pride, which gives honor to ourselves, it's competitive, and causes us to hold grudges or withhold forgiveness. He said that meekness, humility, and forgiveness are all cousins. I thought that was a great way of showing how closely related they are.

Obedience:
Obedience is the first law of heaven, and an act of faith. It's a safety and protection for us. It brings blessings, and those blessings bring happiness.

Virtue:
Virtue originates in our innermost thoughts. It is a prerequisite to receiving the Spirit's guidance. He said that reduced screen time and increased scripture study may increase virtue. I thought that was really interesting! But also true, I'm sure. I know I'm more focused and attentive when I'm spending a lot more time out doing things (though that's hard to do during the school year, especially when all of your math homework is online).

Diligent efforts can lead to Christlike attributes becoming or being second nature. Our journey to achieve Christlike attributes requires discipline.

He also shared this quote from Howard W. Hunter: "Mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again." 

I loved this quote so much! I think sometimes we often forget the beauty and grace that is around us. We forget how awesome it is to lift someone's spirits. We forget how beautiful the earth around us is. We forget who loves us. We forget how blessed we truly are, and we forget that those blessings will always come.

This week was the first week of school for me, and I honestly struggled a bit. The first day was fine, but after the second day, when I was looking to the homework I needed to do, I got overwhelmed at all of the homework I was going to have over the whole semester for all of my classes and I kind of had a panic attack. Friday was a little bit better, but Saturday was a giant mess, because I worked from 8-4 and then the football game was Saturday night and it was a struggle getting into the game. But my friends and I made it, and it was fun watching the game with them.

I realized some things about myself this week, and this weekend, and I really need to work on a couple of things. I'm kind of nervous, just because I hate adding to my pile of things to do, but I'm hoping that I can just work them into my life and not specifically have to worry about them or deal with it. It'll just kind of...be a part of my life, and exist. Except life is messy, so that might not happen.  But! I have God on my side, and He knows where I am going, and what I need to do to get there. So, even though things might not happen the way I plan or want them to, things will happen, and I will grow, and change, and become who I need to be.

I hope you have had a great Sunday and weekend! I hope you've learned some things, and made some goals to improve. There's always room for improvement. I am grateful for my Savior, who is always willing to help me improve and progress. I'm grateful for friends, and family, who are always willing to listen, and always willing to help. I'm grateful for new experiences, difficult times, and trials that help me stretch and grow, and get out of my comfort zone. I've never really said this before, but I'm grateful for emotions, and feelings, and the fact that I get to feel so deeply. Sometimes it's hard, and painful, and messy, and I just want to not feel so intensely, but the painful times are worth all the happy and joyous ones that I experience so often. God is good, and I am blessed.

Xoxo
Mattie

Obedience.

Sister Nielson talked about obedience in Relief Society today, and I thought this quote was perfect!! "When we love the Lord, obedience ceases to be a burden. Obedience becomes a delight." (Joseph B. Wirthlin) I love this!! As you come closer to the Lord, and love Him, obeying Him becomes a delight. You want to obey Him; you know that it is right and true. Obeying Him makes you happier, and it makes you stronger. <3

We are all on our own personal trail of hope. Heavenly Father will send us blessings, angels, and comfort to give us strength as we go through difficult trials. Obedience to the commandments keeps us safe and enables us to reach our full potential. The commandments are loving guidance from our Heavenly Father and are a road map that can lead us home. Sister Nielson gave us this quote:

"Obedience to God can be the very highest expression of independence. Just think of giving to Him the one thing, the one gift, that He would never take...Obedience–that which God will never take by force–He will accept when freely given. And He will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of–the freedom to feel, and to know, the freedom to do, and the freedom to BE, at least a thousand fold more than we offer Him. Strangely enough, the key to freedom is OBEDIENCE."

I know that when we obey Heavenly Father's commandments, He blesses us. It may not always be right away, and it may not be in the way we expected, but He will always bless us. I know that He sends us angels to comfort us–He can send us people, or He can send us literal angels, and He can send us angels in other forms, such as the form of music. I know that we are never alone, and I know that He loves us. I know He is always with us, and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen.