Holy Week - Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week,  Jesus Christ’s last week of ministry on Earth. 

Ricky and I were able to discuss Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem today. 

His followers in the city laid down cloaks and palm fronds for Him to walk across as He rode the donkey into town, crying shouts of “Hosanna!”, which means, “please save us”. 

Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was. In Matthew 22:37-40, it states:

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The first message Jesus gives in His last week is to love God and our neighbor. I think that is the most poetic and important message He could give at the start of the last week of His life, in which He embodies the spirit of these two commandments by following His Father’s plan in order to save us. 

I’m thankful for Jesus’s example throughout His entire ministry, but especially in His last week. I love the tradition of going through the events of His last week and am so grateful for the opportunity to study it every year. 

Xoxo
Mattie

A Joyful Entrance

Hey! It's been a while since I've posted on my blog! Life has been crazy busy!!


Today is Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week, the Savior's last week here on Earth before He was resurrected on Easter Sunday. This is the day that He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, across a path of palm leaves and cloaks thrown down by the crowd of His followers.

From the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' website about Easter Week:

On Palm Sunday, Jesus Christ rides triumphantly into Jerusalem as His followers draw near Him to lay down cloaks and palm fronds in His path. They surround Jesus with love and praise. In return, they no doubt receive the profound spiritual lift that comes from being in Jesus’s presence. The people in the crowd probably had life experiences just as varied as ours, but all were able to share equally in the joy that comes when we draw closer to Jesus Christ.

#BecauseOfHim, I can have joy

By following Jesus Christ’s teachings, you can find pure joy—a feeling of eternal peace and comfort. Explore what’s possible because of Jesus. Watch this video and consider someone in your life to share it with.

I am so grateful for the joy that Jesus Christ brings to my life! Because of Him, I can have peace in tumultuous times, no matter what my circumstances are. Because of Him, I can be comforted in my sorrows and pains. It was a joyful entrance the day that I was baptized and Jesus Christ really came into my life, but it was even more of a joyful entrance the day that I really invited Him in, and began to understand, know, and love my Savior and my testimony of Him.

May this Easter Week be full of reminders of our Savior, and the sacrifices He made, and the sacrifices that we can make for Him.

Xoxo
Mattie

He does not give up on you.

You never realize just how much you have to work on changing and improving yourself until you're studying the scriptures. And spending time with people. No one on earth is perfect. We all have weaknesses and make mistakes. We all have times where we struggle. But with Him, we can overcome. With Him, we can start again. And again. And again. With Him, we can keep trying. Though we will never be perfect in this life, we can align ourselves on the path with which we can someday become perfect through Christ. He will be with us every step of the way, and He won't let us fall.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to perform in sacrament meeting today! I'm grateful for Carrie and Megan, who agreed to perform with me and accompany me. They really helped make the experience amazing. I wasn't really super nervous until right before we were performing but it went amazingly and surprisingly well! I'm grateful for the message of "A Child's Prayer" and for the love that is so evident in the song. I'm grateful for the Spirit, and for the love that He helps us feel, and for the answers He helps us receive, and for the comfort and assurances that He gives.

I have had a really great week and weekend. I have learned a lot from my scripture study, and from talking and experiencing life with my friends. I've learned that I need to start being grateful for things that I do, and have, and not stress so much about things that I don't, and don't have. I learned that I can do amazing things and that I am stronger than I think I am. I learned that I am doing good things, but I can be doing better. I learned that there is moderation in all things, including emotions, which is something that I'd never thought about before, but RD (my therapist) brought it up on Friday and I really loved that. I learned that I need to re-evaluate my priorities in life and that I need to look past the surface, and focus on the essence. I need to take the little pieces, and use them to make something bigger, and brighter, and more beautiful. I learned that I am beginning to see myself differently, and on the whole, it's a good different. I learned that there is more to me than what I think, and I learned that there is more to life than what I think.

With Him we can. :)

Today is Palm Sunday, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem before His great sacrifice for us. Easter is next Sunday! I'm so excited! I'm going home (again. Wow, I have gone home so much this semester) and am hoping that I will be done with most of my homework by that time so I can rest and relax. We'll see how this week goes. :)

Sacrament meeting was AMAZING and I definitely needed it today! Before I get into that, though, here are my thoughts from during the sacrament.

Some day, life will make sense. I am counting on that day. Right now, however, nothing makes sense, and I struggle all the time, as we all do. Lately, it's been really hard to be positive and optimistic and happy. Mainly because it's the end of the semester and I have a LOT of things to do, but there are other suspicious factors, too. Anyway, it's just been really hard to look on the bright side of things, and I want to wallow all the time, but I don't have time for that right now. I am really grateful for my Savior. I don't deserve all of the second (and third) chances that I get, yet He give them still. If that's not love, what is? I am grateful for my Heavenly Father, who sent His Only Begotten to die for us. I've been struggling with some things a little bit lately, but how can I fail with my Heavenly Father and Savior's love and help? 

Speaking of struggling, guess what the topic in sacrament meeting today was? If you couldn't guess (you probably couldn't), it was about attitude, adversity, and trials, and how to get through/overcome them. It was a blessing! I really needed it today. :)

So, some of my favorite things that were said were:

• When we face adversity, we forget about all the great things going on in our life.
• Don't try to change the things that you can't control.
• We are free to choose joy.
• We need to realize that we have EVERYTHING that we need to be happy in that moment.
• Adversity has a purpose–to help us grow and change.
• God will be with us. We should not be afraid. We are not alone.
• The only thing we can control is ourself, and our actions. 
• We need to trust that God sees the whole picture.
• He shows us our weaknesses so that we can work on them.
• We need to have a good attitude. Yes, sometimes it's hard. But we need to "Hold on to the hope that there are good things in the world," and realize that "Even darkness must pass."

In Relief Society, we talked about visiting teaching, and one of my favorite things that was said was that Heavenly Father uses other people to remind us that He loves us. My last favorite thing was that we're all trying to go to the same place; we need to lift each other up.

Don't forget that God is with you. With Him, you can do anything. That reminds me of two things: one is this scripture that we talked about in Sunday School. It's the Joseph Smith Translation of Matthew 19:26, and it says, "But Jesus beheld their thoughts, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but if they will forsake all things for my sake, with God whatsoever things I speak are possible." The bolded parts are the parts that are changed/clarified from the Joseph Smith Translation. I loved this verse when we read it in class. And this reminded me of the song, "With Him We Can", which you can find here. It's a beautiful song that talks about how with God, we can do things that we never thought possible.

I'm so grateful for my ward! I love the people I've met, and I cherish the friendships I've made. God knew exactly what He was doing when He put these people in my life. I love them all so much and I wouldn't change anything! I'm grateful for my family, and for my friends. I'm grateful that I have so many people to depend on and turn to. I'm grateful for my Savior, and for all He's done for me, and I'm grateful for my Heavenly Father, who knows exactly what I need to grow and be better. I'm still working on it, and He's right there with me. I hope you have a peaceful Sabbath and a wonderful week!

Xoxo

Mattie