Putting aside your needs and wants for the needs and wants of others.

I love my ward! I am so thankful for the beautiful souls that I get to see all the time. They've blessed my life and I learn so much from them. <3 <3

Today during the sacrament, I was thinking about patience, and this thought came to my mind:

Sometimes being patient and letting God take the reins is hard. When you want something to go one way, and it doesn't happen that way, or it happens down the road, can be frustrating. But honestly, God knows what's best. He knows what you need and when you need it. Trust Him. He loves you and wants what's best for you. Take your time and just know that it will all work out.

Here's some of my favorite things that were said in sacrament meeting:
Even when we're going through hard things, Christ is there. He is cheering us on. You can do hard things.
"Secure your own mask before you attempt to help others." You can't help someone if you can't breathe on your own. That won't help them or you. Be secure in your own testimony before you start to help someone else.
Forgiveness helps us.

In Gospel Doctrine, we talked about 3 Nephi 17-19:
We talked about how the Nephites might not have understood all that Christ said but they understood enough to know that what He was saying was important enough and they wanted Him to stay with them.
Even though He was probably exhausted, He stayed to heal their sick and afflicted, and He made time for the little children.
Christ put aside His own needs and wants for the needs and wants of the Nephite people. "If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat them as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming." ~~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Christ is the epitome of charity, which is why charity is called the "Pure Love of Christ".

Relief Society was great! We talked about charity. So it was kind of a continuation of Gospel Doctrine. :)

I loved this quote from Elder Marvin J. Ashton that was shared: "Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself...Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other." 

I loved this. Charity is so much more than we often remember it is.  

The Savior taught us to love everyone, including those who may be difficult to love. "Excuses [not to do so] are easy to find; they spring up as readily and plentifully as weeds by the wayside." ~Elder James E. Talmage

I love talking about charity because I've had so many examples of charity and Christlike love in my life and it's something that I try to always do/be. Charity isn't something that I usually have trouble doing but sometimes I have trouble remembering all the things that encompass charity and so it's always a nice lesson to have because it helps me remember all the times I've had/done charity but also all the ways that I could be better at it. Charity is something that often is something we have to choose to do at first, but if you do it long enough it just becomes a part of you.

This week is Thanksgiving and I'm excited to be going home! I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to spend time with my family and I'm grateful for the holiday season that is upon us. It's a time to remember to be thankful, and a time to spread love, and a time to be and do so much to help those in need. At this moment in my life, it (life) is changing, slowly and surely, and oftentimes it's so crazy and I have a lot going on, but I always try to make time for my friends when they need me. And then things [in my life] go better than I thought they would. I know that putting aside my to-do list when a friend or family member needs me is not only what I need to do but what I want to do. I want to be there. I want them to know that I love them and they are more important to me than my to-do list. Because they are.  I would choose them over my to-do list. And I would do anything to show them that I love them, and that God loves them, and that they are loved and needed here on earth.

I hope you guys have a great Thanksgiving! Travel safely and enjoy your time with your family! :)

Xoxo
Mattie

Things are going to get better.

This weekend was General Conference weekend!!!!

So happy to have been able to watch conference this weekend with my friends and roommates! It was a great weekend full of great messages! I am so grateful for our prophet, President Monson, and for his counselors, and for the quorum of the twelve apostles. I heard a lot of things this weekend that I needed to hear. There were a lot of repeats of "God loves you" and "He knows you" and I feel like those were specifically directed to me because I've been struggling a little bit with a couple of things and I just needed that reminder that He knows me and loves me and that I am not forgotten by Him. Other reminders that I needed were ones of "have faith" and remember to study and pray. I'm working on that one. :)

Also. Totally random. Just saw this on Facebook (and I shared it but I feel like this should be seen every week at least) and wanted to share. Sometimes we have rough times. Sometimes things don't go how we planned. Sometimes we think we want one thing and we end up wanting something else. Sometimes we feel alone and lost. But it's okay. We all feel like this sometimes. And guess what? That's okay. You're normal, and you're not alone. You're a wonderful person who is smart, strong, confident, loved, wanted, needed, and has so much going for them. Remember that things are going to get better, and that you can do it. You've gotten through all your hard days before. This one is no different. <3

He will help us find our personal happiness.

I know I already posted yesterday but I can't just not post on Sunday. That's not a thing. So that makes this a double post weekend. :)

So, I had a thought during the sacrament this morning. I'm pretty sure it's not for me because I already went through it for me, but I am going to post it still because it might be for you. :)

"Sometimes it's hard to tell if you've been forgiven by your Heavenly Father. But sometimes the problem isn't that we're not forgiven–the problem is that we have not forgiven ourselves. Once you've forgiven yourself, you can more easily feel at peace and recognize that your Heavenly Father has forgiven you. He doesn't want us to hurt or suffer, but that is sometimes what we have to do in order to trust Him and turn to Him. It may hurt and be hard, but with Him we can find peace."

Someone said something in their talk during sacrament meeting this morning that stood out to me. He said, "If we don't have charity, what good is our faith?" And I just thought about that. It makes sense. If you don't have faith–or if you don't believe–what is the point of doing or having charity? There is none. There cannot be faith without charity, nor charity without faith. They go hand in hand.

The last speaker also said something that stood out to me. She said, "If Heavenly Father loves us, and wants us to be happy, then He's going to give us the experiences that we need to be happy. He wants us to be ourselves, and to find ourself. He will help us find our personal happiness." That was something else she said. We all have a personal happiness. I thought that was very interesting and very true. Things that make me happy won't necessarily make you happy.

In Gospel Doctrine, someone said something that I loved. "Feeling sad is okay. You have to be sad in order to be happy." You can't know happiness unless you've known sadness. Just don't let the sadness overtake you. Turn to your Savior–He'll help you find peace.

Relief Society was great! I loved the lesson, based off of Bishop W. Christopher Waddell's talk in the April conference. One thing that was read/said was, "The solution to our problems is the strengthening of our faith in Jesus Christ." We talked about his three steps to peace, based off of the scripture in D&C 19:23: 1) Learn of me [Christ]; 2) Listen to my words; and 3) Walk in the meekness of my spirit. We can learn of Him in all that we do–scripture study, visiting the temple, standing in holy places, etc. I thought this was interesting: partaking (so, consistently doing/listening) is more of a commitment. And for the last one: the Savior invites us to come to Him. Always. He is the pathway to peace.

It was a great first Sunday in my new ward. I'm excited to get to know my new ward. I'm grateful for my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I'm grateful for the messages that were shared today. I needed them. I know Heavenly Father can help me find my personal happiness. I know that He can help me find peace. I know that life may be tough, and rough, and hard, but I also know that with Jesus Christ as my rock, I can be tougher, and stronger, and I can do hard things. And I know that you can, too. <3

Xoxo
Mattie