Calm from the Storm

I have been having a lot of thoughts.

But the thoughts I want to focus on are my thoughts about the temple.

I love the temple. 

I have since I was a little person. 

I loved singing "I love to See the Temple" in primary.

Once I was in Young Women's I was so excited to do Baptisms for the Dead.

Once I graduated high school, I started preparing for my endowments.

I love reading about the temple. I love visiting the temple. I love talking about the temple. I love the feeling inside the temple. I love what the temple stands for. 

(Pretty sure I have already written this before, sorry)

This year I set a goal to go to the temple at least once a month. That is an easily attainable goal. In February, I went to the Draper Temple with my mom. I was so excited when my night class got cancelled because I knew I needed to go to the temple and this was Heavenly Father's way of making sure I made it. Of course the night we decided to go, the weather was insane! And it only got worse on Draper Mountain. The freeway was full of accidents so we took back roads to get to the temple. We barely missed the session we originally planned, but that didn't matter because there was another one in thirty minutes. Every time I go to the temple I feel like I am going to see someone I know, this time, I walked into the Dressing Room and I caught a glance of someone I knew! We ran into my mom's cousin Cindy! She was in our session and it was cool knowing another person in the room.

I love the temple because I can go inside with questions, and come out with answers. I felt re-energized and ready to tackle the world. 

At times my life gets a little crazy. Almost every moment is filled with school, homework, and work. And then those few free moments I try and fill with friends and family. It can get overwhelming to say the least. But I am so grateful I can go to the temple and find refuge. The temple is the calm from the storm in my life. I mean that literally and figuratively. 

 Check out these cool photos I got after our session. I love the way the light is reflecting off the giant snowflakes. As people were exciting the temple they thought I was crazy to be standing in the storm with my camera. But they turned around and saw what I saw. A few of them even took out their phones to take pictures too.

I am about to get cheesy with a life lesson but this picture reminds me that there is beauty in the storm. Our lives may be falling apart at the seems, but we can turn to the temple and the gospel. It will always be a constant beauty in our lives. Seek out the temple. It is the calm from the storm.

7 Day Challenge

I love music. This is mostly likely no shock to you.

I can hardly explain my love for music but it goes something like this. The words speak to my mind but the notes speak to my soul. Put that combination together and you get a powerful message. These messages can be good and bad, depending on how you use it. This past week I decided to use music for good and listen to music that is good (not that I listen to terrible music).

For seven days, when I was in control of the music, I would listen to uplifting music. So when I was driving the car or doing homework, I was listening to "Christian" music. I found a radio station called Air1. They play Christ centered music 24/7. They even have "59 seconds of hope." They use the 59 seconds to share a thought-a mini devotional. Sometimes it was a scripture and a thought, the artist talking about the song they wrote and the reason behind it, or a quote to help you get through the day. These 59 seconds set the mood for the next song to play. It helped me feel the Spirit stronger because I had the right mind set.

I found that this week was better than most weeks. My train of thought was different. My mind likes to wander and ponder and by having an uplifting car ride, I was able to ponder thoughts of value. In my train of thought, I saw more blessings. My prayers were full of gratitude and were more personable. Through out the week I was reminded constantly of Christ and His love for me. And all it took was a change in music.

These past 7 days have been a game changer. I can see how music is influencing me. Even though I am not listening to bad music, it isn't His music.

Oquirrh Mountain Temple

Mormon Monday

These past couple of weeks, the Relief Society lessons have spoken directly to my heart. Yesterday, the lesson was on Tomorrow The Lord Will Do Wonders Among You, a talk by Elder Holland.

I know when I watch General Conference, I know I can do anything. I can become this person worthy of the celestial kingdom. I have hope for my future. But then General Conference is over and the adversary creeps back into my mind. Whispering how I won't ever be good enough. What is the point of even trying because you are just going to fail. Sadly these thoughts are regular in my mind. I am constantly comparing my progression to everyone else. And that is the most discouraging thing. 

Elder Holland included this picture in his talk.

  

He compared it to General Conference ending, but in reality, I think we feel like this everyday. With the responsibilities of school, work, church, family and friends, we are all stretching ourselves pretty thin. Every day we are trying to finish that "to do" list. I am guilty of just trying to get through the day. I am constantly wanting to get through today, this week, this month, this semester. I find it hard to see the progression in my life. While I am putting my entire heart on the web, I might as well say, that sometimes I don't see progression. I wonder if I am the same person I was a year ago or even five years ago. Or even worse, have I backtracked and now I am just trying to get back to where I was?

But then Elder Holland says this:

"With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to help us, we can improve, and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always succeed."

*Sigh of relief.* I get credit for trying.

I don't have to be perfect. Ever. I don't need to magically overnight become the person I was meant to be. It is going to take time. I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect. There are somethings I will just have to keep trying to fix. I will fail over and over again, but at least I am trying.

"Keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever."

To end, I wanted to include this video. We watched this at the end of our Relief Society lesson. I love what Kim says "I began to think maybe I couldn’t do this. Maybe I wasn’t strong enough. Maybe I might fail. But the Lord wasn’t going to allow me to fail. I know that’s not unique to me. He does that for everybody... The greater our sorrow is, the greater our capacity to feel joy.”

 I know we are all going through trials. Some are outward and everyone can see them, but some are inward trials that you must carry, but please remember that Christ is carrying those burdens too. You don't have to carry anything alone.

The House of the Lord is Completed!

I went to the Provo City Center Temple Dedication.

And it was wonderful.

Living in Utah, I have been to a few temple dedications in my short life time. But I can honestly say that this dedication was one of my favorites. I thought all the talks given were just perfect, and lets not forget how humorous Elder Oaks can be. I loved the story of the elderly woman who wanted to leave this life with a current temple recommend. I want to be that woman. I want to leave this life with the peace of mind knowing I was temple worthy. Your temple recommend is a Celestial Passport. 

Doesn't that just give you tingles?

Also, after the dedicatory prayer, when the choir was singing the Hallelujah Chorus, the line that stuck out to me was "The House of the Lord is Completed! Hallelujah!" It seems so perfect for this House of the Lord to be dedicated the week before Easter. 

I love the temple.

I love the symbolism and detail that goes into each building.

I love the feeling that you get when you do work for the dead.

I love how time seems to stop inside the temple.

I love that temple is a symbol of forever. ♥

Provo City Center Temple

I went to the Provo City Center Open House last week, and guys, I am in love. Walking through the temple is one of my favorite things. This temple is special in so many ways. First off, the story is incredible. And I love the quote that Elder Holland said about this temple being a phoenix rising from the ashes. That statement gives me chills every time I heard it. One thing I love about this temple is that it reminds me of Nauvoo. Which makes sense considering who built it. It really brings the idea of doing work for the dead in a different light. 

If you get a chance to go, please go.

Plus, I got to go with some of my favorite people.

So bonus.

Mom, Jen, & Heidi

Read the story about the Provo City Center temple here.

Get an inside look and timeline here.

Mormon Monday

I wear my CTR every day. Actually I only take it off when I am playing with it and when I am attending the temple. It reminds me everyday the reason I am on this earth.

Not only does it stand for Choose the Right but also Current Temple Recommend.

Do you have a CTR ring? 

Mormon Monday

I love Mother's Day because we get to recognize the women in our lives. My mom and grandmas are the greatest women. I look up to them in so many ways. They are kind, loving, and only want the best for me.

Heidi & Mom

 

Grandma Anderson, Heidi, Grandma Larrabee

#itwasmom

Mormon Monday

This year I have been focusing on being a better me. Turns out this is the hardest goal I have set for myself. Every day I am constantly pointing the negative qualities I possess. I want to change them but it is a daunting task.

"There is a purpose in life, fair beyond living comfortably. The bread we receive enables us to act and help and serve. Not only are we helping but we are being blessed and helped, changed. We aren't transformed overnight. These things come in process of time. Changes are increment, and people don't see them till they look back and see where they are opposed to where they were."

 

I adore this. Christ doesn't expect us to fix our weaknesses overnight. He is patient with us and loves us along the way. We need to talk life day by day. Turn to Christ daily and He will help you become better.

My baby goal to help achieve my grand goal is to see the good in people. This requires me to get rid of my quick judgments. I need to give people the chance to show how good they are. I need to see people they way Christ sees them. He loves me unconditionally. Why can't I love others the way He does to me?

Mormon Monday

Charity has been the emphasis in my life this past week.
We talked about it during institute and church.
Charity is defined in the Bible Dictionary as: "The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds of benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive."
I have loved learning about charity because I saw how I could incorporate it into my life more. I want charity to be second nature.
In this video, I saw how simple it was for this little boy to give away his coat even though it was cold. He loved his coat but by loving his Savior he was able to bless someone's life. I see charity as acting the way the Savior would, with love and no regrets.


Mormon Monday

#BecauseofHim

Because of Him.

In honor or Easter being yesterday I am going to talk about  my Savior.

This past week was hard. I have been dreading this week since the semester started. I had a research project, two oral presentations, five papers, and two tests. That was a little more than my mind was wanting to handle. It tested me on many levels. I didn't want to stress about the end of the semester, but I did anyways. I saw this video floating around Facebook, everyone had "hashtagged" the video Because of Him. Then they wrote what they can do because of the Savior. This helped me refocus during the week. During my breaks from homework I was thinking about everything my Savior has done for me. I came up with a mighty long list but I'll only list a few:
Because of Him-
~I got through this past week. He gave me motivation when I had none.
~I get to be with my family forever. While living away from home I have come to appreciate my family because I see how they influence you even when they aren't around.
~I get to be forgiven for all my wrong doings.
~Everything will be alright in the end.
~I get to go to the temple. Which is a blessing in itself living near so many temples.
~I get to be happy when times are sad because I always get a second chance.

I love Easter because we really focus on the resurrection of Christ. Why do I love that?
Because He Lives.  And that statement feels me with joy.

Mormon Monday

General Conference-April 2013

 

It is all over the internet.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints had their 184th Annual Conference.
Personally, I could go through and talk about my favorite talks and quotes, but I am not going to do that. Instead, I am going to talk about my experience that not many people had.
Every conference there are protesters. We see them on the news. Basically they are telling you that the things you believe in are all lies. About five years ago the Prophet and Apostles of the Church decided that the protesters were taking away the Spirit as people were walking to and from conference. The solution they came up with was having people line the side walk and sing hymns.
My roommate Brittani volunteered our apartment to participate.
We lined the side walks and sang hymns. Starting at the beginning of the book and just working our way through. At first it was a little silly.  We were singing to nobody. Eventually people started walking through. Some would smile at us, and others would sing along. Occasionally people would join us by standing at the end of the line. The Spirit was amazing. The weather wasn't the best condition. It was cold. And raining. Yet, as long as I was singing with my heart I didn't feel cold. I had goose bumps but not from the chill. They were goose bumps of the Spirit.
Because of the singing I missed the Sunday Morning Session. At first that made me sad that I wasn't going to be able to listen live. But when I started singing, I didn't care. I knew that I would be able to listen to it later. I was doing service that was a rare opportunity. It was an unforgettable experience.
 As an added bonus I was able to attend the Afternoon Session. That was a cool experience in itself. Being in the Conference Center there was no distractions of the outside world.

I guess what I am trying to say is Conference is the greatest highlight to my year. I look forward to each session every six months. To review this conference and past conferences visit LDS.ORG.

Singers & Protesters

 

Mormon Monday

March Madness

Mormon Style.

Some people may have heard it, read the Book of Mormon in one month.

I have been presented this challenge for the past 4 years of my life.  Every year in seminary we would get the cards and the teacher would "strongly encourage" us to take the challenge.

I always came up with a reason why I couldn't participate. Most of them revolved around being too busy.  This year I decided that being too busy wasn't a good enough excuse. Even though I didn't have someone officially challenge me to read, I challenged myself. And that seemed like a good enough reason.

I downloaded a reading calendar off the internet and got reading.

Some days I fell behind. It was difficult to catch up because it was twice the reading the next day. But I was determined. I wanted to be able to say that I finished. That I stuck to my goal.

I marked things in my scriptures and they were tagged "Favorite Scriptures" and "Reasons to be Happy." Most the time they overlapped.

 

2 Nephi 31:20 is one of my favorite scriptures.

It says:

"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."

I feel like this scripture is the perfect recipe for happiness. Keep pressing forward and not giving up. Read the scriptures and love them. And BOOM! Happiness FOREVER.

Seriously, I love this gospel.

End of story.

 

If you are feeling a rut in your spiritual growth, I challenge you to read the Book of Mormon in one month. It will grow you in ways you never thought possible.

Mormon Monday

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

 

If you ask my generation who their favorite General Authority is, the majority of them will say Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

On March 21, 2014, Elder Holland came to Orem Institute for devotional. I was a bad child and skipped class so I could attend this special event.

 

First off, lets point out his hilarious sense of humor. At the beginning I thought he didn't have a talk and was just going to tell us jokes the whole time. Which would of been perfectly acceptable. He joked how he had known the President of UVU since he was a little boy. This is only funny if you understand that Matthew Holland is Elder Holland's son.

Also, once he stood up he complimented the Institute Choir by saying he was going to either pass out or hang from the chandeliers. Those were the two emotions he was feeling.

 

He continued onto his talk he prepared titled:

 "I Want To Be Saved If My Friends Will Help Me."

We as human beings have two fears. 1) Fear we can't change and 2) Even if we change, the mark of sin will always be there.

Fear We Can't Change: First off, Satan is the devil. He doesn't want you to change. He wants to stump your progress. He is miserable and wants everyone to be miserable with him. Misery always wants company.

You can change. That is the point of the Plan of Salvation. To make changes to be your best self. I love this because making little changes is what matters. Like: reading your scriptures every day, stop gossiping, seeing the best in every situation, and telling people you love that you love them. We shouldn't feel like we have no control. Because we do. "If we feel like a robot or a rag doll then we are being carefully led down to hell." It is the lack of action that will get to us the place we don't want to be.

"Hope for the future. Otherwise you will be hopeless."

Man can be transformed through repentance and God's forgiveness. Christ gives a way back to God. Christ was the only one worthy enough to lift the sins of the world.

And the best part is after you apply the atonement, you can come back stronger than ever.

Fear of  No Forgiveness: We can feel this way because others don't let you feel the forgiveness. You have "friends" who won't let you forget your sins and your past. Some of us beat others down. Even though people want to change we won't let them. This breaks my heart because it is true. Some people are just road blocks for progression. We should be lifting each other up, not tearing them down. Help them and let them see the light at the end of the tunnel. True friends lead people out of sin and forget past mistakes. Believe that they are new people. "We all have need to repent and the obligation to forgive." I love this quotes because we are not perfect and we need to realize that we are all fighting the same battle. So lets give slack to everyone we know. We are all just trying our best.

 

"God bless us to help each other come back home!"

 

Mormon Monday

Missionaries.

My generation is full of them.

I possibly have more friends on missions than not.

Which is amazing.

But with missionaries come missionary farewells.

I went to a farewell on March 9. It was for a girl who I have known since I started elementary school. She has ALWAYS been there for me. Even though I had other friends, she was there. When I was lost and heart broken and didn't know who I could turn to she was there.

  

Her farewell was full of the Spirit. I was crying because I was going to miss her but also because I hadn't felt the Spirit like that at church before. I was overwhelmed.

Her talk was about simple things become great things.

She started out talking about a song she was trying to learn. It was "As Sisters in Zion" arranged by Marshall McDonald. She said that this song was difficult for her because of the key change and difficult cords. She compared this gaining a testimony. She had to learn the song note by note, line by line, and page by page. Just like learning a song, we have to take our testimonies by baby steps. We can't get a testimony just because we demand it. She continued with 4 guides to gain a testimony.

1. Have a relationship with God and Christ. We need meaningful time with them.

2. Keep the Commandments. We need to live the commandments and exercise faith.

3. Study the scriptures. How can we gain a testimony of something we know nothing about?

4. Follow the living prophet. 

There isn't one great thing we can do to gain eternal life, but rather the little things. For our lives are made up of little heartbeats.

To apply this back to the music she told us that she would going to make mistakes in the song. Even thought she tried to get it perfect it just wasn't going to happen. She tried her best but the song wasn't perfect. Which was okay. She couldn't let the fear of messing up keep her from playing the music.

She said that even though she fears she won't be a perfect missionary she is going to try. She wasn't going to let the lack of perfection keep her from living the gospel.

She was simply building her testimony one note at a time.

Heidi & Brianna



Mormon Monday

This video is popular.

You have probably seen it floating around your Facebook Newsfeed.

When watching this video, the Spirit came in a large rush. I was crying by the end.

Lately bullying has been on my mind because I have been studying suicide and the factors that go into that; bullying being one of them.

Now that I am out of high school, I sometimes wish I could go back. Just so that I can find these people who feel helpless and don't feel loved. Everyone deserved to be loved, even if they are a little different. I know it is never to late to start being nice, so why don't we all start now?

Mormon Monday

We watched this video in Relief Society.

It is a little lengthy but worth every minute.

Hilary Weeks is talking about negative and positive thoughts and how they effect your daily life. 

I want to take the clicker challenge.

Mormon Monday

I love temples.   Read about them here!

You never see an ugly temple.

One of my favorite things is to is to get on Frontrunner and see all the temples as I am traveling the two valleys.

Currently there are 141 temples operating, 13 under construction, and 16 announced.

My favorite temples are Bountiful and Salt Lake.

 

What's your favorite temple?

Mormon Monday

This is the opening for General Conference April 2013.

I always love when they open General Conference because we get the statistics of the church. We learn how many missionaries are out, membership, and temples. I love hearing how the church has grown within the last six months.

Even though conference is still a few months away, I am so excited! Hearing the living prophets speak. Honestly, in my book, it is the best weekends of the year.

Mormon Monday

In honor of Valentine's Day this week I thought I would share something that has to do with love. A Celestial Marriage is my goal. It is something I dream of every day. I can't wait to find a guy that I can share that passion and love. I want to be the cute couple in the ward that makes all the teenagers swoon.

If you love someone you want to be with them for eternity.

Mormon Monday (On a Wednesday)

I was in tears by the end of this.

I found two quotes that were noteworthy.

"If the foundation of faith is not embedded in our hearts, the power to endure will crumble."

and the other one I loved was:

"Even acting on a twig of faith will cause God to grow it."

These quotes just spoke to me because we all have trials and they all seem never ending. You may feel like your faith is lacking. That is okay. Christ makes up the difference. So carry on and trust in God; and His timing.