Did I mention how much I stink at this? Here I am trying to challenge myself and I already blow it.
Although... I did give myself a pretty high staked challenge, going from not blogging at all, to everyday, which I think right there was me shooting myself in the foot, so. We are just going to leave it at that and just KEEP TRYING! That's what we do right?
Well, since my last post, my sister and mom both got older (birthdays) but didn't really do much for them... I was the first to wish them both "Happy Belated Day of Your Birth Anniversary Celebration??" 's to them, so that made me happy because I can continue to keep that streak alive between my family members. ;)
I also went to my first funeral, which was pretty interesting, only because I had never seen an open casket outside of movies, but the best part was seeing so many people there paying respects and sharing memories of my friend's father. I hope that many people come to my funeral. I figure if I outlive all my friends though, because I plan on living to be at least 100, I don't know who will come... AND, I am going to make black and outlawed color, and I won't just leave money for burial costs, but I want everyone to just party and remember good times and rejoice because by that point, being that old, I think everyone will have expected me to pass on a lot sooner. :P
I got to see Deanna this weekend which was fun! We went to the football game, and lost to Washington, but it was still a great game and our friends who are on the team played a good game, which is some of the best news I think.
****
I got to watch the General Women's Conference last Sunday, which was AMAZING by the way. If you haven't watched it yet, you definitely should, and, you should take notes because it's just that awesome.
There was a lot of talk about self-improvement, at least, that was something I picked up on for myself. With Sister Bingham's talk, she talked about not judging others and harvesting grudges, but to forgive and forget, and to embrace the improvements of others, and to have charity. When we have charity, we have love for others, and put others before ourselves.
She said, "Our obligation and privilege is to embrace improvement in everyone." And as we humble ourselves, we can let the "perfect" facade fade, and allow the improvements, the progression, to shine.
Sister Stephens talked about having a firm testimony of Christ and His gospel. She talked about having joy and helping others recognize the blessings of the gospel in their lives as well.
She also mentioned how adversity refines us. Many of us focus on the negatives of adversity and challenge, and I have been doing my best to find the lesson to be learned within such experiences, but I don't think I had related 'refining' to 'adversity.' I mean, it seems to simple and so straight forward, I just don't think I had heard it put that way before, or it hasn't resonated with me before now. Of course it's true. We are refined, we are strengthened through adversity. We are able to strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ when we struggle and feel weak. If we were always happy and nothing was difficult for us, how often do you think you would turn to the Lord for help or in gratitude even...
Sister Oscarson talked about hope in our day, the strength we should have to overcome the storms we experience today. She said we need to be unshakeable, that we need to be sin resistant, so the storms of trends and ideas of this day will not shake that which we know to be righteous and true.
We should not be afraid to share what we know. We should not be timid because we are afraid of offending someone else. We need to be confident and bold, but also loving and kind. Christ stood for what was right and didn't fluff the truth, but His also spoke with dignity, refinement, and love, and we are to do the same.
President Uchtdorf spoke about our potential and the strength we have as children of God and faithful members of His church.
We trust in that which we cannot see. How do we expect others to do the same? We need to share our thoughts and beliefs, as well as listen to others', and listening to others may be more than just listening with our ears. We must work with the Spirit in learning the heavenly principles, and help others do so as well.
It won't always be easy, but it is worth progressing towards. We know the promised blessings to come after this life, and the many promised to us in this life. What keeps us from achieving those blessings? What do we prioritize before that of Christ and His gospel? What do we allow to get in the way of experiencing the many daily blessings all around us?
We must not coast through our day to day lives, but SEEK that of the divine. We shouldn't have days when we tell people we didn't do much or we sat around and did nothing or just watched movies and ate junk food... but everyday we should be able to pick out a blessing received or a miracle seen. He is always by our side so why should we expect anything less than blessings everyday?
If we are actively living the principles we know to be right, we will always feel of His love and always see His hand in ours each and every day.
Although... I did give myself a pretty high staked challenge, going from not blogging at all, to everyday, which I think right there was me shooting myself in the foot, so. We are just going to leave it at that and just KEEP TRYING! That's what we do right?
Well, since my last post, my sister and mom both got older (birthdays) but didn't really do much for them... I was the first to wish them both "Happy Belated Day of Your Birth Anniversary Celebration??" 's to them, so that made me happy because I can continue to keep that streak alive between my family members. ;)
I also went to my first funeral, which was pretty interesting, only because I had never seen an open casket outside of movies, but the best part was seeing so many people there paying respects and sharing memories of my friend's father. I hope that many people come to my funeral. I figure if I outlive all my friends though, because I plan on living to be at least 100, I don't know who will come... AND, I am going to make black and outlawed color, and I won't just leave money for burial costs, but I want everyone to just party and remember good times and rejoice because by that point, being that old, I think everyone will have expected me to pass on a lot sooner. :P
I got to see Deanna this weekend which was fun! We went to the football game, and lost to Washington, but it was still a great game and our friends who are on the team played a good game, which is some of the best news I think.
****
I got to watch the General Women's Conference last Sunday, which was AMAZING by the way. If you haven't watched it yet, you definitely should, and, you should take notes because it's just that awesome.
There was a lot of talk about self-improvement, at least, that was something I picked up on for myself. With Sister Bingham's talk, she talked about not judging others and harvesting grudges, but to forgive and forget, and to embrace the improvements of others, and to have charity. When we have charity, we have love for others, and put others before ourselves.
She said, "Our obligation and privilege is to embrace improvement in everyone." And as we humble ourselves, we can let the "perfect" facade fade, and allow the improvements, the progression, to shine.
Sister Stephens talked about having a firm testimony of Christ and His gospel. She talked about having joy and helping others recognize the blessings of the gospel in their lives as well.
She also mentioned how adversity refines us. Many of us focus on the negatives of adversity and challenge, and I have been doing my best to find the lesson to be learned within such experiences, but I don't think I had related 'refining' to 'adversity.' I mean, it seems to simple and so straight forward, I just don't think I had heard it put that way before, or it hasn't resonated with me before now. Of course it's true. We are refined, we are strengthened through adversity. We are able to strengthen our relationship with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ when we struggle and feel weak. If we were always happy and nothing was difficult for us, how often do you think you would turn to the Lord for help or in gratitude even...
Sister Oscarson talked about hope in our day, the strength we should have to overcome the storms we experience today. She said we need to be unshakeable, that we need to be sin resistant, so the storms of trends and ideas of this day will not shake that which we know to be righteous and true.
We should not be afraid to share what we know. We should not be timid because we are afraid of offending someone else. We need to be confident and bold, but also loving and kind. Christ stood for what was right and didn't fluff the truth, but His also spoke with dignity, refinement, and love, and we are to do the same.
President Uchtdorf spoke about our potential and the strength we have as children of God and faithful members of His church.
We trust in that which we cannot see. How do we expect others to do the same? We need to share our thoughts and beliefs, as well as listen to others', and listening to others may be more than just listening with our ears. We must work with the Spirit in learning the heavenly principles, and help others do so as well.
It won't always be easy, but it is worth progressing towards. We know the promised blessings to come after this life, and the many promised to us in this life. What keeps us from achieving those blessings? What do we prioritize before that of Christ and His gospel? What do we allow to get in the way of experiencing the many daily blessings all around us?
We must not coast through our day to day lives, but SEEK that of the divine. We shouldn't have days when we tell people we didn't do much or we sat around and did nothing or just watched movies and ate junk food... but everyday we should be able to pick out a blessing received or a miracle seen. He is always by our side so why should we expect anything less than blessings everyday?
If we are actively living the principles we know to be right, we will always feel of His love and always see His hand in ours each and every day.
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