WE are the HERO of our Story!

One of the most profound statements I have heard on my mission, came out of the mouth of a sweet 9 year old girl.  We were driving with this little girl and her mother, and this child was telling us her dreams and goals in life.  She told us that she was going to write a book someday and that the opening line to her book was going to be, "Once upon a time, I had a story to tell, and it was all mine own!"


The introduction to her book, just struck me with such power.  We all have a story to tell.  Each one of us will live our lives and each story is going to be different.  I remember thinking this little girl is so wise.   At that moment, I sat pondering in the car about my story and my life.  I sat there pondering and knowing in my heart that I am a child of God, and in my the story of my life, I am the HERO! 

American poet and writer, Carol Lynn Pearson said,“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.” 

 In my life, I am the one who gets to make choices and turn things around.  Everything about my story can be changed based on how I choose to live my life and react to the situations I find myself in.  I think Eleanor Roosevelt said it best about how we become the hero in our story, "We do not have to become heroes over night. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down."

Throughout life, my story will continue and each day I will come to understand more and more that I am a Child of God, and that the decisions I make will either lead me closer to my Father in Heaven or further away.  But I will always remember, that as I make the right choices I become the hero in my story.  And the best part about my story and potentially every one's story is we can be with our Heavenly Father again and live "Happily Ever After." 

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave a talk to the young women of the church in April 2010 about how trials are a part of reaching our "Happily Ever After."  I love this talk and know that as we strive to keep the Lord's commandment and follow the example of the Savior we will find eternal happiness.  Just like the prophet Nephi and his family, we too can "live after the manner of happiness" (2 Nephi 5:27)

"Happily Ever After"- President Uchtdorf

Ode to Fathers

I know it's after Father's Day, but I have been thinking a lot about my own father lately.  Of all the people I know and that are apart of my life, he is, hands down, the greatest man I have ever met.  Fathers are to live as an example to their families and provide for them in every way, temporally and spiritually. 

Through the example of my own father I know that I am a daughter of Heavenly Father.  I know how to make right decisions and I know my potential.  My father along with many others has shown me what it means to really give of ourselves and love others.  Elder Christofferson said this about true men and fathers,

"Though he will make some sacrifices and deny himself some pleasures in the course of honoring his commitments, the true man leads a rewarding life. He gives much, but he receives more, and he lives content in the approval of his Heavenly Father. The life of true manhood is the good life."

True men and fathers follow Jesus Christ and always are giving to others. 

Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-39, "Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 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. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

I love my earthly father, my Heavenly Father, and all fathers that do all they can to teach their children how to love others and how to return to live with our Heavenly Father.  Happy Father's Day!

Here is a part of a talk that Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave about being true men.

"Let Us Be Men"

Courage

Cowardly Lion: "Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got?"

Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man: Courage!

There are days when I feel like the cowardly lion and I am lacking courage.  I have moments where I am terrified to talk to people, or answer someone's question for fear of saying the wrong thing.  I fear all sorts of things and there are a billion other things I could fear, but having courage means that I have to be fearless!

In the bible Joshua states, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest" (Joshua 1:9).

A prophet of the Lord commands us to have courage. We have the Lord on our side and do not need to fear life or the unexpected that lies ahead.  We are all children of God and are entitled to greatness and the courage to face the future with confidence. 

 I love what the Young Women General Presidency have said, "Whatever your circumstances, you were born to lead in your family, in your school, and in your community. So this year, be strong, have courage, and make a difference in the world! You are not alone. Heavenly Father will hear and answer your prayers and guide your actions as you remain pure and worthy of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost." ("Have Courage: Lead Out in the Cause of Virtue!" New Era, Jan. 2010, 6.)

We are all somebody great, and the Lord is on our side supporting us and helping us along the way. We can have the courage to do anything the Lord calls us to do.  So how do we get the courage we need in this life?  The Young Women General Presidency tells us how.  They said, "Your courage to lead will come as you live the standards, make correct choices, and follow the prophet. Your strength will come as you strive daily to increase your testimony of the Savior by praying and reading in the Book of Mormon."

Like everything in life, it's doing the daily simple things that draw us closer to Heavenly Father that will bring us more courage, more faith, more happiness, and eventually eternal joy.  I am grateful to a Heavenly Father who is always trying to help us be better and stronger.  He requires us to have courage, along with a lot of other virtues and talents, but He is always helping us acquire the things He requires.  It's a beautiful plan.



What can the Gospel do for You?

Before coming on my mission I studied advertising at college.  Needless to say commercial jingles and different products and companies slogans always come to mind.  I am pretty sure at least once a day while we are either out knocking on doors or driving around we see a UPS truck truck delivering it's packages.  And everytime we see the UPS truck I have to say, "What can Brown do for you?"

Most companies want to portray themselves either offering a reliable service or product, something that will benefit our lives.  I was thinking the other day about this UPS slogan, and I really started thinking about the gospel has done for me.  The question came to mind, "What can the Gospel do for you?"

I have come up with a simple list of what the gospel does for me, and what it can do for all of us.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ:

*Brings peace and happiness

*Allows family relationships to last forever

*Gives us an understanding of who we really are and how great our potential is

*Allows us the chance to return to live with our Heavenly Father forever.

 

I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It really is what brings me the most joy in my life.  I am a daughter of God, and I know that He loves me!

We're All On the Same Team

If this isn't inspiring, I don't know what is.  I just loved this clip.  I know that no matter what stage of life we are in, how old we are, where we live, who our friends are, the gospel is for everyone.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints blesses all people.  The gospel helps us all and is truly the only way to find happiness.  This video makes me smile, because these teenagers get it.  They both understand that the gospel is the most important thing in life. 

Brandon found that the gospel helped him change, and Teren loved the gospel and understood how it helps us all change and be happy.  We are all just like these two teenagers.  We are either like Brandon and searching for truth and happines, or we are like Teren and we know what true happiness comes from living and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I feel like Teren everyday.  I know how great it is to share the gospel, to share the thing that makes me the most happy with others.  There is nothing greater than the gospel.  Joseph Smith and others in the church received revelation from the Lord about how sharing the gospel and inviting people to change will make us feel.

The Lord said to them, "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!  And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me"(D&C 18:15-16).

I often think that the one soul that repents and comes unto Christ is us.  Once we accept and follow Jesus Christ through baptism by immersion by someone holding the priesthood authority of God, we are then responsible to share the gospel with others so they too can find joy in this life.  And the Lord's promise to Joseph Smith is also promised to us when we share His Gospel, "Great will be your joy."

I know without a doubt that inviting others to repent and accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ truly bring the greatest joy.  I see it everyday, and I love it! 

We're all on the same team here.  We are here to help each other make it back to our Heavenly Father, and following Jesus Christ is the only way back.  "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6)

Embrace it! Embrace Life!

President Thomas S. Monson said, "Life's journey is not traveled on a freeway devoid of obstacles, pitfalls, and snares. Rather, it is a pathway marked by forks and turnings. Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed: the courage to say, 'No,' the courage to say, 'Yes,' Decisions do determine destiny. The call for courage comes constantly to each of us. It has ever been so, and so shall it ever be."

Life is a journey.  There are bumps in the road, hard times come, but each day we wake up and we have to decide whether or not we are going to get out of bed, and make it the best day, or the worst day.  Just like the newsies sing in Disney's Newsies, we must "Seize the Day." 

Each day is a day to wake up and turn it all around.  Life gets hard, life gets crazy, but we get to choose what we are going to do with the rough path.  Do we put our trust in God?  Do we laugh at the hard things?  Do we ask for help when we need it?  Do we make the hard decisions?  Life will not go as we want it to.  But that does not give us an excuse to give up just because things are hard.  Just like President Monson has said, when the rough times come we have to keep making the right decisions, hard and painful as they may be.


In college when I would complain about life, or school, or whatever seemed to be going wrong at the time, my sister would always say to me, "Embrace It."  Just enjoy it.  We only will be where we are for a short time.  So we have to embrace it.  Embrace the struggles, the curves, the things you don't plan for.  Take the challenges that come and find a way to deal with it. 

Often times the biggest decision we have to make is the decision to be happy.  At the very beginning of my mission I got a letter from my very wise father.  He wrote something that really changed  my perspective and attitude about my mission, and about life.  He said, "You choose what kind of day it's going to be.  Each day choose to make it the best day.  And always keep smiling!"  

He probably doesn't know it, but that changed my mission, that changed me as a person and how I view decisions.  Things have gotten hard at times, and they will continue to be hard the rest of my mission and the rest of my life I am sure.  But Heavenly Father has given us all the great ability to have choice.  We get to choose to be happy.  We get to choose what kind of day we are going to have. 

2 Nephi 10:23 in the Book of Mormon says, "Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life."

This scripture inspired the name of this blog, it's kind of become my life motto.  We have choice!  We have the wonderful ability, to get over the hard things, and choose to smile, and just be grateful that we have another day to make choices.  We get to choose happiness!   Happiness is a choice.  And often the hardest choice we will ever have to make, but knowing the Savior, and knowing His love for us happiness is attainable each and every day regardless of how awful or depressing life may be around us.  We have to make the choice to be happy. 


I'm including a talk that really puts it into perspective on how to be happy.  I love this talk. 


"Our Search for Happiness" by: President James E. Faust

Remember, Remember

In my life I have often been classified as the "Dumb Blonde" and I guess you could say at times I live up to that stereotype.  It happens.  As a missionary I tend to have moments where I just can't remember things.  Actually it happens a lot.  I had one of those moments the other day and I had like a major brain block.  I was sitting there trying and trying to remember what I was going to say, and naturally I couldn't remember.  So I ended up just pondering on the word "Remember."

The word remember actually means to recall to memory.  As I was thinking about the word remember my thoughts were turned to a scripture.  Actually about half a dozen scripture references that use the word remember.  (I have decided you know you are a missionary when everything relates back to the gospel.) But anyway, one of those scriptures was Helaman 5:12, which states, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty stormshall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

I love this scripture because it really puts it into perspective.  We must really be remembering all the time where our foundation lies.   Where do we place our trust?  Is it in Jesus Christ?  At the end of the day can we say that we have done all that we can to follow the example of the Savior, and have we trusted in Him completely?  If we remember that He is the foundation of our life, we are promised that when the storms of life come, we will not fall.  We will not find ourselves in the depths of despair.  Through remembering Jesus Christ we can get through anything. 

As I look back on my life I realize that when I was having the hardest time it was beacuse I was forgetting where my foundation truly was.  I was not remembering that my foundation has and always will be Jesus Christ.  I have learned that when the hard moments in life come, I have to remember my testimony.  I have to remember the many times I have felt the spirit.  Everyone has been given the light of Christ which allows us to feel the Lord's love in our lives and allows for the Holy Ghost to witness and testify truth to us.  Most often we barely recognize these moments, especially if we are not looking for them, but they do happen often. 

When life gets hard and we catch ourselves forgetting those moments where we have felt the spirit or felt God's love.  We must remember!  Remember those moments when the Lord testified of truth to us, and strengthened our faith. We must remember what we have been taught.  Remember that we are all children of our Heavenly Father, and  that He loves us.  We truly must remember who we are!

I like what Moroni says in Moroni 10:3 about reading from the Book of Mormon,  "Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts."

When we forget our foundation, we have to find it in ourselves to look back and remember how much the Lord has blessed us and given us.  When we recognize and truly remember the blessings from our Heavenly Father we can again become grounded in life with the Savior as our foundation!