I have been Changed for Good.

Howdy!

So... here we are again... haha :) 

Life is getting real! I cannot believe that 18 months ago I began a wonderful journey as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

And its amazing to see where I am now because of everything that I have experienced on my mission. 

But I don't want this to be about me or about how much I love Canada (although I do LOVE IT! :D) 

I want to take this time to share about the power of change. 

There is a strength beyond our own that we can reach to for help. There is a knowledge and goodness that seems just a little to far for us, but something that I know is possible to find! 

Through the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the wonderful powers of heaven with us, anything is attainable. We have the ability to change and grow to reach our grandest dreams and turn them into a reality. 

This is because we have a loving Father in Heaven who provided this for us. If we turn to the Savior and give our whole hearts and souls to Him we can and will be changed.

I belief there is within each of us the desire to improve and progress. This comes from the Light of Christ that each of us have been blessed with. Even with that the motivation to change is hard, because change can be scary.

REMEMBER THIS:


He sent us here with a great destiny. If you ever feel lonely or afraid of change REMEMBER that a lovely Father in Heaven is there and sent His Son to be with us always and in ALL Ways. I know that as I have clung to the knowledge of who I am as a Daughter of God, I have been able to draw from the power of the Atonement and change to be more like my Saviour.
We can be changed for good! :D And it will be a good change! 

Safety in the Storm

Hello There!!!

So I'm doing better at posting!
I just had a thought come to me about storms in life and how we can find safety.
There are some pretty crazy storms we face in life, even more than just the physical storms of floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, blizzards, etc. We face storms in life of pain, hurt feelings, offence, anger, moving, depression, anxiety, death of a loved one, and the list could go on!

I know for myself I have often questioned the "why?" for the trials or storms that I have faced. I've thought many times that maybe what I was given was to much and that I should give up. Or have asked why it is that me and family was given such hard battles to fight. We look straight into the rain and the wind that whips around us and get discouraged about the trials we face.

And as I have asked these questions I have been drawn again and again to the Saviour Jesus Christ, because it is only through Him that my family and I have been able to come out on top again and again in the trials we have faced.

There is a poem I heard when I was little that I can only remember a little bit of now (if anyone has the poem PLEASE let me know I would love to get it!)
 There is a line that says, "from the strongest winds grow the strongest trees,"
I see my life and my experiences as a testimony of that.

I know there is a way that we can all in the end come through our storms smiling and asking "That's it?" We are so much stronger than we think, and that is because of Jesus Christ. 

Never get discouraged because of the trials that you face. God gives some of His toughest warriors the hardest battles. 

Last night at a supper appointment with a member, Sister Varey said this, "There is no use in giving up, if we give up Satan wins." 

The Safety in the Storm is found through Jesus Christ's restored gospel, it is found through His Atonement, and if we endure to the end we will have peace and safety. 

Road Life

Hello again!!

I am SOooo sorry I have been terrible at blogging lately! But I promise I am still alive and kicking!
So I actually wasn't going to post today.... eeek! haha but then a thought came to my mind, so I'm going to run with it and see how it goes! Please bear with me and don't judge me to harshly because of it. :)

So I've posted a lot in the past about the decisions we have in life, choices we make, and how things change over time.
My thoughts today come in part from those previous thoughts, and also the check points a long the way.

Our Heavenly Father gives us many things to guide us a long our path of life. Like street signs they point us in the direction that we want to go. And if we follow them will be blessed to reach our destination.


These streets signs are only one point of the equation though. Without a map or a destination they are meaningless. We will get somewhere, and we may seem some beautiful sights a long the way,  But with out knowing where we are headed we'll just be stuck.

Sometimes in our life, we come to a screeching halt. Where we have the opportunity to reevaluate and check our progress.  

SO what? What does this have to do with anything?? 

What are the tools that our Heavenly Father has given to us to use? 

Our map is the scriptures, the street signs are prayers, church attendance, and the personal revelation we receive. 

What our destination is ultimately tells us how we use the tools we've been given. If our desire is to return to our Heavenly Father then we are going to search our map and find the best way possible there. If we are simply desiring to go to the dump, we don't even need the map. We might as well follow the crowd. 

 We can accomplish great things in the service of our God, and as we follow His guidance we will truly be able to do great things! 

The Time to Change

Hey Hey!!
Its me!! :) Imagine that! ;) haha
Sorry, a little bit on the tired side! But its great!
So in the last year or so there has been a new emphasis for missionaries to Teach Repentance and Baptize Converts.
The first training on this came out last January in a worldwide missionary broadcast. Follow-up training was just given in another missionary broadcast given about two and a half weeks ago.


It has been some incredible training! I have loved the things I have learned! :)
As I have reflected on this past year and the things I have learned/taught about Teaching Repentance and Baptizing Converts I have been amazed at the things I have learned.

I've been pondering lately about repentance.
It has been amazing for me to learn more and more about this important step in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
When I was little repentance scared me, well it terrified me really. It just seemed so scary!! Like a big looming storm cloud.

BUT
I have come to learn how wonderful it is, It is so freeing to Change. :)
Repentance is simply change. Changing who we are now into something more.
We have the power given to us to choose. We are agents unto ourselves. NOT objects to be acted upon.
I think about kids and how willing they are to learn! Its amazing! I think all to often we neglect the childlike qualities that help us to repent.

I know that while it can be hard to repent, It really does bring lasting peace and happiness. Even in the simplest of ways we can be blessed immensely by our Heavenly Father.

Follow the Prophet!

Hi-ya!!
Oh dear, oh dear!! It seems I've done it again.... I've let nearly a full month pass by without posting. :( ahh!!!!! Time goes by to quickly on a mission.
I have learnt so many wonderful things over the past  month and there is no way I could make one post about it... or it would be about 12 pages long.
The Struggle is Real!
But seriously, I do want to share a bit about what I have learnt recently.

In my mission I have been called as a Sister Training Leader, where I get to help supervise, support, and train the sisters in the mission. Its hard sometimes, but it is so much fun too!!!
As part of it, we work with the other leadership in the mission to plan and present training. Recently, we created a document to help motive, inspire, and direct the work of the missionaries serving here.

We have had an amazing opportunity as we watched the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast it was incredible to hear the council from the Missionary Executive Council on how to further missionary work worldwide. As we watched it together, our thoughts kept being drawn back to the document we had created.
It is amazing to see how much better life is when we follow the council of the prophets!!

Its kind of a no-brainer, but it is true!!! As we discussed the broadcast afterwards, we noted about how can continually follow the guidance brings blessings and miracles.
We have seen throughout the mission how the document created has truly inspired us all to work harder everyday.
I testify that as we not only sustain, but follow the guidance of the prophets and apostles we've been blessed with then we WILL be blessed beyond belief.

Justice, Grace, Mercy, and possibly Nemo.

Hello!!!

So I'm trying to get back into the swing of posting more often again.... haha :) Thankfully when its to cold to go out and work it gives me lots of time to think about what I can post! :)

I had another brilliant thought in the midst of my Atonement study this morning. I find it funny how one can know and have a understanding of something through out a life time, but until one takes the time to ponder, pray, and seek deeper understanding does it really hit home.

So that's kind of what happened this morning.

I read Mosiah 13:28 which says, 

 "28 And moreover, I say unto you, that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses."

This scripture blew me away this morning. I have thought a lot about the laws of Justice, Grace, and Mercy throughout my mission and have really tried to obtain a better understanding of them. This verse pulled everything together for me. 

Without a law with a fixed punishment, we cannot have the law of justice. If there was no justice or no law it would be following closer to Satan's plan, we wouldn't have any choices to make. 

By the laws of justice we cannot make it to live with our Heavenly Father again. This is because of the fallen world that we live in. It is impossible for us, on our own to earn  or work our way back. "You just can't Nemo!" (haha sorry) 

BUT thankfully because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ we have not only the possibility, but the ability as well to receive forgiveness and strength; the affects of both mercy and grace. 

If it was not for the Atonement there would be NO way for us to overcome the affects of our fallen state. 

I am SOOO incredibly grateful for the Atonement and for everything that we are able to obtain because of it. There is nothing that we have or can receive, excepting through it. 

I know the power of the Atonement is real. We are blessed to be able to access it through prayers of faith. 

The Plan

Hi-ya!!

So I had a different post that I was going to do..... but then it wasn't working out. So now yous get this one... haha :)

So the Canada Winnipeg Mission has been doing a fairly intense and in depth study of the Atonement of Jesus Christ lately. I have LOOOOVVVEDD it! It has been so so so so wonderful to learn more about the differing aspects of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

One of my favourite talks that we've read with it is The Master Healer by Carole M. Stephens. I especially enjoyed the connection she drew between the Doctrine of Christ and the Atonement. 

She said, "As we increase our understanding of the doctrine of Christ, we soon discover that we are developing a deeper understanding of “the great plan of happiness.” We also recognize that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is at the very heart of the plan.

When we learn how to apply the doctrine of Christ to our individual circumstances, our love for our Savior grows." 

It is so amazing to see how much LOVE can grow within ourselves when we strive to live the gospel and follow the example that Christ set for us. 

A few months back Elder Keetch, of the Seventy, came and visited the mission. It was glorious!! One of the things he talked about was drawing nearer to our Heavenly Father and to Christ.
He mentioned how we draw nearer to God by praying and literally speaking with Him. While we draw nearer to Christ by being like Him. 

I have really been able to find that by living the Gospel of Jesus Christ I have come  nearer to my Savior. I have learned how to use the Atonement and have truly felt the love that Christ has for each and every one of us. 

It is true that the center of God's great and eternal plan for us is Jesus Christ. He should not just be the center of the plan but the center of our lives and WHO we become.