Not So Perfect Days

So my last post was about making the best out our days. Now there are some of us who may be facing some greater challenges that make it hard to notice the good. Challenges that can't really be expressed by words. It may seem impossible to press forward, at time you might cry "Why?! Why me?" As in the Book of Mosiah from the Book of Mormon you may feel as Alama and his people who were in serious bondage
"And it came to pass that so great were their afflictions that they began to cry mightily to God." (Mosiah 24:10) But when the ruler Amulon saw this he "... commanded them that they should stop their cries; and he put guards over them to watch them, that whosoever should be found calling upon God should be put to death."

"And Alma and his people did not raise their voices to the Lord their God, but did pour out their hearts to him; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts." (Mosiah 24:11-12)

So why are we faced with such hard things in this life?

God puts us in situations that may seem unbearable, but it's important to note that as long we exercise faith he will help us. It's a common misunderstanding that God will not give us more than we can handle. This is somewhat true, but actually God will give us more than we can handle by ourself. The key is that he is by our side and we have to have faith in Christ that he will help. Only then, can we handle the things thrown at our face, and dodge those nasty fiery darts of life.

A neighbor of mine back home in Utah once said " We've all heard the quote 'When life hands you lemons make lemonaid', well, unless life is going to hand us some water and sugar, that's going to be some pretty awful lemonade."
We have to put in some effort, and whole lot of faith. Faith requires that we are actively trying! In the Book of Mormon it says "...for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." Sometimes people tend get hung up on that "after all." The words 'after all' which here means, "in proportion to." God does require our effort, but grace is the power of God in our life to do all things he asks of us.

In a talk by Brad Wilcox, he uses an example of how a mom pays for piano lessons for her daughter.

"Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice." (full talk: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1966)

There are times when it may seem impossible to even think about practicing. Remember that the Lord not only suffered for our short comings, but our pains, afflictions and sorrows.

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." - Alma 7:11

Grace is the divine means and enabling power to help us through EVERYTHING!

He will not abandon us! His hand is always extended towards us, he knows each of our pain, afflictions, sorrows, heartaches even more than we do. So grab hold of his hand and don't let go!

"And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage." (Mosiah 24:13-16)

Link for the video if it doesn't work: http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#mountains-to-climb

A Perfect Ordinary Day

Well, still trying to figure out this whole blog thing. Hopefully, I can start to do it weekly. It's a process! It always takes longer than I think just to write a bit. So, let's do this!

So I want you to imagine your perfect day. What is it? I bet a lot of us are imagining some sunny beach on Hawaii (if your Elder Perkins you're use to this so you're thinking of 3 feet of snow in DC) or maybe you spent the day with someone famous you admire, I'm just throwing out the first celebrity that comes to mind so, Oprah!, or maybe it's just a day without any stress and just carefree and you get to nap! Now, most of us can't quite spend everyday in Hawaii on the beach, or be with Oprah all the time (she's a little busy) and I hope you don't nap everyday! So how can we make the other 29,199+ days of our life as perfect as we can make it?
I want you to imagine again a perfect ordinary day. How did it go? Maybe you were able to get up on time, got the perfect amount of sleep. Maybe you made it to the gym, got a good workout in. You then made an awesome omelet to celebrate the sleep you achieved, peppers, cheese, the works, oh, and your kids love it too. You head off to work, your favorite song comes on the radio. You're doing good, and then some guy cuts you off! But that's okay, you're not going to let him ruin your day, it's gone great so far. You get to work, and you accomplish all that was due, but the computer crashes! And you lose part of you work. You explain to your boss, and he understands. He can see the work you put into it, and decides to take you to lunch. He mentions how he admires how happy you always seem to be. When you return to work, all falls into place, and the work is made up. You drive home, your favorite song again comes on! And then it stops just in time as you pull in the drive way. Nice! You get inside, and the kids aren't fighting! Dinner gets started, it's your favorite! Kids start to fight a bit, but you bribe with some ice cream, and they stop. After dinner, you play a game with the family, have some ice cream, catch up on some of your favorite shows, and back to bed you  go. Now, wait. There were some things in there that didn't go perfect. There is one common thread through the day, and that is our attitude! We did the best we had control of and did the best with the things we didn't. We stopped and admired the small things that make us smile.

"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." - Doctrine and Covenants 123:17

Let's do all we can to take control of things cheerfully and remember our purpose in this life. Let's serve others, let's notice the little things, let's be happy for Gods plan for each of us.

The New Year: New You

For those of you reading this, you are witnessing history in the making as I attempt to try and express my thoughts and beliefs as a young 19 year old missionary from Utah living in Northern Virginia, about something so vast, huge and so exciting. How to obtain Eternal Life. So bear with me, as it is my hope that you will be able to gain a better understanding of our Heavenly Fathers plan.

It's crazy to believe it's a New Year! With the New Year, comes change, if we allow it to we can obtain  better progression. One of my favorite talks from the leaders of our Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland called "The Best is Yet to Be." In the talk he shares   the Saviors warning "Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:32). He shares the story of Lot and his family leaving the city of Gomorrah. The Lord warned them to "look not behind thee..."(Gen. 19:17) And as they left, Lot's wife turned around, looked back... and Poof! Turned into a pillar of salt. So what was so wrong with looking behind? Well some may argue that you need to turn around to see how far you've gone, however the problem here is that Lot's wife was urning and wanting to be back in the city and lifestyle of Gomorrah.

We can think about this story and relate it in our own lives. Many of us have tried to set New Year goals or resolutions, and haven't been able to follow through with them. What sounded like a good idea to begin with often quickly fades the more we realized the effort we need to put in. A good example is those who are trying to loose weight, workout more, be healthier, etc. I once talked with a man who was a super buff, ripped guy, and he would always joke about how the gym was just going to be packed for the month of January and part of February, and then return to the regular guys who come with the exception of few new people. He said he could always tell who was going to be the people to stay committed to coming. It was those who really put there heart into it, and had the mindset of they needed this and not just a "good idea." I would think that Lot's wife thought it was a good idea to leave Gomorrah, but didn't have her heart in, she fell to quickly back to old habits.

Recently we went to the Vienna Metro station and tried to talk and see what different goals or resolutions people are setting. It was a bit surprising that most of those we talked to said they didn't bother setting goals for the New Year because they knew that they weren't going to keep it up. I thought this was interesting. If we look at the definition of repentance, we see that it really is to change.
In order for us to become better and grow, we must step out of our comfort zones and strive to become the best. In the book of Alma, from the Book of Mormon, chapter 5 v:14 it states, "And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" Let us do all we can to have a change of heart sot that we can be those who stick with their goals. Let us rely on the Savior to help us change ourselves and become more as he is.

Happy New Year everyone, 2014 is the year we all can be changed through Christ. 

This video shows how the New Year is the time for opportunity. 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormon-channel-daily/385?v=910930409001

this is also a link to the talk "The Best is Yet to Be" - Jeffrey R Holland

http://www.lds.org/liahona/2010/01/the-best-is-yet-to-be?lang=eng&query=lot's+wife