Seek ye first the kingdom of God

     In Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, it reads "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." As I am nearing the end of my first 

semester in college, I have seen this verse come into play in my life over and over again. 

     One of the most important things I have learned about myself this semester is the only way I can be productive is when I stay focused on my devotion to the Lord. The most productive I had been all semester was when I would head straight to the library after classes, and read the Book of Mormon before I did anything else. It was only when I did my scripture reading first that I would feel motivated to get things done.

     There were days where I would push scripture reading to be the last thing that I would do (mostly because of pressing deadlines). On those days, everything seemed to drag. If I got everything done, it was barely. My stress levels would go up, and I would end up miserable by the end of the night. But whenever I read my scriptures first, I always managed to finish everything with the least amount of stress I could experience.

      Though college can be extremely overwhelming, I know I am not going through it alone. Not only are there 30,000+ students who are suffering alongside with me, but I know Heavenly Father is here to assist me with all the things I have been asked to do. 

Christ and His Atonement

        A few weeks ago, we talked about the Atonement and my professor reminded us the importance of keeping Christ in the equation. He mentioned to us that as members of the church, we often give all the credit to the Atonement, and not to Christ. I found this really interesting. It's not something I've ever thought about before, but it's something that became extremely important to me. Christ suffered so much for us, it is important for us to remember what He has done for us.
      A talk given by Russell M. Nelson this past weekend reiterated the idea. He expressed that "it is the Savior who suffered, it is the Savior who broke the bands of death, it is the Savior who paid the price for our sins and transgressions and blotched them out on condition of our repentance. It is the Savior who delivers us from physical and spiritual death." This quote filled me with love for the Savior and what He has done for all of us. It taught me the importance of involving Christ when we talk about the Atonement. And how it is incomplete doctrine to shortcut the phrase. I am grateful for the knowledge that my professor and President Nelson have provided me with.

The Power of Prayer

      One of the greatest lessons I've learned since I arrived at BYU is the power of prayer. I have realized how important it is to consult with Heavenly Father in everything we do. Although every decision we have to make is ultimately our choice, Heavenly Father will always leads us to the correct path. He won't lead us astray, because He wants what is best for us and He wants us to make it back to Him.
      A little over a week ago, I received the greatest testament of prayer I had ever experienced. For BYU's spring break, my friends and I went to California for the weekend. So many of us went, that we ended up filling three cars. As we left campus, the car I was in said a quick prayer that we would travel in safety. In the beginning of our drive, we were all extremely excited and we were jamming out to music. When we were about a half hour outside of Las Vegas, the car settled down. I decided to try and sleep, since it would be a long night, but I could not get the thought of a car accident out of my head. I kept thinking of a car accident, and the thought to say another prayer quickly followed. Part of me thought I was just being paranoid, so I made the deal with myself that if the thought of a car accident was still bothering me in five minutes, that I would suggest we say another prayer. Needless to say, I didn't even survive a minute. The thought of a car accident was so prominent in my head I couldn't think of anything else. So I sat up and told my friends Emily and Ana, who were in the front, that I thought we should say another prayer.
     So, I said another quick prayer that all three cars would be able to travel safely. About 45 minutes later, we stopped for gas. As we were driving out of the gas station, my friend Jarom stopped us, saying he wanted to take out his contacts. We waited a moment while he did so, and then quickly we were back on the road. After about 10-15 minutes of driving, we found ourselves in a stand still. We were all frustrated that we weren't moving, it was late, and we all just really wanted to sleep. For 30 minutes we just sat there, only guessing why we were still there. Eventually, a man came up to our window and explained there was a horrible car accident just up ahead and that safety vehicles were coming shortly to take care of it. After waiting for awhile longer, we all got restless and got out of the car to see if the safety vehicles had made any progress. I was completely shocked when we made the 30 second walk to the accident. We were so close to the accident. I am 100% convinced that if Jarom hadn't stopped to take out his contacts, or if my friend Jack was driving just a little bit faster, we would have been in that car accident.
     Last night I was reading in Mosiah 23, and in verse 28 it says "Therefore they..., they began to cry unto the Lord that he would soften the hearts of the Lamanites..." followed by "And it came to pass that the Lord did soften the hearts of the Lamanites." in verse 29. These two verses are just another example of how the Lord answers our prayers and how there can be real power in them. I am eternally grateful for the promptings of the Holy Spirit and for the power of prayer. I am grateful that through both of those, I was able to be protected.

Charity is the love of Christ

     In my religion class, we are assigned two papers throughout the semester. This past week, I have been working on the second paper. The topic being "I want to be better," we were to choose a Christ-like attribute and study it and somehow apply it to our lives. I decided to do charity, and guys, it seriously changed my life. For the research portion, I read Thomas S. Monson's talk "Charity Never Faileth" that he gave in October of 2010. If you haven't read it, I strongly encourage you to do so because it was amazing.
     President Monson's talk really helped me understand charity. I know that charity is a well-known topic in the gospel, and though I've heard it talked about often, I wasn't sure how to develop the characteristic. President Monson described charity as "the opposite of criticism and judging." He goes on to say that "charity... forgives,... charity is patient." He tells us that charity implies that we are sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful. That we should be quick to forgive those who have wronged us and be patient with those that let us down. After reading President Monson's talk, I was able to better understand charity. President Monson tells us that "love is action" and throughout the week, I have become a witness of this. It is constantly give love to everyone, even to those who are hard. It is service and kindness and patience, without expecting anything in return.
     As I tried to act in love and patience throughout the week, I was able to feel Christ's love for me and for everyone else. It really helped me understand that charity is the pure love of Christ. Christ loves all of us completely and perfectly, and when we are charitable, we are harnessing that love and we can feel it for ourselves and for those around us.

He believes in us

     This past week I have been reading in Mosiah for my scripture study. I was reading chapter 7, and verse 33 says "But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." Now I know I touched on this last week, but this scripture really just affirmed to me the love that God has for all of us.
     The phrase "according to his own will and pleasure" implies that He wants to deliver us out of bondage. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to be righteous and to be obedient to the commandments because He wants to be with us again. A few years ago I had a thought that comes to my mind often. Heavenly Father let us go, knowing that some of us may never return. He loves us so much that He blessed us with this experience on earth, knowing that some of us would mess up. But He believes in us, and if we are obedient to Him, He will be more than happy to let us be back in His presence.

God truly does love all of us

      Yesterday during our testimony meeting, I noticed a reoccurring theme in all the testimonies shared. Maybe not directly stated, but all testified of God's love for His children. The thought has been on my mind recently, that God truly does love all of us.
      For my scripture study, I have been reading the Book of Mormon with the question "How do I know that my Heavenly Father loves me?" And every day before reading, I pray that I may be able to find ways that God has shown His love for me. And let me tell you, it has worked wonders. I haven't gone a single day without finding at least one way that God has shown His love for me, and for all of His children. I've realized that when you ask for confirmation of His love, He will never leave you hanging. He will never leave you just to hope and guess His love for you. He will show you, you just have to be looking. In the words of the Young Women Theme, "We are [children] of our Heavenly Father, who loves us."

The Happiest Way to Live

     This past weekend was one of the busiest weekends I've had since I've gotten here. Within my friend group, half of us are sick, and the other half are sleep deprived. All of us pushed our homework off until last minute (causing Ana to stay up until 5 am), many of us took some serious injuries from disco skating, and yet I thin I can speak for my entire friend group that this past weekend was one of the best we've had. So as I reflect on the past weekend, I try to figure out what was so amazing about it. What made this crazy busy weekend different from all the rest? The answer wasn't that hard to come by. Two of my friends, Jarom and Chad, got their mission calls (one to Australia and one to Costa Rica if y'all were curious) and my friend, Hannah, got engaged!
     I am 100% convinced that this weekend was amazing because we all were living the gospel. The two soon-to-be missionaries have so much faith in the gospel, they are willing to put their entire lives on hold to go spread God's love. Hannah has lived her life faithfully, that soon she can marry her best friend in the temple, and they can be sealed for all eternity.
     This weekend has reminded me that living the gospel is the happiest way to live. It is by no means easier, but I can feel the peace and love that comes from following the commandments and trusting in God's plan. Thomas S. Monson shared "of this be sure: you do not find the happy life... you make it." I believe that you can make the happy life by following the gospel and trusting in the Lord.