Something that I have never forgotten from my freshman year of college was something said by my Bishop. Which was this: our purpose here on Earth is to LEARN, PRACTICE, and BECOME. And this is all possible through Jesus Christ. We can be perfected through him. I know that when we choose to follow Christ and put God first, we will most definitely be blessed. And I KNOW, that through the gospel of Jesus Christ we can find true happiness.
Yesterday, Dad, Trish, Emily, Jordan, Kate, and I all went camping at the Lake. It was a nice and short camping trip. Of course, my favorite part was s’mores but I loved being in nature, sleeping under the stars, hiking down to the lake, and just spending time with the family. I feel so blessed to have a family who are all so loving. In 2 Timothy 3:7, Paul talks of truth & knowledge and how people think they are learning, but in reality they aren’t. He explains it as, “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
In my New Testament class, my professor, Brother Griffin, taught Satan loves it when we gain KNOWLEDGE; but hates it when we gain WISDOM. So what’s the difference? Well, WISDOM is acting upon truth that we have come to know. In this scripture, Paul is warning us that people may hit a point in their lives where they are “ever learning but aren’t recognizing truth. “ An example is getting caught up in the things of the world, such as work, school, social media, extracurricular activities, etc. rather than focusing on strengthening and building their testimonies. An example is reading our scriptures daily but without thought or any desire. Sometimes we fall in this trap because we are expected to do this or we feel like we “have” to do this. If that’s the case, then we are what Paul calls “ever learning” but not coming to recognize truth. May we come to know the importance the scriptures have in our lives and the many other truths found with the gospel. I know when we do so, we will be filled with wisdom and we will be one step closer to the godly beings we are destined to become. On May 1st, after enduring through both physical and mental challenges, Tyler graduated from bootcamp and became an official marine of the United States Marine Corps.
Our whole family actually got to pick him up at the base (MCRD) which was quite interesting. The base didn't exactly give me the best vibes. And according to Tyler, it definitely wasn't the happiest place on earth. But only because the recruits are confined to this small area and are put under multiple tests that transform them from boys to men, and men to soldiers. Overall, San Diego was AMAZING. I loved how happy Tyler was and everyone for that matter. You can see that bootcamp changed him, but in a good way. Something that I found funny was how Tyler could not stop talking. He just loved telling us about his experiences and trials that he had to overcome. (side note, while Tyler was in bootcamp he was not allowed any contact with family or with the world, except through letters. So it kind of makes sense why he couldn't stop talking, because he hadn't really talked to anyone for 13 weeks.) My little brother Tyler just left for boot camp!! I’m so excited for him and I’m proud of him and the choices he is making! I'm kind of bummed that I wasn’t able to say goodbye! But I’ll see you in 13 weeks Tyler! ;) I know you'll do great things!!!
One of my goals for this year is to keep a journal/blog, so that I am able to have something to look back on in 15 or 20 years.
So here goes nothing….. I’m currently attending my 6th semester here at BYU and I absolutely love it! I love Provo and the environment here on campus. Being away at college has been so good for me (even though it's so stinkin' hard!) because I am learning so much about myself and life! I’ve caught myself saying things like, “wow, we are such adults” or “man, that was very mature of us” Because when I look back at these last semesters, I can see so much growth and improvement, whether it is mentally, spiritually, or secularly. Mom and dad, I am growing up!!! I have learned to love, to serve, to be patient and to be intentional. At the start of the semester, I changed my major once again. For those of you, who may not know, I am so indecisive, especially when it comes to decisions like this. Anyways, by making this decision, I realized that a lot of times in our life, we may feel like we are lost, confused, or just unsure where life may take us. But at these times, we just need to put our full trust in God and His plan for us and just take a leap of faith. Just a couple of weeks ago, we had a BYU devotional by BYU President Worthen and his wife. They talked a lot about facing our failures and "FAILING SUCCESSFULLY". Something that I have learned is that we can't go through life without failing. When you think about it, we are destined to fail because no one is perfect. President Worthen described it as, “a critical component” to our ETERNAL PROGRESS. And a thought that I've been thinking of is that yes we will fail in life (and hopefully we learn and succeed in the future); however, when we choose to GIVE UP that’s when we truly fail and become failures. So when we think of our failures as learning opportunities or moments where we can grow (mentally and spiritually), and choose to NOT to give up, then we are "FAILING SUCCESSFULLY". This is my motto for 2015....Let’s all “fail successfully!” Where we are, the people we are with, and the choices we are making—we are at this point in our lives, for a reason. We need to learn from our mistakes, develop a relationship with our Heavenly Father, feast upon the scriptures, and be in tuned with the spirit. When we do these things we will be on the right path and we will be blessed. This weekend, I had the opportunity to attend stake conference, and I was surprised how much I learned. Our "decisions determine [our] destiny."(President Monson). In our world today, the adversary seems to be everywhere; however, we shouldn't be discouraged, In Isaiah 41:10 it reads,"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” Going with this scripture, in stake conference, something that was reiterated was, “Don’t be discouraged, God will bless you in the end." To me this means, Don’t give up hope. We are strong enough to withstand Satan and his temptations.
Heavenly Father chose us to be on Earth, at this time. He saved us for the last days. We are the hope of the world. Therefore, we all have a mission...Whether it’s serving the Lord for 18-24 months, or being a good example by living and sharing the gospel. Heavenly Father loves all his children and he wants all of them to come back home. To sum everything up: we need to have faith and to not give up on the fight between good vs. evil. And our example is powerful and can be a light for others. So when you feel like losing hope, DON'T. Because not only are you saving yourself, but ultimately, you are saving others. |