TOFW 2019

Hello Everyone!
 
last weekend i went to this really great event called Time Out For Women. my mom, aunt, Sister, and I all went. it was an amazing experience. we have been going for quite a few years now. The theme for this year was "Hear"... it was about different ways we receive revelation and how we can listen and follow that revelation.



Deuteronomy 4:36.

  " 36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might ^ainstruct thee: and upon earth he ^bshewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire." 



There were so many great speakers. Here are a few of the highlights.

• Make silence (away from phones, etc.) a priority.
• Remember, God is aware of you!
• Sometimes the way we receive personal revelation is more important then the personal revelation itself
• 
  
  
• Trust him enough to choose.
• "I'm not perfect, but i was never meant to be.
• God can create beauty from ashes.
• Live with your eyes to the heavens
• GO TO THE TEMPLE!
• Stand ye still, for the battle is not yours its Gods.
• For revelation to start working in your life, all you need is need.
• the Lord will us any way he can to communicate with us, he will meet us in our "places" 
• Pay close attention to what the Lord is teaching you.
• Stop praying that God will take the storm away, and start inviting him to walk through it with you.
• knowing how to listen is just as important as learning how to speak
• Never let yourself get so distracted to pray with intent. 
• take notes when you pray.
• the more we listen to the more we learn to recognize his voice.
• listen to the music of the spirit, the music of Heaven.
• if there be ears to hear, there shall be revelation to experience.
• don't talk back when Heavenly Father tells you that you've done a good job.

i would like to talk a little bit about a couple of those highlights.

First, "Make Silence a priority". We Need to make silence in our lives, where we can just sit, and listen to what the Lord has to tell us. if we are too busy with technology and running around etc. we can not receive that revelation that the Lord is trying to tell us, because we are too busy with the hustle and bustle of life, and the noises of the world that we can hear him. 

Second,  "Trust him enough to choose" one of the speakers told a story about the revelation that she received when she asked if she was to marry her husband, side note: he proposed to her in the Celestial room of the Temple, (i love that and have always said that, that is how i wanted to be proposed to, he took my idea lol) anyways, when he proposed she hadn't quite asked if it was right, and so she prayed really quickly there in her head, and the answer that she got really surprised her. "you choose" those were the 2 words that she heard. so, he trusted her enough to know that she would make the right decision for herself. sometimes, in our lives we ask him for things and we get that same answer, sometimes in different words, but the same revelation, for us to choose for ourselves what we should do. we need to pray with intent, the way that i pray for answers to things and choices that i need to make are this: i ponder and think about the decision that i need to make, and i make that decision, then i pray and tell Heavenly Father what decision i have made, and basically tell him if it is not right, stop me! and every single time, if is not right he has stopped me. he gave us agency for a reason, and we need to use that wonderful gift that was given. we just need to trust him enough to choose. 

The third and last one I would like to talk about is, "Don't talk back when Heavenly Father tell you that you've done a good job" too many times we doubt ourselves, especially spiritually. we get down on ourselves and compare ourselves to others, "shes prettier than me, shes such a great mother, and I'm not, look at all of these people that are married with families, something must be wrong with me.  etc." but in reality nothing is wrong with us, we are doing everything right, Heavenly Father just has a different plan for us than we had for ourselves. So, we need to stop talking down to ourselves, and Don't talk back when he says we are doing a good job. 

PS: i got to meet and take a picture with one of my heroes. Mary Ellen Edmunds, she has spoken at almost every TOFW i have been to, and she is just so amazing! if you have not heard of her, look her up, you will not be disappointed! 

I love to see the Temple

   
 I know its been a few months since I've written on here. Its so hard to write every week, but I will make it goal to do at least every other week, at least to start, then hopefully get back to every week.

              I love to see the temple.

                 I’m going there someday

                   To feel the Holy Spirit,

                    To listen and to pray.

           For the temple is a house of God,

                 A place of love and beauty.

          I’ll prepare myself while I am young;

                  This is my sacred duty.

                    I love to see the temple.

                  I’ll go inside someday.

               I’ll cov’nant with my Father;

                   I’ll promise to obey.

            For the temple is a holy place

            Where we are sealed together.

                                                                                           As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth:

                                                                                                          A fam’ly is forever.

      Tonight I wanted to talk about the Temple, I absolutely love the temple, when I was 21 I was so excited to go to the temple, and of course go on my mission. As soon as I got my mission call, I schedule my session to go to the House of the Lord and receive my endowments. It was such a great experience. There was a lot going on, but I remember most everything, especially how I felt. As I went through the veil and walked into the celestial room (the most beautiful room I have ever been in) and saw my parents there glowing with smiles waiting for me, this overwhelming joy came over me. and not a day goes by that I don't think of that moment. The Temple is my favorite place to be. You can't be grumpy, or sad, or mad, etc. In the Temple, there is no way anyone can be anything but purely happy in there.We are not only helping ourselves but, we are helping those that have passed on gain their salvation.

     Another great story that happened in the temple while I just a kid doing baptisms with my family is this. But first, my grandfather was a convert, and he grew up in an orphanage, so he did not know his family. He spent a lot of his life trying to do his family history with no success, he passed through the veil when I was 11 years old. And not long after, my family started finding all of these names of ancestors, so that we could do the temple work for them. There are still tons and tons of names that my family is finding of ancestors that need their temple work done.  I know that my grandfather has been in the spirit world for 20 years, preaching the gospel to all of my family members there, and more.
   
      I was only 12 or 13, and my family got some of those family names to go do baptisms for. That was the first time I had done any work for my own family. It was myself, my parents and my older sister and older brother. It was one of the coolest things I have ever done, I love doing temple work, but doing temple work for family is just a special thing. Anyways, we had done the baptisms and then we went in to do the confirmations, and as we were sitting in the room listening to the confirmations, my mom and brother had the same vision where they saw our family members saying finally! thank you! with so much joy, because they had waited for so long to have their work done, and it was finally happening.

     I feel as if my ancestors and I had very close to the same experience in the temple when we were able to get our work done, except they had to wait for someone to do their work, but we both had the same feelings of Joy when we finally were able to receive our temple ordinances.

     I cannot tell you how important it is to go to the temple, not only for yourself but for your ancestors and anyone else that has passed on and cannot go to the temple for themselves.

     Just sitting in the temple brings me so much peace and joy, It is where I feel closest to the Lord, it is where I receive answers to prayers, etc.

     The celestial room is exactly how I visualize the celestial kingdom looking and feeling. perfectly white, clean, peaceful, and just beautiful.

 This video explains the temple in such simple yet amazing words, it shows member testimonies of their experiences in the temple.

     "Therefore let the Saints be diligent in building the Temple, and all houses which they have been, or shall hereafter be, commanded of God to build; and wait their time with patience in all meekness, faith, perseverance unto the end."

—Joseph Smith

     "We must build more temples, and we must build them more quickly. This is the season to build temples. They are needed, and we have the means to do so. The Lord will hold us accountable if we do not work with greater accomplishment than we are now doing."

—Gordon B. Hinckley

     "We continue to build temples. We desire that as many members as possible have an opportunity to attend the temple without having to travel inordinate distances."

—Thomas S. Monson

Are we not all Mothers?

Man oh Man am I bad at updating this thing. especially this semester, my homework has been due every Sunday night all semester by 11:59, so I'm going to use that as an excuse as to why I haven't updated my blog in a while. lol

anyways, to day is mothers day. I have a Love/hate relationship with mothers day. I love celebrating my wonderful mother and the many great mothers in my life, but it always makes me sad when it comes around and I am still not a mother. it makes me wonder if I will be able to be a mother in this life. I do have faith that even if I don't get the opportunity to be a mother in this life, but I keep my covenants that I have made with my Heavenly Father I will have all of the same blessings as everyone else. and hopefully I will have the opportunity to be a mother at least in the next life. 

on this mothers day I am going to keep this short at sweet, because Sheri Dew says it better than I could ever dream of, in her talk "are we not all Mothers?" it is one of the most amazing talks that I have heard, and listen to it every mothers day. it helps me to feel better about the fact that I am not a mother. 

I may not be a mother (yet) but I will be the BEST aunt to the greatest children on the planet, and a great sister to my amazing sibling and the best daughter to the BEST parents to ever exist.  and the best Dog Mom I can be ;) I love my wonderful family more than anything! 

here is the talk by Sheri Dew "Are we not all Mothers?"

Atonement, Agency, and Accountability

I know I've been slacking a lot for a while. but, I'm really going to try to update my blog every week. starting today.

ok, so today in church I heard someone way the phrase "FREE Agency" I'm not sure why it bugs me so much when people say that, but it does.  because agency is NOT free. there was a debt paid so that we could have agency. We fought for the ability to have agency in the pre-existance. when we chose to keep our first estate and come here to this earth. Adam and Eve were given Agency in the garden.

Jesus Christ Paid the price for agency. he paid the the price for us to be able to choose. Elder Packer said "had agency come without the Atonement, it would have been a fatal gift". I found this wonderful talk given by Elder Packer on the Atonement, Agency, and Accountability.

Agency, is not just the freedom to choose good from evil, but it comes with consequences. If we choose to do evil, we face the consequences of those choices, if we choose to do good,  we receive those great blessings for doing so.

Elder Bednar said that the principle of Moral Agency is the least understood principle of the Gospel, he said "as I listen to members all over the world define agency this is what they say, its the ability to choose, and I can do what I want" he said "THAT'S FALSE.  in the Pearl of Great Price, in the book of Moses, its defines agency. it reads:

Moses7:32-33

32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;

33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father...

I am sharing a couple of videos tonight. 

I am first sharing the video of Elder Packer speaking on the Atonement, Agency, and Accountability. and I am sharing the video by Elder Bednar, it goes pretty deep so I hope that you understand it. if not, let me know and I will do what I can to help you. I would try to explain agency but there is no way that I can do it as good as Elder Bednar does. I do however urge you to go look it up in the scriptures like Elder Bednar says. there  is so much on Agency in the scriptures that we can learn. go onto www.LDS.org and look it up. I did that, and sooooo much comes up.

I also hope that this post makes sense, but I just wanted to let you all know that Agency is NOT free. it was paid for, and once we make those covenants we are NOT free to do what want. we are commanded to keep those sacred covenants that we make with our Father in Heaven, and if we don't, there are consequences, just like if we break a mortal law, there are consequences, we have the same with spiritual laws. we need to exercise that agency that Jesus Christ paid for with the Atonement, and keep those sacred covenants that we make with our Father in Heaven. I Promise you that as you keep those covenants you will be blessed beyond measure. We have so many blessings coming our way, but ONLY if we exercise our agency and keep those Covenants. I know that Jesus Christ paid that price for us in Gethsemane and that he know exactly how we feel at all times. He KNOWS us! he KNOWS all of us! he LOVES us! 

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

personal scripture study

hello everyone! so sorry I haven't posted for the past couple of weeks. I've been out of town the past couple of weekends. but now I'm back :)

today I taught the lesson in relief society, since it was 4th Sunday, the lesson was on the specific topic given by the prophet, this month it was on personal scripture study. we didn't have very many sisters in RS today, so we had a small discussion on the scriptures in general and our personal scripture study. we talked about things that help us to get the most out of our scripture study. we talked about the blessings that we have received and can receive because of our personal scripture study.
look up the lesson, here is the link.

https://www.lds.org/study/manual/come-follow-me-for-elders-quorum-and-relief-society-october-2018/fourth-sunday-meetings-2018?lang=eng

we discussed the scriptures that are listed there, and what they all had to do with each other and our personal scriptures study.

one of the great sisters in my wards comment was pretty amazing. she spoke about a blessing that she received because she followed what the Lord asked her to do, and read and studies the scriptures daily. she is a lawyer, and when she first moved here to LV, she was going to take the bar, and she hadn't really studied, because she passed the one in Utah easily, but the NV one was a little harder and she didn't pass it the first time. so she went to the Lord and asked for help, and asked him what she could do to be able to pass. and she got the impression that she needed to make sure she studied the scriptures daily, and she would pass the bar. so she did just that, she studied the scriptures daily, and sure enough she went back to take the bar again, and she passed. so, that was a faith builder for her, that because she had done what the Lord asked her to do and studied her scriptures, she was able to pass the bar, and is now a lawyer here in NV.

I shared this video that has always touched my heart, because of the place that it is in. it is the video for president Monson sharing his testimony at the Grandin building in Palmyra, NY. he is talking about the miracle of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and how that sacred text has touched the lives of many.

I am going to end my blog post with that video, and tell you all that I KNOW that the Scriptures are true, that they are sacred text, that they are a guideline for our lives, and that if we read, ponder, and pray as we study them, that we will be blessed, and that they will show us ALL things that we should do! and that we will be blessed beyond measure as we follow what the prophets have told us in those scriptures.


I say this in the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

(I know, I know its a really short post. I'm sorry. ill post a better one next week)

VOTE!

Ok, first, sorry I missed the last 2 weeks last week, I had just gotten back in town, and the week before, I don't remember why I didn't blog. But, I'm back now :)

So, this week I was trying to figure out what to write about, and decided I would write a little about our Country, and how amazing it is, and how we need to get out there and exercise our right to vote.
here is a letter that was read over every pulpit of the church during the 2016 Election.

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

As citizens we have the privilege and duty of electing office holders and influencing public policy. Participation in the political process affects our communities and nation today and in the future. We urge Latter-day Saints to be active citizens by registering, exercising their right to vote, and engaging in civic affairs.

We also urge you to spend the time needed to become informed about the issues and candidates you will be considering. Along with the options available to you through the Internet, debates, and other sources, the Church occasionally posts information about particular moral issues on which it has taken a position at www.MormonNewsroom.org.

Principles compatible with the gospel may be found in various political parties, and members should seek candidates who best embody those principles.

While the Church affirms its institutional neutrality regarding political parties and candidates, individual members should participate in the political process. The Church also affirms its constitutional right of expression on political and social issues.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas S. Monson
Henry B. Eyring
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
The First Presidency

this letter is still true today, we need to make sure that we are registered to vote, and that we get out there and vote. nothing is going to change, unless we vote, and make our voice heard. 

we live the last days, where as Joseph Smith Prophesied, the Constitution is hanging by a thread, and we need to save it. it is up to us. 

he prophesied man times about this happening. here are a few of the quotes:

“Even this nation will be on the verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground and when the Constitution is on the brink of ruin this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction.” (Joseph Smith Papers, LDS Church Historical Archives, Box 1, March 10, 1844.)

 “The government is fallen and needs redeeming. It is guilty of Blood and cannot stand as it now is but will come so near desolation as to hang as it were by a single hair!!!!! Then the servants goes [sic] to the nations of the earth, and gathers the strength of the Lord’s house! A mighty army!!!!!! And this is the redemption of Zion when the saints shall have redeemed that government and reinstated it in all its purity and glory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” (George A. Smith Papers, Church Archives, Box 7, Folder 5, January 21, 1841.)

“the time would come when the constitution and government would hang by a brittle thread and would be ready to fall into other hands but this people the latter-day saints will step forth and save it.” (James Burgess Journal, 1818–1904, Church Archives, vol. 1—found among loose sermons.)

“the time would come that the Constitution and the country would be in danger of an overthrow and said he, if the constitution be saved at all, it will be by the Elders of this Church. I believe this is about the language as nearly as I can recollect it.” (JD, 6:150.)

NOW is the time! it is up to US, to save this promised land. 

The United States of America is a promised land, just as Christ told the Nephites, one of my favorite scriptures is in 2 Nephi 1:6-7

6 "Wherefore, I, Lehi, prophesy according to the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that there shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord.
7 Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever. 

It is our fault if we let this country fail, when we think that we don't have voice, and so we just don't vote, we are letting the other side win, we DO have a voice, our vote DOES matter. 

This country is a blessed land , blessed above all other lands. it is because of this great country and the freedoms that we sometimes take or granted, that the Gospel of Jesus Christ was restored. We were the country that had religious freedom, so, Joseph Smith was able to go to a grove of trees and ask which church to join, and in result of that simple, humble prayer, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was Restored to the earth once more, and has now grown to over 16 million members. and is still growing so fast. 

I Love this great country that I was lucky enough to be born in, and I love this Gospel of Jesus Christ, that I was also, lucky enough to be born into, and taught my entire life. I know that The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, I know that this country is the greatest country on earth, an that it will continue to be the greatest country on earth, because the Righteous always win! we can and will win! lets not let the save our constitution, lets keep this land blessed forever! 

Now, if you have not already, get out there and vote on Tuesday! 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

if you would like the site for the quotes from Joseph Smith, here it is. it is a really good read you should read it.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1976/06/i-have-a-question/did-joseph-smith-say-that-the-constitution-would-hang-by-a-thread-and-that-the-elders-would-save-it?lang=eng

Oh, that I were and angel

ok, so first I will report on the social media fast that I have been on. it has been really great actually, and a lot easier than I thought it would be. I deleted all of my social media apps off of my phone, and I don't even think to get on them on the computer. the only app that I kept was the "pages" app for facebook to that I can still manage the business pages for work. but I can't see anything personal from there. only the business pages. so, it has been a week since I started it, and I have gotten a lot done, because I have not been distracted with facebook and instagram, I have been doing "fall cleaning" (like spring cleaning but fall) haha. I have just felt better in general, it is kind of a relief to not have those. so, I think when I get back on, I will definitely limit the time that I spend on social media. 

Now, to the real subject that I am blogging about today. so, my parents were speaking in their ward today, and I was asked last minute to pinch hit and sing. I was asked yesterday evening and their ward starts at 9 am. so I didn't have long to learn a song. its a good thing that I have the best accompanist in the world that always plays the piano for my family and i. she has been playing for us for close to 20 years. and we are so happy to have her. 

My parents talks were amazing! as always! and I was told that by the entire ward, and so were they. I had several people come up to me and say it was the best program ever, and that they should speak every week ;) 

My dad kind of chose my song, he said that when he found out that I was singing, that it was the song that came to his mind. I had heard it a handful of times, but not enough to really know it, and I had always heard men sing it. so, I was kind of nervous about learning it. because I had such little time. but I practiced and practiced and practiced, and prayed that the angels would be with me as I sang, that it would sound good, and that I would convey the message across to the congregation. 


The lyrics to the song are a scripture in Alma chapter 29 verse 1 it reads... 

O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, 
that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, 
with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people! 

I started to think about the lyrics of the song as I was practicing it, THAT I MIGHT GO FORTH AND SPEAK WITH THE TRUMP THE TRUMP OF GOD, WITH A VOICE TO SHAKE THE EARTH, AND CRY REPENTANCE UNTO EVERY PEOPLE! how powerful is that, to to only speak with a trump, which is already loud, but the Trump of GOD, with a voice that with shake the earth. and cry repentance. it made me reflect on my mission, and how I cried repentance every day for 18 months. and it was amazing, but just imagine if I could speak with the Trump of God. how many people would listen. you can't not hear a trump, it was very loud, and very powerful! 

You also do not need to have that little black name tag, to do missionary work, to cry repentance unto the people around us. to our friends and family.
he goes on to say 

2 Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth.

3 But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.

I love how he goes on and says, that he would declare to every people with the voice of thunder. " but behold, I am a man and do sin in my wish: for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me." 

As much as we can with we were angels and cry repentance with the voice of thunder, we are not that yet. we are only men and women, humans, and as Alma, I sin in my wish to be an angels. we shouldn't have to wish to be angels to be able to preach to gospel, NOW is the time to do it. we need to get out of our comfort zones, and use the gifts that we have been given to help the work along. 

In my moms talk today she talked about how we draw circles, and we hope that we don't get a calling that will take us out of that circle, and that we should get out of those circles and out of our comforts zones. I like to say that we have our own little bubbles, and we need to pop those bubbles. we need to pop them in order to grow. sometimes we are asked to o things that we may not "want" to do, or don't think we "can" do. sometimes we are asked to do things that we aren't necessarily comfortable doing, like talking to our friends and family about the gospel. and sometime we are asked to do things and were not sure why we were asked to do them.  just like when I was asked last minute to sing, and sing a song I didn't have much time to prepare. but we can do hard things, and we are blessed when we do them.  we are blessed more than we know. 

One of my favorite scripture and the scripture that I put on my missionary plague is in Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16  

 15 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!

16 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!

If we work and work and work and preach and preach and preach, and we only bring but ONE should unto Him, how GREAT shall be our joy in the kingdom of God. ONE SOUL! just ONE! sometimes we may tell ourselves they won't listen to me, they don't wanna hear about church, what if they don't want to be my friend anymore? all of the what ifs that we have, will never compare to the joy that we will have if we use what the Lord has allotted us and bring but ONE should unto Christ, how GREAT shall be our joy in the Kingdom of God! 

I know that we can do hard things, and that we can and most like are already (without even knowing it) helping to bring should unto Christ, we may not know it yet, or see the outcome yet, but we will see it and it will all be worth it! 

So, lets get out of those circles that we have drawn, and pop those bubbles, and do those hard things that He asks of us, even if we don't know why. we will be blessed, and our joy with be GREAT! 

in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.