Happy Sunday!

Hello everyone! Happy Sunday!
im was trying to think of what I was going to write on tonight on my way home from a fireside, and honestly I couldn't figure it out. I still don't know. So, I am sitting here on my balcony in this beautiful weather, with some areas and a root beer and im just letting my fingers do the talking. lol hopefully the spirit will guide them to type something that will help others as they read this blog. I not only created this blog to help others but to help me as I go along in this thing we call life.

next week, is general conference. I look forward to General Conference every 6 months. and sometimes I am able to go. there is no greater feeling in the world than being in that conference center, standing with thousands of other followers of Christ as our beloved Prophet walks in the room. the whole feeling changes. the feeling of the conference center is amazing as it is, but when the Prophet and the Apostles walk into the room it instantly changes. I love everything about General Conference from the music to the speakers to the prayers that are said on our behalf.

Every time I think about General Conference I think of what I call the first General Conference. on April 6, 1830, in the small town of Fayette, NY on the Farm of Peter Whitmer. where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially became a church. In 1830, you needed 6 people to become a church. and so, there were 6 men that officially that signed the paperwork to officially become a church.

The Restoration of The Gospel is very near and dear to my heart, as many of you already know but some may not, I was a missionary in western NY just over 10 years ago (2005-2007) and I served at the church historical sites there in Palmyra, which include the smith fam (incl, 2 homes and the sacred grove), the Book of Mormon publication site (the granin bldg), the Hill Cumorah and its visitors center, and the Peter Whitmer farm (visitors center, and Peter Whitmer Home) which I actually lived in an apartment on.

That beautiful day of April 6, 1830, is such a special day. there were several baptisms, the sacrament was passed, the Prophet Joseph Smith spoke. while, we  don't have baptisms happen anymore during General Conference, we still get to hear our current Prophet speak, and we get to feel that same spirit that those early members of the church were able to feel on that spring day.

this is a photo of the Peter Whitmer Home where the church was organized.

here is a podcast where they are speaking with Larry C. Porter. who we used to call the encyclopedia of church history. and I was lucky enough to serve with. he and his wife were some of the senior missionaries that I was lucky enough to serve with. I learned so much about church history from him. so, give this a listen, if you want to learn everything about the organization of the Church. It really is amazing the miracles that happened to help the Restoration happen, from the preparation of Young Joseph to receive The First Vision, to the miracles that had to happen for the translation of the Book of Mormon, to the organization of the Church on April 6, 1830.

here ya go :)

organization of the church



I know that this great historical event happened, I know that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of the Living god, and that Russell M. Nelson is our living Prophet today, and that the Lord speaks to us through his prophets and reveals great things through them.

I look forward to hearing from our prophet, and hearing of all the wonderful things that are happening to help the work of the Lord more forward.  I hope you all will be watching it also, and will feel of the spirit as our Prophet and Apostles and the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints speak to us. I look forward to next week, when I get to write about all the great things that are happened, are happening and are going to happen.

also, as most of you already know, tomorrow is the 1 years anniversary of the shooting here in Las Vegas, that claims the lives of 58 innocent people, and changed the lives of thousands of others. may we remember those lives lost, and changed that day forever. I thank my Heavenly Father every day that I was not there, as I was wanting to go, and had many friends that were there. but I last minute decided against it, and decided to go to Utah, to my mission reunion, and to conference instead. I had just gotten back into town when I got the call from a friend to turn on the news, and then helped a phone tree go on for a circle of friends that I have to make sure that everyone was ok, and lucky they were. every time I think about it, I think "I was supposed to be there, but by some divine intervention I was not" and I can't help but think that if I decided to o to the concert instead of going to Utah, I would not be here writing this today.

I love you all and I pray for you everyday. I know God lives, and that he loves every single one of us, and knows us and is there for us NO MATTER WHAT!

Good Night Everyone:)

Watch Conference Next weekend! if you don't know what time, channel, etc. here is the link to the church website where you can find all of that information, and sisters, don't forget that we have our General Women's meeting on Saturday evening.  :)

www.LDS.org

Small Enough

So, I taught RS today for the first time in my current ward. it went over really well I think. at least I learned from the sisters in the discussion. and I hope they learned something as well.



I was called just a couple of weeks ago, funny story about that... I found out that I had been called after I was already sustained, haha my bishopric is somewhat new, and there have been several changes in my ward as of late. so each member of the bishopric thought that the other one had talked to me. well, nope. haha its ok though was going to accept it anyways, lol. I have never turned down a calling, I figure even if it is a calling that I don't necessarily want, it is a calling that the Lord thinks I need. and every single calling that I have had has helped me grow in one way or another. so, yeah, thats my funny calling story. haha



ok, so, back to todays lesson. I teach every fourth Sunday, so I teach on whatever subject the first presidency gives us for the 6 months. which is "ministering" through November, and then in December we start the new subject, whatever that may be.  im pretty excited to see what it will be.

all, they give us teachers for the fourth Sunday is basically a paragraph, with a quote, a scripture, and a couple of questions, the rest is up to us. we are to be led by the spirit on how the lesson will go. they want it to be more of a discussion than a lecture, which is how I like to teach anyways.



this week, was on being willing to accept ministering from others.  they have changed a few things in the church this year, as most of you probably know, but they have changed "visiting teaching" and "home teaching" to "ministering". there is no longer a specific way to do it, or a specific message to be shared, etc. it is more focused on the "gathering of Isreal" and helping eachother get through this life. I eellike this lesson today was for me. it is always hard  and has always been hard for me to accept help from others. im not totally sure why, probably because of pride. im not one to ask for help when I need it. it takes a lot for me to ask for pretty much anything.



the discussion today took a few different turns, and not only focused on accepting help, but know when to help, and to only acknowledging promptings when we get them, but following through on them, no matter how difficult they may be. we can do hard things. etc. one thing I shared was something that I wasn't planning on sharing, but I felt like I needed to share it.



I shared the following story from my mission.

When I was a young missionary, serving in Palmyra, NY. I was serving my shift at the Hill Cumorah Visitors Center at the time, and there was this older woman that walked in, she was the only one that walked in at the time, she had just happened to be driving on the Highway at the time, and saw the Statue of Moroni at the top of the hill, an then she saw the Christus statue through the window, she had come in and said that she had felt prompted to stop and that her late husband had worked on the construction of the statue of Moroni, that she was in town from Hawaii visiting, and she wanted to stop and see what all of this was. so, I preceded to take her into the Christus room to start the tour. it was still just the two of us, I played a recording for her of Christ speaking, and after the recording bore testimony of the Savior, and we sat and talked for a bit, as it had been a slow day, so there were now tours behind us. we went on with the tour, and went into the theatre room, where we watch "the restoration" video. it was about 20 minutes long, I had looked over and she was crying through the whole thing, I however was fighting with the Spirit on a prompting. the prompting was "ask her to be baptized" and I kept saying "no, its too soon" "no, I barely know her name" and just giving every excuse to not ask her. but I finally was able to get up the courage by the end of the video and I said to her "will you be baptized" just 4 little words, and much to my surprise she said "YES!" thats right! she said "YES!" im not sure what happened to her after that day, because she did not live in my area let alone my mission. all I could do was, have her fill out one of the referral cards that the sites have, and I put a little note on there telling the missionaries that were to teach her that she had already agreed to be baptized.

I pray that she was baptized, and that she shared her sweet spirit with everyone around her. The reason that I had shared that story with the sisters in Relief Society today, was because, we may not always know the outcome to the promptings that we have, we may not always know what happens next, but we still need to follow through on those promptings, as there is always a reason that they come to us, they could be for us to learn something, they could be for someone else. but there is always a reason



God Loves us, and he doesn't let stuff like that happen by chance. He is aware of us, he is aware of our situations. he knows us better than we know ourselves, he hears our prayers, even though we may not always know that, or receive an answer, he is always listening.



I was also set apart today for my callings, as an RS teacher and as the Young Women's Camp Director. and in that blessings he told me that he is always listening to my prayers, and that he loves me, and is aware of my situation (whatever it may be at the time) whether I know it or not. and to awlasy remember that he loves me.



I wanted to attach this song to this post, as it played on my way home tonight in the car, it talks about a woman and how she is praying just to know that God is there, she just wants to know that she is being heard, she doesn't "...need the strength of Sampson, or a chariot in the end, just want to know, that you know how many hairs are on my head, oh Great God, be small enough to hear me now"...



I hope that the spirit touches you as you listen to it, as much as it touches me every time it comes on. because sometimes, we are praying or big things, but sometimes we just want to know that there is a God and that he is aware of us, and knows who we are.