Come unto Christ

This week, Professor Griffin made me realize something that I had never realized before. I often read Moroni 10 verse 32 as the recipe for sanctification. I always saw that verse as what each member had to do o live the gospel in its fullest. Today in class, I realized that the verse had an important part that I did not realize before. The first part of the verse said " Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness,"  it is interesting how it says come unto Christ and then be perfected in him and not the other way around. Most of the time i seem to forget that detail. I try to be perfect or wait to be perfect before I focus on the Lord. Sometimes I feel like I am not pure enough and have too many things to repent of before I can come unto Christ. With the Scripture I know that I should change direction. I do not have to try to do anything on my own, after all, I can not do anything on my own. The first thing I need to do is rely on Christ and ask him for his help to come to him. And only then will I be able to find happiness and follow his gospel the way he intended me to.

Walk where and how Jesus walks!

This week brother Griffin said something that got me reflex ting the whole week. He was quoting someone and he says that the person say : it's not as important to walk where Jesus walked as to walk where he walks. That immediately helped me reflect back to a story in the ensign that I read a few months ago while on my mission. The person who wrote the story said something similar " it is better to walk how Jesus walks than to walk where he walks" both ideas made me ponder about my discipleship with the Lord. Is Jesus Christ my  everyday example or do I just read about him and admire him? How do love life in a way where I could see the savior in my countenance? I decides that one of those things I could do is view others through the same scope as my Savior Jesus sees them. For that I would have to be more patient with those who don't always treat me how I want to be treated.  Instead of being quick to judge them, I could do as Jesus and forgive them and decide to remember the good in them. In 3 Nephi 12 Jesus states the beatitudes and the blessing of each. Then in verse 16 he said "Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." I have the light of Christ, I have his spirit as my companion and I know as I try to be like him and follow in his footsteps that I will be a testimony of him and my father in Heaven. Then others can recognize him through my example and believe in him. Walking where and how Jesus walks is my strongest testimony to the world that he lives and wants us to be like him. I know I can start today by making small changes and improve. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and know that he lives. This is my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

The Sacrament: A life changing experience

 This week I learned a lot in class. One of the things that touched me the most is what I learned about the atonement of Jesus Christ. Before, I used to think of the atonement of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for the whole world, but the more I learn about it the more I understand that it is a personal act. An act of love for me, you, and each one of us individually. In 3 Nephi 18, Jesus institutes the sacrament to his disciples in the Americas. He told them to do this ordinance in remembrance of his atoning sacrifice for each one of them. I found it interesting that Jesus asks us remember of his body in verse 7 as we partake of the bread. Every sunday at church each one of us have our own individual piece of bread that we partake. For each of us, he suffered and as I take my share of the bread on sunday I can remember that Jesus Christ suffered for my personal problems, afflictions, infirmities and because of that he can succor me no matter what I am faced with.  As I partake of that piece of bread, he is succoring me, and only me at that moment, I have his full attention, love, help. After all, we all never partake of our piece of bread at the same time, so he is my personal savior. Inspiration, light and understanding continue to flow as I landed on verse 36 saying : "...He touched with his hands, the disciples whom he had chosen, one by one, even until he had touched them all..."  Another example of how personal my relationship is with Jesus Christ. What I have read have changed my thoughts and attitude about the sacrament. Every week as I partake of the sacrament, I want to try to be there in spirit so that I can feel the cleansing, enabling, and personal power of the atonement on my life. I will chose to be there for the Savior as he is for me in that moment which is our most important moment together. The sacrament is my time with my Savior and I will make sure that I do not miss that appointment with him that is scheduled for me specifically to change my life. I know that Jesus Christ is my personal savior and redeemer. I know that he lives and loves me. I know that he is there for me and that I am his number one priority. This is my testimony, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Spiritual War

I love the war chapters of the Book of Mormon. They are among my favorites because while some might find them long or boring , they speak to me. They give so many advice on how to build a firm foundation in the gospel. One of those chapters that I love so much is Alma 49, during which Moroni build such strong fortifications in the city that the Lamanites could not get in.  The more I read, the more I realize that my life is is so similar to that chapter . Just like Moroni, I can use the gift of the Holy Ghost to discern the plan of the adversary and build fortifications to prepare for when he attacks me. Unlike Moroni, many times my battles will not be physical but rather spiritual. So it is important to use daily prayer and scripture study, weekly partaking of the sacrament, attending the temple, doing service, and following the commandments at all times to build spiritual fortifications to resist the temptations of the devil.  When I fill  my life with light, following the perfect example of my Savior Jesus Christ, I can be better prepared for the daily spiritual battles. The Lord has promised us in exodus 14:14 that he will fight our battles and he showed it to the Nephites in verse 17 that says "Thus the Nephites had all power over their enemies; ...there was not a single soul of the Nephites which was slain."Satan will use our weakness and passions, send fiery darts our way to hurt us, although we will be hurt, bruised, tested, tried but we will not perish. We will remain strong because of the Rock of the gospel which is Christ our savior on which we are built. A rock on which if men are built, they can not fall as Helaman 5:12 says.

The gospel of change!

It was such an uplifting experience to listen to women's general conference on Saturday afternoon. I really love how Sister carol F. Mckonckie used Mosiah 3:19 to help us understand the importance of being holy. During her talk, the spirit brought a lot a of questions into my mind which led me to go back to my scriptures after her talk and dissect that verse.  It reads " For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." It especially came to my attention that the word unless rather that until was used. According to the dictionary, the word unless means except if, which I interpret to mean that men are not destined to stay enemy of God forever. We are given the possibility to get out of that state if we use our agency to accept Christ's gospel and act upon its principles. If we truly want to stop being a natural man we would have to yield or surrender to the enticing of the Holy spirit which means we will have to lay aside all of our own judgement and knowledge and learn to trust the spirit of God who's only purpose is to lead us in righteousness. We would also have to cultivate child-like qualities such as meekness, humility, patience, in order to accept the will of the Lord and follow it as a child follow his father. This is the first tie i read this  scripture and realized that all it is asking is for us to sacrifice things that perhaps we love but leads us to a path contrary to that of the Lord. It is asking us to be more holy. What am I willing to sacrifice to be more holy? We all have the opportunity  to choose holiness each day and every time we do, we honor our covenants more fully and come closer to the Lord. We show to the Lord that he can trust us with his will and helps us retain a remission of our sins. As we do this, we will no longer be a natural man but will become a saint through the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ after all we can do. 

You are the convert

This week had been such a weird week. I feel like I was so productive, but at the same time I feel like I did nothing... I feel like for some reasons I did not have time to read my scriptures. For some reason, I felt like I needed to pray for some missionary opportunities. My week went by, on Saturday, I went to a service activity that the nursing program at BYU put together where we made Disney princess wigs from yarn for cancer kids. But what happened on Saturday night was so unexpected. My best friend came over my house and all of sudden her and my roommate started having a gospel discussion. She has been less active for 2 years and wants nothing to do with the church. So, even listening to my roommate, was a big step. Every time they would get into a point where my roommate would not know what to say, she would ask me to clarify it. As I clarified things for her, I realized that the one who was learning more. As words were coming out of my mouth, I felt the power of the spirit move me and  confirm to me that indeed this church is the church of God. Even though I was helping her understand points of doctrines, I felt that it was my personal testimony that was  being strengthened. At the end of the conversion, we didn't feel like that my friend had allowed the spirit to touch her and have a change of heart. However, because we asked her good questions and had her basically answer things for herself, both my roommate and I were satisfied. We knew for sure that even if she did not accept the church in its doctrines, that at least her mind was opened to it. It is in the back of her mind now. The Lord works in mysterious ways to answer the desires of our hearts. In Doctrine and Covenants 33 verse 2 it reads : For verily, verily, I say unto you that ye are called to lift up your voices as with the sound of a trump, to declare my gospel unto a crooked and perverse generation.
It is my responsibility to help others, especially friends and family to come to the path. Although I can not steal their agency, I can sure help them to use it correctly. Whenever I make an effort to testify of the truth, the Lord always fill  my mouth and understanding. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gift. When we discover it, we need to embrace it, and share it. Only then will our testimony continue to grow until even conversion.

You are not alone

I am so grateful that I  have the restored gospel in my life. There are some days that I truly could have not imagined my life without it. This week as I was in pain due to some stomach virus and a migraine so I had a lot of time to think about the role the gospel plays in my life. As a lot of people already know, being religious does not save you from being sick or afflicted, however it does help you get through the afflictions or sickness easier. It helps us to have an eternal perspective. Mosiah 21:5 says "And now the afflictions of the Nephites were great, and there was no way that they could deliver themselves out of their hands, for the Lamanites had surrounded them on every side." This week as we discussed this verse in class, our professor helped me see it in a new perspective. He talked about how the Lord never expects us to get ourselves out of "bondage" or challenges we face. He is there every step of the way to help us if we let him! However if we do not let him help us, our challenges will seem bigger and endless. needless to say, we will never be able to deliver ourselves. So, in the end, it is better to trust in the Lord and cry unto him during all our trials because he will always help us. If anything, that is how we learn and grow. I am so grateful for my trials because they help me grow and draw me closer to the Lord.

Challenges and Spiritual Growth

I just want to start by bearing my testimony that I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. No matter how many times I've read it, I seem to discover new things each time. I do not discover those things because I am smart but because the spirit of the Lord is there with me to give me new spiritual insights when I read the word of God. This week as I read Mosiah 21   , verses 15 and 16 made me realize something I had never experienced before. It reads : 14 And they did humble themselves even in the depths of humility; and they did cry mightily to God; yea, even all the day long did they cry unto their God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions.15 And now the Lord was slow to hear their cry because of their iniquities; nevertheless the Lord did hear their cries, and began to soften the hearts of the Lamanites that they began to ease their burdens; yet the Lord did not see fit to deliver them out of bondage.16 And it came to pass that they began to prosper by degrees in the land, and began to raise grain more abundantly, and flocks, and herds, that they did not suffer with hunger. 
By reading the previous chapter, we learn that this people is in bondage and they have just being baptized by Alma and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. They are persecuted by the Lamanites and are in bondage. They can not even worship their God in public because the Lamanites threatened to kill them. It amaze me so much that it says that the Lord did not see fit to deliver them from the hands of the Lamanites. Why? we might ask? is bondage a good thing? Did the Lord make it happen to punish them? no, on the contrary the Lord did not make it happen. However, he allowed it so that the people of Alma can prosper in the land as verse 16 says. That made me realize that there is ALWAYS something to learn when we are faced with trials, sufferings, and other mortal challenges that we can not control. The Lord will not deliver us until we have learned or have progressed. After all, all that we suffer help us to be more spiritually mature and draw us closer to our Lord. The Lord sent us on this earth to grow physically, intellectually ad spiritually. Can there be growth without challenging experiences? No. I know that the Lord loves each one of us and wants us to progress, that is why he allow us to have challenges so that we can develop attributes that will help us grow. I am looking forward to many more challenges in this life and know that each one of them will be for my own good.

I can't on my own...

This week was definitely a week in which I witness the love of God more than I ever noticed before.  I decided to cry to him more often instead of relying on the arm of the flesh. Each day, as I find myself praying, asking him to take the wheel, my responsibilities sure did not disappear but my attitude about them changed. All of that is due to Alma 7:33 which 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." There are some verbs I thought were interesting: turn, put, and serve, things that we are in control of and can do with our own will; and then the Lord will deliver us. How interesting is our relationship with Heavenly Father! He wants us to be spiritually mature and does not want to spoon feed us. He expects us to use our agency or will to seek his help and since he knows what is better for us he will succor us and help us with everything we need. I also realized that bondage was not necessarily limited to things that can prevent us from progressing but also meant infirmities, weakness, pain, suffering, and any other unfair circumstance that we may find ourselves in. And of course everything goes back to his atoning sacrifice. All of that help is possible through his perfect son who is our savior, friend, brother, helper, and even our spiritual father. I am so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ through which the Book of Mormon can help me understand each and everyday how I can turn to the atonement of Jesus Christ to find peace, healing, comfort but most importantly I am grateful that the atonement of Jesus Christ can be apply to all facet of  our lives.

" What Desirest Thou?"

There are a lot of things that happen in my life or a lot of situations I find myself in that are beyond my control. However, as I carefully examine each part of those situations afterwards, I always seem to realize that self control could have helped me avoid these situations... or perhaps building a stronger foundation on the gospel of Jesus Christ could have made a big difference in how I acted or reacted when faced with these situations. This week, I definitely fell short of the grace and love of God, or so I think. I ran into many situations in which I thought that my only answer was to lie, be dishonest, judge others, and succumb to carnal desires. I denied myself so many times of the opportunity to allow the spirit to abide with me, guide me, warn me of danger and protect me. I distanced myself from the love of God. There were definitely moments of happiness during my week but it was only superficial. When I found myself alone, I felt miserable that I had made so many poor choices and thought that repentance could never help However, as I read the scriptures, everything changed. 1 Nephi 11 verse 2 pierced my soul like it never did before. it says: '' And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou?'' I thought about what I most wanted. What I most want right ow is to make my Father in Heaven happy by following all of his commandments. I desired happiness and the least amount of regrets possible. I desire the abundance of his spirit . I desire all good things. Thinking about what I desire help me to understand how I need to live my life everyday so that I may accomplish my goals. I am deciding now that I want to do the Lord's will and I know he will help me stay true to my decision and better resist temptations. Knowing what I want truly makes living the gospel of Jesus Christ easier.

Jesus Christ: Savior and Healer!

   I find it ironic that every time that I prepare to teach a lesson, I am the one who end up getting more out of it. This week, my visiting teaching companion and I visited one of our dear sisters. We got to her place, ready to teach her the lesson of the month which was about the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. After reading the article, my companion  turned to the sister we were visiting and asked : When in your life do you feel the love of God the most? She answered and said when she has meaningful prayer. As she answered, i pondered that same question. When do I feel the love of God the most? I feel the Love of God the most, when I need to forgive other people. This past few months especially, I had to deal with a lot of injustices and heartbreaks. I did not know whether to be mad, sad, depressed or just forget about it all. I could not see myself move on from all the hurt. As my circumstance and tried to put myself in the shoes of those who wronged me, I realized that the only way to deal with the pain was to forgive. The only way to move on was to try to be like my Savior Jesus Christ and forgive. The only way to heal was to give the burden to whom it correspond, my Savior Jesus Christ: the healer. After all, everything I go through is to help me understand a little bit of the pain he went through to be able to succor me today from all life's troubles.  I love the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is one of the subjects that no matter how much I study it, I am always amazed at how much there is to learn. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, I know that I can be a better me every seconds of this mortal life.  From the article there was a verse from Isiah 49:16 that said: "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. 
It is impressive how our Savior knows each one of us by name. Each one of our life is his reponsibility. He is there waiting for us to lean on him so he can give s rest. He is indeed the biggest proof of love from God.

This is not your burden

    I had one of those weeks where everything started bad and I felt as if the Universe was punishing me. I felt like I deserved all that was happening because I have not been a "good girl" lately. I have not been praying as often as I should, nor reading the scriptures,  or serving others. In general I have been a bad person, one could conclude. I spent monday and tuesday thinking about what I could do to change my situation, but I  failed to come up with a solution. However, on wednesday, the answer came unexpectedly as I sat in my Book of Mormon class. We were dissecting chapter 2 of second Nephi when all of the sudden our professor stop and said something that changed my perspective for good. Something I needed to hear. He told us that we needed to stop beating ourselves for being bad people. He said that we needed to remember that we have been living in our physical bodies for has long as we are alive but have been spiritual beings for eternities. So maybe we had a decade of bad in us but we have eternities of good and us, so we should not let the bad have more importance than the good.When he said that, my heart felt so calm because I knew that it was the Lord's words of comfort to me, his dearest daughter. It made me think of my Savior Jesus Christ and his atoning sacrifice for me, and of course one of the scriptures that I used to read over and over on my mission came to me. Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-18: 
For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;

 17 But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; 18 Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink— I decided that from now on , I was going to let Jesus Christ take care of it all. All I needed to do was repent , start again and let my Savior Jesus Christ take care of the rest. After all, I will never be able to carry my own burdens without his intercession. I am grateful for the atonement of my Savior that I can use in times of trials, happiness, sadness, etc... It is the force through which I can be a better Dhina every day, every hour, every minute and every second of my life. I know that my Savior lives and loves me more than I can comprehend.

Questions: steps to continuous conversion

There are so many experiences in one week that strengthen my testimony of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that even when I do not want to believe, I end up with the sweetest witness. Sometimes I ask myself why am I so much like Laman and Lemuel? why do I ask the Lord over and over again for proof that he loves me when I am not even willing to do the same? why is it so hard for me to trust in the same man who came down, lowered himself in the depths of it all just to rescue such an ungrateful soul as mine? So many questions I ask myself as I try to find strength again to live the gospel of Jesus Christ as it was meant to be lived: simply. I need to remind myself constantly of his atonement sacrifice; the greatest proof of God's love for each and everyone of us on this earth. Why do I make discipleship so hard? Could it be because I focus so much on me: the natural man? Why do I thirst so much after sin and not righteousness? I needed answers, I needed comfort so I turned to the Book of Mormon to one of the scriptures we often ignore when we ask people to pray about the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I turned to Moroni 10 verse 3. It reads: ''Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.'' I found it quite interesting that we are asked to remember how merciful the Lord has been and is unto us. I am always quick to forget that when I am faced with trials but now I will change that. I will no longer bribe or reproach the Lord. No matter what my life circumstances are, I will always remember that Heavenly Father will never stop loving me. In the end, all the incentives I need to keep the commandments are his love for me and my love for him.

Are your desires God's will?

    In Doctrine and Covenants 82:10 we read " I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." That scripture has always been one of my favorite scriptures but I did not get to truly savor it until this week when I set a goal to attend the temple weekly. Since I have started my first semester, I have been making excuses not to go to the house of the Lord. Note that I used the word excuses because being in Provo with temples so close to me, there really are no reasons why I should not be at the temple often. So, since I know that the temple is literally the house of the Lord where I could feel his peace, love and spirit, I set a goal to go there weekly. At first, I thought that the goal was too demanding so I tried to change it to once every two weeks. However, as I prayed, this overwhelming feeling came to me and reassured me that it was possible to attend the temple weekly. So, obeying the spirit of truth, I prayed and asked the Lord to help me to have a desire to go to his house no matter what.    Two days later, one of my friends confessed to me that she also wanted to go to the temple and asked me to be her temple buddy every week. As the words came out of her mouth, I smiled and accepted her offer. It could not have been a coincidence. The Lord gave me a temple buddy so I could be motivated and accountable to someone else. I know that the Lord rejoice in our righteous desires. The Lord does not grant me a lot of the worldly things that I wish for, because no matter how much I want them, he knows what is best for me. However, whenever I asked him to help me with my spiritual growth, he moves mountains for those things to happen. I know that the Lord at this particular time wants me to focus on going to his house. He makes everything work out so I could do so... The Lord loves me and will give me anything that I want, as long as it is righteous. I know that as I pray with faith to better my spiritual life, His will will become my will until I return to live with him again.

Failure is not fatal
Coming home from my mission has been a very difficult transition for me. When i had 6 weeks left on my mission, the church had asked that all of the missionaries going home within those six weeks to complete a program called " My Plan." In that program, I listed step by step my plans and goals so I could continue to be a missionary when I got home.  I was so exited to complete that plan that I never considered the possibility of failing everything that I had promised to do. When I got home from my mission, I followed my plan of reading the scriptures often, praying, going to the temple, and going to church for a while until I got to college. When I started my first semester back, I barely had anytime to do the small things that the Lord had commanded me. So since the new year came around, I decided to start over. I made a resolution to start reading my Book of Mormon Daily, pray often, and regularly attend the temple. I did not really know how all this was going to be possible but as I conversed with the Lord, I asked him to help me to obey his commandments. As I was reading 1 Nephi 2, verses 19-20, I realized that the reason why it was so hard for me to do the simple things was because I did not understand the why behind it. I realized right then and there that the only reasons I needed to keep the commandments are God's love for me, and my love for him. I know that the Lord loves me and I wanted to show to him that I love him to. So, to do that i need to show him that I was going to put his commandments in first place. This week, i have been reading my scriptures first thing in the morning, making an effort to communicate with him more often during the day, and set a weekly goal to go the his house. I know that the Lord loves me and care for me. He is there to help me to come closer to him when I have the desire to do so. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon who nourishes my soul and help me to recognize what I need to change in order to be a better individual.