Living as an Amputee

We all have trials in our life, these can either bring us down or lift us up. I was inspired by the story of Jarem frye, as his trial was one that brought him to great heights


  
May we all endure life's trials with faith and courage, afterall that is why we came here.
      
     Come and visit my blog:  http://www.elderbevan.blogspot.com/

The missionary social media experiment on the Bloggernacle | Mormon Times

To our surprise today, Missionary Media was featured on 'the Bloggernacle' of Mormon Times:

And did you know that there is a new community blog that features 20 current contributing missionaries? Wow! It’s called Missionary Media: A new way to display the gospel and features online testimonies from these missionaries, essays, video features, links to other missionary resources and one of my favorite features: some Prezi powerpoint interactive slideshow creations that simply explain such gospel topics as “The Plan of Happiness” and “The Gospel of Jesus Christ” and more! I’d love to see more blogs that utilize missionaries in this collaborative and creative way! 

We're glad to hear such high praise of our handiwork and for the help in spreading the word about these resources.   I hope you'll check out that full article if you haven't seen it already, and take a look at the missionary Prezis that we've made or navigate to the missionaries' blogs to get to know us more personally.  Please share them with friends, family, or use them in a lesson or ward activity if you've got the setup.

Movie Monday- Continuing our Savior Jesus Christ

As I was making my blog post yesterday I thought of this short video that condenses a talk given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. It's one of my favorites about the Savior.

What difference does it make?...

Laying a foundation

When people look at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, too often, they do not see any difference. I am asked more times than I could possibly count, "what makes the Mormon church different from any other Christian denomination?"  And the answers to that question can be given in relatively short descriptions, but the deeper meaning cannot fully done justice through the answer that many desire.  There are things that set apart the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from any other church on earth, but to understand that, some of the points that do make the difference, must also be truly understood. I think as well, one important thing to realize, said by the prophet Joseph Smith, is that "The fundamental principles of our religious are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it." Central to all that we believe, the very church and gospel itself, the foundation of all of it, rests on "Jesus Christ, Himself being the chief cornerstone." (Ephesians 2:20). Now in our day, ...

Remember Your Father(S)

                          
To be honest I got on here and had no idea what I wanted to talk about. I started watching videos and reading talks to see if an idea would come. I watched this video of father and son, and it hit me real hard. Even though this is of a father and son it reminded me of me and my father. I love my dad, he knows I love him but I felt the same way Dylan did in this video. I rolled my eyes when he wanted to talk to me, and talking to him was just weird. During the video I started thinking of my dad and our relationship, I've thought about him alot, being here on a mission. I wouldn't say our relationship was terrible but I know it wasn't the best. To me there is nothing like a father and daughter relationship.
I think about my relationship with my Father in Heaven. To me that is very important and I know its important to Heavenly Father as well. If I want to have a close relationship with my Heavenly Father, I have to do these things that Elder Ballard counsels..
1- Trust Your Father- I know that Heavenly Father knows what is best for me and wants me to be happy.
2-Take an interest in your Father- I know that enjoying His creations we can take part of Him and who He is. I believe our talents are a huge part of this. I believe that when we share our talents with others we are taking an interest in our Heavenly Father.
3-Ask Him for advice- I know that we can talk to Him about anything. I have asked my Father in Heaven for advice, and I know that He has given me counsel.
My Heavenly Father has blessed me with a great earthly father. I want to take counsel to Elder Ballards counsel to my earthly father. I know that it is just as important to be close to him as it is with my Heavenly Father.
Thank you Heavenly Father for being there for me when I need the advice. I do trust you and am willing to do whatever you ask of me.
Thank you for my earthly father. I'm sorry for not showing my gratitude towards either of you. I am grateful for him, and I will do better to be an example to my father.
Remember who you are and what you stand for!

Can We Ever Expect the Unexpected?

Why is it that we can never seem to prepare ourselves for difficult events that happen in our lives?  Even when we strive to be more on guard from what we faced before, I think that we are still taken aback when we have to face something newly difficult.  I have faced something like this the past week that I hoped never to have to deal with, and I won’t go into too many details but I find myself asking questions such as “If I had been more prepared spiritually and relying more on God, would things have happened like this?” or “If I had made different choices, would this thing not have happened to me?”  I’m thinking that these probably aren’t the best questions to ask myself, especially since they highly focus on what has already come and gone—things that I cannot change no matter how much I stew over them and wish that things had turned out differently.

I have always thought that I faced some difficulties in my life that would prepare me for most things that I would have to face, but I found that thinking was not quite correct this past week.  Perhaps it was more difficult for me because I thought that I would be able to handle anything that was thrown my way and I wasn’t relying enough on the Lord.  After all, I know that I have certainly been guilty of pride many times even when I did think that I was being guilty.  But on the other hand, perhaps this was just something new that I had to experience to continue learning and growing.  If it wasn’t difficult for me, then I probably wouldn’t have to step back and reflect, turning to Heavenly Father for strength and support.  So I suppose something that I have been asking myself quite frequently as of late is what is the best course of action to take as we move our lives forward?  Do we be cautious to avoid getting hurt or having to face difficulties, or do we push ahead, ready to face what we have to deal with, and realizing that it is not going to be easy? 

The White House... of the Lord

After being closed for several weeks because of the holidays, the temple reopened this week.  On Thursday mornings I volunteer with my mission in the temple to help make the temple a reverent place where people there can worship.  We assist people through a ceremony that outlines for them God's plan for our happiness and the means by which we can return to him.  Today we were able to do that again, and I loved it so much that we're probably visiting again tomorrow morning.



With the Christmas season well over now, it's wonderful to have the temple as a reminder of Christ to keep the Christmas spirit going.  I really do feel close to God in His temple.  I wonder, if it feels that good to visit the temple after it was closed for several weeks, it must be so much more of a difference between a world where there was no temple to our God after the temple in Jerusalem and now when God has enabled His people to build a temple again.

1 Nephi 14 - Bible + Book of Mormon = Good

The Name's Elder: 1 Nephi 14 - Bible + Book of Mormon = Good: "The prophecies in these chapters are beautiful. They feel good. Towards the end of this chapter, Nephi is told that he shall not write the remainder of the things which he has seen, but that one of the Apostles of the Lamb of God shall write them. Hopefully this sounds familiar, but if not, verse 27 leaves no room to err. The Apostle's name would be John. Let me think for a moment, where was it again that I've read about the end of the world and the events preceding Christ's second coming? I believe that would be the Book of Revelation, written by the Apostle John.

Let us also reflect on some of the teachings of the preceding chapters - that many of the plain and precious truths and covenants contained in the record of the Jews (Bible) would be lost.

So - for events concerning the end of the world, we turn to the Bible. For a more clear and all-encompassing collection of the doctrines of Christ's Gospel (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, endure...), we turn to the Book of Mormon. For a more detailed description of the life of Christ, we turn to the Bible. For a second testament of His life, we open the Book of Mormon. And so on, and so forth.

What I mean to suggest by all this is that BOTH are very desirable. Both have much to offer us. We need these two testimonies as one in our hands, as prophesied would be the case in Ezekiel 37:15-17. One supports the other. What a blessing to have such access to the precious word of God. May we all be overcome with gratitude in so much that we take advantage of these wonderful blessings. "



Posted by Elder Kunz
See his blog at http://thebookisblue.blogspot.com/

My Gift of Love to You: My Testimony

A Brief Introductory Documentary of Me When I was 15

In the spirit of this holiday, the best gift I can give to everyone is my testimony of this glorious Gospel.  I have been given many blessed gifts in all of my life and I want to express to you my gratitude of all those blessings I have.

Leaving the orphanage brought about so many new experiences for me.  It was a whole new life as my mom mentioned in her writing.  Even with all the miracles of the adoption story alone, the blessings didn’t stop there.

A New Beginning

Hope Exists: A New Beginning

It is that dreaded time a year again. It is a new year. Prepare to start messing up the date every time you write it. That is what I do at least. A new year is a time of new beginnings. Not only do we have to be wary in writing the date, but also a time to set goals, to change something in our lives. Whether it be a bad habit or a good habit we want to develop, there is always room for improvement.

With all these resolutions we have to do better, somewhere along the way we screw up. It is inevitable, we are only human. After so many times of messing up, some of us give up. We say it is much too hard to change and I keep failing every time I attempt to do so. That is not true. We can change. The reason we can change is because of our Savior , Jesus Christ.

The true power to change comes from relying on Jesus Christ for our source of support. Experts say the best way to break a habit is by having a support system. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, he is the best support system. He knows exactly what it feels like to try to change. 

Trying to quit smoking? He knows what it feels like to have the gnawing need for nicotine. Trying to lose weight? He has borne the pain and sorrows that come from trying to take care of the temple (our bodies) that God has given us.  When we turn to Jesus Christ for help, he gives us the necessary strength to change.

In order to truly change, our hearts need to be changed. When that happens everything else falls into place. That doesn’t mean everything will be perfect, but we will have peace. The peace that in the Lord’s timing everything will work out. We can change and we can improve ourselves, especially if we ask for help from our Savior, Jesus Christ. With His help, we can have hope and experience joy, even in times of troubles.

To learn more visit Mormon.org


Posted by Sister Amanda Kissel
See her blog at: http://hopeexists.wordpress.com/