The Light Will Always Find Away

A while back, Elder Kirchhoefer told me something that at the time I had no clue would make as great of an impact on me then it did. But knowing that even to this day I remember what it was and what spirit it brought forth is such an amazing blessing and just reminds me even more of what an amazing missionary he truly is. It was during a very difficult and dark time in my life earlier last summer when I was so sick that I was in and out of the hospital and on several different medications. So not only was I feeling weak physically but spiritually as well, so once I was getting better I met with him and Elder Saager so they could give me a blessing. But along with that blessing came an amazing lesson where Elder Kirchhoefer told me to always remember that darkness can never reside where there is light. But light can always break through in a time of darkness as long as you have faith in our Heavenly Father, sincerely pray to him and read your scriptures.

Having had such an insightful and inspiring thing stick in my head for so long like what he told me, has come in use several times these last few weeks. Within the last month or so, I've had several great opportunities to share the Gospel, the Plan of Salvation and the whole LDS Church. Which before was kind of a rare thing for me since I've never been one to be so opened with my opinions and personal beliefs, since that's never done much good for me in the past and has cost me a lot before.  But these random acts of courage and service have done me a lot of good and have helped strengthen me in ways I never even imagined. So from just telling random people where I work that I am a BYU-Idaho student to actually reading half of Alma 30 to my dad while also giving an in depth explanation of the Plan of Salvation is a very new, wonderful and even frightening. But I know that little by little and step by step I am on the path to not only bringing blessings into the lives of the people I'm sharing with, but my life as well. By praying about these people that I've just met and even the people that I love and care about along with sharing as much as I possibly can, I'm learning how to be the best missionary that I can be and to be more charitable and less shy. All of these encounters have given me hope and have made me truly realize that even in a time of darkness, where nothing seems to be getting better; light can and will always find it's way through if you want it to.

So to anybody who's a convert to this church or has inactive family members, there still is hope. I've learned this from difficult yet rewarding personal experience. Nothing will change unless you have the faith, hope and desire. Even though for a while I never expressed a great concern in my family not having an interest in my church, I've always dreamed of what it would be like to see my brothers go on missions. Or what it would be like to see my dad give a blessing or sit up front with the Bishop as part of the Bishopric and my mom running events in the Relief Society. I've always wished for someday to see that, but I never realized how much it really did matter to me until this time. But my dreams in the past have come true before, so I'm not giving up. I will always do everything in my power to make sure I never give up trying and never forget to show my family and friends the love that Heavenly Father can provide and the spirit that we can feel that can come from this truly restored church.

Alma 44 says But Alma said unto him: Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? the scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth and all things which are upon the face of it, yea, and it's demotion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form, do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.

A Whole New Beginning

The month of December, like it is for most people is always incredibly hectic for me. Even before I got a job and started working on top of going to school. So sadly enough, this is the first post I've made since the very end of November. But now that I'm starting to learn how to handle the ropes of being an adult by dealing with both college courses and working part time, I'm going to be going back to writing a post every week like I originally intended!

Along with getting my first job ever, wrapping up my first semester of college and the holiday season, a lot has gone on in my life spiritually that has had a pretty big impact on me. All of which have managed to help me come up with some sort of idea for a New Year's Resolution. So I've managed to come up with a list of twenty or so things that I either want to achieve, start, stop or continue throughout the year of 2012. I know, I know. Completely cliche, going through with the whole New Year's resolution thing, but I honestly do believe that I will be able to achieve at least half of what I have put on that list. Even then, as long as you are trying you can never fail. Just because you did not accomplish something the first time does not make you a failure. When you give up and decide that it was never even worth your time, then that is when you've failed. So I have a lot of faith and as should everybody else that has decided to truly dedicate themselves to their resolutions, with Heavenly Father everything is possible. Just at times they may seem improbable. 

Several things that are really high lighted on my list of resolutions, I'll list on here just to give an idea of several of the things that I plan on working on throughout this year. 

The first one is to by this time next year, I'll either already be at college or preparing to leave for college for the spring semester of 2013. 

The second one is to work on my optimism and trying my absolute hardest to be a blessing in peoples lives instead of an annoying burden like people have told me that I am in the past. 

The third one is to pray and read my scriptures every single day, not just at night but in the morning as well. 

Then the fourth one I'll share is not as relevant with the first three, but I want to read at least five books throughout the year and actually finish them. 

But this year is the year that I will be able to start off right, this year is the first official year that I'll be having as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So there is so much in store for me if I play my cards right. Meaning if I follow the commandments, the general authority, read my scriptures daily, pray daily and always bring everything unto the Lord then everything will be just the way it's suppose to be. I'm happy to try out my resolutions and see what kind of a difference I can make in peoples lives. I know that in these last nine months since I've joined the church, I've grown and matured in so many ways, it's kind of scary at times to think about. But now that I've really sat back and realized how I've changed, I need to apply it in my life and become the person that I am inside on the outside as well. I need to become what I know I am overall and I know that I can do it if I just try, have faith and pray about it. Whenever I ask Heavenly Father for help on anything, he always steps up to the plate and does whatever it is that he can to make sure I am doing things right. My faith is strong, I just need to jump out of the nest in which is my comfort zone and see if I make it. 

I've had plenty of amazing people in my life that have taught me a lot, like Elder Saager, Elder Malietoa, Elder Kirchhoefer, Elder Jones, Elder Evans, Elder Geier, Elder Barney, the Read Family, the Coleman Family, the Jackson Family, my home teachers and just random friends I've made throughout the ward. 2012 is going to be my year and I promise that nothing but good will come from this.