You Are Loved

"You are loved.

You are dear to your heavenly parents.

The infinite and eternal Creator of light and life knows you! He is mindful of you.

Yes, God loves you this very day and always.

He is not waiting to love you until you have overcome your weaknesses and bad habits. He loves you today with a full understanding of your struggles. He is aware that you reach up to Him in heartfelt and hopeful prayer. He knows of the times you have held onto the fading light and believed—even in the midst of growing darkness. He knows of your sufferings. He knows of your remorse for the times you have fallen short or failed. And still He loves you." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I woke up with this quote in my head today (well, part of it. I looked the full thing up). I think it was a much needed message from Heavenly Father to me. So grateful to know I'm loved and He is aware of me.

Some Great Verses

11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:

 12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

I read these verses in Hebrews chapter 6 last night and really loved them. I've probably read them before, but last night it felt like I hadn't. I guess that's why we need to read the scriptures over and over. Different things touch us in different ways at different times in our lives. 

Let Go

Ahh,yes. This is the story of my life right here. My plan was to get married ten years ago and have lots of kids right now. That wasn't in God's plan for me, apparently. I turn 29 next week and there is  currently no husband and no kids in the picture. There's not even a boyfriend or potential boyfriend in the picture at the moment.

I'm learning day-by-day that I have to let go of what I want and accept God's plan for my life. I do know He knows best. He knows what's ahead. So I'll trust Him.

He Lives!

I've had a lot of thoughts lately about our Savior, with it being Easter. Last week I had the opportunity to speak in church on how my testimony of Christ has blessed my life. Preparing for that was a huge time of introspection. Last night I attended the Easter pageant at the Mesa Temple grounds and was again reminded of how wonderful our Savior is.

Also, I watched this amazing video the other day. What has struck me lately is that He is real. He really did live on this earth. He really did! This is not fiction. It happened people!

He went about doing good, teaching and preaching on this earth. He served others. He loved others. He had such a special mission on this earth.

He went about performing miracles. He healed people.

He suffered so much. He was rejected. He was hurt. He was wrongly accused. He was ridiculed. He atoned for my sins and for yours.

He was hung on the cross at Calvary. And then He died.

But, He rose again. He was resurrected - reunited with his body.

Because of Him, I have hope. I have hope that I can be forgiven of my sins. I have hope that burdens I face may be made light. I have hope that one day I will be perfect. I can be forgiven of my sins. And one day I will have a perfect body.

I am so grateful for Him. I feel like I've come to know Him better the past few years as I've faced certain challenges and trials. As I've come to know Him better, my burdens have felt lighter.

I know He lives. He's real. He loves us. And I am so, so, grateful! I'm eternally indebted to Him!

Happy Easter!

My Source of Strength and Peace

I'm speaking in church on Sunday and my topic is, "How my testimony of Jesus Christ has blessed my life." My first thought was, "wow." That encompasses so much. So, I've been thinking about it all week and trying to narrow it down.

I think the biggest blessings my testimony of Christ brings into my life are hope and peace. I've faced a good amount of discouragement, rejection and inadequacy in my life  (as we all have, I'm sure.). I've struggled with hurt and disappointment time-after-time when I didn't get the job, or the date, or whatever. I feel like I've been knocked down many, many times. And sometimes, because of this I don't want to open my heart up to the possibility of succeeding, because I  don't want to be hurt if I get disappointed again.

But, ultimately, I know I need to have faith. I need to have faith in Christ. I know that through Him and because of Him all things are possible. He is my only hope. Jeffrey R. Holland said, "Because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so.” Christ has already suffered for my pain. I don't have to do things alone. I have Him as my Savior - my source of hope, peace and strength. Whatever I've gone through, He's been there too. Whatever I've felt, He's felt it too. And for that I am so, so very grateful.

Fear Not

This is so comforting. I love the messages of strength and comfort in the scriptures.

A Miracle and A Lesson

I had a little miracle in my life today. I was at church when a member of the Bishopric told me he had my scriptures.

I had lost them over six months ago! I thought they were gone forever. I had looked all over. I was sad about it. These scriptures had been with me through seminary and my mission. 

I got to thinking about it. Maybe Heavenly Father was trying to teach me something.  Maybe not, but I'd like to think so. Maybe He was reminding me in a very small way that hope is not lost. I had given up hope of ever finding them. Maybe sometimes out of the blue, when we're least expecting it, we find something we've been looking for for a very long time. And when we do find it, we are so incredibly happy.