Decisions

Decisions determine our destiny.  Frederick Speakman

Service

Along your pathway of life you will observe that you are not the only traveler. 

There are others who need your help. There are feet to steady, hands 

to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire, and souls to save.  Thomas S. Monson

Trials

While afflictions are never easy, all of them can give us

 experience and can be for our good.    - Bonnie D. Parkin

Laughter

Dream, live, never let laughter die.  - Autumn Jennings

Adventure

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.

 - Andre Gide

Change

I've finally realized that I have to just learn from the past and know that 

change isn't always a bad thing even if it hurts sometimes.  - Liz Betrey

Stand Up

There are times in life that, regardless of the consequences, 

you need to stand up instead of just stand aside.

Example

No one can change a person, but someone can be a person's reason to change.

Object Lesson

April 21, 2014

Tuesday 4.15.14

So today was AWESOME! Yes that’s right it deserves capital letters. So Elder Ballard has given us a challenge or told us that we need to contact 10 people every day so 20 for the two of us. So we are doing that today as we were contacting we contacted Loreto. She is so amazing! Ok so here is what went down. After lunch we are just walking around the neighborhood literally knocking on each door. No one was home. Until we “ahhllloood” at the house of Loreto. Let’s switch to her perspective now’ So I was sitting at home with my twins of 1 year and I hear someone “ahlo”. I think oh darn I’m so busy. I go look out the window and think oh darn it’s the Jehovah’s Witness. I grab my screaming child and head out to the gate to show them I’m busy and can’t let them in. but it’s just two young gringas and they asked me if I had time to hear a message  and for some reason the word no didn’t come to mind. I went back in to get the keys and let them in. Our perspective’ whooohooo finally someone let us in and oh those babies are so cute! We sit down and we start teaching about the book of Mormon. We read the introduction with her and then she really started opening up to us. She told us her story and how God was there for her when she was a child and how everything had gone her way till she had her first son and couldn’t take the test to get her degree in law. She went from living her dream to eventually a stay home mom with 3 children under the age of 3. She told us how this made her crazy but at the same time she loves her children. She told us how she feels that she has distanced herself from God and doesn’t know what she wants from her. But she wants to feel close to him. We then told her that her role as a mother is the most important thing she could be doing and that it was the work of the Lord and in the end no job no salary or other worldly possession will compare to her work as a mother. It’s the most important thing because you are literally in charge of raising and nurturing children of God. She started to cry and told us that is what she needed to hear. She wants us to come back and is looking for god right now and it was so neat and I just can’t describe in words what had  happened other than god had prepared her beforehand. I can’t wait to see what happens.

4.16.14

So then we were asked to teach seminary and we are here to build up the kingdom where we are so we went and we wanted it to be an experience for the youth because it’s just a hard time those high school years so we were teaching 2 Nephi 9 and we went all out. It talks about the atonement and the spirit world, resurrection, judgment, and the celestial kingdom. So we started off in one room which was ëarth¨we then ¨died¨and went to 2 different rooms representing the spirit world, where we will wait as spirits for the second coming of Jesus Christ. The spirit paradise was all organized and with uplifting music and pictures of Christ and the spirit prison was a mess of chaos and eerie music. We talked about the difference between the two rooms and dhow we wanted to live our live here and make good choices so we could go to spirit paradise. We then we’re resurrected and made our way down to the high counsel room for our ¨judgement¨and we then ended in the chapel as the ¨celestial kingdom it was neat because we went in and got to talk about how all of the plan of salvation is possible through Christ. They then read part of 2 Nephi 9 while Hermana Huber played quedate conmigo senor. After we shared what we learned and how we all wanted to make it to the celestial kingdom and how it depended on what we do here and what kind of life we live here to what kind of life we will live in the next life. It was neat because we had 3 less actives come and then they all came to church this Sunday.

4.17.14

So this week I wanted to share an object lesson with others that the elders showed me when I was like 12 or so. I am going to explain it to ya’ll and I’ll send pictures to help. But neat story before I explain it. I went to this small town hardware store to look for the big nails you need for this object lesson and before I bought them I taught it to the guy selling them and after he gave them to me as a gift! It was awesome! But any who here it is so what you do is you need 11 large nails like the length of a pen. 

1.       You pick one up and put it like this  (Picture 1) you then explain that this nail represents our lives and that the

 

2.       other nails represent the things we have to do in our lives (picture 2) such as sleep, eat, read the scriptures, pray, go to church, go to school, love others, etc.  But most importantly we need to have Christ in our lives or apply his atonement, when we suffered for our sins and through his atonement we can repent and can receive strength to do what the Lord asks of us.

3.       You then ask someone to place all of these things that you need to do in this life on top of the one nail. Or in other words they have to try to balance 10 nails on top of one nail head  (picture 3) which seems impossible. I then explain that the world likes to make us believe that it is impossible to have God in our lives and do all the other things we need to do that there is no time to go to church, read the scriptures, or pray because there are  so many other things we have to do in life.

4.        I then show them how the impossible is possible with Christ and arrange all the things they have to do in life like this (picture 4) leaving one out that represents Jesus Christ.

5.        I then place the nail representing Jesus Christ on top (picture 5)  and then the impossible happens.  I then can place all the things we need to do in this life, the things of God and things of the world  - all the nails= on top of the other nail, representing our lives

6.       (Pictures 6)

 we see that with Christ we can do the impossible but when we take Christ out of our lives (picture 7)  we can’t do it.

 I know that with Christ and his Atonement in our lives we can do what he asks of us we can

do the impossible but without Christ the impossible stays impossible. I love this example because it really helps us remember how much we need Christ in our lives it wasn’t meant for us to do this life alone let him help you do the impossible because through him all things are possible. I hope ya’ll enjoyed this object lesson as much as I did and I did it at our branch presidents house and he wants me to do it at the branch family home evening this Saturday!

 This week was Herman Nicols last week as a mini missionary. We are going to miss her but we still have lunch at her house every Wednesday so it isn’t goodbye good-bye but now we will have 4 missionaries like before.

 This week we also got to meet baby Jaime the son of Paula and Andres. He is so tiny and cute!

4.20.14

Sunday was Easter! It was so great. Something I started this week was to re-read the book of Mormon but as I read I highlight every time it says the name of the Savior or God. They are 2 distinct people, God is the father of our spirits and Jesus Christ is our brother who showed us the way back to God and atoned for all of us, but they have the same purpose to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. It’s been a neat experience so far to see just how much I get to highlight. I mean if you haven’t noticed I am all about the visuals they help us remember like for example I hope after the object lesson I shared with ya’ll every time you guys see a nail you will think about how important the savior is in our lives. And how he did suffer for all or our sins, disabilities, sicknesses and etc. and how he overcame death and rose again and one day we will too.

Hermana Jennings

Friends

No one is rich enough to be without a friend.

Happiness

Happiness is a choice.

Jesus Christ

Did the Lord in reality die and rise again? Yes. 

Jesus Christ is in fact the only name or way by which salvation can come to mankind. 

The grace of Christ is real, affording both forgiveness

 and cleansing to the repentant sinner.    -  D. Todd Christofferson

Perserverance

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years.  

People grown old by deserting their ideals, their faith.

Potential

Who are we? We are children of God. Our potential is unlimited. 

Our inheritance is sacred.  May we always honor that heritage 

- in every thought and deed.    - Russell M. Nelson

Strength

I'm strong because I know my weaknesses. I'm alive because I'm a fighter, I'm wise because I've been foolish. I laugh because I've known sadness.  

Future

I know not what the future hold, but I know who holds the future.  - Author Unknown

Humor

Every survival kit should include a sense of humor. 

Act Now

Do not wait for ideal circumstances, nor for the best opportunities,

 they will never come.  - Janet Erskine Stuart

Endure

Endure, endure and save yourself for days of happiness ahead.  - Virgil

Love

The more we love God, the easier it is to love others.  - Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Anger

Anger and resentment limit our own progression. We can heal and progress when we learn to forgive others.  People who forgive are happier and healthier.  - Rob Richards

Individuality

Your needs are great and varied. Each of you is a unique child of God. 

God knows you individually.  He sends messages of encouragement, correction, 

and direction fitted to you and your needs.  - Henry B. Eyring

Obstacles

We need to be ready to expect obstacles and be ready to overcome them,

 but it’s also really important to expect miracles.  

Ask for these miracles in your prayers and watch for them in your life. 

- David Turner

Self Discipline

There is little than can withstand a man who can conquer himself.  - Louis XIV

Shopping

Shopping is a woman thing. It’s a contact sport like football. 

Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, 

the danger of being trampled to death, 

and the ecstasy of the purchase.  - Erma Bombeck

Happiness

Forget not to be happy now.

Home

The lessons that are learned in the home are those that last the longest.  

- Cheryl Esplin

Obedience

Obedience is the ultimate path to freedom.  - Jeff Stebar

Patience

Life is about timing . . . the unreachable becomes reachable, 

the unavailable becomes available, the unattainable . . . attainable.  

Have patient, wait it out - it's all about timing.  Stacy Charter

Fearless

Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless when facing them. 

Future

I see my path, but I don't know where it leads.

Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it. 

 - Rosalia de Castro