Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman.....

Ok so this post will have nothing to do with snowman! Awkward! But I did catch your attention. When I was a little girl, I loved singing that song. I would rock out to it as I danced beautifully! It made me so happy to imitate a snowman. Something so small really did make me so cheerful. I love how little children naturally find joy in almost every situation. Whether it is ending up covered in their dinner or demanding to have every blanket in the house wrapped around them at bedtime, they find the little ways that bring them joy. We must do the same! We must decide to be happy. Now. Not in a year or in a month. Now! And we must decide to allow ourselves to be happy.
I love when Elder Holland said, "We should honor the Savior’s declaration to “be of good cheer." (Indeed, it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost any other!)" (The Tongue of Angels) What an incredible commandment we have to be of good cheer! Our Father in Heaven and our Savior Jesus Christ did not spend time, talents, power and love to create a world and us to just be miserable. They created it for the ultimate joy and happiness to be given to us.
However, it is a choice. We must choose to look at the positives and blessings of our lives. We must count our blessings as the hymn says. I would like to take some time and list just a few things that help me to choose happiness.

• My dearest niece who I love and cherish! She makes me so so so happy!
• My support and love from my family! They help me to choose to be happy!
• Chocolate... Enough said
• Singing out loud in front of the world (preferably in the rain while dancing)
• Seeing someone recognize that God and Christ love them
• Music that is fun and helps me think of my Savior
• Counting to 10 when I am learning lessons in patience
• Crawling into a warm bed and falling asleep instantly
• Laughing with friends at the odd circumstances we are in

All of these things help me to choose to be happy! What makes you happy?

Get out of the twilight zone..... no wait the COMFORT zone!

Today and yesterday we had the opportunity to move into a new apartment! We are moving into a members basement. It is a beautiful place to live and we are really excited! It is a lot of work though! From packing, cleaning, packing some more, cleaning some more, then unpacking, cleaning, unpacking, shopping.. ect. You get the point! It can take a lot to move apartments. We are excited for the change but with it comes some unwanted consequences like leaving our dear roommates. The more I thought about the changes and the work put into it, it reminded me a lot about life. Often times we are given opportunities to change and we are excited and motivated but we still have moments where we want to stay behind. The benefit of staying behind is comfort. The benefit of moving on is increased ability to progress.

Staying in our comfort zones is the best way to mediocrity and laziness. Someone told me once that the gospel is to give the afflicted comfort, and the comfortable affliction. How true! We need to step out of our comfort zone and experience the change and progression God has in store for us. It will not be easy. It will be painful. In the end, it will be worth it. Elder Ritchie, a senior Elder in our mission, told us that the only way out of our comfort zones is through goals. How amazing is it then that our Heavenly Father will give us very new situations where we must set new goals. In this new apartment our goal is to keep it clean! As well as being able to redefine ourselves as missionaries. In every aspect of change we can use it to push us out of our comfort zones and into progression.

Sister Elaine S. Dalton shared her thoughts on change and comfort zones as well.

"We must be willing to change, to make transitions, to repent. From everything I read in the scriptures, I don’t think the Lord likes us to be in a comfort zone. He repeatedly takes his choicest servants out of their comfort zones and challenges them by their circumstances, their trials, and their opportunities to become more and to do more.In order to do this, we must be willing to move out of our comfort zones—to change. And that change can happen today . . .When you make a transition, you are never alone. Our Heavenly Father knows exactly where you are, and He will be with you. As you make some transitions, and they’re difficult, you can pray to Him. He will even send His angels to be with you. He will lead you to a place better than you can comprehend."

I am so grateful for the opportunity to leave my comfort zone and improve. I am still nervous but it will be a wonderful journey! Don't be afraid to step out of the comfort zone.

Long-suffering... now that doesn't sound like too much fun!

My first transfer as a missionary, my mission president asked me to study long-suffering. I was really not too excited about that assignment and wondered what it was prophesying of. 3 months later at our next interview President told me he had something really exciting for me to study... Long-suffering! At this point I was a little upset! I was not ready for a mission that meant long-suffering all the time! Yet again this last week President once again asked me to study long-suffering. I must have not learned enough! While I am still a little disgruntled at the idea of this continuation of studies, I thought I would share some of my thoughts!

The first thing I though was very interesting is how intertwined long-suffering is with the attribute of charity. We are told that Charity is long-suffering. Charity is able to continue onwards with love and joy by having patience with the faults of others. It helps us to be able to acknowledge others faults without using them against them or judging them. It is how we continue on in relationships without going crazy! It is also how Christ was able to love all those around Him. Timothy 1: 16 teaches us "Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting." 
Christ showed us the ultimate patten of long-suffering by working with us. Elder Holland demonstrated this idea by saying, "Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we."Long-suffering is about allowing others to progress and change at their own rate why still loving them for their faults.

The other connection with long-suffering is found in Galatians when it tells the fruits of the spirit. Long-suffering is one of them! One way we can know if we have the spirit is by the way we can endure and progress through our trials. It is also required when we are awaiting guidance or peace. Without such a virtue this life would be far too long with far too few answers.

Long-suffering is truly a blessing we can have that will help us to be able to make it through this life. It will help us not only endure but endure well. So, inregards to my Mission Presidents advice, I will strive to develop a longer and more prolonged ability to endure and produce patience in my time here.

I was lied to!!

A couple weeks ago my sister training leader asked me how I would describe my mission in one word. I responded, "Hard." She then went on to describe all the wonderful times we have on our mission, how much they help us grow and how much fun we can have! She asked me again "so now how would you describe your mission?" "HARD!" I responded calmly:) It is true. Missions are hard! So very very hard!
When I would ask others about their missions I always heard the most inspiring and joyful answers. I began to believe that missions were always wonderful and exciting. It never crossed my mind how exhausting and troublesome missions were. I was very much lied to! I also now realize how grateful I am that missions are hard! I would not lean near as much if my mission was easy. It reminds me of a quote by Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Anyone who does any kind of missionary work will have occasion to ask, Why is this so hard? Why doesn’t it go better? Why can’t our success be more rapid? Why aren’t there more people joining the Church? It is the truth. We believe in angels. We trust in miracles. Why don’t people just flock to the font? Why isn’t the only risk in missionary work that of pneumonia from being soaking wet all day and all night in the baptismal font?

You will have occasion to ask those questions. I have thought about this a great deal. I offer this as my personal feeling. I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary. (Missionary Work and the Atonement)

For anyone who is venturing off to become a missionary or who is wondering who those missionaries are, just know that being a missionary is hard! But it allows us to come closer to our Savior and to understand just a small piece of His suffering. I love being a missionary and having the opportunity to grow in such a concentrated time frame. I love my Savior and I love His work.

Nobody said anything about having to jump out of the boat!

Today we had the amazing opportunity to visit with the one and only S. Gifford Nielson. If anyone of you were watching the October general conference then !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! might give you a hint to who he is! It was a phenomenal conference and a wonderful opportunity to learn more about my purpose as a missionary. The thing I loved most though was when we were told we needed to get out of the boat! No but really! Our assistants shared a great lesson that I want to share with ya'll.
Do you remember the story of Peter and his ability to walk on water?(Matthew 14:29) I have always loved this story. The elders talked about how Christ commanded the apostles to get in the boat and travel across the waters. It was a good thing to be in the boat and to be traveling in the right direction. The miracle however did not happen until Peter choose to step out of the boat. That act of faith alone is what allowed him to see a miracle. He walked on water! I don't know about you all but I need miracles everyday to keep me going. We need that power of God in our lives. Well this story tells us how to receive it! No I'm not saying you should go jump into the ocean and start walking, but examine where in your life you need miracles and then find the "boat" you can step out of. It really does take that step.

When becoming a disturber and annoyer is a good thing... I am all in!

I am a red head. Or in otherwise know as a ginger. Let's just say that I have a bit of a temper and I am very nosy. I have been called annoying in my past and maybe a little in my present as well! I remember when I was a little girl I would always tag along with my sister. In fact, when we would play card games with her friends, we would all cheat just so she wouldn't win. I was a typical little sister. Back then being annoying was classified as a bad thing. What I read today however says otherwise! I was reading in the Joseph Smith History where he says,

"it seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?" (JSH 1:20)

 Becoming an annoyer and disturber is a good thing! If, of course, it is towards the proper things. Joseph Smith and all of the other prophets are wonderful examples of how to be an annoyer to Satan and his plans. Each of us can be annoyers as we work to become more like our Savior. I thought a lot about Joseph Smith and how he was this disturber and here are just a few examples I thought of.

• He sought God's will and only God's will
• He had diligent scripture study and prayer
• He stood up for the beliefs he had
• He brought the restored gospel to hundreds!
• He brought others closer to Christ

In simple ways he thwarted the plans of Satan. It also reminds me of a scripture found in the Book of Mormon. It is talking about the prophet Moroni and the man he was.

"Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men."

We can thwart the plans and designs of Satan and have fun while doing it! Let us each become disturbers, annoyers and hell shakers!

The ER and the snow = Christ?

This week has been a disaster!! We have had so many trials and crazy adventures. What started out as a wonderful Sunday ended in a trip to the ER and snow day, after snow day, after snow day! What in the world! It was one of those weeks where I did not feel much like a missionary. I was frustrated with the way this week came about and the little work we were able to complete. That is until I came across the scripture in 3 Nephi18: 7 which says ". . . And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you." 

When I read that scripture I thought about how even those moments we were able to still remember Christ and be an example of Him. Here are just a few examples!

While the nurse was drawing blood from my wrist I was able to talk about prayer! We had a great exchange about how through prayer God can really help us through anything. Even having a needle stabbed in your wrist.

While we were in the ER we were able to demonstrate patience as we sat for 3 hours. We were laughing and smiling and helping everyone who worked there have a more relaxing work shift.

When the fireman came to check out our apartment we were able to give them some laughs and smiles. They may have enjoyed that a little too much!

Throughout our snow days we were able to help each other through personal trials and through boredom. We even created Plan of Salvation visuals and started reading Jesus the Christ!

Most importantly throughout all of the crazy we were able to always have fun and receive strength through Christ.

Often Christ is apart of our daily lives whether we realize it or not. If we can simply recognize His love for each of us then we can always remember Him and always have His spirit to be with us.