Your Spiritual iPod

Yesterday I was riding the bus home from school. On my bus, I sit by myself, because of all the stuff I have to carry around (my bookbag, viola, lunchbox, etc....). I listen to my ipod on the bus because the other people on my bus are really loud and crude. They talk about things that I don't want to think about, because they won't help me have clean thoughts.
You are similar to me.  You too need an ipod to drown out the things of the world. A "spiritual ipod".
So, what is a "Spiritual iPod"?  When I didn't want to hear the things that the people on my bus were saying, I turned the volume up on my ipod. So when the world is getting to you. you can "turn the volume up" by reading the scriptures, praying, and listening for the Holy Ghost. These are the things that will help you drown out the unpleasantness of the world.  And, unlike a regular iPod, your spiritual ipod has no maximum volume. It can never be too loud.
There's a saying my mom tells me that goes "We should be in the world, but not of the world." This means that even though we live in a world full of sin, we don't have to let that rule our lives. We can still live righteously in this world even though the people around us may sin. And how do we do that? By turning up the volume on our spiritual iPods.
Then there are the times that your spirtual iPod may break, and you sin. It happens to everyone. But you don't have to worry. You can fix your spiritual spiritual ipod! Your spiritual ipod can be fixed through repentance. After repenting, your spiritual ipod will be stronger!
I know that the Lord is pleased when we choose the right. We are His children, and He loves us infinitely.

The peace the temples brings...

One of my most favorite aspects of the gospel is the temple. I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!!!! I would go there everyday if I could!!!! The book True to the Faith, a study help that the church publishes, defines temples as the following:

Temples are literally houses of the Lord. They are holy places of worship where individuals make sacred covenants with God. Because making covenants with God is such a solemn responsibility, individuals cannot enter the temple to receive their endowments or be sealed in marriage for eternity until they have fully prepared themselves and been members of the Church for at least a year. Throughout history, the Lord has commanded His people to build temples. The Church is working to build temples all over the world to make temple blessings more available for a greater number of Heavenly Father's children.

To me, the temple is a house of peace. When you enter, you leave all of your cares and worries behind, and you are immediately filled with a sense of peace and awe. You can automatically feel that it is a House of God, and you can feel it's sacredness. Everyone speaks in whispers, and the Holy Ghost is felt strongly. I love the temple because of the peace I receive. 

To most people, peace means the absence of war. But to me, and to most Latter Day Saints, peace represents the truly blissful, spiritually relaxing happiness that comes from the Holy Ghost. In a world that is full of turmoil and hardships, I love to embrace the fully happy, peaceful, confident feeling I receive in the temple.

Many things are done in the temple. But before you can enter, you must prepare yourself to be worthy. This includes: being a baptized member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, being honest, staying away from drugs and alcohol, being morally clean, and having a testimony of Christ, among others. I keep myself prepared by: reading my scriptures everyday, praying morning and night, keeping a prayer in my heart, being honest, being modest, watching and listening to media (such as music, tv, books, internet...) that is clean and reverent,  and taking the sacrament every week. 

The temple is a place to rest from the cares of the world, but we also do several things in the temple. When I go to the temple, I do baptisms for the dead. This is a sacred ordinance where a person is baptized for a person who did not get that opportunity while living on earth. Also, worthy adults can make sacred promises and covenants with the Lord, and learn more of Him.

This is a really great video that explains about LDS temples.

 Temples are beautiful. I love feeling the peace that I receive when I go there. I know that the Lord is pleased when I go to His house. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to go there. Soon a temple will be built in the city where I live, and I will be able to go even more often than I do now! I really can't wait until I am able to go through the whole temple and make those sacred promises my Heavenly Father. I know that Christ atoned for us, and that because of His ultimate sacrifice, we can have peace and eternal life.

To learn more about temples, click here. 

Modest... Reasons Why you should be.

Modesty. Some girls cringe whenever the word is mentioned. They wonder why they shouldn't be able to wear what their friends and peers are wearing, and why it has to be so difficult. Some girls believe that modesty is outdated. I used to think all of those things. I noticed that in all of the magazines, all of the beautiful models were wearing revealing tops and short skirts, shorts, or dresses. What girl doesn't want to be like a model? I always dressed modestly, but I always wondered why I was being modest, besides the fact that my parents told me to be modest. So. Why should you be modest? I have come up with a list.

1. It is physically more comfortable.Whenever I have worn clothes that weren't the most modest, I felt really awkward. And it felt like everyone was staring at me. Especially when wearing tops that were too low cut. When you dress modestly, you feel comfortable because you just feel good.
2. Most of the time, only models look "good" in immodest clothing. It is much easier to love your body when you dress modestly.
3. You know that people love you for who you are, not just your body. Sometimes a person will hang out with you only because you are "sexy". This leads to heartbreak because after a while, the person will find someone they think is "sexier" than you, and leave. When you dress modestly, you know that people around you will love you for your personality and not for your body.
4. You know that you are doing the right thing. This is so important because it will give you confidence. You will have more confidence because you know you are doing the right thing, and becasue of that, God is pleased with you and will bless you.
5. You will have higher self esteem. Because of the confidence you will get, the comfort, and knowing that poeple around you love you for who you are, you will be confident in yourself.
6. You will have the Holy Ghost with you to guide you. This is so super important. With the guidance of the Holy Ghost, we recieve comfort, and help with all of the trials that being a teenager brings.
7. You will have an easier time making good choices. Not just because you aren't being revealing (
   which is important) but because you have the Holy Ghost with you, and because you are confident in yourself.
8. You will gain the respect of other people. When people look at a girl who is dressed immodestly, they think that she has no respect for herself and has a low self esteem. But when you are being modest, people respect your opinions, ideas, and personality more.
9. You show others that you know you are a princess. Yes. I just told you that you are a princess. You are a daughter of God, your Heavenly Father who loves you. You were born to be a queen. You can prepare for that role, and show Heavenly Father that you are doing your best to live up to that by dressing modestly.
10. You will be worthy to go to the temple. We believe that temples are holy houses of God, which are the only places on earth that can compare to the holiness of heaven. Only individuals who are spiritually worthy may go to the temple, and you must be modest to be worthy.

These are only a few of the reasons why you should be modest. Modesty includes:

• Shorts/Skirts/Dresses come to at least your knees.
• Shirts have sleeves.
• Clothing is not too tight.
• Tops are not very low cut in the front or back.

I know that when I am modest, my Heavenly Father is proud to call me His daughter. I know that He loves me, and I know that when I am modest I am showing Heavenly Father that I appreciate my body, which is a gift from Him. I know that when I dress modestly and live worthily, I can go to the temple, which is such a tremendous blessing!

If you would like to learn more about modesty, click here.

If you would like to learn more about temples, click here.

If you would like to learn more about the Holy Ghost, click here.

If you would like to learn more about Heavenly Father, click here.

Hunger after Righteousness

What is the definition of righteousness? Ask yourself.  To me, righteousness means doing the right thing at the right time because you love and have faith in Jesus Christ.
In my Book of Mormon reading, I came across a verse that really made me think. 3 Nephi 12:16:

 6 And blessed are all they who do ^ahunger and ^bthirst after ^crighteousness, for they shall be ^dfilled with the Holy Ghost.

What a promise. To be filled with the Holy Ghost. Immediately after reading this, I asked myself, 'Do I hunger and thirst after righteousness?' Think about the last time you fasted, or were REALLY hungry. Could you ignore the urge to eat? What would happen if you did?  Just as ignoring the urge to eat eventually leads to sickness and death, ignoring our spiritual hunger leads to spiritual sickness and death.

Christ gave this promise when he appeared to the Nephites after His ressurection. He promises us that the Holy Ghost will fill us when we hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Being filled with the Holy Ghost is a powerful blessing that everyone should yearn for. When you have the Spirit as a constant companion, and heed his promptings, you can never be led astray. Having the Holy Ghostwith you is such an empowering feeling to have. You feel so confident, content, loved, and happy at the same time. If you have not felt this before, or want to feel the Holy Ghost more, you are promised by Christ that you will be filled with the Holy Ghost when you hunger and thirst after righteousness.

So. How do you hunger and thirst after righteousness?

If you are hungry, most likely you would enjoy attending a feast. 2 Nephi 32:3 says:

3 ^aAngels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, ^bfeast upon the ^cwords of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will ^dtell you all things what ye should do.

While you may have to wait until Thanksgiving for a feast for your stomach, you can feast upon the words of Christ any time you want by reading the scriptures. When you feast upon the scriptures, I know that your hunger will be satiated. I love the scriptures. I love feeling the Holy Ghost, and I love the comfort, peace, and confidence his presence brings. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He died for me. And I know that all may have life through him.

To learn more about the Book of Mormon, click here.

To learn more about the Holy Ghost, click here.

To learn more about the Savior, Jesus Christ, click here.