We Need God When Life Is Sunny

"We need God just as much on sunny days as we do when it's raining." I'm not sure where I heard this quote, who said it, or if I even wrote it correctly, but I feel like it applies to my life in a big way. Like many, I am so very good at calling upon the Lord when I am in the midst of great trials or turbulent time of tumult. Some of the most sacred times of my life have also been the most difficult ones because they're the ones when I was closest to my God. After all, I needed Him then more than ever.

Or did I?

Actually, I need God with me in my life all the times, equally. There are no times when I need Him more or less, rather times  that need of Heavenly Father is less or more apparent to my imperfect eyes. For instance, when life is all fine and dandy, sometimes my scripture study grows lax and my prayers less intense. However, the moment something goes wrong, I'm quick to my knees. I think this pattern is typical in many people.

So guess what? It is super, super awesome that we pray when we need help!! Woohoo!!! Yeah! That's great! But we can take it to the next level! When life is peachy, have deep, meaningful conversations with Heavenly Father. He loves us so much and wants to hear from us! Talk to Him. Let Him know about how your day went, your triumphs, your mistakes, plans for tomorrow. When we pray like this we become closer to Heavenly Father and Satan has less power over us because we have the Holy Ghost more abundantly in our lives.

Alma 34: 18-27:

 "18 Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save.

 19 Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.

 20 Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.

 21 Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.

 22 Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.

 23 Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.

 24 Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.

 25 Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

 26 But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.

 27 Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you."

I know that God answers our prayers, hears our prayers, and loves our prayers because He is our loving Father. Even though I'm still working on consistently praying with enough fervor when the going is good, I know that God blesses me most abundantly when I continually call upon Him.

 

Humble Happiness

A few days ago I woke up, as they say, on the wrong side of the bed. Something about me is that I make it a point in my life to be happy as much as I can, but that morning, I just couldn't be, no matter how hard I tried. So, I told myself that I couldn't get ready for school until I was happy. I said a prayer, telling Heavenly Father that I wanted to be happy, and that I was trying to be happy. I asked Him to help me be happy. But when I completed my prayer, I still wasn't happy. Frustrated, I immediately began praying again. This time I said, "I can't do this on my own. I really need thy help to be happy today.". All of a sudden, it was as if the negativity inside of me was swept away. It just kind of dissipated. Throughout the course of the day, several things went wrong, because of which, a couple people told me it just wasn't my day, but I was still genuinely happy nonetheless. This is because my happiness came not from my circumstances and surroundings, but from God, and my relationship with Him.

This experience reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures (which happens to be a Book of Mormon scripture mastery!), Ether 12:27-

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." 

Usually I think of this in term of "big weaknesses", habitual ones that take lots of time to correct. However, that day I realized that it can apply to "small weaknesses" as well. Because I went to the Lord in prayer and recognized that I couldn't be happy by myself that day, and that I could only do it through Him, He made that weak thing become strong for me that day.

I am going to try to apply this more often in my life. For example, you may recall that my favorite phrase is, "I can do hard things!". I am now amending it to say, "I can do hard things with God!". What can you do in your life through humility? It really is a power. 

*(By the way, finding "if/then" phrases in the scriptures is really cool. You'll see that I highlighted the scripture above in that way. These are conditional promises the Lord gives us. It's pretty cool to find them! I always mark them in my scriptures when I come across them! And they don't ALWAYS have the words if/then explicitly written, but the promises are still there.)  

 

"I Can Do Hard Things"

"I can do hard things" is by far my favorite phrase. Ever. I use it all the time, whether I'm trying to accomplish some herculean task or just get through an extra rough day. I have gotten into the habit of saying it aloud whenever something is tough, therefore, the people around me now know this phrase. I didn't think very much of it until one day a few weeks ago.

I was sitting in AP Music Theory with my good friend *Jenny. I respect Jenny soooo much. She is one of the best trumpet players in the state where we live. She juggles hard classes, music, and is an awesome swimmer. In addition, she is one of the nicest, most fun people I know. It would be an understatement to say that I look up to Jenny. So there we were in AP Theory, working on some homework, or something. Jenny leaned over to me and said, "Oh Whitney, I meant to tell you this a couple days ago. Last week I had a swim meet. I was really tired and wanted to give up while competing, but then your little phrase came to my mind that 'I can do hard things!'. That totally helped me keep going, and I'm going to use that as my little mantra from now on." As you can probably imagine, her telling me that made my life. It was so special to me that something I did helped Jenny, without me even trying.

Because Jenny told me that my phrase helped her, the phrase became more significant to me, and I began to use it more. A week or two later, I was having a really rough night. I was so frustrated with my lack of musical progress because of my injuries. So I turned to Jenny. Half an hour after I sent her a super long facebook message, she sent one back. That message contained the exact words I needed to hear. She encouraged me so much. And at the very end she said, "Oh, and Whitney, you can totally do hard things!".

You, too, can do hard things; this phrase does not only apply to Jenny and I! Perhaps you, or someone you know are going through an extra tricky challenge. Maybe you are working on some really intense New Year's Resolutions. And even still, you may just need a little burst of encouragement on those extra rough days. Let me tell you, "You can do hard things". This is because we are children of God. We cannot do hard things by ourselves. Of course we make the choice to persevere and hold fast until the end, but it is through God's power and because of His love that we can accomplish great things.

What can you accomplish with this knowledge? How can you grow and progress? Test the limits. Find out!

Receiving Answers to Prayers

I am so grateful for you, my diligent readers. When I get busy and have obvious difficulty keeping up my posts, I always seem to get feedback from you guys about my blog and that you love it. I appreciate that feedback more than you know. Sometimes your kind words are really what help me keep going! Of course I love, love, love blogging, but it's so difficult to stay on top of it sometimes! So, thank you. And, of course, thank you for reading my blog. Because of my sometimes-erratic posting habits, I don't know if I will ever obtain the amount of readership I would hope to have, but I love that you are my faithful readers. Gracias. Danke. Grazie. Merci. Thank you.

It seems as though posting about receiving answers to prayers is a common theme for me. But that's okay. Keeping with that theme, I have something really cool to tell you guys about! I've been learning something awesome!

Last week I had this really important singing test in AP Music Theory. (Basically we're given ten excerpts to prepare, then he chooses two random ones, give us a starting note, then we sing the whole thing for him.) He didn't give us much warning about the test, and I was really worrying about it. I worked as hard as I could on the excerpts when I had the time, but I was super busy with four-hour long Nutcracker rehearsals every night. The night before the test I spent two hours practicing the excerpts, but the next morning I still wasn't super confident that I would do well on the test. I said a prayer that the outcome of my test would match the effort I put into it. I was calm the rest of the morning and totally aced my test.

The same thing happened about a month ago at my first speech meet. I had spent hours, and hours writing, memorizing, and preparing my speech. But I was so nervous that I was going to have a memory lapse when I was presenting it in front of the judges. So, I prayed that the outcome of my meet would match the level of effort I put into preparation. That day I came in first place in the Novice category, and second place in Varsity. I felt so blessed.

Next time you need help from the Lord for something big that you've been working for, try asking Him to bless you with an outcome that matches the effort you put into it. I have been learning that it is important to be specific in our prayers. Often there are blessings set aside for us that God more than wants to grant to us, but our receiving them is conditional on if we ask for them or not. Of course, God's ways are higher than our ways, and if He doesn't answer our prayers the way we expect, that's okay. His plan for us is better than any plan we have for us. But He does love to make us happy and grant us blessings we want. So try it. See what happens!

How to Overcome Trials

I totally had something in mind about which I wanted to post, but I felt prompted to take today's post in a different direction. First, though, I want to pose two questions to you. What do you do when you have challenges and problems? and How does Heavenly Father help you through your challenges and problems? Think about these for a minute. Ponder. Search deep within your soul. Haha.

What did you find? Some things you like? Answers you didn't like? More questions?

I am going to answer these questions for you. As I have traveled down the metaphorical road that is life, I have come across many trials, as have you, I'm sure. I want to share how I deal with them. One can never have enough tactics to fight hardships.

When I have challenges and problems, I sometimes turn to my friends first. However, this doesn't usually prove very fruitful. As much as they love us, and as helpful as they can be, our friends are mere mortals. And while I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't let our friends help us through difficulty, I am suggesting that Heavenly Father is the best person to turn to. He, in His perfection and infinite love, cannot fail us. Turning to the Lord in the face of adversity, however, requires faith. We must trust that He will answer us, and that He will provide a way for us to understand His answer. This used to be very hard for me. I knew without a doubt that God would answer my prayers, but I didn't have faith that I would be able to comprehend or recognize the answers when they came. These doubts were from Satan. He doesn't want us to be close to our Heavenly Father. He doesn't want us to have the powerful help that God can grant us. Once I realized that because God loves us and is perfect, I knew He would provide a way for me to recognize and understand the answers He gives to my prayers.

So, what does Whitney do when she faces challenges and problems? She prays. She prays and prays and prays and prays. Often these are tearful prayers, seeking relief from negativity and frustration. After she is sure her prayers were with real intent and heartfelt, Whitney reads the scriptures. Just as praying is how we talk to God, the scriptures are how He answers us. Often, I find answers to my prayers within the scriptures. This happens when I pay close attention to the words I am reading, and apply them to whatever I'm struggling with. This takes work, and practice. I'm not always super great at it, but the Lord blesses us for our effort. I have found so many answers to prayers through reading the scriptures after praying about a specific problem.

Heavenly Father helps me through my challenges and problems through the Holy Ghost. Time and time again my prayers have been answered through this member of the Godhead. The Spirit answers my prayers in many ways including: warm feelings of love, promptings, specific thoughts and conclusions coming to my head, or a literal voice in my head telling me something. Every person feels the influence of the Holy Ghost in different ways. These are just some of the ways I feel it. One must practice and develop a knowledge of how the Spirit communicates with them. No two people are exactly alike in this regard. For example, here's a time when Heavenly Father helped me through something recently:

I have a friend who I love very, very much. He is one of the people I love most. He is like an older brother to me. This friend (let's call him Leo) has been super stressed out and upset for a long time. He has more on his plate than he can handle right now. Leo is worried about college applications, AP classes, college auditions for violin, his family, his work, etc. For as long as I can remember, Leo has shared feelings with me about not being happy and feeling like he is missing something in his life. I have been trying to share the gospel with him. I have invited him to meet with the missionaries, come to church, and more. He's not against it, but hasn't shown enthusiasm for the church. Many-a-night I would cry, and pray, and cry, and pray that the Lord would soften his heart. I fasted for him numerous times. I did ALL I could to share the gospel with this person I love so dearly. I want for Leo to have the happiness I have. One night when I was particularly upset about him and was praying about it, the thought came to my mind that Leo is God's son. Heavenly Father loves Leo just as much as He loves me, and that He will take care of Leo. I felt that I should trust that the Lord will let him partake in the gospel when the time is right, and that I can't take it upon myself to be solely responsible for that. With this thought came a simple feeling of peace and my worries left me. The thoughts, assurance, and peace were from the Holy Ghost.

I know that the Lord loves us and wants us to be happy. Just as He will take care of Leo, He will take care of each of us. He wants us to come to Him with our sadness, struggles, hardships, and also our joys and triumphs. I testify that He will answer your prayers.

Whitney, Whitney Blog Swap!

Just as I promised, here's a guest post by the lovely author, Whitney Reid! Be sure to check out her blog, because it's pretty awesome, but also because I wrote a post for it! Check it out!

Hi! I assume most of you don’t know me because I live states away from Whitney. Whitney and I have become friends through blogging and through the fact that we are both named Whitney! For those of you who don't know me, my name is Whitney Reid from feelmysunlight.blogspot.com. I am a little Utah girl and I spend most of my time in the gym either tumbling or coaching. While I love love love the time I spend with my team, I love the time I spend with the Lord even more. I am a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and am a little obsessed with this lovely church. When I grow up I want to be a graphic designer, but my true dream is work for EFY as a counselor and a speaker. I have a dream to be a motivational speaker one day. Until then I hope to reach people from the words of my blog. I want to do this because I have a piece of something so great that I want everyone to hold for themselves. This is my testimony.

In my sport of tumbling, as well as most other sports, there is an element of risk. Every time I step onto that mat there is a chance that I will not walk off of it. This is a chance we all take because the reward is so great. There is a risk with everything we do with our lives. Getting out of bed and going to school poses so many threats that if we focused on them we would never leave our bedrooms, nevertheless, we still climb out of bed day in and day out. 

I have learned something with tumbling. I have learned that too often people put there all into the sport, and then before they know it, it is all taken from them with a single fall. It is amazing how quickly dreams can be ruined when your biggest dreams are things pertaining to the ways of the world.

Now I’m not saying we should all quit trying to make it far in whatever we do, but I do believe there is something greater that we could aim for.

Enos 27 says,

“And I soon go to the place of my rest,                

              which is with my redeemer;

     for I know that in him I shall rest.                

           And I rejoice in the day when my                   

                  mortal shall put on immortality,

and shall stand before him;                             

                    then shall I see his face with pleasure,          

and he will say unto me: Come unto me,                

         ye blessed,

            there is a place prepared for you

 in the mansions of my father. Amen.”          

This is my goal. And I believe that this should be everyone’s dream.  Because glory and fame of the world is short lasting and insignificant compared to what we could gain if we are faithful to our father in heaven.

President Spencer W. Kimball said,

“If a man owns a million dollars worth of gold, he possesses approximately one 20-billionth of all the gold that is presented in the earth’s thin crust alone. This is an amount so small in proportion as to be inconceivable to the mind of man. But there is more to this: The Lord who created and has power over all the earth created many other earths as well, even “worlds without number” (Moses 1:33); and when [we keep the commandments, we] received a promise from the Lord of ‘All that my Father hath’ (D&C 84:38)”

 I love this quote because to me it shows that no matter what happens to us in this life, if we endure it well, we will receive far greater than anything we could have imagined. That is my goal.

Whitney Reid,

Feel my Sunlight

Your Call To Action!

This weekend was really challenging for me. Actually, Friday was, mostly. I had a really hard day of school. I felt really lonely. The worldliness of my school was really affecting the Spirit I was so used to feeling. Though it wasn't true, I felt like none of my friends actually loved me. I thought that if I were to disappear that no one would care.
Ewww. What a day.
During the course of that day, I prayed a lot. I mean, tons. You know how the scriptures talk about pouring out your heart to Heavenly Father? Well, I really poured out my heart to Him on Friday, more than I had in a long time. Afterwards I did feel a bit better, but the comfort I yearned for came gradually. I was expecting a huge wave of relief to wash over me while I cried out to God whilst kneeling on my bed, but it didn't happen that way. The comfort for which I longed came a little at a time over the weekend, mostly in ways I didn't expect.
First, my dad came to talk to me on Friday night. We talked, and I was able to vent about my problems and emotions to him. Then, my family watched a movie together, and I was at peace spending time with them. On Saturday, our ward went to the temple, which was a tremendous boost. Absolutely substantial! But on Sunday, doubts began to creep back into my mind, veeeery slowly. However, after church, out of the blue, one of the young women in my ward handed me a page-long note she'd written to me. She told me that she had felt inspired to write it for me, and that she hoped the words she wrote were the ones I needed to hear. It was beautiful. This young woman had, indeed, written exactly what I needed to read.
Then, last night and this afternoon, a really great young man from my stake was texting me. He simply told me that he thinks I am beautiful and told me that other young men in the stake think so as well, but that they're too shy to tell me. I hadn't asked him for compliments, nor was he trying to flirt with me. He was just being honest, but his words made a huge impact on me!  
Young men and young women alike- take note! Your words and actions have a TREMENDOUS effect on those around you! It's hard to understand what a wonderful ripple effect one can have on one another until you have been on the receiving end of such kind actions. It's truly beautiful. And the best part is, anyone can be that one- the one who makes a difference in someone's day, week, or life. You can. You really can! I challenge you to make a goal each day to do something, even something simple, to brighten someone's life. If each of us does one more good deed each day, what could we accomplish? How many lives would be blessed?
This is your call to action! What will you do with it?

God Thinks I'm Awesome

We had an awesome lesson today in Sunday School. I love the new youth curriculum, because it lets us take the lesson where it benefits us most through discussion. Our lesson was about Covenants and Ordinances, but it turned into an impromptu testimony-sharing session about what it means to us to be children of God. The Spirit was with us so strongly, and it was incredible.
My relationship with my Heavenly Father has always been strong, but lately it has grown even more. I have a tendency to tear myself apart, and even though I have so many friends and am surrounded by so many people, there are times when I feel lonely, as so many of us do. In the past, I have had to consciously draw closer to my God to enter into His peace and rest. However, lately I have noticed several times where I might have become very sad and discouraged, or lonely, but didn't. Instead of beating myself up or comparing myself to others, I didn't have to worry, because embedded and ingrained into my very soul was the knowledge that Heavenly Father loves me. And that even if other people didn't like me, God thinks I'm awesome. In the past I had to call that knowledge up in times of stress, but recently, this knowledge came by itself. This has been such a blessing and comfort for me.
I hope that made sense. I was trying to articulate my feelings, which can be difficult sometimes.
I hope all of you have a lovely week! I am heading to EFY tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!! I'm so excited! EFY is the best! I'm sure you'll hear at least something about it when I get back.
Maybe I'll see you there?

All Can Be Influenced

I don't really have time to write a post right now, but I just had to share this!!
About an hour ago I was walking out of an orchestra rehearsal, and a girl came up to me. We've spoken a few times, but never extensively. She is older than me and we never really hang out in the same circles. But she said, "Whitney, I just wanted to tell you that I think you are soooo pretty! Sorry, this is probably kinda an awkward time to say this. But seriously, every time I see you, I just think of how pretty you are, and I wanted to tell you that!" I thanked her and assured her that I didn't find it awkward.
What this girl didn't know was that the past few days I wasn't feeling like I was beautiful. The way girls do, sometimes. I immediately marveled that Heavenly Father sent someone who hardly knew me, who felt super awkward about it, to tell me I'm beautiful. I could tell she felt really strongly that she needed to tell me this because she quite obviously a bit uncomfortable, yet she did it anyway. This experience showed me that even people who don't have the gift of the Holy Ghost can still recieve impressions and act on them. It also reminded me of the infinite love and mindfulness our Heavenly Father has for us.

How the Holy Ghost Witnessed Truth

Today in seminary there was a little confusion about some of the doctrine about spirit prison and paradise, judgement, and the degrees of glory. I immediately felt the Spirit leave me when some of the information was incorrect. I raised the question and the class discussed it for a while. Finally, someone went upstairs and asked the bishop to come down and help (seminary is held in his basement).  He came to our class and cleanly cleared up the confusion. Then, he bore a powerful testimony to us of how we are such a chosen generation. He told us that prophets have stated that we, as in today's teenagers, are the most righteous and valiant of all to be chosen to come to earth at this time. It's truly a big deal!
As my wonderful bishop was teaching us, I felt the Spirit very strongly bearing witness to me of the truthfulness of his words. I even shed a few tears.
He also said something that really made me think- Our choices impact future generations. For good, or for bad. The image came to my mind of my posterity sitting in heaven, watching me and cheering me on, hoping I make as many good decisions as possible. They support me, even though I don't remember them and can't see them. As are my ancestors who have come before. It is so wonderful to know that on the other side of the veil, there are countless people rooting for me and supporting me.
Just some interesting things to think about. But I was just so appreciative that I have the gift of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and that I could recognize his bearing witness of truth and untruth. That is such a blessing we have and shouldn't take advantage of!

I felt the Spirit very strongly bearing witness to me of the truthfulness of his words.

They Will Hear the Gospel

Lately I feel like the focus around me has been missionary work. My leaders and teachers have been stressing this very important part of gospel living a lot recently. And, my dad was just called as ward mission leader, so it's brought up often. The missionaries come over a lot and it's great.
Today in young women's, our class had a lesson about the restoration and my teacher focused on how we can talk to our friends about the restoration and making sure we knew why it was so important and how a solid knowledge of the restoration can affect missionary moments. Being a member missionary is a huge part of my life. I absolutely love sharing the gospel with my friends. It brings me so much joy and happiness and complete bliss- I want my friends to have that as well. But, sitting in class today, I began to be very frustrated. I felt so sad because people outside of the church don't really realize what they don't have. They don't understand the joy, comfort, and blessings they aren't receiving.  It fills my soul with complete despair that these people- my brothers and sisters- don't have this in their lives right now and that they don't know what they are missing.
But then, whenever I begin to feel this way, the Lord comforts me. He lets me know that He loves His children and will provide for them in His own time. I had one such experience recently:

Our seminary teacher challenged us to ask our friends if they had any questions for us about the church. We were to record their questions and bring them to seminary so that we could learn to better answer them. I asked one friend in particular if she could ask me some questions. This friend is one of the people I love most dearly. She very religious herself, and has shown interest in understanding our religion. She thinks deeply and always has lots of questions about life. After being asked she told me that she'd give me a list of questions the next day.
And questions she gave me! I was expecting a few one or two-sentence questions. Instead, each of her questions were at least half a (typed) page long. She had obviously done her research because she quoted LDS scriptures such as the Doctrine and Covenants, and other books which contain words of the prophets. Using her doctrines, she used logic to try to prove why our religion must be incorrect.
I read through the questions, and with each sentence I read I became more and more sad. The Spirit instantly left me and it seemed as though each word I read slapped me in the face. I was so saddened by her words.
Later that night, however, she texted me. She told me that she didn't mean to offend me and how much she loved me. She bore her testimony of the truth she knows by saying that she was just looking out for me because eternity is a long time and Jesus is coming soon. It was at that moment that the Spirit whispered to me that she will eventually hear and accept the gospel. I felt the warmth of the Holy Ghost confirm his words. It was beautiful to me that I could receive confirmation that a friend I love so dearly will be able to obtain the joy I so cherish.

Conference for Teens

I watched the first session of conference this morning with my family, and it was so great! I'm so excited for the next session in a few hours!
My favorite part about conference is usually the beginning when President Monson talks about the growth of the church, the missions, and especially the new temples! A few years ago he announced a new temple that will be only thirty minutes away from me, instead of two and a half hours. Ever since, the announcing of new temples has a special new meaning to me because I understand the joy that people all over the world feel. It's incredible, and it's beautiful!
As a youth, there are many things we can listen for in conference. Even the words aimed towards adults about marriage and such can have unique meaning for us. For example, talks about marriage have huge significance to us even though we're not married. As teenagers in the church, we are on the brink of sooooo many giant life decisions! It is wise for us to heed these talks because it will help us know more about these choices as we prepare to make them.
The prophets and leaders of the church have so much knowledge and experience that they can impart to us. I know our lives will be blessed as we cherish conference. I have seen it in my own life. A few conferences ago, I picked out one piece of advice which stuck out to me that I was going to work on for next conference. President Monson gave the counsel. He told us to NEVER post-pone a prompting and to act immediately on inspiration. I instituted this counsel in my life and I saw immediate blessings! I became closer to my Lord, and the Holy Ghost. I learned to recognize the Spirit better, received more promptings and inspiration, and was able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands to further His work. Sure, I wasn't perfect, but the improvement I saw in my life by following teachings from conference was amazing!
So what can you do this conference to bring it in and make it personal? How can you act on the counsel given? Will you go the extra mile to be inspired and better your life? This divine knowledge from on high is being bounteously poured down to us. What will you do with it?

Father Loves to Bless Us

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing completely awesomely, which, I'm sure you are!

So, I have seating auditions on Wednesday. Two days from now. And, accordingly, I've been practicing my butt off. But, I've been super nervous because I haven't felt ready. And my time for practice is slowly dwindling. As of earlier today, I did not AT ALL feel prepared. But now I do. The acquisition of that prepared feeling has a story. Because I like stories.

It starts this morning. In the morning, I planned to spend all evening practicing tonight.  And that concludes the morning portion of the story. So I went about my day. Right before orchestra, last period, I found my best friend Kallie*, and we began to walk to class. But she seemed really sad. She wouldn't talk, and I couldn't get her to tell me what was wrong. I'd never seen her like that before. It was really scary for me because I didn't know how to react. All I knew was that my bestest friend ever was obviously going through deep emotional pain. It tore my heart. And I felt awful that I couldn't help because she wouldn't tell me what was going on. So, I never ended up finding out. We had orchestra, then we went home. I told her over and over that I loved her, and I texted her, and wrote on her facebook wall. I prayed that Heavenly Father would comfort her. But I was depressed. I was scared because I didn't know if, like, she got a text from her mom that her sister was in the hospital, or if her grandma died, or… I don't even know.  But I was worried sick. And depressed.

So, I got home, and I tried to practice. I hacked away at my auditions cuts and solo piece for about an hour, but it was fruitful in only the sour fruits of frustration, self-anger, more depression, worry, and back pain. I felt miserable. Nothing was working. I was so scared for auditions and about Kallie.

After dinner, I texted Kallie again, and this time she told me that she felt all better. I was OVERJOYED! Relief flooded me. I felt awesome. It astonished me just how much worry left me when I knew she was okay.

So then, I practiced again. This time I prayed that Heavenly Father would help me with my practice. I was a little skeptical because I didn't know if He would help since I ask for things so much, but I decided that if I went ahead and prayed for that blessing, and had faith that He could and would, that He would. And my Father did.

Right after my prayer, I thought, "Hey, I need to rosin my bow." So I did. Then, I knew I needed slow metronome practice. So I set it up. Then, I knew just how slowly to start practicing. My practicing was beautifully smooth and practically perfect.  I increased in ability a lot-fold. I don't know how much. Just a lot. I now feel a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot a lot more confident for the chair test. AND I still have another day for practice. I've got this!

I'm so grateful for my Father in Heaven who loves me sooooo much. Today I learned that He loves blessing us, and doesn't get annoyed when we ask Him for things. He wants to bless me. And I love Him.

*Name has been changed

Prayer is so powerful. It's our access to fortification from heaven.

I Want to Have That Kind of Faith

So this morning I watched one of the most touching Mormon Messages I've ever seen. Which is saying something because Mormon Messages rock.

Basically, it's about a young man and his father who were in a car wreck with their whole family and they were the only survivors. They share how they are still happy because they know they can live with their family forever.

You should really watch it. Here, I'll make it easy.

Did you watch it? If you were too lazy, at least watch from 1:51 to 2:52.

I love how the first thing this young man did when he heard the news of the deaths of most of his family was to smile. He smiled because he knew that everything would be alright. He knew that his family was safe in the arms of heaven and that he'd see them again.

We are the children of Christ. He will comfort us. Go to Him and He will embrace you.

I want to have that kind of faith. If that were to happen to me, I want to have enough faith so that my first reaction could be a smile of peace and love.

I love my family. And I am so incredibly grateful beyond words for the beautiful plan of happiness that our Father in Heaven has given to us. It's a beautiful gift from Him because He loves us.

Beauty All Around Us

Today I'm posting from...FLORIDA! I'm on vacation for fall break. Everyone in my family is taking a nap right now, so I thought I'd write a little post. :D
Today, as I was frolicking in the ocean, I noticed that every time a wave would come to shore it would bring tons of tiny little minnows with it. Then, the minnows would struggle back to the ocean so that they wouldn't wind up on shore. When the wave receded into the sea, it took the minnows back to their wet homes.

So, I sat close to the shore in shallow water and watched all of the minnows swim and swarm around me. It was really incredible. I'm just in awe of all of Heavenly Father's beautiful creations which He made just for us. God loves us so much. He created the magnificent, beautiful earth, and everything on it, for our happiness. I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful things we have to enjoy on this earth.
As I was riding to and from the places I went last week, I was struck with how beautiful my town really is. I never realized how much beauty I saw in my every day life and didn't realize it. I know that I definitely never want to overlook any of the beauty God gave us ever again.. So often, people take for granted the marvels around them.


Enjoy your day! I'm definitely going to enjoy my time at the beach!!!

Testimony Meeting

Greetings friends. I hope you're doing well. :D I am on fall break right now, so I am doing very well. :D
Sunday was fast and testimony meeting. I woke up feeling kinda...grumpy, not really grumpy... I was just really tired and feeling kind of moody that morning. I tried to quell my moodiness by having a positive attitude, but it just wasn't working. So, we got to church and we listened to the testimonies. I remembered that earlier in the week I had wanted share my testimony during this fast and testimony meeting. But, I was just wasn't feeling the Spirit. I was feeling really tired, and kind of dejected, maybe. I can't really describe my mood. You know that feeling when you feel like a mixture of sadness, apathy (apathy means that you don't care about anything), and grouchiness? But it's not so strong to be really terrible, just annoying? That's how I felt. So, anyway. I really wanted to share my testimony, but I just couldn't get over this mood and receive the Spirit in my heart, and I knew that having the Holy Ghost with me is vital when sharing my testimony. So, I prayed that I could have the Spirit with me. I prayed several times for this. But, all throughout the meeting, I just didn't' feel it. Now, by this time, there were about seven minutes left in the meeting. A woman got up and bore her testimony. Her testimony really touched me because it was about a subject that is very dear to me. Through her testimony, I gained the Holy Ghost with me. right when she was finished, I stood up and walked up to the pulpit. There were probably about three or four minutes left.  Usually, I kind of have a rough idea of what I'm going to say before I bear my testimony, but this time I only had wisps of topics floating around in my head that I couldn't put together. But, I went up there anyway and started speaking. I spoke about a special experience I've had this month, and of how my testimony has really grown in a certain area lately. I was crying, and I felt the Spirit very strongly. When I walked off the stand, I knew that I had said exactly what I needed to say. It was wonderful. I'm so grateful that the Lord answered my prayer and allowed me to kick my bad mood and gain the Holy Ghost with me again.

The Cure For Not-As-Good Days

Hello everybody. How are you guys doing? Have you had a good day? Most of the time, I have really good days. Probably about 98.5% of the time. I'm really good at having good days because I work very hard at being optimistic. But, I also have not-as-good days. Notice, I did not call them bad days.  I don't believe in bad days. No matter what may happen, you can at least learn from that experience. And learning is good, therefore, there are no bad days. :D Haha.
Well, today I had a not-as-good day. There were good moments, and not-as-good moments, as there are in every day, but today I had some particularly not-as-good moments. I was criticized by my friend. She was trying to help me, but I don't take criticism well, and she didn't say it in the nicest way. I've been having a hard time in one of my classes, and I was worrying about that today. I've also been struggling with some interesting and...um, unwanted emotions lately. And, I had a terrible time on the bus today. In a nutshell, my bus ride consisted of: hearing people talk about taking drugs, those same people passing around pornography, swear words whizzing past my ears every other second, and inappropriate music blaring from the bus speakers. Unfortunately, I forgot my headphones for my iPod so that I could listen to it to block out all of those things on the bus today.

I felt kind of like this today.

So, I got home, and was really upset. After pacing around the house in distress, I finally managed a sobbed-out prayer. I asked over and over, "Father, please help me. I need Thy help. Please help me." After a while of that, a thought/image/feeling came to me. It was of the Savior and I sitting, and my head was in His lap. He was stroking my hair and calming me. This answer to my prayer, which came from the Holy Ghost, helped me realize that I'm not alone, and that my Savior loves me so much. He is rooting for me, and will always be there for me.

He is at our door; we only need to let Him in, and He will help  us bear our burdens.

I'm so grateful for the power of prayer, and for the Holy Ghost. I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers. I never want to do anything that will block this sacred communication I have with my Father in Heaven. I know that Jesus is my advocate and that He loves me.