Doubt Not. God Makes Priceless People.

It has been about two weeks since I posted last, which frankly, is unacceptable. So, I apologize! Life has been so hectic around here! It's fall break. Need I say more. :D

I would say that I am a very confident person. I'm definitely not perfect in that regard, but I do well. I know that I'm a daughter of God. I let that knowledge govern how I feel about myself. And I let it create confidence within me. But no person is perfect. Doubts creep into even the sturdiest soul on occasion.

Like a few nights ago. It was bad. It started out with me talking to one of my best friends. There's this really popular, good-looking guy in our school who really likes her, and she like him as well. I'm happy for them, but it just so happens that I had a huge crush on him in seventh grade. I'm not jealous, or anything, but I began reflecting on it. I wondered, "Why don't attractive, popular, older guys ever like me?" "Why do really popular people seem to not like talking to me ever?" "I'm a really cool person, what's wrong with this picture?" "I must not be beautiful enough." "I'm probably super boring." These negative thoughts seemingly came from nowhere, but each one came faster and with more force than the one before. Soon, I was sobbing. Deep down I knew that none of it was true, but I couldn't dispel the sudden self-doubt I was feeling on the surface. I knew I'm a daughter of God, and I knew that I'm beautiful. But I was so tossed about in the tempest of my negative thoughts that I felt like I could not securely grip and cling to those truths to keep me afloat. I prayed. And I cried. Prayed. Cried. Simultaneously. I read the Book of Mormon. And cried and prayed some more. I really felt like I needed to talk to someone, but I didn't know who. After a while, though, I decided to talk to my friend, Allison (name changed). She's one of my closest friends. We're in the same ward and go to the same school. Allison has a beautiful testimony of the gospel, and she is so good at applying it to her life. I knew that she would have comfort and insight for me.

I was not disappointed. After texting her to tell her how I felt she wrote me the longest text I've ever received. Here's a little bit of what she said. This stuff is golden, kids. It really is.

"Envy, which is often mistaken as jealousy, is a cruel trick on our minds. Do we actually care about worldly popularity? No. And you recognize that. Yet your mind has this control over you that makes you think that you care. This is all Satan [trying to mess you up]."

"No matter how you feel at the moment, there is Christ. Imagine how he felt! He was awesome! Seriously the coolest person ever! I mean, He was king of all nations, yet most of everyone hated Him. He knows what it's like to be left out and to see others prefer fakes over Him. Find comfort in the atonement."

"Society is fake and we all compare ourselves to something that isn't real. We admire what isn't there. We search for something that is lost. Comparison is the thief of joy. Never compare. You are better than this."

I love Allison. I immediately felt better after talking to her. I am so blessed to have her, and other friend like her, in my life. This isn't the first time that Allison has really helped me feel confident in myself when I've needed it. She has always been there for me, and always will be there for me. I'm so grateful to have her as a friend. And I'm so very, very grateful, more than I can fathom the words to describe, for my Father in Heaven. He is my Father. He created my soul. I am His creation. Next time you're down on yourself think about this- Would God create something ugly, bad, or inferior? The answer is an emphatic NO! Each of us is priceless. The greatest sacrifice in the history of mankind and beyond was made for each of us individually- the atonement of God's perfect Son, and our brother, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for their love and the relationship I have with them.

This is kind of a lame-quality photo, but this is a painting I did of me hugging my Savior. It was my 10-hour Personal Progress project for Faith. This really embodies the relationship I have with Christ. He always comforts me, and I'm grateful beyond words for Him and His sacrifice and love for me. In the painting, Christ is supporting me. He does this for me very literally.

Power of YOUth

I guess I'm pretty sheltered. But I'm okay with that. I wouldn't have to be sheltered if I didn't want to. I could do things behind my parents backs, and lots of it they might never find out. But I love my innocence.
Sometimes I see things inadvertently which cause me to realize a little more just how steep a downward slope our world is traveling. I just saw a 30-second commercial which totally flabbergasted me. It was an ad for a clothing store (I won't name names here), and it showed a guy and a girl, each in their underwear, standing in a room together with lots of clothes at their feet. They proceeded to put on and take off lots of different outfits, whilst flirting with each other. I won't go into any other details, but the advertisement made me really sad. What was even worse were all of the comments underneath the ad. There were a few people who criticized the ad, and there were myriads of grumblers criticizing those people. It was really heartbreaking to see how many people agreed with and defended the ad.

The Lord knew this time of the world would be difficult. He sent us here for that very reason. You all have heard that we were saved for this time, that we are some of the most valiant. Don't take that for granted! Heavenly Father trusts us to do His work. How special is that?

“Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Pet. 2:9.)

We are all brothers and sisters- precious sons and daughters of God. We can acquire strength by calling down the power of heaven. It's simple, and powerful. Pray. Read your scriptures. Do the things you know are right! The Lord will bless you. I know you know this. I know you live this. Today, take it a step further. Do something you didn't think you could do. Rely upon the Lord for help. We can be instrumental in bringing forth the kingdom of God. There is so much power in us, youth. Let's exercise it.

Small and Simple Example- Great Impact

Lately I've been just a little discouraged because I have felt like I'm not being the example I can be. Especially these past two weeks. I haven't been doing anything wrong to be a bad example, and I've been doing lots of good things, but I just felt a little un-brilliant and uninspiring. I had to keep telling myself, though, that all the little things we do add up. The little choices which make up who we are are noticed by those around us. I reminded myself of the scripture, "...behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." (Alma 37:6)

Then, I decided to try to notice the little things I did everyday to help others, be righteous, and set a good example in general. Some of these things included:

• Being patient and loving to those who might annoy me
• Setting and working toward personal goals
• Being optimistic about trials and helping others be optimistic about theirs
• Paying attention and loving to learn in church meetings
• Giving advice to those who come to me with problems
• Being polite and kind to everyone
• Dressing modestly, using good language, keeping the dating standards, keeping the sabbath day holy

These are all small things which I don't ever think twice about over the course of my day, but I realized that their combined effect is really powerful. I bet you all do these things, too! People do notice that we are different, and they think it's awesome! They are drawn to our lights! We just don't always realize it because we can't read minds.

However, there are those awesome occasions when those affected by our awesome examples tell us about it. It's so cool when that happens! That happened to me on Sunday.

An eleven year old girl in our ward came up to me after church and told me that she had noticed me taking notes in Sacrament meeting for several weeks. She decided that she wanted to take notes, too. I was told that her mom bought her a special notebook for it, and that she was going to hang up her notes on her locker. I was so touched and humbled by her acknowledgement of how my actions affected her. Taking notes is a simple thing I do for myself, but because I wanted to bless my own life, it blessed her's too!

So really, we're not the only ones affected by keeping the commandments and our awesome acts of righteousness. Those around us are watching, and the things we do have a ripple effect. Don't be discouraged if no one comes up to you and tells you that you're inspiring them! Just because no one tells you doesn't mean it's not happening! So what will you do with your good example? Who will your ripple touch? You may never know in this life, but just think about all the people you could be inspiring! It's exciting, isn't it?
 

The Power of a Righteous Friend

Friends are awesome. I am blessed to have the best friends in the whole entire universe. (Though I'm sure all of you are pretty fantastic, yourselves.) My friends stick up for me, help me when I'm down, make me feel loved, and I always have a great time with them.
A few weeks ago I had an experience which really helped me realize the value of true, righteous friends. I was getting ready to go to a long rehearsal where there would be tons of people, it'd be really hot, and we were going to do a lot of standing around, waiting. I'd never truly been tempted to dress immodestly before, but all of a sudden I really wanted to wear a pair of immodest shorts. They were comfy, cool, and would just be so easy to wear. I began rationalizing all the reasons why I should wear them, but deep down I knew it was wrong.  Then, at thought came to me. Trevor* is going to be there tonight. I don't want to dress that way in front of Trevor. He would be so disappointed, and uncomfortable. Trevor, is one of my best friends in the world and one of the coolest young men I know. He is the standard of righteous living. Always going above what is asked of him, Trevor is one of everyone's favorite people- member and nonmember alike. With that in mind, I put on some modest shorts and went my way.
It was so amazing to me that Trevor was so righteous that he could influence me for good without even being with me at that moment. I am truly blessed to have him in my life. He is an amazing friend.
So my question is: Do you have friends like Trevor? Do your friends influence you for good? Of course not everyone you surround yourself with will be like him. You will have acquaintances and other friends who are in different places of their spiritual development.  Are you, like Trevor, influencing your friends for good? If not, what can you do to change?

"True friends influence those with whom they associate to “rise a little higher [and] be a little better.” You can help one another, particularly young men, prepare for and serve honorable missions. You can help one another remain morally clean. Your righteous influence and friendship can have an eternal effect not only on the lives of your associates but also on generations to come."
-Elaine S. Dalton, 2013

 

*Name has been changed

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?

Two Ways to Judge

Over the past week or two, I have made a discovery. The more friendly you are, the more people you will become friends with. Genius, right?  Put into such simple words, the concept seems... simple. But sometimes it's much harder to actually act on such an idea.
Somewhere in the past few days, I realized that I'm a lot more judgmental than I think. I fancied myself a pretty open, and accepting person, but now I realize that I was only practicing not being judgmental in one way, but there are two ways we in which we need to become proficient. If people have short-comings, or flaws, if they may do something wrong, or mess up, I find it easy to understand that they're not perfect,  and are just doing the best they can. They may have specific circumstances which cause them to act a certain way. This is the first way, and I consider myself pretty good at not judging others in this regard.. However, there's a second way to judge people negatively, and I didn't even realize I was doing it. If a person was really pretty, or really popular, I would automatically assume that they would never want to talk to me. This judgement assumes that those people I categorized like that would be complete snobs and totally rude, which is not so.
Recently, I have begun to overcome this way of judging people. I am starting to categorize people less. Instead of "pretty people" and "not pretty people", I am able to see the outward and inward beauty of each person I meet. This helps me see that I cannot judge someone's heart based upon their friends or how attractive they seem.
During the past few weeks, I have tried to put aside those judgements and actually talk to the people I was judging. I've gotten to know so many new people, and I'm excited to see where it will lead. My school days have been really exciting and interesting because they're full of new people who I thought I never had a chance being friends with.
This has also led me to realize that I shouldn't assume that people won't like me. It's an unhealthy assumption, and not true. We as individuals can build our confidence in ourselves by developing a closer relationship to Jesus Christ. I know this to be true, for I have seen it work in my own life.

" Judge not, that ye be not judged.

 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."

-Matthew 7:1-2

Happy Birthday to The Life of a Mormon Teen!

Well, I have some exciting news for everybody! I betcha' can't guess what it is! So, I'll tell you.

Today is The Life of a Mormon Teen's 

First Birthday!

Wooooooh! Yeah! It's so exciting for me to think that I have been blogging for exactly a year. And what a year it's been!

Here's what has happened to this blog in the past year:

• The Life of a Mormon Teen began. (Even though that's a bit self-explanatory, it still humors me to include this event.)
• I decided to use it as my ten-hour project for Good Works.
• I learned how to blog.
• My writing has gotten better.
• Melanie, from SugarDoodle.net, included my blog on her site.
• I interviewed Jenny Phillips, a prominent LDS singer/songwriter, on my blog.
• I have guest posted on some blogs, including My Soul Delighteth.
• A few of my stories have been published in a book!
• And of course, there was the time, not-so-long-ago, when I thought I was going to quit blogging, but thankfully I decided against it.
• And through it all, I have met many amazing people who have brightened my life! 
• I've even had some missionary opportunities come from my blog!

To me, it's really amazing the influence I can have. I didn't really realize how much of a difference I can make in the world until this blog. It brings me such joy to be able to brighten people's day, let them know they're not alone in this world, and help them come towards Christ.

Here are some stats:

• The Life of a Mormon Teen has been viewed 19,006 times in this year. 
• On average, about a hundred people read it everyday.
• The most-read post of The Life of a Mormon Teen is Spring Time: A Time for Rejuvenation and Renewal.
• The website which brings the most people to my blog is SugarDoodle.net .
• After the United States, people from Canada read my blog the most.
• Then comes Russia, the UK, Australia, Germany, and Lithuania.
• People from countries I'd never heard of even read my blog!
• 67% of people who read my blog use Windows. 

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to have this blog. It has blessed my life in so many ways. It's really incredible to be able to talk to you guys when you email me. I'm so grateful that the Lord has let me serve you in this capacity!

Year two of The Life of a Mormon Teen is going to be even better than year one, if you can believe that! I am excited for the growth which will occur for my blog, but also for me. It's so great to be able to post things for you. You are the reason I blog. I really hope you enjoy my blog!

What Heaven Sees in You

I'm teaching the lesson in Young Womens' on Sunday. Topic is Temple Marriage. I made this video to show the girls. I hope you like it!

Music: What Heaven Sees in You; Mindy Gledhill

The Power of Music

Music has a very powerful influence on our lives. In Doctrine and Covenants 25:12, the Lord says:
12. For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.
Music has the abilty to bring the Spirit into a room, or someone's heart. A song can be an answer to a prayer. A phrase may inspire someone to action, or may bring peace to someone's soul. All of this can, and will occur- with the right music.
For the Strength of Youth:
While much entertainment is good, some of it can lead you away from righteous living. Offensive material is often found in web sites, concerts, movies, music, videocassettes, DVDs, books, magazines, pictures, and other media. Satan uses such entertainment to deceive you by making what is wrong and evil look normal and exciting. It can mislead you into thinking that everyone is doing things that are wrong.
Everyone knows it. Music gets stuck in your head. Period. :). This can be good or bad. What music gets stuck in your head? The music you choose to listen to is essential to the person you are, and the person you will become. 
So. How do you know what music you should listen to?  I've come up with some questions you can ask yourself before you buy a song:

1. How would you feel if your grandmother listened to it?
2. Is it free of bad words, sexual references, and violence?
3. How do you TRULY feel when you listen to it? Be honest with yourself, and listen to the Spirit.

Personally, most of the music I listen to is church music. I really love the music for youth that I can find and download from the church website. (I will put a link at the bottom of this post.) Right now, my favorite song is Hymn #124, Be Still My Soul. I love this hymn because it brings me peace every time I think about it or listen to it. When I hear this song, I am able to re-focus on what is important in my life, and I am able to relax.

As a musician, music is EXTREMELY important and influential in my life. I have recently started writing music, and it has been very exciting. At this time, I write church music, It is such a special feeling to know that you are creating something that can influence others for good. I love writing music, and I love playing music.

I know that music is very very very important. I know it can be a fantastic tool. And, I know that when I listen to wholesome music, my Heavenly Father is pleased. And that pleases me.  

Click here to check out the youth music library where you can listen to, and download church musci for teens. Did you know that some of this music was written by teens?

Click here to visit the interactive, online LDS Hymn Book.

Great Vid

 

This video is great!  I really felt the spirit when I watched it!! I learned a lot about youth temple dedicatory performances. It was amazing to see the light on their faces! I really sincerely hope that we can do this when our temple is finished!!!