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!

Two Testimonies of the Book of Mormon

Hey everybody!  How's it going? I just got back from Girl's Camp, so I'm super tired, but I really want to share this video that one of our leaders showed us. 

    

       How one man gained his testimony of the Book of Mormon.

I just want to let you know that I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. When I was twelve, I decided that I really wanted to know for myself if the Book of Mormon was true or not. I knew that my parents and teachers believed, but I was ready to know for myself. So, I read. And I prayed. I did that for a long time. But nothing came. I kept reading, and praying. Still, nothing came. I started to get discouraged, but still, I read and prayed. At that point, I didn't actually read the whole thing, the thought of doing so daunted me. Looking back, I realize that I was expecting to feel a burst of emotion, a fire in my bosom, and warm tears running down my face to know that the Book of Mormon was true, but that never happened. My testimony came slowly. I would read some, and I would feel peace. The next day I would read and pray some more. I would feel at home. The day after, I would read and pray again. I would forget my cares. After a while, I realized that all of these seemingly small feelings added up. I knew that the Book of Mormon was true. I didn't see a pillar of light, but the Holy Ghost did whisper the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon into my heart.

Fast forward a year. I had just finished reading the Book of Mormon, cover-to-cover, for the first time. I had just reached Moroni's Promise, in Moroni 10. I decided that since I had just read the Book of Mormon all the way through, I would pray to see if it was true. The previous experience I just told you about came to the back of my mind, but I paid no heed and went ahead and prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true. Here's an excerpt from my journal of this experience:

"I just finished the Book of Mormon for the first time. I feel accomplished. I feel  the Spirit.  It is whispering peace to me, but really I just feel at home. I feel comfortable and at home. When I got to Moroni's Promise, I decided to pray about the Book of Mormon again, even though I'd done that before. And, [when I did] I didn't feel anything. I was afraid I'd done something wrong. So I kept reading. Then the words, "I already know" came to my mind. the Spirit was confirming my knowledge reminding me that I already knew. those words were accompanied by a very quiet sense of relief and truth. Then, exactly as I finished the last word of the Book of Mormon, I fel a gentle surge of confirmation. I felt at peace, happy, joyful, and at home. I know Heavenly Father is pleased with me." 

I am so very very grateful for the Book of Mormon in my life. As I have continued to study it, the precious confirmation of it's truthfulness keeps coming back. I love the wonderful knowledge and promises which are contained in it's pages. I know that it confirms the truths that are in the Bible. I feel so blessed to be able to read out of this holy book.

 

Arise and Shine Forth: EFY 2012!!

Hey guys! I know I haven't blogged in a while, but I have something exciting to tell you. I just came back from the BEST week of my life! Yep! The best week EVER!!! I went to EFY last week, and it was incredible!

EFY is a one week camp sponsored by BYU for LDS teens which helps them learn more about the gospel, themselves, and helps them make AMAZING friends!!!! I had such a marvelous time.

At EFY I learned how to better make use of my scripture study. I also became much closer to my Savior, my heavenly Father, and the Holy Ghost. I was able to strengthen my faith in so many things like prayer, the Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father, the scriptures, love, and myself.

I also gained soooo many new friends. Over the week, we became extremely close. I now have about forty new best friends! It's great! I will never lose touch with them, for they mean too much to me.

My testimony has grown so incredibly much! EFY has changed my life forever! I am so so so grateful for the opportunity to go to EFY. I know Heavenly Father helped me get there. I know that I am so blessed to be able to have gone.

Here are some pictures from the week!

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 Joys of Journaling

Okay, so it's basically impossible for me to stop blogging. I really love it! So, I'm not going to stop!!!! Yayyyyyyyy for blogging!!!!! Okay! Whew! However, I may not post as often as I did. Maybe once a week during the school year, and once or twice a week in the summer.

I have a question for you. What is the point of keeping a journal?
Now, allow me to answer!

People keep personal or family journals for many reasons, such as the following:

• To remember important events
• To allow their posterity to learn about them
• To learn from their past
• To see how much they have grown

These are just a few reasons! So, as you can see, keeping a journal is super important, especially as teenagers! The teenage years are some of the hardest years we will ever pass through. It's good to remember the good times, learn from our mistakes and triumphs, and see how much we've grown.

I once read a story in the New Era about a girl whose mother had passed away when she was very young. For her whole life, this girl had yearned to know her mother. For her fifteenth birthday, among some other things, this girl received a box full of journals that were her mother's. These journals were written in by the mother when she was fifteen. Because this girl's mother had recorded parts of her life in journals, her daughter was able to become closer to her. This story really touched me, and made me realize the importance of journaling.

Within the past year, I have started keeping a journal. I started in the latter part of 2011. I am now realizing that the Lord was then preparing me for 2012. These past six months have by far been the hardest months of my life. Because I was already in the habit of journaling, I have been able to keep a journal full of the hardships, pain, sorrow, and also my blessings, joys, and triumphs over those things. It's been a blessing to see how much I've grown and how  much I've been able to overcome.

I can truly see the blessings of journals in my life. They are beautiful.