Coming Full Circle

Life is going really well for me right now. It is especially so in contrast to this time last year (See here, here, and especially here). Not everything about my life is perfect, but my life is so amazing! I've been able to see how the Lord comes full circle and delivers the blessings promised for obedience and as a result of several long-lasting hardships I've endured. Nothing is as rewarding as this.

Over the past three or four years, I've been working on a personal goal which I never achieved. This January I rededicated myself to this goal (again) and I'm finally making progress! It's a visible sort of progress that I can see all the time, and it's so incredibly rewarding to know that I'm beginning to conquer something I've been struggling with for so long!

As you can read in the links above, I've had a loooot of back problems over the past year and a half. I was in pain, I could hardly move, I couldn't play my viola, and didn't know if I ever would again (which, if you don't know, viola is my LIFE! I plan to major in it, etc.), I wore a back brace which looked terrible and was extremely uncomfortable... you get the picture. It was hard.But, a year and a half later, I have been extremely blessed! I now am in the highest orchestra in my school, and I'm first chair. Because my back is strong enough I am able to practice a lot, which helps me excel.  I also started a string quartet with some of my friends, and we now play for weddings, parties, and such. And, this year I am a member of the Honor Orchestra of America, which, if you're not a musician, is a big deal. I'm sooooo incredibly excited, and SO grateful to my Heavenly Father who has blessed me to make these things possible.

Most of my life I've battled severe chronic depression. This was especially hard to bear last winter in addition to the other trials I had. It became much worse. But slowly, I have learned how to combat the negative feelings which seem to constantly threaten to make camp in my brain. Through the Lord's help, I am able to feel peaceful, joyful, and optimistic nearly all the time. This is such a relief and beautiful blessing for which I am extremely grateful.

I feel so blessed right now. It's so wonderful to be in a season of my life filled with blessings. There are even more blessings I'm experiencing, but I can't list them all. I love my Heavenly Father, and I know He loves me.

Singing for Elder Ballard

Hello wonderful people! So on Friday a very special opportunity presented itself to all the youth who live in my state. Yes, state, not stake. Elder Lansing, from the quorum of the seventy, Bishop Stevenson, the Presiding Bishop of the Church, and Elder M. Russell Ballard of the quorum of the twelve came and gave us a fireside. It was incredible! But, the fireside was even more special for the girls in my ward and me because we were the musical number. We sang for all of the youth in our state, all of the bishops and stake presidents, and our guests.
It was spectacular to look out into the sea of faces of kids my age. These were the faces of righteous, loving youth who loved and value the same ideals as I. When we sang, I felt the Spirit so strongly. Usually, when I feel the Holy Ghost, it's a very still, tender, sweet feeling that makes me cry. This time it was joyful, and exuberant. I looked at all of the beautiful people as I sang to them, and made eye contact with as many as I could. I wanted them to feel the power of the words I sang just as acutely as I was feeling them. I was smiling so much that my face hurt. :D Afterwards, my friends who were in the audience said, "I could tell that you were just feeling it! It was like something was emanating from you." and "You sang like an angel.". Singing for the youth in my state and for Elder Ballard was an incredible experience!
So, after we sang, the three visitors gave an awesome fireside where they were speaking directly to us, youth. Here are my favorite parts of what they said:

Elder Lansing:

• “Right now the eyes of the Lord are focused on the youth” –Elder Lansing
• President Monson is the most youth-oriented prophet there's ever been. He's 85. Most people at that age are looking back on their lives, but he is looking forward into the future of the church. President Monson has brought to pass:
• New For Strength of Youth
• New Youth Curriculum
• Missionary Age Change

Bishop Stevenson:

• Satan tries to make us look at things as they aren't. He tries to confuse us. But we have the proper tools to combat the confusion.
• We have the Plan of Happiness.
• We have these formulas:
• Obedience/Righteousness --> Blessings --> Happiness
• Disobedience --> Punishment --> Misery

Elder Ballard:

• "We have experiences in our future we can't even dream of."
• "Keep the beam of heaven guiding our thoughts and minds."
• He explained how we can be like Nephi by using this scripture: 1 Nephi 2:16:
• "And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers."
• 1) Have a great desires to learn about God
• 2) Pray and sincerely study about Him, develop a relationship with Him
• 3) He will come unto you

• We need to kindle the desire
• "We all have challenges. That's why we're here."

I know that the Lord's servants speak His truth and His gospel and that when we follow their counsel we can't go wrong. I'm so grateful for this opportunity I had. 

 

Talents to Bless Others

I remember that a while ago I prayed and asked my Father in Heaven to allow me to be an instrument in His hands. I wanted with my whole being to help others and bring about the Lord's purposes. Immediately, I started noticing every-day opportunities to help others. These may or may not have been there before I asked, but the Lord helped me find and notice them.

I reflect on this as I wonder at how Heavenly Father utilizes the talents He has put in me to bless His children. The Lord places beautiful spiritual gifts and marvelous talents in each of us, and I feel the greatest sense of peace and achievement when I use those talents to serve my fellow men.

Some talents I've been blessed with are empathy and compassion. I've striven to further develop these qualities, and I'm amazed to see how it's blessed me.

I have a lot of close friends. They're not necessarily all "popular" or whatever, but I have a lot of friends. At an increasing rate, my friends have been coming to me when they are in emotional pain and need help. They visit me for comfort and rest from their oppression. It makes me feel so special that the Lord trusts me with a job so precious as this. He put me through specific trials in my past that help me understand where my friends are coming from and how to help them feel better.

I know that our Heavenly Father has blessed us all with very specific talents and abilities to progress His work on the earth. Even if you haven't found them yet, God created YOU to possess wonderful traits and qualities of Him. We are, after all, the spirit offspring of Heavenly Father. He gave us these gifts because He loves us.

And, of course, as superman, or spider man, or some other man said, "With great power comes great responsibility". We feel the most peace and the greatest sense of accomplishment when we use our talents to bless others. And in turn, they increase when we use them to be an instrument in Heavenly Father's hands.

So, here's the challenge I pose to you. Find your spiritual gifts and talents! Once you've found them, learn to use them! And watch as the Lord blesses you in return.

We feel the greatest sense of accomplishment when we use our talents to bless others.

 

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.