5/31/2025

    This week I studied James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and 1-3 John. One common theme is these chapters was enduring to the end. James 5:11, "We count them happy which endure." 1 Peter 3:14, "But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye." How could we be happy if we are suffering? I think that when we suffer, we have to know why we are suffering. I know that I go through my trials to come closer to Christ and grow as a person. James 1:3, "The trying of your faith worketh patience." I can become more like Christ by growing in patience. I may not know how I am going to be tested or how my patience will actually grow, but I have to be patient to endure to the end. When I endure to the end, I am promised so many blessings and the gift of living with my Heavenly Father again. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him," James 1:12.

    We also learn that we need faith. Who can get through such terrible things when we don't believe in anything? But we also learn that faith without works is dead in James 2:17. Our actions speak louder than words. I would hope that people I have never spoken to could know that I am a good person based off of how I live. I want to be a good person, and I show that in my actions and interactions with others.

    I also love these scriptures that tell us how we should live as Christ would. We should be peacemakers, humble, righteous, and faithful. "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace." James 3:18. "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." James 4:6. "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth."3 John 1:4. "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments." 1 John 2:3. I love the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and simplicity brings freedom. I make choices now to live as Christ would, and that makes the rest of my life so much easier.

    "Ask of God, and it shall be given him." James 1:5-6. This principles is so easy, yet so hard to believe in. Sometimes it isn't an immediate answer, or an answer we want, or an easy answer. Life is hard and it's going to stay hard. That's why we have to endure to the end with patience. But asking God for help is never wrong. It will be given to us.

    The last thing I want to emphasize is the love of God. This class has had me do a project where I try to become more like Christ in his showing of love. "God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:16. I am so glad that I am loved by God, and I want others to feel that love too. I can show the love of God to others through my actions as well. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear." 1 John 4:18. I know that I am loved by God. God loves everyone. We don't have to fear this life if we know that God loves us. I know that Heavenly Father has a plan for me, and that I can live with Him again. 

    I love you, and God loves you!

5/24/2025

     This week I studied 2 Timothy, Titus, and Hebrews. I loved 2 Timothy 1:8 that says, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord." I wonder if people in my life know just how much I love my Savior Jesus Christ. Do I bear my testimony enough? Do I share it with everyone in my life, or just a select few? I want to make sure everyone in my life knows that I have a testimony of Jesus Christ. My love for the Savior is such an integral part of my life, and most likely a lot of people in my life don't know that about me. I want to share my testimony more this week and show the world that I am not ashamed of my Savior. As a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, my whole life will be bearing my testimony of Jesus Christ, and I can start practicing that now.

    I also loved the simplicity of Hebrews 2:13. "And again, I will put my trust in him." Even after all we can go through, the pain, the sadness, the grief, I know I can trust my Savior to redeem me. I think the key word in this phrase is 'again'. We have to suffer in this life, to know good from evil and joy from sorrow. But we can't let those moments define the entirety of our life. Jesus Christ is there with us, He has suffered all that we will go through. Give your burdens to Him and He will make our yoke light. 

    This goes well with Hebrews 6:15, "And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." It is not enough to choose to trust in Christ once. We must endure our sufferings and again put our trust in Him. Through our patience, we will be given the blessings of the promise to Abraham's seed. 

    Finally, Hebrews 2:9-10 are beautiful verses describing Jesus Christ's sacrifice for us. Because Jesus Christ suffered on the cross, we were able to be made perfect. The Son of God who created the world and everything inside and outside of it, was able to make one last creation perfect. Us. The captain of my salvation is Jesus Christ and I am made perfect through His suffering in the garden of Gethsemane. I can't think of a greater blessing than being made perfect because the Son of my Heavenly Father sacrificed His life for me. I can never repay my gratitude, but I can accept this blessing by living as He did. 

5/17/2025

    This week I studied Romans 9-16, Acts 21-28, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Timothy, and Philemon. For my class, I am working on showing more love to the world around me, so a lot of these verses I understood in the context of love. Romans 13:10 says that "love is the fulfilling of the law." The two great commandments are to love God and to love our neighbors. By loving others, we forgive them, repent of our own sins, and often express our love to them through words and actions. We must do all three of these things to love as Christ has. "Let love be without dissimulation,"(Romans 12:9). 

    I've noticed a recent surge of positivity and confident expression of love to others lately. I saw a video of a young man going around on Mother's Day to hand out bouquets of flowers to strangers as he walked around. Another person made a video aiming to compliment 10 people he saw on a walk around his city. There is so much love in the world, why not freely give it? Christ loves us enough to sacrifice himself, can I not love another enough to compliment their smile? I invite you to ponder who could use your love this week and find ways to love simply and daily.

    Repentance is also important for showing love to others. We are in the world and of the natural man. We will make mistakes and hurt others, but it is our actions that mean more than words. When we realize we have made a mistake or been hurtful to someone, how do we go about fixing that? We need to repent daily to change our ways and to ensure we don't make the same mistakes. We can't expect the end to change without changing our ways. Jesus Christ offers us mercy. His arms are always open if we choose to repent. The Atonement enables us to repent, change, and become more like God to ultimately enter into His presence again. It is a gift, and Christ is the gift. 1 Timothy 1:15 says, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." I am a sinner, but I am saved because of Jesus Christ's Atonement. 

    There is much more to love about these scriptures, but lastly I wanted to comment on Romans 10:15. "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" I would like to thank all missionaries who have served, are serving, or want to serve. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I know that it is true. I know that my Savior Jesus Christ has died on the cross to bear my and everyone else's sins so that we may be redeemed. I know that Joseph Smith has brought to pass the restoration of the true gospel of Christ and I love the gospel. I am so grateful for the gospel of peace and the glad tidings of good things. I am honored to have received my missionary call and to soon preach the gospel of peace to the people of Brasil. 

    Show some love this week, and don't ever forget that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and open to you always. 

5/10/2025

    Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ! (2 Cor. 1:2) This week I studied 2 Corinthians, Galatians, and Romans 1-8.

    Romans 8:18 says that "the sufferings of this present times are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." It gets better! Life is full of trials, sufferings, and pain. But through it, we are given the gift of eternal life and blessings of peace and joy. If we stay faithful through out sufferings, we will be given the rewards Jesus Christ has promised us. But Jesus Christ comforts us through our trials. We always have the gift of the Holy Ghost with us and we are always able to pray to our Father in Heaven. Prayer is a gift that I have heavily been reflecting on this week. There was a student in my college that was in a serious accident. They were brain dead and relying on the life support of a machine for a couple days before they miraculously woke up with full brain function. I prayed and fasted for them. I don't know if my prayers actually made a difference, but I know that I did all I could by praying. How blessed are we that we can talk with our Heavenly Father and receive blessings from Him?

    "For godly sorrow worketh repentance,... but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (2 Cor. 7:10) What's the point of being sad if you don't change? We have the agency to choose who we want to be. We can choose to become more like Christ and stop doing things that draw us away from Him. The Lord's grace is sufficient for me (2 Cor. 12:9-10). I know I have weaknesses, but Christ can heal all imperfections. I am weak, but the Lord makes me strong. One of my weaknesses became very apparent to me this past week. I am so proud in myself, and I have a huge head. I was majorly humbled this week at work. I had to remind myself that I really am human. I messed up and I had to take accountability. But Christ offers me the gift of repentance to become better than who I was. I would not be who I am today without changing when I make mistakes. And Jesus Christ's Atonement allows me to be made perfect.

    As I prepare for my mission, Romans 1:16-17 stuck out to me. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." I will not be the one helping people gain a testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost will. But I have the opportunity to open people's minds to the Spirit and allow them to feel Christ's love for them. My charge as a missionary is the show love to others in the world. I can teach others of the Atonement, the plan of salvation, and the doctrine of eternal families. That is the greatest blessing I can imagine. I will not be ashamed to bring others to the doctrine of Christ.

    Finally, Romans 5:8 says that Christ died for us, WHILE we were sinners. I was not saved because I am perfect. I am not, yet I am still saved. Jesus Christ has died for all of us. We are all children of God because we are faithful (Galatians 3:26-29). We are one in our Lord, and I glory in the Lord! (2 Cor. 10:17)

5/1/2025

    This week I studied Acts 19-20, 1 Corinthians 1-3, and 1 & 2 Thessalonians.  The verse that stuck out the most to me this week was 2 Thessalonians 3:16, "Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all." Life is hard. As Acts 20:22-24 says, we will have to face the unknown and suffer through the trials that await us. We have to know evil to know good, sorrow to know joy, weakness to know strength. This is all part of our Heavenly Father's plan for us to grow. These trials suck and are painful to get through, but if we build the foundation of our testimony on Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11), we can feel His peace for ourselves. 

    As a young woman preparing to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 gave me so much strength. Paul went to the people of Corinth to preach of his Savior Jesus Christ and his God. He was scared and a poor speaker, but the Holy Spirit touched the people's hearts and made Paul's testimony full of God's power. We are human. There is no way we can have all the knowledge, power, and spirit to touch people's hearts with our words. Our imperfectness is made whole through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit who gives God's power to our words and actions. We do our best to exemplify Christ and He gives the rest.

    1 Thessalonians 2:4,8 continues this idea of  our imperfect teaching and God's grace. We are accountable to God. He can see our hearts and our efforts and He trusts us to choose the right. I truly love this gospel and I know the joy that it brings me. I will be a missionary because I want to teach people of what I believe and bear my soul to them. I am following the commandment of God to love my neighbors and this is how I can show the world that I love my God and my Savior. Jesus Christ is my Savior and He suffered in Gethsemane, died on the cross, and resurrected from the dead to redeem all of us. He is my Savior, Redeemer, and Deliverer, and I want to spread my joy. He will come again, and I want to give a good report of my faith and good works.

    I will not be shaken from my foundation of faith (2 Thessalonians 2:2), and I will stand fast (2 Thessalonians 2:15). I will rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, give thanks to God, listen to the Holy Spirit, listen to gospel teachings, hold fast to my faith, do good, and be faithful to my God and my Savior Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:16-24). I invite you to pray to God and ask for peace, especially if you are stuck in a faith-crushing storm right now. Matthew 7:7 tells us, "Ask, and it shall be given unto you." 

4/26/2025

     This week I studied Acts 1-18. One of my favorite verses in these chapters is Acts 5:29, which says, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” This principle can be so hard to obey. We are plagued by the natural man and we cannot avoid that. However, through Jesus Christ, we can learn how to overcome the natural man and become like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

    In Acts 14:22 it says, “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” We have to struggle to overcome the natural man to become more like God. I hate struggles. I hate sadness and anger and exhaustion, but I want to enter into God’s kingdom. And if I make a mistake, I know that I’ll be okay and I can be forgiven.

    Acts 13:38 says, “Through [Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.” I am so grateful for the doctrine of repentance. If I had to hold on to what I was like as a teenager, I would hate who I was. I do hate who I was, and every time I am reminded, I become more grateful that I am a different person now.

    Acts 3:19 says, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” How lucky are we to have a Savior like Jesus Christ? Because of Heavenly Father’s plan and Jesus Christ’s Atonement, I am freed from guilt and sorrow. And what a blessing it is to share this joy with others.