Cleaning up

One thing I dislike just as much as the next person is cleaning up! I really don't care to make my room presentable, sanitary, or anything of that matter, I just want to live in it. But, As always, whether at home or in college, I am asked to clean up my room. Something I grew to be very good at through this has been hiding the mess. I find space under my bed, in my closet, or really anywhere that is not noticeable to the naked eye. I would make it look just nice enough that when my mom would come check she would be somewhat satisfied and stop getting on my case about it.

In most cases, my mess would accumulate to be so large that I no longer had anywhere to hide it and it would be overwhelming and not fun to handle. I would finally realize that my problem was so large, that I could not neglect it any longer and inevitably I always take the long, arduous process of cleaning, organizing, and folding.

The result though of my hard work, a sense of accomplishment. I, at that moment, did not want my room to get messy again, I wanted it to stay clean and spotless, especially after all the time and hard work I had put into making it look nice. These feelings didn't last more than a couple weeks at the best until the mess began to accumulate all over again. Now it may just be me being an inherently messy individual, because others are probably a lot cleaner than me, but that is a non germane tangent of my introspection of life. Now may we return to the aforementioned field of contemplation. But somehow at sometime, it gets messy again, hopefully I have learned my lesson by now to just clean as I go. That would make it a ton easier!

I am sure the real life application is basic and straightforward. As we go through life, we can accumulate a plethora of filth that keeps us from being clean in the eyes of God. Luckily, we have been given all of the necessary tools to make our lives as clean as we can make our rooms and even cleaner! 

Test Time

Test taking, some love it, some despise it, but it is an essential part in evaluating knowledge and progress in different settings but mainly in School. I truly enjoyed taking tests when I had studied, and understand the material I am being tested on. I love displaying the knowledge I have obtained through my hard work and effort in the classroom and at home. But, when I refuse to study and I slack off, I go into the test nervous and usually start with one sincere and distressed prayer to not fail! 

Did anyone else have that really super awesome teacher who would sometimes let you take a test with your textbook out? I know I had a few of those, and those were some of my favorite tests! I was just able to take a problem, look up the answer, and fill it in on the paper! What a sweet setup! But looking for the answer always took more time, so it was always helpful to have studied and know the answers beforehand. Well, Heavenly Father is just like that super awesome teacher! Life is one big test for each of us. We will be rewarded based on how well we do and how we deal with different problems we face. God loves each of us enough to bless us with all of the ways in which He wants us to face each problem. What is the textbook? Well you can probably guess it is the Scriptures! We can find the answer to all the problems we face in life within those inspired verses. We can also seek more answers through the words of our modern day Prophets by listening to General Conference.

I suggest following the same basic idea as the test. Study beforehand. KNOW the scriptures and the guidelines your Father in Heaven wants you to live. Be ready and aware of the different situations and problems you could face in life and know the correct way to handle it. If there ever comes a problem that you don't have the knowledge of what to do, look it up! Study it out in the scriptures and review past conference addresses. This, even though may take more time, is better than making a wrong and rushed decision, the consequences are just not worth it.

So enjoy your open book test! Study up and get all of the answers you will need. God is there to help, we were not sent here to fail, but to succeed gloriously! 

Can you see me?

Faith, for many people is a very hard concept to grasp. Why would people want me to believe in something that I cannot see? My question is, why do people base a their belief that it is not there upon the fact that they cannot see it! Take a look at this picture I took here in Billings. Do you see the sun in this picture? Do you know the sun is there? How?

Look at the sunbeams emerging out of the ominous, cloudy cover in the sky. The luminescent rays beautifully streak through the dismal space in a shining splendor. Could this be caused by anything but a massive, luminous sphere of plasma? I say NAY! 

Obviously we all know that the sun is indeed the cause of this, because we have witnessed the sun and seen similar events to this, so our knowledge is perfect in the existence of the sun. We are asked to exercise FAITH in Jesus Christ, namely that He is the son of a loving Heavenly Father, that He lives today and guides and directs us today. 

Skeptics may say, where is the proof, does God really exist? How are you to know? Well I will ask you, what would God's sunbeam look like? What hints would He give us to know He is there? Keep your eyes open, all you have to do is look.

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

Matthew 7:7

Also, check out Elder Bird's blog: Is There A God?

In Your Face

When I think back to the good ole football days, one of the main aspects of life on the practice field was the coaches. Football coaches, as many may know, are not known to be tranquil or quiet at all! In fact, they are often loud and in your face! Having a coach yell at you is probably one of the least desirable situations I can think of next to watching one of the Twilight movies! 

I used to think that when a coach was yelling at me that I was just making him angry because I couldn't do what I needed to correctly. This was largely demotivational to me and made me think that not only was I not a good player, but I had no potential compared to all of the other players that were doing so well and seemed to be far more experienced than myself. 

I was severely mistaken in my thoughts. After talking with one of the coaches, he told me that the reason they yelled at me and some other players so much is because they see the potential in us that we don't see. When we aren't doing things the way they know we can, they let us know it. One coach even told me when you aren't getting yelled at is when you need to worry. That basically happens when you do the wrong thing over and over basically showing the coach you aren't willing to listen.

This is similar to how our Heavenly Father interacts with us. He doesn't usually get up in our face and yell at us like coaches do (unless you are Mahonri Moriancumer). He will still show us in different but distinct ways that he does care. He sees our potential and puts us through trials and tribulations so that we can grow to that potential, to be like Him. So when tough times come, don't get discouraged, know it is because God loves you and wants you to grow. He is always there to help and will show you the way you need to go. He cares for you and loves you and only wants the best for you, and I know that to be true!

Good Dog!

Dogs, a mans best friend! Being in Montana, I can safely assume that most people who read this will have a dog or at least know someone with a dog! And whoever knows the first thing about domestic dogs knows that they are first and foremost completely reliant on us humans for food, water, care, shelter, and love. They know that we control their life while they live in our homes. We can also train these dogs to do different tasks, such as sit, roll over, and even "fetch my slippers!" (That one is WAY COOL!!!) When these dogs are obedient to us and our commands, we reward them with treats and extra love, but when they are disobedient and destructive, we correct their actions and maybe even punish them so they know what they are doing is wrong.

This relationship is a lot like ours with our Heavenly Father! We are all reliant on Him to give us what we need to survive every day, to bless us when we are doing right and to correct us when we are wrong. We owe EVERYTHING to Him and if we remember this, we will be more willing to be obedient to His commandments which will in turn bring blessings into our lives which will be better than a treat!

King Benjamin puts it best:  "For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?" (Mosiah 4:19)

When we humble ourselves and put our faith in the Lord, we can reap all of the blessings He has in store for us and if we are obedient, He will teach us all the things that we need to do in order to return to Him!

Good enough?

Have you ever been at a point in life where you are just happy and everything is going well. I would guess that we have all been there at points. We have all been content with one thing or another in our lives. It is easy to get lazy when life is going well. I know that I am more willing to work to improve my situation when it is below my normal comfort level. But is this how life should be? Should we content?

Look at professional athletes of all kinds, do they settle for staying the same and continuing to maintain the level that they are playing at? Or do they continually practice and improve their already above average talents? Will a car manufacturer who just made one of the top cars on the market quit making cars and call it good since they are on top? Or will they continue to find ways to improve their product and make an even better one?

The world keeps pressing forward and improving, even if it is already in a good spot. We should have that same urgency to continually press forward and continue our spiritual progression. There is always room for improvement and growth, especially in the Gospel. Our only comparisons we should make in this life are comparing our current state to our past to see which direction we are going in, and comparing our lives to the life of our Savior to see how much farther we have to go.

We cannot be exactly like Christ in this life, but the whole goal is to try with every ounce of being that we posses to live a life as close as humanly possible to what Christ would do if he were in our very shoes. If we are content with where we are at, we are missing the opportunity to grow, learn, and progress towards our goal, ETERNAL LIFE.

Remember the words of Nephi when he said, "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." (2 Nephi 31:20 emphasis added)

Keep going, keep pushing, it will ALL be worth it.