One Little Mistake

Lately, I have rekindled my passion for Su Doku and have been completing these puzzles as quickly as possible. If you are unfamiliar with the game of Su Doku, check out http://www.sudokudaily.net/instructions/ to learn the rules.

As I have been destroying the easier level puzzles, I have been wanting to move on to the harder ones to challenge myself. There are quite a few little lessons I learned through this game that can be applied to life! First, each action you make in the game either is the right or wrong move, there is no gray area. Placing a number in the correct spot will either work towards finishing the puzzle or it will not. Each decision to write in a number should be thoroughly contemplated and worked out to make sure that it will not mess up the rest of the puzzle.

I have made the mistake before of writing in the wrong number in the beginning of one of the harder puzzles. And tried to solve the rest of the puzzle accordingly to that move that I made. I found out about half an hour later that this one move I made had screwed up the whole rest of my game! I was devastated! All that hard work was for nothing! 

This can apply to all of our lives! If we make one seemingly small mistake without thinking it through, it can and WILL affect the decisions we make throughout the rest of our lives. And maybe you won't figure out that mistake until way later, sometimes we figure it out sooner, but in any case, it is something that needs correction! That's why they ask us to use pencils and erasers. This is how the atonement of Jesus Christ relates to all of this! We can take the eraser and wipe our mistake clean! Then we can solve the rest of the puzzle without making that same mistake again! That is the most important part of repentance in our lives! If we are to make a positive change in our lives, we should be willing to NEVER do that again. Repeating a sin that we have already repented of would be like putting that same wrong number in the same square, it just doesn't make sense!! 

When we take our time and thoughtfully complete the puzzle, it all makes sense and works out, it creates a perfect picture and is something that you can be proud of! So let us live our lives in a way that we are working towards a complete puzzle and everything will work out as it should in the end.

Perfect Pairs

Some of the best things come in twos. Peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese and tomato soup, Batman and Robin, Phineas and Ferb! Two is a trend that appears quite often in the world, and usually both parties are quite different! 

Let's take peanut butter and jelly. Peanut butter is a creamy or chunky pile of goop made up of peanuts, it is always easy to spread. Jelly on the other hand is more of a gelatinous substance made up of different fruits which is also kind of easy to spread, in most cases at least! These two substances come from very different backgrounds and if used properly between 2 pieces of bread, can make one delicious sandwich!

This is much like life on many different levels. Most likely at some point we will be paired up with someone to accomplish something. Maybe it is a marriage, or a work or school assignment, or even a missionary companionship. At times, the other you are working or living with may seem to be so different form you that you can't imagine how anything good can come out of that situation. But remember the peanut butter and the jelly. They are both very different looking and different tasting as well, yet when combined correctly, make something exceptional! 

I would encourage anyone who is in a "pair" for whatever it may be, look to find how your different backgrounds and personalities compliment each other. Look to put the right amount of peanut butter and the right amount of jelly on this sandwich of life and enjoy every second of it!

Really a tough choice?

Who loves winning? I do!
Let's say you are a football player and you were asked to play in the biggest most monumental game in the history of sports. And even better, you get to pick which team to play for! So here are the profiles of the teams that you get to choose from:

Team 1:

We are the team that WILL win, there is no doubt about it, we will win the game. The players were diligent in preparing, everyone is suited up and ready to go at any time. The only way this team gives up points to the opponent is if they let the other team score. They are also very close knit and are great friends. No one talks down to a teammate after they make a dumb mistake, but rather pick them up and help them improve. They are the nicest people you have ever met, but come game time, they take every second seriously. They know how to win and are guaranteed a victory.

Team 2:
Man, you gotta join this team! We sure know how to have fun! Come on and join us, we aren't going to make you practice or anything, that's kinda hard and also pretty lame. Our plan is, make fun of the other guys for trying so hard, and then try and trick em to sneak in a couple scores or so. Oh yah, and we don't have a coach to yell at us too, so there is no need to worry about that either. So come chill with us, lay back and have some fun!

So, which team are you going to play for? Is it even a tough choice? Who wouldn't want to be a part of the team that is obviously going to win?

Well that is how life is today! We have the choice between joining God's team or Satans team. God's team WILL WIN in the end, there is no denying it. Satan knows that, but still tries to draw as many of us away from the winning team as possible. This "game" of life has much greater consequences than winning a football game. This is for our eternal happiness and salvation. Join the winning team and enjoy the winning celebration with your family and friends and teammates for the rest of eternity!

Just remember 2 Nephi 2:27: "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."