Overwhelmed in the Grace of Christ

The thirteen-year-old in me decided this was the picture that was going to pull me through the rough times in life. Life is beautiful in so many incredible ways, but sometimes it gets hard. I don't want to focus on the hard today, I want to focus on the grace; the grace of Christ. Lately, I have felt a little overwhelmed. 

Overwhelmed with time. 

Overwhelmed with planning.

Overwhelmed with mind games.

Overwhelmed with chasing perfection.

Overwhelmed with cooking and eating healthy.

Overwhelmed with a lack of balance.

Overwhelmed with inadequacies. 

In life, as seasons start to change and new chapters begin to unfold it can be hard. Even if they are the very seasons we have been pleading Heavenly Father for, they still take a time to adjust. I've been stretching myself so thin lately that my life has been missing a little balance...or maybe a lot. My Savior has given me everything and I mean EVERYTHING. I wouldn't be the girl I am today without him and his atonement. 

For some reason, I keep stressing and problem-solving as if I have to do every little thing on my own. Why would I take my problems on myself when I've not once been able to overcome them on my own? My Savior has always helped Him when I let Him. When I don't let him, I sure make a mess of things. And it's not like worrying solves my problems for me. It adds more stress, more chaos, and subtracts balance out of my life. 

I may be imperfect as I desire perfection. I may lack faith at times I need it the most. I may let inadequacies in myself get the best of me and at times stop me right in my tracks from even trying. I may not have every single thing in life figured out quite yet. But it doesn't matter because I know my Savior. I know He walks this path with me. I know as I turn to Him, the powers of Heaven are opened and prayers are answered. I know every single answer I need is found in the scars of His hands. He paid the price for me to have hope and every single day He will without a doubt bring me that hope if only I ask and then allow Him to do so.  

Why fear? I don't have to do this on my own. Christ is on my team!!

The scripture doesn't say I or Him - it says WE!!! How exciting is it to have Christ on your team and on mine? The only perfect person to ever walk on this earth. The only one with complete faith to always have the ability to draw down the powers of Heaven. The only one with perfect patience in spite of my countless imperfections. I have CHRIST ON MY TEAM! And so do YOU!! 

I've been pondering lately on how to access the atonement. We hear all the time that the enabling power of the atonement is for us to use, but how do we access it?

Here is what works for me:

1 - PRAYER! 

Pray morning & night every single day without fail! Tell Heavenly Father EVERYTHING...seriously, don't leave anything out! 

Sometimes if you need more divine help or to develop a stronger relationship with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father it's going to take a TON more prayer. I have had days where it feels like I'm not doing anything but prayer. Praying in my car, while I'm exercising, praying with my scriptures open, praying through the tears. Embrace the moments that call you to your knees. These are the moments that build your faith, that shape you, that help take you from a piece of coal to a diamond.

2 - SCRIPTURE STUDY

You can't know Christ without studying the words of Christ and His stories. To access the atonement, you must invite the word of God into your heart and mind and allow it to be written on your heart. This is one of the basics which means EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

3 - OBEDIENCE

Striving for exact obedience and honesty in all things is what helps me to access the atonement and invites the Spirit into my heart. Even if you come up short a time or two, trying counts. 

4 - SERVICE

Accessing the atonement is really hard when your heart isn't focused on giving love. It's hard for love and forgiveness to warm your heart if you're not seeking opportunities to extend it to others.

5 - FAITH

"After all that Christ and you" do together, as a team, do you believe? Do you believe that the atonement and it's enabling power will be used in your life? FAITH is the answer to just about everything you hope and seek for in this life. Without faith, nothing matters. Faith drives us to action. It drives us to beliving in possiblities and things we never thought were possible. Believe, and if you don't believe just yet ask for help in your beliefs. 

SUNSHINE - It Lives Within Us ALL

Sunshine; that was the name I was given in my trek family ten years ago and the nickname a dear young women's leader gave me the first time she met me. I absolutely loved it! My ma and pa told me I was always looking on the bright side, I was always smiling, and I was always happy and it was contagious. Having this nickname inspired me to be even more happy. The first day of trek, we arrived on a beautiful sunny day. We started to walk on the long journey we had ahead of us when the rains started to pour down upon us. Every one was complaining and miserable and quite honestly I was SO HAPPY! I felt so close to Christ, I felt so much help and comfort from the peace only he could offer. I would sing songs in my heart as we walked along the muddy dirt path as it started to get dark and I just couldn't stop smiling. No storm was going to take away my sunshine.

Lately I've been thinking back to that girl. Happiness was second nature to me because I had practiced optimism over and over and over again. Somehow I have gotten out of that habit. I've realized that I got so used to the storms in my life that I forgot that's it's okay to be happy. I forgot that I deserve happiness and it's God that wants me to be happy. I've been so fearful that He's going to take away my happiness that I allowed that fear to bring even more storms into my life. 

I got in the habit of finding something to worry about in every moment, I got in the moment of looking for the bad and seeking out the storms that I didn't even notice the sun when it was shining. I've realized the more time I spend feel sad or worried, the more selfish my heart becomes. And what makes this even worse is as a man thinketh, so is he (Provebs 23:7). If we think we are sad or are miserable, of course we become that way. We are here in this mortal world to learn how to take power over our thoughts and actions and the thoughts that we dwell upon become our reality. 

Also, if we are sending sunshine out into the world whether it be in our own friendships and relationships or even in our daily interactions with the mailman and grocer at the store, it comes back to us. If we are sending gloom and misery out into the world, that also comes back. It's this constant viscous cycle which is why we can easily start to believe that the sun will never shine. But I've found we each have a sunshine muscle within us. A muscle that can be built stronger and stronger through constant focus and dedication. If you believe there is sunshine in your heart, you will definitely find it there! 

USE your sunshine muscle, if it's hard to use it for yourself at the start, use it for others. Find someone you want to build, help, or inspire and be happy for them. Practice building that muscle through positive thinking, smiling, serving, laughing, complimenting, and thanking. What you send into the world will come back to you. And what you think about you bring about! 

Don't get discouraged by the habits you used to have that have fallen out of place. If you were that once, you most definitely can be that again. Especially when you have Christ on your team, he makes all weak things become strong. and you most definitely can be made perfect by coming unto Him. 

If you want hope and joy in your life - SCATTER SUNSHINE! Cheer, bless, and brighten everyone you come in contact with. (Alma 56:17)

The Parable of Exercise (Coming Unto Christ)

Our bodies need exercise, they are temples given to us by a loving Heavenly Father and He has asked us to take care of them. Latter day prophets and apostles have strongly encouraged us to exercise in these latter days. Just as we have been asked to care for our bodies, we must also care for our spirits by coming unto Christ. 

For the past two months I have been working out consistently more than I have in a long while. I had gotten out of the habit unintentionally as life starts to take over and pretty soon I realized that I was constantly missing my exercise routines and good habits that I had developed because one day of not going to the gym turned into two days and so on and so forth. Needless to say it's been a really hard journey to get back to where I was before, but nothing that has been impossible. 

It's not that I don't like taking care of my mind, body, and spirit through strength training and cardio. In fact I love it and now that I've renewed my habit, my body craves it and my mind thrives upon it but just as change always is, it's been a hard and painful process. My muscles were out of practice when I first started and every bit of exercise I was putting my body through seemed to be uncomfortable and more painful than those I would observe around me, those who had been working towards their fitness goals longer and more consistently than I had leaving them to have muscle that was in practice and endurance that had been built as a firm foundation.

That's the thing when you go to the gym, you don't get to see where they started or what their struggles were to get to that point. All I can guarantee is that it took them some hard work and uncomfortable journeys to get to where they are today. 

It wasn't until two months of consistently working out and putting my body through great pain and discomfort that I finally started to feel like progress was being made, muscle was being built, and I the pain I had endured was worth it because it wasn't going to be that extremely uncomfortable as it had in the past because I had created a foundation of strength and muscle for my body.

I started to ponder on those two hard months, months where I was excited to see the results and I would push through the very hard and uncomfortable pain my body was not used to yet because I had so much faith it would get easier. I believe that's how our journey is as we strive to come unto Christ. When we aren't in the light and giving our whole hearts to Christ, it becomes a very hard and uncomfortable journey. The whole point of this mortal life is to become as Christ is, to be perfect as we take His name upon us. When we are living in sin, disobedience, selfishness, and pride we start to turn our hearts away from Christ and it becomes an uncomfortable life because Christ has to be our foundation because no matter who you are, you have the light of Christ within you.

When we forget how much our happiness and salvation depends upon the Savior, our journey is one that takes a lot more work and faith before we can experience that peace and happiness that comes from progression. The more we strive to take upon us the name of Christ, the easier and more comfortable it becomes to feel of His love, His Spirit, and His healing powers. Just as starting or restarting a new work out journey can be trying and uncomfortable, so can taking change through repentance and coming unto Christ; but the more we practice it and have faith in the process, the more rewarding it becomes.

If your faith has been tested or if you have lost your way and you are in need of repentance Christ stands with open arms ready to lift you up. You have no reason to fear, come unto Him. Expect it to be a challenge because change isn't easy. Changing your heart, your habits, your desires, and your ways of thinking is going to take a lot of focus and may cause some moments where you will feel extremely uncomfortable and may even want to give up, but the view you will see and the peace in your heart you will feel will be a lasting reward that will make every single moment worth it. Don't give up! Start, and start today! 

If you start to feel your heart hardening towards the light you have been in, maybe you need to make a small change. A weight lifter can't progress if he lifts the same size of weights every single time. Perhaps it's time you give a little bit more of your heart to Christ, up-ing your weight and celebrating your progress in becoming just a little bit more like Him. 

Christ loves you infinitely. If you don't know this life will never be as peaceful and satisfying until you do. Live as he would live, love as he would love, pray as he would pray, and serve as he would serve and then you will have the power to know for yourself is Christ lives and just what gifts and powers he has to offer you.

Thoughts Create Our Emotions + Random Thoughts by Ashley

Hope you had a beautiful weekend and you got outside to enjoy the sun! It was beautiful this weekend. The sun is one the greatest creations ever. Seriously, craving summer right about now.  

I had such an amazing weekend spending time with some incredible young women, fourteen very choice and amazing of them to be exact. We filmed a video introducing The Power of One Girl. Every girl was interviewed by me. These girls have powerful testimonies and being around them was such a strengthening experience for me. 

Then what a spiritual and sacred Sunday as the Provo Temple Dedication took place. My heart was filled with the love Heavenly Father has for His children. How glorious it is that Heavenly Father has purpose in all things and He can make beauty out of ashes. I also enjoyed some time playing with kiddos, they sure give you a different outlook on life and make you appreciate it that much more. 

Some days I feel empowered and it's as if I can see God's hand in my life as things come together. And then there are the days where I just feel stuck and in a funk. The days where I use more faith than eyesight to know that the Lord is aware and opposition comes at us for a reason. This life is supposed to be hard, it's supposed to test us. If every single day was perfect, if everything worked out like we thought it should we probably wouldn't ever learn and we definitely wouldn't grow. 

When the little things come up that pull at my emotions, I'm grateful for the reminder to check in with the Lord. Negative emotions are necessary because they are powerful in pointing us back to the Lord. We have power over our emotions and the more we turn to the Lord, the more we can fight our negative emotions. However, it's not something that can fully avoided in this life because this life is a time to learn and grow. A time to turn our hearts to the Lord and know how to do just that. It is our thoughts that create emotions. Sometimes it's one simple thought and other times it's a cycle of thoughts that turn them into emotions; but nonetheless it is up to us to anchor our hearts in Christ so we can take over our thoughts and have power over our emotions.

The times where I feel off balance and in a funk, the times where I start to feel bitter or angry over a simple experience; it's in these moments that remind me I'm not planting my heart in Christ or my burdens at His feet and it's time for me to let go. Every time I turn to the Lord, every single time I tell Him about a trial or what's weighing down my heart, He either fixes the situation or lifts me up so I can keep going. God doesn't leave us in the ashes. God takes us and makes us whole. God has great plans for us; sometimes I understand how powerful those words are and other days I have to walk blindly and submit my will to His. No matter what, no day is wasted. No trial is unavailing. No broken heart is permanent. 

You are not forgotten and you are never alone! 

Gossip Robs the Love of God

Ever since I was called to serve as the Relief Society President of my YSA ward just over a month ago, I have felt so inadequate to my own ability and I have had to rely on the Savior and Heavenly Father in various unique ways as I am clearly aware that I am nothing without them. Oh how fragile my heart can be as I am left to my own strength; but as I rely on Christ and focus on Christ confidence more than self-confidence I feel strengthened and am reminded of what a great team I got the choice to be on. 

Someone that I have a deep trust in made me aware of some gossip that was being said about me at my work place. My heart sunk deep and I couldn't seem to shake her words off for over an hour. I kept thinking about the words that had been said, letting them play in my mind over and over again; wondering why she even had a desire to be talking about me and judging my story she knows next to nothing about. I was letting it eat at me and I noticed my heart was becoming hard. 

As I started to evaluate the situation from a new light; a renewed spirit entered my heart and suddenly I was reminded of the relationship I have with my Savior. All the times He carried me on a path I couldn't walk alone. I was reminded of the moments that only the Savior and I have endured and how those moments are my priceless story that no one in this world will fully understand and appreciate like I do until we become one heart and one mind and return to Zion. I was reminded that I don't need anyone else's love and approval because God is on my side and that is the only thing in this world that really matters!

I became so focused on Self-Confidence that I forgot to rely on Christ-Confidence. Christ confidence is the only way I can become whole and content in who I am and where my journey has taken me. If I focus on the world trying to understand it; well then I am giving away part of the greatest love, memories, and experiences I came to this earth to obtain.

Source

My heart was hurt by gossip, especially when I am fully aware I am an imperfect human. I don't understand gossip, I don't understand why as a humanity we are always out to attack and tear one another down. It makes no sense to me; why would we want to diminish the love of God in our lives by doing such actions? 

I love this quote by Elenor Roosevelt; "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, and small minds discuss people." What a profound statement! 

Let's Say No to Gossiping:

 People trust you more when you don't gossip.

When I hear someone gossip to me about someone else, I don't like to hang around them for two reasons.

1) Gossip drains me. It takes so much energy and happiness out of me because of how much negativity it holds. 

2) It scares me to be their friend because if they have all this negative stuff to say about others, it makes me wonder just what they might be saying behind my back when I am not around.

There is more than enough hate in this world. There is too much judging, especially when we each have our own sins. Let's be kinder, more loving, more forgiving, and less critical.

The faults we are looking for and finding in others, are always in us too. Sometimes we are so certain we are not at all like those we criticize; but just ask God and He will prove that we are all a lot more alike than our human eyes can see. Ask Heavenly Father to help you see the faults within yourself as you are caught seeing them in others, He will show you and He will gently help you correct them.

As I prayed and sought Christ to help me let go from being the target of gossip, my heart became broken for the gossiper. Perhaps she is missing feeling the love of God in her life; because when we feel His love; we want to give it, not rob others of it. 

"When our hearts are filled with the love of God, we become “kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving.”" - President Uchtdorf

To Be Crowned By Christ

Art created by Robert Barrett - Thank you so much for collaborating Robert. 

Psalms 21:3 - 

"For thou preventest him with the blessings of goodness:

 thou settest a crown of pure gold on his head."

As a little girl, it was all I could dream about to become a Princess. I imagined what it would be like to have a closet full of clothes only royalty would wear, living in a huge castle where there was a guard at every corner, and of course a gorgeous gold plated crown that showed a declaration of nobility would be placed on the crown of my head.

Since my princess dream didn't come true at my young age, despite wishing upon a star. So I decided to take matters into my own hands; I made the choice I would compete in a pageant to earn a title and a crown myself. I knew it would be hard work, but I had no idea nine pageants later with such great sacrifice and dedication I still wouldn't have the crown my heart had been yearning for. 

But one day it hit me, what if I had been seeking the wrong crown all along? What if I had been working so hard for a corruptible crown and Heavenly Father was saying "I want to give you an incorruptible one". (1 Corinthians 9:25)

I gave blood, sweat, and tears to that dream; literally. I gave it my all! I pleaded my heart out in prayer to Heavenly Father, and all along He had a different plan for my life.

"When life is cut too deep and left you hurting. The future you had hoped for is now burning. The dreams you held so tight left their meaning and you don't know if you will ever find the healing. You're going to make it! If your heart is breaking, there is a promise for the ones who just hold on. The sun is rising." - Britt Nicole

It's so easy to become distracted in this world by jewels and titles. We think what makes someone popular, beautiful, or of importance comes from what the world deems as success, but the world has it so wrong. This painting means everything in the world to me, when I first saw it, my eyes filled with tears. It's a picture of Christ putting a crown on my head. I didn't need a worldly crown to be deemed worthy or accepted; Christ already paid that price for me. 

I want you to picture yourself in this painting, picture Christ putting a crown on your head. The beautiful thing about crowns is most of the time when someone is crowned, it is a declaration of acceptance and self-worth. What do people do with their heads when they are insecure? They look down to the ground, their body language displays they are not happy, they are not confident, they don't feel secure. What would happen if an insecure person looks down with the crown on their head? It would fall off! We have to know who we are and that our individual worth and divine nature is found in Christ for the crown to stay on that Christ places on each one of our heads. And how do we know this? By coming unto Him an by following in His ways. 

When we aren't living with an open heart, we can't feel the love of our Savior. That love, that acceptance that Christ has for every single one of His children can only be felt as we are accepting and using the atonement in our lives. It is for EVERYONE. Inviting the atonement of Jesus Christ into my life is the greatest crown I could have ever imagined being placed on my head. Without Christ, I am nothing. Christ has all the answers and He is the only way to light and good things to come. 

The love my Savior has for me is everything to me. I love in the Book of Mormon where it says "After ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches." (Jacob 2:18) A hope in Christ literally feels as if you are rich. That hope in Christ is something I have to work on every single day of my life. 

That crown Christ puts on your head is a symbol of his

 love for you. Every day he crowns your head saying,   

 "You are worth it!"

Our Relationship with Christ is the Foundation for All Our Relationships

It's said you become like the 5 people you spend the most time with; well if that's true and if the only person ever found perfect to ever live on this earth is Christ, then shouldn't Christ be at the top of that list?

There have been many moments in my life where my relationship with Christ is rock solid strong and I devote so much time to strengthening my faith in Him as I allow Him to enter every area of my life. Then I have moments where I let fear stop me from turning to Him, like He is going to fail me or something. CRAZY, right? I know, it's pure and utter crazy madness. It makes no sense to me, none! But that's how Satan works, He's deceiving in the little tiny ways. 

If you get anything from this post, please just remember this one line:
CHRIST WILL NOT FAIL YOU! EVER! 
No other person is fighting for your happiness and pleading for you to have eternal joy more than Christ! 

As I've been evaluating the relationships I have in my life, I've noticed a pattern; the stronger my relationship is with Christ, the stronger every other relationship in my life is as well. The more my heart grows closer to the Savior, the more I can grow and strengthen the relationships I yearn to grow. Without Christ, nothing grows; it just stays and over time it weakens. 

Christ is the glue to every single relationship and bond I desire to grow, without Him everything else around me crumbles. When I spend time with Christ, I am becoming more like Him which allows me to be a better a person and lift those around me. Without Christ, I become bitter, jealous, cynical, and weak. Christ allows me to be a light and joy to those placed in my life as my heart is pointing to Him.

There are quite a few Christ-like attributes that we need for any relationship to grow...

HOPE - 

Trials will come up in any relationship, they just will no matter what. But as you hope in good things to come, as you work through the hard times and develop confidence in each other, you will conquer discouragement and you become stronger together. 

CHARITY + LOVE - 

True love is about loving the other person more than you love yourself. It's about constantly thinking of that person and wanting to serve them. It's about finding time to think of that person and sharing them that you care through selfless acts of kindness and charity. 

But charity doesn't just relate to a romantic relationship, for any relationship to be strong we have to be willing to show that we can put that person first and that they matter to us. 

VIRTUE -

Virtue is living a clean and spiritually pure life. Without virtue in a marriage, there could be no trust and no unity. Virtue is also the ability to control your mind so you can resist temptation. It's about living a life of integrity and honesty because trust is essential to any relationship. 


KNOWLEDGE - 

Worldly knowledge is nice to have and can make some conversations really fun, but the important kind of knowledge to gain is knowledge of the scriptures because it is impossible for man to be saved by ignorance. Studying the scriptures allows the Holy Ghost to speak to our minds more easily and fully which can be a great benefit to grow any relationship. 

Just the other day I was frustrated by something someone I care for very much was doing. I kept seeing this action as a weakness and I felt irritated. Then the spirit taught me a lesson, I saw it as a weakness, but just maybe it was a gift. Perhaps I was frustrated by this action because I was looking at it through the wrong eyes. What if it was a gift given to this person to help analyze and see things in a new way. What if I was irritated by this action because it was a gift I had not yet developed so I couldn't see it as such just yet. Without the Holy Ghost and the knowledge it offered me, I wouldn't have been able to let go of something so small that could have hurt this relationship.

PATIENCE - 

Any relationship takes patience because no one is perfect. There will always be something that someone around us does that bothers us, it takes patience to address it and then let it go. It takes patience to overlook weakness and sometimes that is simply the only thing that can be done.

HUMILITY - 

Humility is not always having to be right, it's about loving the other person enough to not cause contention and to simply just let things go once again. It's about saying sorry even if you're positive that you are right. It's about serving the other person even if they did hurt your feelings. Humility is one of my absolute favorite Christ-like attributes because everything falls underneath it's umbrella. 

DILLIGENCE -

Diligence is about not giving up when a relationship gets hard and tough. It's about sticking through the rainstorms to see a beautiful rainbow in the end. It's about doing good things and putting everything you can into the relationship to look back and see just how far you have come.  

OBEDIENCE - 

If we aren't obeying God, we are inviting the adversary in to destroy every good relationship we have. Christ wants us to be happy! God wants us to be happy! Commandments are here for protection, not restriction. 


I testify that as we turn our hearts to Christ and spend time with Him every single day of our lives, really investing in this relationship, every other relationship we desire to be strong really does grow. The only limitation is that both individuals need to be giving their hearts to Christ, both need to be equally yoked in Him. That is not to say one couldn't influence the other. 

The Wife I Hope To Be Someday

I spend a lot of time pondering about the girl I am and the girl I want to become. I have this ideal image of the wife I hope to be, it's absolutely nothing unattainable, but I know I need to work a little bit harder to get to where I long to be. Being a good wife is one of the most important things to me as I want to be able to serve my husband with my whole heart constantly. The definition of true love is to care more about the other person than you care about yourself. It's about making a choice of humility every single day, while still balancing working on being your best self.  

Goal setting is one of my favorite things to do. It's important we always know what we are striving for. I came across this blog post the other day talking about '23 qualities of a woman worth dating' and I am absolutely in love with this list. While I don't feel like any of those qualities were really missing from my life, it's a list that makes me want to be better and try harder. I am so in love with this list that I have put it next to my mirror so I can review it often and take a personal inventory of how I am doing. 

Here's the list:

Take this list; add to it, adjust it, pray about it. Whatever you feel to be right, do it. 

I personally feel the list is very close to the wife I hope to be. 


A few of my goals as far as being a good wife goes are...

1. Cooking meals all the time - families that eat together, stay together.

2. If something hurts my feelings, don't take it personally but get out of my emotional brain and into my logical brain to reevaluate the situation.

3. Focusing on how love is being shown rather than how I feel I need it to be shown.

4. Being a cheerleader for my husband at all times, always supporting his ambitions and goals.

5. Working out and eating healthy together. Health plays into everything!

6. Being open minded about hobbies, passions, and goals and always willing to try new things that my husband may be interested in.

7. To be easy going and less critical. I want to praise my husband, not constantly tear him down.

8. Keeping the home and yard clean and organized so the spirit can be with us.

9. Never yelling or fighting, but talking things out calmly if a disagreement appears.

10. Every day finding a way to serve him to show him just how much he means to me. 


Also check out the list of'23 qualities of a guy worth dating'.

Faith is Never a Weakness

I was watching Star Wars the other day and first of all, I love how much the gospel and this movie have in common...it's awesome! While watching 'Episode VI: Return of the Jedi' a line really stood out to me.

Luke: Your overconfidence is your weakness.
The Emperor: Your faith in your friends is yours!

Hold up and freeze. Since when is faith a weakness? Seriously, has it ever been? 
I don't think so.

Faith, to have complete trust or confidence in someone or something. If you believe in someone that much, that is powerful! For faith can move us to do great things. Let's say your friends do let you down after you put all your faith and trust in them. Who lost out really?

I've done this before. Quite honestly it was one of the most heartbreaking experiences of my life after having so much faith in someone, investing so much time, support, and sacrifice; believing it would all turn out in the end and we would live happily ever after, but really even though it was devastating to me, I lost nothing. The faith that I had changed both me and him. That faith, even though I gave much, Christ made up the difference. If I wouldn't have had so much faith in this person, they wouldn't have been as motivated and inspired to push as hard as they did, they would have quit a long time before.

Have you ever had one of those moments where someone talks you up or gives you a compliment on something you feel is a weakness of yours? You feel so empowered that someone thinks you're strong in an area you've always felt a little inadequate in. It certainly makes you want to try harder or to develop that attribute or talent even more to prove that you really do have that strength they saw in you. Having faith in other moves them to change! ALWAYS!!!

Now here's the hard part, when someone is letting you down, it appears that your trust and confidence was in vain, and it certainly feels as if you were the one that ended up losing that day. While it may sting and appear as if every bit of faith you gave was wasted, just what if it wasn't? Just what if?

Hear me out on my reasons....

1. KARMA - I believe in karma, what we give into the world will always come back to us.

The Book of Mormon teaches us about karma too. Go to Alma 41:15 "For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored..." Meaning, if we are sending good into the world, things like faith and confidence, that faith will come back to us from others believing in us more, but also, we can't lose. Every single good thing we give doesn't ever go to waste, EVER!

2. Christ already paid the price - because of Christ, every single thing we go through can be turned for our good like it says in D+C 90:24 "Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good..." (emphasis added) 

AHH...did you catch that? How exciting that is! When you BELIEVE, and let's take that to believing in another person, all things work together for your good! You can't lose because Christ is the way. He is the only way and He fills all the emptiness that we don't know what to do with.

3. Faith changes men - Faith has this power of changing men/women to become something more than they already are. Have you ever believed in something so much that it changed you? 

When I was young, I used to believe so much that I was the most organized girl in the world. I would come home and organize my backpack every single day after school, my desk at school was always spotless, and my room never had a paper out of place. I believed that my organization was one of the coolest talents, because none of my friends or classmates were as good at it as me. The more I believed this was a talent of mine, the more I became confident in this skill of mine so much that it ended up getting me a job to help others stay organized as well. 

When I was competing in Miss Murray one year, I had five of the best friends and cheerleaders I could have ever asked for. As the day was approaching to compete, I started to lose confidence in myself. I would get random texts or visits from friends letting me know they were thinking of me and they truly believed I had all the potential to win. I truly felt their faith capture my heart as they believed I was fully capable of winning the crown that evening. I was placed as second runner up, and I believe the only reason I didn't win that evening was I didn't believe I was the best piano player, I didn't believe in myself as much as my friends believed in me, which limited my abilities to nail that talent that evening. But why was I placed as an attendant, because I had friend who believed in me and were cheering me on. Thank goodness for them!

I'm telling you, faith changes people!

Even President Monson said so...

4. We don't always get to witness our influence - every word we say, every action we display, every positive emotion we send; it all influences other. I believe our influence is one of the most powerful we gifts we have to give away, and one of the most under estimated powers we possess. Our influence is huge! We influence people when we realize it, and we influence people when we don't. When you believe in someone, when you send that power into the world, things start to happen. Just because you don't see your influence, don't believe it's not there. Often times it is like planting seeds and sooner or later, the change will come even if you don't have the opportunity to witness this. 

But now, to undo everything I just said and did... WE MUST HAVE MORE FAITH IN CHRIST THAN WE DO IN MAN. Faith is great to have in another person when we have first anchored our hearts and faith in Christ. Man can't do what Christ can do. We can't have so much faith in another person that we lose who we are and we start to lose sight of God. As our faith and the roots of our faith are planted deep in the solid ground of Christ, only then can we influence others. For it's not our faith that leads people to change, it's when we point others to Christ, that the atonement allows room for change. For it is Christ that takes all our bad karma upon Him, and only when we turn to Him, we will not have to suffer all our karma, because Christ so willingly took it upon Himself as we believe in His name and turn to Him. 

Listen to THIS talk by President Monson

2016 is my Year to SPARKLE

2015 was a really hard year for me. Mental illness attacked me in a way I had never experienced before. I honestly felt betrayed by God for many months. It was hard, it hurt, and I wouldn't have made it without Christ. God gives us things we can't handle so we are forced to lean on Christ and that's exactly what happened. 

Even though this past year has been so hard on me, I have been blessed by so many beautiful experiences and tender mercies. My heart is so appreciative to those who brought a little sparkle into my life this year. 

This year I experienced loneliness in a deep piercing way I had never known before. And even though I wasn't alone, it doesn't change the way I felt or that that was my very own gethsemane up to this point in my life. Some days I would pray constantly because it was absolutely the only thing I could bring myself to do, other days I honestly didn't feel like praying at all. I started to feel like God couldn't hear my prayers or if He did, He was pouring blessings on everyone but me. But my message to you today isn't about misery, it's about hope. 

HOPE; that's what so many people brought into my life this year. That's the message I learned most this year, is that hope is ALWAYS there. It took missing hope, to find it and believe in it like never before.

On days when I felt so useless and like a grain of sand that was to soon be swept up by the tides of the ocean, a dear friend would bring me a plate of goodies when I least expected them, or a ward member would show up with some chocolate, or a servant of Christ would come to my home to listen to me open my heart, or a letter would show up in my mail box reminding me of the good qualities I have to offer, or an email would be found in my inbox of some of my spiritual qualities that I couldn't see, and even receiving phone calls and texts out of nowhere from those I hadn't heard from for a while. 

Each of these very tender and thoughtful acts of service and hope reminded me of just how much God is looking out for me, just how many of my burdens Christ was carrying for me, and how much one simple act of service can bring hope.

That is why my one word for 2016 is SPARKLE - I want to serve many this year. I want to deliver hope because of the sparkle that was brought into my life when I needed it most. 

Spencer W. Kimball once said in a BYU speech "But of course we ought to be happy here. We ought to sparkle and shine and radiate with brilliance. We have everything! When a prominent Eastern man who was visiting our offices asked me, “Why are you, the Mormon people such happy folks?” My answer was: “It is because we have everything—the gospel of Jesus Christ, the light, the priesthood, the power, the promises, the covenants, the temples, our families, the truth.” Latter-day Saints, especially Latter-day Saint youth, surely should have a brilliance of their own. You should have that sparkle here today."

Spencer W. Kimball wants us to sparkle, so that is my goal for the year, to sparkle. I want to be happy, and to radiate happiness. While everything that happens to us isn't always in our control, our response to it is always in our control. Happiness isn't an easy choice to make, but it is a choice we have power over, even if limited by our own chemicals and illnesses. Despite everything that stops me from being happy, I want to try harder to do better. I want to laugh more, smile more, compliment more, and people build more.

To help me on this path of making 2016 a year for me to sparkle, I will be featuring a weekly challenge with the #SparkleHope. Challenges will consist of either something that allows you to bring sparkle to others by serving someone, or by inviting more happiness into your own life. These challenges will be every single Monday, because as much as Monday's can be a really hard day, we are going to change that and start the week with SPARKLE and HOPE! 

You will have the entire week to complete the simple challenge and you can then take a picture of you doing your challenge and share it on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or SnapChat with the #SparkleHope. It is my deepest desire to build a community of sparkle and hope, as we add sparkle to this new year and inspire one another.