#40Acts of Kindness for Lent

It's very possible that I'm the only one in the world that does this, but you wake up and the first thought that hits your mind is all the wrong in your life even though you have so many incredible, amazing blessings in your life. So you lie in bed, grab your phone, scroll through Facebook and have a pity party dreading to actually start moving. You've never done that? Ha... I knew I was the only one. ;)

A few days ago I was reminded about lent by a friend. I had heard of it over the years, but because it isn't something I typically practice it wasn't on the forefront of my mind and I had to learn about the details and purpose of it again. After I learned about it I kept thinking that I loved the concept, but I couldn't think of anything to give up. As I pondered  deeply, a thought came to me and not all at once either.

Let me tell you why I love the concept of lent. If you don't know what lent is, it's sacrificing something for 40 days leading up to Easter, as resemblance of Christ fasting. To me, it's a way of showing Heavenly Father you love Him so much you would be willing to do anything and everything for Him. It's an opportunity to break a bad habit and replace it with one that will bring you closer to Christ. It's a way to refocus your life even when you feel you have absolutely nothing left to give.

As I pondered and prayed about what I needed to give up and where my life was going, piece by piece my puzzle has started to be laid out for me. Okay, so I only have two pieces ha ha, but that is enough! I'm learning that's how God works, He gives you a piece you act and try to find the next one and as you're searching and willing to act, He will give you another one until you can see the entire picture. Faith and action go hand in hand and you don't consistently keep doing both, He can start to take the pieces away.

So back to that pity party of mine, that's what I'm giving up. I'm sacrificing the selfish thoughts I have in the morning. The second I wake up I have to roll out of bed onto my knees and pray, and in this prayer, I can't really pray for myself either. I am praying for others. I am praying to know who needs me throughout the day. I am praying for my mind to be open to opportunities of service and kindness. I am praying for an open heart and a willing mind to serve those who are put in my path. I want to lose myself completely and these upcoming 40 days are going to be hard but they are going to be life changing if I consistently choose to act on the pieces God has given me thus far. 

So today's the day to begin!!! I woke up before 6 today and said my prayers and I can't wait to see who is put in my path for me to help. But it's so much more than that, it's not about finding projects, it's about finding people to love, to selflessly love and not because I have to, and not because I want to be the one to make the difference. It's about finding people you were truly meant to be an angel for, because God placed them in your path for a purpose. And something tells me this is just the very beginning... I have a very deep feeling it's so much more than the eye can see. This will be a learning process and journey.

Want to join in? Watch this video and then check out the site!

Comforts for the Anxious Latter Day Saint Heart

1. Be Still my Soul hymn lyrics (Hymn # 124)

2. Upon the Top of the Waters

3. Some Lessons of Faith and Fear 

4. 2 Timothy 1:7 - For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 

5. Live by Faith and Not by Fear

6. What Nephi Teaches about Overcoming Discouragement 

7. Isaiah 41:10 -  Fear thou not: for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee: yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 

8. Courage = Healing + Action + Grace  (amazing references in this talk)

9. Like a Broken Vessel

10. Fear Not, I am with Thee

11. Peace I Give Unto You By: Robert D. Hales

I have anxiety. It's something I don't talk about too often but I think I better start because if we don't talk about, how are we going to raise awareness?

The first time I remember having a panic attack was when I was eight years old. My parents required me to take swimming lessons. I hated swimming lessons, my teacher would force me to go into the deep end of the pool and I literally pictured everything that could possibly go wrong. I thought I was going to drown to death and die. (The way I look at it, those with anxiety have a strength - it's called a wild imagination haha!) One summer morning my parents came into my room bright and early to help me get ready for swimming lessons. I felt sick to my stomach, this was the day we were required to jump off the diving board, I had never done that before and I dreaded the journey that lay in front of me this day. Well I went, not by my own will or consent. I ended up jumping off and it became one of my favorite activities. It was the fear of the unknown that was set before me that day that made me feel trapped and limited my ability to think clearly.

To this day I still experience anxiety. As my testimony has really become strengthened and anchored in my Savior Jesus Christ, it has affected me less and occurred much less frequently. I remember a time where my testimony was growing at a rapid pace and I thought my anxiety had been cured forever. As much as I believe in the atonement and that Christ can take away our pain, my anxiety comes back from time to time. I hate it, if you have ever experienced anxiety before, you know how miserable it is. Words can't explain how trapped and hopeless you feel. It's as if you have no control over the situation and you have no control over your faith no matter how much faith you desire to have.

I've learned that anxiety usually enters my life for a reason.

Heavenly Father needed me to walk on my own to test my strength and see if I would seek Him in my times of trial and grief. Sometimes it will appear as if I have been forgotten and Heavenly Father's peace has left me, but it's an opportunity for me to turn my heart to my Savior Jesus Christ and to choose to love Heavenly Father with my own free will. He wants me to prove that I will be faithful no matter what I face. Anxiety is actually a gift if you think about it, it's an opportunity to show your love, faith, and devotion to Heavenly Father. Will you still choose Him no matter what pain you go through. 

While I don't like to refer to anxiety as a weakness because often it is a chemical imbalance in the brain you have no control over, I refer to it as a weakness for the fact that I can't ever get through it on my own. When I'm left in the dark and feeling alone it reminds me of 

Ether 12:27

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all me that humble themselves before me:for if they humble themselves before me; and have faith in me, then I will make weak things become strong unto them."

It's a weakness that has me calling upon Heavenly Father. I need my Savior Jesus Christ to bring peace and comfort to my heart. I can't do it alone. He knows my weaknesses and He wants me to remember that I am absolutely nothing without Him. (Alma 26:12) My faith comes from Him. I have to remember that I don't know all of His plans, but the only thing He asked me to do is to trust Him. Heavenly Father loves each of us so very much, He doesn't want us to be in pain forever but He allows us to experience pain to grow and change and become like Him. He has so many great plans for you personally and sometimes pain is the only way to get from point A to point B.

What if we were more open in talking about anxiety and we helped society to not think of it as a burden and limitation, but as a blessing and an opportunity?

Be Bold in what you believe

I've been thinking a lot about the word bold lately. A dear friend whom I admire as much brought to my attention my lack of boldness in certain areas of my life. I then found myself reflecting on the word bold.

At first I was hesitant in the need to change. I'm not a bold person because I live with this constant fear that I'm going to offend someone. But as I've thought about it more, being bold is standing with declaration of truth and righteousness! It's being shameless about your beliefs and making statements that allows everyone to know where you stand and what you believe in. It's someone else's choice to choose to be offended by the declarations you make and you can't control everything. If you were never bold, you would go along with everything and probably have close to zero standards. That does not sound like a Christ-like life to me.

When I think of the word BOLD: I think of brave, courageous, shameless, forward, without hesitation, and making your point so clear that there is no room for others to question what you meant.

Even in the scriptures, Jude exhorts the Saints to defend their faith by “earnestly contend[ing] for the faith” (Jude 1:3)

I think being bold could have saved me from a few situations throughout my life. When you are bold, you are choosing to care more about what Heavenly Father thinks of you and less about the world's opinions. I used to believe confidence came AFTER you had done all that you could to fit in; you know the latest styles, coloring your hair, perfect makeup, flat abs, a nice tan, and choosing to never disagree with others opinions you didn't support. Goodness, I couldn't have been more off! I know without a doubt, confidence comes from the Holy Ghost. How do I know this? Because I have lived it. 

I declare that you DO NOT AND SHOULD NOT strive to fit in with the world to find self-esteem, you will never find enough of it! You'll constantly be looking to the world again and again for fame, attention, glory, and approval and slowly but surely little pieces of who you are will be chiseled away. 

Coming to know who you are and having confidence in 

that has to start by coming to know Jesus Christ. 

The world doesn't teach you that. The world tells you to do whatever you want because that's staying true to who you are. But what if you are so lost and confused from the chaos of the world that what you think you want is so far away from WHO you are deep down in your inner core?

Here's my full-heart pledged belief; I believe that you were a spirit in Heaven, Heavenly Father designed the perfect body for YOUR spirit. Your individual worth and unique gifts and talents began up in heaven. These divine qualities that are yours have always been apart of WHO YOU ARE! Your spirit lives inside of you and knows exactly who you are and what you believe in. That is never changing. After you observe societal behaviors and you see in media that morals don't really matter because you only live once, your soul and body start to forget what your spirit already knows about who you are. Society starts creating this formality of who you are and who you should be and pretty soon you have forgotten your purpose. So you start searching the world for things that you think will bring you happiness and confidence only to find that you have moved further than you ever thought was possible from the REAL and TRUE you! Please tell me then how you are supposed to be confident when somehow society has blinded you of what you believed in and your individual worth all along.

If I could tell girls anything, or really anyone for that matter - I would stand upon the peak of Mount Everest and shout at the top of my lungs that CONFIDENCE AND FINDING WHO YOU ARE COMES FROM FINDING OUT WHO CHRIST IS FIRST!

That is my loud and bold declaration to the world. I have never been so confident about anything in my entire life. My pageant years, I was trying to be who I thought the judges wanted me to be. I thought if I had their approval and I wore a crown on my head, then I would be confident. It wasn't until I searched with my whole heart, might, mind, and strength to learn who Christ was and to follow his example that I found myself and realized how confident and happy I was in everyday life. Sure, I still like to get ready to appear that I take good care of myself, but I suddenly found I wasn't obsessing over breakouts or bad hair days. I was able to feel confident about the talents and hobbies I do have and not worry so much about the strengths that seemed to be lacking. When I truly learned who Christ was and the peace he offered flowed into my heart in a way I had never experienced before, it was only then that I felt what I lacked, didn't matter. It's through his grace that he makes up the difference and I feel this confidence that is unshakable and reminds me exactly of what my spirit has always known even before this life. 

BE BOLD! Be bold in what you believe and be bold in staying true to the individual worth your spirit was designed upon.

Don't try to fit into the world because I can promise you with my whole heart you will never be happy and you will always feel like you're not staying as true to yourself as you could be. This is my testimony I leave with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

P.S. I REALLY like this post. Because I desire to know Christ more than I have ever known him before, I didn't watch the super bowl last night. It's important for me to guard myself from all things that could take away the spirit. We all have different beliefs but this is my bold statement that I don't support sports on Sunday's. I'm not better than you because of it and I have absolutely NO right to judge you if you have different views or beliefs. I just wanted to declare boldly what I believe.  

Think the best of each other

Do you ever have those days where you are trying your absolute hardest and it feels so right and so perfect to you that you can't see how any other way could possibly be right? I've felt that a lot lately as much as I hate to admit. Sometimes the thought crosses my mind "Well I'm right, so there is no way you could possibly be right as well." But then the other thought crosses my mind, going back to THIS people pleasing post..."Oh, well if they're right, I guess I'm wrong and I have to change the way I see things or do things." 

I've experienced this in a few different situations lately. Sometimes I forget that my way may not be perfect, and that others see things and do things differently and that's okay. We all have different backgrounds, different beliefs, different ideas, and different knowledge... because let's face it, we're different! And we were born different for a reason. But what if while we all think our way is the absolute greatest way in the world, we accepted the way others are doing things? What if others are doing the absolute best way they know how?

Sometimes I tend to forget that others are giving everything they have...

Sometimes I take things personally, but what if they were loving and giving the best way they knew how and I took it the wrong way because I could only see my way and how I would approach the situation?

Sometimes I wonder if others were paying attention in the meeting or in the class because their thoughts and ideas aren't the same as mine, but what if they just understood it differently than I did?

Sometimes it's easy to see that other's testimonies are different, but what if faith comes easier to some than others and they are giving every single thing they have to offer into their faith?

Sometimes I feel that other's have a lot more luck or opportunity than I do, but what if they struggle in areas of life that come easy to me? Or what if they have different missions to fulfill and different lessons to learn?

We each have been given different lives, different personalities, different attributes and features, different strengths, and talents, and flaws. We are not the same and we should never strive to be the same.

So what if we all just assumed all of the time that every person is doing the best they know how to do? How would relationships be better if we were more patient or understanding, recognizing that we understood things differently from one another but we are giving it everything we have to offer.

Faith is believing in people, 
because who are we to judge? 

Who are we to assume we are doing everything perfectly and other's are not?

What if we took the time to appreciate everything that others are doing? What if we stopped focusing on the things we feel are missing?

What if we all came to acceptance that while there is always room for improvement, none of us our perfect and together along this journey we are doing the absolute best that we know how.

Everyone has their own way to love, their own way to give, their own way to believe and understand. Let's be more patient, more kind, and more tolerant for those who aren't doing things "OUR way".

Elder Holland said it best! 

As you sow, so shall you reap

Reading the Book of Mormon doesn't come easy to me. I've always struggled to understand the stories and the doctrine that come from the scriptures. For the past month, I can't seem to get enough of my scripture study. If someone asks me what I do in my free time, I laugh because studying my scriptures IS my free time. I'm studying while I'm drinking my hot chocolate in the morning. I'm studying when I go home to eat lunch, and I'm studying up until the late hours of the night. I can't seem to put all my amazing gospel books and scriptures down to save my life. I have a tendency of leaving these books around the house because they are in my hands at all times. 

I wanted to share some insight into why I believe that has changed for me personally.

The church just barely came out with a new bible video, if you haven't seen it, you should! The church does such a good job at putting these videos together, they are very well done. This one is called 'The Parable of the Sower'. 

When they ask The Savior "Why speakest though unto them in parables?" (Matthew 13:10) he replies... 

    . . .Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.  (Matthew 13:11,12) 
The JST for verse 12 says: “For whosoever receiveth, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance;   But whosoever continueth not to receive, from him shall be taken away even that he hath."  (Matthew 13:10,11, JST)  

Christ then goes on, saying...

 "Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias concerning them, which saith, By hearing, ye shall hear and shall not understand; and seeing, ye shall see and shall not perceive.  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them."  (Matthew 13:12,13,14, JST) 

Christ had been addressing “great multitudes” (Matthew 13:2) and generalizing about the Jewish people, many who were unbelieving.  Perhaps some of their attitudes were like the attitude of Amulek who testified, “I was called many times and I would not hear; therefore I knew concerning these things, yet I would not know; therefore I went on rebelling against God, in the wickedness of my heart, . .” (Alma 10:6). 

For the one who were faithful, however, the lessons in these parables were understood in a completely different light. “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. And blessed are you because these things are come unto you, that you might understand them.”  (Matthew 13:15, JST)  Our ability to “see”,  “hear”, and learn the teachings of the parables is directly correlated to how much we desire to see, hear, and understand. 

People seeing the exact same event, reading the exact same words, and hearing the exact same words can often see, see, hear, and learn differently. This is the reason you can open your scriptures and learn something new every time you do so. You will never run out of lessons to learn depending on what you're going through in life. Depending on where we are, what we are doing, and the lesson He is trying to teach us is what determines what we get out of the words we read. Our hearts can't be touched if they are in the wrong state (such as hard-hearted and cold vs. humble). 

So for me personally, I always had the desire to understand the words of the scriptures, but a lot has changed in my life as of late. I have never sought so hard to seek out the words of Christ. I have never put everything I had into scripture studying like I do lately. My eyes were always there, but they are now constantly open as I'm reading, always searching for more. I'm understanding things differently because I'm approaching the studying differently.

Questions for pondering:

How much do you desire to understand His teachings?

What are you willing to sacrifice until you do understand?

What are you willing to give up for the Lord to be able to speak clearer to your heart?

I'm not perfect at this by any means, but day by day I am learning and growing because this desire is in me and I'm reaping what I sow. (D and C 6:33)

This morning I had an interesting experience, I usually read my scriptures before I leave for the day. I woke up meh, there is no other word for it. My heart wasn't as humble as it could of been and I yearned for that feeling so I started studying a few principles, and nothing. I got on my knees and prayed for understanding as to why I was feeling motionless and I was putting in the effort and I still wasn't receiving anything. Then I got up and started reading some more. NOTHING! I then got on my knees again, pleading to feel the spirit so I wouldn't feel like this all day long. I started reading about a different principle and slowly but steadily light came, reading that principle led me to ask differently questions in my prayers than I initially was just a few minutes prior.

Now, I don't think what I was studying was what made the difference. Sometimes Heavenly Father will make you aware of the lessons He is trying to teach you and the principles and doctrine you need to focus on, but usually He doesn't care what you are studying as long as you are studying. What I learned from this experience, however, is sometimes Heavenly Father wants to see just how much you care to feel of His spirit. How far are you willing to walk to understand His teachings? How hard are you willing to work to nourish the seeds that have been planted within you? It took 3 prayers and an hour of reading, studying, and pleading before He was willing to show me the light. 

When light and understanding doesn't come easy, stay faithful and just keep going! The harder you work, the greater your reward!

5 Ways to overcome temptation

Today, my amazing friend Jared taught an incredible lesson in Sunday School about Christ being tempted in the wilderness. It was a class where after you could ponder on the questions and the doctrine being taught for hours on end. His lesson was so profound I wanted to share some of his lesson, mixed with my own thoughts so that can be reviewed over and over again. He posed the question, "What does Convenient Christianity look like?" This could make up a discussion for hours, but let's break down the word CONVENIENT. Convenience means easy, with little or no effort. Convenience fits will with another's activities, plans, needs, and dare I add desires. Convenience is not painful, not hard, not something that has to be worked at or for, and something that is not challenging in the slightest.

Think of a time in your life that has been really hard or challenging that you had to overcome? Would you take that experience away from your life, which also includes the lessons you learned, the blessings that came after, and the character that was resulted from such a trying experience? Most likely not!!! 

Christ went through three types of temptations while in the wilderness. (Matthew 4:1-11)

(Matthew 4:2-3) Satan tempted Christ to turn stone into bread, which relates to the natural/physical man. He had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, right now eating would not be a bad thing, as Elder Holland put it, "The temptation is not in the eating. He has eaten before, he will soon eat again, he must eat for the rest of his mortal life." The temptation lies within doing it the easy way, abusing his power.

(Matthew 4:5-6) Satan tempted Christ to cast himself down the pinnacle to show angels would save him, so he could prove he Christ and have more followers. It's a VERY deserved and worthy accomplishment he is seeking, HOWEVER not yet!! It is much too soon. His ministry had just barely begun. Elder Holland states:"But even the Son of God must wait. The Redeemer who would never bestow cheap grace on others was not likely to ask for any himself." All good, righteous blessings we seek after take time and much effort, patience, and often times of aching for guidance or relief.

(Matthew 4:8-9) Satan tempted Christ to worship him to gain worldly power. To arrive at a point where Christ will one day rule the world, he first must go through much inconvenience, trial, pain, and suffering. (D&C 19:18)

Nothing easy or convenient comes without a price. Heavenly Father wants us to learn and grow and that comes from overcoming temptations and never taking the easy way through any situation. So often the prettiest view is up the longer hill, the hill that causes pain, the hill that is NOT popular or trendy. But the risk is FAR too great for fitting in. Stand out. The power to overcome temptation lies within you. There is ALWAYS a way out!! Look for it and believe in it! (1 Corinthians 10:13)

The easiest way to overcome temptation is by first avoiding it in the first place:

Here are 5 ways to overcome temptation:

1. Surround yourself with people who share the same standards and moral values as you. While it's important we aren't judging others and we are loving and fellowship those who don't share standards, you can't risk your own eternal happiness. Pray often for guidance in balancing such relationships and always avoid the situations or places they may enter.

2. Memorize a favorite hymn. Any time inappropriate thoughts or a temptation enters your mind, start signing the hymn in your mind and these thoughts will leave your mind.

3. Get rid of media that could cause the spirit to leave. Books, movies, songs, posters, magazines, pictures, etc. Check out the For Strength of the Youth pamphlet to see if your media follows the guidelines of the church. 

4. Pray morning and Evening! This one is the simple primary answer that actually offers the most spiritual power. (Matthew 6:6) Heber J. Grant said, "I have little or no fear for the young man or the young woman, who honestly and conscientiously supplicate God twice a day for the guidance of His spirit. I am sure that when temptation comes they will have the strength to overcome it by the inspiration that shall be given them." I strongly suggest that you pray often for your will to match his for greater power over temptations.

5. Read scriptures daily. There are so many great stories in the scriptures that teach us about and show us why we are here, where we are going, and how to earn the greatest blessing of entering the celestial kingdom. When we are focused on the purpose of who we are and where we are going, everything else becomes easier. It's easier to make decisions, it's easier to avoid media that takes away the Spirit, and it becomes easier to focus on the Savior as he is the one we can all follow as we 'Come unto Him'.

While it would be so easy to believe that grace is enough and we can live a convenient life at all times, what good would that do? How would we become changed and renewed? How would we then become more Christ-like, more humble, and experience the greatest happiness that will ever be made known to man-kind? Everything that is hard and difficult and costs a price or a sacrifice, will ALWAYS, always, always be worth it in the end. 

I bear you my testimony that I know when we choose to avoid or resist temptation, we are always blessed for it. Succumbing to temptations will always have a consequence whether it is now or later, there will be a price to pay. I know living in the world we live in today, it can often be tempting to set aside standards so that you "fit in" or become popular, and while a social status may mean everything to you, I promise nothing will bring you greater peace and happiness than choosing to follow Christ. Sure, you may be lonely at times but as I've told many girls before, when you feel lonely or left out, Heavenly Father uses that time to get your attention to teach you something important. This is time you can use to become like Him. I bear my testimony to you that this sacrifice, no matter how burdensome you feel this it is, it's worth it and you will be blessed! I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

"Cherish your spiritual burdens because God will converse with you through them and will use you to do his work if you carry them well." - Elder Holland

Thanks for the great lesson, Jared!

For more info on this topic found HERE and HERE .

And THIS talk is incredible for turning your will and desires to match His.

Oh yeah, and I just LOVE this quote!! I couldn't not share.

"No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of the wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ because He was the only man who never yielded temptation, is the only man who knows to the full what temptation means." 
(C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, P. 142)

Sister Dalton {My Role Model}

Sister Dalton came and spoke to the University of Utah Institute today. She is one of my absolute favorite people in this world, in fact, she is my role model!!

If you don't know much about Sister Elaine S. Dalton, allow me to tell you how absolutely incredible she is. She was the General Young Women's President from 2008 - 2013. She has ran 17 marathons. She loves running because that is her time to be alone with Heavenly Father. She is now a member of the board of trustees for Utah Valley University and serving with Uplift families (an organization founded by Utah's First Lady). Oh yeah, and her lucky number is 13! :)

To every girl out there, it's important to have a role model. Someone who inspires you to be better. What do you look for in a role model? You see how they act, how do they dress, how do they treat others? These traits will give you clues to what they love in their life and how they choose to respect what is most important to them. 

By the way Sister Dalton acts, dresses, and displays such love for all those she is around, I know that she loves Heavenly Father and she constantly seeks to invite the spirit into her life.

Here are the notes I took from the fireside...

* You are not ordinary! You have been prepared and reserved to be on the earth at this time!

* So many are listening too much to the voices of the world.

* In the Young Women's theme, it states "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who love us" "We will stand as witnesses of God at all times." - These two statements are absolute truths and they are never changing!

* Each of you have a divine and unique purpose to fulfill.

* Always act will thy part!

* The atonement makes it possible for us to repent and change because of who we are and where we are going. Because of the atonement, we can one day stand spotless before Heavenly Father.

* You will be prepared for ANYTHING if you will give 100% to three things. Pray morning & evening and read the Book of Mormon every single day! If you can only fit in 5 minutes of reading some days, then fine. Just do it, never, ever missing a day!

* You are here on earth at the time opposition as well as opportunities are here at the greatest they have ever been. 

* 3 things to look for in a husband - Honors his priesthood, Loves the Lord, and wants a family - everything else will take place on it's own. 

* You can change by relying on the Savior's atonement to do that.

* I can do hard things! {Hanging in her office} THEN she added "In the strength of the Lord, I can do ALL things!

* You are getting too many worldly messages that are saying you are not enough! You are enough because you are a child of God!

* Families are the central plan of the gospel and our purpose. Of course Satan is going to try and attack it the most. 

* Put the Lord first in ALL things!

* What are you spending your time on? Time is such a precious gift from Heavenly Father and you can't waste a single minute of it.

* There is too great a risk if you lose the spirit. That's why every show, every song, every movie you choose to watch and listen to matters!

* We CANNOT yield or compromise if the world is against us.

* We are surrounded by things that keep us from being pure. Guard yourselves constantly!

* Purity is such a big deal that we have the opportunity for the sacrament every single week so we can become pure again to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.

* You've got to do EVERYTHING you can to be pure so you can be worthy of the Holy Ghost.

* There was a war in Heaven and WE WON THE WAR!!

* You are here to stand as a witness to Heavenly Father.

* One of Satan's biggest goals is to distract you from the temple.

* The closer we come to Him, the closer we come to each other, and that's how we can make a difference.

* You can learn differently than any other person on the earth through study and by faith through the Holy Ghost. Because you have the spirit, you can be put on the cutting edge.

* Invite the Spirit into your life always!

* Be pure so the spirit can dwell within you!

* Pray every single night for forgiveness.

* The secret to success - Turn your life over to the Lord and He will make something incredible of you!

* Success comes from PROS - Pray, Read, Obey, and Smile

* Smile even if you don't feel happy!! The Holy Ghost does not dwell around unhappy or grumpy people, it just doesn't happen.

* One virtuous Young Man or Young Women led by the spirit, can change the world!!

Here are some of my favorite talks she has given:

Now is the Time to Arise and Shine

We are Daughters of our Heavenly Father

Remember Who You Are!

Prophetic Priorities and Dedicated Disciples 

A Return to Virtue

Come Let Us Go Up to the Mountain of the Lord

And this video NEVER gets old {Deep Beauty}: