Another Semester Gone By

As things begin to wrap up for the beginning of the semester in a week or so I find myself busier than ever. I don't know why this happens but it seems that the world, and college professors, seems to conspire to destroy the lives of students at that most stressful and critical moment of preparing for and finishing finals. As college becomes ever hectic, and even more so with all of the added responsibilities of being married and having to work basically full time, I find myself trying to think positively as a way to keep my head above water, metaphorically speaking. As I've reflected a little on things that help me to overcome I remembered having heard a talk from David A. Bednar, one of the twelve apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, in which he voiced some very positive advice. He simply stated to the audience that if he could have the wish of his heart, that he would take every single individual aside and tall them that "you can do this". He then went on to testify of all of the various spiritual and religious elements that make that statement valid but I just loved the simplicity and earnestness of his statement, "you can do this". I guess I that I too would echo those words, if you ever are in need of a respite, if you ever feel that you can't go any further, if you feel that you would rather cease to exist than take on the seemingly impossible challenges that lay before you; just know that "you can do this".

Remote Meeting Blog Post

To all of my devoted followers out there, this post is strictly to fulfill a class assignment... So excuse the boring content. So 3BMD is the group that I'm apart of for this assignment and essentially we needed to have a "mobile meeting", or rather just meet through a medium like Skype or Hangouts through Google, etc. So we all connected up and met and discussed our project which was a business consulting proposal for Delta Airlines. For this project we reviewed and analyzed a number of complaints that people had filed with Delta Airlines and then brainstormed a variety of ideas and ultimately came up with a list of recommendations for how Delta could fix their problems. So as a team we just discussed the results of our presentation and findings, seeing as we had already given our presentation. I have to say that meeting in any other form rather than in person is difficult for me when something as important as a large grade is on the line. That being said I do realize that mobile meetings certainly are effective, especially if you are a part of an international organization and need to be able to meet with someone without have to add on the cost and time of traveling to see them. So overall the remote meeting was certainly an effective way to communicate once we had gotten past all of the technical difficulties, but I would still prefer to meet in person if that option is available.

Taking Steps Into the Dark

One of the most profound lessons I have ever learned happened while I was a missionary in training for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I was struggling a lot with the concept of the divine inspiration and guidance as opposed to my own thoughts and desires. How could I, or anyone for that matter, tell the difference? An inspired instructor of mine shared a clip with me that was a portion of a talk given by Elder David A. Bednar, one of the twelve apostles of the church I was about to go out into Las Vegas to represent. Elder Bednar said simply that if we are being "good boys and good girls" that we will inevitably be led by the spirit to do that which is in line with the will of God. Or in other more simple words, we will be inspired to do those things that will bring us and our loved ones and those whom we will associate with throughout our lives, great happiness.So if you can't figure out what the next steps are in life, no matter how much you pray and fast and seek for answers, then perhaps the answer that God is giving you is to move forward with faith, seeking after those things that are good and uplifting and we will ultimately be led to do those things that we should.

DDDS...

... Or in other words, "Don't Do Dumb Stuff". I had the opportunity of being the senior patrol leader for a group of boy scouts as we hiked more than 70 miles through the mountains of Philmont, in northern New Mexico. Our adult leaders, being the wise and intelligent beings that adulthood had turned them into, came up with this motto that would become the foundation of our time during those two weeks together. I can remember many occasions when an important difference in the outcome of events had been changed due to the heed that we all gave to this one simple little phrase. In the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, we are also counseled that it simple and easy to give heed to the word of God, the which will lead us on to eternal life and everlasting happiness. So "Don't Do Dumb Stuff" by cheating yourself out of everything that you could have had for the rest of forever because you were too caught up in instant gratification. Happiness is really so easy to obtain, the reason why it perhaps isn't as much as a large part of our lives as we would like is because there are dumb things that we don't want to give up.

Happiness and Investments

What is an investment? I think that it is simply a sacrifice of something that we could have now for a greater return in the future. That being said, do we invest enough in ourselves? in our own happiness?  and if so, to what extent and do we do it enough? just as in the "real world" there are many different types of investments of to make. Whether you are investing in bonds, stocks, or whatever else it may be (not to mention all of the smaller categories that make up bonds and stocks) they have all differences that will produce different results. and so the next question to consider is, if we are investing a good amount, is it in the right things? We could spend all of our time investing in ourselves, in our own happiness and success, but never achieve either because we are simply investing in the wrong things. When we truly invest in true happiness we cut out a lot of the things that are said to make one happy, things like; alcohol, tobacco, pornography, pre-marital sex or any sort of sexually intimate relationship outside of legal and lawful marriage, etc.... These are the things that the world teaches us will make one happy, and perhaps that in the moment they will provide a certain level of "satisfaction" or carnal "fulfillment". But remember the definition of investing? we sacrifice lesser things so that we can have greater things! By giving up the pleasures of the world today we are investing in the treasures of heaven for tomorrow. Treasures that rust and moth cannot corrupt and where thieves cannot break through and steal or spoil. Treasures that truly mean something and will not only be valuable here but invaluable for the rest of time and eternity. Investing in things like selfless service, abstinence, keeping the commandments, preaching the gospel and others are those things that are of most worth to us and will only become more and more valuable as we invest in them. These are the things that will lead us on to not only eternal life, but also eternal happiness.

Don't ever give up

When I was serving my mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I heard a talk by one of the leaders of the church, David A. Bednar. His talk focused mainly on missionary work of course but there was a part of it that stuck out to me and has been with me ever since. "You can do this" are the words that continue to echo through my mind. Elder Bednar made this statement in conjunction with expressing his desires to talk with and spend a little bit of time with each and every missionary. He stated that if he had the ability to so do that he would pull every single one of them close and tell them "You can do this." I think that we can all do this. We weren't sent here, from wherever you believe that we originate from whether it be bacteria or aliens, to fail. We've proven it time and time again that there is something greater within each and every one of us. For me, I believe this "greater" identity or ability or whatever it is that you want to call it, a divine heritage. For me, this something greater that gives us the ability to achieve success even when it seems the very jaws of hell gape open after us is the power of the Almighty as He supports His children in their righteous endeavors. "You can do this", I can do this, we can all do this.

Faith in Every Footstep

This past week was absolutely killer. Trying to balance a full-time job, it's not quite full-time but rather close, with school and then family commitments just about left me groping for my sanity. Coupled with all of that are a lot of other difficulties; finances, grades, strengthening relationships, work commitments, you get the picture. Through all of this there were so many times when I would stop to ask myself, in the few seconds of "free" time that I managed to steal every day, "why is any of this happening?" I began to find myself doubting in large measure a lot of the blessings that God promises through scriptures and other means of revelation because they certainly didn't seem to be happening in my life no matter how hard I tried to be obedient to commandments and what not. Above all, things seemed to become more difficult the harder I tried to do well in all of my commitments, those spiritual as well as secular. It came to a point where I was considering making major changes in my life to cut some things out so that I could handle the things that were being dished out to me.

To make a long story short I was trying really hard not to mope around but rather look for answers when, as if by divine intervention itself, I found myself reading from the Book of Mormon in Ether Ch. 12. For those of you unfamiliar with this specific book or chapter, just understand that it's main subject is that of faith, specifically, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a verse in the chapter that reads "And now I Moroni would speak somewhat concerning these things, I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen. Wherefore dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until AFTER the trial of your faith." Reading this simple passage just stopped me dead in the water and suddenly so many things started to make sense. All of those blessings and other things that I felt had been promised to me but that I had been cheated out of due to a lack of manifestation in my life suddenly seemed so very much more realistic. I simply just wasn't, or even wanting to for that matter, endeavoring to endure these trials with faith, trusting in God that He would deliver me and keep His words and etc. The chapter continues with talking about miracles, and how they are also only manifest AFTER the trial of our faith, how God cannot perform any miracle without there FIRST being faith manifested.

Moral of the story? don't give up on God because He doesn't operate according to your time schedule, just keep on keeping on and trust that He is watching over you. We might not understand why things happen the way they do but if we trust Him and try our best to keep His commandments and do the simple things that are asked of us then we can be assured that everything will be alright in the end.