We are Never Alone

At times in life we may feel like we are alone. That no one is there for us or that no one can help us. This is common for a lot of people throughout the world. We all have struggled at some point in our lives with something that seems like we can never get through. We should know that the Lord is going to be with us at all times though. In Romans 8:16 it states "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." What parent would really want to leave their child alone and uncared for?

In each of our lives we will come to point where we will feel alone. There can be many situations for this such as divorce, death, or can even be leaving home at a younger age for school, etc. For some of us this can be the time when are knocked down and feel that we do not have the strength to pick ourselves back up. Donna Hollenbeck talks of her struggle in her talk "With Faith in God, I Am Never Alone" in the February 2012 Ensign. This is one of the things she said, "Today, although I would still prefer to be married, I have come to enjoy the quiet. I listen to the ocean waves and watch the sunset. I literally stop and smell the roses. I listen and act according to the guidance of the Spirit. I am not afraid to be alone because I am not alone as long as I believe in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I see the Spirit of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ in most everything I do." We can see by her faith in our Father in Heaven and the relationship that she was able to build with him that she knows without a doubt that she is not and never will be alone.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf gives a great quote about our Heavenly Fathers love for us in his talk “The Love of God” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2009

"He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

“What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us."

I know that we will always have someone to be with us no matter what. Our Father in Heaven loves us way to much to let us suffer and be alone. The more you communicate with Him and open your heart the more you will see the changes and the ability that He has to help you in your time of need.

Enduring it Well

No matter who we are in this life we are going to go through a struggle. We have no idea what kind of trials and struggles that we will go through but we know they are ahead of us. For all of us the out comes of each will be different. The way that we handle each trial can be the biggest influence on how the out come is. If we let the trial run us into the ground the the out come is usually not so good. If we can take the trial and push through it and endure it then we can come out with our head held high and stronger.

 Our Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us. Sometimes that plan doesn't seem quite fair, or it seems to hard to bare at times. We know that if we can put our trust in our Heavenly Father and his Son that we can achieve anything and get through anything, with their help. Bishop Keith B. McMullin, Second Counsler in the Presiding Bishopric, gives a great quote in the May 2010 Ensign talk labeled "Our Path of Duty."

"For those who eschew evil and live good lives, who strive for a brighter day and keep the commandments of God, things can get better and better even in the face of tragedy. The Savior showed us the way. From Gethsemane, the cross, and the tomb, He rose triumphant, bringing life and hope to us all. He bids us, 'Come, follow me' (Luke 18:22)."President Thomas S. Monson has counseled: 'If we are to walk with head held high, we must make our contribution to life. If we are to fulfill our destiny and return to live with our Father in Heaven, we must keep His commandments and pattern our lives after the Savior. By so doing, we will not only achieve our goal of eternal life, but we will also leave the world richer and better than it would have been had we not lived and performed our duties' (Thomas S. Monson, used with permission)."

We can see how Bishop Keith put enduring into perspective. I love how is says, "strive for a brighter day as well as keep the commandments of God." It doesn't only say keep the commandments, but hope that things will get better. The Saviour put the path before us to follow. All we have to do is try our best and do all we can and then he will help us with the rest.

Our Best Friend, The Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost. There is so much that we can say about the Holy Ghost but I'm going to stick to a few topics today! We know that after we are baptized by immersion that we need to have the gift of the Holy Ghost given to us by someone holding the proper authority from God. The confirmation of the Holy Ghost is what completes the baptism. We see an example of this in Acts 19: 3-6

           

       3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto ^aJohn’s baptism 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of ^arepentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.  5 When they heard this, they were ^abaptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with ^atongues, and prophesied.

We see that Paul, an Apostle of the Lord, held the authority to act in God's name and he conferred the gift of the Holy Ghost unto them.  Those who receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and remain worthy will enjoy His companionship throughout their lives. The Holy Ghost testifies of Christ and helps us recognize the truth. He provides spiritual strength and helps us do what our Heavenly Father would want us to. The Holy Ghost can comfort us when we are weak and in a tuff patch in life. I love how even Christ told us about this in John 14: 16 that says, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another ^aComforter, that he may ^babide with you for ever." So we know that we can have this second comforter to be with us and to help us in times of need. I know that as we strive to do what is right and to come closer to our Father in heaven and his son Jesus Christ that we will have the Holy Ghost to be with us at all times. To lead us to the things he would have us do and to protect us from the harms of the world. May we all live worthy to have him abide with us.

One Step at a Time

As you sit and think from day to day and really try to ponder what life is really about, what do you think of? I think of the many trials that I have gone through and the many that are to come. I also think of the many blessings that our Father in Heaven has given to me. I look at this life here on Earth as a time of trials and tests. I mean we all go through them, no one persons life is perfect. We go through so many different struggles on a daily basis, some more extreme then others. Some that seem like they will never seem to go away. That's why I am so thankful that we have a loving Heavenly Father that is watching us from day to day. He is willing to help us with anything that we need. All we need to do is ask him and truely believe that he is going to help us.

                                                                                     One of my favorite pictures that always reminds me of the love that our  Heavenly Father has for us is the drawing that Micheal Angelo did in the Sistine Chapel. It shows how God is stretching his arm out all he can and it shows how man is lazy and barely putting forth an effort to reach out to him. I've seen in my own life how sometimes we can forget to rely on God and try to do everything our selves. When we put forth that effort and give it all we can, our Father in Heaven has promised us that he will help us in times of need. So when you feel like there is not other option or other way to go, know that you can always turn to your Father in Heaven for the guidance that you need in you life.

Our relationship to our Heavenly Father is just as our relationship to our Fathers and Mothers here on this Earth. When we are still infants and are learning to walk and do things on our own, our parents don't just leave us be and say oh your good! They are there for us and are watching at all times to help us in times of need. They have their arms stretched out and ready to catch us when we fall. At times when we need them to help us to they are there. Our parents are with us at all times through out our lives. No matter what goes on in our lives or where we are at our parents will always love us. The same goes with our Heavenly Father. He has been there for us in every step of our lives. No matter what is going and what has happened in our lives he will always love us and be there with his arms stretched out to catch us. I know that he loves each one of his children here on Earth. As long as we rely on him in our times of need we can get through anything.

A little dirt can hurt

So lately I have been thinking a lot about the Atonement, or the great sacrifice that our Savior made for us on the cross. That great sacrifice that he made for us was pure love. That love he had was for each one of his brothers and sisters here on the Earth, meaning you and me. He has felt what each one of us goes through on a daily basis. It doesn't matter the trial, whether it's from a life changing decesion to a chronic illness that is almost unbearable. Jesus Christ will always be the one to be there for us. No matter what!

Which brings me to want to talk on the Atonement a little bit more. Since I love cars so much I'll compare the Atonement to a car motor. Most of us at one point will either own or drive a car. Most of us will be told by someone at one point to change the oil every 3,000 miles. Do most of us know why this is so important though? Well the reason being is because having dirty oil in you motor is not good at all. If you leave it in long enough it will eventually start to do damage. Such damage could be to the connecting rods which connect the pistons to the crankshaft and pushes them up or down. Dirty oil wille eventually damage the connecting rod bearings and could cause you to throw a bearing. Which is where the connecting rod is blown off the bearing. That can cause major damage to the internals of you motor and it wont run properly. So its always good to make sure you change your oil frequently!

We can see how not keeping our motor full of clean oil can mean some pretty big damage! I look at this and see how we can use the atonement in our everyday lives. We can use the Atonement just like an oil change! After a while we start to get dirt in our oil. Sometimes we can have really dirty oil from a long period of time with out a change. When we use that oil change or Atonement we see how much better our lives can be or how much better our motors will run. So the more we rely on our Savior the happier our lives will be and the stronger our motors will run!

A kid and a row boat

In our everyday lives we try our hardest to reach our full potential in life. We have to in turn try our hardest in our spirtual side to become the best can and as much like our savior as possible. This at times can be a very hard thing. I recently read a story about a man who hired a young boy to row him across a lake in his fathers boat. A little time after they began the man noticed that something on the paddles. One of the paddles had a "W" on it and the other had a "F" on it. The man asked the young boy what the letters on the paddles meant. The young boy then responded, the "F" stands for faith and the "W" stands for works. If you only use faith then you just go in circles to the left. If you only use works then you just go in circles to the right. If you use both use both faith and works then you can paddle where you want to go. I think that this is a great example for our everyday lives! We can see a great example of this in the scriptures. In James chapter 1: 22-24 which states,

"22: but ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, decieving your own selves 23: for if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. 24: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was."

We see here from James that we must be doers of the word and not just hearers. One of the best examples of this is our Savior Jesus Christ. He not only lived on this earth as a mortal but he led by example. He preached the word of the father and lived it! We need to work everyday to not only have strong faith but we need to show that faith by our actions. Jesus didn't go to the people who were set and had proper provisions. He went to the people who were low in heart and were the outcasts. One of the best things that we can do in this life is to follow the example of our Savior! Each day as we strive to live more like him and render our services to those that need it, we will see the blessings pour out from Heaven and feel the love of our Heavenly Father.