NeW YeAr, NeW beGinNinGs!!

                               Hello! Merry late Christmas and Happy late new year!

   I'm sure with the holidays and everything lately, that you have been super busy. I hope you took some time to think of Christ, and to come up with some new years resolutions.

 

This last year was the first time I actually had a pay check come in every week so that my gymnastics bill could be taken out of my own account. Needless to say, it is the first year that I have paid more then 5 dollars to tithing for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

I'll admit, it was hard to pay tithing! After counting, adding and recounting, I realized that was money that I could use. Money my parents could use. My sisters, brothers, our whole family could use. I found that it was hard to seal the envelope. Like some sort of power was saying, "That's you're money, why are you giving it away?" I knew I was doing the right thing by turning in 10% of my earnings, but I didn't really like it.

I thought, 'God doesn't need my money. The hard working people at stores need to get paid right? Surely I'd make Heavenly Father happy by giving it to those people...' but that isn't the point. I knew that this was very real for me, but simply a representation to Christ.

It represented the fact that I could be willing to risk something important to me, for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. But I only gave 10%. Christ and Heavenly Father gave 100% ALL the time, and still do. But not money of course. They gave us, and are offering something to us that is WAY more valuable then money

Suddenly, it was a lot easier to seal the envelope and put it in my bag. That was never my money.

 

This year I'm doing a money jar! The first day of the year you put a penny. Second day,  you put in two pennies, and on and on! Also, I'm doing a money album. Every $5 bill that comes into your possession, put in a photo album. If you have to take one out, you must replace it with a one dollar bill.

 

Well, I don't want to bore you. I hope you have a fantastic 2016! Make this the year that you come close to Christ!  Yes YOU!! Make this the year that you look back on and say, "Yeah, that was the year I changed my life for the better." It is NEVER too late. :)

-K

 

CatChInG uP!

 Hey guys! Sorry its been forever! One year ago today I started this blog!! Awe! Happy one year anniversary! Anyway, I'm horrible! I haven't posted in months and I'm really sorry! I don't even know where to start! But I think EFY is a great place!
         This summer I went to an LDS camp called "Especially For Youth." or EFY. Efy is for ages 14 through 18. It's a great camp where you can meet people your age who believe the same principals as you, or are at least attempting to gain a stronger testimony. At EFY they had classes and Morningsides (a fireside in the morning) That talked about anything from school, to stories from the scriptures. They also had tons of games and fun dances.  I had so much fun at EFY and I made a lot of friends. I thought I would get homesick, but I kept myself busy and was surprised that I didn't really care if I went home or not! (LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD!!!!) I had a great experience at EFY, but I have to say, the last day I had an awesome testimony strengthening moment. So at EFY you are separated into groups. These groups are called company's. In my company, there was a few boys that were really quiet and shy, but they were all nice. During free time on the last day I was walking around with my new friend and we noticed one of the boys in our company sitting alone, writing in a book. My friend said that we should invite him to join us, since he was all alone. I agreed. Then we thought, well he is writing maybe we shouldn't bug him. We walked around a bit more, and ended up in the same spot, and he was still sitting alone. Okay we have to we agreed so we walked toward him but than we both chickened and said, you say hi, no you, and argued for a bit. Then she said, Hey! Wanna hang out with us? He looked up and smiled. I guess he said. He put his things away and joined us. We hung out the rest of free time. That night there was a dance. At the dance he thanked us individually with tears in his eyes. He said that for the whole week he had been praying that someone would want to be with him or want to be his friend. But, the whole week he had sat alone in his dorm room  the whole free time. And that day, he had gotten a prompting to go outside, and was just about to give up when we asked him to hang out with us.
                  It was a miraculous answer to a shy voices' prayer. Answered through prompting two girls to saying hi. What if he would've ignored the prompting to go outside? What if we wouldn't of said hi? What then? After such an amazing experience, my testimony was strengthened so much.
         School is beginning soon, and already has begun for many. This year, like last, I will be doing my classes online in the comfort of my home! I am excited to do another year at home but, it will be harder since my good friends really want me to attend the High school. I want to but at the same time, I don't. I want to because I want to see my friends and maybe I could be a good influence on some people because I have this amazing gospel in my life, but I don't want to because there is only one me and so many others, that what if I start to follow bad influences?  I want to be the best version of myself possible. Even if that means sacrificing Prom, and Football games.  I hope to go to lunch with my friends often so I can catch up on things I've missed out on and stuff. But I also hope that I can be a better disciple of Jesus Christ. Another reason is I attend gymnastics by 2:45 during the school year and some days the school doesn't get out until 3:15. So that would be a bummer, to miss out on.
        Well, I don't want to bore you guys, so I will try to stop my fingers from typing too much more, but I really hope everyone has a great school year. CHALLENGE: Walk into school with a smile and be confident! YOU are a beloved child of God and he does hear your prayers! I want to leave you with my testimony. I know you are a child of God, And I know he loves you. He loves everything about you and everything about the people around you. YOU are his creation. It hurts him when you belittle yourself and tell yourself lies that you are unattractive, and worthless. YOU ARE THE WORLD TO HIM. YOU ARE EVERYTHING TO HIM. AND THAT IS ENOUGH. you don't need to be the most popular one or skinniest one, or the best one,  you are good enough just the way you are. God made you, and God doesn't make mistakes. Don't deny your endless self worth. You are worth more then every single diamond or ruby on the earth combined. Jesus gave his life for you. Because you are important. Again, God made you, and God doesn't make mistakes.
                                                 -K

EaStEr!!

Hello Everyone! It's been a while but I felt very impressed to write on this special occasion. EASTER! Candy! Egg's! Bunnies! Food coloring! All things we think of when he hear the word, "Easter." And there is no wrong in those. But, something so miraculous happened during Easter time that some (not all!) forget about.
          Christ died for me and you and everyone. He knows every single ounce of pain you have felt are feeling and will feel. Plus he made it possible for everyone to be able to return to heaven. All night long in gethsemane suffering, bleeding, struggling emotionally and more, for you, and I. EVERY PAIN. I'm sure by now your thinking, 'Yes. I get it! Every pain! You don't have to capitalize it!!' But I have to mention it a lot or else I'll start to forget. I'll start to shrug it off.
       I get really bad stomach pains at night and it scares me a lot. I have anxiety and fear of waking up at 2 am and vomiting due to past experiences. I remember one particular night I was hurting so bad and I wanted to ask my mom what to do, but I felt embarrassed because I'm at the age where I shouldn't 'go tell mommy' when I wake up in the middle of the night with tummy issues. I remember feeling scared, alone, and the pain seemed unbearable. I prayed my heart out, asking that the pain would vanish and I may have pleaded my heart out to God begging him to not let me throw up. It seemed like forever but I eventually fell back asleep and woke up for seminary and continued on with my day. But my experience helped me realize that what Christ did was so focused on love. Think of the worst pain you ever felt in your whole life, whether emotional or physical. Now, would you be willing to go through that same pain again for a boy who teases you or your child at school? I know it would be very hard for me.
      I remember this one boy when I was in third grade that really tested my strength in the gospel because I wanted to just punch him. I remember the exact things going through my mind when I was trying not to cry on the playground in front of my friends. Then fast-forward to sixth grade, ugh. This same boy, I felt was trying to ruin my entire life. He said something that not only embarrassed me but aroused many questions in my mind that I still struggle with and probably always will. He was with all his friends which one at the time I thought was cute and I was with all of my friends, and it happened to be that one of my friends was very blunt... yeah bad combo. I seriously wanted to melt and disappear.
    I later learned that, that boy had been through way worse things then I did. I didn't know at the time and I wished I had because then I would've understood a wee bit more.
    I have to remember Christ loves him as much as he loves me. That can be hard to understand but Christ's love is perfect in ways that don't even exist on this earth.
      Many of you, members, know that this weekend was the 185th annual General Conference. Lot's of messages from the quorum of the twelve apostles and of the seventy and the first Presidency broadcasted to all the world. It's so wonderful that we have the technology to hear, read, or watch these amazing messages anywhere and anytime. The stories they share are beautiful and touch your heart in a special way. Many of them mentioned the Easter holiday and shared their testimonies about how much Christ loves us.
              EVERY PAIN. Just for us. if you imagine one more thing with me, Every single pain you have felt in your life to now. Emotionally and physically, I can't even count mine. Now think of all the pain at once. ALL emotional and ALL physical pain in your entire life. Now imagine EVERY HUMAN BEING!!!!!! I can't! I don't know how he did it. Someday I'm going to ask him. But for now, we just have to have faith and NEVER EVER FORGET HOW MUCH CHRIST LOVES YOU! And because of him we can be forgiven and return to heaven.
  So the next time that boy teases you or your child or the next time you think about a loved one that shouldn't be gone, remember, Christ felt that and he knows. We often don't want to talk to someone about our problems because they seem perfect or wouldn't understand. Well I testify to you with every ounce of my being that you can ALWAYS pray just to 'chat' because Christ is the one who understands ALL things. From failing a test to dropping your pencil when the teacher asks you a question. Little and big, HE GETS IT. So don't be afraid to talk to him. I leave my testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ, our savior, and redeemer, Amen.
                               -K
                                        

He is here, JusT OpEn YoUr EyeS.

Hello everyone! Hope everything is going well for you. I have had many things happen since I last wrote and one thing I felt like I needed to share was on this last Wednesday. For mutual, or youth group, we watched a movie called "The Testaments." What a great movie. It reminded me that Jesus Christ really is there, we just can't see him.
     As I watched and my heart was filled with happiness and my eyes wetted I knew he was in the room with us. There is one part in the movie where Helamen went blind just before Christ visited the people, and Helamen's son who could see  Christ was telling him, he is really here and he is amazing he is everything that Helamen had imagined. And then Christ walks over and heals his eyes and Helamen see's Christ for the first time.
            As I watched and thought about the love he offers us and then I realized that we are like the blind man and the son was like the Holy ghost and then there was Christ. We can't see him, and we can't see the holy ghost but if we keep the commandments and stay in such a way where we can hear and feel the holy Ghost then he can tell us and bear record unto us how beautiful and amazing Jesus Christ is.
             The other day as I was kind of feeling down about something. I had to tell myself that this is only a short time. Earth is a dot on a string that stretches to infinity one way and infinity the other. I looked down at my hands as I type and I realize how amazing our bodies are. God gave us these bodies because we wanted them just like him. If you're on earth right now, which if your reading this the yes you're on earth that means in heaven YOU chose to come to earth. YOU chose to have the trials that you have. If you told God for example, "I want three kids," Then he'd say "Okay, but it's going to take you two husbands and one kid will be ill, is that okay?" And we'd either except or we wouldn't. Everything happening in our lives we excepted!! Here is the trailer for the movie. I LOVE THIS MOVIE!

remember nothing that has happened, or is happening is God's fault. You and I asked for everything and God told us what was going to happen, and we agreed. I testify to you that God is here, He is here and all you have to do is live in such a way ( no matter what else is happening) and you will be able to be guided down that path to Jesus Christ. And YOUR eyes will be opened and you will se God's face. I know this to be true, Please take time to think about it :)

-K 

     

ThE GodHeAd :) :) :)

Hello everyone! I knew I wanted to write in my blog today and I returned to my computer with intentions to release my inner thoughts to the public, so to set the mood I listened to 'Find you on my knees' by Kari Jobe. I love that song! As I listened my heart was filled with the spirit of God, whom I speak for today.  <3   
                                      

   At church last week as the quiet hum of the small portable heater filled the room with warmth and peace, one of our leaders headed to the front of the room with a look of 'I hope this goes well, spirit please guide me.' prayer on her facial expression. She smiled a very friendly happy smile as she introduced her lesson to us. She explained that this was the lesson Heavenly Father wanted us to hear.
   I saw the image on the board. A little angle stick figure on the top of a triangle and two more on the vertexes. I quickly recognized the three figures. The one on the top was Heavenly Father, the one on the left corner was Jesus Christ and the one on the right corner was the Holy Ghost. By having this information in the back of my mind, I then knew with a prompting that it was the Godhead.
    She then continued to teach as she asked, "Who knows the first article of faith by heart?" When everyone raised there hands in a silent rush she then said, "Let's say it together." Then she counted to three. Leaning forward in my seat I joined in to the wonderful true words I was saying. 
         "We believe in God the Eternal Father and in his son, Jesus Christ and in The Holy Ghost."

                               I remember reading the scripture Matt 3:16-17  it says, "16 And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."
  I have always known that this story was true since I was young like those girls in the video, but when I read that verse aloud, I really felt the trueness of The Godhead. I know that there is a Eternal Father and there is Jesus Christ who is his son and that there is a Holy Ghost who helps us daily by the will of the Lord. I know that they are three separate beings to the bottom of my heart. I know that God and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and blood just like he has given us. I cannot under any circumstance deny, that I have felt the power of God and influence of Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost. I CANNOT DENY.
        Remember that he is with you and that no matter what mistakes you've made or thoughts you've thought, he loves you and will forgive you, if you just ask. "Ask and ye shall receive." You can receive help and guidance from God and Jesus Christ through the promptings of the Holt Ghost.
   Don't forget who you are and how much love is offered to you. He loves you and I send you my prayers. Thanks for reading my friends. :)

ThE GiFt oF ChRisTmaS!!

 

Hello! It's been a while since I last wrote. I apologize for that. Sorry!

Over thanksgiving I traveled to Utah to visit family. We got the opportunity to go to the temple for the lighting ceremony. As the cold weather chilled me from around my coat the hairs on my neck stood, but I felt a warm sensation inside as if shocked by electricity from the inside out. With each step closer to the temple, Each step closer to God's house.

 

  I didn't realize how important I was to my Heavenly Father alone until I realized that whether my family was there or not, I wanted to go to the Temple. I felt very close, like I was being drawn to the temple like a magnet, and no matter how chaotic is was staying with your family through the crowds, when you look up, you don't even notice. This is what I am going to relate to the Christmas season. Everyone is bustling and trying to get the best presents  for best prices and making sure everyone gets a fair amount and all the stress it causes parents...  LISTEN TO YOURSELF! Christmas is not about worldly gifts at all. Christmas is about Jesus Christ. He came into this world to die for you. He came to suffer so you can be forgiven and return to God in Heaven. Please watch this video:

 This year I challenge you to remember that you don't have to buy the biggest presents in the store, or the exact thing your child wants, because the greatest gift ever, was given to all of us already. And if you really want best parent award, you'd teach your children that. It's a very important for your children to grow up knowing the true meaning of Christmas, to really understand , Jesus Christ and God's love for all of us.
                               Merry Christmas!

ReMeMbEr hIs LoVe!!!:)

 A couple days ago I've noticed something in a little more detail than I ever have before. I realized how important people and their comments are to others. When someone says something like your cool its always nice. But what about the person next to them? Sometimes a simple complement to a person that feels left out could make there whole day. "Well duh" you may say but think about it. Have you ever been the younger sibling or friend that always looks up to the teen or the older one and you feel a little uncool. I know I have. I did a few days ago.
       okay so I told you already that I'm petite and short, and I have a friend a month older than me that is a beautiful height and looks hmm about 17. She is really pretty. There was a couple guys we were hanging out with, one was my brother. (Btw were all related). Anyway, so one of the boys is 16. He told my friend that she was finally old enough to be cool. The boy my age looked over at me. The whole time the older boys acted like the boy my age was nothing but annoying. I just felt like I was a 7 year old or something. I suddenly got a feeling that I needed to leave. I decided to excuse myself to the bathroom then I almost went back in the room but felt like there was somewhere else I needed to be. My feet carried me downstairs where is realized a family home evening was going on. The spirit was much stronger in that room I decided to sit and listen. It just so happened to be about the guidance of the Holy Ghost. And I got to share the scripture D&C 100:12 its about continuing your journey here and remembering that Gods love is always with you. I love that scripture!!
        Remember my post Rates??Labels.? well this post kind of go's along with that. Lets say Jen Frankfurter was rated by Ben Knack. Ben Knack was really cool and Jen was really sensitive to what people thought about her. Ben also rated Endna Lingle. He rated Endna an 8 she felt quite sad. She wanted a 10. Then Jen was rated a 6. What is that supposed to mean? Is Endna better? Am I ugly? All these thoughts go through a girls head. And the person may feel so bad that they wish they didn't even exist.
          As you can see a simple number changed the way she looked at herself. You may say "well I give everyone a high number" Then what's the point?! give them all a one and they'd feel the same. And to the rated: don't let a number of one person's opinion ruin you. You are so much more important than 1 or 1 million. Gods love is perfect and you are important. I know that God loves me no matter what my problems are. No matter what you look like and/or how you do things God loves you with such a love that you don't even have to feel down at all. YOU ARE IMPORTANT. I want you to know whether adult or kid or teen, no matter what anyone says or "rates" those don't matter. I'll give you one more example. So a scientist who has had 20 years of experience and at least 10 years of schooling makes a discovery. Then a guy who was really popular through high school but is now a landscaper says to the scientist "There's no way! I work in a yard everyday. I don't think that's possible." That's an opinion. There has to be scientific evidence to prove something scientifically. Think of you as the discovery, God is a scientist, and the person that bugs you or something is the landscaper.
                   You are so precious to God and to Jesus Christ.  He loves you and he knows that  you are so important to the plan. You are a very important part of the plan. I testify that if you remember how much God loves you, you will let nothing someone says change you.
                           -K