Falling Short

My first day in western New York, I bowed my head in prayer in the Sacred Grove and opened my heart to God.

I promised him that I would be exactly obedient and always work hard on my mission.

Then I set out and tried to live up to what I promised.

But I didn't live up to it.

I found myself some mornings waking up later than I should have.

Frustration found a way into my mind and I allowed it to discourage me.

I hesitated while street contacting and missed an opportunity.

My heavy eyelids won me over and I found myself sleeping through a study session.

I promised Heavenly Father and the Lord that I would work my hardest, yet here I am not being a perfect missionary.

Only two years to completely dedicate all of my time to serve the Lord and I'm not using that time to the fullest!

On one of many nights, I get down on my knees, bow my head, and open my heart to God once again.

Whispering the words in my head, I ask for forgiveness for falling short of my promise once again.

Then most importantly, I ask for the strength to be that missionary that God knows I can be.

My vision of my work has changed since that first day.

I'm not going to be a perfect missionary.

I won't be the perfect person that I want to be.

I'm going to be the person and missionary that God wants me to be, weaknesses and all.

Re evaluate your expectations for yourself,

and align them with the expectations that God has.

Then when you have that vision,

Get down on your knees,

Use the greatest gift God and his beloved Son has ever given you

The Atonement.

and Start Over.

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Spiritual Giants

I often try to notice what I really look up to someone for and try to mirror it in myself.

As I've done this I realized that these characteristics fall under the characteristics of the Savior.

When we try our hardest to make our lives in line with the Savior's perfect example, we begin to become spiritual giants and are able to bless other's around us, here are some examples I have seen in my life:

Faith: Growing up Bishop Oldham was bishop of the ward (church congregation) and his unwavering faith was a great example to me. Even when things in  his life didn't seem to go as planned he still moved forward with a smile on his face, i'm sure he had times when he was down, but he never questioned the faith.

Hope: Click Here for the example.

Charity and Love: My Mother is a great example. Growing up I was not an angel child and I put her through a lot of hard times. However she always welcomed me back with open arms. A mother's love for her child is very similar to the love the Savior has for each and every one of us.

Virtue: My sisters have always been a great example of this. No matter what people say to them or what is going on around them they always stay strong because they both know who they are. They both know they're a daughter of God and that He loves them. They don't allow other thoughts not in line with their eternal nature to enter their minds.  They both have a testimony that blows me away every time.

Knowledge: I always love listening to my dad when he would give talks because he had studied out the scriptures in his mind and had a knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He knew of it's importance and made it apparent by his actions.

Patience: Nathan, a childhood friend, stuck with me through everything, no matter what I did! He had patience. He would spend time with the little kids and no matter how they acted he always loved them. No matter what, he was slow to frustrate and quick to love.

Humility: Our current mission president, President Francis, always relies on the spirit. He truly recognizes that without the spirit he wouldn't be able to do what the Lord has asked him to do. He truly is humble enough to align his will with the Lord's.

Diligence: My young men's president growing up, Brother Taylor, was always working hard at improving. He made it through a few years with us and kept with us the whole time. He was willing to work at loving, serving, and bettering us and himself in his calling at every moment. He diligently worked at being the best he could be.

Obedience: I recently taught someone who we would teach a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he would accept it and immediately follow it to his best without questioning of it's truth. He knew that this was the restored gospel and that the Lord had commanded him to do it, so he did it!

Finding these traits in others made Christ come much more alive and real to me. He really did walk on this earth and led the perfect life for us.

Seek the traits and learn to apply them in your life.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

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Missionaries for YOU, YES YOU!

All of the new products coming out are all about giving the customer something that is aimed to them personally.

Businesses are all about customer service and catering to the needs of the customer.

Well guess what else is catered and here just for you?

Missionaries! :D

We dedicate 2 years of our lives to come and be your missionaries, yes YOUR missionaries.

We are here for you!

How personal is that?

No matter how hot!

No matter how cold...

No matter what project...

No matter what question, whether deep or simple, 

We can help!

Just ask!!

Find out who your missionaries are and get to know them! 

Click Here to get in contact with your missionaries.

Do it! Do it now! I promise you wont regret it! :)

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Saying Goodbye's

As a missionary we get to call home on Christmas and Mother's day, so it being Christmas this last week, I Skyped home!!!!

The hardest part about the whole call was saying goodbye.

I really really really REALLY don't like saying goodbyes! (I'm not going anywhere, so this isn't a creative way of saying goodbye, just got to get that out of the way.)

Before I came out on a mission I was sharing my dislike of goodbyes and they came up with a good point.

We need to say goodbyes because that's when we realize what they meant to us.

I didn't truly realize what my family meant to me until I said goodbye and walked in to the MTC.

Every day out here I realize more and more how much they mean to me.

Think about it, when we say goodbye and realize that we are really going to miss that person, we realize why we're going to miss them.

From then on you miss them for all the reasons you liked being with them in the first place!

You realize right then how much they truly mean to you.

That's why goodbyes are so hard!

We come as close as we can on this earth to realizing how much we truly love them.

I've seen this happen every time I left an area and moved to a new one, they each hold a special place in my heart for a special reason!

Imagine what the goodbye must have been with our Heavenly Father when we left his presence and came to this earth.

He knew perfectly well the pain and hardships we would go through and he knew that we may not return.

Step in to your Heavenly Father's shoes, imagine how hard that would be!

Our mortal minds can't even comprehend the love He has for us, yet I know my heart would break if I had to say goodbye to my children and send them to have an earthly experience knowing that some wouldn't return.

However I know that same love would push me to allow them to go, because I knew they would have teh chance to grow and benefit from it.

Our Heavenly Father misses us!

His heart aches when we go through hardships as I'm sure His heart ached when He had to say that goodbye.

We are His work and glory.

We are a huge part of his Joy.

The next time you kneel think of the love he has for you. Thank him for loving you enough to say goodbye for a short time.

Then let him know that you are trying your hardest to return.

And then do it. :D

He is waiting with open arms!!!

Keep this in mind and love your God and Heavenly Father above all things!

That's what he asks.

Love him!

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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Am I on a Mission?

My last companion,

Elder Willis, always said something that I loved and find myself saying now,

"Are we on our missions?"

It really hit me every time he said it, heck yah I'm on my mission!!

And how epicly cool is that?

No matter how hard the time we were going through at that point I couldn't help but smile.

I was on a mission. Did I really have a reason to be discouraged?

When we fully grasp where we are and who we are, do we really have a reason to be discouraged?

Are we children of God? Does God really have a plan for us? Do we really have loving Heavenly Parents?

YES!

Don't get discouraged and if you do let it be a small moment

Ask yourself, Are you here on earth?

Because you are. ;)

Which means there is a God, and He loves you and I.

Pray to him! Fervently!

He loves you.

Realize where you are and who you are.

And let it change you!

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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'Tis the Season (Christmas Post)

Christmas time!!!

This is my first Christmas away from my family.

As I put up a mini Christmas tree and put up lights I couldn't help but miss putting up the lights with my brother back at home.

Fun story,

We would put up the lights on the edge of the roof that had a big drop off if we were to slip.

Being the natural geniuses we are, we came up with this idea:

The way the house came to a point, the cord/trusting rope would have stopped me because of my brother on the other side (or at least we liked to think it would).

When I think of how much we rely on Christ, he really is our anchor and he has told us and showed us the way to get that extension cord bound to him and us.

We wont always be able to stay at the point of the roof, sometimes we have to walk down the roof towards the edge and trust Christ that that cord will hold.

And he's confident that it will, much more than my Brother and I were.

He has created the extension cord (Atonement) and is our loving  brother to get on the roof with us to be our anchor.

Take hold of the cord and know of a surety that as long as you are doing as he asks, you will always have him anchoring.

You will have him as your foundation!

Christ was born into this world for you and me.

How great of a blessing it is to know this!

This Christmas season, find those miracles in your lives, and share them!

Pray for inspiration

Act on inspiration

Share the miracles that come from acting on inspiration!

He is our rock and salvation!!!!

Have an absolutely wonderful Merry CHRISTmas!! :D

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People in our lives

It's great how the Lord put's us with people for a reason.

We all are unique and each were made differently.

Think about how many people have lived on this earth and will still live, none of them are the same!

Think about how many people you interact with compared to the insanely huge number of total people who will live on this earth.

You are meant to be with those around you.

It's part of God's divine plan!

His Plan of Happiness includes all of us.

We are happy because we learn to love those around us and they learn to love us!

Charity is Joy!

I have been so blessed to spend the last 6 weeks with such incredible missionaries!!

They have taught me so much and brought me so much joy!

I wouldn't be the missionary or person I am right now without knowing them.

God prepared all of us to be in Canandaigua at that time.

Now I go to Lancaster and know that I will grow and find a unique joy that I can find nowhere else!

God is great and loves us enough to put us exactly where we need to be.

Ask him why you are where you are and why your with the people your with.

It's definitely not coincidence :)

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

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