What Really Matters?

Never Let A Problem To Be Solved Become More Important Than A Person To Be Loved.

What matters most? It is easy to become so indulged in school and work that we forget what really matters most. Why do we work so hard? Why go to school?...Is it for the money? The ability to boast about our accomplishments? Or to be able get a good job to buy a big house and all the toys we can think of? Many of us will say its so we can take care of our family and to serve the Lord through our talents that we will acquire. However, is that really at the top of our priority list? It is easy to forget what really matters when we are struggling in school or having to work long hours to pay the bills, but why let the stress of it all cause us to lose site of what really matters. Things go wrong. Trials take a toll on us but we must remember why we are here. It is not to get the most degrees that we can get, although getting an education is essential for our progression in this life. It is not how much money we can make, although in this society money is essential to take care of our physical needs and is directly related to our ability to provide for our families. We must make time for others. There is always someone who needs us. Heavenly Father couldn't be here physically to help his children through life's challenges. So he answers prayers through us. We are his tools in mending broken hearts, lifting up spirits and leading a lost soul back to the light. If we lose ourselves in service, the stresses of the world will take a back seat to what really matters. Listen to the spirits promptings to be a friend and lend a hand. Even if its just saying hello, we can answer the prayers of those around us. The worth of souls is great in the sight of God. We matter to him. What matters to you?

Dose of Reality

Moving to Utah on my own seemed to be entirely thought out. I was anticipating a full schedule with school and work. Balancing my finances and completion of schoolwork seemed completely feasible. However, working 40 hours a week while completing weekly homework and quizzes in all my classes started taking a toll on me. I always considered myself to be contentedly independent, but living alone in a city where I know no one, with no time for a social life has only made me miss home. As much as I want to just give up and run home to where I have many friends and no bills to pay…I have worked to hard and come too far to give up. With so many obstacles in my way and so many people saying that I’m getting too old, that my grades aren’t good enough, or that the wait is too long and to just get married already…I can’t just succumb and surrender leaving all my hard work to become stripped of its significance and meaning. Living alone so far from my friends and family has caused me to ponder on my life a great deal. In my Human Developmental Psychology class we are studying the transition from adolescence to adulthood, which occurs anywhere between the ages of 18 and 25. I recognized that this moved has forced me to “grow up”. I see a difference in the way I view the world around me, how I deal with new people and how I respond to tough situations. These past couple years have caused me to prioritize the things I focus on and worry about especially now that I am on my own. Before I moved out here I spent too much time worrying about things that didn’t matter and in turn missed opportunities and lost site on what really mattered. Wasting time worrying about guys that I already knew were jerks, gossip about people that inevitably ended up not being true, or comparing my progress in school or life with those who seem to have everything I wanted already, did nothing but created roadblocks in my progress towards my eternal and righteous temporal goals. These last few years of rigorous schoolwork and inevitable disappointment are but stepping-stones on the path that leads to the achievement of the goals I have set for myself. During this time, relationships will form and may eventually end, friendships will be strengthened or wither and I will discover who my true friends are and I will discover who I really am compared to who I want to be. I have learned that it is only by my choices and aspiration vs. my ability to implement that I will become who I want to be.

A New State, A New School, A New Home, A New Me

I never thought I would leave California let alone move to Utah. Once I graduated in May I felt like there was nothing left for me in California. Out of state seemed to be the only option in order to continue with my education on the path on which I desired to travel. Moving up here seemed so easy until I had to say goodbye to my best friends and family. I feel like I'm going to miss out on so much now that I am hundreds of miles away. I always liked being by myself and having my alone time...But in a city that is unfamiliar and without anyone I know close by the thought of calling this my home seems illogical. My emotions are a jumbled mess entangled with fear, excitement, anxiety, happiness, relief and sorrow. The endless possibilities that are presented now will lead my life in so many different paths towards the direction I want to go. Now it is time for me to pick the best. I feel like I have much growing up to do and this is the perfect way to do it.

Life Goes On

LIFE IS PRECIOUS

GRUDGES ARE A WASTE OF PERFECT HAPPINESS

LAUGH WHEN YOU CAN

APOLOGIZE WHEN YOU SHOULD

LET GO OF WHAT YOU CANT CHANGE

LOVE DEEPLY AND FORGIVE QUICKLY

TAKE CHANCES

GIVE EVERYTHING AND REGRET NOTHING

LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO BE UNHAPPY

TAKE THE GOOD WITH THE BAD

SMILE WHEN YOU'RE SAD

YOU CANT FIGHT FATE

LEARN TO ACCEPT WHAT HAPPENS

EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON

LOVE WHAT YOU HAVE AND ALWAYS REMEMBER WHAT YOU HAD

THIS LIFE IS A GIFT, CHERISH IT

FORGIVE BUT DONT FORGET

LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES

ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT LIFE GOES ON

We all face trials in our lives. Some we feel will break us. Some we think we can't handle. It is not until it is over that we see the blessing it truly was for us. I remember in 2007 I went to 6 or 7 funerals of people that I knew. I may not have been very close with them but I knew what great people they were. In 2008, one of my friends died from Lupus. Her and I were not the best of friends but we still hung out together in the same group of friends. On Christmas 2008 my best friend was rushed to the hospital where he was put on life support until Jan. 10 2009, when his long 2 year fight with his disease finally came to an end. I looked back on the many losses I had witnessed and experienced in the previous years, when he had been there for me, but this time he wasn't there to comfort me or for me to talk to. I looked back on the past couple years and saw how the Lord had slowly prepared me for the greatest trial I had yet to experience. Knowing ahead of time that my best friend was dying made things hard because there was no way to prepare for the loss of someone you love. I thought that his death was the end my lesson to cherish my loved ones and draw nearer to the Lord. Yet again it was just another experience to strengthen me for future events. Two years later one of my best friends was diagnosed with cancer. None of our other friends had experienced the heartache and helplessness that you feel knowing that there is nothing you can do to help your best friend with a life threatening disease. I again looked back on the previous years and thanked the Lord for his patience with me and the constant preparation for this event in my life. I was able to be the "strong one" to help them all through the hopeless tears that they would witness and the helplessness that they could not avoid. I have realized that I can never be "done" preparing for what life throws at me. However, I have faith that the Lord will prepare a way and strengthen me to be able to make it through any trial he sees fit for me. We are never able to see the big picture when going through the hard times in life. And many times we forget about the eternal perspective. There is always a reason why we experience the hardships we each face. However, we will never know why until we have experienced the pain to the fullest. Even then, we may never know why we had to experience certain pain and suffering, in this life, but one day, when we return, we will be able to see and know the reason WHY.

Just What We Needed

He Bled in the garden

Then rose from the tomb

He did it to save us

From what we would do

We needed a Savior

A perfect soul

To pave us a path

That could lead us home

He's felt all our pain

He's cried all our tears

So when times get hard

He'll always be near

Amazing Weekend!

This past weekend was by far a weekend I will never forget. I was blessed with the chance to spend time with my little brother and other family that I have missed. I felt the spirit exceedingly strong this weekend, as I was humbled to the realization that my plan is not the Lord's plan. As I premeditated plans I desired to occur each day, it seemed as if nothing was working in my favor and frustration consumed me. However, as my plans failed, greater opportunities arose where which incredible incidents would have never been experienced.

We were blessed to meet some great new people whom we would have never met if our plans worked out the way we desired them to and as a result blessing us with the amazing opportunity to visit my little brother before we left. I'm so thankful for the Lord's patience with me and this weekend was evidently the answer to my prayers. I have doubted whether I should move away from my family in order to go to Utah for school. I had prayed and fasted about this decision and yet I had done everything I could to try and talk myself out of leaving my home, but this weekend was just what I needed to know that everything would be okay. It seems like this week at school was so much easier and everything seems to be falling into place as doors and windows keep opening for classes, work and housing in Utah. As someone who likes to plan things and what, when, and how everything will happen, it has been a humbling experience for me to just let things happen. Even though these situations have been just a small spec of color in within the big picture, I am still grateful for the opportunities and experiences Dwina and I had this weekend.

Thought of the Day: Don’t put limitations on God. He will provide no matter how impossible it may seem. It the Lord wants it to happen it will. “The lessons we learn from patience will cultivate our character, lift our lives, and heighten our happiness. Patience is the ability to put our desire on hold for a time- is a precious and rare virtue. We want what we want, and we want it now. Therefore, the very idea of patience may seem unpleasant and, at times, bitter. Nevertheless, without patience, we cannot please God; we cannot become perfect. Indeed, patience is a purifying process that refines understanding, deepens happiness, focuses action, and offers hope for peace.”- Dieter F Uchtdorf