counting our blessings & making them count

Last night on instagram I posted this:

"Even though thanksgiving is over it doesn't mean that your attitude of gratitude has to be! All the crazy sales that try to make us want more can make it easy to forget that we just spent a whole day reflecting on our blessings. How do YOU keep an#attitudeofgratitude all year long?"
 Hopefully you are still feeling that happy, grateful feeling that comes when you reflect on all the hundreds of blessings you are blessed with. But how can we keep that feeling all through the year? Especially when the world tries to turn everything into an opportunity to want and get more.

I've always been a pretty grateful person but I never noticed the part of gratitude I might be missing. I'm not sure how I missed it because everything in the gospel requires this one vital step. James 2:20 says that faith without works (or action) is dead.

Now replace the word faith with gratitude.

Am I simply saying thank you for what I have or am I using my blessings to spread good?

If we thank God for a loving family and then go yell at them all is that showing real gratitude? If we thank God for the Atonement of his Only Begotten, but proceed to mess up over and over without guilt or an attempt to improve does that show we value his sacrifice? What about thanking God for the amazing technology we are blessed with but then wasting our life away on it, using it for evil, or filling our minds with terrible things?

The way we use the blessings we are blessed with is a clear indicator to our Heavenly Father of how thankful we are for His limitless mercy and generosity towards us.

I believe whole heartedly that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and we are placed where we are for a reason. I believe that I (and everyone else) was placed in a situation with certain gifts because our Heavenly Father knew we could use these blessings and goodness for good, to uplift and inspire. I know if we lack things our Heavenly Father knew we would better benefit and grow from that trial.

How will you make your blessings count today? I'm going to try to make sure that I share what I can, keep sharing goodness, and show as much love as I can to others. Comment below what you plan to do.

Happy Weekend!

CTR Super Heroes

Superheros have been on my mind a lot lately.

I've been working my way through the Avengers movies. I saw Avengers 2 a few weeks ago and decided after seeing that one I should probably see the ones that came before. I knew literally nothing before I went to see it. If you want to know how clueless I was I thought superman and spiderman would be in it. Whoops... I know better now. Haha:)

A while back me and my youth group did a 5K (Which I wrote about a little right here.) It was a superhero one and it was pretty awesome. It rained SO hard that day and I don't know if I've ever been wetter, but it was still a great experience.  I learned a lot about dedication while I prepared for it and it was such a great missionary opportunity.

Our team name was the CTR League.

And we got so many questions about what that meant. Were we the choose to run league? Were we the cumberland trace running club? What does CTR mean?

Choose the Right. 

Wow, that's pretty straight forward. But so tricky at times.

And it really stands out to people.

We had an old man come up to us and tell us how much he loved the message and what we are standing for. People will notice when you get a group of teens together who are kind and fun, but not crazy and disruptive. Teens who are smiling and laughing with out cussing or doing anything inappropriate. Teens who are happy for others. Teens who are respectful of others. (The other day I saw some teenage guys at sonic steal the enter sign. Like they took the front panel off- let's just leave it at the manager very clearly was unhappy and then we left because it was not a G rated scene;)

So stand for choosing the right. And make it known. Through your speech, actions, and everything you do. People WILL notice and it will impact them!

Choosing the Right can be your superhero. It will save you and keep you out of bad situations. It's the most awesome superhero because it saves you before the situation even occurs. The CTR Superhero is pretty cool because it is up to you to use it. You don't have to hope it rushes to your rescue- you know it will always be there as long as you let it!

What's your favorite superhero?

Have a great day!
-Shelby

uplifted & inspired

Conference was pure amazingness.

I just realized that was almost 2 weeks ago. Wow. That went by pretty fast. But it has stuck with me throughout the busyness.

As a slowly reread all the super inspiring talks, the importance of defending and growing close to family, the Savior's love and grace, being a light and example, and so many other important principles stick out to me,

I have been trying so hard to apply what was said in conference. I've been trying to read my scriptures and say my prayers more consistently. Aside from the broader areas it has helped me specifically too. Once a month members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints fast for 2 or more meals, we fast for a reason. I woke up especially hungry and thirsty, but I knew that I wanted to fast. After printing out Elder Erying's talk and reading about the blessings and importance of fasting it helped me have the strength and determination to keep going. While this was a tiny example it really shows how conference can impact our lives.

My favorite talk (it is super hard to pick a favorite! They were all so good!) was Elder Holland's. I loved the story about the 2 brothers. It is such a comfort, a humongous indescribable peace and blessing, to know that the Savior lives and loves me (and each and every one of you) and will never let us fall. I can just see the scene between the 2 brothers, but instead I imagine me falling and the Savior's arms. No matter who you are or what religion PLEASE read this talk for me?

I could write pages and pages about how much I loved conference and how I feel so uplifted and inspired, ready to tackle the world and become a better person. Please don't take it from me though, go read a talk or 2....... or all of them.....preferably all of them:)

-Shelby

Come and Hear

Source

General Conference is coming up and boy can you bet I am excited!!! General Conference makes me as giddy as a 5 year old in a candy shop where everything is free!(is that analogy even make sense?) You will probably hear a lot on various Mormon blogs about this wonderful thing we call conference. It is the opportunity to hear God's word. I loved the above print about why we have conference found at LDS Nest (Follow the link for other printable awesomeness!). So I am here to officially invite you to conference.

Who? Anyone at all.
When? (All times in MDT)   
General Women's: Saturday, March 28, 6:00 p.m.
Saturday Morning: Saturday, April 4, 10:00 a.m.
Saturday Afternoon: Saturday, April 4, 2:00 p.m.
General Priesthood: Saturday, April 4, 6:00 p.m.
Sunday Morning: Sunday, April 5, 10:00 a.m.
Sunday Afternoon: Sunday, April 5, 2:00 p.m.

Where? In Utah, OR online at lds.org
How? Go to lds.org it will prompt you to watch it live. If you can't watch it on the original air date or time you can watch the videos that come up a few hours later or read the talks that come out a few days later.

Why? I promise you will leave feeling uplifted and inspired. I know prophets are called of God. I know our Heavenly Father cares about us and wants to bless us. I know he lives! He leads and guides us and wants the best for us! Why would Heavenly Father leave us abandoned and only help those in bible times? He loves ALL his children and would never leave us comfortless. I know these things are true. Please watch or read at least a little General Conference,, do it for me, for yourself, and your Heavenly Father. Thank the Savior for what he did for us by dedicating some time to him. I promise if you have prayed and come with an open heart you will leave feeling inspired and loved as you discover your divine identity as a child of God.

Keep #embarking

Today in church we were asked to write down our best advice to someone who was embarking (is embarking a word?) on their journey to become more Christlike, here is my advice: 

The Savior lives and he loves you. No matter how dark life seems or how imperfect you feel, He is there. It is impossible to be perfect by ourselves, but we can become perfected through Christ. As we strive to come unto him and become more like him we will feel his love and the joy and peace that accompany it fill our hearts and lift our souls. He loves you no matter what. He is your best friend, your biggest cheerleader, your Comforter, and your Redeemer.

#servingothers2015

I recently read about a project some of my favorite bloggers are doing and I thought it would be awesome to link up!

I love the idea of trying to be kinder and more giving. As I wrote about in this post, I really want to become better at serving and truly giving of myself, but I have struggled to find ways to serve because I really want to make an impact, as I teen who isn't old enough to drive and doesn't have much money, this can seem hard to do. I will admit, I spent awhile in the well-I-guess-I-can't-do-anything phase, but I am ready to jump up and do what I can right now! I wish I could travel to a third world country, buy a bunch of things for orphans, and serve them for at least a month, but that is just not an option. So for now I will stick to opening doors and doing random acts of kindness:)
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We all know that person.

The one who is seen as annoying or hard to work with. The one who is mean or constantly
 brags. The one who drives us slightly crazy.

We try so hard to get along with them, but sometimes it seems impossible!I feel like a am a pretty nice person, I try my very hardest to be kind and patient with everyone, but some people just get under my skin!

So in my journey to embark on "serving with all my might, mind, and strength," I am striving to learn to love these people. To see them as Christ would.

And if you really look at these people, really trying to understand; a lot of times they really just need to know some one cares. They need to know they are gorgeous, smart, and destined for great things.

So this month (or I guess how ever long..), I will be making some nice little notes to put in their stuff when they aren't looking. I will also be striving to be more patient, but I think it would make me so happy to find an anonymous note in my pencil pouch telling me how amazing I am:)

I was going to make some cute printable, but I think a message typed in word (so the handwriting is unrecognizable) will be more mysterious and more personal than a cute printable that anyone can find online.

To the people who feel like no one cares, I want each of you to know that you ARE loved. I know with all my heart that there is a loving Heavenly Father who loves each and everyone of us beyond comprehension. There is a Savior who suffered for us and made it possible to repent and live again. Each and everyone of you was made for a divine and glorious purpose, you were created by The All Mighty. Ignore the world, they don't know what true beauty is. Focus on shining, coming unto Christ, and being filled with love and you will glow. Who ever you are, you are amazing and you are loved.

{Guest Post by Whitney} The Blessings of Family History

Hello Blog World! I am so excited to introduce you to my dear friend Whitney from Feel my Sunlight! I love her blog so much and recently did a guest post for her too! I posted about good things to come, keeping your goals, and not giving up.  In return she is doing a post for me about Family History. My ward is doing a Family History Challenge between the Young Men and Young Women, so I thought it would be awesome to have a post from someone who knows a little bit more about it than I do. 
Enjoy! 
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Hi guys!

I’m Whitney and I blog over at feelmysunlight.blogspot.com and I am so excited that Shelby asked me to guest post on her blog.

Shelby asked me to write about my experience with family history work. This is a topic that two years ago I would have gagged at. If someone had asked me to write about family history I would have face palmed. Nobody wants to hear about family history work… right?! That’s for old people!

I want you to imagine you are a little kid and on your way to soccer practice or dance lessons and instead of continuing along your regular route your mom pulls into the parking lot and tells you to hop out of the car because you are making a quick stop. You grumble because you want to get to practice and don’t want to be late and because you hate running errands with mom, but as you get out of the car you realize you are at a doughnut shop. You walk in and your mom tells you that you can pick out any doughnut you want. You can smell the hot doughnuts as you point to one of your favorites. The nice lady at the cash register pulls it out from behind the counter and places it into your little hands. And at that moment you realize you love running errands with mom.
This my friends, is how I feel about family history work.

About a year ago I was sitting in a Stake Conference as the Stake President stood up and began his talk about family history work. He relayed the importance of it and then began to speak about the spirit of Elijah. The Spirit of Elijah is spoken about in Malachi 4 and states that “he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.”

Now what in the world does that mean?

This scripture, for me means that the children will begin to experience the joys that come from doing family history work, and will begin to work with their parents to accomplish this great work.

My Stake President then told the bishops of the wards to call youth go serve as youth family history consultants and that the youth consultants would do a great work in hastening the work. He also said that if you are a youth and you are interested in participating, to let your bishop know that you are the one for the job.
I must have been compelled by the Holy Ghost, because being a family history consultant was not something I really wanted to do. But for whatever reason I immediately sent my bishop a text saying “I’m the one. Pick me.” He then replied saying “I already had your name on the list.”

I was called as a Youth Family History Consultant for my ward along with seven other youth. With four girls and four boys, my neighbor Spencer and I were put in charge. Me over the girls, and Spencer over the boys. And with little instruction we were told to ignite a desire in the ward to participate in and love family history.

Flash forward to now and I can’t believe how much this calling has blessed my life.

Because of this calling I was able to gain experience in public speaking. Soon after receiving my calling I was asked to teach a fifth Sunday lesson to all the adults in my ward about family history work, and on an even larger level I later asked to speak at Stake Conference. For those of you who are not familiar with the LDS church, a ward consists of a couple hundred people that meet together on a regular basis. A stake consists of several wards, and every six months all of the wards meet together at a Stake Conference. This particular conference was held at the Ogden Tabernacle that is right next to the temple. This tabernacle holds about a thousand people and just about every seat was filled that day, making it the biggest crowd I ever have, and probably ever will speak to.

This calling also taught me how to use my time wisely. Several years ago we were over at my grandma’s house and my mom noticed that my grandma had all of her scrapbooking stuff spread out over the kitchen table. My grandma had decided to create a scrapbook for each of the grandkids. My mom asked her how in the world she planned to accomplish such a huge task. My grandma said something that has stuck with me ever since then. She said that “you can accomplish anything 15 minutes at a time.” This is something I carried with me into this calling. Being a busy high school student it is hard to find time to sit down for hours and work on family history work. But by using the 15 minutes you have in between work, and school, and practice, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

This calling helped me spend less time on social media. Because of the above tactic, I have been able to spend more of my free time accomplishing great things, and less of it scrolling through meaningless tweets on twitter, and pictures of food on Pinterest.

 It has motivated me to attend the temple more often. I have been able to find 137 names of my own family that need temple work done. So subsequently I have been more motivated to set aside time to attend the temple to accomplish this work. Attending the temple has given me greater strength to resist temptation and I have also been able to bring along many friends with me to the temple, and together we have been able to become better friends as we work in serving the Lord.

I have been blessed with an increased desire to do good and to fight for what I believe. I have several ancestors that had to fight for their religion. Including one ancestor named Jacobina Wills Osborne who I like to refer to as Cinderella. She lived in Scotland and was one of the early saints who converted to the church. She badly wanted to join the saints in Utah, but her sisters didn’t want her to so they locked her in a room. She had to outwit them in order to escape. Her story, and others like hers, have inspired me to fight for what I believe in. And knowing their stories make things like speaking in front of a thousand people a little easier.

This calling has taught me that family history work can be fun! As a motivator to the ward to “get cracking on family history work” me and a few of the other consultants cracked eggs on our bishop’s head at a ward party… it can’t get more fun than that!

I have a strong testimony of the blessings that come from doing family history work. I know that as you participate in family history work, and learn about your family, you will see these blessings in your own lives and will come to love it yourself. I now know that family history work isn’t just for old people, and that everyone can benefit from family history work. 

Thanks again Shelby for letting me crash your blog! 

Until next time,







Feelmysunlight.blogspot.com

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Thanks for such an awesome post Whitney! 

Perfection

Becoming Perfect can be tricky.

There is so much to do!

You have to be kind to everyone, pray every day and night, read your scriptures, complete personal progress, attend church each Sunday, do family history, include everyone, share the gospel, index, get all a's, never be late, spend hours getting ready, etc

Whew! I'm tired after just typing that!




I love a recent new era articles comparison, "trying to become perfect all at once is like trying to up a mountain while riding a unicycle and juggling.


 Impossible.




The end goal of everything is to become perfect, but we don't have to do it all at once. That can lead to frustration and giving up. Those are two of the adversaries favorite tools.




You read about these on popular women's blogs. But I don't think that people realize how much it effects youth. We can feel the pressure of "being perfect" because we are the rising generation. The world is dark and taunting. The halls of school bring this to a peak. It can be a lot of pressure to be the one who has to stand up.




The rest of this article was amazing so I'll let you check it out here.
Please read it!


What was your favorite part?




Hope you have an amazing fantastic day!




PS: I wrote about this a little bit before..... You measure up!
PPS: Sorry about the crazy header.... I'm trying to redo my design but it's kind of messed up right now.

New Years Resolutions Talk

How will you embark this year?

When Heavenly Father sent us to earth, he had a plan for us. For some of us that was many years ago, for others it was only a few. No matter how long ago our purpose is the same.

We live in a world of constant change. Many of you were alive when the first iPhone came out- even I was. It was thick and bulky and few apps could be purchased for it. In less than a decade the iPhone has dramatically changed, it is large, skinny, has a great camera, and even uses fingerprint scanners to log you in.

So what does this have to do with the gospel?

First off, God is not like technology. He never changes. So no matter if you came to earth 50 years ago or 5 months ago- your purpose is the same. So what is that purpose? Heavenly Father sent us to earth with free agency. He wanted to let us grow and learn. The purpose of our mortal mission is to become as Christlike as possible.

So that leads to my second point. We can be like the iPhone. Constantly improving. Fast, Efficient. Smart. Full of good stuff like the gospel (or gospel library). Wide spread like all the apps you can download. Money smart. Food conscious. Organized. A good communicator. Even skinny:)

It’s a new year! A fresh start. A clean slate. The perfect time to become the person you want to be. The perfect time to reach your full potential as a son/daughter of God.

I was asked to talk on new years resolutions. Don’t roll your eyes because they are overused or start taking notes because it’s January 11th and you have to remember these for next year because it wouldn’t be right for you set a resolution later than January 1st.

The Atonement is real so every day is a new start. You can become the person you want to be today, whether it’s January 1st, 21st, March 15th, or November 8th.

And for the eye rollers- I get what you’re saying. Everyone sets a resolution to be healthy, be organized, or save money. And I’m not saying those are bad- you go for it!

But I’m not here to tell you the perfect diet, one simple trick to organize your life, or the perfect plan to come up with 5,000 extra dollars a year.

The youth program plays a huge role in my life- I love it so much. Wednesdays and Sundays are pretty much my favorite days. Each Wednesday we recite the youth theme. And it recently it changed. So this year I decided to set a few of my resolutions around the new theme. It reads:

“O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day” (D&C 4:2).

Wow- thats alot. Serving with your mind, strength, heart, and might. Some of us find it hard to simply rub our stomachs and head at the same- much less serve with 4 parts of us at once.

So how can we do this?

Serve with our heart:

1. Serve because you want to. Serve because it is important to you. Dedicate your whole heart to it.
2. Serve spiritually. Serve The Lord by reading your scriptures, praying, reflecting on The Atonement, repentance, following the commandments, and giving him a few minutes of your time each day. If The Savior lived in your house wouldn’t you take a few minutes to at least acknowledge him, learn from him, and talk to him? Then do it in real life too.

Serve with might:

1. This is similar to the first. Be dedicated. When you are raking your neighbor's yard, don’t be dreaming of cuddling up in your bed with a good book or movie, a yummy snack, and falling asleep. I don’t care if it’s negative 3 degrees and you haven’t slept in 3 days. Be there because you want to. Give your heart to The Lord for a few hours.

Serve with mind:

1. Use your brain. Help tutor someone. Teach someone else. Use your talents to help others and bring The Spirit into their lives. Heavenly Father gave us talents for a reason don’t be like the foolish man who hid his talents. Use your talents to bless others.

Serve with strength:

This applies in 2 ways.

1. Don’t be scared to serve. Don’t be scared to sit with the unpopular girl at lunch. Don’t be scared to be the only one who stops to pick help the shy kid pick up their books. There are people who need our help. Sadly in today’s world helping others isn’t necessarily “cool” or popular. But it’s part of our role as children of God and it’s what Christ would want. Isn’t his approval more important?
2. Serve with your muscles! Don’t be afraid to get dirty. Sacrifice for others.It is so worth it for them and for you.D&C 73: 3,5 says “Behold, I say unto you that it is my will that you should go forth and not tarry, neither be idle but labor with your might. “And thus, if ye are faithful ye shall be laden with many sheaves, and crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality, and eternal life.” Wow! That’s alot of awesome blessings.

All this seems pretty overwhelming. But you can do it. You can become the person you want to be. You can do it!

I know we have a Heavenly Father who loves us. I know we are sons/daughters of God. You are special and you are loved.  We were meant to shine. I know The Savior Atoned for our sins so we can come back to live with him someday. Because of him there is purpose to our mortal existence. We can be forgiven! Isn’t that an amazing blessing?! Heavenly Father knows each of your struggles. He knows you and as you strive to become more like him by serving with all your heart, might, mind, and strength and drawing close to him through the gospel; you will feel his arms around you. You will feel his love, his hope, and his peace that can be found no other way. I know my Savior lives and he is the perfect example.

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Change the world in one easy step!

 

A few days ago this sweet video popped onto my blog feed in I thought it was such a good video! I love how these kind words made each girl feel! The video says:

 

Words can build us up

Can bring us down

Start a fire in our hearts

or put it out

 

This is so  true! So pick your words carefully! Every little thing you say uplifts someone or brings them down. Even if it's just a "joke."

 

You can change

the world

By changing your words

 

I had never really thought about that! But think about the world and all it's sadness (depressing, I know). Now imagine we eliminated every yucky word. Now eliminate mean sarcasm. Eliminate every unkind thing said and every "joke" that involved someone else.

Think about it!

That would eliminate bullying, negativity, tons of hurt feelings!

The world would be a different place if we only changed our words!

 

 

So please, think about your words and how they effect others!

WOW! General Women's Meeting

I was blown away by the amazing General Women's meeting this past weekend. I felt such a strong spirit of unity, love, devotion, and strength! The women of the church are amazing and we can learn so much from them! I highly recommend watching it! Please do! It will strengthen you and uplift you and inspire you to do better! One of my favorite quotes was:

 

We are unstoppable!