Lately, I have been facing a slight struggle with attending church activities. Some days I just feel a bit dragged down after work and choose sleep and laziness over institute, or going to all 3 hours on sunday. Not that it's an excuse, but being the only member in my family takes a toll. This past week I had my wisdom teeth removed so it gave me even more of an excuse to skip out on things. Nonetheless, it is now a week later and I was able to attend the saturday night session of our stake conference. I loved it.
Every talk given, spoke straight to my heart and I felt the impact of each deep inside of me. You could feel the spirit stronger than I remember having felt it lately. I am grateful to know what that feeling is. It is an emotion packed sensation that fills you. It brings grown men to tears. This conference reaffirmed my already existing knowledge that this church is true. That this is what is right, no questions.
The first talk was given by President Sprunt (Sams dad). It's always interesting hearing stories from someone you personally know, they hit you with a greater impact than most others. He touched on the fact that we can't afford to just, "go through the motions," in these latter days. I need to put the commitment into visiting teaching (which I have never done), always attending church and every institute, paying tithing, etc. That every calling is of importance. That there is no such thing as an insignificant calling or one that goes unnoticed. Which brings me back to all the things people said or did without realizing it, as I was going through the baptism process. That helped strengthen me and my testimony. He also spoke of wind. That, at one point, we are all somebody's wind. Picking someone up in a way that we might not even realize or notice.
When Kelsey and Tanner gave their talk it was refreshing. It was refreshing coming from people around my age, having such a strong involvement in the church. I was reminded that decisions now affect not only this life, but our eternal life. That the Lord is there waiting, but we need to act. We need to put the effort and come to him. Not only can other peoples faith grow as they begin to learn of the church, but you seeing that growth can strengthen your own. Faith is a verb, an action word. Faith can not be physically seen. Our Heavenly Father will always provide and always be our light in the darkness. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. My faith has made me whole. It has given me as a person, a full heart.
..."My new life started the day I was baptized." I can relate to this. I have been given a second chance to live life the way it is supposed to be. Living life through the light of Christ. I am technically 4 months old, still stumbling and learning, taking my first steps. Those stumbles give me the chance to prove my worthiness and a chance to prove my faith. We have the opportunity to speak to our father at any time of the day, anywhere that we are. I constantly find myself saying a 5 second prayer of gratitude for random things that I realize as I go throughout my day. I say a prayer of thanks after arriving somewhere, I say a prayer of thanks after I see a patient with medical disabilities and then follow it with a prayer for them. We have this freedom of prayer that should be taken advantage of as much as possible. Our faith can be lost in being passive and I am so grateful for the gospel ending my spiritual starvation, as said by a recent canyon springs ward convert.
Before this, "new life" I did not know what was going to happen in my life. I still do not know what is going to happen in my life. But, I am not scared. I know that I am not alone and one day I will return to my heavenly father. One day I will have eternal life with my future spouse and children. And I pray everyday that the seed of Christ that I know is within each of my family members will grow, and we can all be together forever. I have the agency to choose the right.
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