Love Your Life
I believe it was in 2010 that I was living in Provo and decided one day at the mall to get a sticker for the back of my car. I had been thinking about it for a while and knew exactly what I wanted. I went to the kiosk that made stickers at University Mall and had the guy print out my new life motto.
Love Your Life.
The sticker was displayed beautifully on the back window of my car for years to come. Just last month, I sold Aymie (my Camry) and purchased a new car! It was the most exciting and nerve-wracking experience of my life. I didn't sleep for a week thinking that something bad might happen to "my new car". I knew that with this car I didn't really want to put stickers on it, but I still wanted people to know that motto that I lived by. So, I decided to get a personalized license plate. Lucy, (my Honda CR-V) has never looked better!
The other day I was pondering life and wondering if I really did live up to my license plate. Did I really love my life? Do others see that I love my life? I wasn't really sure. As I continued to ponder I realized something and I feel like I really need to share it, so here it goes...
Years ago when I was eight years old I put on a white jumpsuit and walked down into a baptismal font with my Uncle Harley. All I knew at that moment was that I needed to make sure water didn't get up my nose and that my foot didn't come out of the water. At that moment in time I did not realize the importance of what I was doing. Fast forward almost fourteen years to a Sunday night in the MTC. In a room full of hundreds of missionaries I sat and pondered the significance of the gospel, and was asked to read a book. The speaker whose name I can't remember, spoke to us like we were the ones investigating the gospel. He told us that if we didn't have a testimony of this book, we needed to get one. He challenged each of us to finish reading the book before we left to our assigned areas of service. I thought to myself, "I want to do this, but I don't have enough time." I only had two weeks left and there was already enough studying happening without this added challenge. I did my best, but didn't quite make it before the plane took off for New York.
As I entered the mission field I realized something incredibly disheartening, I was scared out of my mind. However, I kept reading, and I found that finding the truth in that book didn't happen in some miraculous way. It didn't dawn on me in a moment of deep reflection or secret prayer. It just gradually worked it's way into my heart until it filled my entire soul. I read the book five times over in that year and a half, and each and every time I found something new, something that gave a "pang" to my soul more than anything else.
If you haven't already figured it out, the book I'm talking about is The Book of Mormon. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. The history of a people who lived separate from Jerusalem but still knew about a Savior. People whose history has shaped my life into what it is today. Since being home I've attempted to read the book every day. As I do so consistently I can feel my love for life expand. The growth that I obtain in this life is because of the words written on the pages of this book.
There are stories of triumph and defeat, lessons of being obedient and warnings of pride. And all of them are things that I can relate to. In the book there is a man named Alma. When he was young he was a horrible guy, he went around talking bad about the church and just not listening. One day, because of the prayers of his father, an angel appeared to him. The angel told him to stop what he was doing and repent, he did and he became a mighty missionary. Years later, he had a son of his own, Corianton. Corianton was a missionary but he wasn't doing the right things, because of the things he did people were lead away from the gospel. Alma had the opportunity to teach his son about repentance and change. His testimony of repentance helped his son repent too.
I've never seen an angel, and I haven't been trying to destroy the church, but I have sinned. I have made huge mistakes but, because of this book, I know that I can change. I know that I can be better, and I know that one day, I can pass that on to my children. There is hope! There is always hope. I testify of the truthfulness of this book. It has changed my life. It has gotten me closer to God than I ever would have dreamed. And every day, EVERY DAY, that I read it... I am filled with strength. Even when things seem horrible or hard, there is still hope.
Love Your Life.
Love the Book of Mormon.
Read it every day.
"And I said unto them that it was the word of God [The Book of Mormon]; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction." 1 Nephi 15:25
Love Your Life.
The sticker was displayed beautifully on the back window of my car for years to come. Just last month, I sold Aymie (my Camry) and purchased a new car! It was the most exciting and nerve-wracking experience of my life. I didn't sleep for a week thinking that something bad might happen to "my new car". I knew that with this car I didn't really want to put stickers on it, but I still wanted people to know that motto that I lived by. So, I decided to get a personalized license plate. Lucy, (my Honda CR-V) has never looked better!
The other day I was pondering life and wondering if I really did live up to my license plate. Did I really love my life? Do others see that I love my life? I wasn't really sure. As I continued to ponder I realized something and I feel like I really need to share it, so here it goes...
Years ago when I was eight years old I put on a white jumpsuit and walked down into a baptismal font with my Uncle Harley. All I knew at that moment was that I needed to make sure water didn't get up my nose and that my foot didn't come out of the water. At that moment in time I did not realize the importance of what I was doing. Fast forward almost fourteen years to a Sunday night in the MTC. In a room full of hundreds of missionaries I sat and pondered the significance of the gospel, and was asked to read a book. The speaker whose name I can't remember, spoke to us like we were the ones investigating the gospel. He told us that if we didn't have a testimony of this book, we needed to get one. He challenged each of us to finish reading the book before we left to our assigned areas of service. I thought to myself, "I want to do this, but I don't have enough time." I only had two weeks left and there was already enough studying happening without this added challenge. I did my best, but didn't quite make it before the plane took off for New York.
As I entered the mission field I realized something incredibly disheartening, I was scared out of my mind. However, I kept reading, and I found that finding the truth in that book didn't happen in some miraculous way. It didn't dawn on me in a moment of deep reflection or secret prayer. It just gradually worked it's way into my heart until it filled my entire soul. I read the book five times over in that year and a half, and each and every time I found something new, something that gave a "pang" to my soul more than anything else.
If you haven't already figured it out, the book I'm talking about is The Book of Mormon. It is another testament of Jesus Christ. The history of a people who lived separate from Jerusalem but still knew about a Savior. People whose history has shaped my life into what it is today. Since being home I've attempted to read the book every day. As I do so consistently I can feel my love for life expand. The growth that I obtain in this life is because of the words written on the pages of this book.
There are stories of triumph and defeat, lessons of being obedient and warnings of pride. And all of them are things that I can relate to. In the book there is a man named Alma. When he was young he was a horrible guy, he went around talking bad about the church and just not listening. One day, because of the prayers of his father, an angel appeared to him. The angel told him to stop what he was doing and repent, he did and he became a mighty missionary. Years later, he had a son of his own, Corianton. Corianton was a missionary but he wasn't doing the right things, because of the things he did people were lead away from the gospel. Alma had the opportunity to teach his son about repentance and change. His testimony of repentance helped his son repent too.
I've never seen an angel, and I haven't been trying to destroy the church, but I have sinned. I have made huge mistakes but, because of this book, I know that I can change. I know that I can be better, and I know that one day, I can pass that on to my children. There is hope! There is always hope. I testify of the truthfulness of this book. It has changed my life. It has gotten me closer to God than I ever would have dreamed. And every day, EVERY DAY, that I read it... I am filled with strength. Even when things seem horrible or hard, there is still hope.
Love Your Life.
Love the Book of Mormon.
Read it every day.
"And I said unto them that it was the word of God [The Book of Mormon]; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction." 1 Nephi 15:25
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