He Loves You Because of You and He Needs You

(Be warned, this one is rather lengthy.)

Thinking about divine nature always reminds me of these lyrics, which I imagine would be how the Savior feels about us whenever we feel down.  “The greatest gift I could give to you, is if you could see yourself the way I do.”

image taken from http://findingstrengthwithin.blogspot.com/

We have so much potential to grow and become better.  At this current moment, our souls are filled with sorrows, our bodies with weaknesses, and at times, our lives can be filled with sin.  But we have the potential to become better, no matter what state we are currently in.  Not only in this life, but the gospel teaches us that we also have potential in the next life to become like Gods if we endure the trials and challenges of this life and remain true to the truths of the gospel.

“There is something of divinity within each of you.  You have such tremendous potential with that quality as part of your inherited nature.  Every one of you was endowed by your Father in Heaven with a tremendous capacity to do good in the world.” (Gordon B. Hinckley)

Heavenly Father knows us- we were with Him before we came to Earth, He is with us now, and, if we live faithfully, we will live with Him in the eternities.  He knows us even better than we know ourselves, because He knows what we have the potential to become.  Because he knows us so well, he has catered a plan, specific and individual to each of us, that will help us to realize who we are and to become the person He knows we can be.

image taken from http://www.ldsliberty.org/the-moral-question-of-government/pre-mortal-life-5/

Stop for a moment and think about who you are right now.  Think about the relationships you have, where you live.  What are the experiences that led you there?  Without just one of those experiences, would you be where you are now?  How can we deny that those experiences were not crafted and put into our lives by a loving Father who is helping us to reach our divine potential?

Image from pinterest

Individual Worth, to me, has always meant the statement that everyone is important to God.  But this blanket statement is not personal, and defeats the purpose of individual worth. 

You are important and have infinite worth to our Father in Heaven because of who you are and the potential you have.  You bring to the table a unique combination of experiences and ideas and traits that make up your irreplaceable character which no one else can bring.  No one else can ever take your spot, and that’s why you’re important. 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared a story about a couple living in Utah: Every week, the man, while he was at work, would pull out his scriptures or other Church literature during lunch and read.  His coworkers would ridicule him and challenge his beliefs every day.  Nevertheless, he smiled and spoke to them with kindness and confidence.  Years later, one of the men who had mocked him asked the man to speak at his funeral, which he did.  His influence was known and felt by all who came into contact with him, even those who mocked him.  His wife, widowed after an industrial accident, underwent brain surgery, leaving her unable to walk or write.  People love coming to spend time with this dear sister because she listens and remembers.  “She never complains but spends her days blessing the lives of others … This couple would have been the first to say they were not much of importance in this world.  But the Lord uses a scale very different from the World’s to weigh the worth of a soul.  He knows this faithful couple; He loves them.”

Psalms 8:3-6 says:

“When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:”

This scripture brings us to the interesting paradox of man.  The Lord created the universe; he created worlds without end and compared to Him, man is nothing.  We literally are mortal beings who live on a small planet and live for only a brief moment in the grand expanse of the universe.  But we matter to him- thus creating the paradox.  WHY?  Why does he care about us so much?  Why has he given us so much?  He created this universe just for us so that we could grow and become immortal beings ourselves.  Dieter F. Uchtdorf gives us this answer- “God sees you not only as a mortal being on a small planet who lives for a brief season—He sees you as His child.  He sees you as the being you are capable and designed to become.” 

Using our knowledge about divine nature, we can more fully understand our individual worth.  For illustrative purposes, I’m calling this Divine Worth- the sandwich of Divine Nature and Individual Worth.

To the world, your worth is determined by how big your house is, how updated you are in technological advances, how many people you sleep with, how many countries you’ve been to, how many gold medals you have, or how ‘ideal’ your figure is.  Worldly worth is a process of comparison between yourself and somebody else- there are all kinds of examples of this in rankings of team players, lists of most attractive people, and even in calculating one player’s odds of winning over another’s.   “A person’s true value has little to do with what the world holds in high esteem … The Lord uses a scale very different from the World’s to weigh the worth of a soul” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf).  The Lord’s scale is not based on class rankings, or where we live, or even what our calling in the church is.  The Lord’s scale is based off of who we are and who we have the potential to become.  It’s our divine nature that helps us understand our individual worth.

In preparing this talk, a song I learned when I was young kept returning to my mind called Every Star is Different.  “Every star is different and so is every child- some are bright and happy, and some are meek and mild.  Every one is needed for just what he can do; you’re the only person who ever can be you.”  This first verse teaches us that every single one of us is different- we each have different experiences, different ideas, and different characteristics that combine in a unique way to make us who we are.  None of us is exactly the same; even those who go through life together and have the same physical experiences will not have the same perceptions or thoughts and thus create different people.  Because of this uniqueness, we are, as the song said, the only person who can be who we are.  This makes each and every single one of us needed in some way or another by our Father in Heaven- we each have a divine mission to fulfill on this Earth and we are the only ones who can do it.  Because of our individual worth, our unique experiences and ideas that create our own distinctive characteristics- no one else can complete our responsibilities in the same way that we can.  They also cannot grow in the same way we will after going through an experience. 

He loves us because of us- who we are and who we will become.  Our individual worth is because of our divine nature.  These two values are infinitely connected and each one helps us to understand the other.  Yes, the Lord cares about us and loves us.  But He doesn’t base that love off of how well we did on our finals, how many dates we went on last week, or even where we work.  “What matter[s] to Him [is] that [we’re] doing the best [we can], that [our] heart[s] [are] inclined toward Him, and that [we are] willing to help those around [us]… God knows that some of the greatest souls who have ever lived are those who will never appear in the chronicles of history.”  (Uchtdorf)

Let us continue on in doing everything we can to reach our divine potential; let us look at others through the eyes of the Lord; and let us remember that we matter to Him.  

(images taken from www.lds.org unless otherwise noted.)

Bringing in the New Year ... A Little Late ...

In our culture, we generally set goals every new year of things that we want to accomplish that year. I am a huge fan of goals and accomplishing new things in life! Goals help us to have direction and progress rather than remain stagnant with no purpose. I hate when that first challenge to your goal comes and people just give up. I once heard from a guy who was a personal trainer at a gym that he sees more people in his gym in January and February than almost any other month. Why do we give up? Why are we so good during the first months of the year and then we maybe forget one day or purposely disregard our goals and never get back into it. 

"In our journey on earth, we discover that life is made up of challenges—they just differ from one person to another. We are success oriented, striving to become “wonder women” and “super men.” Any intimation of failure can cause panic, even despair. Who among us cannot remember moments of failure? ... Our responsibility is to rise from mediocrity to competence, from failure to achievement. Our task is to become our best selves. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is the joy of trying again, for no failure ever need be final." 

- Thomas S. Monson

No matter what your goals are for the New Year, be the best you that you can possibly be- it's NEVER too late to change. And there's never a bad time to restart goals- if you fall off the horse, get right back up and start riding again. Winston Churchill once said "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it if the courage to continue that counts." 

So some of my personal goals this year: 

1) Be healthy! We're supposed to be good stewards over all that God has entrusted to us and certainly our bodies are one of those things. I don't think I'm a junk food addict or a couch potato, but there are things I don't like about my body and I want to change those things. 

2) Be a voice for good! The great and terrible thing about the internet is that it gives everyone a voice- not everyone has to listen to a specific voice because there are so many of them out there. There are lots of opinions, misconceptions, ideas, and thoughts out there that can be for good or for bad. I want to add my voice to those for good and help to bring a little bit of happiness into the lives of others. My voice alone will not drown out the bad, but together with other voices for good, it can help to lessen the influence of the bad voices in the world. 

If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you will succeed. Be brave and know that there are people to help you- all you have to do is ask. Sorry this post is so late ... but better late than never! 

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What are some of your goals for this year?

Be Brave

This song has been stuck in my head since like ... Thursday.  And I've thought a lot about it and I want to share it with you, dear readers. This song is called Brave, originally sung by Sara Bareilles.  This cover is by BYU Vocal Point.

When this song first started making it's rounds through my brain, I thought that I've never really had to be brave and bravery is just another word used to describe awesome people who do amazing things that could very easily backfire or not turn out so well.  The image that I usually think of is either a firemen diving into a blazing building to save the old woman trapped on the second floor or the soldier leaping from the fox hole with the image of his family burning in his mind.

But then I started thinking about the fact that it was Thanksgiving and I should be grateful for other's bravery.  And then I started coming up with all these wonderful examples of bravery that have allowed me to be where I am today.

In Search of Freedom
The pilgrims, obviously, are something we associate with Thanksgiving.  They wanted more than what England was offering them.  They acted on bravery to cross the Atlantic and settle the new world.  Many of them lost loved ones and many of them passed away.  But all of them were brave enough to leave what was familiar in favor of the unknown for the sake of a new world.

For King and Country
I've already mentioned the image of the soldier going to battle, but I truly am grateful for all of those brave men and women who serve their country.  Whether they're from the same country as me or not, to put the place you live before your own life is such a courageous act that it deserves to be mentioned twice.  In the future, there will come a day when we no longer need to defend ourselves from outsiders, but until that day comes, I'm grateful that we have valiant people who are there to answer the call to arms.

To Be the Example
It's so easy to just do what everyone else is doing, and so hard sometimes to do what you know to be right.  Goodness knows that there are countless examples out there of people who I am and am not familiar with who stand up for what they know to be right in the face of friends.  It reminds me of Neville from Harry Potter.  It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but even more to stand up to your friends.

For the Sake of Others
My mother's family is from Denmark.  One of my ancestors (an umpteenth-great grandmother) showed her bravery when she joined the LDS church and then journeyed to America to meet the Saints.  Her father disowned her and told her never to return after she was baptized.  She can't have known then how much her actions have affected my entire family.  She knew that the church was true and she knew what she needed to do because of it.  The threats of others didn't stop her from doing what she knew she needed to do and because of her, thousands have been blessed- all of her posterity and all they come in contact with have the opportunity to feel the joy that comes from the gospel of Christ.

For the Lack of Wisdom
Joseph Smith, a young boy of 14, desperately wanted to know which of all the religions of the day was right.  He was directed by James that if he lacked wisdom, he should ask of God and God would answer him.  He awoke one spring morning and bravely knelt in a clearing and asked the question he was seeking an answer to.  Boy did he receive an answer (click here).  After receiving that answer, he maintained that what had happened was true and he bravely refused to deny it throughout his life.  He brought forth The Book of Mormon.  He reestablished the Lord's church on the Earth as it was in the days of Christ.  Through him the ordinances of the gospel were restored.  He led the Saints from place to place, from persecution to persecution, while still never denying the Lord and His purposes.  And in the final days of his life, he was led to the place where he knew he would die, and with his brother he was martyred all for the sake of the gospel.  If that's not brave, then I don't know what is.

Bravery plays a very important part in shaping not only the world but also our daily lives.  Think about all the people from your family history.  If just one of them had decided to not do something instead of actually doing it or vice versa, how different would your life be today?  If instead of being brave they simply went with the flow and did nothing, how would your life be changed?

Everyone is brave.  For the soldier, brave is getting in that truck, or on that plane, or boat.  For the mother, brave is sticking with it on those hard days.  For the depressed soul, brave is getting out of bed and choosing to live another day.  For the lonely college student, brave is saying hi and speaking up.  For the small child, brave is saying goodbye for a few hours to go to kindergarten.  For the proud sibling, brave is saying you're sorry.  For the humble servant of the Lord, brave is saying yes no matter what He asks of you.

Everyone is brave.  Everyone has challenges they face, mountains they have to climb.  Brave is climbing those mountains.

Impossible Feats

Something we discussed with our students during NSO was the definition of "impossible."  What does it mean if something is impossible?  Here are my thoughts:

1) I like to quote Audrey Hepburn on this one and say that first off, nothing is impossible.  Even the word says "I'M POSSIBLE."
2) 100 years ago, there were several things that were impossible that we know are entirely possible today.  Traveling to the moon, communicating with anyone no matter you are, internet, even the technological advances made on automobiles.  My favorite example of this: Jules Verne.  When he wrote 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, none of what he recorded was possible.  Today, we have lost the luster and magic of Verne's publication because it is entirely possible and no one gives it a second thought (well, maybe a second or third thought for the giant squid ...).
3) To me, impossible means that no one has done it yet.  No one has tried hard enough yet.  No one has been committed enough to accomplish their goals yet.  If you really want to do something, the fact that no one has done it before isn't going to stop you.  The fact that there will be naysayers and people who tell you it's impossible should never stop you from achieving your wildest dreams.

Some "Impossible" Feats Throughout History:
- September 3, 1783: The Americans defeated the British in the Revolutionary War
- 1870: Siegfried Marcus propels the first "car" by means of gasoline
- March 10, 1876: Alexander Graham Bell completes the first clear telephone call
- December 17, 1903: The Wright Brothers powered and sustained human flight
- December 21, 1906: Reginald Fessenden completes the first audio radio broadcast
- July 21, 1969: Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon
- April 3, 1973: Martin Cooper makes the first call on a handheld mobile phone
- 1982: The concept of "the internet" was introduced

Who's to say what's impossible and who's to say you can't do it?  As far as I'm concerned, when there's a true, determined, persevering, and undeterred will, there is always a way.  Find that way.  Find the way to do what's never been done.

The Teacher Learns More and Other Service Stories

This weekend was probably the best weekend since coming back to Provo.  (I challenge someone to try to top it.)  I volunteered a few months ago to be a Y-Group leader for Summer New Student Orientation (NSO).  This past weekend, I put on my blinding yellow T-shirt and walked over to campus to meet the 20 freshmen which I would be introducing to campus, along with my two other leaders, Bryan and Lizy, and the freshmen peer mentor, Lyz.

Red 1; aka Group Red Thunder

It was honestly the most amazing experience.  I learned more about myself, my goals, and what I needed to do than our students did, I'm sure.  We attended Education in Zion, which is awesome.  If you haven't ever gone, go.  Now.  My favorite character was Lorenzo Snow; There are two paintings in the gallery facing each other which Lorenzo talks about.  The first is a picture of the Kirtland, Ohio temple entitled "The Temple, A Holy School" and the second is a picture of Brigham Young Academy (now the Provo Library) entitled "The School, A Temple of Learning".  Just the connection between those two paintings was enough to make me stop and think. Truth is truth, no matter what the source, and we value and uphold truth.  So many people sacrificed to bring forth both the temple and BYA (now BYU) and each is sacred and holds a special place in my heart.

Something which we discussed with our students was the definition of success.  How do we measure success?  What is your definition of success?  Someone said "Getting all A's."  Okay.  So if we apply that standard to the rest of the world, 90% of the population is the opposite of success: failure.  That's pretty dismal and depressing.  If we define success as becoming president/ruler of a country, 99% of the world is a failure.  So what is success and how do we find it?  Here are my thoughts:

1. You can't measure yourself against anyone else except yourself.  Each person has different strengths, weaknesses, and talents.  We're not all meant to succeed in the same way, otherwise we'd all have nice cars, nice houses, and plenty of money to last.  Besides, you can only succeed at being you.  You can't succeed at being your neighbor because they're better at being them than you are, just like you are better at being you than anyone else is.
2. You decide what is means for you to succeed.  If succeeding to you is owning a mobile home and flipping burgers at the local Mickey D's, than I hope you achieve that dream and live it to it's fullest.
3. If you give anything less than your all, if you are not committed to your success, if you don't give it your best shot 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, then you will fail.  Success does not require your attention or your best; it demands it.  

To me, at this point in my life, success would be three things:  finish college, open my own business, and get married (not necessarily in that order).  If I am not committed to finishing college, then I won't.  If I am not committed to opening my own bakery and shutting down all my competitors, then I will have wasted my time and I won't accomplish anything.  If I don't really want to get married, then I won't try and I won't find the right fish.

I'll save some other points from our discussion for other posts ;] They were good points and we had some good discussions (at least I thought we did).

The best part of the BYU Incoming Freshman Class of 2012 and their amazing Peer Mentor and Y-Group Leaders

I know I had an awesome NSO experience and I can't wait until next summer to do it again!! I hope my students also enjoyed it and got more than free lunch and a campus tour out of our service towards them. :]

Summer Nights in the Making

Dude.

School's Over.

SUMMER!!!!! 

A few parting thoughts from this year:

And a little diddy to bring in the summer: