Not the only online missionary in the family...

I have discovered that I am not the only family member that is involved in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ online. My dear sister, Kristy, has a new video on mormon.org about how she lives her life as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

(my sister L, Kristy, and I)

Watch it here!

I add my witness with hers that I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and that He can heal any hurt, any sin, any anxiety and weakness. I know that He has gone forth suffering pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind - and knows, according to the flesh, how to succor us, His people. (Alma 7: 11-12)

I have felt His love for me and the power of His sacrifice in my life. I have felt it today, even, as I have chosen to have faith and take a couple more steps in trying to live more like Him. I know that the blessings of His atoning sacrifice are not just for after death, they are for right now, they are for today.

I know that you can know and feel, just as my sister Kristy and I have felt, that His matchless power and love is real.


How?

Get down on your knees. Take a moment. And poor out your heart to your Father above who is waiting to talk with you, and console you - His dear child. Ask Him to feel. Ask Him to feel how much He loves you and whatever pain, concern, or sadness you may feel to be taken away.
I promise you that what you will feel is real. It is the power of the atonement of the Savior of the world.
I too can testify of these things

I will never wash my right hand again...

There are no concrete rules and guidelines for the creation of a persons "bucket list"
(sidenote:  Bucket List = a list of items a person dreams of accomplishing or experiencing before they "kick the bucket")
(2nd sidenote: Kick the Bucket = dying)

I, too, have created a bucket list in my life. Mine is several pages long and contains such dreams such as "ride in a hot air balloon" and "finish an entire Chipotle burrito" and "finish an entire Chipotle burrito while riding in a hot air balloon"

There are 3 people that have made it onto my extremely exclusive Bucket List - 3 people that I simply must meet before I die.
2 of them will be kept secret right now but the THIRD, and possibly most important (as it is the only female) is Sister Julie B Beck:




A couple weeks ago I was sitting with my past and now far away companion, Hermana Rupp, after planning and we were discussing my love, nay obsession, with this woman.

I told her about how back home my family wouldn't flinch when I would say things such as "I was hanging out with Jules today and she taught me this awesome thing" and proceed to share something that I heard learned from studying one of Sister Beck's talks. (I like to refer to her as if we are great friends, because I feel that we are with all that she has helped me understand about myself, the divine role of womanhood, and the world around me. Although the appropriateness of nicknaming dear Sister Beck in the comfort of my family dinner table is still up for argument)
I really do feel like she is one of my dearest friends, somebody I can rely on to guide me in my life. She has shaped my perspective and been the instrument of me feeling the spirit many times.

Hermana Rupp and I continued to talk about our love for this woman and I ended the conversation with a loud "ONE DAY I will meet her. I just have to"

Fast forward to this morning. The same Hermana Rupp is standing to my right and I am looking into the eyes of this dear friend of mine. I barely muster a "good morning, Sister Beck" as she shakes my right hand.

As we listened to her speak this morning I marveled at her Christ-like manner in wishing to care and nurture to "the one". She wished to focus on each of us individually. It hit me yet again that this woman is a woman from God - a defender of the family - and I remembered yet again the kind of woman I wish to become.

My favorite talk from Sister Beck can be found here: Teaching the Doctrine of the Family