Stripling Warriors: A Tribute to Our Mothers

My mom had a HUGE influence on my mission. I like those 2000 boys did not doubt that my mother had a burning testimony. I saw and heard it much while growing up. But i think, like others, my mothers influence started probably from the day i was born. Her love and nurture helped me become the missionary i was. Not to mention her firm hand and her powerful words of wisdom. Some of which were " Dont wait to be told to do something, if you see something thats needs to be done, then do it" one of my favorites is." take a step back and look at the bigger picture and what really matters" these short phases would come to mind at different times and situations of my mission. Those i gave were only a few. So in essence my mother had a huge part in my mission. We grow up and our mothers tell us and teach us things, and at the time we blow them off or dont really take it to heart, But i testify that the lord worked through my mother, and her little comments, throughout my early life to help me become who i am today. She inspired and blessed my life. I knew that i could be good cause my mother believed i was.
Adam Sherrow


How did my mom help me in my mission? I think some of the things my mom told me before i left were really important. I remembered alot of the things she told me and it helped me to stay motivated. My mom has always helped me and supported me in my life and i knew that even though she couldn't directly help me, that she was proud of me and wanted me to do what was right. Of course her
e-mails and occasionally sending cookies were nice too. My mom is awsome.
Jason Bohnet

Everyone loves their mother, but I never fully realized the positive impact she had on my mission. Of course the emails came every week and those are always great. The phone calls always pumped me up and helped me focus on the work. But perhaps the best communication my mom had wasn't between me and her; but with her and Heavenly Father. I will never know how much she has prayed for me; and how those prayers have come true. And she has always prayed for us our whole lives. If I had to pick one thing that improved on my mission it would be my relationship with God through prayer. And I have a mother to thank for that. Brian Webber

My momma's infulence. Ha, where to start. Well I never could really appreciate fully the influence my mother had on me while I was on my mission. I had the chance to get a letter from her each week, not one missed, and that made a big difference in my week. Not in a trunky way, but my mother send me talks and great quotes, all of which seemed to fit my very circumstances or challenges. It is no doubht that my mother (and father) are righteous and are blessed with revelation concerning their children. I have always enjoyed and admired my mother's perspective of the gospel and her willingness to just be obedient and be believing. That example helped me though hard times, because I could reflect upon her many teachings and moments of comfort and counsel to me. My mother's righteous influence made a huge impact of my mission and continues to in my life each day
Michael McBride


My mom positively influenced in who I am, which of course helped me on my mission. She taught me that the Lord loves us, and that we can talk to him through prayer. I cannot count the times when I would fill her in on all of the problems that were in my life and she responded by asking me, "Did you pray about it?". She taught me that prayer is such a powerful tool, which helped me on my mission find strength and guidance. I love my mom and she has positively effected me, and I cannot type enough "thank you"s to express the gratitude in my heart.
Jared Scott



We Do Not Doubt Our Mothers Knew It.

We Do Not Doubt Our Mothers Knew It.

One of my favorite stories in The Book of Mormon has always been the story of the stripling warriors. As a kid, I remember just feeling fired up when reading about their faith and their success in fighting for the right - knowing that I myself was engaged in that same kind of battle. As I have grown up, the story has come to have a different meaning to me...

In the Fall of 2010, I was sitting in a sacrament meeting one Sunday alone in one of the back rows of a chapel in Illinois. I was listening to a woman talk about her son who was serving a mission at the time and the thought came in my head to read in Alma 56. I immediately opened my scriptures, and the rest of the chapel fell away, it was just me and the words. My eyes quickly found verses 47 - 48 which read:

Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

...as I read those last words I felt like a chorus of people were reading words along with me. I sat in that chapel feeling surrounded by something - something like calm and gratitude - and I let myself cry. I reached down towards my bag and pulled out the papers I was working on to send in for my mission and my decision became unshakeable and final. I had always been certain I would serve a mission, but that didn't mean I didn't have some worries and "but what ifs" - but in that moment I was done with all of them. I wanted to serve my Lord and my King, show Him how much I love Him and His gospel - and I wanted my children to never have a doubt that their mother knew it.

This scripture has become a strength to me every time I want to take a break or listen to the adversary, I think about my future children and how nothing means more to me in the world than them knowing that I know that Jesus is the Christ and God is our loving Heavenly Father and that they appeared to a young boy and called him as a prophet so that the gospel could be restored, and I press on. I find myself being motivated a lot by them. As I know that my entire life and testimony has been influenced by the life of discipleship that my mother has lived. I owe her everything.


In this weekend of celebrating Mothers I've decided to start a series of posts containing the short testimonies of some stripling warriors that I know - and how their mothers have influenced them in this fight for the cause of Christ and boldly declare that

We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

Motherhood is doing God's work.

A part from Elder Holland's talk Because She is a Mother has really touched me and strengthened my testimony that I know that motherhood is the greatest calling we can hope for.

A part I particularly liked and wanted to share:

One young mother wrote to me recently that her anxiety tended to come on three fronts.

One was that whenever she heard talks on LDS motherhood, she worried because she felt she didn’t measure up or somehow wasn’t going to be equal to the task.

Secondly, she felt like the world expected her to teach her children reading, writing, interior design, Latin, calculus, and the Internet—all before the baby said something terribly ordinary, like “goo goo.”

Thirdly, she often felt people were sometimes patronizing, almost always without meaning to be, because the advice she got or even the compliments she received seemed to reflect nothing of the mental investment, the spiritual and emotional exertion, the long-night, long-day, stretched-to-the-limit demands that sometimes are required in trying to be and wanting to be the mother God hopes she will be.

But one thing, she said, keeps her going: “Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that in my motherhood I am in an eternal partnership with Him. I am deeply moved that God finds His ultimate purpose and meaning in being a parent, even if some of His children make Him weep.

“It is this realization,” she says, “that I try to recall on those inevitably difficult days when all of this can be a bit overwhelming. Maybe it is precisely our inability and anxiousness that urge us to reach out to Him and enhance His ability to reach back to us. Maybe He secretly hopes we will be anxious,” she said, “and will plead for His help. Then, I believe, He can teach these children directly, through us, but with no resistance offered. I like that idea,” she concludes. “It gives me hope. If I can be right before my Father in Heaven, perhaps His guidance to our children can be unimpeded. Maybe then it can be His work and His glory in a very literal sense.” ⁷

The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you. He knows that your giving birth to a child does not immediately propel you into the circle of the omniscient. If you and your husband will strive to love God and live the gospel yourselves; if you will plead for that guidance and comfort of the Holy Spirit promised to the faithful; if you will go to the temple to both make and claim the promises of the most sacred covenants a woman or man can make in this world; if you will show others, including your children, the same caring, compassionate, forgiving heart you want heaven to show you; if you try your best to be the best parent you can be, you will have done all that a human being can do and all that God expects you to do.

It's Mama Week!

This week is the time to celebrate the sacred calling of Motherhood. Starting today with a quote from one of my favorite authors, Victor Hugo:

“She broke the bread into two fragments and gave them to her children, who ate with eagerness. ‘She hath kept none for herself,’ grumbled the sergeant.

“‘Because she is not hungry,’ said a soldier.

“‘No,’ said the sergeant, ‘because she is a mother.’”

This video can cure any bad day...

"Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come till heaven, but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ - they come" - Elder Holland.

This video is short, but powerful and it makes me cry as my heart realizes the truth of it - the gospel of Jesus Christ gives us hope and lets us be able to believe in good things to come - no matter how hard our current circumstances.

Who is Jesus Christ to me?

Last Fall, I got a letter from a friend asking "who is Jesus Christ to you?"

The idea of me trying to compile words that adequately express the answer to that question is absolutely impossible for me. I don't think I could convey exactly who Christ is to me through word, music, art, dance - anything.
I think that is why I do what I do. Why I chose to leave "my life" behind for a year and a half to preach His gospel and testify that I know He lives - because that is the only way I know how to show Him what He means to me. The only way I know how to show Him what He means to me is through obedience to His commandments and serving Him and others. I can only express it through the way that I live. I think that is the foundation of my understanding that "faith without works is dead" (James 2:26).



But if I must try to express who Christ is to me, I am going to have to use the help of some more eloquent sources:

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.
He is the Son of God.
He is my Redeemer.

Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the Father in the spirit and the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is Jehovah, and was foreordained to His great calling in the Grand Councils before the world was.

Jesus Christ is the only way by which we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. Jesus suffered and was crucified for the sins of the world, giving each of God’s children the gift of repentance and forgiveness. Only by His mercy and grace can anyone be saved. His subsequent resurrection prepared the way for every person to overcome physical death as well. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and He will be our Lord forever. (ref: http://mormon.org/jesus-christ/)

He is the greatest Being to be born on this earth - the perfect example - and all religious things should be done in His name.

He is Lord of lords, King of kings, the Creator, the Savior, the God of the whole earth, the Captain of our salvation, the Bright and Morning Star. He is in all things, above all things, through all things, and round about all things; He is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last; His name is above every name, and is the only name under heaven by which we can be saved.

He will come again in power and glory to dwell on the earth, and will stand as Judge of all mankind at the last day.
(ref: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bd/christ?lang=eng&letter=c)



And my small and simple words to convey the great emotions this question awakens within me are these:
He is the reason for all and any hope in my life. Without Him, every moment of my life would be worthless, cold, and sorrowful. With Him - my life is full of peace, purpose, and true joy. He saves me from the sting of death, the bitterness of heartache, He is the reason I can change, He is the reason I can do ANYTHING. He saves me from sin, guilt, and regret. He suffered and died for me. He heals me. He loves me and knows me perfectly. I love Him and I try to live like Him - again relying on His grace and mercy.
He is my best friend. He is my Savior. He is my King.

Celebrate Easter With Us!!!

(Photo from mormon.org)

THIS WEEKEND! Come celebrate Easter with us! Mormon.org is helping us all worship our Savior Jesus Christ together on this special and sacred weekend. They have created a special Easter page and HERE you can post YOUR answer to the question:

"Why is Jesus Christ important to you?"


Then on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of this weekend there will be a live feed of people sharing their thoughts and feelings of our Savior. There are also Bible videos to watch of His life and ministry.
As for me and mine? I know that He lives! and I am so grateful for the opportunity to share that beautiful truth that defines my life with the rest of the world.

Happy Easter!

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

Elvia Too Can Testify

I asked my dear friend Elvia to share her conversion story. She is a rockstar, she is preparing to serve a mission, and she has changed my life!!!! Here she is:




So, I was asked to share my conversion story and I said.."You know, everytime I talk about my conversion story I cry"...What I really meant is....You know, everytime I testify of my conversion story the spirit is SO strong the impulse of crying is an iner-reaction of my Happiness..

I was raised and born in Santa Rosa, CA. Was taught to always do the right thing and personally I thought I was an overall good kid..my parents never felt like they would every worry about me doing something wrong..in other words they could trust me..When I was a little past 18 years old I decided I was done with every one thinking I was Miss little goody goody, I was going to do what I wanted and no one was going to tell me other wise..Sadly, that one decision took me down a path I could've never imagined...it took me 2 years to realize that I had litteraly lost all self esteem and hope..in a way I felt like my life was worthless...and found my self thinking how one bad decision lead me to make even worse decision..I was in a deep hole and didn't know how to get out of it...after many let downs I realized my life had to change..and if that was going to happen I had to change my self..

One day in mid August 2010 my Aunt who lived in Oregon out of the no where called me and after hours of talking she told me how much she loved me and how much it pained her to see me hurt...coming from someone I had only met twice my whole life was pretty powerful for me in that moment..I was loved and it felt good..she invited me to come live with her in Oregon for 2 months just to get my self together..I agreed and before I knew it I was bording a plane to Portland, Oregon. I felt free and ready to change...even though I had no idea how that was going to happen...My Aunt was so helpful and was putting every part of importance to my life.

One day she comes home telling me how she met 2 Missionaries, they were coming over later that day to talk to her...my response "Oh really thats cool, just make sure they don't talk to me, I want NOTHING to do with them". To my surprise, there was a knock at the door. My Aunt opens the door and lets these 2 young men come in and take a seat in the kitchen table. As I was on the computer, I hear the one of the Missionaries ask my Aunt who I was and if I could possibly join them..pretending I didn't hear them my Aunt pretty loudly asks me to join them...So I did...thinking to my self..they're "american" and speaking spanish...better spanish than I speak..they invited me to read a verse of the Bible in spanish..I was stuttering the words and was embarrassed at my terrible spanish..soon after they left, I told my aunt when were they going to come over again..I wanted to know more!!

Two days later they show up again..and every lesson after that got easier to understand and I wanted to know more! One of the most powerful comments they said was "Don't trust us we can sin and make mistakes, but Trust God our Heavenly Father and I know if you ask him if what we tell you is true you will receive your answer". This is all they had to say. I found my self truly wanting to ask our Heavenly Father if this was his true Church. For the first time in my life I felt good I had never been prompted to ask our Heavenly Father for an answer such as this...a month after my arrival in Oregon I got baptized ,on September 19, 2010..the best day of my life! I'm so greatful to know what I know and to know how to live in order to be happy. I KNOW MY SAVIOR LIVES! I KNOW HE DIED FOR US AND THAT HE WOULD'VE DIED FOR YOU EVEN IF YOU WERE THE ONLY ONE IN THE WORLD WHO NEEDED IT. I KNOW JOSEPH SMITH WAS A TRUE PROPHET OF GOD! I KNOW THE BOOK OF MORMON WAS TRANSLATED THROUGH THE POWER OF GOD! I testify this in name of JESUS CHRIST. AMEN.

He is my King!!

Yesterday we got to visit the temple in Oakland yesterday. Every time we get to go to the temple, I have trouble sleeping the night before because I am so excited to enter the House of the Lord and feel so close to Him there. It was a beautiful experience being able to spend a few hours feeling like a daughter of God in such a pure and real way.

After the temple, we stopped by the visitor's center real quick just to look at the Christus statue there. I stood for a moment and looked up at the face of my Savior, my Redeemer, my Brother, my Friend and as I turned around I realized that Elder Millard had taken a picture of me.




I love this picture because it truly candidly depicts how I feel about the my Savior Jesus Christ.
He is my King!
When I look up and remember Him - this is how I feel. He is the reason that I have joy in my life. He is the reason I feel constant and consistent peace and hope. I have never been lacking in happiness because He lives and He loves me.

So this picture is my testimony of the Savior as I stand at the foot of a statue of Him

And this: http://bcove.me/0e12u6ds
is the testimony of an apostle of the Lord as he stands at the foot of the Christus statue.

I too know that He lives. I believe in Christ; so come what may. I will worship Him with all my might!!

The way the Spirit speaks.

My good friend, Sorella Baker, is the other missionary that is featured in my blog picture (on the left). We were in the MTC together until she left for Italy. I have fond memories of studying the scriptures for HOURS together before the mission and laughing about how bad we were going to be at speaking our mission languages (me leaving to serve in Spanish - her in Italian) I remember discussing our worries about being able to adequately convey the message of Jesus Christ to people in a language that we were just learning.

We both quickly learned together in the MTC that the Holy Ghost speaks Spirit to Spirit - and it didn't matter if we were saying things wrong, because we knew that what we were saying was true.

I recently received a story from a dear friend of mine that was baptized almost 8 months ago

"So last night I went to this I Am Mormon fireside and two sisters got up and sang I know my redeemer lives first verse in English, then one sang a verse in Spanish, and well one sang the next one in Italian. I was sitting next to K and we just looked at each other and started crying it was so beautiful. It really testified that the spirit knows no language. During that song it was almost impossible not to think about you and Sorella Baker while those two sisters sang in the language both of you have been teaching in. After the song I looked over to Ks sister's friend who had come with us and I saw that she was crying. I obviously don't know what she was feeling, but the spirit was so strong during that song it was impossible not to feel it. It brought me back to when I was first learning about the church and I felt the spirit but didn't recognize it as that. It's just really special seeing someone who is feeling the spirit, but doesn't know quite yet  - but the blessings are so close."

And all I really have to say is AMEN to her experience. The Spirit really does speak straight to our hearts, to our souls. I see it daily. It is incredible. And I know that the Spirit wouldn't testify in that way if what we taught wasn't true. The Spirit only testifies of truth (Jacob 4:13) I know that it is true. The Spirit has taught me that in many languages.

I Am Repenting.

Repentance: is much more than just acknowledging wrongdoings. It is a change of mind and heart that gives you a fresh view about God, about yourself, and about the world. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments. (Ref from True to the Faith)

I've been thinking a lot about repentance lately. When I was a kid I remember thinking of repentance as a big scary word - something bad that we needed to be afraid of.
Now as an adult, repentance is my best friend. Repentance is the sweetest thing in the world.
There have been times on my mission where I have felt myself crave repentance. Not because I've done anything really wrong - but because I hadn't been doing something as right, good, exact, fully, as I could.
That relief. That fresh view about myself, my Heavenly Father, and the world - tastes so so good.
Repentance is healing. It is healing our soul from the disease of sin.

Elder Richard G Scott once said:

"If one of you has seriously sinned, repent—now. It is not good to violate the commandments of the Lord. It is worse to do nothing about it. Sin is like cancer in the body. It will never heal itself. It will become progressively worse unless cured through the medicine of repentance." (Dont Face the World Alone)

I love that. Our Savior Jesus Christ has given us the cure; He has provided us the medicine. It is our decision whether we are going to take it or not. We can be healed. We can be clean. It is our decision.

How do we gain that?

The Book of Mormon teaches the doctrine of Christ so simply.

In 3 Nephi 9:13 Christ asks "will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?"

Earlier in 2 Nephi 31 the Savior explains perfectly and simply that "returning to Him" means having faith in Him, repenting, being baptized in His name by somebody who holds His authority, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

verse 11 states: And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.

and verse 12: And also, the voice of the Son came unto me saying: he that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me: wherefore, follow me and do the things which ye have seen me do

So what does that mean for those that have already been baptized by somebody who holds the authority of God?

We must continue to grow and cultivate our faith in Jesus Christ, repent till the end, renew our baptismal covenants in partaking of the sacrament, be worthy and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, progress till the end, and help others take these steps as well.

That is where healing comes from. That is where peace comes from. That is the way that He has shown us to return to live with our Heavenly Father and our families forever.

His invitation is to heal us. Our decision is whether we will let Him.

Repentance is changing to be more like Him. When we live more like Him, we are happier. Period.

So this post is about repentance. It is about my repentance. How I am now repenting for my lack of attention to my own blog. I am forgetting those weeks of neglect and being a better representative of my Savior Jesus Christ.

Posts to come. Count on it. It wouldn't be lasting repentance if I went back to my heathen non-posting ways.