Road to Royalty

We are all sons and daughters of a King. A Heavenly King. A King who is the most loving and perfect and just King that has ever existed and will ever exist. As His children we are heirs to His kingdom. Don't you want to make your Father proud? Aren't you going to work your hardest to be worthy of being an heir?

Our divine nature is...divine! It gives us a deeper sense of purpose and self-worth. Being a prince or a princess means that we don't have to act the way everyone else is. Remember that everyone is royal, too. Some of them have just forgotten.

Because we are divine each of us has a road map to royalty. We have forgotten some parts, but luckily we have plenty of tools to help us decipher the map.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said,

"We all search for happiness, and we all try to find our own 'happily ever after.' The truth is, God knows how to get there! And He has created a map for you; He knows the way. He is your beloved Heavenly Father, who seeks your good, your happiness. He desires with all the love of a perfect and pure Father that you reach your supernal destination. The map is available to all. It gives explicit directions of what to do and where to go to everyone who is striving to come unto Christ and 'stand as [a witness] of God at all times and in all things, and in all places.' All you have to do is trust your Heavenly Father. Trust Him enough to follow His plan."  

(To read the rest of his talk click here. To watch/listen to it click here)

We have scriptures, teachers, friends, prophets, and our Heavenly Father waiting at the ready to help us. Each of us has a divine plan and a divine nature. I hope that one day we can all recognize it as Moses did. When Satan came and commanded Moses to worship him this was Moses's reply,

 "And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?" (Moses 1:13)

 I hope that one day we can all realize how special and loved we are. I hope that we can recognize our divine nature and our divine purpose and make the most of it. I hope that one day we can realize that because we are beloved children of Heavenly Father we no longer need to sin.

I know that I am a daughter of God and that I have a divine plan. I look forward to, one day, looking back and seeing the perfect plan that Heavenly Father has led me on.

To see how people recognize their divine nature visit mormon.org

Faith: A Fundamental

Faith is the glue that holds life together.We have to faith that all of our studying will be helpful as we take the test. We have to have faith that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. We have to have faith that we have a loving Heavenly Father. We have to have faith that Jesus Christ paved the way and stands at the gate to lead us back to our Father.
Faith is the first principle of the Gospel for a reason. Without faith we would just be sunk, but with enough faith miracles happen. Every wonderful attribute about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has been revealed to increase our faith in them. What starts out as a little bit of faith can grow into a big, strong, and powerful faith that can lead to powerful things. Just like a tiny seed grows into a tree. BUT it takes time and a lot of work to make a full grown tree. You can't just plant a seed, leave it there, and come back the next day expecting it to be this gigantic tree. It just doesn't work that way. We have to ACT.

Faith is an action word. It motivates us to do. It inspires us to be! When we have faith we trust AND follow. We follow the example of Jesus Christ and try our very best to become more like Him. Our faith in Christ can lead to physical and spiritual healing. Faith is a principle of action and power, but it has to be based upon correct knowledge.
1 Nephi 7:12 says,

"Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him."

Two people can do anything as long as one of them is the Lord.

I am so grateful for my faith and I know that it is vital to my life. Faith keeps me going when times get rough, and keeps me thankful when times are wonderful. There is nothing in life that doesn't require faith. Sometimes I have had to learn that the hard way! I am grateful for my Savior and my Heavenly Father and the faith that I have in them.

Visit mormon.org to see how people increase, and use, their faith every day.

I KNOW Heavenly Father Loves Me

There is nothing in this world that I am more sure of than the fact that I have a Heavenly Father that loves me.

That is the greatest gift I have ever received.

Just like we have an earthly Father we have one in Heaven as well. He roots for us and cheers us on. He cares about what we do and what we are thinking. He wants us to tell Him how we feel and ask Him questions. He cries with us in times of pain and sorrow. He truly watches over us.

Before this life we lived with our Heavenly Father. He gave us this life so we could become like Him. He wants so badly for us to make correct choices so that we can return home and live FOREVER with Him.
Moses 1:6 perfectly displays our relationship with our Father. It says,

"And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all."

We are God's children. He loves us and He has a plan for us.
Countless times I have felt Him right next to me, cheering for me. I have seen Him place things or people in my life to show me that He cares. On a multitude of occasions I have felt His loving arms wrap around me and say, "It's alright. Choose better next time."

Never can I comprehend the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. What an incredible and empowering gift to know of His divine love.

Patience

Today I am grateful for the gift of patience.

I know for a fact that if it were not for the gift of patience I would not be here today. My mother would have given up on me a long time ago. I was a terrible child and it seemed the only thing my mom could do was pray for patience. But the more patience my mother prayed for, the worse I got. I was a terrifying child. You never knew what I was up to, or what wheels were turning in my head. Eventually I turned 6 and grew out of my "holy terror" stage, and my mom had much more patience.
And thus we see from my mother's experiences that the Lord tries our patience until we think we can't take it anymore.

Mosiah 23:21 says,
" Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith."

Faith and patience go hand in hand. Because of our faith in Him we have patience. Patience is a capacity, and the Lord will expand our capacities if we put all of our faith in Him and trust in His timing. The more my mother prayed for patience the more Heavenly Father expanded my capacity to raise more ruckus, as well as her capacity to handle whatever I came up with.

Patience manifests itself in a multitude of ways. You have to be patient with children, patient for the microwave to cook your food, patient in your afflictions, patient in waiting for blessings, patient in waiting for the second coming, and patient for a multitude of other things.

President Thomas S. Monson said,

"Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, fore getting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required."

Too many people in this world already give up when the going gets rough. But being patient always has its reward. Without patience the world would be a very angry place. I can't even imagine a world without the gift of patience! No one would be skilled at anything, or have any type of knowledge. We would virtually go no where. We would be in a lot of trouble.

Everything worthwhile in life takes time, and without patience we would never get there. 

What a blessing patience is. What a loving and trusting Heavenly Father. What a great gift.

Talents

Today I am grateful for the gift of talents.

I am grateful not just for my talents, but for the talents of other people as well. Talents prove that we have a loving Heavenly Father who gives us unique gifts. How kind is Father to give us things that make each of us special! It really shows how much He loves us and how precious we are to Him.  If we were all good at the same thing the world would get no where! Thank goodness we have a world full of varied talents. Talents aren't just being good at painting, or even being a really great banjo player. Talents come in all shapes and sizes! We are each His children and He loves us so much that He gave us these things.

The most amazing part about talents is that they are never for us. They are ALWAYS for someone else. Even if we are given a particular set of skills that help us get through a difficult time, it is only so we can turn around and use it to help someone else. Never in my life had I realized that my talents were never for me. That is why we are encouraged to share our talents and not hide them under a bushel! It is really up to us to develop and use the God given talents. When we use these precious gifts we are able to be an instrument in uplifting His children.
Alma 29:9 says,
" I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy."

How truly our joy will be when we share the talents that God has given us specifically. What a loving Heavenly Father. What a great gift.

Mercy's Arms

This time of year always seems to get out of control. Christmas gets two months away and people lose their minds. They practically drive themselves crazy trying to get all the presents, the parties, the treats, the wrapping, the tree, and all the decorations together. But let us take a moment to reflect upon CHRISTmas and think about the best gift giver that we know. The best gift giver that I know is Heavenly Father. He truly knows what we want AND what we need. So for the next 12 days I'm going to post something out of the ordinary (hopefully) that I'm grateful for. So here goes.

Today I am grateful for the gift mercy.

Mercy.

In the Bible Dictionary it says that... wait. Mercy ISN'T in the Bible Dictionary.

But somewhere else in the depths of LDS.org it says that, "mercy is the compassionate treatment of a person greater than what is deserved."

Does that describe us as humans beings perfectly, or what?

Today I am grateful for the gift of mercy. As a largely imperfect person living in an unrighteous world I make mistakes. But mercy's arms are always there to encircle me and lift me up again. What an amazing gift we have been given by a loving Heavenly Father and a perfect older brother. Mercy is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
In the index one of the synonyms for mercy is the love of God. Heavenly Father knew that we would make mistakes, and that was to be part of our learning experience. God has to be perfectly just, or else He would cease to be God. But because of Jesus Christ's infinite Atonement, He can plead on our behalf. By exercising mercy Heavenly Father forgives us of our sins and welcomes us home when we are obedient.

Alma 5:33 says, "Behold, he sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you."

I can see this scripture play out in my mind. In my mind Christ runs to meet us at the gate! He wraps His arms around us, leads us home, and pleads on our behalf. Almost like the prodigal sibling. He wants the best for us and has been waiting for us to come back.

What a simple and easy promise. What a great blessing. What proof of a loving Heavenly Father. What a great gift.