The work is hastening! Spread the word!

There has been an uproar in missionary work; Soon we will have 100,000 missionaries out in the field, sharing this gospel to every nation, kindred tongue and people. The Lords work is absolutely hastening, you cant deny it!
I have a personal testimony I want to share today; Sharing the gospel brings so many blessings into your life, as well as those you share it with! When I was first baptized, I was talking to everyone that crossed my path about the gospel, telling them everything I knew, trying to be an example of the believers. As I continue on my conversion journey, I gain a better understanding of how important it is to share the gospel, and do what I can to build up Gods Kingdom.

I started using the internet as a way I can share the gospel. I have liked almost every LDS friendly page that has came across facebook, sharing statuses and pictures I love that cause me to feel the spirit. I recently had a prayer answered through facebook, via an LDS page. I believe that the Lord has given us these things to help the work move along, and this is why:

About a month ago, a person interested in the church had posted on one of these pages about how she loved the kind and loving words she was reading, and how they uplifted her spirit. She wanted to know more about the church, but didn't know where to begin. A bunch of people began to comment bearing their testimony of the church, but no one was offering up advice on how she can come to learn more! Automatically, I responded with a link to Mormon.org, explaining she can request the missionaries come visit her, or she can even chat with one live. I then told her that this is what I did, and that I didn't regret a single second of my experience of investigating the church, and that I came to know it was true and was thankful for the resources we have to share the gospel. Almost immediately, she sent me a private message and began to ask me a few questions about the gospel. Then she told me her story.

Josephine was born and raised in the Catholic church, and all through out her life she was feeling as if there was a huge missing piece to her puzzle. One day, when experiencing some serious hardship, she came home to find a tattered and beaten up Book of Mormon on her door step. She did not know where it came from or who put it there, but she picked it up, and read it! The spirit immediately testified to her it was true, but it was so different than what she grew up with. Not knowing what to do about the spirit she felt, she made sure that she cherished the book, and even kept it close to her side.
I have been in constant communication with Josephine, answering all her questions, and she has finally worked up the courage to talk to the missionaries! Finding her and becoming her friend has been such a blessing. I feel like a missionary when we talk. She has Christ in her countenance, and her testimony is so beautiful. I am watching her grow, and seeing first hand, how the gospel really does change lives and bless them immeasurably! I cant begin to describe the strong spirit I feel when I have shared the gospel with her, and other people. It has blessed me so much, and I know that this is the Lord's work!


This experience has pushed me to keep sharing the gospel. It has kept me commited to updating my blog, and sharing it on all those pages and groups, doing what I can to spread the word and share my testimony of this gospel. Our late Prophet, Spencer W Kimbell once said, "I feel the Lord has placed, in a very natural way within our circles of friends and acquaintances, many persons who are ready to enter into his Church. We ask that you prayerfully identify those persons and then ask the Lord’s assistance in helping you introduce them to the gospel". When I heard this quote for the first time, I really felt the spirit move me to make a bigger effort to spread the good news. I know for a fact that this is true, and the Lord has prepared someone, or even many people, for us to find and bring unto his fold. We don't need to be set apart as missionaries and wearing a name tag to prayerfully identify the elect and share the gospel. If the gospel makes us happy, why wouldn't we want to share this happiness with others? If we are doing the Lords errand, we are promised his help, so what is there to loose?!

I love the scripture in D&C 18:15-16 that states:

“And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

“And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” 

 

Sharing the gospel brings you so much peace and many blessings, and the people we share the gospel with can come to know their savior, and that is the ultimate blessing. I know that the missionaries who have shared the good news of the restored gospel with me have changed and blessed my life innumerably. When I was baptized, I made a commitment to take upon me the name of Jesus Christ, and part of this baptismal covenant I made, was to share the promised blessings I have been given with everyone.

This gospel has really changed my life, and I know that if you ask God if the Book of Mormon is true, with a open and sincere heart, with faith in His son Jesus Christ, the truth of it will be made manifest unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. I know this, because I kneeled to pray, and I asked God the Father if this was true, and He told me it was. I feel its truth every day, I feel its grace every moment of my life. I know its real. I know my redeemer lives, and I pray that everyone can come to truly know their savior like I have. I challenge everyone to share the gospel with someone this week. Give a pass along card to a neighbor, invite someone to church, give a friend the Book of Mormon. This is our job as members of the church, and if we love and live the gospel, we will be a bright light to those who are in search of the truth!

here are some links to share with a friend, or even in a facebook status to help share this glorious gospel!!

www.mormon.org
www.lds.org
www.mormonconvertstestify.org  << My conversion story and testimony are published on this website!

 

 

I am a daughter of God

Something changes inside of you once you realize the truth of being a child of God.
Heavenly Father really does love each of His children more than any of us can imagine, and that love is so powerful. As a daughter of God, I am such a unique individual. Knowing that I am good enough for His love and mercy, is really changing something inside of me.

I was in an abusive relationship for almost 3 years of my life. The false security left me longing for love, and holding on hopelessly to something that wasn't right for me. My unique situation lead me to investigate the church in the first place, looking for God and His love. When it finally came time to face my insecurities, and break off the relationship, I was in a desperate search to know that God really did exist. I always wondered how my Heavenly father could let me go through something so horrible, and destructive to the little self esteem I had. Looking back I realize that if it weren't for that experience, and all I learned from it, I wouldn't be a member of the church, and I would not have such a strong testimony of Gods divine and infinite love. My patriarchal blessing even explains this to a way that touches my soul so deeply, I KNOW THAT I AM LOVED.

As women in todays world, we struggle with our physical bodies, hating every inch of what we have, envying the looks on magazine covers.
As members of the church we know that God gave us this physical body. We have arms, legs, eyes to see, hearts to feel. Our bodies are gifts, they are temples to house the spirit of the Lord within us, and like the temples we go and worship in, we should be treating them with the upmost respect.

I was told by that nasty ex boyfriend of mine, on a constant basis, that I am fat, ugly worthless and useless. It didn't take me long to start believing these things. Once I escaped the relationship, I walked around with this false perception of myself.

As I think of the term "my body is a temple" I gain more respect for my body, and who I am. God made me exactly how I am, every flaw, every hair on my head. He thinks I am beautiful, and he loves me more than any man that I will ever date or fall in love with. Sometimes our insecurities fall in the hands of the men who broke our hearts, and part of my journey in this gospel, is learning that God loves me more than any man can. Being good enough for Heavenly Father has helped me respect and love myself more. Its helped me set my standards on a higher ground, and forgive myself for mistakes and imperfections I carry with me. To take a gift from God, and nourish it, brings a lot more self worth into our lives. How we perceive ourselves does matter, and how we love ourselves can determine where we stand with our testimonies in the gospel.

I am noticing a change in myself, a change I have been praying for, which is coming slowly but surely, as I grow in my conversion.
I truly know that I am a divine daughter of Father in Heaven, and because of this, I deserve to find someone who loves me exactly as I am. Someone who is blessed with the ability to see me as my Father sees me. Someone who cherishes me as a daughter in heaven, and loves Christ more than anything. I am learning, every day, to accept the love I have been blessed with, to open myself up to the blessings God has given me, and to no longer fear; Because God has put me on this very path, so I can be happy.

This gospel has completely erased the old Angelena. It has changed everything that was not good, virtuous or lovable. It has made me a woman, with eyes wide open to the real change of heart this gospel brings people like me. Christ and His atonement has saved my life. It has saved everything that was amazing in me, and brought it back to life. I know that I am a beloved daughter of God. I know that I am loved beyond compare, and everything that I am now, is because of this simple truth.

I just want to bear my testimony today, that God really does love you. He wants to bless you. If we allow Christ into our lives, and if we can learn to live the gospel, things start to happen that we never imagined could! Lives CHANGE. Hearts CHANGE. God is so good. I know this gospel was restored upon the earth, and because it was restored, we all can find joy, peace and a fullness of blessings within ourselves and our lives. I want to express my deep love for all the daughters of God; You are beautiful. You are worthy of this Love, so go chase it. Never settle for less than you are worth, and remember that you are worth millions in the eyes of God.

An overlooked sacrifice: The power of the atonement

NEWSFLASH: We are all sinners! No one is perfect and not a single one of us walks around sinless. SURPRISE! 
Our God is very strict. He does not change His mind. He is the same yesterday, tomorrow and forever. God has not changed and neither have His requirements to enter His kingdom. No unclean thing can dwell with God, not one. Yet, He wants all of his children to return to live with him after this life. How is this possible? Sinning makes us unclean and unworthy to dwell in his kingdom, and we are so imperfect that it is IMPOSSIBLE for us to perfectly live Gods commandments. Even when we do our very best we still fall short one way or another. No one has ever lived a perfect life. Except, our Savior, Jesus Christ. 

We have accepted Christ as the Son of God. We know He was perfect, walked on water, and fed hundreds with one piece of bread. We accept Christ as our Savior at baptism, making a promise to always remember Christ and take upon us His holy name. However, sometimes we get overwhelmed, and overlook what He really has done for us. His atonement allows us to be perfect RIGHT NOW. We alone can never  be perfect, but if we form a personal relationship with Christ, and make him our better half, we can have perfection through Christ. As a convert I have recently been struggling with this concept, and I am sure many other members of the church have too! While reading the book, Believing Christ, by, Stephen E Robinson, I have grasped a large portion of the atonement that I have been missing. 

There are two things that have stuck with me since reading this book, and I am writing this blog to expand on my feelings about them.

In Isiah 1:18 it says, "Come now, and let us reason together saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Robinson explains this scripture so brilliantly! He continues to expand on Isiah 1:18. The Lord is saying here, " It doesnt matter what you did. Whatever it was, no matter how horrible or vile, is not the issue. The issue here is whatever your sin was or is, I can erase it, I can clean you up and make you innocent, pure, and worthy, and I can do it today; I can do it now!"
This is the incredible power of the atonement! I feel sometimes we over look this point: Christ can save us. He can help us be perfect. He can make us perfect, by allowing Him into our lives and making him our better half. We can not save ourselves. I have learned this myself! Without Christ, I was drowning in a pool of my own sorrow, and I could not swim. Note, I am a very good swimmer! God loves us so much he gave us his only begotten son. The atonement is the single greatest gift given to us, one that we can not pay back. Unless, we utilize it daily, and humbly ask for the Lord's help.

Sometimes as a convert, I feel this extra pressure to be a really awesome member of the church. I try really hard to be a good example, and sometimes, I take everything upon my shoulders. I share the gospel as much as I can, I attend every activity (I have maybe missed 4 since I was baptized), I give rides to and from activities, offer help when needed, and sometimes it gets overwhelming! I start to forget my need to have daily repentance, and be humble. Life gets busy and I have had several experiences where I felt like I just couldn't live up to the expectations given. That is when I realized; I believe in Christ, but do I BELIEVE he is my savior and he can really do all of these things? Do I honestly have faith and trust in the Lord? After all, it is only through him and his grace that I can return to my father.

Later in the book, we here the story of the bicycle.
Robinson's daughter, who was pretty young at the time, came to him one day and pleaded, very innocently, to receive a bike of her own. All the kids on the block had one, and she wanted one too. Being in a bit of a financial crisis at the time, he tells her that if she saves up all her pennies, she will eventually be able to buy her own bike. He knew that by the time she really did save enough pennies to buy a bike, she would be saving for a car, but it was a good enough answer for her and she let him bee. 
A few weeks later, while reading the paper, he peeks over to see his daughter helping his wife with some chores around the house. When she finishes, she runs up the stairs, and comes back down a few moments later with a jar full of pennies. The first thing she does is bring it to her daddy, and say "You promised, that if I saved all my pennies I could get a bike!" Of course, daddy cant say no to those big puppy dog eyes, and agrees to take her down town to look at bikes. 
After all day of searching, she finally sees it- the bike she was destined to have in the pre-existence! She hops on, with a huge smile on her cute little face. She then grabs for the price tag. Tears swell in her eyes as she tells her dad that she will never have enough money for the bike. He says to her, "how much money do you have?" she looks at him wistfully, and says, ".61 cents."

Do you see where this is going?

He gets to eye level, and explains that if she gives him all she has, all of her 61 cents, a hug and a kiss, he will cover the rest of the cost for the bike. 

The two examples above give a perfect outlook on the atonement, and how powerful it really is. 
All that is asked of us is to have faith. Have faith in our savior and trust that whatever we cant do on or own, he will cover. Have faith in his atoning sacrifice, repent of our mistakes, and try again. Do whatever is in our power, to follow the commandments to the best of our ability, and lean on the gift of the atonement to bring us to perfection; no matter how sinful we are. All of us are in the same boat, and in the gospel covenant we agree to do all that we can do. We will never be able to do all that is required, so we give our savior our best efforts, and in return, some day we will all be made perfect. Our mistakes are covered, as long as we do our part. 

Robinson goes to explain the gospel and the atonement using tithing as an example.
Tithing is the principle within the gospel that asks each of the members of the church to give 10% of their annual income to the church. For those who aren't members and are not familiar with this practice, the money goes to building meeting houses, temples, general missionary funds and so fourth.
Anyway, everyone is asked to give 10% of all they have. Whether you have $100 or .61 cents, the amount is not what matters. What matters is, we give all we can to the Lord, in return for his help reaching perfection. He basically says, "Give me all that you can give. Give me your .61 cents, grow and form a personal relationship with me (a hug and a kiss) and I will take care of the rest."

the last time I paid tithing it was the smallest amount I had ever paid before. All my bills happened to be due that week, and my pay check was the smallest it had ever been. I really didn't have enough to cover all of my bills and take care of myself, but I still made sure I gave 10% to the Lord, with intense prayers, hoping I could get the help.
I paid my tithing, managed to pay all of my bills, and automatically thought of "prove me here with..."
I felt guilty paying such a short amount of tithing, I felt like I was robbing the Lord of what I had. I learned though, that it wasn't the dollar amount that mattered to him. What mattered, was that I had FAITH. I trusted in his counsel, obeyed his commandants, and after I did all I could do, he took care of me. he lifted that weight right off of me, and made me new, and clean once again.

I have been pondering the reality of the atonement for quiet some time now. Reading this book has given me incredible insight, and I felt impressed to share a tiny bit of what I have learned with all of you.
All of our efforts will never be enough, unless we allow Christ to take care of the debt we owe. He wants to do those things for us, He offered himself to pay our debt, and be our Savior. I know that Jesus Christ is my redeemer, He has made me a new person, and with his help, I become a tiny little bit more perfect every day. I know I wont reach perfection for a very long time, even after death, but because I know the atonement was real, I have faith that my savior will pick me up, and carry me when I can not walk any further. God loves us all so much, he knows our struggles, our pains and our sorrows. He has given us a way to have those burdens lifted, and that way is only through Jesus Christ.
This gospel blesses me with a daily opportunity to be made new, and to inch my way to eternal salvation. I know that because of the atonement I can return to live with God, with my family, glowing with eternal glory. I am so blessed to know these truths, and to have this gospel in my life!