Choice and Accountability

This year, I have been focusing on my choice and accountability blog I kept as my project for Evening of Excellence. I enjoyed getting on the computer and putting down my thoughts and feelings about how choices affect my life. I would normally write on Sundays, so I would have time to think about the topic I wanted to cover for that week, and my mind would constantly be thinking about the choices I make. I have learned that the Lord gives us obstacles to make us better people. We can either falter and do things we know are wrong, or we can rise to the occasion and act the way we know we can. We can choose the right.

I love life, and even though it is hard sometimes, I am glad that we can choose for ourselves the lives we will lead and the direction we want to go and the things we want to accomplish. I have a testimony of this gospel and that the Atonement is real and the Savior loves us. My agency is something I need to be careful with and treat as a blessing in my life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. :)

Job

I like learning about the story of Job, not because of his pain, but his reaction to the things he endured. The Lord was testing him to try his faith and see what he would do in the face of hardship. I dont think I could be as strong as he was, but I can learn from him and his example. I need to not give up when I have things going wrong in my life. Looking at the bigger picture and what will happen in the future and what will affect me for eternity can help me to keep my temper and not be angered by my situations. We can choose our surroundings all the time or our situations, but we can choose how we react and what we do with our lives when unexpected things do happen to us. Counting to ten usually helps with holding onto sanity. :)

I remember a story I heard a while ago. A man who was so patient and never got angry about anything. One day he was in an accident and fell a story or two from an unfinished building at a construction site. While he was in the ambulance, one of the paramedics asked him if he was alergic to any medication. He took a second to answer, and then said, "I think Im alergic to gravity..." How amazing that he could be in so much pain and still be lighthearted. When was later asked how he kept so calm, and said he always counted to ten before saying anything too! We should all find something in our own lives to help us choose the right and show love to others even when we get frustrated.

Peculiar People

I have learned that peculiar means out of the norm, not strange or wierd. Therefore, because we as Later-Day Saints keep the law of chastity, we are peculiar to the world. When someone who was considered one of us goes "out of the norm" and breaks this commandment, we consider them peculiar. However, amidst all of the confusing thoughts of men, there is only one standard, opinion, and judgement that matters: God's. And anyone who thinks they are above His judgement is foolish. Anyone who fears the judgement of men greater than they fear God is foolish. There is always hope and repentance there for whoever has fallen, and I know that Heavenly Father is willing to always forgive you if the effort is put forth to change. Immerse yourself in the things you know are right and the outcome will be what you are looking for 100% of the time.

Eternal Marriage

Today in Young Women's, we were taught about marriage and choices we need to make now to help us decide who we will marry when it is time. Also, about how important it is to write down the qualities you are searching for in a spouse, so you can be looking for them while you are dating. My teacher referenced 2 Corinthians 6:14. It talks about being "yoked together" like two oxen carrying a wagon. The weight must be equal for anything to get done, and progress to be made. Elder Russell M. Nelson said:

http://lds.org/church/leader/russell-m-nelson?lang=eng

"[The] proclamation on the family helps us realize that celestial marriage brings greater possibilities for happiness than does any other relationship.

The importance of choice may be illustrated by a homespun concept that came to mind one day when I was shopping in a large retail store. I call it “patterns of the shopper.” As shopping is part of our daily life, these patterns may be familiar.

Wise shoppers study their options thoroughly before they make a selection. They focus primarily on the quality and durability of a desired product. They want the very best. In contrast, some shoppers look for bargains, and others may splurge, only to learn later—much to their dismay—that their choice did not endure well. And sadly, there are those rare individuals who cast aside their personal integrity and steal what they want. We call them shoplifters.

The patterns of the shopper may be applied to the topic of marriage. A couple in love can choose a marriage of the highest quality or a lesser type that will not endure. Or they can choose neither and brazenly steal what they want as “marital shoplifters.”

The subject of marriage is debated across the world, where various arrangements exist for conjugal living. My purpose in speaking out on this topic is to declare, as an Apostle of the Lord, that marriage between a man and a woman is sacred—it is ordained of God. I also assert the virtue of a temple marriage. It is the highest and most enduring type of marriage that our Creator can offer to His children."

I also love what President Hinckley has counseled on this topic: "There is no substitute for marrying in the temple... It is the only place under the heavens where marriage can be solemnized for eternity. Don't cheat yourself. Don't cheat your companion. Don't shortchange your lives."

I am glad that I have made choices thus far that have not prevented me from going to the temple. I have already decided that the only place possible for me to get married someday is in the temple. Let us all decide, if we haven't already, to make the temple our goal and to do our best to partake of the blessings we can find there.

"A Time to Prepare"

There are so many different things we can choose to feel. This may sound kind of cheesy, but last night I was watching "Monk" with my family, and on one of the episodes, they said "Happiness is a choice." Its so true!!! It doesnt matter what happens to us, whether its good or bad, its our choice to be happy, and in my opinion, that is probably the best choice we can make every single day. Im not saying it is easy, but it is definitely important and will make life that much more enjoyable. We should also be using our time wisely. Elder Ian S. Ardern of the Quorum of the Seventy said,"With the demands made of us, we must learn to prioritize our choices to match our goals or risk being exposed to the winds of procrastination and being blown from one time-wasting activity to another. We are well taught about priorities by the Master Teacher when He declared in His Sermon on the Mount, 'Wherefore, seek not the things of this world but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God, and to establish his righteousness'” We must be diligently seeking out opportnities to do good, so we can be "prepared to meet God" at the last day.

My Personal Progress

I am so excited!! I am so close to earning my Young Womanhood Recognition and medalion! There is a starting sense of accomplishment s I near the end of this great program. The choices I have made in my life are directly influenced by the church, and more specifically the Personal Progress Program. I know that because I have chosen to go to church and mutual every week, and read my scriptures, and say my prayers, and worked on value experiences, I have become a better person, and I am so grateful for that!!

Following in His Footsteps

I have come to learn that there is happiness in following the Savior. Today in seminary, we read about Joseph when he was in charge of selling the stored grain to the people of the land during the famine, andhow his brothers who sold him into slavery came asking for help. There are examples of how we should be found in both Joseph and his brothers. His brothers gained a better understanding of the worth of life and family, and changed their hearts to have more compassion towards their fellow men. Joseph was completely willing to love his brothers, after all they had done to him. But because his brothers sent him away into a life of hardship, Joseph was able to later save his family from starving. The choices we make influence our lives in ways we cannot understand and may not even realize in this life, but the Lord does. If we will be put our trust on Heavenly Father and do the best we can to become like Him and live with Him again, then he will take care of us and lift us up in our trials and hardships.