Fall like an Olympian

Have you been watching the Olympics? Our favorite event is figure skating, but we've had fun watching as many as we can.

These people are literally the BEST in the world at what they do. It's amazing what feats their bodies are capable of.

But you know? Even Olympians aren't perfect.  Sometimes they don't land their jumps. Sometimes they fall. Even the best people in the world fall some times! And when they do... they have to get right back up and keep going. No time to mourn, no chance to take a breather and feel sorry for themselves. They've got to get right back up and finish their routine.  They can't be shaken by what just happened.

That is such a great parallel for life! As we fall and make mistakes, we shouldn't beat ourselves up. Even the best people (with the lone exception of the Savior Himself) fall sometimes. We should aim to fall like Olympians--pick ourselves up and keep going. Don't let the fall shake you into doubting yourself. You still got this!

Imperfection

I've always been a bit of a perfectionist, and life as an imperfect person in an imperfect world gets me down sometimes.

In the worst moments, I get into a sort of spiral. I get discouraged by my weaknesses and failings, and I get sad, and then I feel guilty that I am being a drag to the people around me because I'm sad. When it gets bad enough I just want to go crawl into my bed and pull the covers over my head and not speak to ANYONE, because I'll inevitably make mistakes and hurt people sometimes and disappoint people sometimes. The weight of that can be immobilizing.

But I'm learning to recognize where those feelings come from. Satan loves to poke at our weaknesses. He wants us to believe that we aren't good enough, that our weaknesses reflect our inherent worth, that we can never be better than we are, so why try?

The Savior doesn't work like that. The Savior will help to identify our weaknesses and ways we need to change. Then, He helps us make that change! He helps us see how to improve. Through the power of His atonement, He heals our imperfections and helps us become better than we are today.

Ether 12:27 tells us, "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

The Savior always brings us hope, never despair. He gives us a hand up and shows us a better way. His call is a call to action.

Satan likes to kick us while we are down. He wants to isolate us and cut us off from our loved ones. One of his tricks is to get us to freeze in our tracks, to stop us from doing the good that we can do.

Elder Holland gave a great talk about this last conference. I guess it's time for me to review it again!

I need to remember Paul's words too: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

God of Miracles

Trevor and I are taking the church's Personal Finance course (part of the Self Reliance offerings) and we are loving it so far!

This week, we studied the principle of exercising faith in the Savior. (We begin each class by studying a gospel principle, and then we connect that principle to finances.) Part of our homework was to go home and study certain stories from the scriptures, including Daniel and the lion's den, and Elijah and the widow of Zarephath.

What struck me as I read these stories is how easily we mortals can be blinded by our own wisdom. God is all powerful. He created the world and it does His bidding. He knows the end from the beginning.

But sometimes, I think we forget that. Sometimes I find myself falling into the trap of not trusting His word, because I can't see how it will come true.

I look at the story of the widow of Zarephath. Her country was in famine. She only had enough food left to feed herself and her son one last time, and there was no hope of more food coming. She was prepared to cook one last meal, and then starve.

And then Elijah came to her. I don't think she knew him before this--but he came and asked her to feed him some bread. She told him of her desperate circumstances, but he told her--go and make him a little cake first, then feed herself and her son. If she would do this, her food supply would last her until the famine ended.

How much faith did it take for her to act on his word? But she did, and that little bit of food she had left miraculously never failed. She and her son survived the famine.

I look at her example and wonder, would I have her faith in that situation? Or would I rely on my senses and my past experience and say that of course, I couldn't do this. I hardly had enough food for one last meal and nothing he did would stretch it to make it last longer. If I lacked her faith... I wouldn't have received the life saving blessing she received.

I will never know what I would do in her place, but I can do my best to follow her example in my life. I can work on trusting the Lord, even if with my mortal eyes, I can't see a path before me that leads to the end He's promised. I am ashamed to look back and acknowledge that I lost faith in His promises to me that I would find the right man eventually and get married. It took so much longer for Trevor to appear than I expected that my faith faltered. But he did appear, and I would have been so much happier if I had just trusted in God's word all along. I need to remember that for my challenges in the future! I may not see the way to get through them, but God does, and if I rely on Him, He will lead me.

Grandpa Hansen

This last weekend, Trevor and I traveled to Pocatello for his grandfather's funeral. Trevor wrote a beautiful musical arrangement for the grandchildren to sing for the service, and he accompanied them on the piano. I think his grandpa would have loved it.

I didn't know Grandpa Hansen well, but in the time I got to spend with him, he was always so welcoming and loving. Of course I was a bit nervous joining a new family (I really wanted them to like me!), and it meant so much to me to be welcomed in with open arms.

He knew his death was coming, and he met it bravely. Trevor and I called him a week or so before his passing to say goodbye. He told us, "It's okay, I have lived a good life," and we could tell he meant it. He did his best to handle funeral preparations so his family wouldn't have to worry about it. My grandfather did that as well before he passed. It's a great final gift of love.

In the past few months, Ralph, President Monson, and now Grandpa Hansen have all passed on. Because of that, death is very much on my mind. What do I want to do with my life on the earth? What kind of legacy do I want to leave, and how do I want to be remembered? All three of these men were great men who changed people's lives for the better. I want to be like that someday too.

During our time in Idaho, we spent a lot of time with Trevor's extended family--aunts, uncles, and cousins (not to mention great-aunts and family friends!). At first I felt a little out of place, since I only knew a handful of people there and everyone else was related to each other. But they all went out of their way to make me feel welcome and like part of the family. I'm grateful for my in-laws, and I hope I can be as welcoming when our kids-in-law come along (looking pretty far ahead down the road, I know!)

Our New Prophet

On January 2 this year, the prophet of our church, Thomas S. Monson, passed away.

He has served as the prophet for the last 10 years. Before that, he was in the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He's always been a church leader throughout my entire life, and I will miss him and his beautiful talks! But I know he is happy to be reunited with his sweet wife Frances. He has been physically suffering for quite a while now, and now he is at peace.

There have been 4 prophets in my life time. I don't really remember the first one, Pres. Ezra Taft Benson, who died when I was six. My main memory is my mom reading the newspaper about his death and showing me the article. I don't remember much about Pres. Howard W. Hunter either, except for one vivid memory of General Conference (a meeting held twice a year when the leaders of the church speak to all members across the world). I was still very young and not paying much attention, but my mom told me I needed to come listen when the prophet spoke. I remember sitting down and looking up at the screen to see him. (This was back when we had to go to the stake center to watch the broadcast!)

President Gordon B. Hinckley came next. He was the prophet from 1995 to 2008, from when I was about 8 to when I was 20. He was the prophet of my youth, and I mourned greatly when he passed. It took me a little while to accept that President Monson was now the prophet. But I remember when he was sustained in General Conference in April 2008, I received a powerful witness that he was the man God had called to lead our church. I am grateful for his service and his testimony over the last 10 years!

Today I watched his funeral with my family. The final speaker was President Russell M. Nelson, the man who will soon become our next prophet. (When a prophet dies, the most senior member of the Apostles--that is, the man that has been serving as an apostle the longest--becomes the next prophet.) As he spoke, I received a strong spiritual confirmation that he is now our prophet. I love President Nelson and I know he will do a wonderful job.

The work of the Lord always moves forward!

Facebook Pseudo Fast

I like Facebook entirely too much. I realized not that long ago that I was checking it first thing in the morning and last thing before I went to bed.

So I am cutting back! Deleting my Facebook app didn't work, so I actually asked Trevor to change my password. I'm only getting on once a day, and sometimes once every two days. It's amazing how little I seem to be missing on there. I think this was a good step for me.

I still have my Messenger app so I can see if people talk to me (I figure that's like texting, right?) but if anything goes on in a group or on my wall or something, I will be a little slow to respond. Just a little head's up.

Word of the Year: Lift

This year, my word of the year is LIFT.

Robert D. Hales (one of the apostles of our church) strives to follow this proverb in his marriage. I want to do the same. One of my goals for this new year is to do all I can to help and strengthen my husband, and I know he'll do the same for me. 

This year, I also want to be better about serving other people around me and "lifting up the hands which hang down." I need to be less focused on my own problems and instead reach out to help others.

The way we talk to ourselves really does make a difference in how we perceive the world. I'm too often my own harshest critic, and sometimes that paralyzes me and prevents me from performing at my best.  This year my goal is to be kind to myself and engage in positive self talk, not negative!

What is your word of the year this year?