This week, we finished the Book of Mormon in class. What an amazing feeling it is to have gotten through this book another time! I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to be in this class. This week in particular, I was feeling very blessed because I was given an answer to a prayer. I have been struggling with some trials and I just couldn't understand why some things were happening to me. Then Brother Griffin shared and explained a scripture that gave a whole new meaning to my life
Ether 12:27 reads, "An if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that the 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."
Trials are hard to go through but that is the way life is supposed to be. God is constantly wanting to test our faith and he never gives us any trials that we can't handle. The important part of this scripture is the idea of humbling yourself because God can't help you t grow until you humble yourself and turn to Christ for help. I know that trials help us to become closer to Christ also, which is a blessing in itself.
I have a testimony of this Gospel. I have enjoyed being able to post my feelings and spiritual experiences on this blog.

I think that we can all agree that college is full of some of the best times and some of the worst. These next two weeks happen to fall into the category of the worst times in my opinion. That is because finals are approaching! I don't think I am the only one who looks for solace from Christ when I am struggling. This period of time is no different and as I think about my upcoming tests, I have a continual prayer in my heart. As I continued to stress out this past weekend, I payed extra attention to my scripture study in order to find some comforting scriptures that might help me.

Alma 36:3 reads, "And now, o my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day."

Whatever is happening in life, I find comfort in this scripture. I like to replace my name with Helaman in this situation because it becomes more applicable to me. First off, his father is speaking to him and telling him to listen to his words so that he can learn. The most important thing he says in this verse is basically that no matter what, when we trust God, he supports us in our trials in some way. To me, that could mean he sends someone to comfort us or even wraps his own arms around us. Either way, he is there for us no matter what. This scripture reminded me that God is loving and sent his son to die for us so that we can make it back to him. He is always rooting for us in every good thing we do so as I continue to study and take my finals, I know that I can count on him to help me. I know he won't magically give me the answers, but I will be grateful when he helps me to feel calm. 

This upcoming week has me thinking a lot about what I am grateful for. It has been a difficult semester and I have often found myself looking at all the negative things going on in my life instead of looking to the Lord and seeing all the blessings he has given me. Because of the spirit of Thanksgiving, I decided to look for scriptures that would apply to me this week. 

In Alma 34:38 it reads, "That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; That ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you."

This scripture is so powerful when you really think about what he talking about. Aside from excepting the Holy Ghost into our lives, we need to remember Christ as well. This is a time for worship as well and during that worship, we always need to remember to thank God or EVERYTHING he does. We might find ourselves asking him for a plethora of things in our prayers but when was the last time you truly thanked him for the little things he has done throughout the week? So I invite you to think about the things you are thankful for this week. Also, remember the Lord because without him, you would not have those things. He has truly given us everything in one way or another. Happy Thanksgiving :) 

I have had a very sad week. I have been disgusted and hurt by the hate that I see in our great nation. On Tuesday night, Donald Trump was elected president. Since that day, people have began rioting, protesting, and being violent. While I understand that people are upset, it is no way to act towards someone who is going to be leading our country for the next 4-8 years. No matter what, we need to turn our hearts to God in prayer for this man who will move our amazing country forward. Now more than ever do we need to come together and turn to the real man in charge; God. For those of you who fear for our future, I would like to share a scripture with you that really helped me this week. 

Moroni 7: 41 reads, "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal and this because of your faith according to the promise."

This is something I wish everyone would understand. We should be having hope because we have God and our Savior to care for us, no matter the circumstance, As long as we have faith in Christ, we can move forward with happiness and acceptance for the future. Pray instead of protest and create change instead of violence. Most importantly, respect the opinions of those around you because we are all Gods children, regardless of our differing beliefs.