Monday, January 23, 2012

He is always with you, don't be afraid.


In our everyday lives we need inspiration.

     I have said it before, but Al Fox does just that.   
   
                         She has created another masterpiece.

ALWAYS THERE. Her new video shows her experiment of having Christ in her life at all times. She carries a photo of Him with her for a whole day. She literally has made Christ the center of her life. What I admire the most is that she is not afraid. Everywhere she goes she is an example, she is a Daughter of God.


Check her video out, and share it with others. 



©LV 2012


Sunday, January 15, 2012

Exchanging with Prayer


On Sundays it takes me a total of 3 ½ minutes to get to church. I know that I am a lucky girl for this, even while serving in New York it only took 20 minutes to get to church. I know that there are many members that have to travel hours to get to take the sacrament, but they try their best to get there. I have always looked up to them. One of the Young Women from my home stake is learning that exact thing; it is not just a 5 min drive anymore.  She is currently living in Austria as an exchange student.  I had her write me about some of her experiences that she has had while on this adventure. When Tasia talked about her routine to get to church, I felt very blessed!



Now, my time here has been another amazing blessing in my life already. I have seen the Lords hand in my life so many times in the last 5 months. I have been placed in an amazing host family. It may be hard sometimes because they aren't LDS and sometimes they just don't understand my standards sometimes, but I get by. Getting to church here is also kind of a pain. I have to be driven 10-15 minutes to Town (I'm not allowed to drive here) then i take a train for 30-50 minutes into Vienna, then the subway for 10-15 minutes and then walk another 15 minutes to the church. I have found it is so hard to make myself get out of bed early on Sunday and travel that far. Not because I don't want to go to church, but because i have to go alone. I have always taken my family for granted in that way. My testimony of how important it is to go to church has greatly increased since I got here.”
I know how scary it is to leave home for an extended period of time, not knowing what life is going to be like in the new culture. I am very impressed with how Tasia has adapted and taken on new challenges even though they seemed daunting at first, but she jumped in and was able to see answers to her prayers.
“I am currently learning how to make Austrian pastries and sweets at a Pastry shop nearby, because both my host parents are friends of the owners.  All of these things have been answers to my prayers. I was thinking before I left that I wanted to be a waitress while I was in College so that I could learn AND earn money for myself. I had always thought that it would be fun to open up my own restaurant or bakery or pastry shop and I'm learning a  LOT at school, at the pastry shop AND at home with my host mom. I was scared to start this language since I had already learned 2 ½  years of Spanish, but in 5 months, I can already say and understand so a lot of the language.”
It is so neat to see valiant Young Women from around the world embarking on these adventures. I know that it has been a great blessing in Tasia’s life, but think about how many people she is influencing on her Austrian adventure. She is relying on her Heavenly Father to lead and guide her through this experience. Tasia is a great example to me of making decisions based on prayer, she said…
“I prayed to know if I should go or not and asked my Father in Heaven to make things go wrong while I was getting the mounds of paperwork done, but everything has seemed to be handed to me on a silver platter."
………………………………………………….
Tasia, REMEMBER THAT YOU’RE A DAUGHTER OF GOD, and your hot :]

©LV2012

Sunday, January 8, 2012

The Climb

Over the Holidays I was invited to go rock climbing with my brother and dad. I had been before, and had enjoyed it. This time, was going to be a little bit different, we were bouldering. We did not have someone to belay us, it was all about the climb. At first, I was a little intimidated. I knew that the fall would be broken by soft padding, but I still felt the fear creeping in. As I watched my dad and brother climb the walls like SPIDERMAN, I decided to go for it. I started to climb on the easier wall, I realized that without a rope you had to be more careful. There were times that I missed a step and fell, but my fall was ALWAYS broken either by the padding or my brother, who was coaching me.
scriptureThat night while laying in bed, contemplating how sore I was going to be the next day, I thought of starting school again. I could feel the fear I had experienced while rock climbing, start to overcome me again. I knew I was going to be taking REALLY hard classes and working a lot. That is when I had a scripture POP into my head, Joshua 1:9, “Be of good courage!” That is when relief came over me. No matter how hard my classes get, and how stressed I feel, I know HE IS WITH ME through my climb.



©LV2012



Sunday, January 1, 2012

Arise and Shine, Now is the TIME!!!



HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Arise and Shine its 2012, we have made it… When a New Year comes, it is common for people to set “New Year’s Resolutions.” In the past, I might have set a few farfetched resolutions like, keep my room clean, not stay up late, and no television… Sadly, those have never worked.  So this year I am trying something new, a THEME for my year. As I was trying to come up with the perfect one, I came upon the Mutual Theme for 2012 on LDS.org.
“Arise and Shine Forth!”
I then watched Elder L. Tom Perry’s VIDEO that explained the theme. As I watched it, I felt something spark inside of me. It was the feelings I had been missing from doing missionary work. As I watched another VIDEO, It showed young women who had experienced neat missionary opportunities because of their example. One young woman had sparked attention by merely wearing her Young Woman’s necklace. I have realized it is the small things that we do that people notice. To be a good example we need to start with the small things, reading the Book of Mormon, saying sincere prayers, and attending church and the temple. This is my theme for the year, to Arise and Shine Forth, to be an example to those around me. To achieve this, I must do what I have been asked, to focus on the small and simple things.  I know as I do these things, everything else will fall into place :]

©LV 2012