Friends

He is your Friend. 

I feel like I have talked about this topic lately, but I want to share it again. Lately I have had to take a step back from the mirror and ask myself: "Samantha, what kind of a friend are you really being?" I have had to take a step back and re-evaluate my life, friendships, and my behavior. "Am I doing what The Lord wants and needs me to be doing? Am the friend He needs me to be?"
As I have been pondering this question I have had some conversations with my friends concerning the matter, and I have been reading and watching things about friends on lds.org. Today I want to share some of that with you in hopes that you will be able to evaluate your life, your friendships and such and see if you too are in need of a little "fix up" in the area.

First I want to share this video with you. In this video a young girl tells how by her Christ like example she made many friends. All she did was live as Christ would have her live and stand firm in her standards and beliefs. Everyone around her looked up to her for doing so and they were impressed by what she was doing so they wanted to be her friend. To me this video tells me that if I can just stand up for what I know to be true and I can live a Christ like example, I will be a light to those around me and I will be able to have many friends who know my standards and who know what I believe so they will want to help me keep those standards and not tear me down. Click here to watch.

Another thing I wanted to share with you is an article by Sister Elaine S. Dalton, former General Young Women President. This article is entitled: "What Is a True Friend?" I really liked this article because it brought some good points for me to think about. A few of them being:

"Choose friends who share your values so you can strengthen and encourage each other in living high standards." (This does not mean that you can't be friends with people of other religions, it simply means to be friends with those who aren't going to ask you to participate in bad things.)

"To have a good friend, you must first be a good friend."

"As you seek friends, do not ever compromise your standards." (see above)

"How do you define a friend?" (Social media describes a friend as someone who "follows" you. They could simply be an acquaintance, or a contact. Do you have any personal relationship with that person? Are they really a friend?)

"Sometimes we become too preoccupied by having a friend, rather we should become occupied with being a friend."

"Are your friends making it easier to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Are you being a friend that allows living the Gospel to be easier?"

"Are you committed to your friends, or are you 'flaky'?"

"True friends influence those with whom they associate to 'rise a little higher and be a little better'".

"As you live the gospel of Christ you will attract people to you who will want to be your friend-not just a contact on social media- but rather the kind of friend the Savior exemplified by His words and His example."

As you read this article I want to challenge you to look for something that you feel you could work on to become a better friend. Write it down and hang it on your mirror so you see it everyday. This way everyday you will be reminded to work on this thing/s. Also include this in your daily prayers to your Father In Heaven. He will see your desire to become more like The Savior and He will bless you with the strength you need to do so. He will help you change. Click here to read the article.

In closing I just want to testify that I know that friends have a major impact on our lives. They help determine who we are, and who we will become. Our friends can change our lives for the better or the worse. We can also be a friend that changes someone's life for good or bad. What kind of friend are you going to be? I hope that you choose to accept my challenge mentioned above and work on something the next couple of weeks or months to become a better friend. I know that Heavenly Father will bless you to become who you and He wants you to be. I know that you will be able to make the changes you want to make with His help. I know that Heavenly Father loves us, and we must never give up and trust in His atoning power to save us and make us better. I know this is true.

In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Love,
Samantha