Come unto Christ

There is no greater joy than coming unto him. He waits for you. 

I know I say this a lot. Just come unto Christ! I didn't ever really think that some of you reading this might not know what coming unto Christ means. I found some videos for you to watch that will help explain what this means. This year's theme for the LDS youth is to "Come Unto Christ" from Moroni 10:32.* I think that this first video tells us what that means and also how we can Come unto Him as well. First Video I like this video because it's youth that are my age telling us what we can do. This is the type of youth I am striving to become. I want to be able to come unto Christ too and share the gospel. That is why I have this blog is so that I can help bring others closer to Christ by sharing my testimony and by doing so I am learning a lot and coming closer to Him as well. I also found a the music video for the youth theme song that I shared last week. Even if you listened to the song last week I think that the music video bring a whole new meaning to this song, and I encourage you to listen again. Music Video

I also wanted to let you all know that General Conference is coming up this next Saturday and Sunday. If you are unfamiliar with what this is, 6 months ago (Before our last conference) I wrote a whole post about it and you should check it out!) I wanted to remind you guys that General Conference can and will be an amazing blessing in your life if you let it. You should prepare now to hear the words of the living Prophet and other leaders in The Latter Day Saint Church. You can learn so much from them. I know that 8 (10 for guys) hours is a lot of listening, but I am encouraging you to listen to as much as you can. I know it will bring great blessings to you and those around you. Pray for others, especially the speakers, and even yourself to be able to listen with the spirit and learn what you need to learn. Don't let this amazing opportunity go to waste. You can watch Conference online at the Church Website. Sessions start on Saturday, April 5, 2014 at 10 am.

I know that this is the true church and you can receive great blessings from Coming Unto Christ. I know that the Lord loves us no matter what, and that even when we have gone astray, no matter how far we might have gone, we can always come back. It is never too late to come unto him. I love this church with all my heart. I know it's true.

In the Name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Love,
Samantha

*Moroni is a book found in the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is the book that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints use to teach from. It is the most correct and true of any book ever written. We use this book along with the King James version of the Bible. This verse reads:
32 Yea, ^acome unto Christ, and be ^bperfected in him, and ^cdenyyourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and ^dlove God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be^eperfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

To Any In Need of Hope

Come back unto Him. 

This morning as I was pondering what I could share with you this week I was looking through some Mormon Messages on mormonmessages.com . I came across one entitled: "Lifting Burdens: The Atonement Of Jesus Christ". At first I wasn't sure if this was the thing to share today, but as I continued to watch, I knew  I needed to post this video today. I just wanted to share with you all my testimony that I KNOW that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each and every one of us. They knew before we came to earth that we would make mistakes. This is why we have to atonement, so that we can be forgiven and truly learn from our sins and become more like our Father in Heaven. I KNOW that they still love us. They never stop loving us. They just don't love the sin we committed. I know that they will always be there for us if we are willing to come unto them, which isn't easy all the time. I know that sometimes coming unto him means that we have to leave other things behind, but I guarantee that whatever you have to leave behind to come unto Him, is nothing compared to the happiness that you will feel and rejoice in. Nothing compares to the joy that Heavenly Father feels when you are willing to do the hard task of giving up your sin (giving up the world) to come unto him. I know that trying to repent on your own without the full help of the atonement is painful and difficult, and you will never truly be repented of your sins. I just want you all to know that you do NOT have to do it alone. That Heavenly Father loves you and wants to help you, you just need to show him that you are willing and you are really ready to go through the process with your whole heart and not just half way. I know you can do it. He knows you can do it, and he loves you still. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will open their arms to you and rejoice with you that you did hard things, and you came unto him. Don't give up. I know that this is the true gospel.
In the Name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Love,
Samantha

*Click here for the video: Lifting Burdens
**Also I think that this song:  Come Unto Christ is a good song to help you remember to Come Unto Christ.

Mountains to Climb

Don't forget angles are watching over you.

I'm going to start with a simple fact today. Life is hard. We all know it. There isn't anything we can do about it, or is there? Life will always be hard, but we defiantly don't have to face it alone. My friend shared with me a Mormon Message* that touched my heart and I wanted to share with all of you guys today. This video is about how we will face hardships, things we never expected, but how it doesn't have to be faced alone. This video reminds us that Christ is always willing to be there, that we have to have faith in him and let him in. We need to trust him. I know that in life we think we are strong enough to face things on our own, but the truth of the matter is: we can't. We need an "upward lift" from Heaven. Jesus Christ can provide us with that lift because he went through everything for us. He has felt every pain, every struggle, every heartache. HE knows your pain exactly, and so much more. He has been in the deepest darkest spot we can imagine. And to top it all off: he went through it completely and utterly alone. He did that for you, for me, for every person that has lived and ever will live, so that we never have to do it alone. He loves us that much. He loves us more than we can ever comprehend. This video reminds us to turn to him. It reminds us that prayer and faith are all we need. We can do hard things. Please don't give up. I know life isn't easy, but it is worth the fight. I know that each and every one of you can do it. He loves you. He is there, he is waiting for you. Come unto him. Trust him, have faith in him, and endure till the end. You can do it. I know you can. I know this is true. 

In the Name of Jesus Christ, 

Amen 

Love,

Samantha  

*Click here to watch the Mormon Message: Mountains to Climb

Just a Tought

You matter to him. He loves you!

This week has been an especially busy one for me. I am on choir tour and I have been non stop this whole week. I knew I would have free time today to take time to ponder the gospel and do my Sunday activities if I chose too. I went to church, and it was great but I wasn't sure that there was anything I learned there that I really felt inclined to share with all of you. I decided when I got home to look at mormonmessages.com this website always helps me feel the spirit and feel better when I am down and struggling. This week at tour has been an interesting one for me full of emotions I wasn't expecting. I wanted to share with you the video that touched my heart today and helped me remember that it is going to be okay that I can do hard things and my loving big brother, Jesus Christ, is always there and he loves me. This message reminded me what's most important. I hope it can help you too. It is very short and sweet and full of truth. I know that the church is true and that Heavenly Father knows and loves each and every one of us and he will always be there for us whenever we need him. Don't give up. I know this is the true gospel.
In the Name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Love,
Samantha
*Click here for video

We Are His Hands

You are his hands. 

Today in Church I was listening to the testimonies of others and one member bore her testimony about doing the Lord's work. She shared something that I have never really thought of before, but it stuck out to me and made me think. She told of a talk that Elder Uchtdorf of the first presidency gave a talk about a statue of Christ that was damaged in WWII. After a bombing in WWII the statue was repaired but its hands were never the same. A sign was placed in front of the statue that read: "You are my hands." This is what struck me about this talk. I know that we are here to do the Lord's work, but I never really thought that we are literally his hands. Through us Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do their work. I want you to watch his whole talk. While you watch I want you to think of this question: What am I doing with the Lord's hands?" Click Here  I know this is a longer talk, but I know that by learning of how we can better be his hands we will be blessed. With your hands you can do amazing things. With your hands you can touch others lives. I am going to ask you to really ponder this question: What are you doing with the Lord's hands? I know that with our hands we can change lives. With our hands we can make a difference. With our hands we can bring to pass the work of the Savior. I know we can do amazing things with our hands. I encourage you to choose to do the Lord's work with the hands he has blessed you with. I know that this is the true gospel. I know that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ again someday. I know they know us and love us. We are important to them and they will always be there for us. Never give up. I love you all. I know this true.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Love,
Samantha

YOU Matter!

YOU are beautiful in the eyes of our maker, and that's all that matters.

Hello everyone! This week I want to talk to every single one of you. Whether you think this topic applies to you right now or not, it will apply at sometime in you life. Earlier this week I shared something on one of my social media accounts and I wanted to share it with you all of you to begin this week's post. I shared this little thought along with a picture that said: "Your imperfections make you perfect. Don't be something you're not." The thought read: "To anyone who needs this: YOU are beautiful. I don't care what color your hair is, what color your eyes are, I don't care if we share the same religion, I don't care if you are the richest person or the poorest. I don't care if your a size 20 or a size 0. I don't care where you were born, where you grew up, or who your parents are. I don't care if your captain of the football team, if you're the head cheer leader, or if you are barely noticed. I don't care what anyone has ever told you before because I'm telling you now: YOU my dear friend are beautiful beyond measure. YOU are unique. There is not one single person who can be YOU. YOU were born to stand out. YOU are amazing. and YOU are loved. YOU are gorgeous. YOU are lovely. YOU are important beyond comprehension. YOU are YOU. Go on and love YOU, because no body can love YOU more than YOU. don't you dare think for one second that this isn't true. YOU are glorious, and YOU, can do this. Don't YOU EVER give up. I promise YOU this: YOU are more than words can describe. And I love YOU. I don't care who YOU are, I love you, and YOU are perfect. So don't YOU change for the world. The world should change because it has YOU. Don't pretend to be something your not. YOU BE YOU! Because YOU is the best and most beautiful thing YOU can be." I said this little 'thought', I didn't find it online or in a book, it's something that I said because it is really how I feel. And I do believe that it is true. After I said this I was with a friend just talking about anything and everything. Somehow we came upon the subject of "fitting in." His response to me was one I will never forget. He told me this: "It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks. You do what you do and if they have a problem with it, oh well. Do what you know is pleasing in God's eye and be you. Who cares what everyone else thinks? Being you is best." I was surprised by this. I just sat there for a minute and thought. I realized how important this was. My friend is brilliant! He's only 16 and he has the world figured out! This kept me thinking throughout the rest of the week. I was reminded of a video clip that one of my other friend's showed me about being yourself. This video clip is called "Who You Are". There is one geared towards men, and one geared towards women. I thought it was amazing how the young man in these videos was so sure and confident of the things that he is telling everyone. I wanted to share these clips with you as well. For the women: click here For the men: click here
At church today, one of the young women in my ward shared one of her favorite books with us. This book is probably one most of you are familiar with. It is called: "You Are Special" by Max Lucado.* This book talks about how others are always going to judge you and what you do, but all that matters in the end is how your maker sees you. (Our maker being our Heavenly Father.) How true is it that this is all that matters? Like my friend told me, and like the videos told us, WE (YOU) are important, and it doesn't matter what the world thinks about you. It only matters what our maker, our Father in Heaven, thinks of us. We are his most treasured creation and he loves us all so much. He knows each of us individually and he cares about us and our success' and perceived failures. He wants us to see our beauty the way he sees it in each of us. I beg you to see it too. When you look in the mirror, don't look for negative things. Look only for beauty. Because you are beautiful beyond measure, I promise. No matter what anyone says to you, you are a daughter or son of our living and loving Heavenly Father and he loves you because you are you, and you are beautiful to him. And that's all that matters. Period. I know this is true. Don't let other's judgments get in your way or bring you down. I love you. I know this church is true.
In the Name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Love,
Samantha
*This book is absolutely amazing and I encourage you to get a copy of it if you don't have one yet. Email me if you would like help finding a copy. I would love to help everyone have a copy of this wonderful book!

Trusting in The Lord and Learning to Forgive

Come unto Him by trusting in him and learning to forgive. He will give you rest.

This past week has been an interesting one for me. I feel as though every where I look or turn "forgiveness" is starting me right in the face. I felt as if I was trying to be told something; this is why I have chosen to talk about forgiveness today. After much prayer and thought I have decided that this is the topic I should address this lovely Sunday afternoon. Let me start with an experience I had just over a week ago. There is this person in my life who I have purposely tried to avoid for the past few years because I hurt them pretty bad and I was scared to make that mistake again. This person kept trying their hardest to come back into my life somehow, but I kept denying them the opportunity. About 10 days ago I let them in, sort of. I let them start following me on one of my social media accounts. I thought to myself: "what's the harm? They will only see what I'm up too, they don't have to talk to me, and if they do I won't listen to them." I was already following their account, so I thought it was only fair. I noticed it was their birthday and not thinking, I left I comment on their post simply saying Happy Birthday. They commented back, and we ended up having this "conversation" that led to us texting again. The whole time I was really concerned if I was doing the right thing, but at the same time I felt this comfort in my heart and this voice (The Holy Ghost) telling me this is what I needed to be doing. I thought of a scripture in the Book of Mormon* in Alma chapter 36 verse 3 and also verse 27. These verses in the Scriptures talked about trusting in God and that by doing so we will be supported in our trials and afflictions. I know that this is true, so I trusted him and let him lead me to do what he needed me to do. This person and I kept talking over a couple of days and I suddenly felt this urge that I needed to say sorry for what I had done. (Avoiding them) I told myself that this sort of thing needed to wait to be done in person so I wasn't going to do it. Again the urge came from the Holy Ghost that I needed to do it right now. I grabbed my phone and started typing out this long text asking them for forgiveness and telling them that I was going to do this in person as well, but for some reason I needed to ask for forgiveness right now too. I explained why I did what I did and I kept saying sorry, but it didn't feel good enough. After reading the text over and over feeling like it wasn't adequate, I just sent it. I waited nervously for a reply. When I read their reply, tears of joy came to my eyes. I felt so warm inside and I felt so overly blessed and lucky. This person told me they were willing to move forward from the past and be friends again. I suddenly knew that it wasn't going to be easy for me and I was going to have to learn a lot still, but I knew that I was supposed to be in this person's life for some reason unknown to me. Maybe it's not that they need me, maybe I need them, or maybe we need each other. Of this I am unsure, but I am positive we are supposed to be friends again and we are supposed to have this second chance to be in each other's lives. Was it easy? For me it certainly wasn't. Was it worth it? It was worth it all. Forgiveness is not an easy thing to ask for, and sometimes it is not an easy thing to grant forgiveness either. Can we do it? Yes we can. I want you to watch this video about Christ and forgiveness. Pay attention to the first line spoken in the video. (It's near the end) Christ and Forgiveness If Christ was willing to forgive those who killed him as he hung on the cross, how much easier is it for us to forgive someone who has wronged us? I don't know about you, but I think I can learn how to forgive if Christ could do that for me and still be forgiving. I know it's not easy. Asking for forgiveness is really scary and really hard sometimes and we may feel inadequate, like our apology isn't good enough, but maybe just like my friend, they will forgive you because they know you are truly sorry. To those who are unsure if they can forgive someone who wronged them: learn from the Savior. I know that when we are wronged it does hurt, and we don't want to say it's okay. I promise you that if you can learn to forgive you will be so much happier. (If you truly do give them forgiveness.) I am so thankful that my friend knew this and that even though they were hurt by me, they were willing to move forward. My friend not only forgave me, but he gave me another chance like the Savior does for all of us. I feel so fortunate to be blessed with this friend in my life. I encourage you all to become more like the Savior and learn to forgive as he so willing did then on the cross, and does for us everyday. I know it takes time, but it will pay off I promise. I also know that you will happier and so will everyone around you. (Keep in mind that people will still mess up and make mistakes, and we will have to learn to keep forgiving them just as our Savior will forgive us if we are truly sorry.) I know that this is true. I am so thankful that we can forgive others and we can be forgiven. This is one the greatest blessing we have been given. This way we can return to live with our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ again. I know the gospel is true.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Love,
Samantha

*The Book Of Mormon is the book that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints uses to teach from, hand in hand with the Bible. (We use the King James Version of the Bible). I know that this book is true; that with it hand in hand with the Bible we can learn so much and come back to Christ. These verses from Alma are as follows:
Verse 3: 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 ^atrust in God shall be supported in their ^btrials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be ^clifted up at the last day.

Verse 27: And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has ^adeliveredme from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still ^bdeliver me.