Choose You THIS Day Whom Ye Will Serve

I love the verses in Matthew 6:1-4:  "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not they left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." Loving, selfless service is an attribute of our Savior Jesus Christ. Those who serve unselfishly show their true love to God. "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Mosiah 2:17. By serving our fellow men, we serve our God, and by serving our God, we receive the blessings promised to us. For each of us, a decision has to be made...Who will we serve? "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24. Each day, we all need to make a choice. We can either choose to follow God, and serve Him all our days, or we can take the easy road (like putting the GPS on shortest route, because we think that our way is better (..cite: Mom..uncite)) and follow the path of the devil. I think the prophet Joshua in the Old Testament stated perfectly who he will follow: "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24:15 Let us not procrasinate as we decide to serve the Lord and to despise the devil. Let us choose THIS day whom we will serve because if we make up our minds now, when the time comes to make a decision of who to follow, the choice will be easy and natural. President Eyring, an apostle of the Lord, shows us perfectly what we must do in this video:

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?locale=0&vgnextoid=bd163ca6e9aa3210VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD&channelId=bd163ca6e9aa3210VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD&sourceId=c9e71552004a5210VgnVCM100000176f620a____

 I Stand All Amazed...at those who choose THIS day to serve the Lord. (Like President Eyring)

God's Creations

So, I found this video while I was on Facebook today. Some other missionaries had commented on it, so I decided to watch it. Check it out:

http://vimeo.com/terjes/themountain

Crazy! It amazes me at how creative our Heavenly Father is. He has created this Earth for us to live on and to enjoy. I love to be outside and to take in the fresh air. I love to run around on the football field or the soccer field and feel the grass under my feet. I love to be here in the South, to see the rolling hills and the incredible storms (like the one that we are in the middle of right now...) One of my favorite places to go is Lake Powell in Southern Utah. Our family spends much of our summer vacation on this lake spending time together and enjoying the lake. I'm grateful for our Heavenly Father and all that He has given us. Plus, I love how Dad uses the water that God has given us and makes a HUGE wake for the tubes to catch some good air on! I Stand All Amazed...at God's creations.

My Family and How They Are My Legs

First and foremost, I want to declare to the world, that I have the greatest family in the world. I love all of them with all that I have and I'm grateful for the relationship that we all share together. Today, I was sitting at the Logan's table thinking about life. In order to do Facebook and such, we have to come over here to the Logan's (a senior couple missionary companionship) to use the internet. There are only two computers, so while Elder Baker and Elder Barnes used the computers I sat at the table and pondered. I thought about each member of my family. I thought about how much they have grown. I thought about how much I love them. I thought about memories that I have with them. I thought about how much they all mean to me. I thought about how lucky we are to have this gospel which allows us to be a family forever. I also thought about our Savior, Jesus Christ and how my family can all be examples of Him. While looking thru the Church's website, I found this inspiring video of another person who is an example of Christ. This kid is a perfect example of Christlike service and love.

https://lds.org/youth/video/daytons-legs?lang=eng

Often times, like right now, I feel that my family is my legs, pulling me thru life's struggles and hard times. I'm grateful for their love and their examples to me. Thanks to my family for all that they have done for me. I Stand All Amazed...at my family.

Easter!

I love the Easter holiday! One, usually because it means my birthday is close, and two...the Easter Bunny comes! In our family, we would wake up Easter morning and see what the Easter Bunny brought us during the night. From DVD's, to books, to chocolate, to new ties, to play toys, to more chocolate, this was a good time to be a kid. Of course, my parents always taught us the real meaning of Easter, and I am very grateful for that. I'm gonna be honest, I did look more forward to my presents on Easter, than the real meaning, but as a special representative of Jesus Christ, this Easter will be different. President Thomas S. Monson lays out perfectly the same feelings that I have about this and every Easter to come (here is the link): 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXrOG02NMB0

I add my witness with that of the Lord's true and living prophet, that I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and He is the reason for the presents and the chocolate and the movies and the gifts and the chocolate and the toys and the chocolate, because He is the one who allows us to overcome death. I love my Savior and I'm grateful for him. I Stand All Amazed...at my Savior, Jesus Christ.  -John 20:1-17

Tennessee Tornado Experience

This was our life last night:

So, life was great last night. Elder McDermott, one of our assistants to the President in our mission came and spent the night with us. We split up into two and two and went out to find people to teach. In all, we found 8 new investigators in 3 hours. The Lord's choicest blessings were upon us. We all got back to the apartment on time and we were tellin stories and cuttin up and we all hit the sack at 10:30, like we are supposed to. Well, I was out. My legs are sore from our morning work-outs (Elder Barnes is in shape!) and we did a lot of bike riding earlier in the day so I was exhausted. So there I was, gone, and I get woken up abruptly by Elder Baker, "Stringam, Get up!" I popped outta bed and looked at Elder Baker and saw a sheer look of fear. I looked out the window and I thought we were in the middle of the perfect storm. Wind was blowing hard, trees were whippin around, tornado sirens were blaring, thunder was crashing, and lightning was striking. It felt like all hell was breaking loose. Elder McDermott popped up right after I did and he woke up Elder Barnes. We grabbed Elder McDermott's mattress and we all crowded into the bathroom. Protocol in the mission is when a tornado threat is happening, get into the bathtub and have a mattress ready to pull on top of ourselves. McD sat on the toilet, Baker was in the bathtub, Barnes was half-asleep sitting on the bathtub, and I was on the floor between the tub and the bathroom scale, trembling. I have NEVER trembled because of fear before, but last night it happened. I didn't think I was that scared. I knew that God would protect his missionaries like he has done in the past...side note...Today was interviews and Sister Hutchings gave us a training. She told us that during the mission president's seminar she was talking to another mission mom who keeps in contact with the mission president and his wife in Japan. I guess during the tsunami up there, all the missionaries were at a zone conference in the inland most part of the country. That was no coincidence...un-side note...and I also knew that we had a mattress to protect us, but just the thought of being sucked up by a tornado and throw like a ragdoll across the city was not a pleasant thought in my mind. As I sat there, in the dark, looking at my hands, and shaking uncontrollably, my thoughts turned directly to my family. Memories, what has happened, who I am, the past, my mission, etc. It was a surreal time to reflect on my life. Elder Baker suggested that we all say a prayer and we did so. After that, hope came to me. Hope only in the atonement of Jesus Christ. Looking back to last night, that hope came from the Holy Ghost. He testified to me that Jesus is real. That he did suffer and die for my family and me, and because of that, we can always be a family. Forever. We gave President Hutchings a call and reported what was happening. We were probably in the bathroom for about 10 minutes and then the storm started to subside. The lightning and thunder kept on, but the wind slowed down a little bit and the rain started to cut back as well. We all watched the lightning strike out the window and we were in awe at mother nature. Eventually, we all got back into our beds and everyone fell asleep. I stayed up for a little while. My uncontrollable shaking had subsided once we left the bathroom. Elder Baker sounded like a tornado of his own with his snoring, so I took my mattress into the family room and kicked it out there for the night. While out there, I looked out the window at the lightning and just meditated. I got on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father for my life and my family. I asked for his comfort and his peace, and it came. I will never forget my Tennessee Tornado Experience, because the Lord taught me so many lessons last night, and none of them had to do with tornadoes. I Stand All Amazed...at the love of our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ.     ....the tornado weather was pretty amazing as well. :)

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

I found this video on mormon.org. This guy Jarem has an incredible story and incredible faith. It makes me grateful that I have two normal legs because other people aren't as fortunate. As missionaries, we ride bikes a ton and often times, like when the sun is broiling my face and arms and I'm riding uphill and bugs are hitting me in the eyes and I end up with a couple of gnats in my teeth and there's people who honk or make fun of or yell or throw stuff at us, I forget everything that God has blessed me with. Because it is so much more than I can begin to describe. I hope that I can look for times to remember God and to remember what God has given me. He has given me a lot of lemons, so I need to return the favor and make a lot of lemonade. I Stand All Amazed...at Jarem's perseverance and at the blessings of our loving Heavenly Father.

http://youtu.be/DQboknDs7Y4

The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ

The Tender Mercies of the Lord by Elder Bednar

None Were With Him

Check out this video! Elder Holland is a Special Witness of the Savior and his thoughts about Him brought great peace and joy to my heart. I know that those feelings are from the Holy Ghost and He was testifying to me that Jesus is the Christ. I hope yall have the same feelings I do. I know that yall will. I Stand All Amazed...at the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc