What Would Jesus Do?

The other day my companion and I didn't know why we needed to walk down this certain street. It was dark, we were about a mile from home, and it was getting late. We said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father where we needed to go. We felt that the street we were on was where we needed to be, so we kept walking. Then we came to this cute little cafe where a woman was sitting outside by herself. We said hi to her and asked how her night was going. Looking into the cafe we saw there was a big crowd inside that she had seperated herself from. Wondering why, we asked her if she was okay. She began to cry. She told us her fears of crowds and how she thought she would be able to overcome just this one night but she just couldn't combat it. We talked with her. We told her that God loves her and knows her. We hugged her. She thanked us for stopping and went on her way.

I don't know the struggle that anyone around me is having at this very moment. I can't read their thoughts. I don't know their hearts. But God does. He knows you and I, very personally. He may not be able to physically be with us right now but that is why He has you and I. We are His daughters and He has sent all of us here to lift, encourage, love, and comfort just as sisters should do for each other.

As I have been on my mission I have met some amazing women that have had a great impact on my life. I've also met many women that I could never see myself loving in a sisterly way, but yet I have tried my hardest to reach out with a helping hand to them. I've come to realize that yes, you and I are so different, however we will always have one thing in common. We are daughters of God, we are sisters, and we need each other!

My little sister, Kallie, is my best friend! I don' think there is anything I wouldn't do for her. Why do we, as women, not have that same love for all the other daughters of God around us, despite the differences we do have?

Sister Bonnie L. Oscarson stated a fact in which I take very seriously now. She said "To be sisters implies that there is an unbreakable bond between us. Sisters take care of each other, watch out for each other, comfort each other, and are there for each other through thick and thin. The Lord has said, “I say unto you, be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.”

I get so sad as I see the world becoming more and more selfish and not kind. It is like finding golden treasure when you find a friend who you know truly cares about you. As women I vote we change this!

Let's lift each other rather than point out our differences. Let's speak kindly, instead of ridicule. Let's put the feeling of love towards our sisters over the feeling of jealousy. Let's reach outside our circles and welcome someone different in. Let's be willing to respond to the little voice in our heads nudging us to go help the elderly women put her groceries in her car. Let's stand up as sisters in Christ and show the world that God does exist through our love and actions towards one another.

The famous saying "What Would Jesus Do" just popped into my mind.

He tells us what to do:
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." -John 13:34

"The Savior has commanded us to love one another as he has loved us; to clothe ourselves “with the bond of charity” as he so clothed himself. We are called upon to purify our inner feelings, to change our hearts, to make our outward actions and appearance conform to what we say we believe and feel inside. We are to be true disciples of Christ." -Howard W. Hunter

Let's do what Jesus Christ has commanded us to do and love our sisters around us! Let's make the world happy again!

Because of Him

 Do you know who this is?

 

Because of Him you don't have to feel alone in this world. He is our personal Savior. His name is Jesus Christ. He was sent to this earth to live and die for us. He suffered every feeling of pain, regret, sorrow, heartache, depression, loneliness, illness, etc. He has felt it all. He is the One who was nailed to the cross. He, however, is the One who rose again three days later.

When we think no one else in this world knows what we are feeling we can take comfort in the knowledge that He is our faithful friend who will never leave us alone. When we feel like our world around us is crashing down we are able to find peace in His way. When we feel like all hope is lost, we can count on Him to take us by the hand and guide us to a better tomorrow. When we can't seem to find our way out of darkness, we can trust in Him to be our light.

He knows you. He knows how to help you. He stands before us beckoning us to "come unto Him" and be healed.

"Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail.

Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.

Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen." D & C 6:34

 

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD." John 16:13

#BecauseofHim I have become a new person

The Lost Sheep

 I grew up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All of my childhood I sang "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam" and "Popcorn Popping". We had family scripture night and attended church regularly. My parents taught me that I am a child of God. They did everything they were counseled to do. There came a time when I reached my young adult years and I left the church. I put myself in all kinds of situations that got me in trouble. I got to a point in life where I saw no way out of the hole I had dug for myself. I felt hopeless and "too far gone."

 

I don't know what it is like to be a parent. I don't know the heart ache that comes when your child strays from everything that you've tried to teach them. I don't know what it's like to have sleepless nights worrying whether or not they will come home.

 

Despite all of this, there is one thing I do know.

I know what it's like to be that child that is worried over, prayed for, and desired to come back home.

 

I know what is needed from parents to make it back onto that straight and narrow path.

 

I don't know the situation your family may be going through with a child that has strayed off that path but I only have one piece of advice for you. LOVE THEM.

 

I know the power that unconditional, non-judgemental love can have on oneself when feeling as the one lost sheep. I can testify that it will have more of an impact on your child than yelling, punishment, or disownment. Christ, our perfect example, showed us what to do when we have a child that strays. Through the parable of the one lost sheep out of the 99. "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?"

 

Why would he expect any different from those with children? Doesn't he expect us to love them despite of their weaknesses, trials, and shortcomings?

I know there are many Latter-day Saint parents around the world who have a child that has gone against everything you taught them. I was one of them, and I know many others that have left. This is my plea to you as parents. Love your children as Christ loves them. The Atonement of Jesus Christ applies to all of us, including your child. Keep praying. Keep fasting. Rely on the merits of your Savior who knows the heartache you feel and the despair your child feels. Trust in Him.

I am a witness of the unconditional love my parents showed me through my mistake making years. They triumphed in my small success, rather in my failures. They savored the time I did spend with them and made me feel like I was loved, despite the life I lived. The most meaningful thing they have done since I came back is forgotten all the pain and heartache that I had caused them. They "remembered [my] sins no more." I will never ever forget what they did for me.

Your child needs you. Don't give up on them. The scriptures say, "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" What if that one soul is your child?

As long as the days, months, or years may seem, I can promise you as a representative of Jesus Christ that your love with never be wasted.