What Will Matter?

This is a sweet poem given to me by my father. I hope you catch the point of it.
By the way I LOVE this. That is why I want to share it with you.

"-Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises,no minuets,hours, or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you own or what you were owed. Your grudges,resentments,frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear. So too, your hopes,ambitions,plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It wont matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It wont matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant. So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave. What will matter is not your success but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.What will matter is every act of integrity,compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched,empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone. What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what. Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters."
(Michael Josephson,"What Will Matter?",L.A.:Josephson Institute of Ethics,2003.)

Never Ending Happiness

Happiness....it seems that easy doesn't it? Then why do we let the little things in life bother us? In my life happiness seems to come like waves in the ocean. Some come in big waves, some small. Waves are a tricky thing. If you catch it right it can push you all the way to shore. But if you don't catch it right you waste a lot of energy and your left out there feeling rejected. Some times after happy times come hard times.Just like when the wave is retracting back into the ocean, it can be powerful and pull you away. I look at the brighter side of life. That brighter side is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Being optimistic is only half of it. When we bring the Savior into our lives everything seems to be OK. When we don't have the Savior in our lives we tend to be worried a lot or be discouraged easily. Happiness is there at your fingertips.Happiness wants to find you. Would you say it's safe to say you've been looking for more happiness? Well, my fellow blogger, it's found you. All you do is open your eyes and notice it! Just today my friends and I, Elder Westley and Elder Anderson, went out for a morning run. It was pouring outside, but that didn't stop us. We charged out into the rain for our routine morning run. We had a great time despite we were all soaked. My friends, I know that true, never ending happiness is yours by living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel makes life worth living right. We only have one chance at life. Wouldn't you want to live it right?
Visit the NEW Mormon.org to locate the missionaries in your area to share this message of happiness. Find the link to Mormon.org in the section on the right.

Pageant!

The Hill Cumorah Pageant has been so exciting! I have been a few times now with people I'm teaching and its been really really exciting! Meeting the cast and talking
with people from all over the world really gives you an idea of how big of a deal this thing is.


Every night I meet people from all over the world! Last night I bumped into some people from my home town,Mesa AZ! One thing I LOVE about the Pageant is that all the scenes really happened! In the course of my mission i've read the Book Of Mormon a few times. To actually see these events be portrayed live is such a great experience. If you ever read a book and saw the movie you know what I'm talking about. I try to look past the dramatic angle and look more towards the spiritual side. Like when Nephi is filled with the power of God and his older brothers fall to the ground. Yes, its a cool scene because they fall on the ground. But I look at it as, WOW, the lord will protect us in the very moment we need it if we are true and faithful. Or when the angel Moroni shows the boy Joseph Smith the plates. I think, WOW Joseph must have felt like a kid in a candy store! That is SO amazing that IT REALLY happened here on this very hill. Pageant is a wonderful show filled with thrilling special effects and super legit costumes!.. At the same time is is a reenactment of miracles that really happened and they gave give us strength today. I love the Pageant and what it does for the community. Here are a few of my friends I brought to the Pageant; Lynn, Steph, Frankie, and little Daimen
Like I said, have been To Pageant a few times now and it gets better and better every night!
If you ever have the opprotunity to "Come Feel The Excitement" take it! Pageant is great for the entire family. Thats what its really about...bringing people unto Christ and families.

Why I Believe the Church is True

I have given this post much thought. These are the thoughts that have been swirling and stewing in my head for a while now. I was raised in the LDS(Mormon) church and have had a wonderful family to help, nurture and tender me. I grew up in a Mormon community and went to school with people of my same religion. I guess you could say I grew up in a "controlled" environment. I am grateful for that blessing. There have been times while growing up where I grew spiritually and planted seeds for my testimony to one day blossom all on its own. I remember one scout trip I had that we all wandered off in our own section of the wilderness and read the scriptures and prayed. I still to this day remember the vividness of the personal growth I had. I remember reading and visualizing actually being there in the scene. I wrote a letter to my parents expressing gratitude and love. I prayed as Enos,a book of Mormon hero, prayed while he was in the forrest hunting. I poured out my whole soul to God.
I remember returning from the scout camp not only tired, sun burnt and smelly, but I felt a literal growth in my testimony of the truthfulness of the church. Many other instances happened as I aged through the teenage years. Then I find myself preparing to be a full time ambassador of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Upon arriving here in New York I was excited as any new missionary could be. To say nothing of having the privilege of serving in the birthplace of the restoration of Christ's church. I began teaching people about this wonderful gospel and seeing the light of Christ come alive in the people my companions and I would teach. This very thing has given me even more strength in my testimony of the church. I stand today with an unshakable, undeniable wittiness that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is in fact the very Church that Christ himself established while on the earth. I testify that I have come to know the Church is true. I believe in angels and miracles that are seen and unseen. God loves his children and wants more than anything for us to return to him. This testimony I leave with you in peace. The savior said "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."(John14:27)I have truly found peace in my life that can last.

A True Apostle of God, Jeffrey R. Holland

I thought it would be a good idea to share some thoughts of a modern day apostle.


I would like to also add my testimony. I too know that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. Jesus Christ stands at the head of His church. I know that by Him and through Him we can become cleansed from sin. He is the only one who can "unlock the gate of heaven and let us in."(Hynm #194 There is a Green Hill Far Away) I know He is there, and He loves each of us. I know that when we reach for Him, He reaches back and pulls us from any trouble or pain. If Peace is what we want in life, let us reflect on the Saviors words,"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."(John14:27)