Institute

I am officially a firm believer that if you do not want to go to institute, you need to be there. The teacher I went to was honestly inspired and I am so glad I was able to be in her class, but all I remember of her name is that it starts with an S. :S She talked about serving one another and how we need to love like the Savior did. She gave us a list of quotes and scriptures and these are just a few of them.

"Knowing that service is what gives our Father in Heaven fulfillment, and knowing that we want to be where He is and as He is, why must we be commanded to serve one another? Oh the glorious day when these things all come naturally because of the purity of our hearts... How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak."

Marion G Romney

"The more we serve our fellow men in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls... We become more substantive as we serve others -- indeed, it is easier to find ourselves because there is so much more of us to find!"

President Spencer W Kimball

When she gave us that quote from President Kimball, she made the relationship to being a shriveled soul, we want to be spiritually obese!! I thought that was the best way to look at it, feasting so much on the word that when we get into heaven our souls are obese from all of the feasting we did on the gospel! There was also the connection made, Satan is selfish, and God is selfless... who do you want to be like??

In Mosiah 5:13 it says, "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" How do you know someone you never serve? If you serve others you are serving the Lord, Matthew 25:40 "...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me."

So if you are not serving others, how are you serving the Lord and getting to know your Lord, Savior, and Creator? I am completely guilty of this, not serving as much as I could, we all can do better! Which is why i needed to go to institute so bad!! Bah I love how the Lord works!!!

Kennewick Washington :D

This Temple is the Columbia River Washington Temple: It's official :) I am going to be a missionary in the Washington Kennewick Mission and i will be leaving October 27th!! I cannot even describe the feelings that I have at this moment. I am going to be a missionary!!!! I never wanted to go on a mission, I wanted to get married, start a family, and live happily ever after. Then in October of last year, I got my answer that I needed to go on a mission. I was scared, frustrated, half excited, and honestly it took me awhile to warm up to the idea. I knew deep down that this was something I needed to do. I know it is going to be hard, I know there will be challenges, and I know that I will learn tons about myself and what I am capable of. I am for sure the 3 week girl, I never do anything for more than 3 weeks, so for me to dedicate 18 months of my life to the Lord, I know I can do it but I am nervous about a lot of things. I know if I put my faith in the Lord and study my hardest, and keep the rules, my mission is going to be the best experience of my life. I am stoked and cannot wait to be a missionary for the church. I have finally grown a foot or two ;) and they have sent me my call and I am going!!!