21 Years Old! A time to Choose?

   Today I am 21 years old. WOW....it feels good. Never thought I would get to be this old. 21 seems to be a big time in my life. This next year is huge! I guess you could say I have a lot of choices to make in my life this year, at this age. What does the world think about 21 years old? 21, the legal age to drink? Everyone has their agency, the ability to choose what they want to do in this life. It is theirs to choose. Is there more to life than this? Yes! Being out here in the mission field in Tennessee and Kentucky, so many people look at the age 21 as the age we can drink beer and go party. Life is not meant to be controlled by substances, like beer and drugs.

    God did not send us here to fail. He sent us here to grow and learn and become something great! 21 years ago, I came to this world with a loving family, with wonderful parents, a brother, and sisters. My parents taught me how to live the gospel and showed me by their example what to do and where to go. Before I came to this earth I was with my Father in Heaven in what we call pre- Earth life. There I had agency to choose to follow Heavenly Father's plan or Satan's plan. His plan was to force all to do good and for him to take all the glory. I am grateful I followed my Heavenly Father's plan and came here on earth to have a family. My family is so great and wonderful. I love them so much! Agency is the freedom to choose to follow Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, and to inherit Eternal Life. God gave us agency, so choose wisely.          

Families

Why are families so important to the Mormon faith?

The Family is Central to God's Plan

   We Believe that God put families here to help give us support and strengthen us. The family is there to help us during trials and hard times. It is easy to say that with their support, we grow and become better. I don't know what I would do without my family. We grow together, we learn to love each other, and it is through the family that we become close to God and his son, Jesus Christ. You could say we are all brothers and sisters and we all belong to our Father in Heaven. This is all central to God's plan.

Does God Love All his Children?

   YES! God is no respecter of persons. He loves those who sin and those who don't. He loves everyone! Sometimes we think God forgets us. We think the trials we have or the problems we face mean that God does not love us. This is not true! He will love us always. He cries when you are sad and He rejoices when you are happy. He wants you to be happy. As a family, that happiness comes when you have your first child or when you have children at all. That happiness comes from your children. Through this, we see how God feels about you personally. He loves all his children.

The Gospel Of Jesus Christ Brings Safety to the Home

    The world today is full of a lot of things that can bring us down. If we let it, the world will take us and mold us into something we don't want. That is why we need a place where we can be safe from the world. A place where we can learn, play,  and grow. The home is where great families are built. With the Gospel of Jesus Christ we let God, not the world, mold us, because the Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the power to change and grow. As we make His Gospel part of our home, we can have safety in the home.

Scripture for the day!

Enos

  1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it— 2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.

 3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

 4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.

 5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.

The Atonement is for all of us, good or bad. As we give Jesus Christ our problems, we too, like Enos, can feel forgiveness in our lives!