When your feeling down, take a friends advice and RUN!

So right now I'm a college student. I'm going to school and I'm working part time as a mechanic. I have a lot on my plate and these last few weeks have been bearing down on me cuz I have a huge paper to write for my marketing class and my other classes have exams and assignments. All due by the middle of next week. So I'm stressed. I'm falling apart. I'm regressing and all I want to do is play stupid video games and watch tv. I don't want to so this. I just want to give up! It's so hard!! So my friend Dustin called me. And I told him I'm stressed out. And all he tells me is "go for a run. Take a break and come back to it. You got this man!" Here's the text I sent him after I took his advice....

Well. I took your advise and I went for a run. The first 1.5 miles I just worked on breathing. It's been awhile since I've gone for a run. I wanted to stop. I wanted to take a break and pray. To figure out why I'm so stressed. But I didn't stop. I didn't stop cuz I set a goal for myself. I decided I would run a 5 k. And I was timing myself. So I prayed while I ran. I asked why it's so hard. Why can't I decide what I want! What do I want? Well, I want a family. I want a wife that I love and a family that I can provide for. I want to find joy in my future by providing for and teaching them (my future family) values. So why is it so hard? Well becuase nothing good comes easy. I need to learn to work. To push and keep on pushing even when I want to quit. When I want to take a break. Because if I don't fight for what I want I will never earn it. How can I find and impress my future wife if I can't even impress myself! Yeah maybe I don't know what I want to do. And maybe this class won't be my career. But it is teaching me discipline. It's teaching me how to learn. How to push when I feel like giving up. So I'll push. And I'll ignore the distractions in my life. The things that pull me in and knock me off course. I'll simplify my life so I can see my end goal. So I ran. And I kept running. And I started to hurt. My body ached and my lungs were screaming. But I pushed. And I never slowed down. I kept fighting. "IM A WARRIOR!!!" And I finished my goal. One 5k without a single rest. Without slowing my pace. 3.1 miles in 24 min. Average pace of 8 min a mile. I did it! I completed that goal! And now I'll fight for my goal to strengthen my mind. To push for a better future for my kids that I already love more that I even understand. Thanks D for pushing me and being there when I'm beating up on myself. Your an amazing friend! I'm glad our paths crossed cuz your one of my best friends. Now quit distracting me! I got a paper to write! 

Don't place stumbling blocks

Romans 14

"...embrace(s) righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

     instead of judging each other and putting each other down, uplift each other. Be an example to everyone you meet and reach out the hand of God to them, pick them up, dust them off and show them joy.

12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.

     There is already so many things in this life that make it difficult, why would we ever want to add troubles and difficulties to another person. Show love and compassion to everyone instead of judging them and becoming a stumbling block. Not everyone will follow this. But if you desire to be the change and the good in society. If you want to go home every night with a clear conscious. Make an effort to be the example of good, and turn the other cheek if others fail to understand. Continue to show love and example and don't let them get to you. Those that don't understand or won't understand the true joy of this life are trying to be stumbling blocks to you. But you can jump over them by not letting it get to you. Remember offense is taken, not given. 

16 Let not then your good be evil spoken of:

17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

     like I said, not everyone will agree with you. And they may try to belittle you and your beliefs. But you need to remember that you have a goal, you have a desire to make this better. To be better. To live in a way that edifys you and those around you. 

     there is so much more in these verses and the other verses in this chapter. Things we should avoid,things we should remember. I'm not giving a full breakdown, I'm just sharing the thoughts and impressions I got while reading this. I highly recommend you read these scriptures for yourself, sit down with a marking pen and highlight what stands out to you. Cuz many times the scriptures will speak to us in different ways depending on our situation. 

I'm gonna go to bed now.  I have class in less then 7 hours. Goodnight :)

Wake up! NOW is the time to love your neighbor and walk in the light!!

Romans 13: 9-14

living lost and knowing it

I haven't posted on here for awhile. I want to say i have been busy. but that isnt the case. ive just been ignoring this part of my life, and ill be honest with you, its been empty. heres a quick catch up about me: i got a new job working super early mornings (3am) and i still havent quite figured out how to make a routine schedule with that. i was planning on starting another semester at school, but it took too long to find a new job, and i didnt want to cause problems either way, so im stuck with a semester off. at first i thought it would be nice to just worry about work but I'm seeing now that im just bored. i work, go to the gym, try to find time to hang out with friends and sleep whenever i can in between. so with that random schedule my gospel studies have struggled, and withered away...

at first i was fine. but as the weeks went on i drifted farther away from my daily studies. i began to regress into thoughts of my past. i gave up talking to the new girls i met and started thinking back to the one i left behind. i started wishing i could go back and just live my life the way it was then so that i still had her. i mean we were happy. we had fun.
and so i started slipping slowly back into that life. i started doing the things that i promised myself i would never go back to. i started just doing whatever felt like fun at the moment. went to a few parties. met a few new girls. just did whatever. forgot about my priorities and my goals and just started living in the moment. and yes ill admit i had some fun. but that feeling never lasted more than that moment. by the next day i was bored and unhappy and looking for the next thing to kill time. and before i knew it i was stuck in a rut. a boring, unproductive, living in the minute rut.

now before you go and get offended, if this is the life you live and love, let me say this. we all came to this earth with our own bodies and our own goals. if your happy where your at and you wouldnt change a thing then good for you. but for me its not good enough. i have to be moving forward. i need to push on and be productive and do things for others. i want and need constant progress in my life.

so anyways back to my thoughts. so im spending these last few weeks maybe months just doing whatever and as days go by i started realizing exactly what i started realizing the last time i was living like this. something was missing. something didnt feel right and i wasnt truly happy. but of course this time around i know exactly what it is that im missing. ive been down this road before. and thats the funny part. im sitting here knowing im unhappy, i know I'm not doing what i want and should be doing, and i even know exactly what i need to do to fix it. and yet i still ignore it and dont make a change! some of you have been here before and know exactly what im talking about. its like when you get sick and you know you should go to the doctor because it will help you recover, but you put it off cuz really, you feel "well enough", just give it some time and youll probably get better soon. why do we do this to ourselves? why do we sit here with the answer right in front of us and not reach out and grab it!

heres the real point im getting at here. we all have that voice inside us. that one that wispers little hinting thoughts about what we should or shouldnt do. most people call that our jimminy cricket aka our conscious. but i call it the holy spirit. my celestial spark. we can make whatever choices we want. but every choice we make will have its consequence. i have lived my life several different ways and ive seen what makes me truly happy. i have chosen to follow that voice, to let it guide me when i feel lost. and in order for me to be able to hear that whisper i need to eliminate the noise. i need to pick myself up, dust off, and get back on the path to my father in heaven. i dont know why i fight within myself to do what i know i need to do. i dont know what makes it so hard to keep focused. but i do know that hard work pays off and that in the end i will make it where i want to be if i just keep taking another step forward.

TRUE JOY. seek it. live it. share it.

while seeking for this joy we must face many choices and challenges. The choices we make will shape not only us, but also the outcome of our life on this life and after. When we choose to do good, this increases our POWER to chose and do good. Our agency is strengthened. "As we obey each of our fathers commandments, we grow in wisdom and strength of character. Our faith increases. We find it easier to make right choices." Start small, follow the spirit as it prompts you. It may be something as simple as "put your phone away and get back to work" it may seem so unnecessary or just doesn't matter, but by excersizing our faith to listen to the small promptings it will help build us up to be ready to accept and face the larger challenges and promptings. Be careful because this works both ways. If you continue to ignore the promptings you will become more stiff necked and may even ignore the most obvious signs and warnings.

i know this journal entry doesnt actually explain true joy. that is just what came to me after doodling that. after all this is from my personal journal and i already understand what true joy is. it comes from service to others and continually seeking to better your life and the lives of those around you. true joy is found in doing the lords will. and that is to love one another.

Ether 4

ok so i really dont know where i want to start here, all i know is that while i was reading i underlined the word "write" in the first verse, and when i looked back over what i had underlined this stood out, so i guess i must have something to get out. so here goes..

ok so heres a part that stood out to me. in verse 8 it states.

8 And he that will contend against the word of the Lord, let him be accursed; and he that shall deny these things, let him be accursed; for unto them will I show no greater things, saith Jesus Christ; for I am he who speaketh.

ok so in this chapter the lord is telling moroni that he needs to seal up the writings until the people have faith and are ready to receive them. but while i was reading this i got the feeling the lord is meaning to have a lot more general translation for us. if we are unwilling to listen to the lord and his guidence than he is going to wait until we are ready. the lord has so very much that he can teach us, but he isnt going to waste it if we arent even going to listen. he will give us the basics, the ways to bring us back to him. he really does want us to come back, he isnt hiding from us, he is just waiting to see our dedication before he gives us the next pieces of the puzzle. and i think this is at every level of faith and understanding.


then the lord goes on to say that if we will believe and listen to him, he will show us more, and he even tells us how he plans to show us.

11 But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my Spirit he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good.

12 And whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do good is of me; for good cometh of none save it be of me. I am the same that leadeth men to all good; he that will not believe my words will not believe me—that I am; and he that will not believe me will not believe the Father who sent me. For behold, I am the Father, I am the light, and the life, and the truth of the world.

13 Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief.

14 Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.

i dont know everything, i still struggle to figure out what i want to be, how to do math, who i will marry. these are all things im trying to figure out. and more of course. but what i do know is that when i have faith in my savior and i give him my time every day, i find that i understand things more clearly. i find things i would not have ever noticed. and i complete things more effectivly. now some people may say that im wrong, and they refuse to believe that by giving the lord my faith i can gain more understanding. and to them, all i have to say is, if you wont believe me, then try it for yourselfs, because i have tried both sides. i have gone down plenty of roads without the lords guidance and i have found, through my own school of hard knocks, that there is something to this gosple. it has an effect on every part of my life. and if i turn to the lord with my problems i find my path to be much easier to travel. and with each day that i continue to study, i find and learn so much more than i knew before. the lord is building my knowledge and understanding through my faith. and when i stop giving him my faith, i feel the void, i feel the confusion set in, and i find myself ignoring things that i know are good. 

listen to the good thoughts. listen to that little voice in your head that tells you to help a friend, to hug your family and tell them you love them. listen to that wisper that tells you to hit your knees before you hit your pillow. as you listen you will strengthen and find that there is so much more awaiting us. 

Fun vs. Joy

Do not take lightly any sin. Even the smallest sin can hold you back from eternal happiness. There comes a time in everyones life where we sin and feel guilt, we are not perfect. But do not let sin win! It may disguise itself as fun for awhile, but this is a false happiness and will not last. Faith in Christ and an honest life will bring everlasting joy! Strive to stay clean and worthy! It will be worth it in the end! Throughout school I never studied because it was more fun to go out and play with friends. I did OK in school, but at the end of every semester I always thought to myself "I could have done better". Don't let this happen in your life. You don't want to stand there on judgement day and say "I could have done better, but I was too busy having fun". Not to say that we can't have fun. Just make sure you have studied for that last day first. I fell away from this Gospel once, I ignored and lost the gift of the spirit, I only cared about the instant pleasure of the carnal mind. I wasted so much time.. Then I started to realize that I wasn't really happy, something in my life was missing. I STARTED SEARCHING, and that is when the spirit came back to me and showed me the way back to this Gospel. These moments in my life were so powerful, the Spirit was with me and often carried me. I began to pray again. I have a very strong testimony of prayer. Open your heart and mind and really SPEAK with God. He will help guide you through ANY challenge in life. Through prayer and searching inside myself I found what I was missing. I was missing the Gospel in my life. and as soon as I found it, the joy was overwhelming! NEVER LOSE THAT FEELING! I love my Savior, my God, and the Holy Spirit! I say these things in the name of my savior, Jesus Christ, amen.