Delegation

I attended a ward council meeting where one of the members of my bishopric asked us to think about how the semester was going with our callings and things that we have learned. He asked us to share with people in the group things that we felt had been going well and things we found were making us better individuals. As I started to think about this calling, the biggest thing that kept coming to mind was how I have learned to delegate. Weird I know- but it really is something I struggle with.

I thought about it all day and kept thinking of specific examples of times where I have had to put a lot of trust into an individual (something that I thought I could do by myself and probably better in my mind) to accomplish something that I would be responsible for. It's never something I would prefer to do but looking back on when I let someone help me and accomplish these tasks- it went better than I could have imagined because I was willing to let someone step into my life and help me.

As I continued to be stressed by other things going on in my life and letting all my worries catch up with me- my very own words came back to me as I thought "Why don't you delegate more? Why don't you "delegate" to Christ more?"

It's incredibly true. Why don't we delegate our problems, fears, trials, hard-times, things that make us overwhelmed, homework, tests (the list goes on and on) to CHRIST? Why do we feel that we have to do everything ourselves?

We can't do this alone. But the truth is, we are never alone. Christ is waiting for us to approach him and seek his help. When we seek his help, he doesn't turn away from us, or tell us we aren't good enough, or tells us we have to be perfect- rather he is filled with mercy and is willing to have compassion on those who need him.

John 11:35 says, "Jesus Wept." I love this scripture.

I think so many of us love this scripture because it suggests that we have a Savior who is willing to "mourn with those that mourn".  This scripture teaches us that a perfect, all knowing, loving Savior feels and understands emotions and what we are going through.

I love this beautiful picture that Simon Dewey painted. Christ is taking on the "delegation" of something the apostle could have clearly done by himself, but the image of Christ kneeling, cleaning, and taking care of this man's feet is a true act of delegation but most importantly... true love.

I hope I have the humility to delegate to my Savior. I hope I have the ability to stop holding unto all of these burdens, and let Christ help me with them. I know if I can delegate to him that everything will go better than I could have imagined because I was willing to let my Savior step in and take care of me.

Fall- A Time of Change

As I was sitting at church on Sunday, I started to think about all the change that was happening in my life. New ward. New roommates. New semester. New challenges. New relationships. New activities. New decisions. A new me. When I started thinking about all these things, I thought to myself...

"I am not so sure that I like all this change..."

Not that I don't like these changes- but more, I don't like new situations that make me have to be a little different or go out of my "comfort zone". I found myself pretty overwhelmed by all the changes that have happened. I wanted things to go back to what they were and to what felt comfortable and "easy" in my mind. I wanted to be able to "fall" back into the comfort of my previous life and just let life..be. 

But then I started thinking about all that has changed in just the past year for me and the person I have become. I thought of my concerns last year when I started another new year of school. I thought about the exciting nerves that came from being in a new area with a new ward. I remember having hopes and dreams that I didn't think would EVER happen to me. I remember longing to be "in love"...but being taught how to "love"...that then brought heartbreak... but then helped me gain a bit more understanding of what it means to love. I thought of the relationships and friendships I have made through these changes in class, wards, states, activities I had participated in and new things I had become involved in. I remember failing. I remember being able to stand back up, and learn something new. I thought about the things I had hoped would someday happen to me and was surprised when they actually did. 

Then....

I was reminded how aware the Lord was of me. I was reminded how well he knew me!

Change is something that many people are not comfortable with- including myself. Yet if we take the time to look at change in a different way- we find that change is one of the only ways that we can grow and become better people. Whether we see change as a good thing or as a trial- one way or another, we are CHANGED. 

President Monson talked about change in regards to trials in his talk from October 2013 titles "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" where he said, 

"The difficulties which come to us present us with the real test of our ability to endure. A fundamental question remains to be answered by each of us: Shall I falter, or shall I finish?... Whenever we are inclined to feel burdened down with the blows of life, let us remember that others have passed the same way,have endured and then have overcome...

Our Heavenly Father, who gives us so much to delight in, also knows that we learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through which we must pass. We know that there are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve and when we may be tested to our limits. 

However, such difficulties allow us to CHANGE for the BETTER, to rebuild our lives int eh way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something different from what we were- better than we were, more understanding than we were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had before. "

I know things are different and that it's going to take some time for me to understand and get used to these new changes but when I think about these beautiful words from our Prophet and when I think about what the Lord has done for me...

I LOVE CHANGE.

I'm excited to see the new things that are going to happen to me. I'm excited to see what things the Lord has in store for me. I'm excited to see how I grow emotionally, physically, socially and most importantly spiritually. This is an exciting time of life for ALL OF US! Let us remember to be grateful to be where we are and remember who is aware of us. 

Powerful Lessons from Powerful Youth

This past summer, I have had the amazing opportunity to meet some incredible youth and be an EFY (a week long camp for youth from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) counselor. This has been an extremely tiring, humbling, unique and truly a life changing experience for me. I started the summer thinking that I would have the opportunity to build and help strengthen the youth- when in reality... they did that for me. Here are a few of the important lessons I learned from them...

First of all- I was reminded of the importance of continuing in faith and enduring to the end. As I would remind these youth to turn to the scriptures for answers, pray to God to help guide them, or see Christ as their best friend, I would occasionally have to ask myself "Am I doing those same things?", "Am I faithful in my reading the scriptures and communicating my feelings to a loving Heavenly Father?", "Am I living in a hypocritical way by teaching these youth one thing and then doing something different once I get home?". The fundamentals of the gospel have ALWAYS been the same and ALWAYS will be and yet the key ingredient that many of us forget is to Endure to the End.

Seems pretty simple right? And yet everyday presents new challenges and new situations to us in which we loose sight of that and forget this important message. Yet, when I would hear these youth tell their stories of early morning seminary, families that were falling apart back home, dealing with temptations of every kind- and yet they continued to press forward with faith and keep doing what they were supposed-- it became my motivation. It became my strength. (Dear Participants- I still think of you and you encourage me to stand strong to my goals and be better everyday. Thank you!)

Second- I was reminded of how well the Lord truly knows who we are and exactly what we need. Every Sunday night before the efy week would start, we were given a list of the names of the girls we would have for that week. For some reason, I felt such a strong connection to these girls before they had even arrived and before I even had a chance to meet them. I knew that both the girls and the guys placed in my group were supposed to be there and that I was their counselor for a reason.  These youth proved to show me that not only were they supposed to be in my group, but that God had placed them in my life on purpose and that each of them had something unique to teach me. 

I continued to learn that not only was the group of youth supposed to teach me things, but that there were specific things Heavenly Father needed them to hear. The structure/rules/ times goes the exact same way every week at efy and yet every week was so unique and so personalized based on the youth that were in my group. I would go into a "group discussion" planning on doing something similar to what I had done the week before but I would quickly discover that Heavenly Father had something entirely different in mind. I WAS AMAZED! Some weeks I would feel the need to share a personal story, a "Mormon message" or video directed to a particular need, or had a strong need for them to do a particular activity or discussion, and yet some weeks I would not. 

And yet, by the end of the week, many of my participants would come to me telling me that I had done something that had helped them find an answer to prayer, or had helped them gain a testimony, or had help them see how God saw them. 

I wish I could take the credit- but it wasn't me. It was a loving Heavenly Father who knew them so personally and knew their desires/ wants/ needs/ struggles/ feelings/ fears/ dreams/ hopes that he would allow me to be a "servant" in his hands and share a particular story with them.  Not only did he help guide me to be that tool in his hands, but these participants would share things with me that I needed to hear. In their desire to know if their loving Heavenly Father knew them personally, I found that He knew me. 

Third- I learned how absolutely incredible and powerful these youth truly are. Every week when we would sing the "EFY" medley (Sisters in Zion and We'll Bring the World His truth) I would think.. 

"I am surrounded by The ARMY OF HELAMON."

I knew then and I know now that these youth are strong. These youth have testimonies. These youth are someday going to be amazing leaders of the church. I know that they have the capacity to overcome anything that comes in their way. 

They just needed to be reminded. 

Whether you were my participant or not, whether you never went to efy or you did, whether you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or not...these fundamental principles are the same. 

But now to "my youth"- please know you have changed someone's life for the better- MINE. I wake up everyday wanting to be a better person for each and everyone of you. I know I can get through my trials because I have seen that you have been strong through yours. I have seen your dedication to do your best and be strong and it has made my desire even stronger. You have helped me find Christ. You have helped me remember who I really am. You have given me a reason to keep fighting against the adversary for what is right. 

Thank you. I will never forget this amazing summer, and you. 

Provo, "Shall Not Pass"

Kansas, "The Up-lifters"

Cedar City, "Red Revelation"

Provo, "The Begotten Ones"