4/15/19: Traslados

April 15, 2019

A picture with basically my other mother in Brentwood! We stopped by on our way out to Long Island and she made us some baleadas and pupusas, she's the best.

Buenos Dias!

Well, this week was filled with computers, planning, driving, and a headache the whole time because transfers are tomorrow, but it was still awesome.

Not tons of cool stories for ya this time, but I will say, my studies this past week were fuego, definitely some of the best I have had! I've been listening to a lot of BYU devotionals recently and also studying chronologically from the Book of Mormon, and it's been sweet.

This past week I was in Helaman, and in chapter 10, Nephi is walking back to his home after preaching to the wicked Nephites. As he is pondering what the Lord had done for him, this council comes,

"I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will. Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God."

Nephi gets a pretty sweet blessing here, and it's interesting how that came about. As I pondered this, it became apparent that we can receive that same promise as we ask only for things that are aligned with God's will. He is God, we are humans. He is perfect, we aren't. He knows best, we know pretty much nothing. As we ask for help, guidance, inspiration, or anything else, we need to understand and respect the fact that He will never give us anything that goes contrary to His perfect plan for us. As we accept that truth, we are more able to align our will with His, which is the hardest thing ever!

I was reading about that this week as well in a book I frequently reference called "Believing Christ" (which you all should read). It talks in this book about how a lot of times we feel like God has forsaken us or that He asks too much of us.

The Church constantly asks us to contribute our best and most possible. Time, money, effort, thought, and service are all things we are asked to bring to the table as members of the restored church of Christ. A lot of times we think "Well I have no more to give! I've exhausted my resources! Isn't that good enough?"

Simply put, No. It's not good enough, because we aren't good enough, ever. We can't be, it's impossible. It's not possible for us to "qualify" for salvation or exaltation. Now, it is possible for us to be granted salvation or exaltation, and it is possible that we are "made" good enough. That is where the Atonement comes in. The key to enabling that, is giving our all, and a little more. We are the only ones that know our capacity, and if we are living below that we are the only ones that know we are giving less than we are capable of.

The author of this book relates this to weight lifting and says, "The spotter in the gym NEVER grabs your bar when you say 'Take it!', he always says 'One more!'."
This concept is the same with our Father in Heaven, he always insists "one more" from us, until we literally CAN'T give anymore due to physical, spiritual, or mental capacity. He knows what we are capable of, and wants us to grow. The only way to grow is to push ourselves! You're never going to have big arms if you only lift what you know you can comfortably lift!

Hope this made some sense ;)