Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Post Time!


"[It's Post] time, go and grab your friends. We'll go to very distant lands. [Elder Lopez and the reader] the fun will never end it's [Post] time!"
-Adventure Time theme with the Lopez twist! 

That joke...
Not too long ago, I wrote a post about the Spectacular Spider-man which had to do with Morality. The only problem with lessons and Pop Culture is that sometimes, multiple sources teach the same lesson and morality and choosing the right is a lesson so nice I'm gonna teach it twice. "That's probably for the best cause that Spider-man one wasn't one of your better ones..." Yea, I guess I *got caught in a web with that one!* "Sigh..." Well, anyway, everyone, much like Dr. Who, loves Adventure Time so I thought, Why not?

So I haven't seen many episodes of this show either cause it's rather strange... "This coming from the man (Elder) who watches a show about colorful singing ponies..." How'd you know they sing...? "... I may have seen one or two episodes..." Hehe... Well anyway, the one I wanted to talk about is an episode called 'Goliad.' Some of you might have heard and/or watched this one. If you haven't, just know, it's weird... But I guess I can't talk. "Judge not, that ye be not judged." Looks like MLP isn't the only thing you've been studying up on. "Give me a break, school's out..."

So, 'Goliad' finds Finn and Jake doing their usual thing around the Candy Kingdom. They come to find out that because of Princess Bubblegum's brush with death, she decides to make an heir to the Candy Kingdom to rule in her stead. In comes Goliad. So using her DNA, Princess Bubblegum create Goliad and has been awake for 83 LONG hours teaching it to be a good ruler. So, much like any one of us would be, she is exhausted. Finn and Jake, being the good people they are, decide to give Princess Bubblegum a break and offer to teach Goliad what it means to be a hero and a good leader. Which isn't exactly the easiest thing to learn but that is neither here nor there.
See? Goliad. It's the giant pink one.
Told you, weird...

Eventually, due to a mishap that involved an obstacle course, yelling and all sorts of cartoon mayhem, Finn and Jake take Goliad back to Princess Bubblegum who tries to reason with Goliad stating that leadership is about helping one another, kind of like a bee and a flower. Goliad counters stating that the bee cares not for the state and well-being of the flower. Princess Bubblegum realizes that Goliad has been corrupted and needs to be disassembled. Goliad can read her mind cause, of course, Adventure Time. Long story short because I'm focusing too much on the worldy and not enough on the Spiritual, Goliad tries destroying everyone but Princess Bubblegum, using a hair she got off Finn, creates another candy sphinx named Stormo.


Goliad tries reasoning with Stormo saying that together they can rule but Stormo simply screeches and the two engage in an epic psychic showdown! Pretty much they just stare at each other for all time and eternity.
So because Stormo was created Finn's hair, he inherited Finn's heroic qualities which is why he opted to do good rather than join the forces of evil. It's also why he chose to sacrifice himself to keep Goliad in check for all time and eternity.

So. What can we learn from this? "You mean besides the fact that your skills in summarizing are shoddy at best?" Okay... Besides that. "You tell me." Well, we're talking about morality and there is a reason that that one sentence up there is in bold. It also goes back to all those Christ like elements I spent forever talking about. It's all about choosing the right. You see, in today's day and age, we face tons of decisions. Some are easy, like whether you should mix Sprite with Orange juice for your daily breakfast. (The answer is a delicious yes.) While others, are slightly challenging, like whether the ugly tie that has what looks like popcorn designs on it go well with khakis. (It doesn't.) But we still face those really really hard decisions like, whether I should stand up for what I believe in, even in the face of adversity. (That one is a yes, but sometimes you'll feel hard pressed to say it.) I read a scripture in the New Testament the other day that about sums it up. 
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.
                                                                                                        Matthew 10:39

A picture of heroism! At least,
I think that's what it is...
The only reason that the day was saved was because Stormo, who inherited Finn's heroism, was willing to sacrifice all he had to help and because he was strong enough to face the trial that was corruption, he gave his life to keep Goliad forever in check. So pretty much, try to be heroic like Finn. "Or you could try to be like Jesus..." Oh yeah, that one's definitely better. Try to be like Jesus dear reader because if there's one person who knows more about sacrifice heroism and Love, it's definitely Jesus. "Hallelujah!" 








Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Harry Poster

This post brought to you entirely by, Elder Storey(With inserts by yours truly)

"You're a Wizard Harry."
-Hagrid (Pretty much the only quote I know and has nothing to do with the post...)

I think we're due for a good
fast forward...
Hello dear readers. Today we are going to talk about Harry Potter. Ever since I was a little kid I have loved Harry Potter. "Yeah?" Remember that little boy that looked at you in amazement as you told him he was a wizard? "Yeah!" Well we're not going to talk about that today. "Talk about anticlimactic..."

Fast forward past the three headed dog, the killer tree, the giant snake, the soul sucking demons, and the crazy deadly wizard Olympics, now during Harry's six year at Hogwarts Harry desperately need to get a memory from professor Slughorn. He try's everything he can think of on his own and nothing works. Finally he decides to use a magic potion (that's not a metaphor it is literally a magic potion) that will give him luck. He thinks it will magically make Slughorn want to give him the memory without him having to do any work. He expects it to change his outward circumstances to make them easier to deal with. But the potion doesn't do that. It give him the thought that he should go see his friend Hagrid. On the way there he runs into Slughorn and he comes with Harry to Hagrid's. All through the course of the night Harry gets subtle impressions on the next step he needs to take and by the end of the night he has obtained the memory he so desperately needed and which had seemed impossible to get. It is the same with us and our Heavenly Father.

We all have trials and challenges in our lives. We have all had those times when we have done our best and it not been enough. That is when we pray. Some of us may think that God isn't answering our prayers because our trials don't go away. We may think that since our outward circumstances didn't change our prayer wasn't answered. The part we overlook is that sometimes God lightens the load and sometimes he strengthens the bridges. Sometimes our load doesn't get any lighter, we get more strength and endurance to carry it. The outward problem doesn't change our inward capacity to solve the problem is increased.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:9).

We may not understand why Heavenly Father doesn't just take the trial from us but if we trust in him and know that he has our best interest at heart we will be able to face trials as they come knowing that our Heavenly Father will help us through it.
See? Look how happy Harry is to have read and learned that!
And if YOU want to write for Light's, Camera, Lopez! and bring the gospel in a funny pop culture related way, send me, Elder Lopez a message on Facebook! Are you a missionary who wants to help out but can't message other missionaries? Write a comment below saying you're in!  

Monday, July 21, 2014

Heya Love!

Yesterday after church Sister Greer went to try and visit one of our investigators -Rozana- to try and have her come with us to a fireside last night. On our way there I felt prompted to stop and try to see another investigator named Sheri. Sister Greer was so great she willingly helped me to follow my prompting although it didn't really make sense to go Sheri's home when we didn't have her Gate Code to go in to her apartment building. We went anyway and sure enough the Gate was locked. We stood by the Gate for a while and tried calling Sheri's phone. She didn't answer so we waited for a little while longer in case someone might open the Gate from inside. While waiting a lady with a scar on her Brow and mens' sneakers too big for her walked up to us and asked if we were with a church. We said we were and explained who we were. She introduced herself as Michelle and said that she was a victim of Domestic Violence and was running away from the man she was with. She said she'd been running all night from Long Beach ( the next City over)  and she was scared for her life. She explained that a couple of years ago she had put this man in Jail for all these horrible things he had done to her and to other girls and that he just got out of jail and the Police didn't protect her like she thought they would. She was so scared and she broke down crying and she told us her story. We could feel the fear that she had for this man. She cried as she told us all that he had done and it was so sad to know that most of the girls he had hurt didn't live to tell their story. Michelle said she ran away from him with nothing but the clothes on her back and no shoes. She shared how he threatened to murder her and even showed her how he would do it! Oh My goodness  it was like hearing a horror story or something you'd see on CSI except this was real life. My companion and I were both so sad and scared for Michelle. We took her to the car and it just so happened that I had put an extra pair of shoes in our trunk and she was the same size as me. So we gave her shoes and my sweater and some food. We prayed with her and really just felt helpless because there was really nothing more we could do for her. Last night I thought a lot about Michelle and being in her shoes. I was reminded of how Nephi felt in the Book of Mormon when people were just so wicked and evil. I was really in awe at how the world has become. It was so sad. 
I am grateful for that experience though because if we hadn't listened to the spirit we wouldn't have been able to help Michelle and share our testimonies with her. I know Heavenly Father will look after her. Please pray for her.

This week we've seen a lot of Miracles in our area. 2 Months ago we had went on a break with our investigator named Walfred. We all felt like that was needed so that he could decide for himself what he wanted and strive to live the Gospel on his own for himself and not for us. Then last week Walfred called our Ward Mission Leader - Brother Clement and told him that he was ready to come back to church and take this step.That was truly a Miracle and a testimony builder for me to know that Heavenly Father is always mindful of his children regardless of whatever circumstances they're in. I am so glad that Walfred has decided to take this step for himself and not for us. He is a Blessing!!!! 

Since being here I've come to love Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon so much!!!! I love knowing that this is the Lord's work and it is truly a spiritual work and that we truly do labor with him. I am grateful to learn this and I am excited to continue to labor with him. This last week another Former investigator named Lauren also contacted us again after 3 months of no contact with her. She was now willing to let us come over and help her and teach her. We went over with Alex one of the Young Women's and had an amazing lesson with her. She loved it and it was great to feel Alex's testimony. Lauren and her Baby girl Chloe came to church yesterday and loved it:) 

Love you Heaps

Sister Koroitamana

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Spider-post 1: Morality Shmorality


"The power, feels good... But you lose yourself to it..."
-Peter Parker (Spider-Man, oh shoot, was I not supposed reveal that?)

Why Elder Lopez...? Why...?
There comes a time when we must all come to terms with the things we do and decide what kind of person we are going to be, a man of justice and honor? Or a scoundrel who thinks only for himself. Thus is the plight of humanity... "Wow... That was actually really profound. Maybe I've been wrong about you." What? Sorry, I was reading the back of this Laffy Taffy wrapper. "Sigh... Okay... Those things are getting really profound lately." Right? It looks like they're trying to *wrap* it up! "That picture sums up how I feel right now..." Oh...

So back to that very profound wrapper, it is outdeed true that because we as people have agency, or the ability to choose decisions for ourselves, that we do have to look deep inside ourselves to solve our problems and for the most part, decide what outlook on life we want to have. You know who else had this problem? "Everyone on Earth...?" Close, Spider-Man! Unfortunately, we have to talk about one of THE worst Spider-man movies ever created which is none other than Spider-man 3, but even bad movies have good lessons!


As unprofound as this picture may seem,
if you add a caption like: 'Everybody has a dark side.'
It seems a whole lot deeper.  It doesn't...
So in Spider-man 3, we follow the life of Peter Parker, AKA Spider-man as he does his Spider-man stuffs. Everything is going sucky for him per the usual until one day, researchers find this mysterious alien life form that was stuck on J. Jonah Jameson's son's (I can't for the life of me remember his name) rocket. So this life form we find out is a symbiote that shares a what? A Symbiotic relationship with Peter Parker. Now here's where the Biology comes in. What's a symbiotic relationship you may be asking? "It's great when you hold both parts of the conversation." Ignoring that, Well, it's an interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association. I wish I could tell you that I learned that in Biology but unfortunately, Spider-man honestly taught me that but that's neither here nor there... So both these parties are getting benefits from this whole working together thing, Peter Parker is stronger and faster and has a neat new suit, while the symbiote as a nice home and feeds off of Peter Parker's negative emotions. It's only till Peter Parker realizes that he's becoming a jerk and people are moving away from him (more than usual) that he realizes that, like the quote says,
 "The power, feels good... But you lose yourself to it..."
Lots of cool action things happen and the day is saved as usual by Spider-man, and his mask and suit ripped in literally the same spots each time... As it turned out, Peter Parker became the Symbiote's puppet and that didn't fly with him. But the point of all of that is, Peter Parker felt powerful and in control when under the control of the symbiote, I chose that phrase specifically. He THOUGHT he was in control until he realized, he wasn't. "You know, reading that, I thought that was gonna have a more profound meaning..." Yea, I totally did too... 
An example of the "bad things" Elder Lopez
does not support. 

So that brings us to the whole morality issue that I bet you were dying to read about. "Well, I made it this far right..?" An excellent point. Why is it so easy to be bad than it is to be good? "Is that a rhetorical question?" In a sense yes, but before you say anything about me being a bad guy, I'm gonna answer your rude question with a quote, "Just because you are bad guy does not mean you are BAD guy." Don't take that in any way more than just a Wreck It Ralph quote... Elder Lopez does not support the bad stuffs... 
Moving on, think about it, we live in a world where it's so much easier and more gratifying to do bad things, whether it's using coarse language cause the cool kids think it's cool, or simply changing or lowering your standards to match that of others. It's real easy. 

In today's day and age, having high standards is being challenged by people who disagree with what some others believe is the "norm" "I don't think that one was correct English..." Yea, me neither but who's gonna know? "Everyone... Okay, realistically, just me." Well, rather than share a personal example from my life, let's hear what an apostle of the Lord has to say about this. 

"Recently, I spoke with a Laurel from the United States. I quote from her email:"

“This past year some of my friends on Facebook began posting their position on marriage. Many favored same-sex marriage, and several LDS youth indicated they ‘liked’ the postings. I made no comment.

“I decided to declare my belief in traditional marriage in a thoughtful way.

“With my profile picture, I added the caption ‘I believe in marriage between a man and a woman.’ Almost instantly I started receiving messages. ‘You are selfish.’ ‘You are judgmental.’ One compared me to a slave owner. And I received this post from a great friend who is a strong member of the Church: ‘You need to catch up with the times. Things are changing and so should you.’

“I did not fight back,” she said, “but I did not take my statement down.”

She concludes: “Sometimes, as President Monson said, ‘You have to stand alone.’ Hopefully as youth, we will stand together in being true to God and to the teachings of His living prophets.”

So much potential...

So yes, it's tough to "Choose the Right" as they say, but it is always worth it in the end. Don't believe me? Well... That's your own fault... I've put enough compelling evidence. The point is, as the very deep Laffy Taffy wrapper I read said, sometimes, we just have to choose what kind of person we want to be. Whether we want to be a force for good, or a force for evil. Now at this point you may be asking, "I'll ask this one... Well, what about those people who do horrible heinous things to good people and get stuff from it? Why do they get off Scot-free while the other peoples suffer?" Ohh... A good question. This goes back to the whole instant gratification thing from earlier. Yes, they get something now, but from an eternal perspective, they wh- actually, let's let the scriptures take care of this one. 
"So the last shall be first, and the first last"
So what that's saying is, those who "think" they are getting ahead by hurting others, will find that they are far behind in the very end. So overall, be good! Do good things! It's hard sure, but it's worth it! Need help? There is tons of help here! 

Rainbow Dash and the Sonic Rainboom

"Hold on Rarity, I'm comin'!"
-Rainbow Dash


"Wow, it's been a while since you've written about ponies. I thought
you finally forsook it." Never in a million years dear reader, well... Maybe in a couple, we'll see, but until that sad sad day comes, let's talk a little about faith. "Can we not...?" Nope. We're talking about it. But first, a story!


Now because I've written a little about the ponies who make up what is colloquially known as, 'The Mane Six', it makes long drawn out explanations like this one
Two of the greatest sources of happiness
unnecessary.

As such, Sonic Rainboom finds Rainbow Dash ready to compete in what's known as the Best Young Fliers competition. It's a competition that I guess happens every year in which the best young pegasus ponies compete for fame and an afternoon
with the Wonderbolts. (Think Blue Angels, but in small colorful pony form)

Rainbow Dash is a HUGE fanatic when it comes to the Wonderbolts and it's her hope and dream to one day join their ranks and winning this competition is gonna bring her closer to getting there. "I thought you said these long drawn out explanations were unnecessary...?" I also realized there is A LOT more to this show than what little I remembered... Now stop interrupting please. But Rainbow has an ace up her sleeve. Well, I guess technically hoof... They don't really wear clothes too often... Anyway, she is the only pegasus capable of performing a Sonic Rainboom. (hence the name of the episode) What is a Sonic Rainboom you ask? Well Webster's describes it as- oh wait...

That's right, the word doesn't exist... Fine, I'LL DESCRIBE IT... When a pegasus like Rainbow Dash goes REALLY fast, they can break not only the sound barrier, but the color barrier too in a stunning display of... stunning...ness... Rainbow Dash is the only pegasus who can do this and she did it once when she was a foal (young horse/pony I guess the kid equivalent. And you thought this show only taught good Christian values...) but every time she tries it, she just can't break past the sonic barrier and ends up failing epically. But many still think it's an "old mare's tale." (It's their equivalent to an old wives tale. Hey I didn't write the show... I wish though...)

Wow this summary is taking longer than I wanted... Fast forward.

Point is, Rainbow Sonic Rainboom'd once on accident and hasn't been able to do it again which makes her kind of nervous. Although she isn't vocal about it because she's crazy prideful, (we'll talk about that one in a little) her friends pick up on it and decide to go cheer her on. However, the competition is being held in Cloudsdale, which as you probably guessed, is made of clouds which other ponies, except Pegasus ponies, can't step on. Twilight uses magic to give Rarity a pair of beautiful butterfly wings that are made of gossamer and morning dew, (remember that) but because the spell is difficult to do multiple times, she instead uses a different spell that allows the rest of them to walk on clouds.

Well up in Cloudsdale, Rainbow is nervous and is made even more so when she realizes that Rarity, because of the attention she is getting from her new wings, is also competing in the competition which majorly freaks Rainbow out. The competition arrives and Rainbow stalls due to stage fright until time runs out and Rainbow and Rarity both have to compete at the same time. Pulling herself together, she goes out and completely bombs her first two maneuvers. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the princess of the kingdom is spectating, adding more pressure. So now it's do or die time for Rainbow so she once more tries to perform the Sonic Rainboom. She gains altitude and so does Rarity as she uses the sun to reflect light off her wings in a stunning display of... I don't know... Refraction? It's colorful, that's the point. However, much like Icarus, she flies too high and the very sensitive wings burn up and so she begins plummeting to the ground. The Wonderbolts quickly dispatch to retrieve her but because she's flailing, she knocks them unconscious. It's at that moment when Rainbow Dash takes notice of her endangered friend and abandoning all prospects of winning, she bullets down in Rarity's direction.

Alright pause at the best part.

Now we already talked about why faith is so important and that we need it in our lives or else we're pretty much just walking aimlessly down this path called life. However, simple faith isn't sufficient for miracles to happen. Simply believing isn't enough to change anything. As a scripture in the New Testament says,


"Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead..." 
(James 2:17)

By me simply wanting something, I don't get any closer to it happening. As we talked about before, Joseph Smith didn't receive a vision just by wanting it and sitting there, he made it happen! If you don't do, nothing will. If you want a more poetic version of what I'm trying to say, then Dr. Seuss is your man.

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going toget better, it's not."  
-Dr. Seuss (The Lorax)

So now you have faith and you've put forth the action and yet nothing has happened and you're saying to yourself, "can I say it?" Yeah go for it. "I just don't know what went wrong." So you're feeling bad about yourself and the boo-hoos are coming cause you listened to Elder Lopez's advice and so far as you know, nothing has come out of it and
you're at the point of swearing vengeance on he who has deceived you will not stop until justice had been served... Well calm down cause I don't need a vigilante coming through my window and beating me into a good looking pulp. Instead, what you SHOULD'VE done was flip your handy dandy scriptures to Ether 12:6 which says,

And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith. 
(Ether 12:6)

So there we reach trials. We'll fail yes and then we'll fail again and sometimes again but then we try just one more time... And then we fail again... "Anticlimactic." But after all these things, we humble ourselves because it's at the very time that we need it when miracles happen.

Alright, back to Rainbow Dash.

So Rarity's been falling for a while and is pretty close to the ground and Rainbow Dash is in a 90 degree nosedive to save her falling friend and heroes. The high velocity winds make it hard for Rainbow Dash to keep her eyes open and her mouth shut, a sonic cone begins to form around her slowing her descent until she finally breaks through the
sound and color barrier, flying at supersonic speeds fast enough to catch the endangered ponies and leaving a dazzling rainbow trail back to the Cloudiseum (it's a cloud coliseum and yes, that's actually what it's called.) Lessons are learned, friendships strengthened, yadda yadda, and in the end, Rainbow wins the Best Young Fliers competition, doesn't take The Lord's name in vain (cause the show teaches good Christian values) and gets to spend time with her idols.

It looks something like that.


So why did she succeed that time and not the first hundred? "Cause the show would be kinda dark and gruesome if she didn't...?" Well, I suppose that's true, but not what I'm looking for. She had the faith, (well, if you want to call it that, she is like I said, VERY prideful) she had the works, (she IS the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria) so what went wrong?

Two things did. One, she relied more on her own ability and allowing her pride as well as doubt to overwhelm her. If there's one thing we can learn, it's that pride comes before the fall and it was only until she was humbled sufficiently enough that she was able to bring about these great works. (But that's not the last you'll ever hear about
Rainbow Dash and her ego coming to bite her) Her fear was also what started getting to her, the bible dictionary definition of fear says,

"...Fear is spoken of as something unworthy of a child of God, something that “perfect love casteth out” The first effect of Adam’s sin was that he was afraid. Sin destroys that feeling of confidence God’s child should feel in a loving Father and produces instead a feeling of shame and guilt. Ever since the Fall God has been teaching men not to fear, but with penitence to ask forgiveness in full confidence of receiving it."

And two, it wasn't until the trial of her faith that she was able to do it. Things were different when she was just trying to win and impress everyone, which is its own reward. It wasn't until her friend's life was in danger and she had a lot to lose when she gave
all the worldly things she cared about up, and let pure faith take the wheel.


It also kinda looks like that...
Such determination.


So the moral?

Watch My Little Pony. Oh, and also and more importantly, you can't go wrong when you have God on your side. "You write a lot of these." Yeah I do, but we're at the eleventh hour now. "What's that supposed to mean...?" Guess you'll find out soon enough.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

hey Beautiful!

This week has been kind of overwhelming for me. I am loving being here and loving training Sister Greer. I just sometimes feel like there's so much to do and I don't really have me time! to gather my thoughts and just really organize myself. So it's a process.

Yesterday I came across this scripture in the Book of Mormon 3 Nephi 20:41-42. I loved it a lot! I felt like I needed it.

"And then shall a cry go forth: Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch not that which is unclean; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean that bear the vessels of theLord.
For ye shall not go out with haste nor go by flight; for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel shall be your rearward"
I learnt and recognized from this scripture that I really need to be making a conscious effort to not think unclean, or worldly thoughts and continue to strive to be worthy of the spirit. I felt so comforted to know that the Lord does go before us and he leads and guides us in this work. Yesterday in Sacrament meeting I was just feeling so eager to learn and also to overcome these feelings of doubt that tend to come into my mind. I wrote down the question"Why do I easily forget all the great things the Lord has done for me?" and just then the next speaker in Sacrament stood up and talked about how we can always remember the Savior in our everyday lives. That was such a Miracle for me to know - rather be reassured that Heavenly Father lives and knows me and my heart. I am grateful for that experience. I am also coming to learn why we have such a great need for the Book of Mormon today. For Phases such as these when we slowly forget the Lord's goodness in our lives. 
I am coming to learn that Faith truly does take one step at a time.
We had an amazing lesson this week with Thomas's Son (our investigator) his name is Tommy and he's 19. He had come to church once before with his Mom and girlfriend and he loved it! since then he's been eager to join us in our lessons with his Family. We went with the Tuiaana kids to that lesson and it was just great!!! Tommy shared how he felt like at church specifically Sunday School he felt that the lesson was exactly what was in his heart. He loved that experience and is so eager to change and come closer to Christ. Raelyn and Anthony Tuiaana shared their testimonies with him and it was so great to see them being a part of this - the Lord's work. We invited Tommy to be baptized and he accepted a Baptismal Date for August 2nd!!!! he's excited to continue to learn more.

Also this week another miracle! one of our Former investigators from when I first got here contacted us! She hadn't contacted since I got into this area and now she's willing to have us come over and teach her! What a blessing. Last week while knocking at an investigators door we spoke to his neighbor Richard and learnt that he was willing to have us come back. We went by this past weekend and as we shared about the Restoration. He shared that he had been always been praying for the Lord to bless him with more wisdom and knowledge to come closer to God and then we came by!!! He recognized that the Lord hears him. We are excited to start teaching him. Please pray for him!!!!
I Love you Lots!!!
Sister Koroitamana

Baby Girl Funeral

Hello Amigos !!
well this week was a great one we had a lot of miracles and also a hard trial.
good news first or bad news?
 bad news: I got a call from the Zone Leaders from Papago they told me about my recent convert Genaro, well after church last Sunday they were coming home and I am not sure if they had been home for a while but his two year old princess was walking around in the  parking lot and a big truck made a fast sharp turn into the apartments and ran her over, and killed her. My former companion which lives with me and I were invited to attend the funeral. It was this last Saturday it was my first funeral I've ever been to, it was sad to see everyone crying, most of them weren't members of the church, therefore I feel that they probably didn't have the hope we do that they will one day see her again. I know that even for us it is still sad, even if we have this knowledge. It is a huge trial of our faith, but as President Uchdorf reminds us that this is only a mere interruption, for we weren't meant for endings, but death is the portal to the next life, and that later we will understand why things happen and these trials won't seem as long compared to all eternity we have  to share our lives with them. I am so grateful for the Plan God has for us.
As we stepped into the relief society room I saw her little light pink coffin, with her in it, she wore a white little dress and looked so pale. She was so cute and sassy, we know she is having the best life up there with heavenly Father.
I will  be writing him more often letters of comfort and of encouragement.

Good news: We have a family who hasn't been coming to church as much, but this month they decided to not sleep in and get up and go to church! so we asked if we can start teaching her unbaptized daughters, ages 9 and 12. The younger one seems more prepared. she pays more attention and actually reads and prays, the other is more difficult so we have to ask a lot of inspired questions, and  we have them explain what they understood, also we make the scriptures fun by applying it to their lives! we made all of our families a calendar for Scriptures that are 2 verses long with a theme, so they spend some time in the scriptures every  day. We are preparing them to be baptized on the 26th of this month.
This member also has a sister who is not a member and sometimes comes to church with them, she said she likes church, so afterwards I hunted her down and mingled with all of her family and then received the courage to ask her id she will be willing to learn more about the church. She said yes, but works everyday in the evenings so we scheduled an appointment for the morning. She is so funny and so pretty that she sort of intimidates me. She literally looks like Princess Jasmine, but prettier, goodness.  We have high hopes for this one.


We had a really fun Family home evening last night with our favorite less active family the Munizes, who is ironically the most loving, amazingly spiritual and sincerest family that I've ever met who were already members of the church. (sincere investigators are usually far more spiritual than most members) But they are always sharing their testimonies with their friends and were talking about faith and how much it helps their lives. Well we had the lesson on "Loving People Into the Gospel" they had tons of experiences to share and even referred a family to us and offered their home for the lessons!:D HURRAH! if you want to know why they are less active, to put it simply they have a hard time forgiving others and accepting that everyone makes mistakes, and revenge is necessary and also if they don't like you they cant stand being around you and rather not be in the same room as you because they will hurt you, well especially the wife.  So beware of pride and forgive people and pray for your enemies and ask for Charity and Patience during your prayers.
LOVE YOU!
thanks for the prayers!


fun apartment bonding photos

yes we look like a hunchbacked three headed beast

this other photo was a fun homemade egg white exfoliation treatment ;)

Sunday, July 13, 2014

"Third Generation Latter-Day Saints" by Camille Ramos

Its kinda late to write it down and blog it, but i'm gonna write it though. My mom and dad were the first member in our family. They were baptized when they have my three older sisters. After which, my eldest sister were baptized, then the second and third. Then my brother was born and they were sealed inside the Manila Temple when he was 2. I was born after a year of their sealing and was a covenant baby. My siblings and i were raised by my parents with the gospel and with Jesus Christ at the center of our lives. I saw my parents faith and love for God. I saw how my dad magnify his calling as the first branch president in our branch and had served for a long years. I saw how obedient, faithful, charitable my mom and dad is. Now my sisters have their own family and have the children of their own. My brother also were married, so definitely i'm the only one who is single (but its okay). I am so much grateful that i was born with my mom and be with my family. We faced a lot of trials and challenges in the past years but because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we were able to overcome those and have a stronger family ties. I am so blessed have such wonderful family members around me. Do you wanna see my family? Well, this is my eternal family...


This is my niece, Janica. She's with her mom, her dad and her brother.

She is an adorable girl who loves to sing (even if she's not in tune with what she sings), she loves to draw and do artworks. She's a friendly one and didn't fight even if someone was bullying her. She loves her mom and dad so much and of course, count us in, her immediate family members. She grew in the church just like me. They were sealed in the Temple when she was about 3 or 4 (i think. Hehe). She's ready to enter into the covenant of baptism. She was baptized on her birth day last Feb.22, 2014 and she thought that being baptized is the best gift ever! She was then confirmed the next day (which is definitely sunday). I saw her so happy and full of spirit. I heard her bear her testimony and i was amazed on how this 8 year old girl developed a testimony of the gospel. She and her brother is the third generation member in our family. I am so glad to see the fruit of my parents labor in us, that were passed on in my sisters children.

We should always remember our baptismal covenant and bear with us the sacred name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I know that we were chosen to receive the Gospel and be baptized in his name. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ loves us so much and they are longing to see us and be with us. I know that baptism is essential in our own exaltation and so we can be called his children. We should always look forward and continue our journey in that straight and narrow path that leads to God. Be steadfast and immovable! We might have a stormy life now and ahead of us, but always put your trust in God. I am so excited to see my future, having a family of my own, with the same Gospel of Christ in it. Let's see and i will surely keep you posted when that day comes

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

A Time for Planting

A Time for Planting
W. Steve Albrecht
Brigham Young University–Idaho Devotional
April 5, 2005
Good afternoon. I am very pleased and excited to be here today. This school is a major part of my life. Years ago, my wife, LeAnn, then a new convert to the church from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, came to what was Ricks College to attend school. She had only been a member of the church for a few months and it was at this school that she formed her first knowledge and testimony of the Gospel. She can still recall those professors who made indelible impressions on her. While she was a student, she served as Vice President of Activities and was involved in the program bureau as a baton twirler. Now, LeAnn and I are the parents of 5 boys and 1 girl. While our daughter is leaving in a month for a mission to Switzerland, each of our five sons has already served and is now married. And guess what. All five of their wives are graduates from this school. So, even though I went to BYU-Provo as an undergraduate, every time we get together as a family, all the girls in our family talk about their fond memories in Rexburg. And, to top that off, our son was a quarterback on what was the Ricks College Football team about 10 years ago. You see, our family just can’t get enough of this outstanding school.
 As was noted in my introduction, I have now been teaching for over 30 years at three major universities. During that period, there have been several hundred instances where young men and women have come to me seeking advice about careers, job opportunities, graduate school, marriage and other major decisions. In each case, I have tried to give the best, Gospel-based counsel I could. For my few minutes today, I’d like to assume that you are a student who has come asking for advice. In our own way, I’d like to think of this presentation today as a one-on-one conversation with you, hopefully providing some practical guidance that will be helpful as you make major decisions in your lives.
 The Bible states that there is a time and season for everything. In Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 it states: “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.” Right now, most of you are fully engaged in preparing for your future—you are in the planting stage of your lives. This is a very important time of your life. In fact, much of the happiness or sorrow and the success or failure you will experience throughout your life will be a result of the preparation and planting you do now and the options and opportunities you create for yourself while you are in this planting stage. You will reap only what you sow and so your goal should be to plant the best crops possible and to create as many opportunities as you can for yourself.
 I am a great believer that we can have much more success and happiness if we have more opportunities or choices or more of what I call options. People without options have no freedom. I personally believe that Heavenly Father wants us to use this planting stage to create as many and the best options we can for us and our future families.
Let’s talk about what an option is for a moment. Webster defines an option as a choice; the power, right or liberty of choosing; something that is or can be chosen; and the right, acquired for a consideration, to buy or sell something at a fixed price within a specific time. I’m sure you’ve all heard of stock options or the option to purchase a piece of land. A stock option is the right to buy a share of stock at a specific price. For example, if you hold the option to buy a share of stock at $5 and the market price rises to $15, you can buy the stock for $5 and immediately sell the stock for $15 on the same day, making $10 per share.
 We know that one of the reasons Heavenly Father sent us to this earth was to see if we could make good choices. This life is a testing ground. A pre-requisite to making good choices is having alternatives from which to choose. In fact, it is the ability to make choices that gives us freedom. A very important success and happiness strategy in this fast-changing world is to do everything possible to maximize your options and choices and, hence, freedom.
 While we live in a free country and have few, if any, externally or politically imposed constraints, many of us lose or limit our freedom by the actions we take and by the choices we make or fail to make. When the future is uncertain, as it is today, it pays to have a broad range of options available. Option theory rewards flexibility. In fact, your future successes and failures will largely depend on what options you provide for yourself while in this planting stage of your life.
 Let me give you a simple, but obvious example. Assume that two young women start BYU-Idaho on the same day. During their first three years, one studies harder than the other and earns a 3.6 cumulative GPA. The other, either explicitly or by default decides that school is a time for play as well as studying and does not work as hard as her friend. As a result, after 3 years of college, her cumulative GPA is 2.8. During their junior year, the two young women decide that they will apply to graduate school. Upon getting the applications, they realize that the minimum GPA for applying is a 3.0. Unfortunately, only one of the two young women can even apply. Because of her 2.8 GPA, the second young woman has lost an option.
 It is the same with life. In a rapidly-changing world, you should create and keep open as many options as you can so you will be nimble and can move quickly and take advantage of these options. As long as you keep your options open, you have more choices and freedom and will be more successful and happy in the future. There are several things you can do to maximize your options and keep yourself nimble and ready to act. Today, I would like to talk about eight. Hopefully, our discussion of these option-granting ideas will constitute practical advice that will bring you greater happiness in the future.
 Option producing strategy #1: Do everything you can to build a good reputation.
People with tarnished reputations, lose options in life. Sometimes this loss of options occurs at work and sometimes it happens at home. Let me give you a couple of examples. In the play, “All My Sons” written by Arthur Miller, there is a place where a son sees his father cheating in the business world. Up until then, his dad has been his hero. When he confronts his dad, his father says, “Son, everybody does it. You have to cheat to be successful.” The son replies, “I know dad, but I thought you were better than everyone else.” This father just lost options with his son. In another example, I am aware of a woman who worked for a corporation for 37 years. We believe she was honest for the first 34. During her last three years, she started embezzling and eventually stole $686,000. When caught, the company took her home, her cars, her retirement account and most of her other assets. Through seizing all these assets, the company recovered about $400,000. She lost her reputation for honesty and the respect of her friends and was sentenced to serve one year in a federal prison. She is now out of prison but must make monthly restitution payments of $333 per month to the company. If she misses one payment, she violates her parole and goes back to jail. In other words, she must spend the rest of her life either working or in jail. She has lost options. And, to make matters worse, since stolen money is taxable in the U.S., the IRS came after her and told her that she had $686,000 of income she didn’t report on her tax return. When she finished negotiating with the IRS, they called the $400,000 she repaid the company a loan but assessed taxes on the $286,000 she will never repay (at $333 per month, she’s not even paying the interest) With fines, penalties and interest, she owes the IRS over $200,000 and has entered in an agreement to make tax payments to the IRS of $540 every month. She is a now a convicted felon who works in a fast-food restaurant at close to minimum wage. She is 70 years old and has no home or other assets. This lady has lost not only her reputation, but the freedom to live where she wants, work where she wants, buy what she wants, travel where she wants, and even marry who she wants because her husband divorced her. You will have many more options in the future if you build a good reputation and name. As it says in Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is better than precious ointment.”
 So how do you gain a good reputation? I believe there are three keys, all of which we learn about in the temple: (1) have integrity in all we do; in other words, be honest, (2) be a finisher, and (3) return and report. We have already discussed the role of integrity—the lady who stole money lost her reputation because of her dishonesty.
 Let’s now discuss being a finisher. Throughout our lives, each of us will be given stewardship assignments. We will be stewards in our jobs, in our homes, in our wards and stakes, as students and in many other settings. As stewards, we are the ones who have taken on or been given assignments—to be a father or mother, to be an employee, to be a Bishop or Relief Society President, etc. We have been called, selected, applied for or have been given assignments. We know what is expected and we have made commitments about how we will perform. Our reputation will largely be determined by how we perform in those responsibilities. I believe we have two responsibilities: (1) to be a finisher and get the job done (whatever the assignment) and (2) to return and report. Let me illustrate the finisher concept by using a story that President Monson tells often. This is a story he first told in 1972 (Ensign, July 1972.)
  
On sunlit days during the noon hour, the streets of Salt Lake City abound with men and women who for a moment leave the confines of the tall office buildings and engage in that universal delight called window shopping. On occasion, I, too, am a participant. On Wednesday, I paused before the elegant show window of a prestigious furniture store. That which caught and held my attention was not the beautifully designed sofa nor the comfortable-appearing chair that stood at its side. Neither was it the beautiful chandelier positioned overhead. Rather, my eyes rested upon a small sign that had been placed at the bottom righthand corner of the window. Its message was brief: “Finishers Wanted.” The store had need of those persons who possessed the talent and the skill to make ready for the final sale the expensive furniture that the firm manufactured and sold. Finishers wanted. The words remained with me as I returned to the pressing activities of the day. In life, as in business, there has always been a need for those persons who could be called finishers. Their ranks are few, their opportunities many, their contributions great.
 It was Napleon Hill who said: “There is always room for those who can be relied upon to deliver the goods when they say they will.”
 In my positions as a dean and stake president, I often make assignments—assignments to serve on committees, to fulfill assignments, to complete research, and to teach classes. There are some people I ask often and others I never ask, especially when I need a job done well. I absolutely hate it when I get no response or feedback and I have to search to find out what has been done. I will pay a lot of money for someone who will complete a job; I will pay even more for someone who will complete the job and return and report.
 In most cases, living the Gospel, being a parent or employee and completing stewardship assignments is not a team sport. It is very different from basketball or baseball. Rather, it is like wrestling. We are on our own (with limited help from others.) We pray alone. We plan alone. We often work alone. And, we, alone, decide whether to be a finisher and whether or not to return and report.
 From the very beginning of our lives, a fundamental question remains to be answered by each of us who runs the race of life. That question is: “shall I falter or shall I finish.” On the answer to that question await the blessings of joy and happiness here in mortality and eternal life in the world to come. Let’s look at some examples of finishers and non-finishers from the scriptures.
 David was not a finisher. He rode the crest of popularity. He slew the giant. As he achieved fresh victories, the women greeted him with a new song: “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). Power he won; peace he lost. It happened one evening when David was walking upon the roof of the king’s house that he saw from the roof a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful. “And David sent and inquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba,…the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” So “David sent messengers, and took her” (2 Samuel 11:3-4). The gross sin of adultery was followed by yet another: “…Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die” (2 Sam. 11:15). Lust and power had triumphed. David commenced well the race, then faltered and failed to finish his course.
 Another non-finisher was Judas Iscariot. He commenced his ministry as an apostle of the Lord. He ended it a traitor. For thirty paltry pieces of silver, he sold his soul. At last, realizing the enormity of his sin, Judas, to the patrons and tempters of his crime, shrieked: “I have sinned in that I have betrayed innocent blood” (Mathew 27:4). He then threw down the pieces of silver and went and hanged himself.
 A finisher was Job. Pious in his conduct, prosperous in his fortune, Job was to face a series of tests that would tempt any man. Shorn of his possessions, scorned by his friends, afflicted by his suffering, and even tempted by his wife, Job was to declare from the depths of his noble soul:“…behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high” (Job 16:19); “…I know that my redeemer liveth…” (Job 19:25) Job did not falter; he became a finisher.
 Paul was also a finisher. Some of his last words were “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).
 And, the greatest finisher of all was Jesus Christ. While the task was almost impossible, he followed through to the bitter end. He said something to the effect of “Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me. However, not my will, but thy will be done.” Think how our lives would be different if Jesus hadn’t been a finisher.
 So, the most important thing you can do is be a finisher. Here’s a poem about finishers—the author is unknown:
  
i.Stick to your task, til it sticks to you; ii.Beginners are many, but enders are few. iii.Honor, power, place and praise iv.Will always come to the one who stays
  
v.Stick to your task til it sticks to you vi.Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;  vii.For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile viii.Will come life’s victories after a while.
          Author Unknown
 Another important element in building a good reputation is to learn to return and report. Remember, no assignment is complete until you have reported. Think how great it would be if you could teach your children to report back. I have tried hard as a parent to teach my children that the last step in any assignment is to report back. If I have them deliver something, they report back. If I assign them to mow the lawn, they must report back. Learning to report back is a great skill that is highly valued in the business world. If there is one thing you learn today, please commit that whatever you are asked to do, you report back to the person who issued the assignment. As home and visiting teachers, you should not only visit but report back. Your
leaders shouldn’t have to call you to see if you’ve completed your assignment. The temple provides a great example of the power and necessity of reporting back.
 I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “if you want something done, give it to the busiest person you know.” Nothing could be truer and the reputation that busy person has earned him- or herself will create tremendous options for him or her during his or her life.
 So the first option-granting strategy is to do everything possible to earn and keep a good reputation.

 Option producing strategy #2: Get as Much Education and Learning as You Can

A second option- and freedom-maximizing strategy is to get as much education and learning as possible. You must become life-long learners if you are going to succeed in the future. With the fast-paced changes we are experiencing, the content knowledge you acquire in college probably won’t be relevant very long. You must get as much education and learning as you can throughout your life. Consider the following quote by Brigham Young: “We might ask, when shall we cease to learn? I will give you my opinion about it; never, never......We shall never cease to learn, unless we apostatize from the religion of Jesus Christ” (Brigham Young, JD 3:203).
 Personally, I am a Certified Public Accountant or CPA. When I graduated from BYU with a bachelors degree and sat for the CPA Examination in 1971, there were only 15 professional standards that I had to learn to prepare for the exam. Today, most of these standards have been superseded and aren’t relevant anymore. In addition, we now have almost that many new standards being issued every year. The accounting profession, like all other professions, has had to change and become more dynamic to keep up with faced-paced changes in business and the world. If I had to rely on what I learned at BYU to practice as a CPA today, I would be sued for malpractice. Indeed, the purpose of college is not to learn facts, but to learn how to learn.
 The first presidency recognized the value of education in creating options. In the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet, the first presidency state: “Education will help you to better provide for yourself, your loved ones, and those in need…You live in a competitive world where a good education opens the doors of opportunity (another way to say creates options) that may otherwise be closed to you.”
 To help you understand the value of an education in monetary terms, consider the following census statistics from the year 2003:
  
Median Earnings                    Unemployment Rate                Education Attained
$20,592                                8.8%                                         Some high school, no diploma
$28,808                                5.5%                                         High school graduate
$32,344                                 5.2%                                         Some college, no degree
$34,944                                 4.0%                                         Associate degree
$46,800                                  3.3%                                         Bachelor’s degree
$55,328                                  2.9%                                         Master’s degree
$67,964                                   1.7%                                         Professional degree
$70,148                                   2.1%                                         Doctoral degree

 Option producing strategy #3: Maintain Good Health

The third option-maximizing strategy is to maintain good health. When you lose your health or you become addicted to harmful substances or habits, you lose freedom. Personally, I am not quite as fit as I would like to be. I exercise regularly but have trouble watching what I eat. As a result, I have lost some options that others have. I remember one day riding motorcycles with my boys on the Boulder Mountain in Southern Utah. We were riding up a very rough and steep trail. Because they were all young and physically fit, all four of my older boys cruised right to the top on their motorcycles. I tried to follow them and tipped over. I tried again and tipped over a second time. After the third attempt and crash, I laid the bike down, hiked to the top and told my sons to go back down and bring my bike up for me. Because I wasn’t as physically fit as them, I had lost an option. Section 89 contains a promise about these health options if we live according to the Word of Wisdom:
  
And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings (meaning maintaining good health and following the word of wisdom), walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones.
  
And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;
  
And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint (In other words, you will have more options) (Doctrine Covenants 89:18-20).  
  
I recently listened to a very successful, retired corporate executive talk about lessons he had learned in his life. He said that he believed the four most important things we can do are:
  
1.  Take care of our health
2.  Take care of our family
3.  Surround ourselves with good people
4.  Don’t take ourselves too seriously

 Option producing strategy #4: Preserve Your Financial Freedom

A fourth way to maximize your options is to preserve your financial freedom. We now live in a world where everyone borrows–in fact, in the U.S., for every net saver, there are approximately 19 net borrowers. After graduating (and probably even now), almost every day in the mail, you will get solicitations from finance and other companies wanting to extend credit to you. They will use glowing terms and phrases about giving you financial freedom but what they really want is for you to enter into financial bondage to them. When you take upon yourself debt, you lose freedom and options and the ability to act quickly and independently because someone else tells you how to spend your money. If you are burdened with too much debt, you may not be able to change jobs, move, make an investment you should, or even to serve when called upon by the church. Debt is probably okay for your education, buying a home, buying a first car for work, or making investments in such things as real estate. But, debt is not okay for most other things. Let’s consider even school debt for a minute. When you get loans, you don’t pay taxes on them. So, when you pay them back, you don’t get a tax deduction. This means that if you make $50,000 per year after you graduate, you will be taxed on the full amount you make but will have far less cash because you will be repaying non-deductible loans. As a result, you should try to minimize the amount of school debt you must use and work wherever possible.
 Credit card debts are even worse than school loans. They carry higher interest rates and using them to spend money defers the agony of having debt. They almost give you the feeling that you can have something for nothing. Let me give you an example of the perils of credit card debt. Let’s assume you have a credit card balance of $2,400 and an interest rate of 19.8% If you pay the minimum suggested monthly payment of $48 (65% of all people pay the minimum payment), it would take 43.6 years to pay the debt off. If you skip December/Christmas payment (an allowable gift from Master Card), it will take you 85.2 years to pay the debt off. My counsel to you is to avoid credit card debt wherever possible and if you do have credit card debt pay it off as soon as possible.
 If you want to be happy and successful in the future, work hard to maintain your financial freedom. There is something very comforting—even spiritual—about living well within your means. Many scriptures warn us that debt takes away our freedom. Consider Proverbs 22:7 for example, “the rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender.”

 Option producing strategy #5: Stay Free from Guilt and Live so the Spirit is Your Constant Companion

A fifth option-maximizing strategy is staying free from guilt, maintaining a clear conscience and living your life so the Spirit is your constant companion. It is impossible to feel guilty and be happy. I remember a number of years ago, one of our children was shooting his bow and arrow in the back yard. As parents, we had told him several times not to get his bow and arrow out unless we were in the mountains, especially when we were not at home. He had some friends and a younger brother with him and they started messing around. He got his fancy new bow out. He thought he was aiming at the target, but instead, he shot the arrow over our fence, across the road and right through our neighbor’s new garage door. This happened early in the day. He asked his friends and brother not to say anything about what happened. He lived with the guilt until about 10:00 p.m. that night when he could no longer stand it. Finally, he came into our bedroom crying and admitted what he had done. I immediately got out of bed and got dressed and, hand-in-hand, we went to the neighbor’s home and he told him what he had done and we offered to pay for a new garage door, which we did. While our son still felt badly about doing something he was told not to do, he was a lot happier facing the consequences of his actions because he didn’t have to harbor that guilt and know that until he told his parents and the neighbor, inside himself, he was a liar with a guilty conscience and he had even made his younger brother and friends be dishonest too. I personally don’t believe you can ever reach your potential, have freedom of peace of mind, or be happy if you are harboring guilt. The scriptures make it clear that we cannot live in sin and be happy.
 A person I highly respect once stated that for someone to be happy, they must have the following three things:
  
1.  A clear conscience
2.  Someone to love
3.  Work to do
  
Let’s talk about having the Spirit as your constant companion. How many of you are returned missionaries? How many of you loved your missions? How many of you thought your missions were hard? Isn’t it amazing that we all loved our missions but they were hard and, as a matter of fact, we were doing things like going door to door that we wouldn’t want to do the rest of our lives? I believe there is a reason we all loved our mission and I don’t believe many missionaries understand why. I believe that for 2 years or 18 months or however long we served, we had the Spirit with us on a daily basis. And, I believe two things happen when we have the Spirit in our lives. First, we are happy. I don’t believe it is possible to have the Spirit in our lives and be unhappy. And, second, when we have the Spirit in our lives, we don’t think of ourselves but we think of others. Now, do you think you will have more options if you are a happy person or a sad person? Do you think you will have more options if you are a selfish person, always thinking of yourself, or a selfless person, always thinking of others? When we were missionaries the others that we thought of instead of ourselves were our investigators and the people we served. But, after our missions, who is it? I would say it is our coworkers, our spouses and our families? Let’s assume for a moment that you are married. Don’t you think it would be great for your marriage if (1) you always put someone else (your spouse) first and (2) you were happy? So, if having the Spirit in your life gives you options, how do you get it and keep it? The scriptures tell us that to have the Spirit, we must have a soft heart (Helaman 6:34). So, how do we get and keep a soft heart? Certainly, missionaries have figured out how to do it, so let’s think for a minute together about what missionaries do. Do missionaries ever pray? How many times a day? Our lives must be full of prayer. Do missionaries ever read their scriptures? Do missionaries ever serve other people? You see, praying, reading scriptures, serving others, going to church, attending the temple and other similar things soften our hearts which allow us to get the Spirit which makes us happier and which leads to having more happiness and options in life. As a stake president, when I counsel young people who are getting married, I tell them to look for opportunities to serve, to pray, read their scriptures, and to become engaged in other heart-softening activities.
  

Option producing strategy #6: Marry Someone who will Make You Better

The sixth option maximizing strategy I want to discuss with you today is marrying someone who will be a support to you and who will make you better. A farmer friend of mine always tells his children to marry up so they improve the gene pool. The truth is, it is tough to go through life and make progress when you have a
spouse who is holding you down or causing problems. Marrying a project, say someone with an addiction, is usually not wise and only leads to lost options in the future. I know a woman who was divorced and remarried three or four years ago. Her new husband, who is also divorced, has a great job, but they have to pay $2,500 per month in child support and alimony—a huge drain on their monthly income. Their divorces have caused them to lose the option of spending the $2,500 per month how they want to. You’ve heard the saying that “behind every good man is a better wife” and the converse is also probably true. Marrying someone who lives by the spirit, has a strong testimony and who will work together with you will bring you more options in your life. As you think about who to marry, the most important thing is to look for someone of faith. Too many of you look mostly at how physically attractive someone is when choosing a mate. That is the wrong criterion. I can guarantee you that physical attraction is very temporary and that, especially that man that you women are looking for, won’t be nearly as attractive when he is 50 or 60. Rather, he will be bald, overweight or look different in some other dramatic way. Since finding someone of faith is the most important criterion, how do you know if one is a person of faith? I believe there are three way. You look at (1) what they do, (2) what they say and (3) what they wear and how they look. If you just analyze those three things carefully, you can tell whether someone is a serious person of faith.

 Option producing strategy #7: Build a Big Network of Friends

The seventh option maximizing strategy is to build as big a network of friends as you can. There are two ways to get ahead in life: (1) by earning what you get and (2) by knowing people who can help you. Only about 510% of all new jobs are posted in classified ads or on the Internet. The rest are filled by people who know someone. In the business world, a referral is much more productive than cold calls whether one is selling goods or services, creating business opportunities, or trying to get someone hired. An example of the value of networking is my own two children who are still undergraduate students at BYU. Both have their current parttime jobs because they knew the person who was hiring, not because they were the most qualified for the job.

 Option producing strategy #8: Think Big—You Are a Son or Daughter of God

The last option granting strategy we’ll discuss today is to think positively and big. Too many of us limit ourselves by what we think is possible. Remember, with God, all things are possible. Some of us do to ourselves what Satan tries to do to Moses in Moses 1 of the Pearl of Great Price. In Chapter 1, Moses was caught up in an exceedingly high mountain where he talked with God. In verses 4, 6, and 7, God tries to show Moses what is possible. He repeatedly says, “Moses, my son.” He wants Moses to know what his possibilities are. He wants him to think big. Then, starting in verse 12, Moses is visited by Satan. What is the first thing that Satan tries to do? He tries to get Moses to think little. He says, in verse 12, “Moses, son of man.” Too many of us do the same thing. We limit ourselves internally by thinking things are too hard for us or that we could never do that. Let me just say to you all, “you are all sons and daughters of God.” Anything you work hard enough for is possible. Let me tell you a story of one of our sons.
 Our third son is Tyler. Of our six children, I wouldn’t rank Tyler as the smartest or maybe not even near the top of our kids’ smart chart. In high school, he never got quite as good of grades as most of our other children. When he got to college, because of his less-than-superior high school academic experience, he realized that he was behind. In some ways, he hit a brick wall. Tyler could have done two things. He could have given up, or he could try to climb the wall and get over it. Fortunately, he did the latter. He decided that he needed to work extra hard to make up for lost time. He did and, while his grades weren’t all straight A’s, his GPA rose considerably. When it was time to take the Dental Aptitude Test (he wanted to be a dentist), he studied 12-15 hours a day for three months and ended up scoring in the 99th percentile in the country. He has now finished dental school and this summer will start a pediatric dental residency at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the country.
 Just like he did to Moses, as recorded in Moses 1 of the Pearl of Great Price, Satan tries to convince you every day that you are just a son of man. He wants you to believe that you are just an average person. And, if you insist on being a member of the true, restored church, he wants you to be just an average Mormon. He wants to convince you that you can lie a little, cheat a little and sin a little and still be okay. But, we know differently. For, example, I know that I am a son of God, just like I know that you are. I am one of Heavenly Father’s boys and he loves me just like I love my children. You, too, are Heavenly Father’s boys and girls. And, I know that if I live appropriately, I can be just like Him. In fact, as it says in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood in section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants, if I am worthy and magnify my Priesthood, all that He has shall be given unto me and unto you. I hope I never lose sight of who I am and I hope you don’t either. Satan will use every tool in the books to confuse you and try to get you to forget who you are and to limit your vision and goals. He knows your weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
 Anything is possible if you think big enough and work hard to accomplish the goals. As one other piece of evidence to show that anything is possible, think back to 1961 when John Fitzerald Kennedy was president. At the time, the U.S. and Russia had started exploring space.
 On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy stood before a joint session of Congress to declare it “time for a great new American enterprise—time for this nation to take a clearly leading role in space achievement, which in many ways may hold the key to our future on earth.” First,” he said, “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” Kennedy’s goal was realized on July 20, 1969 (8 years later). Apollo 11, of course, was the mission that put men on the moon, with its astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. The 238,000mile trip to the moon took four days. Apollo 11 fell into orbit 60 miles above the moon's surface, and on July 20 at 1:45 p.m. EDT, the Eagle with Armstrong and Aldrin inside separated from Columbia. The Eagle crew then put themselves into a 60-by-9-mile orbit. Neil Armstrong’s quote is now famous: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." President Kennedy knew that with a firm goal and hard work, anything was possible.
As another example of the value of having big goals, the 1952 graduating class of one of the Ivy League schools was surveyed to see how many had specific goals at the time of graduation. Only three percent of the class did. However, 50 years after graduation, it turns out that that 3 percent with goals had earned more money than all the other 97 percent added together.
 Considered together, these eight activities of (1) building a good reputation, (2) engaging in continuous learning and education, (3) maintaining good physical health, (4) maintaining financial freedom, (5) staying guilt free and having the Spirit in your life, (6) marrying wisely, (7) building networks and (8) thinking big will bring you choices and opportunities in the future that others won’t have and will allow you to act quicker than others to seize upon opportunities that will come your way in this fast-paced world.
 So how do you use this option-giving framework in your life? Every time you have a decision to make, whether it is big or small, you should ask yourself this question: Which alternative will give me the most and best options? And, for some decisions, the question will be in deciding how not to have options taken away. For example, being immoral on a date, skipping class to go skiing or engaging in other negative behaviors will reduce and can even eliminate options. With the raising of the bar for missionaries, participating in certain activities can eliminate the option of ever serving a full-time mission. Personally, I take this option approach to life very seriously. Sometimes, the decisions are easy and require very little thinking to decide what to do. Other times, they are difficult. For example, a couple of years ago, I had a potential career-changing offer given to me. That decision required much prayer, fasting and going to the temple. In the end, I decided that given our family priorities, turning down the opportunity actually provided more and better options.
 In conclusion, I promise you that if you will always make choices and decisions that give you more options you will be happy and will have a great life. I also want you to know that I know that decisions that are consistent with the Gospel are always option-increasing decisions and that decisions that are inconsistent with the Gospel are also option-decreasing decisions. Any decision that is not consistent with what Heavenly Father wants for us will only bring heartache and sorrow, not increased options. I have a strong testimony that Heavenly Father wants us to be free and to be successful. He wants us to make good choices. Living the Gospel is the only way to have true happiness. That you may use this preparatory or “planting” period of your life to create options for the future is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
 


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