Novem-BRRRR!

As you can probably guess from the title of this post, the cold really hit Rexburg this week! We had a lot of rain, wind, and dropping temperatures. We even got a bit of snow on a few nights! Jake and I had a lot going on (of course) with school, work, and all that jazz. But we still had fun!

Some exciting news came on Thursday morning when I checked my email and discovered that the article I wrote for Celestial Shine Magazine was FINALLY published!! And not only that, but my story was featured on the cover! If you want to read it for yourself, you can sign up for a free digital copy at this link and check it out!

On Friday, Jake and I took a trip to Idaho Falls. We went to
Target and found this little fleece cape thing for $3! It was
too cute to resist, so we had to buy it. And Zoe actually really
loves wearing it since it's so warm!!

On Sunday, Jake and I spoke in sacrament meeting. I wasn't too thrilled with the assignment since it feels like we just recently spoke (although that was back in June in our old ward, before we moved) but it felt like not enough time had gone by since I'd had to stand at the pulpit and speak to a huge group of people. Since I'm going into teaching, public speaking is something I really can't afford to hate, but speaking at church is much more nerve-wracking for me than teaching. The rest of this blog post is dedicated to our talks, if anyone cares to read them!

Jessica's Talk: The Blessings of Sacrificing Our Will for God's Will

In the most recent session of conference, Sister Marriott gave a talk on this subject entitled “Yielding Our Hearts to God”. She quoted these lines from one of her favorite Protestant hymns:

“Have Thine own way, Lord!

Have Thine own way!

Thou art the Potter;

I am the clay.

Mold me and make me

After Thy will,

While I am waiting,

Yielded and still.”

Sister Marriott continued by sharing several family stories and also telling of her family’s motto: “It will all work out.” Sister Marriott says: “Our family motto doesn’t say, ‘It will all work out now.’ It speaks of our hope in the eternal outcome—not necessarily of present results. Scripture says, “Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good.” This doesn’t mean all things are good, but for the meek and faithful, things—both positive and negative—work together for good, and the timing is the Lord’s. We wait on Him, sometimes like Job in his suffering, knowing that God ‘maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole.’ A meek heart accepts the trial and the waiting for that time of healing and wholeness to come.”

I have two examples of times in my life where I’ve submitted my will to God’s, and I’ll share one of those moments with you now. When I was a senior in high school, my parents decided that I wouldn’t be going away to a university in the fall—I was going to stay home and attend a local community college to get my AA. This was mostly decided for financial reasons, but I felt like my parents were ruining my life and trying to make me hate them. I had dreamed of going away to school for the past few years, knowing that once I was done with high school I could move far away from my family and finally get to be a “real grown-up”. However, my plans weren’t what my parents had in mind. As all of my friends at school were talking excitedly about their plans for fall, attending colleges far away from home, I began to really feel left out. I was heartbroken that I was being left behind by so many good friends, unable to participate in the grand adventures I was sure were to come. While at first this example doesn’t seem like I was submitting myself to the will of God, but to the will of my parents, I definitely don’t see it that way. In my heart I knew I wasn’t ready to go away and live on my own, but I was having trouble accepting that fact and took out my frustrations on my parents.

The summer before my friends left for school was spent making as many fun memories as possible, since I was sure that there would be none to have at a lame community college. But I was so, so wrong. Because I stayed at home for three years before coming here to BYU-Idaho, I was able to make tons of incredible memories and have many spiritual experiences that I know would not have happened here in Rexburg. I attended the college’s institute and made lots of friends, sent my best friend off on her mission, and ended up getting a degree in Social and Behavioral Sciences, as well as one in Humanities. And slowly, over months of staying home and experiencing these different things, my heart started to soften. I look back now on those years and I’m so grateful for them, because they prepared me for some of the challenges I had my first semester away from home.

In her talk, Sister Marriott continues by saying: “The healing of our heart begins when we submit to and worship God. True worship begins when our hearts are right before the Father and the Son. What is our heart condition today? Paradoxically, in order to have a healed and faithful heart, we must first allow it to break before the Lord. ‘Ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit,’ the Lord declares. The result of sacrificing our heart, or our will, to the Lord is that we receive the spiritual guidance we need. With a growing understanding of the Lord’s grace and mercy, we will find that our self-willed hearts begin to crack and break in gratitude. Then we reach for Him, yearning to yoke ourselves to the Only Begotten Son of God. In our brokenhearted reaching and yoking, we receive new hope and fresh guidance through the Holy Ghost.

My final personal example of the blessings that come from submitting our will to God’s could simply be summed up by saying: my marriage. But since I don’t want to force my husband to talk TOO long, I’ll explain further. Those who know me well know that it was never my intention to get married young. I even had a habit of looking down on or pitying those girls who got married fresh out of high school, or even while in college, because their lives seemed so stressful. Plus marriage was a big decision, why rush? Take your time, date while you're in school, and THEN get married. It seemed like that would make things a lot easier.

When Jake and I started dating I knew there was something different about him, as cheesy as that may sound. And when I started praying about marrying him, I discovered something very quickly: I was going to have to swallow my pride and admit that I had been wrong about the best time for me to get married. 

It was an extremely difficult process for me to admit that I had to give up my plan of school and then marriage because it wasn't what God had in mind for me. I'm grateful that even though I'm a stubborn person, I was able to change the path I was on in order to do what was right. And once I made that decision, my stubbornness became a strength because no one else could convince me that I was making the wrong choice!

The moral of the story is this: never tell God you've got your life completely figured out, because chances are pretty good that there's something unexpected waiting in the wings.

Jake's Talk: Spiritual Self-Reliance

What does it mean to be self-reliant? When we are self-reliant, we use the blessings and abilities God has given us to care for ourselves and our families and to find solutions to our own problems. As we become self-reliant, we are also better able to serve and care for others. The Lord wants us to become both spiritually and temporally self-reliant.

The Lord does help when we go to Him in times of need, especially when we are committed to His work and respond to His will. But the Lord only helps those who are willing to help themselves. He expects His children to be self-reliant to the degree they can be." -L. Tom Perry

D. Todd Christofferson said, "Self-reliance should not be mistaken for complete independence. After all, we are ultimately dependent on our Heavenly Father for everything. We need His continual guidance, preservation, and protection." Read Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13.

Steps to become spiritually self-reliant: 
Exercise faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ--Faith is the first principle of the gospel and the first thing we need to accomplish self-reliance.

Obey God's commandments--Obedience is the first law of heaven and all things come from that. (Alma 57:19-21)

Pray daily--prayer is what gives us strength and shields us from the adversary (D&C 10:5). Brigham Young instructed the Saints "Instead of searching after what the Lord is going to do for us, let us inquire what we can do for ourselves."

Study the scriptures and teachings of latter-day prophets--when we study the scriptures and words of the prophets, we gain the road map to life. We can see where we must go and understand how to strengthen ourselves. (D&C 88:118)

Attend church meetings--Remember the Sabbath day.

Serve in church callings and assignments--we have been asked to serve and fulfill our callings the best we can. (Jacob 2:2)

The principle of self-reliance is spiritual as well as temporal. It is something that is to be practiced each and every day of our lives.