Totems and Callings

I was watching Brother Bear recently, and if you haven't seen that movie, stop reading this, go watch it, and then come back because there is going to be some spoiler alerts here. Or you can read my following synopsis! :)

Anyway, this movie is about a young Native American(?) man living somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere back when mammoths still roamed the earth. In his tribe, the shaman gives every person a totem of a certain animal and a certain attribute that they are supposed to allow to guide their lives. It's like a coming-of-age kind of thing. They seemingly receive their totems in their teenage years, where guidance is probably most needed. And once they've proved to be living true to their totem, they are esteemed as an adult, and can put their handprint up on their ceremonial cave wall where all their ancestors have. Getting your handprint there is seemingly a huge rite of passage in his tribe. Kenai is given the totem of the bear of love. And he's not happy about it. He doesn't understand why he got love, he wanted something like bravery or strength. And he even jokes about trading his totem. 

Kenai seems to be in his teenage years. He doesn't take too much responsibility for his actions, and believes he can take on the world, and bears, on his own. Overall, he just seems a little "too big for his britches." 

But back to the bears! As a result of Kenai's lack of responsibility, a bear steals his brothers' fish, and Kenai decides to retaliate. This confrontation between he and the bear leads to the death of his eldest brother, Sitka. Again, he tries to retaliate, and ends up killing the bear. He then experiences a magical transformation, and becomes a bear himself. The shaman recognizes him and tells him that he needs to right his wrong if he wants to be a human again. 

Shortly after, he meets a bear cub named Koda. Koda is trying to get to the salmon run, a place where all the bears meet up and have what is essentially a family reunion. Koda asks Kenai to take him there since it's on way to where the shaman told Kenai he needs to get to. So, most of the story is that of their journey. All the while, Kenai's other older brother, Denahi(sp?) is hunting him. Denahi thinks Kenai, in his bear form, killed Kenai as a human, so thinking that he lost both of his brothers to bears, he goes mad with the idea of killing the bear that is actually Kenai.

When Koda and Kenai eventually reach the salmon run, all the bears take turns sharing their most exciting story of the past year. Koda is eager to share a story of his mom fighting some hunters, which triggers something in Kenai, and Kenai then realizes that the bear he killed was actually Koda's mom. Koda is quite understandably upset about this, and Kenai decided to give him some space. Kenai heads to the mountain the shaman told him to go to, and says what is essentially a prayer. He asks Sitka for some help. Right then, his other brother shows up and starts trying to kill him, and Koda shows up to try to help him. Right as Denahi stabs Kenai, he is transformed back into a human. Koda is frightened of him, at first, but then runs up and hugs him. Kenai, out of love for Koda, decides to return to his bear form, and he finally gets to put his pawprint on the wall. 

My thoughts: 

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, you are sometimes given a "calling (i.e. a position or an assignment)." These callings vary from teaching the children, being a secretary, or being the bishop, who is in charge of watching over the whole congregation. While some callings are harder than others, they are equally important in the eyes of God. 

But  sometimes when we get a calling, we can feel the same way Kenai did about his totem. He didn't understand it, he didn't like it, and he'd rather do/have something else. As a convert, I feel like I am the least suitable person for any calling. A year in, and I still don't know a lot about the Church and its inner workings. I don't know anything about the Primary program, or the Young Women's program, or Duty of God. Luckily, I am still in YSA. But I'm a little scared for the day when I have to go to a family ward, because while most of it is the same, there are somethings I have no experience with yet. So, when it comes to the calling I have, I feel like there are better choices for this position than I am. 

But just as Kenai thought it was a mistake, and understood later why he got the totem that he did, we all eventually reach some sort of understanding about our callings. Kenai started off thinking about his totem in a selfish manner. He only though about himself, and didn't embrace his totem. But as he grew to love Koda, he realized that his totem wasn't about himself. It was about loving others, specifically Koda.
Similarly, sometimes our callings might not be about us, it might be about the people we're serving. On the other hand, while we may not be the best person for the calling we've been given, it might be the best calling for us at that point in our lives. Some callings help us grow, and some callings help us to help others grow. I think it's important to embrace the callings we've been given, especially if we're scared of them.  We should not look at them as if we're not worthy to do them, or as if they are beneath us. But we should magnify our callings, and and ask ourselves not only "how can I better help those I'm serving to grow" but also ask ourselves, "how can I grow from this?"
:)

"If You Believe All These Things See That Ye Do Them"

(Previously posted on my Facebook page on February 13th, 2015)

#SpiritualThoughtOfTheDay I just finished the book of Mosiah in the #BookofMormon. Chapter 26 talks about how some of the people who had just been baptized by Alma and his brethren were being led away from the Church and into sin by unbelievers. Being the high priest, Alma was asked by members of the Church to do something about it; so Alma turned to Heavenly Father and asked Him what he should do concerning these sinners. The Lord tells Alma that he and his brethren should teach the people to repent, ask forgiveness, and be baptized. Those who did would be judged according to their sins, and should then be forgiven. And those that did not repent would have their names blotted out. So, Alma and his brethren did as they were told.

"And now all these things did Alma and his fellow laborers do who were over the church, walking in all diligence, teaching the word of God in all things, suffering all manner of afflictions, being persecuted by those who did not belong to the church of God (verse 38)."

What stuck out to me most was that Alma and his comrades "[taught] the word of God in all things." To me, that means that they not only read or preached the principles taught in the scriptures, they LIVED the principles taught in the scriptures. And they didn't just do this when it was convenient for them; they did this all the time, even if it was not "cool" or not the "popular opinion." These guys were literally harassed for sharing their faith with others, but they kept doing it because they were commanded to, and they knew it was the right thing to do.

One of the members of the Granada Hills Stake Relief Society presidency recently told us (the YSA Relief Society), "if you love this gospel, live it (or something like that)."

In his October 2014 General Conference talk, "The Preparatory Priesthood," President Henry B Eyring said, "even more powerful than using words in our teaching the doctrine will be our examples of living the doctrine."

When we take upon ourselves the name of Christ, we are vowing to be like Him. We are committing to follow His ways, and live our His principles. We are committing to practice His loving attributes every hour of every day. It is not always an easy path, but it is always the right one.

I am so, so grateful that I made that commitment. I know that I will never be exactly like Him, but I know that I am trying, and that, my friends, makes all the difference.

:)

#ScriptureADayKeepsTheDevilAway #JesusChrist #ShareGoodness #ReadGoodness

(the scripture in the title is Mosiah 4:10 in the Book of Mormon)

Blessed With Spiritual Strength

(previously posted on my Facebook page on February 12th, 2015)

I was reading the book of Mosiah in the #BookOfMormon, and a few scriptures stuck out to me.

Mosiah 24:15 "And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, The Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully to all the will of The Lord."

Mosiah 23:20 "Nevertheless The Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith."

Mosiah 23:2 "And The Lord did strengthen them, that the people of king Noah could not overtake them to destroy them."

I know that we experience trials in our lives for a purpose. It is not to punish us, but to test our resilience, test our courage, and to test our faith. When we face adversity, we can find strength with the Father. He will bless us with the strength to make our burdens seem smaller if we only ask Him to. They will not disappear, but they will seem lighter.

#SpiritualThoughtOfTheDay  #ScriptureADayKeepsTheDevilAway #SpiritualStrength #ReadGoodness #ShareGoodness

It's my "Baptiversary!"

A year ago, today, I was baptized and I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I seriously cannot believe that it has been 365 days since then. It simultaneously feels like it was just yesterday and like it was a lifetime ago; I would argue that it feels like a lifetime ago because I was living a different life then. The choices I was making before I got baptized would currently have me on a very different path now had I continued to make those choices.

Last week, when I bore my testimony at our sacrament meeting, I had told my ward that without the temple trip last year, my conversion would've taken longer, or it might not have happened at all. But something my stake president said at our ward conference yesterday made me realize that that is just not true. He said something along the lines of "just as people on earth are sad that you've left when you die; people in heaven are sad when you're born." And it reminded me of this poem Sister Olsen had shared with me (it is so good!), but it also reminded me that I chose to follow God's plan in the pre-mortal life. I was a member of His Church then, and I wanted to come to earth to learn and progress and to follow the Savior and return to Him. I was set out to be a member of this Church from the beginning; it was only a matter of when. Recently, I was reading in the Book of Mormon, and I found a scripture that reiterated this idea for me. "And I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God (Enos 1:20). . . ."

I italicized the word "restore" because it really stuck out to me as I was reading this. The word basically means "to return or bring back to its former/original state." So, when I read this, it made me realize that at one point, the Lamanites believed in God. For whatever reason (wickedness, pride, bitterness, etc., I don't remember), the Lamanites had lost their faith in the Father. 

When we are born and cross the veil that separates our Heavenly home from this world, we lose our knowledge and memories of our Heavenly home. We forget our Heavenly Father, we forget we chose to follow Him, and we forget that we were already part of His church. Some of us grew up in the Church, so we are taught about the gospel from a young age, therefore some of us are restored to their faith before others. And some of us, including me, are those "others." We are those who didn't grow up with the gospel in our homes, who didn't know the truth. We needed to be restored to our faith later. 

Sometimes I wonder, "where would I be now if I had been a member sooner?" But I always think about the following three lyrics when I think about the way my life has gone. 

"Thank God for all I missed, because it led me here to this." -Darius Rucker, "This"

"I thank God I didn't get what I thought that I deserved." - Carrie Underwood, "Good in Goodbye"

"Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers." - Garth Brooks, "Unanswered Prayers"

My life has definitely not gone the way I would've expected it to, but I feel much happier with what I've got than I would've been had I gotten what I thought I wanted then. I know that God has a plan for each of us. He know what He's doing. He sees things differently than we do. We can only see today, but He sees what lies ahead for us. We just have to be patient, and faithful that whatever we're going through will be beneficial for us at some point. Someday, we're going to look back at the trials we're facing today and be glad for them. I never thought I would look back at all the things I've been through, and be able to say that I'm glad it happened. But now, I can. It has made me who I am; which I'd like to think is "a whole lot of tender, and little bit tough." :) 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm glad I've been restored to my true faith. It's been a full year of this LDS life, and it has been a great one! And I know that while life not get any easier, it will still get better from here on out because I have the gospel!

Some picture-quotes that are food for thought!

A Year Since the "Spiritual Slap to the Face"

Yesterday marked a year since the day I walked through the Gilbert, Arizona temple open house for the second time (as I had walked through the night before), and I received what I call a "spiritual slap to the face." I've talked about this experience before (here), but to give you a short version, I was an investigator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at the time, and a skeptical one at that. I wasn't sure if I had really believed any of what the Sisternaries had been teaching me, but I knew that I had felt good inside every time. They kindly urged me to go with the ward to the Gilbert temple open house, so I did. On the way there, I realized that I wanted to get baptized, but I wasn't fully committed to the idea just yet. I went through the first time, and it was incredible, but I didn't take it all in because we were kind of being rushed through it. The second time, I tried to walk a little bit slower, and I tried to take it all in. I said a silent prayer right before we walked through the Celestial room, and then I had a wonderful experience. All at once, I felt this peace and love from above that had been lacking in life. I felt the true and wonderful power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I gained a testimony of the love Christ has for us, and specifically me. When you are literally slapped in the face, your eyes tear up a little, and most often, you weren't expecting to be slapped, and you stand there in complete shock, unable to react to it. I call my experience a "spiritual slap to the face" because I had those "symptoms." And also because I am stubborn. Some people can feel gentle urges from the Spirit and know that the Church is true, but because I needed a little more convincing, I needed a bigger "sign." Just another testimony of the fact that Heavenly Father knows me, and each of us, so well!
Yesterday, I talked a bit about this as I shared my testimony. There were so many thoughts running through my head at the time, but I just let the Spirit guide me. And I shared a well-known quote by Oliver Wilde, and also a variation of it. The original is "every saint has a past. Every sinner has a future." But the variation I found on the internet added a few words.

Buy the patch here, if you want it.

Those words made this quote a hundred times more powerful to me than ever before. The quote itself gives people hope that they can be better than where they are now. But Christ is what provides that hope. Through the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we have the power to change ourselves for the better. I know that I've changed in the past year since I've been baptized. In the song, "Baptism," by Randy Travis, he says "down with the old man, up with the new." The baptismal waters wash away our sins, our mistakes, and our past. But they don't wash away our bad habits. When you make the decision to get baptized, you make the decision to commit to be better. As one of the Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Ezra Taft Benson, has said, "when you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed." Why? Because you choose to emulate him. You cannot be a follower of Christ without following and without living His principles. It takes time to do this; I know from experience. There are still bad habits that I'm working on. But God appreciates our effort in trying to change. "...it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do (2 Nephi 25:23)." 

I know these things are true. I know that Christ has made all the difference in my life, and I know that if you are willing to accept Him into your life, He can make a difference in yours as well.