Sabbath Love

Today has been wonderful so far :) I can't wait to enjoy the rest of it!

First thing I did was sleep in, find my kitchen cleaned (Thank you Sarah!), and got everything ready for church. Then I taught Sunbeams which is fun because they don't judge you, lol. They really enjoyed the suckers and coloring pages of Adam and Eve too! Then Sacrament was full of wonderfulness :) A cute young boy gave a talk about media showing his pocket knife and Ipod. Then a High Council member who had touched a soon to be missionary's life gave an AMAZING talk. He brought up a saying I used to live by and I am so happy to be reminded of it. "Attitude is Everything". I love that because it is so true! If you decide to have a good attitude good things happen and people are happier. I decided I am going to post that saying somewhere in my home for all to see because I think it will be very helpful. It doesn't matter what other people are doing, or how bad you feel, if you have a good attitude you will be happy.

He told the story of a man who lived by this and could only be described as amazing. He blessed so many lives just by being around them. Everybody loved him. One day the restaurant he was working in was robbed and he ended up getting shot. The paramedics were great and quick to respond and told him how everything would be alright. Then he arrived in the ER and the look on the doctors' faces told him he was a dead man. But as he was laying there he thought to himself, "I can live or die. I choose to live". When he was asked if he was allergic to anything he said, "yeah". All the doctors stopped waiting to hear his response and he said, "bullets". The doctors all started laughing and he told them that he chooses to live so they should operate on him as a living person. See! Even in the face of death you can tell what kind of man this was! ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!

After this talk the sisters of the Elder who would be leaving for his mission this week sang a beautiful song. And then when their brother went to speak you could tell how grateful he was for his sisters and how through their music they could share the spirit and their testimonies. Then as he continued to speak I was quite surprised at what I heard. He told of an experience at EFY three years ago when he saw a picture of a leopard reaching to Christ as he past and Christ reaching back. This picture had a strong impact on this young man and right there he prayed. He ask if the Lord would be with him and through the feelings of clam and peace the Lord answered saying, "I have always been with you. I will always be with you. Thank you for calling on me so that I can help you." Wow. It is so true, but we have to be willing to reach to Him. ...I am totally sending all my kids to EFY! Then he told about his experience at Boot Camp last year and how he got hurt and that is why he is not a Marine yet. Then he explained that when he was lying in bed in pain how he remembered his EFY experience and how he knows the Lord is there, so again he turned to prayer and asked the Lord to help him and heal him. The Lord answered saying that it was not the time and he had other things to do. Then he thought of the atonement and how Christ knew his pain. He knew Christ loved him and would do anything for him. He was comforted even though he did not get the answer he wanted but because of that experience is why he is going on a mission today. He says someday he will be a Marine but for the next two years he will be a missionary sharing that spirit and testimony with all he can. He just wants everybody to have a chance to feel that spirit.

After church I talked to my Bishop, Jean-Michelle Arrigona, about my sister and how she has expressed that she does not want to go to church any more. You can tell how caring and sincere my bishop is any time you talk to or see him, but he didn't just give me advice, he told me the truth. He said, "I wish I could just have a real talk with her, no fluff, just to find out what she likes and hates. I would be ok if her boyfriend wanted to talk to. Our church needs to share the scary truth more. What she is going through is not unique, people just usually avoid talking about their experiences when they fall away or lack in faith. I wish I could have a REAL talk with her".  I told him that I bet she would be willing to talk with him, and that fluff is a lot of the reason she doesn't like our church. So now I am going to pass his invitation on to her and I really really hope she is willing to talk with him because I think talking to someone not in our family will be much more helpful to her finding the right path out of her own will. I love my bishop!

Then I sang in choir, which was so nice because I have missed singing and being in a choir so much! And then I came home and ate the leftover pizza from my craving last night. (Can you believe I craved pepperoni pizza!? I usually really dislike that stuff!) And now I am here and so happy to be sharing these experiences :) Let's hope the rest of the day is just as amazing! I plan on playing piano, singing, reading church materials, and going to dinner at the Elder Quorum President's house :) Have a wonderful day!

:D