By their fruits, ye shall know them.

As I was doing my scripture study today, I was reading in 3 Nephi chapter 14.  This is when Christ has come to the Americas and is teaching the people.  

He warns in verse 14, "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."

This verse especially got me thinking.  Although there are many literal false prophets in our day, there are also so many distractions in our world that are the same thing.  Just think about it.  How many things do you see everyday that promise "happiness" and "peace"?  We are constantly bombarded by things of this world that claim to make people happy, when in reality they only bring temporary satisfaction and ultimately.. sadness.  When it comes to material things of this world, we will always feel incomplete.  We will always want more.  What we have is NEVER going to be enough.  There will always be a newer, better, trendier version of what you have.  Clothes, technology, cars, diets, followers on social media, likes on your Instagram picture, etc.  The madness never ends!!!  It's kind of discomforting actually.

While these material things can ultimately bring us down, they aren't all bad.  But how the heck are we supposed to tell the difference between a good thing and a bad thing in this world full of constant contradicting messages??  Jesus shows us how in these next verses.  Starting in 16,

"Ye shall know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."

Then skipping down to verse 20, "Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them."  

This didn't quite make complete sense to me at first; I had to go back and reread it a few times, but finally it hit me.  It's really not all that hard to know a good thing from a bad thing.  All you have to do is look at what it brings about.  Look at the end result, not the immediate, temporary one. 

Whenever you are faced with something promising you happiness, although it's much easier said than done, just look at the big picture.  Is this really going to matter later on in my life?  If it will affect your life in a positive way, pursue it.  If not, is it really worth wasting energy, time and possibly your eternal wellbeing over?  

Life gets pretty crazy and extremely difficult at times, but it doesn't have to be all that complicated.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ provides a simple answer to our lives.  

3 Nephi 27:16: "And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world."

I know without a doubt that my Savior loves me.  He loves all of us individually.  He died so that I can return to live with Him again and have eternal happiness.  He will never leave me in a state of confusion, but He will lead me and guide me to do what's right.  I know that He will receive anyone and everyone that comes to Him with a sincere heart, He loves you.  With Him, I can conquer over every hardship and trial that is placed in my path.  He will never leave me comfortless.

(C.S. Lewis nails it.  Every time.  ^^^)

xoxo

brookelle

Faith in His Timing

You may or may not know this, but just last Sunday, I started the process of completing my mission papers!  And I've had a lot of people ask me why, and why so sudden and all that stuff.  So I'm just going to explain why I've decided to serve a full time LDS mission.

For quite some time, I've been planning on going to China to teach English for this coming Fall semester.  I actually had most of my application done, and was ready to submit my paperwork.  I even already got my passport.  I'd been praying about this trip for a long time.  I also had the option to not go to China, and finish up my associates degree here at Snow College and be here when my sweet missionary gets home.  Neither of these choices made me feel bad in any way, but neither of them felt awesome.  Don't get me wrong, I was super excited to go to China.  I was so ready to get out and go!  The idea of going on a mission came to my head quite a few times, but I just kept pushing it aside.  I didn't really want to put my life on hold here to serve a mission for a year and a half.

A couple weeks ago, one of my best friends, Rachel, had her mission farewell!  That weekend, I went home to Spanish Fork, and my three best friends and I were able to spend time together and were lucky enough to sing together at Rachel's farewell.  Her farewell was amazing, and still, a mission for me kept coming into my head.  It started to freak me out a little bit, seeing as I could be leaving so soon!  There was so much going on that it stressed me out.  I also didn't really want to go because my boyfriend who is serving a mission has almost been out a whole year!  I've waited a whole year and now I'm just going to make this wait even longer??  Well.  Yes.  But I didn't come to this conclusion quite yet.

(aren't they the cutest??^^^)

All day the thought of a mission was on my mind.  That night, my best friend Kayci opened her mission call.  The spirit was felt so strongly, and I still felt that's what I needed to do. 

 For those of you who don't know, I turned 19 in September.  I actually almost went on a mission instead of college this past year, but when I prayed about it, it didn't feel right.  I was actually pretty bugged about it.  If I wanted to serve, why couldn't I??  The Lord was persistent in his answer to me that I needed to be at college this year.  Having faith in the Lord also consists with having faith in His timing.  And now the time is right.  It's my time to serve the Lord wherever I am called, and I couldn't be any happier.  I'm hoping to have my papers in within the next couple of weeks. 

This Gospel is true my friends.  The fact that I am so blessed to have been born into this church amazes me.  If I am blessed enough to have a testimony of our Savior and Lord, it's my duty to share it with those who don't have the knowledge that I do.  I'm so excited to share this wonderful faith by being called to serve as a missionary in the Lord's field.   

"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come." --D&C68:6

If you're having a hard time finding answers to prayers, this is a phenomenal video to watch!  It has helped me so much in this decision to serve. 

xoxo

brookelle