Kaycee

Today was my cousin Kaycee's mission "farewell" she is going to Jacksonville, Florida and the lower part of Georgia. Anyway, as she began her talk, you could tell there would be plenty of crying, not just from her, but everyone in the audience. The spirit was so strong as she told us about her decision to go on a mission and the trials she went through to get where she is today. As she continued speaking, my love for her and my Savior grew, I was overwhelmed by the Spirit and it was made known to me again that the Atonement is real. 

I just want to let you all know, especially those in Florida and Georgia, that the world is gaining a great missionary and person. Kaycee and I have been buds since we were little, I remember having sleepovers and play-dates with her when we were younger. I have always looked up to Kaycee and am going to miss her tons, but I know she is doing a great work for the Lord and that she will be a blessing to so many people on her mission. Kaycee is a wonderful example of someone who dedicates her life to the Lord, she is always positive, is looking out for others, and can always make me laugh.

I am so glad you are in my life Kaycee and wish you the best of luck on your mission! Thanks for always being my friend, I know you will do great things in this world. You will be in my prayers and I will email you! Love ya!

Love,

Kenzie

Through the Looking Glass

Today during stake conference my old ward and a YSA ward sang a new rendition of I Stand All Amazed, it was the most beautiful version of this song I have ever heard in my life. I felt the Spirit so strong it hit me once again the impact and power music can have on someone's life. But, it also depends on the type of music.

One of the speakers today said "we go where we are looking." Isn't that so true? If we are looking towards the great and spacious building instead of the tree of life at the end of the straight and narrow path, we are not going to end up with delicious fruit in our mouth. I think it is the same way with music, if we are listening to good, uplifting, clean music; we draw closer to our Heavenly Father. While on the other hand if we are listening to terrible music, the Spirit will withdraw from us.

Another thing a speaker said was "righteous desires need to be relentless...we must battle for good everyday." The second we step away from Christ is a step closer to the devil, we need to stay with the right army, never straying from the path that has been set and prepared for us. In Ephesians 6; it reads "Put on the whole amour of God..." I love that whole chapter actually, it proves that it is a real war against Satan, and we can't just jump into the fray all willy-nilly. We must prepare by doing the simple primary answers; pray, read the scriptures, FHE, etc. 

I am sure you have all heard the story about the dirty window, if not here it is; 
'A young couple, Lisa and John, moved into a new neighborhood. One morning while they were eating breakfast, Lisa looked out the window and watched her next-door neighbor hanging out her wash.

“That laundry’s not clean!” Lisa exclaimed. “Our neighbor doesn’t know how to get clothes clean!”

John looked on but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, Lisa would make the same comments.

A few weeks later Lisa was surprised to glance out her window and see a nice, clean wash hanging in her neighbor’s yard. She said to her husband, “Look, John—she’s finally learned how to wash correctly! I wonder how she did it.”

John replied, “Well, dear, I have the answer for you. You’ll be interested to know that I got up early this morning and washed our windows!”' (https://www.lds.org/liahona/2010/11/charity-never-faileth?lang=eng)

I love this gospel and all of you, hope you are all having a great summer! Thanks for all you do!

Love,
Kenzie

My Superhero

My Superhero

The world is full of superheros.

Superman, Batman, Captain America, Hawk-eye, and so many more.

But, why can't I be one?

When I was little I would run around the house,

with a cape tied around my neck, a mask strapped on my face, and my head in the clouds.

"When I grow up I want to save the world." I'd say.

The world told me I couldn't be anything, wouldn't be anything.

My Papa told me I was his hero,

my grandma said I saved her from the past.

I stare at the billboards, wondering when my name will show up,

in big, bright, blood red letters.

Letting the whole world know, that I am here, I am important, and I do matter.

Maybe to you I'm the broken glass you step on after the Hulk breaks through a window.

But, to someone upstairs I am what deletes His kryptonite.

He holds me and tells me He loves me, 

kisses my cheeks where my tears dry,

bandages my wounds from the hate of the world.
He is my superhero, the healer of my dreams,
the only one who really knows what it's like,
to be stomped on and crushed under the weight of this cruel world we live in.
I don't need to be strong or brave or even wear a cape to save the day .
Because the one who gently rubs my hand when I cry,
whispers in my ear that all I need is Him,
to be a superhero.

Is that all?

I feel like we often ask ourselves, is that all? Did we do enough? Is that all we get? Are we enough?
I hope I can change that perspective on life.

Jesus Christ has said "come unto me and be perfected in me" (Moroni 10:32). What does this mean? From what I have learned it simply means to love God "with all your heart, might, mind, and strength..." (D&C 4:2). And also to not be an enemy to God, which means not being a 'natural' man, but instead becoming like a child (Mosiah 3:19). I believe everyone has their own way of doing so, but I know for sure that at least one aspect of that is yielding to the enticing s of the spirit and do good (Moroni 7:15-18).

Hope you all have a good Sabbath day tomorrow and a great week filled with service, love, and the Savior.

Love,
Kenzie

The Atonement

This past month I have been studying the Atonement in depth along with the scriptures. I wrote so much down that I felt and learned, I just wanted to share some of it with you.

First I want to start out with our FHE lesson we had tonight. It was about putting on the armor of God. I think that the armor of God and the Atonement go hand in hand. If we put on the armor of God and apply the Atonement to out lives, we can easily deflect the blows of Satan, and come closer to our God.

Anyway some really cool things I learned from Preach My Gospel, Gospel Doctrine, and other sources under "Atonement";

Definitions:
               sin- disobedience to God's commandments, knowing good, but don't do good, results in being separated from God.
               repentance- to change our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors that are not in harmony with God's will, which includes forming a fresh view of God, ourselves, and the world.
             

1. Wickedness never was happiness. If we live contrary to the nature of God, we live contrary to the nature of happiness. If we need to know if we are forgiven, we should feel peace and happiness in our lives once again.

2. Christ will only forgive our sins if we... accept Him, repent, take His name upon us, keep the commandments, and do all we can to be like Him.

3. Faith is the key to repentance. Faith in Christ leads to action, it leads to sincere and lasting repentance. It helps us change the desires of our hearts to be in tune with His desires. Faith and repentance comes easier if we HUMBLE ourselves before God and Christ. If we do not continually strive to increase our faith, it will die (Alma 32:39). Pride and doubt get in the way of faith and the Holy Ghost. We accept the Atonement by putting our faith in Christ.

4. The Holy Ghost plays a major role in our lives. The Holy Ghost; testifies of Christ, helps us recognize truth, provides spiritual strength, helps us do what is right, comforts us, warns us of any kind of danger, and so many more things. The Spirit will be constantly with us if we keep our covenants and the commandments. He is our conscience, this gift is given to all men and women. To beat the natural man, we must "yield to the enticing of the Holy Spirit" (Mosiah 3:19).

I learned and grew a lot this past month studying the Atonement. I am so grateful for this gospel, for the Spirit, and for the knowledge I have of my Redeemer Jesus Christ, I am thankful for the Atonement, through which I am able to repent and receive help throughout my life. I know that my Redeemer lives!  I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,
Kenzie

General Conference

 Last Sunday, we were challenged in Young Women's to read a conference talk every day for a week. As I did so I was able to come closer to Christ and apply the talk to what was going on in my life, seminary, or something else. It made me realize how important having the Spirit to be with me always and having a living prophet here on this earth is.

I certain talk popped out to me as I pondered over my notes from Conference. It was by Wilford W. Anderson; about hearing the music. He said; "I can teach you to dance, but you have to hear the music."(https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-music-of-the-gospel?lang=eng) I love this, but what music do we want to hear? It made me think about the song Glorious by David Archuleta in Meet the Mormons.(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GytW_rgr0RM) In the song it says "it's like a symphony." I get chills from this song and talk they fit so well together. I think it is important to dance your life away, but to the right music. "Everyone plays a part, we sing our own melody s." We need to do our best to be our best, dance with everything you got, to the right music. I don't know how to know which symphony is the best, but I want to find out for myself, I encourage you all to do the same.

I am so grateful for a living prophet here on this earth today, for the opportunity to listen to him twice a year. I am thankful for this gospel and for the impact it has had and continues to have on my life. I love this time of year, everything is blooming and coming back to life, I hope my testimony can continue to bloom. I love you all and thanks for being so awesome!

Love,
Kenzie

Easter

I am overwhelmed with the love of my Savior today. It has been a wonderful experience to listen to the prophet's voice these last two days. I am truly grateful for the living prophet on this earth today. I am thankful for Jesus Christ who suffered and died for me, than rose again so that I may return to live with Him someday. I love this time year, everything is blooming and coming back to life. It makes me want to do something more with my life and strive to be better. I love that I have the opportunity to spend time with my family and sustain the church officers with them by my side. I am honestly blessed by this gospel in so many ways, they are to numerous to count.

Listening to Conference made me realize how important scripture mastery is. During one talk last night he quoted so many scripture mastery's and I was amazed that I could name the scripture reference on so many of them. It really made me wonder if I was doing all I can to memorize them and learn them better. It was really cool to hear him tie so many of them together and be able to understand why they all tie together. I love seminary so much and want to work harder to learn the scripture mastery's better, so that I may feel of the spirit stronger.

Last night I was having a rough night and began to pray. I went into my room and knelt down and continued to pray for peace, I was immediately brought peace and felt calm once again. I know I was blessed by God's grace. I know that God answers our prayers even if it's not in the way that we want them answered. In Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk today he talked about grace, something I liked about it was how he said something about how "God blesses us with His grace after all we can do." (2 Nephi 25:23-26).

I hope you all learned something from conference and I hope you have a great spring break! Thanks for being awesome!

Love,
Kenzie