President Gordon B. Hinckley

This past week the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ Of Latterday Saints died. Although it is a sad time in our church it is also a time of happiness. My heart goes out to his family and those who are grieving. In our church we believe in a life after death, and the ability to be married to one's spouse even after death. This is such a happy principle when we think about how on this earth we are married as a husband and wife and then we are suppose to go through the rest of our life working with this person. Why would God then sever this relationship? You work most of your life in order to make this marriage work, then to only have it destroyed during death. I know that when I find the right person i want to be able to know that even if one of us dies that I will see and be with them again.

I can't imagine what it would be like to have your best friend die and then have to keep the church going. I will always look at him with the highest respect. He is the Prophet that I will always remember, because he was the one that gave me guidance through my teenage and my childhood. He will always be remembered in my mind as a loving, caring, and fun prophet. He had such a great love for the youth in the church. He had such a great Christlike attitude. He loved everyone and made sure that they knew it all the time. He will always be my Prophet.

I will always remember going to General Conference(which is like a big meeting for the whole church across the world, it is broad casted everywhere if not on TV then on radio) and getting the opportunity to sit up so close to the Prophet. I remember turning to my dad and saying that I could actually see the white of his eyes. It was an amazing experience to hear his words of concern and love. When he said that he loved me I believed it!!! He really did love and every other person in the church.

He was an amazing man and I am excited that he is able to be with his wife again. I know that they are together, because they both lived righteously and worthy of the right to live with each other. I remember him saying that he missed his wife and so now I am excited that he is able to live with her again. There is no doubt that I will miss him, but I hope that when I cross over that I can give him a hug and say thanks for everything that he did for me. I really appreciate all the work and love he put in. And I want to tell him that I LOVE him too!!!!

I am also excited to have Thomas S. Monson as our next prophet. I am so excited that I live in a church where I know who the next prophet is and I do not have to go through the process of figuring out for myself if the person that is the new Prophet is actually called of God. I am go thankful for this blessing, because I know that he is called of God, because that is how our church works. It is amazing the work of the lord.

So I would just like to say THANKS to my President Gordon B. Hinckley!!!! I love him!!!!

Family and the Great Plan of Happiness

So not many people know what the Great Plan of Happiness is, well as you know I am Mormon or LDS. We believe that we were sent to the earth for a reason, which is first to obtain a body. I believe that we are created or formed after God or Heavenly Father. Thus I believe that he has a body just like you and I do. Second to progress and grow not just physically but also spiritually. I believe that we are here on earth to be tried and tested. So in other words this is just a big test, and it will determine what happens after we die. I believe that we will be judged not only on our acceptance of Jesus Christ and his teachings, but also on our actions. This means that after we die I believe that we will meet with God and Jesus and we will be judged on our actions and how we were on earth. Third I believe that we are on this earth to form an eternal marriage and family. I believe that we can be married to our spouse not only for time, but forever. Think to yourself...what do you believe will happen after you die? Will you still be able to be with your family? Will you still be married to your wife or husband? Or do you have a civil marriage that lasts, "till death do you part"? Well in the LDS church we believe that we have been given the authority to marry people not only for time, but eternity. This means that after you die, you can still be married to your husband or wife, and your kids will still be your kids. What a wonderful gift that we can have to be able to live with our families forever, even after we die.

When we look at marriage like this we also must realize that it is not just a contract, but something much more sacred. Marriage is something that is commanded for us to do by God. It is his will and what he wants us to do. He has a plan and a path for each of us. He started with Adam and the Fall, because Adam fell he was able to have a family and children. Thus because of the fall we have the creation of the family.

Friday January 10, 2008

So I was a little worried about taking a marriage prep class...yes I am at BYU marriage central of the United States...and not engaged!!! But actually the class is really interesting. Man I am only 18 and yet people all around me are trying to push me into something that I am not sure that I am ready for. Thus I am one of many students that is taking a marriage prep class. In this class I'm learning about how important the relationship between the Husband and Wife is. It is important that I find the right person to adventually marry. After all marriage is the most important decision that I will make in my life, and I want to make sure that I marry the right person. My professor said something that really hit me. He said "If we do not define what we believe, others will define what we believe." I believe this, we live in a world where people will tell us what we believe, and don't really. How do they know what I believe? They are my beliefs not theirs. We don't have the right to tell people what they should believe and what they should not. I should not listen to what others say that I believe. I am going to decide when I am ready to date someone seriously and to finally get married and settle down...there are so many girls in this world that don't think that family is important. I BELIEVE that family is the most important thing in my life!!! I want to be able to find that right guy and settle down and have a family of my own.