the ring and the lanyard

About a week ago I was getting some chapstick out of my purse; it wouldn't come out and I had to reach my finger way down into the pocket to reach it.
I felt something metal at the bottom of the pocket.

I pulled out a silver ring with what looked like some Egyptian hieroglyphs on it.
I was speechless that this ring had been in my purse for weeks--months, even--and I had never found it before.
As I looked at it more closely, I realized that these were not Egyptian hieroglyphs at all, but the tree of life, the iron rod, and Lehi's family coming to it.
I had been having a very, very hard week, and I felt that this was God's way of telling me that He still loved me and that He knew I could endure to the end.

A few days after I found it and wore it every day, I lost it. I must have been in a bathroom on campus, took it off to wash my hands, and forgotten about it.
I was heartbroken.
I felt like this ring was mine, God had given it to me because I needed it...
but if somebody else needed it more than I did, I guess I could give it up.
I tried my hardest to forget about it.

Flashforward about 4 days to today, November 21.
I finished my shift at work and started digging in my backpack looking for my keys so I could come back to the office if I needed to--they weren't there.
I emptied my entire backpack.
Nothing.
I looked in the office drawers, in the back room, in the bathroom around the corner from where I worked--
Nothing.
I officially started freaking out inside.
This lanyard had my school ID card, my debit card, my building key, and my room key.
If somebody had gotten a hold of my debit card, that would be very, very bad.

I walked to the bottom of the Wilk, scared of what I knew would happen.
There was no way that my keys would be there, there's no way.
They're probably still in the Clyde building where my Physics class is, and that classroom is definitely locked this late at night.
But maybe, just maybe...

I got to the Lost and Found, where somebody had taken my journal a few weeks ago.
I asked the girl if somebody had turned in keys in the past few hours.
She pulled out the bin where all of the keys and keys on lanyards were turned in.
Keys on keyrings, keys on lanyards, keys forever alone...
but none of them were mine.
I said they weren't there, so terrified of where they could be that I didn't know about. But I might as well ask about the ring while I'm here.

I described the ring to her and told her I had lost it only days earlier.
She went to the back and came back with a ring that fit my description perfectly--except it wasn't my ring. This ring was made of a different metal, it was lighter. But it did have the exact same picture on it.
She said she might have seen a different ring like this one.
She went to the back and came back with another ring--my ring!
I was so happy I could have hugged the girl.
As I was filling out the sheet with my name and the date, I had the thought to mention to her that my keys also had my ID card and credit card on them...maybe it would make a difference?

I told her, and a switch flipped.
She said somebody had brought some in. She asked for my name, and went to the back--
and came out with my lanyard. Keys, debit card, ID and all.
There have not been many moments in my life where I felt so loved, so looked out for.
In that moment I knew without a doubt in my mind that God knows me.
God loves me.
God will take care of me.

He knows what I need, He knows it so much better than I think I do.
When I tell Him what I think I need, no, no I don't know.
He knows. He knows what I need, He knows who I am supposed to associate with, He knows what needs to happen to me.
Why wouldn't I want to put my trust in Him?
Why wouldn't I want to obey Him to the letter?

He will bless me when I do what's right, I know that without a doubt in my mind.
I am so grateful that He gave me back what I lost.
I don't know why He decided I was worthy of this ring, and it seems so stupid...
but every time I look at it, it reminds me that I can endure to the end. And it reminds me that the only way to get to the tree of life is by holding onto the iron rod always.

I love my Heavenly Father. Thank goodness He is there for me.
Because if He wasn't, I don't know where I would be. <3

my testimony

A lot of stuff has happened in the past couple weeks that are too personal to share, but I really want to share my testimony.
------------------------------------------------

I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I have been born into this Church, but that does not make me love this Church any less than somebody who is a new member.
Yes, my parents have raised me underneath the principles of the Church;
but I have had to choose to live by these principles.
I have been given the agency to choose good over evil, and I am so grateful for that agency.

Now that I am away at college I have a greater appreciation for everything that my parents have taught me these past 18 years.
And there have been so many things I have had to learn on my own, but I'm grateful that I had to.
Because it has strengthened my testimony of Jesus Christ.

I know that Jesus Christ is the literal Son of our Heavenly Father.
I know that the Atonement is real. I have seen it in my life. I have committed sins that you could never, ever imagine--but through the Atonement I have been healed.
I have a testimony of forgiveness, especially the forgiveness of God.
He will forgive us.
And knowing that He forgives you is probably the best feeling in the world.

I know that the temple is a sacred place.
And one of the most amazing feelings to me is walking out of a temple recommend interview from a member of my Bishopric with a brand new temple recommend in my hand, knowing that I am worthy to enter the house of the Lord--I am worthy to be in the presence of my Heavenly Father and His servants.
What an incredible knowledge!

I know that living prophets are real. They speak to our generation through the Holy Spirit of the Lord.
I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a true, real prophet. I know that He has the keys to speak to God, and I know that he has had experiences that we will never know about.
I know that the apostles are inspired of the Lord and that what they tell us is revelation.

I know that personal revelation is real.
I know that the Spirit will speak to us through the scriptures. I have seen it in my life and I have seen how it has blessed me.

I know that the law of tithing is a perfect law.
I know that as I abide by it I will be blessed. I have seen this promise manifested in my life time after time.

I know that God's commandments are not to hold us back or keep us from having a good time--
they are to protect us.
He gives us the commandments to set us free.
And people might tell us that we are being held back, but in the end we will be the ones without shackles around our ankles and chains around our wrists.
We will be free.

I know that this world did not happen by accident.
The perfect amount of air on earth, the distance away from the sun, the revolutions of the moon--it couldn't have all been an accident.
There is no way that this could have been a coincidence, God knew exactly what He was doing when He created this universe as well as when He created me.
The hands that created the universe are the same hands that created our bodies.
That is amazing to me.

I know that there are two reasons why I am here on this earth today.
1) to repent
2) to serve God

And any blessings that God gives us besides this are to help us get through the trials of this life.

I know that my Heavenly Father loves me.
He loves me enough that He sent his Only Begotten Son down to this horrible earth to die for me.
I know that my Savior loves me, because He was willing to sacrifice His life and His perfection so that I could live with my Father in Heaven again.
I know that my Heavenly Mother loves me. I do not remember her very well, but I know that she is up there. I know with my entire soul that she exists.

I know that families can and will be together forever if we do what the Lord asks of us.
I am so grateful that my family has been sealed in the temple for time and all eternity.
Maybe I don't get along with my family all of the time, but at the end of the day I truly do love them and want to be with them forever.

I know that the Plan of Salvation is real.
I know that our time on earth is so small compared to the rest of our lives.
It is so small, so miniscule--we just have to prove ourselves here in order for us to be saved in the next life.

I know that as I live the commandments that the Lord has given to me, He will be so proud of me and He will be my advocate. And at the end of the day, all I want is for my Heavenly Father to be proud of me.
I want Him to be proud of me when I return to Him someday.

Whenever I do something wrong, I can feel that He is disappointed in me.
And it makes me sad.
That is why I want to do everything in my power to make Him so happy.

I love this gospel.
I love this Church.
Not only am I willing to die for this gospel,
but I love it so much that I am willing to live for it.
Because that is what God has asked of me.

a prayer of the heart (the lost journal)

Today was busier than normal.

I attended class in the morning, got breakfast, went to the Marriott Center for the Homecoming kickoff, took a nap in the grass outside the Clyde Building, went to class, and finally went to work.

My coworker Aaron and I were laughing about something, and it reminded me about a picture of this baby donkey I had in my journal.

I reached into my backpack for my journal to show him this picture...
My journal was not there.

I pulled out every single thing out of my backpack.
Nope. Not anywhere.

My mind started to flash back to where I had been today...
When I realized that my journal, my book where I keep my private thoughts and feelings, my past, and most importantly my notes from General Conference, could be lost at the Marriott Center, that's when I officially started freaking out.

It's a good thing I was off the clock, because I gathered my stuff up and left.
I walked to the Wilkinson Center, where I was positive I had left it in the bathroom on my way to the kickoff.
It wasn't there.
I could feel the tears welling up in the back of my eyes...

My next thought was to go to the Clyde Building, where I had changed into a work skirt after class.
But the 'Lost and Found' is right downstairs, I thought to myself.
Might as well go check it out, even though there is no possible way on this earth that it could ever be there...

I shakily walked downstairs and to the Lost and Found.
When I walked in, some ladies were telling a girl that she should come check every day because some things take a few days to get to the Lost and Found.
Thanks. That makes me feel a ton better. (not)

When I told her I lost something... "a green journal with owls on the front?"...
The girl said, "Okay, I'll go look."
The girl next to her said, "Oh hey, somebody just brought that in!"

I felt my heart just drop. I was so grateful I started crying in the Lost and Found.
I had to go into a bathroom stall in the bottom of the Wilk and just get on my knees and cry to my Heavenly Father out of gratitude for a couple of minutes.

I didn't even have to get on my knees to begin with to cry out to my Heavenly Father.
He just helped me anyway.

I just had to open my journal and read some of the things on the pages, I couldn't believe that He had actually returned it to me...

My eyes fell upon a quote that Elder Holland shared from his talk in Conference this past weekend.

President Monson shared with the sisters in the General Relief Society meeting:

"God's love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve [it].
It is simply always there."

I am probably the last person who should deserve God's love. I am so imperfect, sometimes I feel like I can't do anything right. I mess up every single day of my life, I know that I am not perfect right now.

But He still loves me despite that.
And He showed me that today through this loving, tender mercy.

I'm so grateful for the power of prayer. <3

the best Physics professor

Today, God really proved to me that He is the best teacher.

I'm in Physics 105, and it's a hard class. I'm one of few freshmen in this class.  Most of the other students in the class are juniors and seniors taking the class to finish their majors, and I'm here taking it for a general.

We have homework assignments due every Tuesday and Thursday night.
There is a Physics Tutorial Lab available every day where students can come to get help on homework and with questions.

Last Tuesday, I went to the tutorial lab at 7:30pm and got home at 11pm.
On Thursday, I arrived at the lab at about 7:00pm and got home at 10:30pm.
And I'm not slacking off at these labs.

That much being said, it takes about 3 1/2 hours to finish a homework assignment.  And that's when I'm surrounded by TAs and other students that I can get help from.

Today I had a test to take, and I was too tired to attend the tutorial lab.
I got home at about 7pm, showered, and sat down to do my Physics at about 10pm.

I felt overwhelmed.  I didn't want to be up until 2am finishing this assignment.
I prayed to my Heavenly Father.  I told him I would do his homework first if He would help me with the world's homework.

So I put away the Physics and got out my scriptures.
After doing my scripture study, I said another prayer asking Heavenly Father to please help me understand this homework.

I know that he understands Physics better than anybody--I mean, He created the earth, didn't He? He knows everything.  He knows this better than we could ever comprehend.

I started on the questions, and things began to pop into my mind that I never thought was possible.

I started the homework at 10:30pm, and finished at 11:50pm.

I know that the Lord will help us if we do our part first.
He will never let us down.

And oh yeah--Heavenly Father is definitely the best Physics professor ever. <3

I stand all amazed

Lately I've felt as if I've been going through the motions...
I haven't read my scriptures like I should be in a while.
I haven't prayed sincerely in days.
I haven't looked at my patriarchal blessing in weeks.
It's just been one of those phases where Satan gradually talks me into letting go of the rod.

Today I dragged myself out of bed, into the shower, and across the street to church.
New YSA ward, twice as big. Not exactly 'excited' about it.

By the time sacrament meeting had come, I was still cynical about the day.
I was hungry from fasting, I wasn't in a good mood, and my hair was not done which led to me not feeling as good about myself as I normally do.

As today is fast Sunday, we naturally had ward Fast & Testimony Meeting in place of talks today.
As I sat there listening to my brothers and sisters bear their testimonies of this church and of Jesus Christ, I could literally feel my heart swelling with joy.

My Heavenly Father testified to me through the Spirit just how much He does know me and how much He does want me to succeed.
He helped me to feel that even though I am so imperfect, even though I have messed up over and over again... it does not lead him to love me any less.

"I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that, so fully, he proffers me...
I tremble to know that for me He was crucified:
That for me, a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died."


The Spirit testified to me just how much my Savior really does love me.
In fact, He loves me so much, that He made the decision to give up His life, His perfection... so that I could be forgiven.

It gives me chills.
My Heavenly Father loves me, so much, that He sent His Son, His Only Begotten, to suffer, bleed, die... and all for the sins of us.

Jesus took on my sins, my afflictions, my sufferings, my pains, my sicknesses, my sadness, my depression, my anxieties, my fear...

because of love.

If He can do that for me,
can't I love Him enough to read my scriptures every day?
Can't I love Him enough to speak with my Heavenly Father night and day?
Can't I take the time to reach out to a fellow brother or sister and help them along the way?

These are the thoughts that were going through my head as I sat there in sacrament meeting.

And finally, I just came to the conclusion that I am imperfect. And that in this life, that's okay.
It's okay to not do everything perfectly.
It's okay to make mistakes.
It's okay to have off days.

And in the end, when we turn to Him in fullness of heart, He will forgive us.
Because He loves us.

That is why I stand all amazed.

no coincidences

duckling days

Here's a tender mercy I was given yesterday. :)

 

So, I wasn't having the best day.

It was a Monday (yeah. I know.), and I didn't have the best day at work. I put in my earbuds and started walking home with my leftover Subway cookie. My favorite, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut.

I went to the water to look at the ducks, my favorite thing to do. I sat down on the side and was just pondering while listening to music.

All of a sudden, the five ducklings and the mama duck that were swimming in the water came out onto the grass and walked up to me. They just hung out around me for the longest time.

I threw the baby ducks little crumbs from my cookie... they went after it like crazy.

 

 

You would think Mama Duck would try and stop them from getting too close to a strange human, but she just watched and was jealous when I wouldn't give her any of my cookie. (I took 3 videos of me and the ducks... if you even remotely care about seeing these cuties in action, I put one of them on my Facebook page. They wouldn't upload to here.)

 

These ducks kept me entertained for almost a half an hour. After a few minutes I realized I wasn't sad anymore, I was the happiest I had felt in weeks...

 

I realized I had had a silent prayer in my heart that Heavenly Father would help to comfort me and feel happy inside. He answered my prayer through a way I never thought He could.

I walked home that day feeling like the happiest person in the world. <3

'The Drawbridge Keeper'

Today in Sacrament Meeting was 'Fast & Testimony Meeting'.  I had the privilege to hear from many of my dear brothers and sisters of their love for the Savior and His sacrifice.

A girl shared a story that hit me really hard. It's kind of long, but I promise it's worth the read.
It's titled "The Drawbridge Keeper":

"There was once a bridge that spanned a large river.  During most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing the train to cross it.

A switchman sat on the riverbank and operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed.

One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights.  He stepped onto the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance.  Then he was to turn the bridge.  He turned the bridge into position, but to his horror, he found the locking control did not work.  If the bridge was not securely in position, it would cause the train to jump the track and go crashing into the river.  This would be a passenger train with MANY people aboard.

He left the bridge turned across the river and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river, where there was a lever he could hold to manually operate the lock.

He would have to hold the lever back firmly and let the train cross.  He could hear the train's rumble, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge.  He kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked.  Many lives depended on this man's strength.

Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.

"Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him.  His first impulse was to cry out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time.

The man almost left his lever to snatch up his son and carry him to safety.  But he realized he would not be able to get back to the lever in time if he saved his son.

Either many people on the train or his own son - must die.

He took but a moment to make his decision.  The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown mercilessly into the river by the on rushing train.  Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging to the locking lever long after the train had passed.  They did not see him walking home more slowly than he had ever walked; to tell his wife how their son had brutally died."

I cry as I type this story out to you--it refused to copy/paste into this box I'm writing in.

Sometimes we don't stop to comprehend the pain that our Heavenly Father went through sacrificing His Only Begotten Son for us. He loves us enough that He did this for us.

It breaks my heart that people take advantage of the Atonement and its healing powers, when Heavenly Father suffered for it.  The God of the heavens, our Creator and Maker, the Being with more power than any other being on earth... wept for us. Can you imagine our Heavenly Father weeping? Having to watch His son die for the sins of all mankind without being able to do anything about it.

I am so grateful that our Heavenly Father loves us enough that He was willing to sacrifice His Only Begotten Son for us.  Something that a boy in my ward shared in last month's testimony meeting:

If I was the only person on this earth to ever live, Jesus would still come to this earth and suffer so that I could live with my Heavenly Father and my Savior again.

That's how much our Savior and our Heavenly Father love us.

May we all remember the sacrifice that our Savior made for us.
And may we also remember the sacrifice our Heavenly Father made so we could come back to Him.

blessed

Last night I was scrolling through my Facebook feed...
nothing new... at all... haha ;)

And one of my friends had shared this picture. =>

I read it,
and just had to sit and think about my life for a little bit.

How blessed I am.
I do have food in my fridge, clothes on my back, a roof over my head, and a place to sleep.
I have money in the bank, in my wallet, and in my pocket...
I woke up this morning from a good sleep and have felt healthy and strong.
I have never been forced to fight in battle, and I've never been physically abused.
And I can read.

I don't know why Heavenly Father has placed me in this place at this time...
but I know it's for a reason.
I know that in the pre-mortal existence, Heavenly Father told me what I would face in this lifetime, and I still chose to come despite the difficulties I knew I would be facing.


I've never thought of myself as richer than 75% of the world. Or among 8% of the world's wealthy. Or luckier than 500 people alive and suffering... or more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world who can't read.

This opened my eyes to how often I really do take these tiny things for granted.

So grateful. <3

i love to see the temple

This tender mercy is not something that has happened recently, it's something I've realized recently...

For those of you who don't know, I'm from Bountiful, Utah.  High up the mountain is the beautiful Bountiful, Utah LDS temple.  I never realized how much I would miss the temple until I moved away to college.

Living on the third floor of the new Heritage Halls with my window facing North, I have a perfect view of both the MTC and the Provo temple.

As beautiful as it is, it just can't compare to my Bountiful temple.

For the past 12 years, I have grown up with it in my backyard.  When I was a little girl, my sister and I would climb up through the trees in our backyard and have picnics in front of the temple.  I have grown up with the Bountiful temple, it's been my nightlight for years.

Today it dawned on me how much I have taken this for granted.  Heavenly Father has blessed me with a knowledge of temples, He's been gracious enough to have put me in a place where a temple was in my ward boundaries growing up.  What a blessing!

Temples are where heaven meets earth! They are houses of God.  What a blessing it is to have a temple for a body!

I found this picture on Facebook the other day.

 

It struck me.

 

It reminded me of a tweet I had read the other day that had also struck me as hard.  It reads:

 

@MissionaryLDS

"All of satans attacks and temptations have to do with the body because hes jealous he cant have one. You are strong. Don't let him win."

 

After this tweet, I started to think about it.  Do all of Satan's attacks really have to do with the body?

 

It is Satan that leads God's children to break the word of wisdom, poisoning their bodies.

It is Satan that guides God's children to break the law of chastity, poisoning their minds and their souls.

It is Satan that tells girls they aren't pretty enough.

It is Satan that tells boys they aren't strong enough.

It is Satan that is breaking apart families, because he wants us to feel worthless.

 

Our bodies are temples. Satan hates that he made the wrong choice. He hates that he doesn't have a body. He hates us for making the right decision to follow our Heavenly Father and His plan.  He's so jealous of us that he will do anything to make us hate our own bodies. He wants us to hate ourselves as much as he hates himself.

 

This honestly breaks my heart. He could be as happy as we are with the gospel if he had only chosen to follow his father. I know it must break God's heart to see his son trying to push his other children off of the path... so sad.

 

But how grateful I am for the knowledge of this truth! How grateful I am for temples that are multiplying in number! I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have that my body is a temple, oh how I treasure it.

 

If you even made it this far in my blog post, I congratulate you... I know it gets boring after a while.  I just love this gospel and wish I could share it with everybody that has ever lived on this earth!

 

Don't forget you are a child of God! <3



a backfired lesson

Weeks ago I received my calling in my YSA Ward as a Sunday School teacher. I admit I was not exactly thrilled at first... as exhilarating of a calling as it is, it's a tough one.

I've taught two lessons so far.  I felt pretty good about the first one, the second one I wasn't too proud of.  There are 2 other teachers that teach with me, and I wasn't sure who was teaching tomorrow.  I texted one of the other teachers; apparently it was me.

I was not ready for this lesson, I had not even looked at the manual for this upcoming lesson that had to be ready in less than 24 hours.  I couldn't believe nobody had told me I had to teach this week, I was so upset. I also had half of a Psychology chapter I had to finish reading before I went to bed, I wasn't prepared for this lesson.

I begrudgingly decided to prepare the lesson before I did my homework. I read through the material, read the scriptures associated with the passages...
I soon realized that the message in this lesson was for ME. The lesson titled "Oh God, Where Art Thou?" describing Joseph Smith and his imprisonment for almost six months left me speechless.  I read about the saints and the struggles they faced... about 8,000 of these righteous saints were robbed, beaten and killed while their beloved prophet was held in Liberty Jail.

The lesson continued to talk about the Atonement of Christ and how he has felt everything. He not only suffered for our sins, but he suffered for our pains, our sicknesses, our moments of sadness and loneliness, our afflictions, our times of heartbreak, our hardships, our trials... he died for everything. He is the only one who could ever know exactly how we feel. How GRATEFUL I am for my Savior!

Long story short, this lesson was indeed for me. I needed the message found in this lesson that I will teach to my class tomorrow... so grateful for those little reminders He gives me every now and then. I know that He knows me perfectly... He knows me better than I even know myself.
Thank goodness. I don't know what I would do without His guidance in my life. <3

fast offerings are a privilege

Hello fellow brothers and sisters, I'm going to start out this blog by sharing a recent experience I had about a week and a half ago.

2 Sundays ago, July 7, it was my first fast Sunday experience in my new Young Single Adult (YSA) ward at BYU.  My roommates and I had dinner together at the Creamery the night before to start our fast out with, and I fasted all through church.  None of us had ever paid fast offerings before, so we worked together to figure out how to do it correctly.  I passed out the slips and we each paid our own fast offerings.

Earlier in the week, I had asked my mom what a good amount to pay for fast offerings is. She said something that really struck me: "Put together what you can pay. Then double it."

So I did.  I didn't expect any immediate blessings from paying this fast offering, but I paid them along with my tithing that I had gathered from a few months.  These put together were almost a hard thing to pay, but I reminded myself that all the Lord asks of us is to keep His commandments, and one of these commandments is to pay our tithes and offerings.

 

The following week, I had two HUGE miracles in my life occur.

 

I had a job offer a couple weeks earlier for a Copyright Licensing Processor in the Harold B. Lee Library that I accepted, and I started my new job on Wednesday.

I walked in on Wednesday to my first day of work.  I was greeted by kind, friendly employees who all seemed a little older than me.  I was led into a conference room with my new boss where she handed me a bundle of free stuff (backpack, water bottle, pen, flashlight, statuette). Cool, right? It gets better.

I'm led to my desk... MY DESK. I have a two-monitored computer desk with my own shelf above my head to keep food in, a office mini fridge behind me, and I can listen to music on Spotify as I work.

We made a trip to the BYU Bookstore to buy office supplies--on the office credit card--where they bought me a Sharpie marker, more sticky notes, and a pen (all pink, of course).

 

The same day, I later learned that I was now the youngest person in the office, at age 17.  The next oldest person was about 22 years old.  I also learned that I was up against 13 other college kids--most of them sophomores and juniors in college--for the position I had received.

 

Wow... can you say blessings from heaven? I knew that because I had paid a generous fast offering earlier this week, Heavenly Father had blessed me.

 

I also had another tender mercy later this week.

 

I was walking home from work, and I was checking a new voicemail message.  The message was from a woman named Maggie Erzen from the Air Line Pilots Association... in my head I was thinking she was from an organization titled Veterans Affairs, whom I am currently associated with.  She went on to tell me that I had received the 2013 ALPA scholarship, which consists of $12,000 over the period of my 4-year college career.

 

I was speechless. I had to sit down and contemplate what I had just learned.

 

I had applied for the ALPA scholarship back in March and April of this year. My dad had to practically convince me to apply... it was a HUGE application, about 12 pages long.  I had to get all of these different signatures, fill out paperwork...it was definitely the hardest application I had to complete. Oh yeah, and the other thing?

 

Only one student receives it.

 

So I applied, not really expecting anything to happen.  I only applied because I knew I would regret it if I didn't. Hearing I had received the scholarship left me stunned.  I couldn't believe that my Heavenly Father would pour out these immediate blessings upon me because I chose to obey His commandments and pay my tithing and fast offerings just days before.

I have a testimony of tithing and fast offerings.  They WILL bring us blessings, even if the blessings are not always immediate.  I know that sometimes the blessings we receive by doing the Lord's work are often unnoticeable, things we never even care to recognize...

I'm SO grateful that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to bless me and take care of me! I promise you that if you pay your tithing, you WILL be blessed--maybe in this life, maybe in the next. But God will always fulfill His promises. <3