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