Smile!

So here is a picture of me at my 19th birthday party. I'm the kid in the green shirt who has a bunch of balloon strings behind him. Don't I look happy? You do not need to answer that question. Its very obvious to see that I am hating my life at the moment this picture was taken. At least, thats what it looks like. The reality of this picture is that my 19th birthday party was one of the best, happiest birthdays I have ever had! I loved it! It was only a couple of months before I left on my mission so my whole family was there! I was so happy! So what is with the picture? I was plenty happy, but nobody else could see it because I was keeping it all to myself.

The moral of the story is this: Just because we are happy doesn't mean that we look happy. If we don't look happy, then nobody else will be able to share the happiness with you because they will just figure that you are having a bad day. So if we want to share our happiness with others, we have to let everybody else see it! Smile a little bit if you have to. All of your words and behaviors should provide evidence that you are in a good mood, and that will allow others to absorb some of the good energy that you are outwardly expressing. Its kinda like the scripture in Matthew 5: 16 which says "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." You never know how much joy you can bring into the life of someone who is having a bad day, so make sure your "happy light" is shining.

Awareness

So a strange thing happened to me the other day. I was sitting on the couch, very tired, when all of a sudden I fell into a wierd trance. It was almost like 'Self-Hypnosis'. I think it happened because my body tried to fall asleep but my mind was fighting too hard to stay awake, so I fell into a sort of half-sleep mental state. It was super trippy. I was having a bunch of dreams that felt like they were real, more than any other dream I have ever had. Also, it lasted a whole hour, but it only felt like a few minutes. I don't really know the psychology or the brain chemistry but needless to say, it was an interesting experience.

So, what does this have to do with the Gospel? Well, let me tell you. The hour I spent wigging out over who-knows-what was a complete waste of time. It is an hour that I wish I could have back. I suppose life can be like that sometimes. How often do we miss things because we are too busy being distracted by our own little world? True, a Psycho-Hypnotic experience is an extreme example, but being 'zoned out' causes us to miss a lot of things. Do I know what happened during that hour? Not a chance. So, how can we get more out of life? We follow the advice of the Psalmist, who said: "Be still and know that I am God." Everyone knows the old saying, 'stop and smell the roses.' With those two thoughts in mind, we can conclude that the secret to living a fuller life is this: Pay Attention!

Try, Try Again

Here's what I'm thinking: Everyone knows the age old quote "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." I don't remember who said it but he was a pretty smart guy. I think of all the inspiring people from history who have applied this to their efforts and made awesome things happen. Thomas Edison tried over a thousand times before he got the lightbulb to work properly. Handell wrote several operas and things that nobody thought was very impressive until he came around with The Messiah, which is now considered to be one of the greatest musical works of all time. Abraham Lincoln ran for office many times until eventually he was elected President of the United States.

So what do all of these cool people have in common? I've noticed in my life that there have been some big things that I wanted to do, and even though I tried over and over again, I never succeeded. At least, not yet. However, I think I've figured out the method that helped all of those people in history who have accomplished their dreams. Its not the fact that they tried over and over until something happened. It's the fact that they tried DIFFERENT THINGS over and over until the end result was what they wanted. The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again, and expecting to get a different result. How many times in my life have I been frustrated because I kept on trying the same thing and nothing ever happened? Sometimes I think that we as humans assume that our solution is the one that will work as long as we try it enough times, or do it the same way only try even harder this time. I think that when we get over our fear of trying different things, we can really start to make things happen.

Here is an example from the Book of Mormon. Nephi and his brothers were commanded to go and obtain a scriptural record from a bad dude named Laban back in Jerusalem. The first time they tried, Nephi's older brother simply went and asked if he could have the record. Laban threatened to kill him. The second time they tried to buy the record by presenting all of their wealth to the bad guy and ask for an exchange. Laban ended up stealing all of their property and actually tried to kill all of them. The third time Nephi tried, he relied on God to show him the way, and he was successful in obtaining the record from Laban. So the moral of this story is that as long as you keep on trying, eventually you will get it right. Don't get stuck on doing the exact same thing. 1 plus 1 will always equal 2, no matter how many times you solve the equation. If you want the end result to be a 3 or a 4, you have to change things.

And that's all I've got for now.

General Conference is Coming!

I love General Conference! Getting to hear the word of God from a modern-day prophet is one of the greatest blessings of the restored gospel. The Scriptures contain eternal truths that always apply to everyone, but the Prophet and the Apostles give us specific applications of scriptural truths for situations specific to our time. How many people in the New Testament had to deal with immorality on the Internet? There are many things in the world today that can threaten our spiritual wellbeing that didn't exist back in 1 AD or even a few decades ago.

Its funny how our perceptions of things change over time. Back in my teenage years before I was a missionary, I liked General Conference because it meant that we didn't have to get up early and go to church! We could sit around in our PJ's all day and watch these old guys talk on TV if we really wanted to. No shirts and ties, no meetings, just sitting around hearing the word of God in my own home (if I wasn't sleeping). The kitchen was just around the corner and was availiable at any given time if I ever needed a sandwich, and we have this really big love sac that I could snuggle up and sleep in all day long. Conference weekend was the best!

Now, a few years later, my perception of Conference is completely different. The kid who once loved taking naps in a giant beanbag is now sitting on the edge of his seat, leather-bound conference-eclusive study journal open wide with pen in hand, anxious to absorb every last drop of the insight and motivation that flows from the TV screen in a raging torrent of spiritual awesomeness! I pay particular attention to my favorite speakers, such as Boyd K. Packer, D. Todd Christofferson, and especially Thomas S. Monson. I love the Prophet's and the Apostles' ability to open my mind to ideas that I have never thought of before, and to answer questions that I have been wondering about for a while.

So, what caused this change of attitude towards Conference? Why do I listen so attentively now when just a few years ago my main priority was to catch up on sleep that I had lost due to work, school, and just life in general? The answer is this: Just as my physical body needs the rejuvination that comes from sleeping, my spiritual self needs the rejuvinating feeling that comes from listening to the inspired word of our Heavenly Father. It took me a while to realize that my spiritual self requires rest, just as my physical self does. When I insisted on taking naps during Conference earlier in life, I was depriving my spirit of much needed rest. Now my priorities are different. I finally figured out that the feeling I get after listening attentively to Conference feels much better than the feeling I get right after having a 12-Hour pass out session.

I hope everyone gets the chance to sit down and take in everything they can get from this April 2011 General Conference! I am anxious to learn new things and have my questions answered once again. I also love the fact that Heavenly Father loves us enough to leave us with a Prophet to guide us in our hectic lives. The Prophet is going to be speaking to us this weekend. So listen up!