Facing My Fears

What do I fear?

Sharks.

Papercuts.

Dirty Bathrooms.

Clown Zombies.

Obesity.

Abandonment.

Failure.

It's blatantly obvious that when I started this blog I was facing some big time fears. For heaven's sake that's where the name came from. My point was to teach other people how my faith is helping me overcome the things that terrify me. Perhaps not things like sharks. Those will always give me the creeps. The question is, have I faced the real fears yet? Have I stepped my game up to learn to have faith instead? In some cases, yes. In the more serious cases, probably not.

I don't want to just get rid of these things because they bother me, but for this reason:

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A prison where we build the walls up around ourselves one brick at a time. I don't want to trap myself into a holding cell a moment longer. I will admit that sometimes I try to pick up a brick and my fingers get stuck in the mortar. The way to get those walls knocked down for good? Like my friend Yevette always says "just keep swimmin'" and "read those scrips!"

"Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come." -- Doctrine and Covenants 68:6

I love blogging because of the great people that I've met online and their stories that they've shared with me. I have a few friends in mind that I'd like to share with you and I'm going to start with this great girl!  Al joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 2009 and since then she's been sharing the joy that she's found through awesomely inspiring youtube videos and images. She truely is using the internet for the reason it was created, to spread the gospel!

[blog] {twitter} (youtube)

[enos 1:7-8]

Have you seen her video Dear Elder yet? It really touched my heart when I read the letters she wrote to the missionaries who introduced her to the gospel of Christ. This week she's been my motivator and a constant little voice in the back of my brain saying "Don't give up! You can do it!" 

[alma 5:12]

Sometimes I worry too much about what other people may think of what I'm writing or if it's even worth my time. Even before I left on my mission it was almost like I was sort of ashamed of my faith. When I said I was giving up a year and a half of "free time" to preach the gospel I got some weird looks and I felt pretty judged. The people here in the south are curing me of that nice and fast. People here are not ashamed! They are proud to let everyone else know how much they love Jesus!

[genesis 1:31]

And it doesn't really matter what those naysayers may think because I love it. I've seen the joy that comes from my friends joining God's church and the pure happiness they have gained. I know that my Reedemer lives and He wants us all to find this same happiness!

Thank you Miss Al Fox for your determination to not defend, but to define the gospel with as many as you can! 

Lessons Learned

Otherwise known as

"Things my mom tried to teach me but it took a mission to learn"

Be happy where you are.
Tell your friends and family you love them but show it too.
Support your Priesthood leaders. No matter what.
Read your scriptures every day.
Clean as you go and always drink your green smoothie!

I'm sure not perfect at any of these things yet, but I'm working on them and this woman right here taught me my whole life by her example. Moms are great. Mine is the best. Just sayin' :)

5 Reasons Why I'm a Timelord

Ready for Sister McCall to go all nerdy on you? You better be! This is a mega blog post because I just got so dang excited about it!
Some of you may know that I am a big time super fan of Doctor Who. I came up with this list of comparisons between myself and the Doctor yesterday during my scripture study time. The similarities between us are pretty incredible. Except I only have one heart.

1. I regenerate. Different interests. Different clothing. Same person.

One thing I was worried about when I left on my mission was how I would stay myself when I couldn't do any of the things that I was used to. I have come to understand that it is ok to be myself despite the change in clothes and time schedule. Elle is still in there! What I have the chance to do is focus on the needs of other people. As I help them accept the gospel of Jesus Christ I understand it better myself and I polish off some of those rough edges that I'm really much better without.

2. I pop up at odd times in people's lives with a blue box to help them. And yes. It's bigger on the inside. This one holds eternal life. Pretty cool huh? Sometimes I have wanted my own Tardis to be able to travel through the time and space continuum, but I'll happily settle for this blue book that holds the record of 1,000 years of history and scripture. Get your own mini Tardis here for free!!

3. I travel with a companion 24/7.

4. Sometimes time and distance separate me from people that I love. I meet people along my journey that I might not get to see again but they are always close to my heart.

I was so sad to leave the first area I served. Hopkinsville Kentucky will have a piece of my heart forever! I left some best friends behind when I had to go.

5. I have been known to wear a fez.

(This one may be a bit of a stretch. But the rest are good reasons am I right?)



You're Weird and I Like That

I'm happy.

I'm me.

I'm fearless.

And it sure hasn't always been that way.
This blog began 5 months ago when I had a lot of fear.
Here I am, thrown out into the middle of Tennessee and Kentucky with nothing but scriptures, prayer, a few skirts, and a companion with a huge responsibility to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Every action is a reflection of my love for the Savior. I didn't know what I was doing. I still have a ton to learn.

But what I do know is this:

The Lord called me here for a reason. There are people here that will learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ because they need to hear it they way I teach. I wasn't called because I'm a perfect teacher but through my diligence and the things that God throws my way I keep learning and He's helping me to become more Christlike.

I can do this. I have 13 more months to live it up!

(thanks to emily for the encouragement to post a picture of myself, even if it is an old one...)
(and thank you to arielle elise for the inspiring post about letting go of fear. she shared some great quotes!)

Mission Conference!

Do you ever have one of those super wonderful awesome perfect days? Today is one of mine! There are 140 of us missionaries serving in western Kentucky and middle Tennessee right now and we were so blessed today to join together for a conference where we heard from Elder D. Todd Christofferson, an apostle of God. Apostle you say? Like in the Bible? Apostles like Peter, James, Paul, and John? Yes! We have 12 living apostles on the earth today in the same order and organization that Christ established during His ministry!

(Picture taken by Kate Lifferth)



We only had a few hours to join together and listen to several talks shared by our Mission President and his wife, an area authority, and Elder Christofferson and his wife. We then had a chance to ask a few questions.

Most of what I learned during this meeting was the importance of spiritual preparation on a daily basis.

I have 2 hours set aside every day to study the scriptures and I have seen that time in my morning change my life. Sister Christofferson compared that vital scripture study time to charging a cell phone. If you don't charge the phone you can't talk on it! And if you don't study the scriptures you're not going to be prepared to hear God's answers to your prayers! Funny how I've been hearing that all my life but now it's really starting to sink in.

Simplicity

I have a goal for myself. And I think its becoming apparent that I'm not super great at following through with goals that I set, but this one is easy. I want to write 5 things in my journal each day that I'm thankful for. And if I remember I'll share some of them here! I don't really know why I wanted to use these pictures for this post but I think they will be my first thankful:

1. I'm grateful for pictures from my childhood because they remind me just how awesome I can be.
2. I'm thankful for my new fuzzy on the inside raincoat. I'm going to need it today!
3. I'm grateful for my super awesome companion Sister Valentine.
4. I'm thankful for the US Postal Service! Hooray for mail!
5. I'm grateful for my family at home that sends me lots of love and support while I'm away for 18 months <3

&

(somehow Grandma double teamed it into both pictures!)

*Christ Teaching Mary and Martha*

Favorite rebuking in the scriptures time!

Are you familiar with the story of Mary and Martha? They were sisters (you may remember their brother Lazarus...) and their whole family seems to have been pretty close with Jesus. One evening while Christ was teaching at their home Martha was preparing food, or perhaps cleaning, making preparations so that everyone would be comfortable. I think she was probably the ultimate biblical homemaker. I can imagine her frustration that her sister Mary was not helping but instead sitting there with the Savior listening to Him teach.

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 He said to her, "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her." (found in Luke)

It's important to take care of a nice house and prepare food for those staying at the house, but Christ taught an important lesson to Martha that she should follow the example of her sister and put the things of the Lord first.

Sometimes I'm such a Martha. I read a great blog post the other day by Anne and I was really inspired by her sacrifice of fun design-idea blogs so she could put her focus more on her family.

*First Blossom*

I had to start the week of art off with this painting for a few reasons. One is that it is my FAVORITE that I'll be sharing and well, today is my birthday! So of course the best things must be shown!

I was so excited to find out that this painting, First Blossom by Annie Henrie was displayed at BYU as a piece in the artist's BFA portfolio. On the website about the gallery display shared her short description of her work.



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"This painting is about new life, and the process of regeneration, and how on spiritual, physical, and emotional planes we experience death and rebirth. This painting focuses on the wonder of that rebirth, and the miracle it is to be able to begin again."

I saw different significance in this painting. When I look at this I see myself with two of my sisters. I am the one on the left, S is in the middle, and R is on the right. I feel at peace looking at this painting and perhaps the blossom that we are gazing upon is symbolic of the joy found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Something about this image just makes me smile! I can't help myself!

*Art Series Time!*

I've been rifling through a pile of Ensign magazines from hmmm...about 1991-1994 and amid the great articles from the General Authorities of the church and inspiring stories written by members (and awfully funny poems) I have found some artwork that I just love!
So here is what you have to look forward to for the upcoming week:

One painting a day that I find inspirational, uplifting, or otherwise spiritually wonderful as pertaining to the 13th Article of Faith,

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I sure hope you're excited because I've just been bursting at the seams to share some of these!!!

Thursday Happies!

OOOOOOOk! Time to make a list of thankfuls and things that made me so so happy these past few weeks! On Sunday we went to a birthday party lunch for a family at church. I can't hear the sound in this video because I'm at the computer lab at the library, but here is the best card EVER that B got for his birthday. Doesn't it just make you so happy?? A DINGO ATE YOUR BIRTHDAY CAKE!!!

Hrmph. I put the video on here and it was messing everything up. And now it won't load. So sad! Some day I'll go a-youtube hunting again to share the card. But until then, here's a picture of my best friends.

Speaking of best friends, my best friend K sent me a letter this week that was..wait for it....16 pages long!!! I haven't really heard from her at all since I left on my mission 4 months ago and I was thrilled to get an envelope stuffed with wonderful pages of letter! Missionaries crave mail. It's the sustenance that keeps us going. False. The Gospel of Jesus Christ and my understanding of the Plan of Salvation are what really keep me going. But mail is really super awesome.

I don't have a picture of the massive letter, so one of us together will have to do!

This picture of my ADORABLE brother L. Isn't he just the sweetest?? I love my family so much and I've only been able to meet this little one a few times. Being on a mission has taught me just how important families are!

We went to the Nashville Temple last week! When I walked into the temple I felt the stress and frustration I've had for a long time disappear. For a few hours I was completely free of that weight. This picture is fun because we were looking up at a bird that was perched on the Angel Moroni's trumpet, but it looks as if we're gazing heavenward. So much joy!

Have you ever made mini popsicles out of soda in an ice cube tray with brite crawlers as the popsicle stick? I highly recommend it. They are delicious and make lots of good memories and giggles. Ah! And the word for giggle in Spanish is "risilla" learned that one recently!

I keep thinking about this sign that's back home at our institute building. I just wish sometimes that people would walk up to the church just begging to be taught! But that's not how the work goes. Actually, sometimes it does! A few months ago a woman walked into the church building on a Sunday thinking, "hey this might be a nice place to attend church!" She was quickly introduced to missionaries and she was baptized two weeks ago! Is that a miracle or what?



And the most exciting wonderful cherry on the top of the month thing ever??? New music to listen to!!! Have you ever heard of the Nashville Tribute Band? They have these three wonderful CDs each with a theme about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. One is Joseph, about the prophet Joseph Smith and the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The second is called Trek, about the pioneers and the sacrifices they made as they crossed the plains. The newest, Work, is all about missionaries and what it's like for us to leave our families for 18-24 months to devote all of our efforts to the Lord. Keep on reading because I'm pretty sure I'll have more to say about this music.

So, overall, things are so great. The work is hard but the blessings are amazing!



Truth On Earth!

Sister Valentine and I just watched a 20 minute version of this movie with a woman we have been teaching for a few weeks.  At first she said to us "Well sure, I guess we can watch the movie but in 15 or 20 minutes I have to leave to go pick a little boy up from school, so this better go quick!"  As soon as we put the dvd in she said "That isn't going to work! The sound hasn't been going through for a few weeks now" We knew that it was divine inspiration that we even found this dear lady at home this afternoon and we had planned to share the video with her. We were not going to give up because of a technology malfunction! Sister Valentine fidgeted with a few wires and It looked like she reached over and unplugged it.  Needless to  say, it worked!  The sound resumed on the TV and we were able to share this incredible movie with her about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith.

The miracle of this day, there was nothing special about how Sister Valentine went about fixing the plugs and cords. She and I were both at that moment saying a prayer in our hearts, pleading that she would be able to fix the dvd player so that we could share this touching video with her.

I know that God answered our righteous desires because  this sweet lady needed the message we shared. When it came to the climax of the movies, the vision that Joseph Smith had of God the Father and Jesus Christ she had the biggest grin on her face and she was just gasping in delight at the beauty of it. She told us afterwards, "How sad it is that people reject this because it is good and it is from God!" She just bore this simple sweet testimony that she knows God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith.

I want to invite anyone who reads this to take 20 minutes and go to the link above, or even better, this video below is only an hour. Watchi  it. Pay attention to how you feel as you watch it. And Pray to ask God to Know that it is true. Absolutely anyone can receive the witness that this woman we are teaching has had. This is true. God has restored His church through His prophet!!!

Where Do You Find Your JOY?

Happiness is:

A bottle of Mexican Coca Cola!

A snack size jar of Nutella!

Umm...probably not the best mottos in the world. Those things sure make us happy but its an instant gratification, something that we can only enjoy in the very moment we are tasting the sugar rush!

For the past 4 months I've cut out almost all of the things that I thought made me happy so that I can have a full force dedication to missionary work. That means no movies, dating, quilting, crafting, countless hours on the internet, late nights or phone calls home to my mommy at the end of the day. I was worried that I would just find myself curled up in a ball at the end of each day crying about how miserable life was. I'm here to tell you that my fears were not a premonition of what was to come. In fact I'm more happy now than I have been in the past year of my life, maybe the happiest I've been in my ENTIRE life!

Seems pretty ridiculous that cutting out things that brought me joy lead me to so much happiness now. That's because I haven't told you what I replaced those things with! I spend 2 hours every morning studying the scriptures, one hour by myself and one hour with my companion Sister Joy Valentine. I then spend the entire rest of the day (minus 2 hours for lunch and dinner) teaching people about the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

So yes, there is a little bit of irony that this post talks about Joy and that is the name of my current companion but she's a constant reminder to me of real delight in living each day! My happiness that I thrive on comes from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ and following God's commandments!

Maybe My focus Isn't That Great

I've recently written a post about baptism and I'm already kind of losing steam on the mini-series (why does that always happen??) So click HERE to go back to the post about baptism :)

Some suggestions for scripture study are 2 Nephi 31:4-8 , Matthew 3:13-17 , and Moroni 8:25-26

White As Snow

Ok kids! Sorry it took me so long to get this next post out. Do you want to know why? Because I've moved! I'm in Nashville now!! And it is just wonderful. I haven't even been here a full day but I can see how great the work has been going here and I know there are so many miracles to come.

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(No time for pictures on this post so I thought I'd find one of my new home!)

So back to the plot of the story here. Are you ready for the Gospel of Christ topic #2? It's repentance!

What is a definition of repentance you ask? It is a way to become clean from sin, or how we ask God to forgive us of the things that we do wrong. We all make mistakes. I probably make more than the average person. I know that repentance has been an immense blessing in my life and it has shaped me into the person that I am today.

There are a few steps that I want to cover:

1. Recognize that you've done something wrong.

(Because um, why would you try to change if you didn't think you had done anything wrong in the first place?)

2. Pray and Ask for forgiveness. (A really great scripture to read about this step can be found in D&C 58:43)

3. Make Restitution, or in other words, if you've offended someone, go apologize. If you've stolen something, pay for it. If it is a serious sin go to the Bishop and he can help you through the repentance process.

4. Don't Do It Again! What an important step of repentance! You've done this great work to try to give up a sin and become clean from it so do everything you can to never do it again! You may slip up, sometimes taht happens. But it is so important to show that commitment to God to promise to never make those same mistakes again.

I know that these steps seem simple and so basic. A quote from our manual Preach My Gospel says "repentance includes forming a fresh view of God, ourselves and the world. When we repent we feel godly sorrow, then we stop doing things that are wrong and we start doing things that are right." That pretty much sums up the basics of this entire post. In two sentances. What an idea, that we can form a fresh view of God and our entire lives just through giving up our sins through repentance.

Ah, it feels so good!

 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

Isaiah 1:18

Faith Is Like A Little Seed

Alright, here we are at post #1. Faith. Something I should know a little bit about considering the title of my blog and my current full time work as a missionary. But then again faith is something that is always changing, growing, and extending! 

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The lessons we teach every day come from a manual called Preach My Gospel. You can go ahead and click on that link and read it yourself if you like. I know that it helps me so much in my scripture study and as I have come to understand basic principles such as faith and prayer my testimony of Jesus Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has grown to a point I never even knew it could be. Here's a quote from the manual that explains why that is. 

"When we have faith in Christ, we accept and apply His Atonement and His teachings. We trust Him and what He says. We know that He has the power to keep His promises. Heavenly Father blesses those who have faith to obey His Son."

Faith is an action word! Did you notice that about those words in bold? Accept, apply, trust, obey, those are all things that require action on our part! Faith is not just a nice complacent thought, it's acting upon our understanding of God's plan for us! 

In the Book of Mormon there is an excellent parable that is like an equation; try this thing and then you will receive an answer! You can find it in Alma 32:26-36. In these verses the prophet Alma compares the word of God, or the scriptures, to a seed. If scripture study is treated like planting a seed what does that require? When I have gardened in the past it has taken constant daily care to make sure the soil is good, there is enough water, sunlight, no weeds are growing, no bugs are getting to the leaves, it's not exactly like you just thrust a seed into the ground and expect tomatoes or flowers the next day! 

It's the same idea with growing a testimony of the Savior. First you have to just open the scriptures up to get to know what Christ even teaches in the first place! Then application becomes necessary. Try out some teachings! 

Time is short and I have to run. Remember how I said this was going to be a mini series? Well it's going to require some action. Go read that scripture in Alma and when you comment let me know what your plan of action is!

Mini Series Time!

So on my regular old pre-mission blog I did a mini series about Science Fiction and how it makes my heart happy. Now that I'm in mission mode I'm going to do another collection of posts with a theme, but this time it's going to be a little better planned out. Remember how I said I'd share some scriptures that I like about the Gospel of Christ? Well how about 5 posts, one to briefly touch on each point of doctrine? 

Here's what you get to look forward to:

1. Faith
2. Repentance
3. Baptism
4. The Gift of the Holy Ghost
5. Endure to the End

Now if some of those topics seem like gibberish to you I hope that I can change that.
Also, I had a super fun time making that ridiculous picture of breakfast with faces on it, so maybe more paint illustration too?? Vote if you think I should!