Prayer Will Get You There

Story time. Pull up in your sleeping bags and cuddle around the fire!

I pray a lot. I'm not saying that to sound snotty. I'm just stating a fact. Just because I do it a lot doesn't mean I'm like an expert on prayer in anyway. So this morning I spent an hour figuring out how to make those prayers more meaningful. What is it that I can change when I talk with God? The format never changes. I've taught a lot of people how to pray. And I've said a whole lot of them myself over the past 20 something years. I want my prayers to have more meaning. Do you ever feel that way? During that hour of digging around in the trusty scrips I found this paragraph in the Bible Dictionary and it really spoke to my heart:

 As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship.

Ding ding ding! The first step to having more meaning in prayer is to figure out who I am! I am a daughter of God! When I pray I'm literally talking to my Dad who happens to live in Heaven. And guess what, the same is true about you (unless you are a boy, then you're his son...) So if I remember that I'm going to find it easier to talk to him.

So we're told that we are to pray every morning and every night right? (oops! accidental rhyme!) When I was in 8th grade I decided I would never go to bed without praying first. Mornings were a little harder. Nothing has happened in between those prayers except for dreams and snoring. God doesn't care. He still wants to hear from me. This is where the scriptures come in super handy. They're almost like a cheat sheet, giving us things to pray about! Alma 34:17-28 gives us a whole list of things to pray about. I don't have any fields to pray about but I do have things during my day that I need help with. And I can especially spend more time praying for others.

The time is short because my brain has been scattered and I'm pretty sure I have more to share. And this isn't even really all that focused. Campers, please excuse your troop leader for being a bit of a blonde today.
Will you spend a little extra time on your knees tonight? Ask God to help you realize your divine potential because you're His child. Then pay attention to any warm fuzzies you may be feeling in your heart. I bet my bottom dollar you have some :) And for you over achievers give this talk a read and report back. Happy praying!

Day One

Time to take roll and get all excited to be here!

Just so y'all know: This camp isn't going to be a "sit-back-and-enjoy-what-I've-written" kind of a thing. You are joining in on a big ole chunk of personal growth time and it's going to take effort! For day one we're going to set some goals. What kind of spiritual change do you want to have over the next 4 weeks?

First homework assignment: Choose one of the following talks and read it.

Vision to Do   or   Desire

Now that you've read a bit and hopefully been a bit inspired, make a list of who you want to BECOME. This is not a bucket list or an array of things you'd like to do. This is the kind of list you really can never check things off of because you'll be working on them for your entire life. Like "be a good mom" or "be kinder to people" or "be a scholar of the scriptures".

Next, take a look at the coming weeks and plan in time specifically in your day devoted to your soul. I know you think you're swamped. You probably are. Lets face it, life is BUSY. But we take the time to eat right? We take the time to check facebook. We find ourselves in cozy socks snuggled up on the couch watching reruns of I Love Lucy (wait, that might just have been me). But friends, our souls are starving. They need us to feed them. Plan ahead. That's what's going to make this awesome.

I'm stoked that you're along for the ride with me. Will you leave a comment to let me know you're fully on board? And with that comment, will you share at least one of your "become" goals? Y'all are great. Lets do this!

Get Your Gear Ready!

So first things first my little campers! We've got to get our supplies together. I've made some modifications because at first I was thinking about making this all summer long. We're totally going to get burnt out if that is the case. Camp will be held only in the month of June. Whew! That makes life easier for ALL of us and will give us something exciting and different to look forward to in July and August.

The greatest thing about a camp for the soul is...no sleeping outside in a tent! Wait, just kidding. Some people like that. The real great thing is that the packing is minimal. Please bring with you the following:

*Scriptures (If you don't have your own go to Mormon.org and we'll get you a free Bible and Book of Mormon!)
* A journal/notebook/whatever you like to write in
* Your favorite pen
* A few stickers
* Double sided sticky tape
* Maybe some crayons
* An open heart <3

Remember to register by leaving a comment and invite your friends to follow along! If you have suggestions or things you'd like some help with send me a message at elle.mccall@myldsmail.net

Now Presenting:

I need a challenge this summer. Something to keep me on my toes with my soul's growth. I can't be the only one down here on Earth who sometimes feels stagnant in study time! Are you out there people? Or is it just me? To battle the boredom I'm developing a plan. My schedule for the next three months will be a "Spiritual Summer Camp" complete with camp songs, survival skills, first aid, maybe some s'mores, and swimming in the missionary approved deep blue...book (no actual swimming for me). Anyone who would like to join me can "register" by leaving a comment. My plans always seem to work out better if I know that someone is in it with me. If you participate perhaps you'll even earn a merit badge!

The courses are still being outlined in my head but the main idea is that I will post what I've been working on and share some study tips that I develop. I tend to write more regularly and with more enthusiasm when there is a theme going on and I hope that y'all enjoy the fireflies and magic that I hope are going to happen!

Not Just A Drop In The Ocean

Girl's Camp every summer was one of the things that I looked forward to the most each year. When I was 15 there was a big hiking trip that the girls go on separately from the week of summer camp to demonstrate the things we'd learned at the past few years of camp. I was so terrified that I was going to have to survive in the woods for a whole weekend carrying my bed and everything else I needed on my back without even having a real toilet. I love being outside, I just don't like living out there in the wild! Yes. I am a total wuss.

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Luckily it was a dry summer and the fire danger was too high where we were planing on going and we wouldn't be able to cook the meals we'd brought. Hallelujah! We settled into a campground instead.

Around the campfire one night we sang fun silly songs about hippos and bugs and mayonnaise on tootsie rolls(I still haven't figured that one out) but we transitioned into songs about the Savior, hymns and children's songs that brought the Spirit to our meeting.

I don't remember much about what we talked about that night. What I do remember is that our Stake President spoke that night and he read a verse of scripture that has been prominent in my memory since that night. He read from the Doctrine and Covenants 64:33-34 (ok, this is the part where you click on that link and read the scripture!)

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When I heard the words "out of small things proceedeth that which is great" the words to a Michelle Branch song started playing in my head. She sings "I was drifting away like a drop in the ocean" and I thought of how the ocean is made up of millions of tiny drops of water. It would be impossible to count how many drops were in just a bucket of water, let alone a whole ocean! But if those little specks of water were not all there together there could be no sea, no underwater habitats where billions of creatures thrive, no surf for us to play in on the shore.  Think of how each of those small particles come together to create something great.

All of the missionaries in the Hopkinsville/Clarksville area

I constantly think about this scripture as a missionary. I try to say hi to every person I come in contact with and I am learning to not be ashamed or afraid to share the gospel with as many people as I can. It's amazing how simply going up to a woman watering her roses turns into a discussion of how the gospel of Jesus Christ blesses our families. I love it. It may not be a huge act, but each wave or greeting is a drop in the ocean of missionary work. If people are not willing to listen to our message when we come to our doors I hope that they at least see me leave with a smile and want to know what it is that makes me so happy. My every action is a representation of the Savior and our Church. That's a pretty weighty responsibility but I embrace it with my whole heart! I hope someday soon the drops I'm adding to the spiritual sea will be a force for good and bring others to Christ!