SMILE

 "O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be Spiritually-Minded Is Life Eternal." 2 Nephi 9:39

This is my all time favorite scripture and kind of a motto for my life. I love this so much because it simplifies the gospel. Kind of like CTR (choose the right) but that was already taken, mine is SMILE! The gospel of Jesus Christ helps us find joy and like the scripture says to keep of mind spiritual so we too can have eternal life. I know not everyone wants to sit and read about my feelings but I will share a few experiences either from life or from my mission. So keep going it's worth it.

Through out life we are presented with choices, some of those choices make us happy and some of those choice make us not so happy. Everything we choose has a consequence whether good or bad, and we learn from those consequences. We can also learn by watching the choices of others, so then we see the consequences they had to face and say "No thank you not for me." For example when my sister was younger she stuck a knife in one of the electrical sockets in the kitchen. There were some bad consequences to that action, first of all she got physically hurt and probably got her in big trouble with my mother. It also might explain a lot about Genny if you know her ;) just kidding. Anyways she had to learn from that experience and she also taught all of the rest of us kids a big lesson too. 

Just like we have moms to warn us about the dangers of knives and electrical socket, God will warn us of things that are spiritually dangerous, like alcohol, lying, cheating, pride or greed. Those things have consequences that can effect us both physically and spiritually. We can also hurt those around us or people that we love. Take that same story for example. Genny stuck that knife in the electrical socket, well a few years later, I was making waffles and went to put the plug in and put it in the bad socket. A flame shot across the room and my arm was burnt from it. It was very painful, and even though her mistake had been done unintentionally seeing as she was a small child at the time some of the effects were still happening. 

A larger scale example is drinking and driving. Or a father with an addiction to pornography. Or a woman who has to much pride to fulfill her calling as a mother. There are so many examples and everyone makes their own mistakes. To bring it back to the scripture;

 "O, my beloved brethren, remember the awfulness in transgressing against that Holy God, and also the awfulness of yielding to the enticings of that cunning one. Remember, to be carnally-minded is death, and to be Spiritually-Minded Is Life Eternal." 2 Nephi 9:39

There are awful things that happen when we make mistakes, when we give in to satan. In this scripture they tell us to nip it in the bud, that if we keep our thoughts on spiritual things and not on things of the world then we will find happiness, then we will find peace. We will be able to avoid the undesirable consequences by just working on our thoughts. Stop them before they become words or actions. Learn from those around you how to find happiness, learn from scriptures and the warnings of God's prophets on the earth today.

Never forget to SMILE!