Spend Your Christmas Serving!

Another video about the true meaning of Christmas... I know what your thinking... AGAIN! But hey... there's nothing better that could be done with our time than serving others... just as Christ would have done. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be on a mission during this time of the year. To know that I can help others come closer to their Heavenly Father through service and the building of Faith. Watch this video that came out a year ago depicticing volunteers and the service they gave to the Savior.

Whats Important

I just love this mormon.org profile! I watched it a while ago and so I decided to watch it again today and I really enjoyed it... AGAIN! I commend Robert for realizing what is most important in his life. Sometimes in society these days its all about what do we need now, how can we live now and we don't think about the future or why we do these things. Knowing what's most important in life is so vital in really making this life worth it. It's not about climbing the corporate ladder, impressing people, or being the smartest... it's about loving the people around us and lifting them with our own service and talents!

Coats, Goldfish... You Name It!

Got a coat? The truth is you don't need to have a coat to give to someone... you can give anything: your talents, skills, love, etc. I remember one time I was driving home from work and I saw the same man waiting before the freeway on ramp. He held a sign always expressing that he was hungry and looking for work. I happened to have a bag of goldfish in the car (something common for me to have... they're my favorite!) I was hungry like I always am but I knew that I could wait out the hunger pains for 20 minutes. So I rolled down the window and offered them to him. At first he hesitated and then he took them graciously. With a "God Bless You" I drove away. Now to be honest this wasn't really a big sacrifice at all, but it was a simple opportunity to be charitable. So as we're going about our day don't let a moment to serve pass us by. After all those we serve benefit from it, we benefit from it, and the Lord feels of the Love we have for him. What better could we do?

Decisions, decisions.

So Tom is the best. He is a really great guy... who I've never met... but you can meet him just like I did! Yay, Tom! I love when he mentions that every decision he makes is made with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in mind. This is a pretty hard concept for most people who aren't religious. Normally they just make decisions based on moral ethics or based on nothing at all. I am truly grateful that I know what is important to me and that the decisions I make are not only important but there's a reason why I make them. We have a purpose in this life: Alma 34:32 ~ For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
What decisions do you make in order to prepare to meet God?

The Banana Incident

 

Yes. Today I purposefully threw away Elder Lenker's Banana at the Hill Cumorah. This is what happened:
I walked into the back room at the Hill Cumorah's Visitor Center, opened the refrigerator and quickly closed it. It smelt as if a banana had exploded and sat in a warm refigerator rotting for several weeks. Not good. So I opened it again and put my lunch in and shut it quickly. Nasty. Well... an hour passed by and I wanted some food, so I opened the refrigerator door and again... blast from the banana breath. This time I noticed that the fridge was not empty, besides Sister Trujillo's and my lunch there sat a banana browned a bit and slightly opened at the top to expose a quarter of an inch of white banana flesh. "well, well, well, I've found the culprit!" I thought, picked up the banana, and tossed it into the trash without a second thought. Well after lunch I made my way into the back room and Elder Lenker walked in and said "all right... who ate my banana?" I replied that I had not eaten it but I had thrown it away. Elder Lenker was not happy. He mentioned that all morning he'd been looking forward to eating this banana. I apologized and explained the horrific smell that still haunts my nostrils... he was not convinced. We said our goodbyes and parted ways. Well, Elder Lenker. I just saved your life. That banana was infected with disease that unannounced to your livelihood could have seriously injured your physical well-being. At first you wanted to eat the banana, in fact your desire was great and so you set it aside waiting for when that moment would come. I, however, noticed that the banana was bad and that if you would have consumed it... it could have caused some serious digestive issues. Sometimes we have those same issues in life. The media, people around us, and living in "Society" can sway us one way and affect the way we think and act. Sometimes the Holy Ghost is trying to warn us of something that will drive him away. Occasionally, we don't know that this something could affect the companionship we have with the him... but through the Holy Ghost we're warned not to take part in it... in some cases the extreme happens, he stops us literally from partaking of something that will drive him away. We may not realize it at first but in the end we have been blessed, and we still have the Holy Ghost as our companion. There is nothing we should do that will compromise the companionship of the Holy Ghost, after all, he is the one who can save our life when it's put into physical and spiritual danger.

So Elder Lenker... you have been saved from the life-threatening banana.

(Oh and as a side note... the banana was actually just a banana, I don't know if there was anything wrong with it or that or would have compromised his health... but it did make the Refrigerator stink... so maybe it's good he never ate it.)

Joyous Occasion!

The best Christmas Movie EVER! Well... to be honest, I have a lot of favorites, but this 10 minute film stays true to the Bible and illustrates the true meaning of Christmas. What could be better than that? So while your watching A Christmas Story, Elf, Olive the Other Reindeer (which aren't bad ones) takes the time to feel the true Spirit of Christmas! After all, this is why we celebrate!

Christmas Service

Sometimes I think of how at this Christmas time I can give a gift to my Savior. It's easy to give gifts to those around us, but what is something we can do in order to better ourselves. One thing I thought of was service! In Mosiah it says: 2:17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

Heavenly Father has asked us to serve others and as we're serving others we're following the example of our Savior! I watched this mormon.org profile about Ryan Wilcox, a humanitarian and loved how he mentioned that showing Christ like love was more important that talking about it! Now, you don't have to go to a 3rd World country to serve you can serve anyone around you, those you know and don't know. So think of what you can do to serve!