help a friend. change a life.

I often wonder what sort of impact I could possibly have on the world.

There are billions of people who have died - and most of their names ends up becoming just that - another name. One little name - a few syllables among billions and billions.



The people that are remembered are the helpers. The lovers, the fighters, the thoughtful, caring people.
The people who make you rethink who you are - and make you want to be a better person. The people who make you feel like a better person just because they treat you that way.

The people who get up and do something productive. The people who try to make others' lives better.

I think everybody wants to be remembered for something like that.

Ask yourself - Do I really care about my fellow man? Really truly? What kind of person am I? What will I be remembered for?

Your actions and decisions determine which blessings you are worthy of.
The way you treat people and how much you truly care... it comes right back around.

So... don't just pray for the poor/sick/sorrowful/suffering man.
D.O. something to help them. Show that you really, truly care. Make an effort.

And people will really. truly. care about you in return.

Be the helper, the lover, the fighter. Don't forget that every little tiny action contributes to and shapes the mosaic of humanity. You can save lives. You can be remembered.

What do you guys think of the above quote/picture? What does it mean to you? And how much do you care?

a stone of stumbling.

I shared this quote in a devotional I did in seminary the other day (from my favorite talk ever that you can read here)...

"I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work—and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times—until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies. If anyone is foolish enough or misled enough to reject 531 pages of a heretofore unknown text teeming with literary and Semitic complexity without honestly attempting to account for the origin of those pages—especially without accounting for their powerful witness of Jesus Christ and the profound spiritual impact that witness has had on what is now tens of millions of readers—if that is the case, then such a person, elect or otherwise, has been deceived; and if he or she leaves this Church, it must be done by crawling over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make that exit. In that sense the book is what Christ Himself was said to be: 'a stone of stumbling, … a rock of offence,' a barrier in the path of one who wishes not to believe in this work. Witnesses, even witnesses who were for a time hostile to Joseph, testified to their death that they had seen an angel and had handled the plates. 'They have been shown unto us by the power of God, and not of man,” they declared. “Wherefore we know of a surety that the work is true.'"

-Jeffrey R. Holland

Okay so I know that was a long quote... but so good, right??

I underlined my favorite parts... oh, and you really should hear him give the talk. He is such a good speaker. I'm sure you could find it on youtube... the talk is called Safety for the Soul. 

So I wanted to do a post on the Book of Mormon because it is just such a blessing in my life and a major - and often misunderstood - part of our gospel.

I love this picture. 

You know, people sometimes find it hard to follow the Book of Mormon and don't learn from it the way they could. 

Ha. Who am I kidding? Me included.

But the Book of Mormon is so cool. It is a history book. 

Something I think is so cool is that this great book - well - makes perfect sense. 

Let me explain. We believe that the Book of Mormon is the record of the people living in the Americas in ancient days... The Old and New Testaments - the Bible - aren't set in North or South America. But people were there. 

And after Christ was resurrected, He appeared to them. 

It's such a cool record - and explains what went on among the Ancient Americas. See? History book. We just got it later than we got the Bible. 

Until 1827, the records were simply buried in the ground. 

I mean, even thinking it out logically it still makes sense to me. And reading it - praying about it - just seals the deal. 

When I went to Nauvoo and later to Kirtland visiting some church history sites, I learned a little about a group of people that broke off of our church a long time ago because after Joseph died, they didn't believe Brigham Young was a prophet. They created a completely separate church from ours that still exists today. 

Anyways. My point in this is that that church still claims to believe in the Book of Mormon. They were selling copies, in fact. 

There are so many things wrong with this in my mind. ha. But one thing I thought was interesting was that those people still didn't deny the Book of Mormon. Even if they don't practice their religion in the way I believe the Book of Mormon teaches - they don't deny its truthfulness. 

One of my favorite parts of the very first quote was when he said that to leave this church you would have to crawl over or under or around the Book of Mormon to make your exit. 

The witness of Jesus Christ it contains simply Cannot. Be. Denied. Because of this, it should act as a barrier. 

I guess they wanted to leave the church, so they took the Book of Mormon with them! Dumb loopholes. jk haha.

And now, in our day, this precious, absolutely true book is being attacked from all sides. 

So what do we do about it? 

I love one action the Church took. 

They bought ad space in the Broadway show The Book of Mormon's play books. 

They sought out a way they could make this a somewhat positive thing. And I have to say, I think those ads are pretty sweet. 

Anyways. Don't get all ticked off. People just don't know. 

So explain. Understand. Share your testimony. 

Because a testimony of the Book of Mormon is something I wish everyone could have in their life.

So be grateful for this wonderful book! Try to see it as a history of your people (whether they are technically your ancestors or not)!

See it as a blessing from God. An undeniable truth. A constant in your life. 

And you will be so incredibly blessed and learn so much. 

This I know. 

And I promise you can know too.

Real People.

One Good Woman by Cherie Call

Mary Chilton never knew what the salty winds would do

When she stepped aboard and sailed away on a 1620 autumn day

At Plymouth Rock she was the first to touch dry ground

But she became an orphan when the winter came and the tears fell down

But she grew, and married a good man

And they had eleven children

And they would never understand what she'd been through but they knew 

That a girl of just thirteen 

Crossed one big ocean 

And that she grew up to be

One good woman

And Polly Angel didn't know what the hands of time would show

When she dressed in white and said, "I do" in the fall of 1832

Her life would change that very year forever more

When they heard the message of two strangers at their door they headed west

And Polly had six children, but only two survived

And they could never understand what she'd been through

But they knew that a woman of great faith

Crossed one big country

And that they were being raised 

By one good woman

There they are, written in the spaces of a family tree

Till it all comes down to me

I know that I can never say that I'm the only one who's prayed 

For pain to end or love to last or for time not to go by so fast

But it will fly and in a hundred years from now

Will there ever be someone who reads my name and wonders

If I laughed

Or if I believed in Jesus

Or if my heart were ever broken

They may never understand what I go through

But I will live the best that I know how

For one big lifetime

It's not too much to ask

Of one good woman

----------

     To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root. 

(Chinese Proverb)

I know I've shared the following quote before, but I love what President Gordon B. Hinckley said about remembering the pioneers...

“I will never get over being thankful to them; I hope you never get over being thankful to them. I hope that we will always remember them. . . . Let us read again and again, and read to our children or our children’s children, the accounts of those who suffered so much.”
- Gordon B. Hinckley  

Joseph Smith said that "The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead." Just remember while doing genealogy... That those people are not just names on a page. 

They really lived and breathed.

They quarreled with their siblings

They fell in love.

They worked for their families.

They were homemakers.

They played with their kids.

They burnt dinner.

They laughed and goofed off.

It's hard for us to imagine sometimes... but when you research your family history or do ordinances for those who have died... try to picture them. 

...I'll bet that they're up there with a smile on their face, so grateful to you for completing the work they couldn't finish while on the earth. 

An Easy and Fun Way to Help With Genealogy

     What is indexing? Like the video above said, original documents - birth/death certificates, marriage licenses, military forms... basically anything with information on it - are found and then digitalized so that they can be saved.
     Volunteers sift through all of the photos and key the information into the computer... things like their name, spouse, parents, birthday... stuff like that. After the names are indexed, people on the Family Search website (or those using other programs like ancestry.com or RootsMagic) can search for a relative's name, and all of the information indexed will pop up.
     For members of the Church, that means that we can quite possibly find names to take to the temple.
     The youth in our ward have all signed up so that we can start indexing. Let me tell you, I am already hooked. It is so easy and strangely addicting... and a very easy way to do service and help people so that they can further their family history.

     I'm serious... it is SO easy. Go here to get started. All you have to do is download the software and create an account. (If you already have an LDS account, then that will work.) Just so you know, if you need to create an account, you will need your Church membership number. If you don't know it, no worries. Just talk to your bishopric (probably the ward clerk, actually...), and they will give it to you.
     Once the software is downloaded and you have logged in, a video will pop up explaining the program to you. It is only like six minutes long.
     That's it! You are ready! Now you just go through documents and read them so that you can key in the information that is asked for. If you can't read the handwriting, send it back and you can get a new document. I am very new to this, but I'm having a lot of fun with it. It also feels good to know that the names I'm entering in are more than just names. They are people, who lived and died, and who now need our help.

     Starting April 2nd, you can help index the 1940 Census. There were over 130,000,000 people in the U.S. at that time, and it will be a huge project to index all of those documents. What's cool is that 1940 wasn't really that long ago. We all know people that were alive at that time (they only have to be like 72 or older), and it's neat to know that is the generation we will be helping. It is these people and their parents/grandparents that need our help now... People you may know or deceased people that you are closely related to...




     Just do it. It will be so worth it, and it makes you feel good to know that you are helping people. It may look intimidating at first, but it is so incredibly easy. Trust me. You will love it, and then you will want to spread the word to your friends!

Did one of my posts leave a lasting impression on you? I'd love to hear about it! Comment below! 

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