Going back to Integrity...

So!  I am now officially not going to church in the family ward anymore, I like to go to sacrament meeting with them and really that's my only chance to say hi to my church friends in passing after sacrament as I walk back out the door so that's always nice, but I am now a member of the Three Rivers YSA Branch.  Like, they extended a calling my first week there.  Not a whole lot of transition time.  But, it's been a month now so I'm getting used to it, and I like the people, the other people in the branch are great and I officially decided a few weeks ago that I'm really going to like being a part of this branch =P

Part of my new calling as 2nd counselor in the RS Presidency (funny that my mom and I got kinda similar callings at the same time, except mine is 110% easier on me because a. I'm a counselor and b. it's a small YSA branch, mom's pretty much just amazing at life, I'm getting there, I'll almost catch up to her someday maybe (: ) is getting to teach every once and a while, and I got to teach about... *drum roll* the importance of being honest!  It just happened to be the lesson from the Howard W. Hunter manual on the Sunday I was asked to be a backup teacher.

So some thoughts from my lesson:

1.  Man, do I mess this honesty thing up a lot.

2.  I am trying really hard though

3.  It would be good to think of ways ahead of time to be more honest in "white-lie" situations yet still be tactful.  Because yes, it is possible.

4.  I loved this quote I found glued into my scriptures - "We are all familiar with the saying, “Honesty is the best policy.” For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, honesty is the only policy." - Sheldon F. Child

5. There are countless ways to be honest and dishonest, besides the common ones that immediately come to mind, and it's important to grow and learn to recognize and be honest in each and every one.

In conclusion, there was a lot of good discussion and I felt like I was able to help bring the spirit into the class, which is good because I'd prayed about that - a lot - beforehand.  I just really wanted to make this lesson something that I and the girls would learn from, and it was very fulfilling knowing that God cared about my goal and helped me to lead the discussion with the sisters attending.  I had a lot of insightful comments from the girls, and I have been revitalized in my efforts to be more honest.  I recognized a mistake I made a few days after that and I have been more conscious in seeing those small variances from complete integrity, and I think seeing those little problems is the first step to being able to change, because I want to be better but if I had remained desensitized to the importance of being honest in all the little things and being careful about the words that just seem to slip out of my mouth sometimes, I would not be able to make changes.  I'm working!  And that's what counts.  Keep going ya'll.  I know no one really reads this but even if it's just me, remember how important this is!  Honesty and integrity is the behavior of covenant keepers and ultimately the people who will be able to reach the celestial kingdom and live with our Father in Heaven again.  That is not a goal I want to lose sight of so I must be ever reminding myself of these small steps.  Thank goodness for my savior and the restored gospel.  

Grants Pass

I'm not really planning on updating this blog much more but hey, it might be cool to have a kind of time capsule/dumping ground for thoughts and pictures I would like to stumble upon someday.

So my family moved to Oregon, Brynne and I came up first at the end of August and lived with my aunt and uncle for two months which was a really interesting and cool experience.  Mom, Dad, and the rest of the kiddos came up to join us and move into our FREAKING LOVELY new home on November 9th 2015.  The posts overlap a bit but I never mentioned it before so here you are.  I immediately got to meet a new friend group thanks to our church and the beauty of having a ward family and seminary.  I started out in Murphy Creek Ward and then a week after we moved into our house the ward boundaries changed and our family was shifted to Redwood Ward, so Brynne and I got two months in M.C. and my family one week =P That actually turned out perfect because I got to meet the young women in Murphy Creek AND the youth in Redwood Ward so I grew my friend circle even better.  At school I became close with Naomi Fastidio after a while and then introduced myself to the new foreign exchange student when she showed up in my choir class because I had a feeling that I needed to/would want to know her - definitely a true prompting - Vilde Eisland from Norway is one of my best friends.  Naomi recently moved to Seattle so I only actually knew her for 6 months, but that seems crazy when I say that because it feels like so much longer, I love her, she's exactly a year younger (we share a birthday!) and it feels like I met my mini me/twin person.  Now pictures!

Day at the beach with my family - we don't live 5 minutes away anymore - I'm gonna miss it.

 My besties! Naomi in the middle and Vilde on the right <3

Because my new friend Payton has the coolest yard ever.  By far.  Hands down.  I'm obsessed with lights at night so you can imagine how in love with his trees I am. 

Awe. One of our last get togethers before Naomi moved away, we're all so cute.  Jasmine on the left, then Lexi, Izzy between her and I in the back, Naomi next to Izzy and Vilde on the right of me. 

My cutie girls at the school talent show with me =) 

PROM!  I went to my senior Prom with my sister and our two dates and it was amazing =D

 I'm a weirdo, there's really no hiding it.

I rest my case... 

I love how candid this one is.  My mouth is a gaping horse-like blackhole but you know, its got a cute emotion behind it. 

And then our dates showed up - this is them striking a James Bond pose, meet Matt and Alex.

Mingling 

 Of course it's me, it's always me.

Hahahahahahaha... 

That's all for now, I need to go to bed but I am having so much fun - it's crazy that it's almost over!!

Interesting thought from Conference - having a virtuous mind INCLUDES thinking positively about yourself.  Whenever you put yourself down or say something negative about someone else, you are not having virtuous thoughts.  Hm.  Thinks to thought about.  So in regards to integrity, I am just about done with this blogging project so I just want to finish up and say that Integrity is us making the right choices to bring us closer to Christ.  I have a lot to work on, I mess up over and over again, unfortunately, but I want to be better.  That's important, the desire to be better and the willingness to act on the opportunities to improve that God provides us.  Anyway, keep improving and keep trying!  I'm glad I have this gospel and the light it brings my life, I can feel the difference between me and those that haven't decided to follow Christ, just in interactions at school etc.  It seems so much harder to try to make it on your own, do yourself a favor, try to do it right the first time, but if you don't, you can always fix it.  This church is just so amazing, I'm so glad for righteous priesthood holders in my home and for spiritually in tune leaders that I can be assured are leading me the right way.  Be strong and of good courage! =)

Hannah

Conference Thoughts

First of all this was a really great conference.  Aren't they all?
Just a few quick thoughts:

My immediate favorites that I definitely want to re-read/listen to/watch:
1. Elder Holland's (made me tear up)
2. Elder Bednar
3. Elder Nelson
4.Elder Renlund (one of the new ones!)
5. Elder Foster
6. Elder Hales

Some goals I made:

 - Smile more
 - Save a little money each week!
 - Ponderize!  (Elder Durrant's talk)
 - remain worthy of the influence of the Holy Ghost at all times

I'm still in the process of writing down my goals and breaking them into small chunks.

And, an interesting thought I noticed in Elder Nelson's talk between conference sessions, he used the phrase "Sin-Resistant Generation" in this talk and in a talk in April of 1995 he used the phrase "Sin-Resistant Souls" when referring to raising children.

I made this with a few of the quotes that I found while reading in between sessions.

Alright, that's it for now, happy Sabbath!

We'll Get There!

HONESTY IS IMPORTANT GUYS.  It really really is.  I have been realizing lately just how much I have to work on in so many ways... rather overwhelming.  But integrity is just really important, not just honesty in your words but in your actions.  I keep messing up, and I just want to reiterate that you can mess up and fix it.  You can change and make a better choice next time, you don't have to be stuck.  Thank, goodness.

Lying creates so much hurt, it creates distrust, and even if the immediate effects seem to be gone, those feelings can linger in the background for a very very long time, which is an unfortunate consequence of something most of us do.

Being an example is something I've done better at I think now that I'm here in OR.  Oh yeah, my family moved.  Long story :)  But I really think I have - I don't know if it's the bigger support system or the new place and new people and new resolves kind of feelings I have, but I have been more aware of being LDS and more proud or confident in saying that I am.  I still have to work on it of course, but I don't really have the situations anymore where I don't want to talk about my religion for fear of being judged.  I think it's a comfort to know that if someone decides not to like me because I'm a Mormon, I have friends that will accept me for who I am.  I've lost a lot of my fear of judgement for that reason and that's a step.  But true integrity involves a little more, which is something I'm working on.  If I'm going to have integrity completely in that regard, I need to stand for what I believe in not because I know that my friends will accept me, but because I know that God accepts me.  I want to know that I'm doing what I'm doing because I know it's right always, and that even if everyone turned against me and my standards I would hold them high.  I want to be like Captain Moroni and say that if every man were and ever was like unto him, the very powers of hell would be shaken.  That, is powerful.  And no, I'm not close to being there, but I have a desire, and I have taken small steps.

I love my savior and I hope that I can do a whole lot better than I have been, I'm definitely trying.  I know that having integrity and being the kind of person God knows we can be is one of the highest and hardest but most important goals of this life.  I'll always have something I could do better, but I can get there, we can all get there!

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.


Hang in there guys. <3

Tests

So, it's been a while, I've been really busy, but here's the latest integrity run-in.

At my school since it's so small we have to do a lot of online classes, which means that for anyone who does online byu independent study classes - like myself - all exams are ordered and mailed in so despite being out of school for two weeks, I'm taking two finals this week.  I had to go in whenever my teacher was available since it's not fair to her to make her work around me and we already discussed that that wouldn't work so if I did that she would be upset and it would risk my grades.  I don't have a problem with that, it's not fair for me to expect her to work around my schedule when they're my classes to take care of.  Anyway, I had to take my Spanish final yesterday, but I was also working so I knew that I had to go fast-ish if I wanted to finish but I didn't anticipate how long the test was.  Because of that, I knew I had to go to work at 10 and I hadn't finished the test yet so I had to make an important decision.  I talked to my teacher and she said even though it was breaking the rules, I had to go to work because without me opening, the store wouldn't be open in time (and my boss happened to be sitting there talking to my teacher with her daughter so I knew I had her on my side for leaving, but that's beside the point).  However, byu does have a rule that you cannot leave in the middle of finals because of course, that brings an opportunity to cheat.  I know the questions, I know where to find the class, it would not be hard to look up answers.  HOWEVER, I'm not going to do that.  First of all, I would not be passing my own class, and then what's the point.  (As a side thought, I won't remember the questions anyway, so I couldn't really be that specific anyway haha.)  But she told me that she would let me do that if I promised not to look up any answers or work on any spanish between yesterday and tomorrow - which is the next opportunity I have to go finish.  The downside is now I can't check/change any of my answers because she won't know that I didn't cheat, but I'll know it, and that's good at least.  So, be trustworthy, and you'll get to leave your finals and keep a good job =D  Also just be trustworthy because it's better.  Even if no one but me and God knows that I didn't cheat, I'll feel 10000x's better than had I looked up even just one little thing. 'Aight, I'm out, maybe I'll write sooner so there's less of a gap than last time. =P

Integrity Sacrament Talk

A few weeks ago I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting and a few topics were given for me to choose from.  I decided to talk about honesty/integrity, because hey, double duty for personal progress right?  So I didn't actually write it out, but instead outlined it and gave myself notes to follow.  I'll try to make it a little more cohesive and readable on here, but it's going to basically be just a study-guide kind of notes thing I think.

Topic: I'm going to teach about the importance of Honesty and Integrity
Main Ideas:

1. What does it mean to be honest or have integrity?
2. Talk about being able to receive blessings because of honesty

1) Expansion on first point:

• in True to the Faith it defines honesty as "to be sincere, truthful, and without deceit at all times"
• integrity often requires sacrifice on our part, and it is for the better in the long run
• there are many examples of integrity in the scriptures: the two I used were in Alma 53:20 where it talks about the stripling warriors, and in Alma 48:11,17 where it talks about one of my personal scripture heroes, Captain Moroni.  (Love the description of him in verse 17.)  
• Elder Christoffel Golden Jr. of the 70 says that integrity "requires a person always to do or say the right thing mo matter the circumstances or what others may think."
• If we have integrity we always do what's right even when its hard - to me, this includes being a witness and living example of this gospel.
• Romans 1:16; Mosiah 18:9 - Don't be ashamed, and stand as a witness, even until death.  This is something that's really hard for me, personally.  I get reallllllly shy and I have a hard time speaking up, but I've found that in the times where I don't, of I brush it off, I feel more embarrassed about it later and upset with myself for not standing up for it, than I would in the times where I was strong in the moment and stood up for my beliefs.  It's scary, and it's hard, but it's worth it.  
• At work I've talked about on the blog experiences with customers being honest or figuring out scales or things like that, but even with normal purchases, most things are weighed, so the customers have no idea what the exact price is and it would be easy for any one of the employees to cheat someone just a small amount, and do it with each customer.  However, I've never seen anyone do it - every customer at the chocolate store treats the customer with honesty and if they don't think they'll be able to remember accurately the amount that they weighed, they write it down so that they don't cheat the customer.

2) Expansion on second point:

• We are blessed eventually, whenever we make a good choice, but there are some blessings that are specifically categorized with honesty and are very personal blessings.
• honesty establishes a relationship with God, because he knows that he can trust us.
• D&C 124:15 - Strengthens a loving relationship with our Father.
• we become "accepted of the Lord" - D&C 97:8
• when honest "we are blessed with a peace of mind an self-respect and will be entrusted by the Lord and others".
• when we act with constant integrity and truth we will be more fully equipped to serve God and our fellow man, and be intruments in God's hands.
• not following these principles of honesty and integrity restricts us in the ability to accomplish things in our lives - eventually being able to be trusted pays off far more than lying to get what we want in the moment.

Finally, I just want to add that I know how much of a blessing it is to be trusted and have an honest life - it's so much easier to not have to worry about deceit.  This was my simplified notes that I went off of, so when I gave the actual talk there was more embellishment and details as I spoke, and a few things that I felt like I should add that I just don't remember anymore, but I think that it's less important that I write those, than it is that whoever reads this thinks about it on your own.  Honesty makes life so much simpler, and believe me its so much nicer to be able to focus on the things that make you happy instead of getting caught up in the complexity that follows with being dishonest.  You'll feel better, and your life will be better.  So there you go, there's my integrity thought for the day. =)

Hannah.