Spiritually Fit!

    Jacked. Swoll. Cut. Yoked. Massive. Shredded. Beefy. All these words and more are used to describe somebody who has a lot of muscle! Gyms everywhere are packed with gym rats who are willing to pay lots of money, spend a lot of time, and dedicate a lot of energy trying to improve their physical appearance. Different techniques, lifts, and substances are being developed every single day. The weightlifting and fitness communities are hugely popular.  However, a physical body is just the beginning to who we really are.
    True to the faith, a gospel reference teaches," You are a spirit child of Heavenly Father, and you existed as a spirit before you were born on the earth. During your life on the earth, your spirit is housed in your physical body, which was born of mortal parents."
     I myself enjoy a good physical exercising from time to time. The muscles that make up our bodies are fascinating and allow us to do some amazing things. Our Spirits need as much, if not more exercising than our physical bodies! Where can we find a spiritual gym? It starts with a Ch and rhymes with nurch. Everybody at the same time...Church!





4 And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and ^acleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the ^bchurch of Christ; and their ^cnames were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually ^dwatchful unto prayer, ^erelying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.

5 And the ^achurch did meet together ^boft, to ^cfast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.

6 And they did ^ameet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in ^bremembrance of the Lord Jesus.

Finish!

As a missionary for the LDS church, we leave our families, friends, homes and hobbies for a 24 month period to go and share the good news! I now have 1 month left. When missionaries get close to finishing their service they can get what is called "Trunky". Home becomes a distraction, motivation lacks, and the cruise control button goes on!

It doesn't just happen on the mission either. There are many things in life that require hard work all the way through. Did you make new years resolutions? Does the word Senior-itis sound familiar? How much of your high school Spanish do you remember? Can you still play those songs you learned on the piano?

There are many opportunities wasted when we don't endure to the end. Here is a poem I recently memorized to help me finish strong.

 Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;                                   

Beginners are many, but enders are few.

Honor, power, place and praise

Will always come to the one who stays.

 

Stick to your task ’til it sticks to you;

Bend at it, sweat at it, smile at it, too;

For out of the bend and the sweat and the smile

Will come life’s victories after a while.

—Author Unknown

Attitude of Gratitude

"Are you serious?" I think those were my exact words the last time this happened to me.  So it may not be the most appealing topic, but it is so easy to relate to because we've all been there! You are using the bathroom and you take a quick glance to your side. What used to be a good 5 inch thick roll of the bare essentials, is now a piece of brown cardboard with an inch or two of white shredded stragglers. Creativity is now at an all time high! Nothing else matters. Whether your approach is the crouched over shuffle, the plea for help, or making the best of what you got (see picture) , it now becomes your life mission to get some asap!  Maybe you took it a little for granted before?

The example is a little extreme, but I do it to prove a point. When is the last time you were grateful for our everyday conveniences, like toilet paper, when it wasn't lacking? Another example is whenever I wake up with a sore throat, I promise myself that as soon as it gets better, I will be grateful everyday I wake up without any pain. I always forget.

Gratitude is how we show our love for God and the things that he has given us.  When we notice all that we have instead of what we want to have, we are much happier.

We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.”
–Thomas S. Monson

The next time you use the restroom, I hope that you will NOT think of me because of this post. I do hope however that you will take the 5-45 minutes to think of all that you have been given.

SHELLS OF SAFETY! Say that 5 times fast!

 

     Growing up, my family had a lawn care business called, Orme's Mowing Madness. We dealt with lawns of all shapes and sizes. Seriously, we would have been better off with a chainsaw than a mower on some of the lawns we had to fix. We would find things like toys, shovels, golf balls, cars, lost children, etc. Well, one time, my brothers left to go mow a forest of a lawn and came home with our very first turtle. Luckily they had found the little guy before the mower did! Since that day I have loved turtles! My college roommate, Tevan, even had a turtle that would just swim in circles, and I even loved that little guy.





 
Think of the movies or stories you know that have turtles in it. Turtles are always the best character, whether it is in the story of The Tortoise and the Hare, Finding Nemo, Ninja Turtles, Kung Fu Panda or even The Master of Disguise. They just rock!

     Nobody ever thinks of a turtle without thinking they're "old" and "wise". The old part has nothing do with anything, I just think it's funny, but there has to be a reason people see them as wise. So what can these ancient geniuses teach us? We live in a crazy world. We are surrounded by...well, crazy, worldly stuff! Turtles would probably call it cats, seagulls, and toddlers. For us, it is a little more serious. Violence, drugs, and immorality are on every corner. We face problems like these every single day! You can be as positive as you want, but eventually the garbage takes a toll. What do we do???  
     This is where we really learn from the turtles. We go to a place of safety! Turtles are lucky enough to have their safety or shells on their backs. Our "shells" exist, we just have to know where to find them. The following video shows us how we can find safety in our world today!

* Now that you scrolled to the bottom to see how long it is, go back to the top and read it!

The Inspiring Leader Nephi

Nephi is his first name! As far as I know, Nephi is his only name!  Who is he? He is a courageous Prophet in the Book Of Mormon. Although it's been a minute since he was around, (he lived in 600 BC) there is still a lot to learn from this great leader. Here are 5 reasons why Nephi is awe, awe, inspiring:

1- He put his trust in God. This is something that a lot of us strive to do. It is, however, a lot easier said than done. Nephi went through some hard experiences, (insert hashtag laman and lemuel) but never lost his faith. 2 Nephi 4:34 O Lord, I have ^atrusted in thee, and I will ^btrust in thee forever. I will not put my ^ctrust in the arm of flesh...

2- He knew how to do work. Gordon B. Hinckley said, "Without hard work, nothing grows but weeds." Nephi understood this principle. Whether it was to go get the plates or build a ship, Nephi always had the attitude of 'I will go and do'.

3- He was buff, but in a humble way. " And now I, Nephi, being a man large in stature, and also having received much strength of the Lord..." 1 Nephi 4:31 According to the picture I am sure that he did his fair share of calf raises!

4- He led with love.  "The people having loved Nephi exceedingly, he having been a great protector for them..." Jacob 1:10 Nephi didn't want the fame. He pointed people to the Savior and to Heavenly Father, which is the source for protection and for true happiness.

5- I grew up in a city called Nephi. This actually doesn't have anything to do with why Nephi is an inspiration to me. Just thought it was kind of cool!

I have always been told the way to be the Happiest in life is to share what makes you happy with others! Thomas S. Monson once said, "As we look heavenward, we inevitably learn of our responsibility to reach outward. To find real happiness, we must seek for it in a focus outside ourselves." 
By sharing things that I am passionate about, I desire to inspire you! What can you give others this year?