How Am I Doing 17 Days Before My Wedding?

Today, I'm testing the water of The Private Hush by writing a blog about something that's personal to me. I wanna let you know that there are only 17 days left for me to enjoy my "single" status days and then I will become one of the new students who will attend the Sunday School Married class in my new (rather previous) home ward.

So, how does it feel to know that there are only less than three weeks left before my wedding? Honestly, it's surreal! I can't explain my feelings. There are times when I get too excited (like now) that I want to finish all the things that I have to prepare for my wedding. The adrenaline boosts me up to keep me awake the whole night and they give me the energy to never stop brainstorming, planning and doing all the stuffs needed for that special day.

There are also times when I get too nervous that I tend to ask myself if I am already prepared for the adventure that I am going to take. When these times happen to me, I remind myself of the words from Elder Jeffrey Holland:

"With any major decision there are cautions and considerations to make, but once there has been an illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold before you." - Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence, Ensign, March 2000

This message has helped me a lot in recognizing the promptings of the Spirit and it also made me realize that the efforts made by the opposition are becoming stronger and stronger in order to bend and break my wonderful and amazing goal to be married and sealed in the temple with my partner for time and eternity. I know that the opposition will continue to try his best to break us but we are prepared for this battle. We are ready for this adventure. Oh, I just can't wait for these 17 days to pass by and obtain the eternal blessings from Heavenly Father!

ABC'S Nightline Checks Out The Lives Of LDS Sister Missionaries

Since The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lowered the qualifying age for missionaries in October 2012, the number of sister missionaries serving worldwide has tripled and now totals more than 22,000. The surge of sister missionaries recently caught the attention of ABC News’ “Nightline,” which aired a segment Tuesday titled “The New Face of Mormonism: Women.”

World News Videos | ABC World News

Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865620654/ABCs-Nightline-takes-a-look-into-the-lives-of-LDS-sister-missionaries.html?pg=all

Why I Need To Look Down On Myself Sometimes (Or All The Time)

This week has been very special to me because it has taught me how to obtain one of the most challenging Christlike attribute that one person needs - HUMILITY.

Sometimes and maybe most of the time, we don't recognize in ourselves that pride is already controlling our decisions, words and even actions. And you know, that is not good. I mean, really really not good. If we're not careful, this evil thing can go a long way and it can destroy a lot of things that bring happiness to our lives. Now, how do we remove pride in ourselves and instead develop
humility?

1.  Become as a Little Child 

"And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them"And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 18:2-4).

2.  Humility is a Choice

"And Moses and Aaron came in unto Pharaoh, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews, How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself before me?" (Exodus 10:3).

The Lord has given us agency and he will not take it away- even to make us humble. Although we can be compelled to be humble (see #4 below) actually being humble (or not) will always be a choice that we must make. 

3.  Humility through Atonement of Christ

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father" (Mosiah 3:19).

Without Christ it would be impossible for us to have humility. 

4.  Compelled to Be Humble

"And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no" (Deut 8:2).

But it is better for us to choose humility instead of being forced to give up our pride:

"Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God... yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe" (Alma 32:16).

Which would you prefer? 

5.  Humility through Prayer and Faith

"And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God... even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come..." (Mosiah 4:11).

Praying to our Father in Heaven is also an act of humility as we kneel and subject ourselves to His will. 

6.  Humility from Fasting

Fasting is an excellent way to build humility. Giving up our physical need for sustenance can direct us to be more spiritual if we focus on our humility and not on the fact that we're hungry.

"But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom" (Psalms 35:13).

Fasting may seem difficult, but that's what makes it such a powerful tool. Donating money (equivalent to the food you would have eaten) to the poor and needy, is called a fast offering (see the law of tithing) and is an act of humility. 

7.  Humility: Fruit of the Spirit

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,"Meekness, temperance..." (emphasis added).

Part of the process for seeking the guiding influence of the Holy Ghost is developing sincere humility. If you're having trouble being humble you can choose to be longsuffering with someone that frequently tries your patience. If you fail, try, try, try again! 

8.  Count Your Blessings 

One way to do this is to set aside a specific amount of time (maybe 30 minutes) and write out a list of all your blessings. If you get stuck be more specific, detailing each of your blessings. Another technique is to count your blessings every day, such as in the morning when you first get up, or at night. Before you sleep think of all the blessings you received that day. You'll be surprised at how focusing on having a thankful heart will help lower pride. 

9.  Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

C. S. Lewis said:"Pride leads to every other vice.... Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, cleverer, or better-looking than others. If every one else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking there would be nothing to be proud about. It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone" (Mere Christianity, (HarperCollins Ed 2001), 122).

To have humility we must stop comparing ourselves to others, as it is impossible to be humble while putting oneself above another.

10.  Weaknesses Develop Humility

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them" (Ether 12:27).

Weaknesses sure aren't fun, but the Lord allows us to suffer, and humble us, that we may become strong.

Like most things, developing humility is a process, but as we use the tools of fasting, prayer, and faith we will find peace as we choose to humble ourselves through Christ's atonement. 

One of the most important ways we can have humility was taught by Jesus Christ.

Whether we have pride or humility, it is an individual choice that we make. One example in the Bible is of Pharoah, who chose to be prideful.

The atonement of Jesus Christ is the ultimate way in which we must receive the blessing of humility. It is through His sacrifice that we are able to overcome our natural, fallen state, as taught in The Book of Mormon: The Lord often allows trials and suffering to enter our lives to compel us to be humble, like with the children of Israel: We can ask God for humility through the prayer of faith.

Humility also comes through the power of the Holy Ghost. As taught in Galatians 5:22-23, three of the "fruits" are all a part of humility: This is such a simple, yet effective technique. As we take time to count each of our blessings we will become more aware of all that God has done for us. This awareness alone helps us be more humble. Counting our blessings will also help us recognize how dependent we are upon our Father.

Just as "weaknesses become strengths" is one of the reasons why we need humility it is also one of the ways in which we can develop humility.

Reference: http://lds.about.com/od/basicsgospelprinciples/tp/humility_how.htm

9 Things You Have Forgotten About Your Premortal Life

In virtually all of us, there is some sort of innate yearning to know what was before this life and how it affects us here.

Fortunately though, for Latter-day Saints, we need no special revelation to tell us we had a life before. Such revelation exists.  Latter-day scriptures and prophetic teachings not only confirm our intimations but also paint a clear picture of just who we are, where we came from, and why we are here. Without this modern revelation we could only guess at what it all means, but with it, the scriptures unveil something hidden to the rest of the world—the premortal heavens are no longer a mystery. 

Read the rest of this article at the LDS Living.

Why Do Mormons Build Temples And Why Are They So Important To Them?

Many of my friends are wondering why Mormons spend a lot of time and money to build such enormous Disney-like castles called temples. Some of them thought if this is the place where all members of the church gather every Sunday and do their Sunday worship service. Others even ask what's inside and what these people keep from the public because they couldn't enter the temple even just to witness the wedding of their loyal best friend.

Throughout history, the Lord has commanded His people to build temples. Temples are literally houses of the Lord. All of us who are living a life here on earth needs a place to settle. This is the same with the Lord. He needs a sacred place where He could call His home that's why He commanded the Saints to build temples. They are holy places of worship where individuals could also make sacred promises with God. 

On January 19, 1841, the Prophet Joseph Smith received the revelation recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 124. In this revelation, the Lord commanded the Saints to build a temple and explained the blessings that would be available to them if they would be diligent in building it.

 "For there is not a place found on earth that he may come to and restore again that which was lost unto you, or which he hath taken away, even the fulness of the priesthood." - Doctrine and Covenants 124:28

All members of the church, men and women, can receive the fulness of the blessings of the priesthood by receiving all of the ordinances of the temple. Through these ordinances, we can gain access to all of the blessings Heavenly Father desires to give to His children.

Now why can't we all go inside it? Let me ask you, do you want any random person to go inside your room whenever he likes and do whatever he wants to do without your permission? You don't like it, right? The Lord feels the same thing. His temple is very sacred and He wants to keep it pure and clean. Thus, we need to ask for His permission before we enter in His house and we do it by talking to the bishop of the church and ask for a temple recommend.

The temple is very important to me. Everything in the temple points us to Christ. Every member should be serious in their preparation to go inside the temple and receive the promised blessings that all can get through performing of sacred temple ordinances.

"Those who understand the eternal blessings which come from the temple know that no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings. There are never too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to overcome, or too much discomfort to endure. They understand that the saving ordinances received in the temple that permit us to someday return to our Heavenly Father in an eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on high are worth every sacrifice and every effort." - President Thomas S. Monson