tuesday, november 1st

i've never attended a BYU devotional, but i'm sure as heck thankful that i attended yesterday.

President Thomas S. Monson was the speaker. 

YES! PRESIDENT THOMAS S. MONSON

i'm such a nerd for being so excited about this, but this little ginger has never been so close to the prophet himself. he's a little jokester!

SO! my first BYU devotional + being oh so close to Thomas. S. Monson = a mind blowing spiritual experience.

he talked about being an example of the believers. 

he told us that one of the greatest ways we can all be missionaries is by being a shining example.

 now i've heard this before, but never was able to witness it until this past year when they started dropping like flies!

my ex boyfriend got dunked, then one of my best friends, and soon to be the beautiful miss kelly starman who i met this summer.

i know I'M not why they got baptized, but i know that at sometime somewhere i was doing the right thing that made us LDS folks not seem so bad..

he then continued to talk about us members.

the good and the bad.

he worried that some of us have become so wealthy and rich in knowledge that we begin to believe that we no longer need any help from a higher power.

wrong. we do not have all the answers.

we will always need our Heavenly Father.

this earthly experience is one we chose to have, and one Heavenly Father allowed us to have.

 he then said; "we are not physical beings having spiritual experiences, we are spiritual beings having human experiences."

next he stressed about gaining our own testimony of the Book of Mormon.

many of us still rely on the testimony of our parents, siblings, friends, and/or mentors.

and many of us still doubt in our own religion. 

he then told us: "faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind. for one will outpower the other."

now you bes believe this girl knows that for a fact.

i never started to TRULY know how amazing and true this gospel is until a few months ago.

and it's crazy how quickly it'll change your life.

this time last year i had all my tattoo's planned out.

i knew exactly what i wanted to get, and where i wanted it.

i had my plan of moving to california on lock down.

i would save all my pennies, buy the nicest camera i could find, take pictures during the week, and sell them at farmers markets on the weekends.

oh, and i would do all of this while living out of my car that i didn't have.

talk about the american dream.

i had no idea what i was doing. i doubted everything i had been taught.

i was slowly allowing doubt to overpower my faith.

in his powerful voice full of authority he then said; "when you choose to follow Jesus Christ you choose to change."

now can i get an amen?

i am so thankful for a living Prophet.

and i am oh so grateful for opportunities like these when i have the chance to hear him straight deliver.

he ended with this quote...

"you are more than what you have become. remember who you are. you are my son and the one true king. remember..."