Saturday, July 27, 2013

?Por qué escogemos levantarnos e ir a la iglesia los domingos?


                     
?Por qué escogemos levantarnos e ir a la iglesia los domingos? Para dar respuesta a mi propia pregunta, yo voy a la iglesia porque amo a mi Salvador, Jesucristo, y quiero respetar Su día santo.

 Y tambien voy para tomar la Santa Cena. Hay mil cosas que nos distraen cada día, pero cuando vamos a la iglesia, podemos estar apartados del mundo. Estamos con nuestro Dios, nuestro Salvador, los angeles de los Cielos, y con nuestros hermanos Cristianos. Qué ocasion gozosa! Nosotros sentiremos el poder de La Expiación de Cristo cuando no dejamos que el facebook, ni el telefono, ni los juegos nos controlen. Hagamonos tiempo para ir a la iglesia y para alabar a nuestro Creador.

Antes de la misión, no me daba cuenta de cuan distraida estaba yo por el mundo. Claro que si, me gustaba ir a la iglesia, pero yo siempre traía conmigo una parte del mundo. Y francamente, la única persona que fue lastimada era yo. Fue una lección aprendida. También me he dado cuenta de que muchas personas van a la iglesia por muchas otras razones. A algunas les gusta la musica, otras les gusta ir porque se pueden vestir de la manera que quieran. A otras les gusta disfrutar un café con los amigos, y traer con ellas las cosas del mundo para que se miren popular. Aquí está la cosa, yo creo que es major ir a una iglesia que cualquier otro lugar, pero necesitamos no estar distraidos por las cosas del mundo mientras estamos en la capilla. Nosotros vamos a la iglesia para adorar a Dios!! Está bien tener eventos sociales, pero no deben de estar en la iglesia. La iglesia es un humilde casa de adoración. Yo sé que si guardamos el día de reposo, el Señor nos bendecirá abundantemente.

Aquí está una analogía de un miembro de la iglesia:Dijo Derek: “Hace muchos años, escuché una
analogía: Cada seis meses, por veinte años, un hombre traía su carro al mecánico para darle una afinación. A veces toda la obra del carro fue muy fácil y a veces se necesitaba más de una simple afinación. Un día, el mecánico preguntó al hombre por qué él se dedicaba tanto a cuidar su carro. Le dijo el dueño del carro, ‘ Me preocupo tanto por el carro para que no me sorprenda cuando pasa algo malo. Cuando observo lo que se ha hecho a mi carro y lo que se le necesita hacer con ello, puedo solucionar bien cuando vengan los problemas.’ Me siento igual de acuerdo con el ir a la iglesia cada semana. Es probable que mi transmisión espiritual no necesita tanta revision, igual que el carro en cada inspección. Pero en el gran curso de tiempo, he visto las bendiciones de la asistencia a la iglesia: una abilidad más profunda de poder reaccionar bien a las pruebas de la vida. Cuando la vida te lanza una bola curva, yo puedo confiar en Jesucristo mas plenamente porque yo ya hice un hábito de servirle y confiarle a él. Asi que, en tiempos de gran dificultad, inseguridad emocional, falta de empleo, cancer en la familia, y un carro que no sirve, me enfoco en permitir que Dios me muestre el camino.”

Yo sé que nosotros recibimos fortaleza cuando nos esforzamos por mostrar al Señor que lo amamos y que lo respetamos. Aún cuando parezca que no valga la pena, o que estemos cansados, yo les prometo a ustedes que el Señor les bendecirá abundantemente en toda la próxima semana si le den a él unas tres horas de su tiempo cada semana en la iglesia.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Modest is Hottest


Have you ever wondered why mormons dress so modestly?
Growing up I thought modesty meant wearing clothes that are covering certain parts of the body.. well that's close I guess, but only the tiniest fraction of it. Modesty is more internal than external and more spiritual than physical. I never understood the "why" of modest growing up. So today I'd like to share what I've learned about modesty. I'm not directing this soley at women, but men equally, however most quotes are directed at woman.
Accra Ghana
First to try and explain what modesty is i'll share a quote from lds.org, "Modesty is an attitude of propriety and decency in dress, grooming, language, and behavior. If we are modest, we do not draw undue attention to ourselves. Instead, we seek to “glorify God in [our] body, and in [our] spirit”"

When we know where we come from and why we are here, the fads of the world suddenly seem less important. We know that we are children of God and that our bodies are temples that our Savior Jesus Christ bought with a heavy price. One of my favorite scriptures about our bodies and how important they are is in 1Cor. 6:19 :What? know ye not that your abody is the btemple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your cown?
Aba Nigeria
20 For ye are abought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

So how can we glorify our body in God and not the world? Just like a temple of God we can keep it pure, clean, and beautiful. When we respect ourselves, others will recognize you as a disciple of Christ and a person who deserves respect. When we are truly comfortable with ourselves, we don't have to show the world everything. We can be more than an object to be looked at.

Something awesome about modesty is that you know that the people around you respect you and like you for you, not what you are wearing.. or what you're not wearing.
“… Your dress and grooming send messages about you to others and influence the way you and others act. When you are well groomed and modestly dressed, you invite the companionship of the Spirit and can exercise a good influence on those around you” ([2001], 15).
Modesty was something that I had to learn for myself. It's something that naturally happens when you truly begin to understand that you are a child of God with a divine nature. We believe that we are God's children and with that we have a big responsibility to live up to that title.
Sister Rosemary M. Wixom said, "children learn in Primary a strong message of identity: I am a child of God. It is time to start talking about the responsibilities that come with that knowledge. “Because you are a child of God, then what? With that comes the answer: ‘It is how I dress, it is how I talk, it is my relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Because I am a child of God I will reflect His will in all I do.”."
Hong Kong China
“It is a condition of the heart. It is an outward manifestation of an inner knowledge and commitment. It is an expression that we understand our identity as children of God. It is an expression that we know what He expects us to do. It is a declaration of our covenant keeping."
Sister Carole M. Stephens said, “The more we look like the world, the more we act like the world.”
She said that when a person walks out of the waters of baptism, they’ve made a covenant to “walk out of the world and into the kingdom of God.”
For me I started to ask myself questions like, "Would I feel comfortable wearing this in front of the Savior? What message am I sending to others? Am I living how the Lord would like me to live? etc."
When we have the courage to answer these questions honestly it can lead us to make changes in our lives pertaining to how we act, dress, speak, etc. When we realize how much we are worth, we can begin to magnify our inner beauty which will then radiate into our outer beauty, both men and women.

Sometimes being modest in a world of confusion can seem like a challenge, but it's totally doable! We can be our own person instead of conforming to fads of the world that come and go. We can create a style of our own that reflect our love for the Savior. If you don't know if you believe in a Savior or believe in yourself, now is a good time to do soul searching.
Like temples, we can reflect our inner beauty by our outer beauty. We are sacred and we are Christ's. And just like temples, we can look different, but equally beautiful children of God with the same purpose. We like temples are houses for the Spirit of God.
Salt Lake Utah
I know that when we love and respect ourselves, Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ that we will naturally stand on higher ground and let our light shine through our holy temples. I'm grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and all of the guidance that he brings to me in my life.

 

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Why Do We Worship in Church?

Why do we choose to get up and travel to church on Sundays?
Well I know why I go to church, it's because I love my Savior and I want to respect His day and I want to partake of the sacrament.

There are so many distractions each and every day, but when we go into that chapel, we can be away from the world, with our God, our Savior, the angels of Heaven, and fellow Christians. What a joyous occasion. When we put the time and effort in to make each church meeting a time between you and God and shut out facebook, texting, and games, you will feel the cleansing power of the Atonement. I never realized how distracted by the world I was before my mission! I always liked going to church, but I didn't always set myself out of the world, I brought some of it with me... and frankly the only person hurt from that was me. Lesson learned.

I've also noticed that people go to certain churches for other reasons, like certain music aka mini concerts, because they can dress how they want, because they can have a coffee social, and bring whatever other worldy things in to make it seem cooler.
Now here is the thing, I think it is better to go to church in any setting rather than none, but we need not be distracted by the things that make church seem cool. We go to church to worship the Lord!! It's awesome to have church social events, but they are not there to be in place of humble worship of the Lord.
I know that if we remember to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, the Lord will bless us more abundantly.

An analogy I read from mormon.org by another Latter Day Saint was this:
"I heard a simple analogy many years ago: A man took his automobile into a mechanic every six months for a tune up for over twenty years. Sometimes more work was needed than just the tune up, and sometimes it was a routine job. One day the mechanic asked the man why he was so dedicated to taking care of his car. The man replied, "I take care of my car so that I am not surprised when something goes wrong. When I observe what has been done and what needs to be done with my car, I am able to deal with the issues as they come." I feel the same way about going to Church each week. I may not always need an overhaul of my spiritual transmission, just as the car may not have needed serious work at each inspection. But over time I have seen the great blessings of Church: a greater ability to deal with issues as they come. When life throws a curveball, I am able to rely on Jesus Christ more fully because I have made a constant habit of serving and relying on Him. That way in times of trial, emotional insecurity, un-employment, cancer in the family and a broken-down car I am more focused on letting God show me the way through it than the seemingly insurmountable tasks ahead."

I know that we receive extra strength and energy when we put in our effort to show the Lord we love and respect Him. Even when it doesn't seem worth it or you're too tired or too busy, I promise that the Lord will bless you more abundantly throughout the following week if you give Him just a few full hours of your time to Him each week.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Be Though an Example of the Believers

What does it mean to be an example of the believers?
This topic could go to so many different directions. I'm not sure where exactly I am going with this yet, but after hearing a numerous amount of people have their feelings hurt because of ungodly judgement, I'd like to address this topic of being an example of the believers.
Quoting from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "But when it comes to our own prejudices and grievances, we too often justify our anger as righteous and our judgment as reliable and only appropriate. Though we cannot look into another’s heart, we assume that we know a bad motive or even a bad person when we see one. We make exceptions when it comes to our own bitterness because we feel that, in our case, we have all the information we need to hold someone else in contempt.
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, said that those who pass judgment on others are “inexcusable.” The moment we judge someone else, he explained, we condemn ourselves, for none is without sin...
This topic of judging others could actually be taught in a two-word sermon. When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following:
Stop it!
It’s that simple. We simply have to stop judging others and replace judgmental thoughts and feelings with a heart full of love for God and His children. God is our Father. We are His children. We are all brothers and sisters. I don’t know exactly how to articulate this point of not judging others with sufficient eloquence, passion, and persuasion to make it stick. I can quote scripture, I can try to expound doctrine, and I will even quote a bumper sticker I recently saw. It was attached to the back of a car whose driver appeared to be a little rough around the edges, but the words on the sticker taught an insightful lesson. It read, “Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.”

Two summers ago I worked at Brighton LDS girls camp and the camp theme that year was, "Love One Another." So simple and so powerful. One of Christ's greatest attributes was love. When we love with Christlike Love we truly see all people as children of God, not just the Mormons, not just the Baptists, not just the Catholics, etc., but ALL people.

I'd be a liar if I said I've never passed judgement, but as I've learned and prayed to have Christlike Love, and I catch myself and I immediatly call myself to repentance and remind myself that that beautiful person is a child of God, regardless of what he or she says, is wearing, or doing, etc. I remind myself that God loves that person as much as He loves me and wants happiness for them as much as He does for any other person! He LOVES US! We just need to love each other!!!
"The more we allow the love of God to govern our minds and emotions—the more we allow our love for our Heavenly Father to swell within our hearts—the easier it is to love others with the pure love of Christ. As we open our hearts to the glowing dawn of the love of God, the darkness and cold of animosity and envy will eventually fade.
 
As always, Christ is our exemplar. In His teachings as in His life, He showed us the way. He forgave the wicked, the vulgar, and those who sought to hurt and to do Him harm.
Jesus said it is easy to love those who love us; even the wicked can do that. But Jesus Christ taught a higher law. His words echo through the centuries and are meant for us today. They are meant for all who desire to be His disciples. They are meant for you and me: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”10
 
When our hearts are filled with the love of God, we become “kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving [each other], even as God for Christ’s sake [forgave us].”11
The pure love of Christ can remove the scales of resentment and wrath from our eyes, allowing us to see others the way our Heavenly Father sees us: as flawed and imperfect mortals who have potential and worth far beyond our capacity to imagine. Because God loves us so much, we too must love and forgive each other.
In a world of accusations and unfriendliness, it is easy to gather and cast stones. But before we do so, let us remember the words of the One who is our Master and model: “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone."  -Pres. Uchtdorf

I hope that each of us can make a conscious decision each day to Be Thou an Example of the believers and to put an end to judging others- I say this to the person with religion judging those without and to the person without religion judging those of religion. This judgment goes both ways and it's time to "Stop it!"


I know without a shadow of a doubt that we are each children of God and He loves each of us perfectly. He wants the very best for us and has provided a way to obtain the very best. If we would just follow the teachings and example of Jesus Christ, this world would be in such better shape. I know that I'm imperfect and I'm grateful for the gift of repentance and forgiveness.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

To learn more about Christ's teaching on love, judgment, repentance, and forgiveness visit:
mormon.org or lds.org or you can ask a missionary, aka me! :) For a fun video to explain it watch this video

*Sorry I quoted a lot in this blog, but honestly President Uchtdorf couldn't have said it any better.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Our Human Experience


Hello friends! So something that has been on my mind a lot lately is our human experience.
Quote unquote," We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience." - President Thomas S. Monson (I think he said it).
When I heard this is was just like, Duh!! Of course!! That makes so much sense!!
We know that we lived with our Heavenly Father before this life as his spirit children. Each of us chose to follow Christ's plan to come to earth, receive bodies, gain experience, and have agency (the right to choose). So our Spirits already chose to follow Christ!! We literally are spiritual beings on a human experience. We are here to get our bodies in alignment with our spirits.. to train them and beat the natural man. Seriously I have to do this every darn day. Just waking up each day is a battle between my body and my spirit. It's rough.

Now we also know that satan and his followers will never have the opportunity to receive a body. They forfeited that gift when they chose to rebel and follow satan. Sad day for them, but it happened.
So imagine, here we are all excited and waiting for our call to earth. We know the plan and we are so excited to have experiences to learn and grow and then return back to Heavenly Father. Well who knew it'd be so hard to make good choices!? Geez.

I find it ironic that satan, someone who does not have a body and is totally miserable and envious of our bodies is the one that is constantly tempting our bodies with one thing or another. I mean really if you think about it, almost every type of temptation is at our body. He knows our body is being trained and when he can throw off our body, it throws off our spirit.

Now the other thing that I find interesting is that we all know the ending and still struggle every single day. How is that we know that God and the righteous will ultimatly win the battle between good and evil, but we still try and play for both sides? God knows it, we know it, and satan knows that in the end, the righteous win. It's been written from the beginning, so why are we letting satan have so much control.
2nephi 2:
17 And I, Lehi, according to the things which I have read, must needs suppose that an aangel of God, according to that which is written, had bfallen from heaven; wherefore, he became a cdevil, having sought that which was evil before God.
18 And because he had fallen from heaven, and had become miserable forever, he asought also the misery of all mankind. Wherefore, he said unto Eve, yea, even that old serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of all blies, wherefore he said: Partake of the forbidden fruit, and ye shall not die, but ye shall be as God, cknowing good and evil.
 27 Wherefore, men are afree according to the bflesh; and call things are dgiven them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to echoose fliberty and eternal glife, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be hmiserable like unto himself.

We are literal children of God. We have a divine nature and we can choose to live up to it our not. We can choose to live up to our potential or not. We can choose to return to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ or not. It is our choice. We have always had the ability to choose. Now remember, yes we can make the choice, but we don't choose the consequence. Every choice we make has a consequence whether it be good or bad.

Unfortunately some times other people make choices for us in our early part of life and some end up in circumstances that they did not choose, but I know that God will not put us anywhere that we can not succeed! “Our opportunities to shine are limitless. They surround us each day, in whatever circumstance we find ourselves,” said President Thomas S. Monson. No matter the circumstance we are born into, He will provide a way for us to succeed, if we choose to do so! The Lord will never tempt us above that which we are able or in other words he will never give us more than we can handle! So those of you in hardship, just know that you are a strong spirit, because if you weren't God wouldn't have put you in the shoes you are in. He LOVES YOU!
From the beginning God gave us agency (ability to choose), He did not want to send us to earth and force us to do everything and make us return to Him. So now it's our time to make the decision, "What am I willing to do to return to live with God again?"

I know my purpose on earth. I'm not perfect, but I know where my goal is to end up. I know that there are so many beautiful children of God on this earth that are searching for truth and meaning to life and that is why I chose to serve a mission. I have a deep love for my spirit brothers and sisters. Everyday I see people choosing not to live up to their potential and even sadder I see people that do not know what their potential is. They do not know that they are of a divine inheritance from a Heavenly Father that loves them. Well it's time to be an example of the believers.                                                                  
""But first, in order to become an example of the believers, we ourselves must believe."
Referencing an exchange between Simba and his departed father, Mufasa, from Disney’s movie, “The Lion King,” President Monson said, “Look inside yourself. You are more than what you have become. Remember who you are.”
He continued by saying, “You are a son or daughter of our Heavenly Father.
You came from His presence to live on this earth for a season, and to live in such a way that you are an example of the believers and a true light to the world.”
“Just think of how much good can come to the world through our collective lights and let the gospel radiate through us,” President Monson said.""

We know where we came from, we know our purpose in this life on earth, and we know where we can go. So what will you choose?

 To learn more about your divine nature and purpose in life you can go to:
http://mormon.org/choice
http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages#stay-within-the-lines
Or ask me: https://www.facebook.com/tash.carrell

*forgive my bad grammar in the double quoting

Thursday, June 6, 2013

The Desires of Our Hearts





Wow world! Today is my 1 year mark in the mission! I can't believe it's here!
Yesterday we had a meeting called Zone Meeting. I was privileged to give a training on whatever I felt inspired. Now the training was great because I felt the Spirit guide my nervous self. But the best part of the Zone Meeting was towards the end when I received revelation concerning how better teach the Atonement of Jesus Christ... which if you read my blogs, you know how important that's been and how challenging! This is the inspiration I've been given.

For so long I felt like it was my duty to make someone understand the beautiful blessings of the Atonement, but really it will never make sense until you experience it yourself!
Most of us know that Jesus Christ died on the cross for us and was resurrected the 3rd day. But most of us don' understand it in our hearts, it's just a story or fact.

I realized that it is all about desire. Do we desire to truly know the cleansing power of the Atonement? What are we willing to do to feel it? The Savior has already done his part and now continues to stand with His arms wide open.

Did you ever go into something half paced? Did you ever go into something with full desire at full force? What was the difference? What change could come from the sincerity on our part?
Like this experience you had, it's the same with the atonement of Jesus Christ, it depends on us, our desire, sincerity, effort, energy to know if it can literally heal and change you. He's just waiting for you to drink from his well. He is waiting for you to let him in your heart. If you haven't felt the power of the atonement work through you, it's not because you are too far gone or because it's not real.. The atonement is infinite and eternal. It has no bounds. The atonement of Jesus Christ can reach into any depth of darkness or despair and pull you out And heal you. It's going to take desire, faith, and effort, but I promise you that when you are sincere and in desperation to know His love and cleansing power, He will show you. I know it's not just a story, because I've lived it, He's changed me, healed me, and touched my heart. I once was lost, but now am found.

** to learn more about the healing power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, please contact me or your local missionaries.
Mormon.org or Me

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

.:A Little Piece of Heaven:.



This week I felt, along with my companion felt like we experienced a little piece of Heaven and I want to share this experience and what I feel I've learned from it :) Perhaps it will give you some new outlook as it did me!

A sweet 93 year old woman that we love and visit was recently in the hospital, regularly we try and visit her once a week. She always calls me her little girl and our visit at the hospital was just so eye opening to me. She has been diagnosed with dementia and when we came in she kept looking towards my companion saying, "Tell her why I'm here. Tell her what's wrong with me!" And for most of the visit we thought she just would in and out remember us.. but while I was in the room, I felt that there were other people there, spirits from the other side of the veil. As I looked into this woman's eyes, I yearned to see what she saw! I knew that the veil was thinner for her than ever. I thought to myself, how wonderful the day will be when I am completely content at leaving this earth to return to my Father in Heaven. What an amazing feeling that will be, if I live my life right! She received a blessing and she is so loved from both sides! This woman is ready to meet her Father in Heaven and I believe the only reason she is here is to teach other people something and she has been teaching me for 9months. It´s amazing how our Father in Heaven places people in our lives for us to learn from! I await the day I can feel as ready as she does to return to Him! I finished the Book of Mormon this past week and this is what the prophet Moroni said as his last words: 34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.
                 

I want to be like Moroni and this beautiful sister, where I can feel a peace and know that I will have a joyful reuniting with my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. While I was in that room with her I could feel Heaven surrounding me. I could feel love for this beautiful soul from the other side of the veil. Heavenly beings are with us.
I felt lucky enough to leave afterwards taking a little peace of Heaven with me to another Family in a completely different circumstance. Isn't that what we do as missionaries? We bring a small piece of Heaven to every door in hopes that the person on the other side will recognize it and desire to have a part... a cure for all their ails. The next family we went to I had visited before months ago and there was no interest.. but this time they had their heart strings pulled though the trials they'd been given the last few months. I saw that this young wife and mother needed her Heavenly Father in her life.. she needed to feel their love and we had brought her a little piece of heaven. We read with her 3Nefi 17, I invite you to read this chapter, but I'll place just a small part in here.. which I may have done a month or so ago... but it's as good as ever: 5 And it came to pass that when Jesus had thus spoken, he cast his eyes round about again on the multitude, and beheld they were in tears, and did look steadfastly upon him as if they would ask him to tarry a little longer with them.6 And he said unto them: Behold, my bowels are filled with compassion towards you.7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.

We shared the message with her that this gospel can and will bless her life as she turns to her Savior to be healed.

I know that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ can bless every life, regardless of which stage of life you are in, it is a cure all. I am so grateful to have it in my life and to be sharing the joy of it to the people of Tennessee! Remember that You are Never alone. You have people on both sides of the veil rooting for you, praying for you, and loving you.. even if you can't see them.