Happy Thoughts

JACOB, ENOS, JAROM, OMNI, WORDS OF MORMON 10/22: Jacob 1:  Nephi dies :-(, Jacob is a good missionary, After Nephi's death, pride comes in to the people of Nephi's heart. Jacob 2:  Jacob: "Everyones sinning and proud, and I am sad for you all." God is so powerful, and we are nothing 19  And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to  a do  good— to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted. 10/27: J acob 3: REPENT!!   6 And now, this commandment they observe to keep; wherefore, because of this observance, in keeping this commandment, the Lord God will not destroy them, but will be a merciful unto them; and one day they shall b become a blessed people. shake yourselves that ye may b awake from the slumber of death; and loose yourselves from the pains of c hell that ye may not become ...

2 NEPHI 9/28: Chapter 1: 588-570 BC -- Lehi prophesizes of Columbus discovering America; those living in America will be alone forever until they stop believing (-> Columbus); Lehi begs his sons to keep the commandments "23 Awake, my sons; put on the armor of arighteousness. Shake off the bchains with which ye are bound, and come forth out of obscurity, and arise from the dust." Chapter 2: there's no purpose to anything unless there is opposition "25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." 9/29: Chapter 3:  Joseph Smith is prophesized of "3 And out of weakness he shall be made strong" Chapter 4:  Lehi gives his last words & dies. I think this might be my new favorite chapter. From 17 forward, Nephi is finally relatable! Basically, he says, I'm flesh and thus a mess, but why should I use that as an excuse? I can turn to God and he will help me. I really needed this chapter tonight. 17 Neverthele...

Week 1 (10/6) - Zucchini bake (Vegetarian!) Recipe:  https://www.lemontreedwelling.com/zucchini-bake/ Week 2 (10/13) - Cilantro Lime Chicken Rice Burritos Recipe:  https://www.cookingclassy.com/one-pan-cilantro-lime-chicken-and-rice-with-black-beans/ Week 3 (10/20) - Mac & Cheese  Recipe:  https://feastandfarm.com/baked-macaroni-cheese/ Week 4 (10/27) - Chicken Alfredo  Recipe: Bag of pasta, Bottle of alfredo sauce (note: get two bottles for a whole bag of pasta), Chicken (cooked or canned), parmesan cheese Week 5 (11/3) - Taco Rice Burritos (the best) Recipe: adapted from  https://gimmedelicious.com/crispy-black-bean-and-rice-burritos/ Week 6 (11/10) - Lasagna (vegetarian!) Recipe: Go to grocery store, buy a family size vegetarian lasagna, cook said lasagna Week 7 (11/17) - Comfort food: MAC AND CHEESE! Recipe:  https://feastandfarm.com/baked-macaroni-cheese/ ...

Here's some thoughts about 1 Nephi :-) 9/9/19:  Chapter 1 - Nephi is such a good dude. He was born to good, righteous parents and despite his trials and brothers picking on him, he still has a stronger testimony than I'll ever have. (1 Nephi 20)  9/10/19:  Chapter 2 - What kind of faith did Lehi have to have to leave everything but his family, and take off to live in the wilderness? Murmuring cannot coexist with truly knowing God. 9/11/19:  Chapter 3 - Again, what kind of faith did Nephi have to just say, I will go and do whatever is needed because I know the Lord will always be there for me. Even after being chased out of the kingdom? Dang boy 9/12/19:  Chapter 4 - Nephi is such a good missionary. He followed the holy ghost to kill Laban and get the plates and then listened to that holy ghost to convince Zoram to join him and his brothers. What a guy. 9/13/19:  Chapter 5 - I think Sariah gets a bad rap at this point. The way I'v...

For my religion class, I need to spend an hour a week on a project, and I chose to go to the temple. Here are weekly updates: WEEK 1: 9/13 - Service with no time This week, I pondered how I can best serve others with my very limited time. One thing that came to me is I need to stop wasting so much time. I haven't been able to do much this week because I've just been so busy with my homework and work and life in general. Looking back, I threw away multiple opportunities to serve because I had to work on homework. This weekend I made it a point to get ahead on homework so that, when given opportunities to help and serve, I can happily take that opportunity and not shirk other responsibilities I may have. WEEK 2: 9/20 - Love and appreciate all Life is good! I have a lot going on at school, but I'm keeping up, and I'm honestly happier than I've ever been during the semester. What a time! I have a goal to love and appreciate everyone I can. In the tem...

The JOY of Easter weekend: Sometimes, life is rough and it's hard to find any joy or peace. With all the chaos of the world, and especially during such glorious times of the year as this Easter weekend, it's important to remember what matters most - CHRIST. In my opinion, Easter is the happiest holiday. It's three day after Christ hung on the cross and three days after he knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane, and took upon himself all the sins and pain of the world. Imagine experiencing all of your personal failures and hardships and pains throughout your whole life in one moment, and then multiplying that by every single person who will and has lived. Christ WILLINGLY suffered for each of us, so that we don't have to. Easter is the joyous day that Jesus Christ rose up and was alive again, and made it possible for us to do the same one day.  Three of my favorite resurrection/Easter scriptures: 1 Cor 15:20-22 - "But now is Christ risen from the dead,...