Blessings in Disguise

Crazy how much one weekend changes everything!

This weekend I got to hear the 187th General Conference. General Conference is held twice a year in April and October. We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hear from our leaders of the church on lots of different topics.

During this conference, I was beyond lucky to watch it on tv with my roommates instead of on my laptop by myself. You could honestly feel the spirit more in the room and I got much more out of it.

I went into conference this weekend stressed out and still down about stuff and so I wasn't prepared as I really liked to me as much as I hate to admit that.

But honestly it hit me like a ton of bricks. In the Saturday morning session, there was a talk given by Elder Kevin R. Duncan called, "The Healing Ointment of Forgiveness". It really hit home for me about everything that had been going on recently. 

I have had hard time forgiving someone and what not. I realized that since I need to forgive them then I need to see them the way that God sees them. I also feel like I was being called out in a way because soon after Elder Duncan said that we should not define people by the worst things that they have done. If we want to be forgiven for our sins then we need to forgive ourselves and others. 

Again, I felt like it was something I really needed to hear. It was one of my favorite talks from this general conference. I know for a fact that I need to work on forgiveness and apply it more to my life.

Another really good talk was from the Sunday Morning session! Elder Quentin L. Cook gave a talk called "See Yourself in the Temple." Anyone who knows me knows I have a huge love for the temple. I have a goal in life to visit and do a session in every single temple in the United States. So far I have done a session in three temple and visited the grounds of five soon to be six or more depending on a road trip with my dad this week.  

Fun fact about Elder Cook is that I saw him at a devotional in Ohio last August. That was sweet! 

Elder Cook talked about how we should make the temple our goal. We should not focus on perfection which is huge because I know for a fact I dwell on a lot. The temple can be our place of peace and we can be close to the Lord while in the temple.

I know for a fact that while I am in the temple that I can feel closer to the Lord and I can feel safe and I can feel peace. It is a wonderful feeling to go in there and sit in the House of the Lord! 

I love this talk because I totally understood everything Elder Cook was touching on. I went to the temple on Wednesday for the first time in two weeks and I instantly felt better. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. 

Conference was amazing. I could go on and on about the talks that were given this weekend but I won't to make this super long.

I love this gospel so much. I am thankful for the happiness and the joy that it brings to me and others around the world. This weekend was so uplifting and it gives me so much hope for the future.

Next time, I will be blogging from ether Ohio or whatever eastern state that I will be in. 

Have a great week! Love you all!

-Kyrsten

Agency

I have been trying to think of what to blog for the last three days.

It has been driving me completely crazy because normally I can think of something and bam there is a blog post.

Life hasn't really been in a walk in the park lately and I think that is why I have been so hesitant on blogging recently.

It's funny that I have been so hesitant lately because I never am. I usually am so open on here and what not. I just haven't felt the need to.

But hello I am alive and surviving!

I really learned a huge lesson in agency the last couple of weeks that I would like to share. Having agency means you can make your own choices and basically face whatever consequences later on.

For me, that was the choice of seeing a guy who turned out to be kinda toxic. It was toxic basically from the start. I think in the back of my mind I knew it wasn't right but heck I was happy for the first time in awhile and I was having fun so why not roll with it.

It wasn't until my friends got involved that things kinda took a turn. They met him and they knew he just wasn't good news and for me that hurts. I mean who would be happy if their best friends didn't like the guy they were kinda seeing.

Anyways without going into details, I ended up walking away from the situation. And it is hard. It still is. It isn't my proudest moment but I learned that you have to make your own decisions.

You make your decisions and learn from them. Whether they are mistakes or what not.

It is so funny how lessons are learned. I didn't think it would be in that way but it happened. I also learned to totally trust my friends judgement of the guys I hang out and to honestly ask for their opinions.

Basically that has been the last couple of weeks of my life. Trying to pick up my life and figure out what the heck to do.

In other news, I leave Idaho in roughly five days or so! Gotta start this new chapter of my life somewhere! 

-Kyrsten