“Let Go Off That Branch”

Once upon a time there was a man sitting on the top of a mountain, enjoying the gentle spring breeze and the beautiful scenery, including the tree and the rock that was behind him. Suddenly a strong gust of wind blew him off the mountain, and while falling he saw a branch sticking out so he grabbed it. Hanging off the side of the mountain like cliff hanger the man naturally began to pray, asking for God’s help and hears a voice that asks “Do you believe that I created that tree on the mountain?”. The man replies “yes I do, but I really need some help”. The voice then asks, “Do you believe that I created that rock on the mountain?” The man replies a little faster “Yes, I do now please! Help me!”. The voice then asks “Do you believe that I created the wind that blew you off the mountain?”. The man replies a little slower this time “……yes I do”, then the voice asks,” Do you believe that I can create another wind that will blow you right back up unto the mountain?”. The man replies, “Yes I do believe” and the voice says “Then let go off that branch”. My brother who is currently serving a mission in Alabama sent me this story one week and it really helped to lift my spirits, after a particularly difficult week. It helped me to realize that I don’t need to worry-not to worry about my unpaid tuition, or how I will survive without my grandmother around, I just need to have faith and everything will work out. Since I did that I have felt great peace. Even though I still don’t see or know how things will work out, that’s OK because I know that they will work out, some way, somehow.

My Little Christ Like Elements P.1 (Loyalty)

"It's abundantly clear that somewhere out here is a [post] that will suit you just right!"
-Fluttershy to Rainbow Dash

"Wow, you are just on fire with these My Little Pony posts aren't you?" Well, in my Senior year of High School, I took Economics and didn't understand a lick of it. BUT, I did learn the principle of Supply and Demand. Basically, if demand is high, then you supply more. "There's no demand for pony posts is there?" Not that I know of, but I'm doing them anyway cause there is much My Little Pony can teach us about the gospel and what kind of missionary would I be if I didn't teach the gospel? "One who talks about ponies..." Good point. So on to what I wanted to talk about! "Here we go..."

So what are Christ-like attributes? "Aren't they attributes of Christ?" I should've seen that one coming... Well yes, but more specifically, what are some? "Can I phone a friend?" Yea, be my guest. Actually hold on, my phone's ringing. Hello? "I'm phoning you." Sigh... Fine... well, according to Preach My Gospel, there are multiple attributes, but the ones I want to focus on are Love, Obedience, Charity, Hope, Virtue, and Faith. These are all quite important to have in any circumstance. "I can imagine, all these seem pretty fancy." Totally! There's a quote by none other than Elder Jefferey R. Holland that says, 

"Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we." 

The "Elements" of Harmony, get it?

Pretty strong stuff huh? "Oh yea." Which is why we need to strive to have these Christ-like attributes. "So where do ponies play in all this?" I'm VERY glad you asked, In the show, there are these things called the Elements of Harmony. They are these powerful... Well, I'm not entirely sure what they are, but each element represents an attribute, Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity and finally, Magic. Sound familiar? "No." Ugh... THEY'RE BASICALLY CHRIST-LIKE ATTRIBUTES!!! "How so?" Well, take a look at each of them. 

Let's start with Loyalty, cause the pony that coincides with Loyalty is Awesome! But that's a post for another day. "You wouldn't..." Oh but I will! But some other time. So where was I? "Loyalty...?" Oh right Rainbow Dash. "What?" So if you look at it, Loyalty is

A great picture of Loyalty
if I've ever seen one!

pretty much a synonym for Obedience. I mean, loyalty shows devoutness and you obey someone you're loyal to. Think of your parents, you love them right? "Is that a serious question?" More of a rhetorical one... But you obey them cause you love them and they want what's best for you. The same thing with our Savior, Jesus Christ! Christ said it simply,

"If ye love me, keep my commandments."

Loyalty is also a sign of faithfulness. Here's a question, a non-rhetorical one, if someone told you to do something that sounded very ridiculous but assured you it was for your own good, would you do it? "It depends what it was, I mean if it's something crazy like push a rock or something, forget it" Funny you should say that actually, I gots a story for you that my Dad sent me,

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled
with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him
to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained
that the man was to Push against the rock with all his might...
So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup
to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface
of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might!
Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that
his whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing
discouragement, the adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by
placing thoughts into the weary mind: (He will do it every time)!
'You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't
moved.' Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible
and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened
the man.
Satan said, 'Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving
just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough.' That's what the
weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of Prayer and to
take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.
'Lord,' he said, 'I have labored long and hard in Your Service, putting
all my strength to do that which You have asked. Yet, after all this
time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter.
What is wrong? Why am I failing?'
The Lord responded compassionately, 'My friend, when I asked you to serve
Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the
rock with all of your strength, which you have done.
Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it.
Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent,
thinking that you have failed..
But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and
muscled, your back shiny and brown; your hands are callused from constant
pressure, your legs have become massive and hard.
Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass
that which you used to have. True, you haven't moved the rock. But your
calling was to be Obedient and to push and to exercise your Faith and
trust in My Wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock.'
At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect
to decipher what He Wants, when actually what God wants is just simple
obedience and faith in Him.
By all means, exercise the Faith that moves mountains, but know that it
is still God Who moves the Mountains.

Pretty sweet huh? "Wow, I must say." Right? So even when a task seems meaningless and mundane, if it is given to you by the Lord, there's a reason for it, and yes you can choose whether to do it or not, but Loyalty and Obedience isn't about doing something that seems smart and useful at the time, it means to do it, cause you love the Lord and

It kinda looks like Inception
*Spoiler Alert*

 truly believe he will steer you the right way. 

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

I can testify to you that there will be times when we just aren't sure whether we should be doing what we are doing, but if it is good, and of God, then you bet it's what we should be doing. There will be times where people will laugh and make fun of you because they think what you're doing is lame, but they don't matter, the Lord does. 

"So you mentioned more than one element or attribute, where are the others?" I guess you're just gonna have to wait and find out huh?"

Avatar: The Last Post

"In the era before the Avatar, we bent not the elements, but the energies within ourselves."
-A giant Lion Turtle

Avatar the Last Airbender was one of my favorite shows when I was but a lad, which was about a year ago... If you haven't seen it, then you have missed out, cause they're already on the second series, season, whatever you wanna call it, but it's on Netflix so there's that. "Are you sure you're not talking about the Blue cat people?" I'm positive... I mean, it was just great, BUT, much like Pokemon, it was one of those shows, that you watch and you get sad cause you're like, "Why can't I do that?" So it was sort of bittersweet. Anyway, what I'm trying to get at, is that it's great. "You really liked it huh?" Chyea, I was thinking about it the other day and something hit me... I think it was a Dragonfly, cause let me tell you, that thing was HUGE and it hurt... But then I realized something. 

Example of a fictitious Avatar 

So the basis of the show is, there are four nations, The Water Tribe, The Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and The Air Nomads. Each nation has it's own culture and lifestyle and some of the citizens of those nations can bend, which means they can control a certain element. As you could probably tell, there are four elements can you guess what they are? "Earth, Wind, Fire, Water?" There you go! "You owe me a gold star." Well... I guess I can look for one somewhere... So in the show there can only be one Avatar on the Earth, and they can master all four elements, this person, doesn't have the limitations of everyone else, they could learn all four of the elements and they're whole mission, purpose, etc. is to bring peace to the land. They're peacekeepers, and they are chosen at birth cause an Avatar isn't made, they're born. Well, that's not entirely true cause they have to learn all this stuff. "I don't think you're supposed to go against your own word in a blog..." Yea, but... Moving on.

So what does this have to do with the Gospel? "That's what I've been waiting to hear"

A REAL Avatar! And he dresses
sharp too

Well, in this church, we have an Avatar, he's called the Prophet. We have had many prophets on Earth, from Adam, who was the first prophet all the way to Thomas S. Monson, who is our current prophet. This great man, much like the Avatar, is a man of peace. A man who does his earnest best to make the world a better place, and leads The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints today. Now, that I know of, he cannot shoot fire from his hands or control water or anything like that, although it'd be cool. this is a man, who was called by God. "Alright, I got a good question. "IF this is something mean like why my socks don't match or something, I don't want to hear it... "What? No! Wait, your socks don't match? That's kind of lame, what you get into an argument with your clothes hamper?" I'm not gonna answer that one... But yes, yes I did. "So anyway, well, why do we need a prophet or Avatar or whatever it is?" Wow... That actually is a really good question."Stumped ya huh?" Pshh maybe in your dreams. 

So think of it this way, you're lost in the woods and what's the best thing to have? "A rescue chopper?" Ok, next best thing, "A satellite phone?" Ok, let me help you out, It rhymes with mumpus. Another hint? It's a compass... "Gotcha." So a compass guides you and points you the right way, much like a prophet. Our Heavenly Father wouldn't leave us to dry with no amount of help cause He loves us and wants us to return to Him. But we need a way to know truths so we can return, these truths and teachings are called the Gospel. But how is the Gospel brought here? That's right, through prophets. "You didn't even give a chance to answer..." Oh... I'm sorry? So much like the Avatar, the prophet protects the world by testifying of the truthfulness of the Gospel. A General Authority said this about prophets,

"Today is not different from ages past. The Lord does not love the people of our day any less than in past times. One of the glorious messages of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ is that God continues to speak to His children! He is not hidden in the heavens but speaks today as He did in ancient days.
Much of what the Lord reveals to His prophets is intended to prevent sorrow for us as individuals and as societies. When God speaks, He does so to teach, inspire, refine, and warn His children. When individuals and societies ignore their Heavenly Father’s instructions, they do so at the risk of trial, torment, and toil.
God loves all His children. That is why He pleads so earnestly with us through His prophets. Just as we want what is best for our loved ones, Heavenly Father wants what is best for us. That is why His instructions are so crucial and sometimes so urgent. That is why He has not abandoned us today but continues to reveal His will to us through His prophets. Our fate and the fate of our world hinge on our hearing and heeding the revealed word of God to His children."

I can testify to you dear reader, that God does in fact talk to us, and he leads us along using living prophets, and that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet called of God. He wasn't just some guy the Lord picked off the street. No. He was born to lead and through his life, was shaped into the man he is today. God loves us dear reader, he truly does.

"Cultures" by Michael Angulo

I know its ben awhile since i last posted a blog about talents but in this blog i wanna try to reach out to those who are amongst different cultures. I have been taking an Anthropology class where we learn about the different cultures from all around the world. I have been caught off gaurd about certain cultures which caused such confusion withing me. Something that i learned about the different culture is how people from different cultures judge those who are amongst different cultures such as different religions, or ways people live, the way we eat and what we eat, they way we celebrate a holiday or a birthday. There are many traditions here in the world today. When we face a culture that is completely different then ours and we judge the cultures and think ours is the best. The first thing we must do is to stop and to look at it from their point of view, to see what there situation is, we must never assume on how they live if we do not have the facts to back it up. We still may not agree with it still once we have the facts, but we have to sometimes accept it. I remember one day i learned about a certain culture in the Philippines where it is looked down upon if you are caught holding hand or hugging a boy or girl, you must be married, it is completely normal if you wanna sneak off and sleep together at night as long as others do not see its completley normal. There was also an American Family there, who lived in their culture and they found it realy difficult because there would be insects and rats under and near their beds at night, not lots of hobbies to do, The wife cleaned alot and read every single thing she could find there and same with the Husband. There are many different sports and many different foods, which we will find is weird, there are so many different religions, different types of music. Taking this class has allowed me to look and to understand how people live the way they do, even tough i cant agree with some it i can still appreciate them as people. Learning about different cultures can also strengthen ourselves as human beeings, and we can make more friends and more memories, all that can give us is happiness and joy.

Just Me :D

Hi! I'm Hannah Jane R. Odiong, 20, from the Philippines. I am simple girl with light complexion and a chubby small girl. I've always been described as a shy and quiet girl. Indeed, that's me but take time to meet me and you'll find out who really am I. I love creating handicrafts especially making things out of beads. I enjoy watching movies (with sense! haha). I love creating poems and stories. I am an introvert person sometimes who loves making things alone, not that I'm not a team player but I just think I work things out great. I rejoiced in learning new things and am eager to learn more. I am a family centered person. I always love everyone around me, especially my family. I love the Church and the gospel. Since, I am converted to the gospel I always love and embrace it. I love meeting other people as well. I enjoy talking in a crowd (sometimes) :D! Hopefully, your having a great time here :D. This is my first time to write as what I always wanted. Add me on FB @ www.facebook.com/Hannah Jane Odiong

Blogs :

My Little Tote Bag
Unconditional Love

Introducing The Gaming Mormon

 A little bit about me!

Age 
25


Location
England

When did you join the church?
In December

Blog
http://gamingmormon.blogspot.co.uk

Hobby s
Video Games ,Reading,Gym,Boxing,Running
 
Likes 
Pizza
My little pony
Netflix
Going out/Pub/Clubs


Dislikes
The only way is Essex
Getting out of bed ( I do it everyday tho)
Talent shows
Reddit

Feel free to ask me anything in the comment section below! 

A childs love

   It is amazing that how a little child can love so much. The first couple months and years they love so much. They show the love of Christ through their love.   They were with Heavenly Father before they came to earth and you can feel the love of Christ.  I teach primary children.  I feel the love of heavenly from my sunbeams. They are easy to love and you feel their wonderful spirit.  You learn so much through them.   I love working with little kids.   They have an amazing love for everyone and everything.     We need to learn more from children about loving with an open mind.   Kids don't care or look at color, or religion preference or sexual orientation.  They love because Heavenly Father taught them to love everyone.  They have the sweetest testimonies out there.  I love listening to lids give testimonies during fast and testimony meetings.

An introduction to... Elder Logan Hill!

Hi there! I'm Elder Logan Hill from the Utah Salt Lake City West Mission. I'm from Kinston, North Carolina but I'm moving back out to Utah when I'm done. I've been serving for 18 months and I love it! 

I keep my mission blog updated pretty regularly. It's WakeUpAndDoSomethingMore.blogspot.com. It was inspired by Alex Boye's music video "Have I Done Any Good Today?" I've been running it since late September, and I try to post something at least once a week or more. My blog has been featured on the LDS Missionaries, Sugardoodle, and LDS Living Facebook pages.

Some of my favorite posts to write have been:

Their Mothers Knew It

Do What Is Right

The Most Correct Of Any Book On Earth

A Lifetime Commitment

It Came Upon The Midnight Clear

The Brass Serpent

If you have any suggestions on posts, or want any gospel related topics expounded that I haven't done already, please feel free to message me on Facebook. If you read one of my posts, please leave a comment on it. Please share my blog with your friends! I've seen miracles happen from people sharing my blog with their friends. You can subscribe by email and get updates as soon as I post something!

What are you waiting for? Go visit my blog and check out what I've got!

Needs-Causing Me Dysfunction

I hesitated to even put that much up (private, personal people shouldn't have blogs hahaha).  But since then I have been pondering what was making me so unhappy.

NEEDS.

Not actual needs like food, sleep, air and social interaction.

But the
Perfect Job...satisfying and rewarding.  Good paying too
Incredible Friendships....the kind where you never fight, share clothes, finish each others sentences
Poem Worthy Romance...right out of the most recent Chick Flick
Pinterest Inspired Apartment/Home
Glamorous Social Life...free of Awkward Uncomfortable Encounters
Beautiful Children...who are both Well-Behaved AND Adorable



Kinda a hefty list right??
Not only is the list long and full of big stuff.
But the requirements of sheer impossibility added in?
I was setting myself up for complete failure and disaster

I was completely and 100% focused on those needs.
I said they were goals I was working towards.  I had a dream...and in my dream it all was possible.
But I let them become more than that.
I began to base the happiness...no contentment I felt on whether or not I was achieving these goals..aka whether or not my needs were being satisfied.

And so I acted.  But my futile attempts to force my impossible needs into fruition created
unhealthy and dysfunctional situations throughout all areas of my life.

How on earth can I be happy when my happiness is focused on the external?
I was setting myself up for failure.  And then the lack of happiness from not having my needs was only compounded on by the fact that I wasn't happy and couldn't figure out why.



Find out how I'm trying to solve my dysfunction.........................
sillyswilly.blogspot.com

Silvestre's Miracle !!!!

this man is the best man ever, although he didn't get baptized when he knew the church was true and investigated the church for four years,he is so so special and is always looking out for other and picks up opur investigators for church every week, takes us to all firesides and temple trips and he is so sweet and respectful, as I've told you be

this man is the best man ever, he is the one that has been investigating the church for four years,he is so so so special and is always looking out for others, he picks up our investigators for church every week, takes us to all firesides and temple trips and he is so sweet and respectful, as I've told you before he is our grandpa!

  

this is a donut breakfast for Stake Correlation Meeting :) so this is a pictures of most of our zone. I LOVE them so much they are literally my family

ok my week : we went to Camelback Mountain this morning two elders kept encouraging me because i was dying, but they didnt let me rest ans i had to keep the pace of the first group, it was hard but i made it to the top with the winning team!

this elder looks like Jim Carey 

here am I doing the Titanic. 

ok really my week was wonderful: first i need to share a really cool testimony my recent convert Jenny bore.

she was talking to her neighbor about Joseph Smith and her neighbor responded very colorfully and said "how can you believe in that, where does it say that in the bible?!"

she didn't say anything, but she did pray to ask God if he truly was a Prophet. The next day, we apparently came over ans mentioned something about him and in her words she said "I felt in my heart that he helped God to bring his true church back on the earth"

the next day her neighbor asked her if she still believed that asn with confidence she said " i know it is true because i asked Him and I felt it in my heart"

My companion ans i were so incredibly happy when she told us that, especially because she exercised her faith and asked if something was true, that means because she has done this she will keep relying in God to help her with her challenges, doubts, fears and will always trust that if she lives worthy of the spirit she can always have that peace and joy and guide in her life. What a blessing it is to hear that sweet lovely testimony!

we went to the temple with Catalina, the mother of Blanca!!

at first she hated us, never said a word to us and after the baptism of her whole household ans after we went to the temple in Gilbert, the kids couldn't stop talking about it and showed Gramma pictures of it and said how much they loved it, then she had a desire to go and also was nicer to us, she even came out during our lesson one day and told us of the profanity the girls use and how they shouldn't be speaking that way when they are learning about the gospel and she was really concerned about it. We all helped her understand that we start to change little by little and as they study more and especially the pamphlet of  For the Strength of Youth, they will example of the believers in word, in charity, in purity, in love at all times.

"You know what great things i witnessed last sunday?" by Camille Ramos

• Well, i was not able to attend church at my home branch so i decided to attend church at the ward i used to go to since its near the place where my dorm is. So when i was sitting at the end corner of the sacrament hall, i noticed one youngman, in his proselyte clothing, with his bag pack, and with down syndrome.
• I thought, who's the parents of that youngman. After a while, a woman approached him and asked him to sit down cause sacrament meeting will start after 5 mins. The mother was the pianist in their ward. So the young man......
• Went at the last row and the two missionaries sitting there asked him to sit in between them. I realized how missionaries develop christ like characteristics and how well they teach or preach Through example

  A man can learn best through someones good example even if it starts from a simple things to great things. Cause in life it is written in the scriptures that, "from small and simple things are where great things comes"

  By simple act of kindness and love of those around us, we can be like them. We can be like Christ.
• We can be like Christ, not necessarily as perfect as him, but as charitable as he is