kindness > judgement

Hi! I hope you all are having an enjoyable Sunday. Today's post will be about kindness. In today's world, we experience judgement and judgemental people all around us. And sometimes we can even catch ourselves judging others. This is not what God intended us to do! He wants us to love everyone. That doesn't mean that we have to hangout with them or invite them to anything. We can do something as simple as smile at someone, say hi to them, or even give them a compliment. Small acts of kindness can go so far. In personal experience, it means a lot when someone thanks you for being kind to them, or when someone compliments you on how nice you are to everyone. Being kind can be hard for some people, but for others it's not so hard. It's really not that hard if you try to smile at a random person walking down the halls at school, or even at the store. I've heard of people being so touched that someone was so nice to someone, that they decided to return the favor and be kind to someone else. It doesn't hurt to be kind!

Judging is such a big problem. It's especially rampant at school, when you're surrounded by so many people your age, and they all have a specific look and image that they expect everyone to live up to. And if someone doesn't live up to it, they automatically judge them for that. I don't know about you, but I have a lot more respect for someone who is kind to people, than someone who is actually really mean and has the mentality of a popular person. There are actually a few people at my school who are popular, but they're also nice to everyone. Those type of people are going to have a good life ahead of them. But I also know some people who are popular, and they think that being nice to someone is horrid. But let me tell you this - if you look at people and have an unkind thought about them, just think "they're children of Heavenly Father too, and it shouldn't concern me what they act like, or look like." I guarantee you that you'll feel better about yourself for doing it.

Hannah xx

Trek

Trek was a really great experience. I know that not everywhere people go on trek, but if you can go, I highly recommend going. Sometimes it may not seem ideal walking miles and miles and miles, but I can promise you that if you make it a good experience, it can be one. The spirituality of going was amazing; I felt I was able to connect with my ancestors and to gain strength to continue my journey.

The theme of trek I participated in was “step by step”. I think that it is really important to adopt that saying into our own lives. How often is it when we feel that we can’t do it any longer? Or when we can’t see what lies ahead of us? I know that when we continue taking the steps, we will find the Savior. He will be leading us along the path and helping us get over the hills and dips.

If you are struggling to decide if you would like to go on trek, please know that it is an amazing time to spend strengthening the bonds of your relationship with your Father in Heaven. Now is the time to gain a testimony and to become better people. We will need it as we continue on our trek through life.

Lillie xx

What are you doing today?

Hello, everyone! I hope you have all had an amazing week. As you can tell from the title, the topic of this post is “what are you doing today?”. This topic stood out to me because it is the time when everyone has finals; we are all trying to hang on and survive until we finish school. I’m going to share with you a quote that I found on Pinterest:

We all have a similar goal-- which is to return to live with our Father in Heaven. Are you doing what needs to be done, so that you can complete that goal? What if that deadline was tomorrow? Would you be ready? We all know the things that we should do, but it is really a matter of if we are doing it. Sometimes I feel like there is so much going on that shouldn’t be and I barely have time to sit and take a break. Sooner or later we are going to get pulled down into the ruts of life, and that’s okay! What matters is that you are calling on to the people that can help you. Most importantly, even if you feel that you haven’t completed the goals that you would like to, just remember that you do as much as you can, and the Lord will do the rest! 

Lillie xx

Are you on the right track?

 

Today's post is going to be about being (and staying) on the right track. I, personally know I'm not doing too good by always staying on the right track cause there's "too many other great things" to do, am I right?? Social media, preparing grandiose meals, buying unnecessary items at the store, etc. There's MANY "telestial distractions" that can sidetrack us from our "celestial goals."

The way to know if you are consistently being sidetracked, is if you're spending a lot of time on social media (haha...me...), forgetting to pray morning and nightly, reading your scriptures daily, and not taking time out of your life to build your talents & skills much needed in the next life. Don't worry, though! You can fix these problems easily if you start limiting your distractions and are honestly trying to focus on what you can do to change yourself for the better. 

Some things you can do to reach your celestial goals are reading scriptures daily (and, you should also study them), saying your daily prayers (here's a link to a blog that can help you with that!), and writing out your goals and to-dos in a notebook or journal set aside especially for that. While working on these, you can pray for Heavenly Father's help in accomplishing these goals when you try and get into the habit of praying. 

I hope these suggestions helped! Stay tuned for the next post, hopefully next week.

Hannah xx

2017...And Christmas ♥

Hi! So, as you know...today's Christmas, anddddd ----- THE LAST SUNDAY OF 2016!! Woah...(let's just take a moment here.......)


yep. you better believe it.

2017 is coming up in 1. Whole. Week. Why, you ask? I honestly don't know the answer to that. Have any of you completed some goals you set for this year? I know that I haven't...oops...
Oh well, that's life. I'll just set some new goals and work WAYYY harder at achieving them. Way harder. I have to be honest here, I really didn't do any planning for my goals. Nada. Zip. Zero. Some of the goals I had for this past year were -

-Complete my French Tree in Duolingo

-Take family names to the Temple at least twice this year

-Spend money on things I've been saving up for; not things that I "just want"

-Ponder, study, and read the Book of Mormon

-Write a letter to someone twice a month

 

The ONLY goal I worked towards was completing my French Tree in Duolingo. I didn't *quite* finish the goal, but I got pretty far down on my French Tree. In addition, I'm gonna be sharing THREE goals I want to complete for 2017 -

 

-Completely finish my French Tree in Duolingo

-Write in my journal every week

-Finish the Book of Mormon thoroughly  

I will most likely complete these goals because 2 out of the 3 I've already had a jump start on. Writing in my journal needs to become a habit because I can look back on the things I've written, and actually remember them, not just have faint memories of them.

The second thing I want to talk about is Christmas! This Christmas is going to be my most memorable one yet. Since Christmas was on a Sunday this year, and my family is trying to keep the Sabbath day more holy, we decided to wait to open Christmas presents until Monday! So, as I'm writing this, I still haven't opened my presents. It helped keep Christ in Christmas because I was actually focusing on Him instead of my new belongings. 

I hope y'all have a wonderful last week of December (and 2016), and I hope you have a wonderful New Year's Eve! ♥

Hannah xx

 

Week #1 - P.P Value Highlight: Faith

 Hello! This blogging series is called the "8 Weeks of Values." I'll go down the line, starting with the value Faith and ending with the value Virtue. This week I'll be highlighting the value Faith. The definition of Faith is "the complete trust or confidence you have in someone or something you either can, or cannot see." Some of my favorite scriptures for or about faith are -

-Corinthians 5:7
-Proverbs 3:5
-Isaiah 12:2
-Luke 1:37

Joseph Smith has said that "Faith is the moving cause of all action." I think that Faith is the most important value out of all the young women values because the gospel is based upon faith. People join the church because of faith, and some people go inactive because of their loss of faith. It all is based around faith.  Alma 32:21 states - "Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

Hannah xx

Scripture Reading

 Hello there! I’m Lillie, another blogger on “Virtue of Gold”.  I completed my Personal Progress and earned my medallion a little bit ago. I’ve got a few tips and tricks up my sleeve to help you get your Personal Progress Award.  I will be on “Virtue of Gold” every other Sunday, so if you want to see more from me, make sure to tune in!

This week’s post is about reading the scriptures meaningfully. This is definitely one of the hardest things to do because the scriptures can be hard to understand sometimes. Not only this, but there are plenty of other things to do and your schedule is probably packed. Reading the scriptures is so important; it is even your virtue value project.  No worries—I’ve got your back! 

1-      Set aside time to read the scriptures. It doesn’t have to be an hour each day. If you are new to reading the scriptures, start out with maybe 5 or 10 minutes.

2-      Try to read at the same time each day. Setting up a schedule is really important if you want to get into the habit of reading your scriptures. I read mine every morning after I get up. Reading the scriptures has become something I do each day. You may choose to read them after school or before you go to bed. Trust me, when it’s time to read, you will know because you’ve set up that habit!

3-      Say a prayer before starting. If there are questions, ask Heavenly Father to answer them.  The scriptures are your answer book; this is how Heavenly Father can talk to you. 

4-      Sing, hum, or remember a hymn. Inviting the Holy Spirit into your reading is one of the most common ways of personal revelation.

5-      Read the scriptures because you want to, not HAVE to. This is summed up all on its own.

6-      Search, ponder, and pray is the way to go! In Moroni 10:3-5  Moroni explains how to do this.

7-      Write in your journal about what you learn and feel. This is a great testimony builder and will give you something to look at later in life.

8-      Try to keep the Spirit with you until the next time you read. Easier said than done, but it will benefit you in more ways than one.

9-      Bonus tip- If you have started 1 Nephi a lot, it may be a good idea to start somewhere else in the Book of Mormon. Make sure that you are reading all the way back to it though!

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this post and if you did, click the “love this!” button below. Do you have any more tips I didn’t share? Please comment them.

Lillie xx