A Lifetime of Conversion

I want to yell at the top of my lungs how grateful I am for this Gospel! Its been amazing week, I've been so filled with the spirit with so many experiences I don't even know where to start!

On Friday Al Fox Caraway, more commonly known as "The Tattooed Mormon",

   

came to Utah State and shared her story and her testimony and I learned some very valuable lessons. She taught me that even though I have "tattoos" of my own, or sins from my past, God doesn't see them. To him, I am cleansed and my skin is no longer marked with my mistakes. I am so thankful for the Atonement for the blessings that I can receive from taking advantage of it and using it as much as possible. Without that I would be accountable for all the tattoos I have and all of the mistakes I have made. How grateful I am that we have been given a way to cleanse ourselves and start fresh every week. She also taught me that the Gospel is a way of life. When we are baptized, or even every time we take the sacrament, we are making a commitment that we will follow our Savior. We are making a commitment to God that we will follow his commandments. My favorite thing that she said was that you either choose to always try, or you don't. She choose for herself that she would always try, everyday! She would never ever stop, and never take a break. When you take a break that is when fear and doubt sets in and that is when the devil tries his hardest to influence you to do wrong. I loved hearing her story and how far she has come. She talked about how much her Missionaries influenced her, even though they didn't feel like they were making a difference at all. I read her blog and follow her social medias but seeing her in person was such a powerful and life changing experience for me.

On Saturday night we had the evening session of Stake conference. We had to elders from the quorum of the 70 come and speak to us, Elder Clark and Elder Porter. I missed the beginning but when I got there they had four college students from Utah State up on the stand for a panel. Two were recent converts and the other two were recently reactivated. They shared their stories and bore their testimonies and it was just so amazing to hear how far they had all come in their lives. It was a great experience to be able to hear the stories of people just like you and me, to learn about all their hardships and everything they had to go through, yet their testimonies were at an all time high. They were still learning and growing and still overcoming hard things but their faith was strong! I want to continue to strive to be more like these people, to overcome my trials through faith and repentance.

On Sunday we had our  general session of conference, and had the privilege to hear Elder Porter and Elder Clark again. They focused on living a Christ centered life, service, and being a good example to all those around you. One thing that really stood out to me was when Elder Clark talked about having a Christ centered apartment. He taught us that we should be preparing now for our future families by having a Christ centered apartment by having apartment council, and apartment prayer. It really stuck with me because if we are comfortable enough to do that now they we will be comfortable enough to do that with our future spouses and our future families. The Gospel is something that we should never ever be ashamed of. It is who we are and what we do and the only person whose opinion matter is our Savior's and our Father in Heaven. Always remember who you are and what you stand for!

One common theme through out the whole week that really stood out to be was that we can never forget why we are here, we can never take a break, we always have to push to be our best and to do our best. Al Fox is a great example of this, she decided that she was never going to stop. She was never going to take a break because that's when fear and doubt sets in and you start second guessing yourself and the gospel. She is going to constantly be living the Gospel and trying everyday to be her best and she is going to become a little more converted each day. One thing that the Elder from the 70 taught was that with each person we have 7 occurrences before we are willing to accept the gospel. Meaning each one of us could be someone else's first, fourth, or even seventh. We could be the answer to someone else's prayers, but what if we decided to take a break that day? We can NEVER stop. We always have to do our best and be our best so we are always influencing good everywhere we go. Elder Clark shared a story about an old toolbox and how it was filled with old bolts,bent screws, and used and tattered tools. However, the owner  never threw anything away because he always found a use for everything in the box sooner or later. We always need to remember that God always has a need for us. Sometimes we might feel stuck, like we are in a rut. But we must always push forward with Faith and remember that God knows our path and as a plan in mind for us. We can never give up or stop trying our best to live the gospel because everyone around us is affected by our actions, words, and even our thoughts. One of my favorite quotes goes like this,

"Your beliefs become your thoughts,

Your thoughts become your words,Your words become your actions,Your actions become your habits,Your habits become your values,Your values become your destiny.”― Mahatma Gandhi

What an amazing lesson we can learn! Every single thing we do affects all those people around us. We must always remember Christ in our everyday life so that we never forget who we are, what we stand for, and what our mission is. We must always put Christ first in our life and if we can do that. then everything will follow. I love this Gospel and If anyone in the world actually reads what I write, I hope you can learn a lesson too.

Much love :) xoxo