True Beauty

Hi everyone! Normally I would probably talk about General Conference and my thoughts on it from this past weekend, but today I want to talk about something different. I want to discuss true beauty.
     Being in high school can be a pretty challenging time for teenagers, especially teenage girls. You want to fit in, have a lot of friends, and have boys like you and ask you out on dates. The truth is, most of this doesn't happen for a lot of people. It's taken me until my senior year to figure out that those things aren't all that important to me and in the long run. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we are supposed to stand out from the rest of the world and be different, not fit in. And the number of dates you have or friends you gain don't determine your worth. And that is where I want to start today: our TRUE worth in the world we live in.
     In today's society, there is a twisted conception of what beauty is. Magazines portray it as the skinny, tall, exotic girls that are flawless. In reality, nobody is like that. Many times, the people on the front of those magazines don't even exist! They take the eyes of one person, the nose from another, etc. to create the "perfect" person. But that's not how it works. Heavenly Father has a much more correct way of viewing beauty than any person in this world can imagine. He doesn't look on the outward appearances, but on the heart. He cares about how we treat people, what we say, and our personalities.
     I don't know if this is just a Montana thing, but most seniors in high school get senior portraits. My twin sister and I recently had ours done and we just saw the results. All of the pictures were un-edited and showed our true beauty and personalities. I, like the majority of women in the world, know every single one of my faults and imperfections, and it was interesting for me to take a step back and try and see those pictures how my parents and others see me. We all have a natural beauty about us that doesn't come from makeup, or clothes, or social status. It comes from our spirits and personalities-the things that make us US.
   Sorry that that was a really long post, but I thought it was a worthy topic to discuss. I hope you found something in there that can help you, and remember that you are a child of God and you are created the way that He wants you to be. You are already perfectly beautiful to him. And His opinion is the only one that truly matters. 

Missionary Work Advice

       I was on Youth.lds.org today and I saw a few great articles and a video that talk about missionary work. The first one is about advice from past missionaries that I found very insightful. Here are a few comments that I really liked from the section on Scripture Study:

• “Read and love the Book of Mormon as much as possible before you leave. It will bring you closer to the Savior than you could imagine!” — Jaxon Peterson, Texas McAllen Mission, 2008–2010

• “Become converted to the Lord long before you leave. Be a Christlike missionary months before you enter the MTC.” — Jeremy Davis

• “Seminary is important!” — Mamie Schultz Coffey

• “Study the scriptures inside and out. And if you’re still in seminary, memorize the scripture mastery scriptures. They also happen to be the missionary scriptures.” — Kim Siever

• “Know the Bible. A lot of people know the Bible and will understand the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon through it.” — James Fraser, Ohio Cincinnati Mission, 2006–2008

     Another article that I liked was directed more towards young men, but a lot of it can be applied to Young Women as well. It was more informational about what to do when preparing for a mission, when you should serve, and other information that I found to be very helpful. 
Now, here are my two favorite articles on missionary work! I thought they were awesome! The first one was for Young Women preparing to serve a mission called Preparing to Serve: Suggestions for Young Women. I love that it was directed towards the girls! This is one of two that I would recommend you read before anything else! The second one is calledDear Future Missionaries. This is also fantastic! I love these two articles because they give advice to future missionaries, especially girls. 
     And finally, here is a great missionary video called Worthy to Be a Voice for God. Watch it! It's really cool, I think. It talks about being worthy to share the gospel to the best of your abilities.

I hope these different links and videos will help you prepare for a mission or learn more about missionary work. Have a great day!:)

P.S.-If you look at my pages, I have a page with all of the links to these articles on one page, and another page with videos for easy access. 

2 Great Quotes

President Hinkley was so amazing! I absolutely love this quote of his.

This makes you think... Have I REALLY done any good in the world today? Hmmmm.....

The Key to Playing Piano

Today was the district music festival in Billings. I was involved in accompaniment for a couple of pieces, and played a duet with my wonderful twin sister, Katie. Before going to perform, though, I was nervous to perform, like always! haha. I decided it might be a good idea to see if I can find a scripture to help me feel relaxed about performing, but I was like 'Yeah right, there will TOTALLY be a scripture on playing the piano-NOT!' But to my great surprise, I opened up to Alma 32:9, which says:                                                                                                                             

  *"But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of the soul."*                                                                            

I guess it's true: If you are having ANY problems or ANY questions, you can always find an answer in the scriptures!:) After finding that scripture, I felt much more comfortable with performing and not so nervous. I challenge you to take any questions you have to the Lord and the scriptures, and I promise that you fill receive answers.