Happy Father's Day Dad!!

I love my dad. He does so much for me and my family. I know I gave him a lot of grief growing up and I tested his patience almost daily, but I wouldn't be the person I am today without him and his support. 

He taught me to...

love unconditionally

leave no job undone

focus on the task at hand

pray

have fun

be responsible

ride a road bike with clip in shoes

never give up- especially when I want to

set up and take down a tent

work hard

obey God's commandments

put family first

treat myself and others with respect

organize my life

not care what others think

be independent

drive a stick shift

appreciate good singers like Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban

love baseball

act my age

put my heart into my hopes and dreams

set and achieve goals

serve selflessly

put others above myself

follow Jesus Christ

...and so much more.

I have a great dad and I know he loves me. And just as I know my dad loves me so much, I know that my Heavenly Father loves me even more than I'll ever be able to comprehend.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.

Are you ready for the ride?

Almost every July for the past 8 or so years, my dad has enjoyed the Seattle to Portland, or STP, bike ride. It is 202 miles from start to finish and there are over 10,000 bikers.

Every year my dad did a good job of prior proper planning so he could finish the ride as comfortable as possible. He saved up for a nice road bike, and bought everything that he would need- biker spandex, clip in shoes, water bottle holders, water bottles, a nice helmet, and the list goes on. On top of buying the right kind of gear, he biked everywhere. He biked to work during the week and went on longer training rides on Saturdays. He started training in January so that he would be physically prepared for the big ride in July.


My family always made a big event out of the STP. My dad would ride for two days straight and we would drive ahead of him to meet him at certain rest stops to cheer him on and give him water, Gatorade, cliff bars and GU packets. It became a family tradition to take my dad to the starting line at the University of Washington in Seattle, drive over to Chehalis after a few hours, which is a stopping point about 60 miles into the ride, meet him there, and then drive the rest of the way to Portland where we stayed the night in a hotel and spent our time swimming in the hotel pool or shopping. (My mom, my sister and I loved shopping in Oregon where there is no sales tax... the boys, not so much!) We always looked forward to the STP over summer vacation.

Dad after riding 200 miles

At about two or three o’clock on the second day of the bike ride, we usually met my dad at the finish line where he would jokingly say to me, "Hey Julie! I saw some girls riding who were about your age! You should ride with me next year!" I rolled my eyes and would respond, "Yeah right Daaaad!" This went on for a few years until I was 14. My dad had just come in across the finish line and gave me his invitation to ride with him the next year. To his surprise I said, "Sure! I'll do it!" And from that moment on, I was committed.


The summer after my sophomore year of high school, I completed the physically hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life! I wouldn't say that I totally conquered it, but I finished strong, riding in right behind my dad!

Dad usually took the lead... I love drafting off of him!

I wasn't able to finish the ride without the proper training first. My dad helped me prepare by helping me sign up, buy the right kind of gear and train whenever I had time. It took a lot of effort to get ready for the STP.

I didn't ride the Seattle to Portland again until after my freshman year of college at Brigham Young University. My dad bribed me into doing it with him by saying that he would pay for my registration.

This time around, I didn't train at all. I didn't have a bike with me while I was at school, so I didn't get in any long rides over the weekend. After school got out for the summer, I came home and chose to work and play almost every day. I didn't set aside any time to train on my bike. My dad frequently told me that I needed to train if I was going to finish the STP, and that if I didn't finish it, I'd have to pay him back for the registration. I didn't have money to spare, so I set my mind to riding it, regardless of how much time I'd spent preparing.  

Me and Dad at a gas station about 100 miles into the ride... it wasn't exactly the best time of my life...

 By the time I finished the STP this time around, I died. I literally felt like I was going to fall over and never get up again. My lungs felt like they were ripped raw inside-out and I couldn't walk right because I was so sore from riding on a teeny tiny bike seat for so long. I had no one to blame but myself. My dad warned me multiple times, but I didn't listen. I did not have the prior proper planning that was needed to finish strong.

We made it to the end! And somehow I found the energy to smile!

My experience riding the Seattle to Portland has taught me a very valuable lesson. Obviously, I felt the contrast from when I rode the first time to the second. Both times that I signed up for the STP, my dad was right there with me, helping me when I needed it and warning me against what would happen if I failed to train properly. What made the difference was my own personal commitment. The first time around, I sacrificed time and money in order to prepare for the huge task ahead of me. The second time, my actions (or lack of action really) showed that I didn't care and when it was time to ride the 200 miles, I was hatin’ it.

So since I'm a missionary and I think about the gospel of Jesus Christ literally all the time, this story has great applications. We know that life throws hard situations at us that might feel like we're riding 200 miles on a bike until we get to the end. But! If we have the proper prior planning as taught in the scriptures, "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear" (D&C 38:30). We have to do our part. Just like my dad tried to help me and warn me of what would happen if I failed to prepare, we have a Father in Heaven who helps us along. He's given us a "training schedule", or commandments, to help us through life. We "train" every day by reading the scriptures and praying. We go to church every Sunday. We sustain, or support, church leaders. We live the gospel of Jesus Christ!! We can't afford to skip out on training, or we won't be prepared when it's time for our big ride of eternal life.

He knows my name

I know that God, as busy as He may seem with everything going on in the universe, knows my name. He knows me personally in a way that no one else ever can or will. He knows what I need and what I want. He knows better than I do that I'm not perfect, and yet He still blesses me because He loves me. I'm His daughter. If there's anything in the world that I know, it's that God knows my name. He's shown me how well He knows me through experiences that He's given me.

Especially since I've been on my mission, Heavenly Father has shown me daily how well He knows me. But there is one particular story that will always stay with me to the day I die. You see, God has His ways of showing me His love and concern, and He usually works through other people.

I was a freshman at Brigham Young University and was living in an apartment with three other roommates. This was the very first time I was living on my own away from home, and up until my birthday, I was loving it. I enjoyed freedom from nagging parents that wanted me to do my homework or clean my room, no real curfews...life was great! But I missed my family. My birthday's on December 7th and it was on a Friday that year. My roommates had a study group for a final that night, so we couldn't celebrate together. We made plans to go into Salt Lake City the next night when they were all free. I was totally fine with that. I mean, just because it's my birthday doesn't mean that I'm the center of the universe! At least, I really don't think that way. And I knew how important it was for my roommates to go to this study group.

Don't get me wrong- I was NOT alone on my birthday. My mom's family all live pretty close to Provo, Utah and my aunt came and picked me up for lunch on Friday, my grandparents picked me up for lunch on Saturday and another aunt and uncle came with my cousins came and took me to dinner the next week. I felt really spoiled! It was so much fun! I'm pretty sure that was the most partying I had ever done for my birthday in one year! So I really couldn't complain.

Saturday night came, and my roommates and I carpooled into Salt Lake City to see the lights at Temple Square.

 

We had a great time! We went to Olive Garden for dinner and walked around laughing and talking together all night. It was a lot of fun. Again, I had no reason to complain. I had roommates who loved me and cared enough about me to take me out for my birthday. But walking around Temple Square made me really miss my family. We didn't have a ton of time because we had to get back to our apartment before the snow started really sticking to the roads. Before then, I had only been to Temple Square with my family and I didn't want to leave. I realized that I was homesick!

I pretended to be asleep while I cried silently to myself on the drive back to our apartment. Even though I had people around me who loved me, I felt alone. This was my first birthday away from home and all of a sudden, I just wanted a mom hug. I wanted to be with my family.

When we got home, my roommates all piled out of the car and started getting ready for bed. I took my time and dragged my feet in getting to bed. I didn't feel like doing anything. Then, I felt my phone vibrate. I looked at the small screen to see my brother, Dayle, calling me.

This is Dayle. Dayle is one of my best friends. I never know when to take him seriously and he loves to be adventurous. He's so much fun to be around! It wasn't always like that with us though. Growing up, we always clashed. I'm pretty sure it's because both of us have really strong personalities and we don't really see eye to eye. When I went off to college, I was under the impression that he was glad that I wasn't going to be around any more because all we did was argue. I knew he loved me, and I did what I knew how to make him aware that I loved him, but we weren't always the best of friends.

I picked up that phone and heard, "Hi Julie." That's all I needed to hear. Immediately I ran outside the apartment so my roommates wouldn't see or hear my embarrassing sobs as I tried to communicate with my brother how much he meant to me. We had a simple conversation. He asked me how my day was and if I had a good birthday. I asked him about school and what classes were giving him a hard time. I had never before felt so much love from my younger brother than in that moment. He handed the phone off to my mom, and I broke down even more. I asked her how Dayle knew he should call me in that moment and she replied, "Well honestly, I think he was just trying to get out of going to bed on time." I thought that was hilarious! I realized that he might have been using me as an excuse to get out of the bedtime routine, but his phone call could not have had better timing. However the thought came into his mind to call me, I know it came from God. There was no way that Dayle could have known how homesick and upset I was. My roommates didn't even know. But Heavenly Father knows the inner desires of my heart, and He used my brother, who I had before struggled to get along with, to tell me that I was loved and that I wasn't alone.

I went back home after a few weeks for Christmas break, and I had so much fun spending time with my siblings. We stayed together as we served with the community boy scouts with a program called Toys for Tots. 

This was taken in the Toys for Tots parking lot. Dayle's goofy guy, and I love him so much. God knew that Dayle wanted to get out of going to bed, or maybe he really just felt like he needed to call me, and He also knew that I needed to hear from my family at the exact same time. Heavenly Father brought me and my brother closer together. This experience might seem silly, but it really means a lot to me.

Because God knows me, I know that He knows you too! He is in the very details of our lives. We are His children, and He is our Father who loves us all more than we can comprehend.

Two words.

Yesterday we had a lesson with a man named Stephen.

We showed up at his door at 1:30 in the afternoon to teach him about the Restoration. It was the hottest day of the year so far with a flaming 90+ degrees. PLUS the Virginia humidity. (I'm a baby when it comes to heat. Summer isn't even here yet.... I am going to melt.) We sat around his dinner table and told him about how God uses prophets to teach his children the gospel all throughout time. We taught him about apostasy and how it is a period of time when people reject the prophets and their teachings and how the people EVEN rejected Jesus Christ! We told him the story of Joseph Smith, who was called to be the next prophet to restore Christ's church. He silently took notes the entire time, giving an occasional nod or an "uh-huh" every now and then. 

This lesson was a toughie because I was hot and sticky and I kept messing up. To add to that... Stephen was going on about what it meant to be saved. He talked about how through Jesus Christ, we can all be saved and that faith without works is dead. Yes yes yes! I believe that too! But no matter how many times I tried to explain that to him, he wasn't having it.

He asked me what I would say to Jesus Christ if I were to die right in that moment.

I’ve never thought about that question before. What would I tell Christ? After giving it a good amount of thought, I told him I would tell Christ that I love Him, I did my very best to follow Him and to become like Him, and I did what I knew how to serve Him and His children.

After discussing the differences that he saw between Mormonism and his own personal faith, we said a prayer, thanked him for his precious time and left.

I was exhausted. I felt like I had just run a spiritual marathon. Thanks to the heat and humidity, I was probably sweating just as much if I had ran an actual marathon. The one thing that stayed with me after that lesson was, "What would I say to Christ if I were to die today?" I thought about the answer that I gave Stephen and how he tore my answer to pieces. What I said had come from the bottom of my heart. I honestly feel like if I were to meet my maker in this moment, I'd be able to fall down at his feet and pour my heart out, just as I had earlier.

After giving it a good amount of thought, I was able to narrow my answer down to two words...

I’m home.

 

So simple. I always think of just the right thing to say after the moment is gone. If I were to die right now, I am confident that I would know Him. Thank goodness I don't think I will die today. But I feel like I am doing everything I can to become like Him. I feel like I would be comfortable enough in his presence to tell him that I am finally home. I want to live my life in such a way that I will always be in a place to be able to tell him that. We never know when it will be our time to meet our Maker. By all means, I'm not perfect! I know I have a long way to go. I learn more about my savior and His atonement every single day. I know that because I am on the path that He wants me to be on, someday He’ll look at me with a big smile on His face and his arms outstretched saying, “Welcome home my friend.”

With all my mite!

Being a missionary is hard work. There are days that seem to drag on. Rejection is inevitable. Some days my feet hurt from walking, while other days I can't wait to get out of the car.

So why would I want to be a Mormon missionary?

Because this kind of work makes me happier than anything else this world has to offer.

You might think I'm crazy. Maybe I am.

 It's just that there is something about serving God and his children that brings me an unexplainable amount of pure joy. I want to serve because I love my savior, Jesus Christ. I want to serve Him with all my might! Sometimes I feel like what I have to offer isn't good enough. But then Christ teaches us about a woman who didn't have much, but gave everything she had...


41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

 42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

 43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

 44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Mark 12:41-44



 

This widow helped me to put things into perspective a little bit. I may only be a 20 year old girl who laughs all the time and doesn't feel like she ever knows what she's doing, but I can give what I have and who I am to the Lord. I've been blessed with the talents that He has given me, and I can use them to help serve His children.

 

So when I start thinking about how hard life is as a missionary, I can remind myself about this widow's example and work hard to serve God with all my mite!

My Super Power!

Who is your favorite super hero? Super heroes come from all over the place. Is it the Hulk? Gotta love that green rage monster with super strength. You might like Iron Man who's mind is like the internet. If you're a Disney Pixar fan, you'll put in your vote for the Incredibles. That family has powers ranging from invisibility to super speed. There's Super Man, Wonder Woman, Batman, Spider Man, and most importantly, Captain America (my personal favorite).

 

 

Whichever super hero you choose, they're probably your favorite because of their super power! Super strength, speed, invisibility, mind reading, and flying would all be great powers to have, but there is one much more powerful than all of them put together.

  

Faith. Such a simple five letter word that means different things to so many different people.

So what is faith? In the dictionary it says that faith is a system of religious belief. There are many people that I talk to over the course of a day that always tell me that they are of the "Christian faith" or of some other denomination.

 

                                 Yep. The word 'faith' works in that context.

 

             I think faith is so much more. I stand by what Boyd K. Packer says.

 

 

With complete faith in Jesus Christ, we can see miracles! There are plenty of great examples of miracles workers who first had faith in Christ.

 

In the Book of Ether from the Book of Mormon, the prophet Moroni does a great job summarizing some great examples of faith...

 

12. For if there be no faith‍ among the children of men God can do no miracle‍ among them; wherefore, he showed not himself until after their faith.

 13. Behold, it was the faith of Alma and Amulek that caused the prison‍ to tumble to the earth.

 14. Behold, it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi that wrought the change‍ upon the Lamanites, that they were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

 15. Behold, it was the faith of Ammon‍ and his brethren which wrought‍ so great a miracle among the Lamanites.

 16. Yea, and even all they who wrought miracles‍ wrought them by faith, even those who were before Christ and also those who were after.

 17. And it was by faith that the three disciples obtained a promise that they should not‍ taste of death; and they obtained not the promise until after their faith.

 18. And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God. (Ether 12:12-18)
 

 

 Sweet. So how do we increase our faith enough to produce the miracles that we need in our own lives?

 

 

 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. (James 2:17-18) 

 

It's not enough to just talk the talk. You've got to walk the walk! Faith is like a muscle. If you exercise it and use it, it grows and gets stronger. If don't use it, it's going to become weak and limp.

 

 

VS.

 

 

 

 

The young children in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sing a song about faith that compares faith to a seed. If you plant it, water it, and give it plenty of sunlight, it will grow into something beautiful!

Faith is knowing the sun will rise, lighting each new day.

Faith is knowing the Lord will hear my prayers each time I pray.

Faith is like a little seed:

If planted, it will grow.

Faith is a swelling within my heart.

When I do right, I know.

 

 

Faith is knowing I lived with God before my mortal birth.

Faith is knowing I can return when my life ends on earth.

Faith is trust in God above;

In Christ, who showed the way.

Faith is strengthened; I feel it grow

Whenever I obey.

 

 



 

Alma, a Book of Mormon prophet, said it better than anyone.

 

Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me. (Alma 32:28)

 

We can help our seeds of faith to grow by reading scriptures, praying and going to church on a regular basis. These are the small and simple things that will help our small seeds of faith grow into strong, powerful trees!

 

You know, I may not have super speed or strength, mind reading or invisibility. But I have a super power that's far greater than all of them! I have faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement! I can do anything! So I guess you could say I'm my own super hero.

The Keystone

" The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible. It is a record of God’s dealings with ancient inhabitants of the Americas and contains the fulness of the everlasting gospel." 

My favorite thing to tell people is that while the Bible takes place in Jerusalem and surrounding countries, the Book of Mormon is a record of people who lived on this continent! It shows that God is aware of all of His children, regardless of where they live in the world. He doesn't play favorites-he's no respecter of persons!

I love this book! It's not at all a replacement of the Bible, but a supplement to it. We have the Old and New Testaments from the Bible and we have Another Testament of Jesus Christ from the Book of Mormon. Both books of scripture together teach us how we can come closer to Jesus Christ. "...in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."

The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know it because I've read and prayed about it. It's often referred to as the "keystone of our religion". So what's a keystone? 

                                                      

                                                  Think of an arch.

A keystone is the top center piece of an arch. The rest of the pieces in the arch rest on this single piece to keep it together. Take away the keystone and...boom. The arch crumbles. 

Everything I teach as a missionary rests on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon! Without it, the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints wouldn't exist. But, lucky for the entire world, this arch will not fall! The book is true, and all you have to do to know for yourself is to read it, ponder about the message it contains and pray about it!

I invite you to read it! Find out why it's my favorite book of all time! As you do, you will feel the love of your Heavenly Father and you'll be filled with His spirit. You will find direction and peace in your life that you won't find anywhere else. It will bring you closer to your savior. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. But don't take my word for it! Find out for yourself. You won't ever regret that you did.