Speaking in Sacrament

So, John and I had to speak in Sacrament meeting in our new ward. The last time I spoke in sacrament meeting was back in 2011. So an eternity ago! Writing a talk is much different than preparing a lesson. Both have their pro's and cons. I actually think I like teaching better though. I like having a topic already picked for me. I like having an outline of what to teach, but having the freedom to stray from it if I so choose. With a talk there is no outline. Especially when they let you pick your own topic. I rewrote my talk 4 different times because I couldn't decide what I wanted to talk about!! But it ended up turning out good I think! :) I was happy with the way it turned out and I wanted to post it. I still need to work on my delivery though. I still sound monotone and like I am reading. But I didn't feel nervous when I was speaking! So... that's a HUGE improvement! :)

So here is my talk! :)

In the October 1987 general conference, President James E. Faust said “I think we will witness increasing evidence of Satan’s power as the kingdom of God grows stronger. I believe Satan’s ever-expanding efforts are some proof of the truthfulness of this work. In the future the opposition will be both more subtle and more open. It will be masked in greater sophistication and cunning, but it will also be more blatant. We will need greater spirituality to perceive all of the forms of evil and greater strength to resist it.”

I feel as though what President Faust said 27 years ago is coming to pass. Satan’s power is real and growing stronger on the earth today. We live in a world that is full of confusion and chaos. It can be difficult to keep our focus on the Savior at times when Satan’s temptations and distractions are coming at us in every direction. There are numerous tactics Satan uses to lure us away from the Savior. One of the greatest strategies that I believe he uses, is deceiving us into justifying our petty sins. C.S Lewis gave a perfect description of this tactic in his book ‘The Screwtape letters’. In his book, the master devil is instructing the apprentice devil who is training to become a more experienced devil.

He writes “You will say that these are very small sins; and doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness… it does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing… Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one- the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.”

 The safest road to Hell is a gradual one. How true is that statement! The choice to stray from the Savior is usually a slow process that is determined by our day to day decisions. Many times we do not even realize what is happening until it is too late.

I heard an analogy once that illustrates this concept perfectly. There are hundreds of species of mushrooms. Many are edible but many are poisonous. Some are even fatal if ingested. The most fatal mushroom is the Amanita phalloides, also known as the ‘destroying angel’. Just one or two in a batch of two dozen edible mushrooms can poison an entire family. The destroying angel tastes just like an edible mushroom and has no immediate effect on the victim. It isn’t until six to fifteen hours later, when the poisons have entered the bloodstream, that the victim experiences symptoms. It eventually destroys the liver and there is no known antidote. The fatality rate is about 90 percent.

 Much like the ‘destroying angel’ mushroom, Satan makes sin look appealing and normal. He slowly poisons our spirit and we begin to justify our sins. The First Presidency described Satan as “working under such perfect disguise that many do not recognize either him or his methods. There is no crime he would not commit, no debauchery he would not set up, no plague he would not send, no heart he would not break, no life he would not take, no soul he would not destroy. He comes as a thief in the night; he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing”.

Satan deceives us into thinking that just a few sins are okay. But in 1988, only a few toxic mushrooms in a whole dishful put five Oregon people in the hospital on the verge of death.
In Matthew 6:24, the Savior says “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

We cannot serve both God and the world. God encourages us to follow him. But Satan urges us to ignore God’s commandments and live of the world. We must center our life on the Savior so that we can resist the temptations of the adversary and be steadfast in serving Christ. What are some things we can do daily to help us resist Satan’s temptations?

First, we can pray for help and guidance. D&C 10:5 says “Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.” Prayer is a great way to receive moral and spiritual strength to resist Satan’s temptations. We should kneel in humble prayer often to communicate the desires of our hearts to our God. He has the ability to give us the resources we need to stand strong against Satan’s power and temptation. All we need to do is ask.

I have a strong testimony that when we pray for strength to overcome the temptations of the adversary that God will help us. About a year ago, John and I started dating. After about 6 wonderful months of dating, we got engaged. After that point, things got really hard for us. I testify that when good things are about to happen to you in your life, especially relating to God’s plan of the family, Satan works extra hard to create failure. This was the first time in my life that I truly understood and recognized the strength and power that Satan has. We were engaged for about 4 months and I learned so much during that time. Some of my hardest days occurred during those four months. But I gained a stronger testimony of prayer. I know that Satan’s power is so real and so powerful, but it’s comforting to know what with God is on our side we can overcome and resist evil. God’s power is unshakable against the adversary. 

Second, is having an eternal perspective. By keeping an eternal perspective, we have the ability to see that Satan has nothing more to offer us than temporal pleasures. God extends blessings to us that not only benefit us in this life, but will last for eternity. Satan would have us sell our lives for the petty sins of this world. The Savior, however, calls us, without price, to exchange our sins, to take upon us His countenance. For this we may receive all that God has, which we are told is greater than all the combined treasures of this earth.

Alma 41:10 says “I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.” The only way to true, eternal happiness is through Christ and his atonement. Nothing that Satan has to give us will provide true happiness.

Third, to have the gift of the Holy Ghost. Through personal revelation, we can be protected by the spirit of discernment through the Holy Ghost. This happens when we are obeying the commandments of God, following our modern day prophets, and repenting of our sins. The Holy Ghost teaches us the truth of all things while Satan uses deception. We need not be deceived by the adversary if we have the spirit with us.

Fourth, temple attendance. President Thomas S. Monson said “As we love the temple, touch the temple, and attend the temple, our lives will reflect our faith. As we come to these holy houses of God, as we remember the covenants we make within, we shall be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation.”

The Temple is a house of peace and safety. When we enter into the Lords house, we leave the world and all it’s temptations behind. And not only are we able to feel of the spirit while in the temple, but that spirit can dwell with us after we leave and help protect us.
I had an experience not too long ago that showed me just how temple attendance can protect us from the temptations of the world. For our honeymoon, John and I drove to California. We stopped in St. George to stay the first night and the next morning decided to go to the St. George Temple. As we continued on our road trip and started into Las Vegas, I remember feeling a little uneasy because of all the worldly billboards and signs that we were passing by. But then I started to remember the temple experience I had a few hours earlier and the spirit I had felt there and it was almost like a shield of protection from the temptations of the world.

The Fifth way is to decide now to resist temptation. We are all going to endure temptation throughout the duration of our lives. President Howard W. Hunter said“ Without temptation, sickness, pain, and sorrow, there could be no goodness, virtue, appreciation for well-being, or joy. The law of opposition makes freedom of choice possible; therefore, our Heavenly Father has commanded his children, ‘Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you’. He has counseled us to yield to his spirit and resist temptation”.

I’m sure most of us are familiar with the story in Luke where Jesus is in the wilderness and is fasting for forty days when the devil comes to tempt him into turning the stones into bread. I LOVE Jesus’s response to Satan’s temptation. “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan. For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
We should all approach temptation like the Savior did. That’s why we are here on this earth, to become like the Savior. None of us are perfect at it. I know I’m very far from being perfect at resisting temptations. That’s why this gospel is so wonderful! When we succumb to temptation, because of the Atonement of our Savior, we can repent over and over again!

President Gordon B. Hinckley said “Occasionally we may stumble. I thank the Lord for the great principle of repentance and forgiveness. When we drop the ball, when we make a mistake, there is held out to us the word of the Lord that he will forgive our sins and remember them no more against us” The atonement is readily available to us whenever we want and need to use it.
I know that Satan’s temptations are stronger than ever and that his power upon this earth is real. I’m thankful that God has given us so many resources to help us thwart the powers of Satan and to stand tall against the many temptations we will face in this life. I know that if we pray for the spirit to be with us, have an eternal perspective in all that we do, and apply the atonement into our lives that God will never leave us defenseless against the adversary. I know that this gospel is the ONLY way to true, eternal happiness. Nothing that Satan can give us is worth giving up the eternal blessings the Lord has promised us. Nothing. We have to decide now who we want to serve, so that when temptation arises, we will be ready. Will it be Satan, the author of deceit and lies, whose whole purpose is to destroy us and make us miserable? Or Heavenly Father who loves us with all his heart, and is the source of all happiness and truth and wants nothing more than to reward us with eternal blessings?

I’m thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who are always there when I need them. This gospel brings me so much happiness and I’m so thankful for it! I have a strong testimony that if we have the Lord on our side, we can resist any temptation. I’m thankful for the atonement and that because of it we can always be forgiven of our sins when we give in to temptation. I’m thankful for my Savior who died for each one of us and who knows each one of us individually. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Jenga champs

I never know what to blog about because, well, my life is really not that exciting. I work. I go to school. I clean my house. I watch episodes of 24 with my husband. And... that's kind of my life. But this last week, eventful things actually happened!

On Thursday night, Kayla and Logan came over to our house. I love having people over. I miss hosting parties. So I was excited to have to browns over for a game night! We played a SUPER intense game of Jenga. We decided we wanted to make it more fun by adding a dice. So before each turn we had to roll the dice and what ever number it landed on was the number of sticks you had to pull out.

We learned something about ourselves that night. We are all expert Jenga players because that game lasted WAY longer than it should have. There were times when that tower totally should have fallen over, but somehow it stayed up.... haha It was SO intense! After a few turns I rolled a four and it on the fourth pull.... it fell over! Dangit!

On Friday, we went on our first camping trip of the year and as a married couple :) We went with Shaylee and Bryce, Kayla and Logan, and Melissa and Trent! It was really fun to get to see our old friends and get our old group together! One thing that I LOVE about John is that he is friends with my friends and his ability and willingness to hang out with my friends. He is so great! I've dated boys in the past that would never do things with my friends. And that is important to me. I'm super lucky to have John Cozzens! He is the best!!! :) :)

For dinner we had homeless dinners and hotdogs. :) It was fun to just hang out and relax with friends. We played mafia later that night which didn't end well for me. I kept getting accused of being mafia (mostly by my husband, may I add) ;) But it was still a good time! We decided that we all wanted to sleep in the same tent. When we set up our sleeping bags, we realized we couldn't all fit. So Melissa and Trent slept in one tent and the rest of us slept together in the other tent! In the morning we ate breakfast and then we went down to the river and hung out there for awhile! It was SO pretty!! It was a short camping trip, but it was great! Every time I go camping, it is so nostalgic to me and brings back all the memories of past camping trips. :) I love going with Kayla and Logan because we have gone camping together for the last 3 years so it's fun to reminisce past trips :) (like our cliff diving adventures) haha

On our way to the campsite! *excitement*

I look like I'm 14 in this picture. Seriously.

This camping trip was "intents" ;)

Love these friends of mine :)



John. What is he doing?! ;)



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I could spend all day here!

After camping we went to John's parents house for Fathers day. We played pictonary with his Mom and James. I am not an artist by any means. It was John and James vs. his mom and I. It was a close game, but we lost. John wins every game though so it is not surprising! haha

After visiting Johns family, we went to the drive in. We saw the new Disney Pixar movie "Inside out". It was ADORABLE! :)

Yesterday (Monday), I went swimming after work with Mikelle and Madi from the spa. Actually, we didn't really swim we mostly tanned. haha It's funny because I mostly went for the social part and they went because they wanted to get tan. Out of the three of us I got the most tan. :) It was really fun though! Since I quit the spa (yeah, I quit the spa), I won't see them very often so I'm glad I got to see them! After tanning we went and got ice cream at Baskin Robins! It was delicious!! I forgot how much I love Baskin Robins!!! :) Mmm! I also ran into Josh Sweeten from high school! He is SO nice. I've seen him a few times since we graduated and every time I see him he gives me a hug and is so nice to me!! He is awesome! After ice cream, Mikelle came over and saw my apartment!! :)

So I entered a radio contest online last week to win bee's tickets and I won four tickets! So tonight Denise, Dad, John and I are going to the Bee's game!! :) For free! It's so exciting! I've never won anything before!!! :)

It's been an exciting, busy week! :) We have got to do a lot of pretty fun things! :) Until next time, blog! :)




Marriage for Dummies

The fact that marriage takes compromise, hard work, patience, and being selfless is just common knowledge. Actually applying that common knowledge into your marriage can be hard sometimes. And there are days when it's extra hard for me to be patient. My poor husband. He is SO patient with me, even when I'm not patient with him. He is so good. I know I can learn a lot from him.

I'm learning a lot from marriage. I'm learning that, although I like to have things my way, it can't always be that way. I'm learning just how lucky I am to have such a great husband who is willing to compromise with me. I'm so thankful for him and for his kind heart. I'm realizing more and more just how lucky I am. I want to be more like him. :) Marriage is great because you get to learn from each other and draw from one another's strengths.

I'm still learning and growing and I'm so far from perfect. But I'm thankful to have someone who accepts me the way I am and who wants to make me better. I love my stud of a husband with all my heart and I want to love him better and I'm striving daily to do so :)

Newlyweds

So... I'm married. And let me tell you, my husband is a stud. :) He's perfect!

Marriage makes you learn a lot about yourself. I have now been married a little over two weeks and it's completely changed my life for the better! Although marriage is great and wonderful and happy, it can be tough at times. But there isn't anyone I would rather go through life with than my hubby, John Cozzens! He's my everything!

Before we got married, John Cozzens and I had some rough times. Deciding if you want to marry someone is a HUGE decision. And it can be a scary one. John and I both struggled with this decision. We wanted to be sure that God was involved in our decision of choosing an eternal companion. This was a time in my life that was crucial to my testimony because I learned to rely on the Lord and to really listen to the spirit. I learned to have Faith in the Lords plan for me, even when I didn't know the outcome. I had to learn to trust in what I did know, not in the unknown. 

I'm confident that my decision to marry John Cozzens was the right one. :) He makes me so happy and I love him with all my heart! And I will love him for all eternity! :)

OUR WEDDING DAY

 

 

I'm gonna be honest. . . I was SO nervous on the day of our wedding. And I was nervous all the way up until we were actually married. I remember walking into the sealing room and seeing all the faces of the people I loved. It was overwhelming to see so many people there to support me. And that loved me. Once we were married, all the nervousness went away and it felt so right!! And it was the best day ever! And I was so confident and happy in my decision to marry John Cozzens!! :)

 

 Honestly, not much else about that day mattered. I did love the reception because we got to see so many friends and family, some of which we haven't seen in awhile! It was so good to visit with people and to see that people were coming to celebrate with us on our special day! I'm thankful for everyone who came!

So happy we got to share this day with our closest friends :)

Us at our finest ;)

I love to see the Temple, I went inside today :)

We are attractive human beings

My fabulous cake my mom made :)

Just think happy thoughts ;)

Our photo booth at the reception!

A big thanks to my family for making my carnival reception perfect!!!

ooh... should we be nice?!?!

No... we shouldn't ;)

Yup. I'm lucky :)

 

 

 

HONEYMOON

 

 So we went on our honeymoon a week after we were married. :) We first did a ROAD TRIP!!!! We first drove to St. George where we stayed the night. In the morning we went to the St. George Temple where we did initiatory's. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip! This is the first time I have done a session at the temple (besides my sealing) since my endowment! After we finished, we were walking around the temple when the CUTEST little old lady temple worker came up to us and started talking to us. She was just so happy that we were there at the temple and was showing us around. She just put a smile on my face and made my day! :) I loved her!

 

Outside the St. George Temple :)

    The next day we finished our drive to the sunny state of California!!! :) :) Our next stop was the happiest place on earth.... six flags, baby! :) I was a little disappointed because a lot of the big roller coasters were closed so the lines were extra long. But it was still fun! John and I both love roller coasters so this was the place for us! This was John's first time at Six flags and I'm glad I got to be there and share that experience with him! Our favorite ride was the Green Lanter. It was by far the longest line we waited in. It was over two hours of waiting, but it was so worth it! When we got up to ride, the seats were WAY too high and I couldn't reach them so John had to retrieve a stepping stool for me so I could get into the seat! haha It was hilarious and kind of embarrassing!!                                                                                                                                                                                   

That's my hubby ;)

Six Flags lovin'

After six flags, we embarked on our cruise!! :) That was super exciting because neither of us had done a cruise before. The first day on the cruise we didn't do much. We ate food, played games and explored the ship. :) The next day, our ship stopped in Catalina Island. John had his heart set on riding a tandem bike. So... we made that dream into a reality. ;) We rented a tandem bike and rode around the town. It was scary at first. I was in the back so I had no control of where we went and I couldn't see anything that was in front of us. I basically had to put all my trust in John. And it was scary because there were people and cars everywhere. But when I didn't feel like I was going to run into things it was super fun! And John had the best time, which made all the terrifying moments worth it.

Exploring the Ship for the first time :)

The Queen Mary :)

I can ride my bike with no handle bars.

While on Catalina we also walked on the beach for a little while as well ;)

The next day our boat stopped in Mexico! This was Johns first time out of the country so it was extra exciting! :) We hadn't planned on doing any excursions due to the fact that most of them were expensive. When we got off the boat, the people of Carnival started taking tons of pictures of us. One of pictures they took of us was with real parrots sitting on our arm! It was actually a really cool pictures and we thought about buying it, but it cost $12.00! Wha???

Once we were off the boat, we had to ride a shuttle to this little restaurant. From there we really had no clue where to go and we were worried about getting lost. They were selling tickets to the excursion of La Bufadora, which is waterhole, for $15. That was the cheapest excursion so we decided to do it. So we got on another shuttle ride with a tour guide who, along the ride, would tell us about Mexico. It was an hour long ride to La Bufadora, so this excursion took up our whole day. Once we got there, our tour guide took us down past all these shops and stores to La Bufadora. It was really pretty!! The water comes up to rocks and creates almost a geyser.

La Bufadora getting ready to spout :)

On the Mexico Beach :)

        We had about an hour after looking at La Bufadora to walk around all the stores. Mexico is such a crazy place when it comes to shopping. While walking on the streets every store owner would come to us and say we needed to come into their store. They would follow us if we didn't come in. One of the most common things I heard was "please, come look. I will show you something you have never seen before." They were so pushy and were always offering us stuff. The good thing about it though was they really wanted to sell things so you could barter with them. I have started collecting bags from different countries, so I was looking to add to my collection. I found a backpack I kinda liked but it was way more money than I wanted to spend. I got the seller to lower his price by $10. :)

While walking around the shops, we saw one that had real baby lions that you could HOLD! They were raising money to help save endangered animals... I think? haha For $25 two people could hold the lion and take pictures with it. Now, this is how awesome my Hubby is. He is allergic to all animals. And I know that holding a lion isn't something he has been dying to do. But he knew that it was something that I really wanted so he suggested we do it. Because he is selfless and he was thinking of me :) I love him with all my heart! We got to hold Mufasa, a 2 month old baby lion!! He was ADORABLE! He is going to be my pet in Heaven. ;)

 

Meet Mufasa. He's adorable!

One of the coolest moments of my LIFE!!!!

Over all, Mexico was a good time. :) Mexico is so different from anywhere I've ever been. I'm glad I got to go there because I'm realizing the more I travel to different countries, the more I enjoy learning about their culture and beliefs. I enjoyed seeing how they lived, but Mexico is also a place that I don't know if I have a strong desire to go back.

The next day we had a day at sea on our cruise ship. We spend a lot of time exploring our ship. There were a lot of places on our boat we didn't even know existed until the last day! haha While on the cruise ship we went to some of the comedy shows. We also went to the game show and Karaoke night. We ordered plenty of room service, just because we could! They had THE BEST PB&J! Uh... I miss it! haha

Coming off of our cruise was SO hard. It meant we were one step closer to having to come back to reality. The day we got home from our cruise, we went to the L.A Zoo. I loved it!! The Zoo is one of my favorite things and the L.A Zoo is huge! We spend almost 4 hours there!! :)

So remember the Disney movie "The Rescuers Down Under"? Remember the blue/gray reptile in it that's mean? Well.... we saw him at the Zoo! He is a Gray's Monitor. And he was so friendly. He loved people. Whenever we would put our hands on the glass, he would come up to it and put his foot on top of our hand and lick the glass. He was so cute!! He just wanted attention. haha



The Grays Monitor bonding with John ;)

Oh hey, Flamingos! How's it going?

After the Zoo we went back to our hotel and went swimming! This was the first time our whole trip that we busted out the bathing suits! Kinda crazy since we had been on a boat and on the beach all week haha ;) Later that night we went to a Dodgers baseball game at Dodgers stadium!! :) The dodgers were playing the Colorado Rockies. In the beginning, it wasn't even a game. The Dodgers were killing it. It was the 6th inning and the score was 6-0. Then the Dodger switched pitchers and in the 7th inning the Rockies got 4 points!! Then it got pretty intense. In the last inning, the score was still 6-4, and the Rockies had 2 players on bases. The stadium was going CRAZY!! But luckily they got out and the Dodgers won! :) It was such a good game! John was so excited that he got to see a Dodgers game. They are his favorite baseball team! It was fun to watch how excited he would get. :) I love him!

Dodgers Field

Our Honeymoon was SO fun and it was hard to come back to reality. Hard to come back to work and school. Hard to come back to a messy house. To unpacking and cleaning. To writing thank you cards and paying bills. To waking up early. To cooking instead of eating at fancy restaurants. But I am Super pumped to start my life with the man of my dreams and to go through things together. :) I'm excited to learn from him and learn more about him. To learn more about myself and to become better because of him. I'm excited for this new chapter of my life and I'm excited I get to share it with the one I love most!! :)