Service and Involvement

Today in Church there were some great talks given about service and I wanted to share some of it with you. But first, I wanted to talk about something that has been on my mind a lot lately. I've been feeling like I needed to post on the blog for a while because I haven't for so long. In having the blog come to my mind so frequently it reminded me of what prompted Liz and I to start a blog in the first place. At Liz's graduation for BYU-I Elder Ballard was there and shared some thoughts that ended up in the Ensign a few months later. Here are a few of the things he said:
"There are conversations going on about the Church constantly. Those conversations will continue whether or not we choose to participate in them. But we cannot stand on the sidelines while others, including our critics, attempt to define what the Church teaches. While some conversations have audiences in the thousands or even millions, most are much, much smaller. But all conversations have an impact on those who participate in them. Perceptions of the Church are established one conversation at a time...All of you know that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are reminded and encouraged continually to share the gospel with others...Now, may I ask that you join the conversation by participating on the Internet to share the gospel and to explain in simple and clear terms the message of the Restoration. Most of you already know that if you have access to the Internet you can start a blog in minutes and begin sharing what you know to be true" (Ensign July 2008).

Unfortunately, like I'm sure many feel, I could be doing better. I feel like President Monson was speaking to me when he said "We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives. Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the 'thick of thin things'" (November 2009 Ensign). I've always felt like what I have to say, especially on our blog wouldn't ever make a difference. A little over a year ago I put a little thing on our blog called Google Analytics. Its a free service that tracks how many visitors you get to your site and where they are from. I put in a little picture below that shows the visits to our site over the last month.



You can't see it very well but it shows all of the counties from which someone has visited our blog. Just in the last 30 days there have been 845 visits from 56 different countries. Its pretty cool because you can zoom in and see specifically what city they are coming from and a bunch of other cool stuff. Anyway, the point I'm making is that the audience to which you can effect with your blog is huge. Share what you know to be true and maybe someday it may really effect somebodies life. You can provide people with an opportunity to feel the spirit, which is the real testifier. Lately we have had several random people from all over that we don't know comment on our blog about random posts and it made me wish we had something spiritually uplifting they could have been reading. Don't get me wrong, I love reading everybodies blogs to find out what they are up to and the projects they have been doing. I've just felt lately like I need to be better about sharing my beliefs more frequently. So to start my new goal today I'm going to share some really goods thoughts I heard in Sacrament today.

The talks I really enjoyed were about giving and receiving service. They shared that everyone, no matter where they live, have people within their sphere of influence that they can help. I think everyone has experiencing something fairly traumatic at some point in their life where they really needed support and encouragement. Instead of worrying about ourselves all of the time we should be looking around to see heavy hearts that need lifting. Its amazing how much little things can do to make someone feel better. There are always people near us who are asking, "Is there no balm in Gilead?" We can be the ones who bring that balm and strengthen those around us. A man that I love and revere once told me "Sometimes your a giver, and sometimes your a receiver." For anyone who is healthy enough spiritally, physically, mentally, or emotionally to be a giver of succor, now is the time. For those of us who are in need of help, never be afraid to ask those your love for help. The Savior is the perfect example of not only giving service, but seeking it when he was in need. As he knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane to suffer for the sins of the world he pleaded to his Father, "if thou be willing, ^aremove this cup from me: nevertheless not my ^bwill, but thine, be done. And there appeared an ^aangel unto him from heaven, strengthening him." Christ was willing to seek the help of His Father because he knew he would receive it. Just as our loving Heavenly Father sent an angel to bare up the Son of God during his most trying hours he will send angels, heavenly or earthly, to bare us up. We need not be afraid of asking for help. Not only will it bless our lives and our relationships but it will provide others with an opportunity to serve. Always have faith, and fear not. I know that Christ lives, so we all to shall live.