Strong Enough

My trip is going extremely well!  It has been so refreshing to get out of the cold, snowy abyss that of which is Utah to travel to a sunny, palm tree forest area that of which is Las Vegas, Nevada slash Phoenix, Arizona.  It has been so great to see family along the way as well.

I went to church yesterday with my Grandparents, Aunt Donna, Uncle Larry, and cousins.  My Grandpa teaches the adult Sunday School class, and he gave a very powerful, inspired lesson.  We were discussing the story about the Savior walking on water, and my Grandpa shared a quote from Elder Keith R. Edwards (Quorum of the 70 and brother to my Grandpa; uncle to my Dad).  It reads:

"That story is often quoted to suggest that Peter had faltering faith.  But ... of at least 12 people on the boat, ... only Peter, was willing to 'get off the boat.'  And, while he doubted, he is only one of two people that are recorded in history as having 'walked on water.'  Similarly, although his faith may have failed, it was at least strong enough to carry him close enough to the Savior that when he cried out for help, the Savior could stretch forth his hand and save Peter.  Certainly Peter did more than his companions expected him to do - but perhaps not more than the Lord expected.  Maybe if our faith is only strong enough to get us close enough to the Savior that he can take our hand and save us, that will be close enough."

I really like this interpretation.  Maybe people look at this story as, "Oh, Peter did not have the faith he needed."  But, he did.  We don't need to have a perfect faith.  We just need to have enough faith, so that we can get close enough to the Savior.  Then, the Savior will immediately catch us when we fall.

Here are some pictures of my drive down to Vegas.  The snow slash wet was annoying on the road, but much beautiful to look at.

Love,

Sean

A Link For You

This week has been yet another busy one, but you can relive General Conference by clicking HERE!  Or, by going to: http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2011/04?lang=eng .

You can listen to the whole conference or just certain talks.  You can also download them.

Enjoy.

My Spring Break has officially started and I will be traveling to Las Vegas, Nevada and Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona.

Love,
Sean

General Conference Yesterday (Part 2)

Sunday's General Conference sessions were pretty great!

Here are some of my notes:

Sunday Morning Session (April 3)
-Sister Allred (General Relief Society Presidency)
     -She spoke about how the church welfare system is to help allow those using it to become more self-reliant.
-President Monson (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
     -He recognized those that wake up early in the morning before school to perform ordinances in the temple.  I felt really good about that because my efforts were recognized by the President of The Church. :)

Sunday Afternoon Session (April 3)
-Elder Scott (12)
     -Express love and gratitude to your spouse often.
     -Marriage provides an ideal setting to overcome any tendency to be selfish or self-centered.
-Elder Christofferson (12)
     -We should be willing to accept and even seek correction.
     -The Lord chastens us because:
     1) To persuade us to repentance.
     2) To refine and santify us to become prepared to recieve His glory.
     3) To redirect our course.
     -"Thank you for loving me enough to cut me down."
     -Eventually, we should become self-correcting.
-Elder Pratt (70)
     -Let us not be accused of robbing God.  Let's be honest and pay our debt back to our Father (Tithing).
     -Do not delay paying tithing.  Pay it as soon as it comes.
     -If we pay our tithing, He does not promise us with wealth...The Lord's richest blessings are spiritual.
-Elder Robbins (70)
     -To be without do is void.
     -To do without be is hypocrisy.
     -To be is never done.  It is not an event, it needs to be part of nature.
     -The most important way to teach "To Be" is to be.
Elder Grow (70)
     -Seek forgiveness from those you have wronged.  Forgive those that have wronged you.
Elder Holland (12)
     -Speaking of the purpose of General Conference and the role that the speakers play, that they are "under a solemn charge to issue warning calls."
     -"If we teach by the Spirit....We will send a personal prophetic epistle just to you."
     -"In one way or another, God will have His voice heard."

I can't believe General Conference is already over.  Every session just gets better and better!  I can't wait until October now!

What were some of  your favorite thoughts from Conference?

Love,
Sean

General Conference Yesterday

Here are a few of the things I took note on in General Conference yesterday:

Saturday Morning Session (April 2nd - HAPPY WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY).
-3 New Temple Announcements! (Fort Collins, Colorado; Meridian, Idaho; and Winnipeg, Canada)
-Elder Perry (12)
     -Our Savior, Jesus Christ, was the only man who came to Earth with dual citizenship in Heaven and Earth.
     -Parents, now is the time to teach your children to be an Example of the Believers by attending Sacrament Meeting.
-Jean A. Stevens (1st Counselor in Primary)
     -Look to children as an example.
     -Meeting adversary with hope.
-Elder Gonzalez (70)
     -Followers of Christ are loving people.  Followers of Christ make and keep covenants.
     -When we make covenants, we say, "yes, I will follow thee."
-Elder Cook (12)
     -Our LDS women are incredible.
     -No woman should ever apologize for devoting her time to her children and family.
-President Eyring (1st Counselor in First Presidency)
     -He has invited us to lift up those in need.
     -Renew and strengthen commitment to act.
     -The Lord sends us "wake up calls."

Saturday Afternoon Session (April 2nd).
-Elder Nelson (12)
     -We live to die.  And we die to live...again.
-Elder Oaks (12)
     -Changes we act on change our achieveing, changing, and becoming.
     -Desire, Labor, and Faith.

Priesthood Session (April 2nd).
-Elder Anderson (12)
     -The Lord needs missionaries.
     -Missionary service requires sacrifice.
     -It's not what you leave behind.  It's the opportunities and responsibilities that lay ahead.
-Elder Snow (70)
     -Hope = feeling that events will turn out for the best.
     -Hope alone does not cause us to succeed.
-President Monson (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
     -Moral compass of the world is now an, "Anything goes" status.
     -What will protect you?  A strong testimony.
     -It is essential for you to have your own testimony for the testimony of others will only carry you so far.
     -Choose your wife.  Love your choice.
     -Not so much marrying the right person as it is being the right person.

Enjoy your Sunday sessions of General Conference everyone!  I will be attending the Afternoon Session.

Love,
Sean

Two Apostles In One Day

I hope everyone is having a wonderful General Conference weekend.  I am spending this weekend in Salt Lake City, and am fortunate enough to be spending the weekend with my Dad.

This morning we went to the morning session of General Conference.  For those of you who don't know what General Conference is: General Conference is a meeting that occurs semi-annually (October and April) so that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints may receive instruction and revelation on how to conduct their lives.  The President of the Church (Thomas S. Monson) always speaks, and each member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gets to speak as well.  The apostles are similar to the apostles we study in the Bible like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Just like the days of old, we need apostles today.

...Back to today...As my Dad and I were sitting in the Conference Center, we saw 6 rows ahead of us, Elder L. Tom Perry, an apostle.  I approached him, shook his hand, and told him how nice it was to meet him.  He then thanked me for being there.  Meeting Elder Perry was very special to me because of reasons that only my parents and I know.  But, it was a very spiritual and special experience for me that I will cherish forever.

I also had the opportunity to met and shake hands with another one of the twelve apostles, Elder D. Todd Christofferson.  He is from New Jersey (See...Great things do come out of New Jersey...Every now and then).  I met him 5 minutes before General Conference was to start, so he joked, saying, "I guess it's time to go to church."

I am so thankful to have met these wonderful men.  Even though I don't know them personally.  I know that they receive revelation from the Lord.  This was a great testimony builder for me.

Picture from where we sat this morning. :)

Love,
Sean

Britney Spears

So, I have been ALL over the place lately.  March 11-13th: Idaho.  March 17-23: Jersey.  And now, this past weekend, March 25-26, I was in Las Vegas.

Just on Thursday, I was invited by MTV to an exclusive, private event at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Britney Spears was there to perform a couple songs from her new album as promotion.  My co-worker and best friend, Justine, and I went, and had an INCREDIBLE time.  We were legitimately 5 FEET AWAY from Ms. Britney Spears.  It was epic.  She performed "Hold It Against Me," "Big Fat Bass," and "Til' The World Ends."

Here is a picture at the event that I snuck.  Below that picture is a picture that Britney tweeted after her performance of her about the same time I took my picture...Just from a different angle.

Picture from MTV.com

...Well, I know you're probably thinking what does this have to do with being Mormon?  Well, not much, but Justine and I had a couple experiences at the show that were pretty cool.

Experience #1: As we were entering the venue, we met this girl that was dressed fairly immodest, and holding an alcoholic drink.  She asked us where we were from, and we told her that we drove down from Utah, and she said, "Oh, I grew up Mormon."  Right then, I just got so sad, because even though she may LOOK like she is having fun with "living life" and parties, she gave up the one thing that will ever TRUELY make her happy.  It is my hope that she will one day realize what she lost.

Experience #2: Inside the event, Justine and I met another guy and girl at the event that flew in from San Diego.  They were very friendly.  They asked us if they could get us a drink, and we declined.  They asked, "Do you not drink?"  We said, "No, we don't drink ever."  Now, people can choose their response, and while they could have said, "Wow, you are missing out.  You're lame," they said, "Oh, that's really cool, I respect that.  Good for you."  It made me happy to know that there are people out their that do respect my choices even though they aren't "popular."

Anyway, all in all, it was a really fantastic, great, and short trip to Las Vegas.

I also got to eat at my favorite frozen yogurt eatery...Yogurtland!  Yummmmm!!

Love,
Sean

Blogging From The Aeropuerto

Hello everyone.  I am in Philadelphia, about to hop on an aeroplane to Atlanta, but only to connect to get to Salt Lake City.

I am sad to have to leave home so quickly.  But, I'll survive.  It was a great trip home.  I didn't get ONE day of sleeping in on my vacation (but that's okay).  I worked Friday, Monday, and Tuesday at the school I used to work at in Princeton.  One of my favorite things about coming home is seeing the students and staff at the school.  It makes me so happy!  I love it there.  I went into New York City on Saturday with my Mom and went shopping.  I got a new suit.  Horray for that!  Sunday was great, because it's always the best feeling for me to be back in my home ward with all the people I know and love.  I got to see a movie with Ivana (my neighborhood and best friend growing up all throughout middle and high school), and I hung out with Lisa (who is going on her mission to Brazil, discussed in the post right below this one).

Yesterday, my best friend/cousin, Lauren left the MTC, and flew to her mission where she will be serving in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  I'm so excited for her.  She'll be great.

Well, it's about time to board, and about time for me to catch up on some much needed sleep.

That's me!  In the 3rd window to the right with the spiky hair.

Love,
Sean