Embracing the Light

physical light and spiritual light. 

"Physical light, especially natural light, affects the moods of people. When summer’s light begins to fade, days grow shorter, and the winter season looms darkly ahead, natural light becomes a more precious commodity.....

Light does have a profound effect on human mood and behavior.....

I should like to consider a kind of light that has infinitely greater power and effect. I speak of spiritual light. It comes from God and his gospel."

-TED E. BREWERTON

The Light of Christ is the divine energy, power, or influence that proceeds from God through Christ and gives life and light to all things. The Light of Christ influences people for good.

Physical light comes from the sun. 

Spiritual light comes from the Son. 

excerpts from a talk given in 1991 by Ted E. Brewerton >> click here for the full talk.

What is a missionary?

Is it a smiling girl, holding origami shirts, with only half painted nails? 

(A conversation I have had many times in the past 16 months.)

"Have you ever seen those guys with the white shirts and ties riding around on their bikes?"

"Yeah, the Mormons!"

"Yep! Well, we're the girl version."

On another occasion a woman asked me, "where are the guys on the bikes going?? and why are they always dressed up so nice?.....am I allowed to talk to them?" 

Maybe a universal question is what do missionaries do?

As a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints....

We leave our homes, social life, and schooling and spend 18 to 24 months serving God. We knock on doors, try to talk to everyone, we teach about God, we help people change, we serve our community, we strive to forget ourselves, we have awkward experiences everyday, we make fools of ourselves, we don't watch TV or go to movies, we are changed, we love strangers, wear skirts everyday, and we experience the highest highs and the lowest lows as we invest all of our time and energy into helping ourselves and helping others put God first. 

The list could go on and on, but if you really want to know more...contact me! 

Also this website has an even better explanation.

Taking God's Word for Granted

As of late I have been thinking a lot about how AWESOME the Book of Mormon is. I am in awe of the power that is found in holy scripture from God and the convincing evidence of our Savior, Jesus Christ that is found in the Book of Mormon.
For members of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints and Christians alike, do we realize how much we take both the Bible and the Book of Mormon for granted?

We have grown up with a knowledge and assurance of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. We easily accept the events told in scripture about His life. His birth, His ministry and miracles, and His incomprehensible suffering in Gethsemane, and on the cross. We believe that He was resurrected and that He lives now and forever.

But have we taken a moment to think of all of the people who don't have that same knowledge or belief?

Think how useful and meaningful TWO testaments, from TWO continents, would be to those who are searching for a Savior.



"In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."
2 Cor. 13:1



My advice?
if you have never read the Book of Mormon...read it!
if you have read the Book of Mormon...share it!
if you don't have one....contact me on my Facebook page or order a free copy from mormon.org

for a further explanation of he Book of Mormon click here.

Today

(Mid laugh, eyes mostly closed, but so very happy!) 

Something I have learned to do in life, is to laugh and try to love whatever comes my way. 

A miracle, a tow truck, and what I wish I would have said...

Yesterday was quite an eventful day.

First of all it was preparation day.  As missionaries we spend all of our time and energy doing the Lords work, but obviously we have temporal needs that need to be met.

In order to meet those needs, every Monday we have “preparation day.” 

On this day we go grocery shopping, do laundry, write emails home, etc.  

The first half of the day was nice.

I wrote an email to my family at the library, we had lunch, and we went to an antique shop nearby. It is literally one of my favorite places in the world and I scored an $8 pearl necklace and vintage post cards! We then went grocery shopping at Super Target, also one of my favorite places on the earth. It is my firm belief that everyone should have a Super Target within 10 minutes of their home. That would be a perfect world. We then had dinner with a member of our church and his mom.

It was so fun to listen to them tell the stories of all the road trips their family has taken over the years.  

All of these little details are really beside the point……...

where the day got really interesting was after dinner...

We picked up a member of our church, and we headed out to an appointment with a guy we had met a couple days ago. We knocked on his door, his father answered and couldn't understand us, because he didn't speak English, oh how I wish I could speak Spanish, but his little sister came to the door and said he wasn't home.

On the way back to our car, Sister Jorgensen remembered Danny, another guy we had met in that same apartment complex, and suggested going to see him.

A miracle happened! He opened the door!! He invited us in!!! and we had an amazing discussion about the spirit and how it is the true source of knowledge and truth. We asked Danny if he had read the Book of Mormon before, and he said that he did and that he loved it!! Halfway through our meeting with Danny, his friend Gordon joined us. Gordon listened for a while without participating and then asked what the Book of Mormon was!! We explained that it was another testament of Jesus Christ and that we read it with the Bible. Our testimonies of the Book of Mormon were then reconfirmed as Danny testified that it was not just another book, but that it really was the word of God and that prophets of God wrote it and Joseph Smith, another prophet of God, translated it. 

We were amazed to hear these words come out of Danny’s mouth.

After an amazing discussion, we left Danny and Gordon and made an appointment to return the next day. 

As we walked out to the parking lot and searched for our car we realized that it was no longer where we had parked it. My initial reaction was that the car was stolen. Not good. Then someone threw out the idea that is was probably towed. Better. We ran back to Danny’s and told him what had happened and being the saint that he is, he drove us back to a member’s home and they took us to pick up our car.

Finding the towing company that towed our car was an adventure all in itself. Once we finally got there, we thanked the nice tow truck man and offered him a Mormon.org card. We invited him to check it out, and he responded, “No, that kind of thing isn't for guys like me.”

I wonder what kind of man you have to be to not even “check out” a website or have God in your life.

I wish I would have said….. I truly believe that EVERYONE can find greater happiness from the things that they will find on Mormon.org. I truly believe that everyone has room for God in their life. There is no type of person that cannot gain blessings by accepting God and Jesus Christ in their life. I know that this is the kind of thing for “guys like you” because the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone, regardless of age, race, sex, background or whatever you think differentiates you from others. I know we are all God’s children and that this is the” kind of thing” for everyone.

Instead of that I didn't say anything, I just thanked the nice man and wished him a good night. 

But if my car is ever towed by that man again, I will make sure to tell him, I know that a guy like him would really love the Book of Mormon, even if he doesn't know it yet!

All names have been changed in this story.....except Sister Jorgensen :)

Happy New Year!

I realize it is January third...so I am a little late, but better late than never!

It really is amazing to look back on a whole year and realize how fast it really passed by! 

I feel like so much has changed in the past year! 

I remember last year around this time I was packing up my things and moving out of my parents house for the very first time.... granted, I was only moving 45 minutes away, but it was still a big deal.  

I was so excited and so ready! 

In these past 12 months I have made so many new friends and learned so much! I'm am grateful for the experiences I have had and I am grateful to share them with you! 

Happy New year everyone!

2013 Summary 

 

January- My brother returned home from his two-year mission in Riverside California. For the first time in four years, all of my family was together again! 








I started my first semester of college at BYU-Idaho  and made many new friends!

 Spent the summer with my wonderful and crazy family!

I had the awesome opportunity to work at Jamba Juice with my brother and cousin!  

 I made the choice to serve a full-time mission! I got my call to serve in the Washington DC South mission!

Traveled a little bit, with a trip to California, Utah, and Minnesota. 

 Now I am here in Virginia serving the Lord full time! I absolutely love to share the empowering message of Christ's restored gospel on the Earth, with my brothers and sisters!

“Oh the weather outside it frightful…”

A couple of Sunday mornings ago...... I was filled with excitement as I watched the first snow of the year, fall from the sky. I was filled with gratitude, because after living in Idaho for the past nine years of my life I have become accustomed to a white Christmas. But as a missionary, with the snow comes uncertainty…. I heard this rumor about Virginia that when it snows... EVERYTHING shuts down.

I really thought that it was only a rumor.  

Sunday proved me wrong.

As the snow continued to fall and we were advised not to drive on the roads, Sister Loar and I decided we would knock doors.

We knocked…

… and knocked

….. and knocked.

Surprisingly we don’t get very many doors slammed in our face, but door after door we hear something like, “Sorry, not interested” or  “No, I already have a church”.  As missionaries, our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I try to be BOLD and show people how very important this gospel is but the words never come out right.

The door that stood out to me that day, was a door with a man behind it....he was probably in his 30's and he had a southern accent. He opened the door, we introduced ourselves, and he said, "Ya'll, just go home, it's cold outside and no one wants to hear it." He then shut the door without another word, and we continued onto the next door and I hope he saw through his peep hole that we did so. I hope something stirred in his heart, and told him that somewhere there is someone who not only wants to hear what we have to say, but needs to hear what we have to say.

I wish I would have said...... . I know that what we go around sharing everyday IS IMPORTANT and that it will change your life. Maybe you feel comfortable, or satisfied with your life, but I know that no matter how much money or friends or faith you have.... none of that is as valuable as what I have come to share with you today. I would love to share it with you, and if you do not want to hear it, that is okay...but I'm not going to go home just because its cold outside and I feel discouraged. I know that what I am doing is important. I know that it is the Lords work.

Something like that.......

-Sister Eddy