THE FUTURE IS AS BRIGHT AS YOUR FAITH… your faith in Christ 🙂 This is a message God has given me multiple times today. It was written in a letter I received, it was said during my interview with President Rogers, it was mentioned in church and literally given to me on a stand, which now chills on my desk 🙂

As we have faith in Christ, all things are possible. Christ is the one who gives us light, life and hope, whether we realize it or not! As we turn to Him and follow His teachings, we will have an abundance of light now and in the future! I love the story in John 21 of the disciples going fishing. The first night they caught nothing. Then Jesus came to them and said: “And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.” Christ gave them a commandment and promised them blessings. They immediately followed Christ’s words and were blessed. SO blessed that they didn’t have enough room to receive it! It is the same with us. Christ gives us simple commandments and promises GREAT blessings in return! It is easy to think of commandments as restrictive, but once you grow up a bit, you realize they are simply opportunities for blessings! Not little blessings, GREAT BLESSINGS!

“And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they maydwell with God in a state of neverending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.” -Mosiah 2:41

I have seen this very clearly in my life this past week! The Lord wants us to be happy! The key to happiness is keeping Gods commandments! If you don’t believe me, try it out 😉 Speaking of obedience, the other night Sister Park and I sat in Neil’s open garage and were singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic at the top of our lungs while BUCKETS of rain and intense thunder and lightning were decorating the sky. When it was time to go, we were like “EXACT OBEDIENCE” and Sister Park stood outside and backed me out then hopped in the car, drenching wet! haha! It was so great. We truly do strive to be exactly obedient and we have seen SO many blessings that come as a result! I would like to share just a few of these blessings!

Tanner came to church! We hadn’t been able to get a hold of him for about a month. The spirit told us to stop by his house Sunday morning so we did. He just happened to be sitting in his car out front! We said “Tanner! Come to church dude!” and he said, “Give me 15 minutes.” Sure enough, he came!

I had the opportunity to see Neil and Jim receive the Aaronic Priesthood. That was possibly the highlight of my week! They are both so looking forward to blessing the sacrament and going to the sacred temple to do work for their family on the other side!

Sally opened up to us and almost received a priesthood blessing but backed out last minute. We read a Holland talk, “Remember How You Felt” and prayed with her. Huge difference in her! A few weeks ago, she refused to even talk to the missionaries or church members!

We’ve been meeting the most incredible people who want to start learning about the gospel! It has been amazing to us how the Lord just puts people in our path who are starving for truth!

In closing, I want to tell you all that as we have faith in Christ, we can overcome any hardship, temptation, trial, weakness, addiction, whatever. Satan is real. He is working hard to pull us away from Christ. I have seen and felt His influence a lot this week. I have struggled with doubts and weaknesses. But remember that Christ is real too! Christ will always overcome Satan. Light will always overcome darkness.

This week, I want you to choose light. I want you to choose to see the light in yourself! Look in the mirror and tell yourself that you are good and loved. Let go of any negative self-talk and recognize it as Satan’s lame attempts to tear down your faith. Choose light in the way you live. Follow Christ’s example. Love others, serve others; keep the commandments of God and feast on the blessings! As you act on your faith of the Savior, you will see the bright future before you! Never forget, THE FUTURE IS AS BRIGHT AS YOUR FAITH IN CHRIST. CHOOSE LIGHT. CHOOSE FAITH!