Charity

Today I was reading a book called "Yearbook". (I've mentioned it before. It's a wonderful book that I recommend to all.) In it, a named Michaela and she says:

"I don't think parents understand how lonely it is to be a teenager. We can't embrace and cling to our parents for comfort; we've out grown that. We've outgrown it from them but still need it from someone. We are looking for someone to fill that void."

The first thing I thought was, "She's so right! No one ever understands us teenagers!"
My next thought was, "She's also right that we can't cling to our parents. That's like what a 4 year old would do."
Then I thought, "Then who can I cling to? There must be someone out there (other than a boy) who I can cling to. Or that understands me and cares for me enough to let me put all of my problems on their shoulders."
Looking back, I can't believe the answer didn't pop into my head at once. Instead it came during young womens today. We were talking about what it means to be dependable. Sister Winward talked about how being dependable means someone who is trust-worthy, responsible, hard working, honest, punctual, someone you can count on, and someone who is steadfast. The next thing she said totally answered my question. She said "Christlike." Hopefully no one noticed, but I sat there staring at her in disbelief. I could not believe that this hadn't been my first thought.
So now, I'm going to give you a little cyber-lecture about God's love.

First, I want to define charity. In the Bible Dictionary it says:

"Charity. The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds or benevolence."

Isn't that so cool? It didn't just say, the love of Christ, it said the pure love of Christ. I think that's so amazing.

"But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it in the last day, it shall be well with him."
-Moroni 7:47

Charity, this pure love of Christ, lasts forever! This is surely something we can't possibly be something we have within us right? Wrong!!! Joseph B. Wirthlin once said:

"Charity, or love, is the greatest principle in existence. If we can lend a helping hand to the oppressed, if we can aid those who are despondent and in sorrow, if we can uplift and ameliorate the condition of mankind, it is our mission to do it, it is an essential part of our religion to do it."

We all have the ability to purely love all those around us. We can show our charity towards others through service. Believe it or not, having charity within our hearts is a commandment. In 2 Nephi 26:30 it says:

". . . wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love. And except they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have a charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish."

We need to show charity towards everyone else. But we also recieve it in return. Bonnie D. Parkin said:

"Charity is also the Lord's love for us, shown through His acts of service, patience, compassion, and understanding."

We can know of God's love for us by noticing the blessings in our everyday lives. Now how do we take that love from the Savior, and turn it into something that we can express to others? Marvin J. Ashton once said:

"Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you acquire and make a part of yourself."

So expressing charity doesn't mean that we decide, "Today I'm going to show charity, but tomorrow I won't." We need to make it part of who we are.
As we seek to distribute our charity to those around us, we need to make sure that we are truly showing charity. A little "checklist" that we can use to ponder our actions is found in Moroni 7:45:

"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

So in other words; if it's truly charity that we have, we are kind, and we don't envy other people, we are not prideful, we think pure thoughts, we don't feel happy when we do or see unchristlike things, we bear all trials, and we believe in and hope for all things.
Charity isn't like an emotion really, even thought it is. I think it's more like a personality that everyone has the ability to have. It's a lot like faith. As you saw in our scripture "checklist", a lot of the things on there are things that are often used to describe faith. I thought that was pretty cool.
Ok I think I'm getting a bit off-topic. My whole point was that Jesus Christ understands us. He will always be there to be our crying shoulder, and He takes our sins and problems upon Him. We can always turn to Him in our times of trial and confusion.
My other point was that He shows us His pure love, so we need to make sure that we're doing our best to show others our pure love for them. We can do this through service, and when we do service, we are really serving the Lord. So that's how we can show God our pure love for Him.
I just want to finish by sharing an experience.
A couple weeks ago at mutual, Lauren said that her E.F.Y counselor had encouraged them all to get down on their knees and ask Heavenly Father if He truly loves them. I thought this was a great idea. So that night, I got down on my knees and said," Heavenly Father, I need to know for myself. Do you love me?" After that I sat on my bed and waited and waited for an answer. I was sure I would feel the spirit telling me, "Yes, I do love you." But that didn't happen. Instead, I had the feeling that I should look in the Topical Guide under "God, love of." So I did. I skimmed through, and one scripture caught my eye. So I turned to it and that scripture was, Jeremiah 31:3:

"The Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

I would just like to let all of you know that I have a sure testimony of this gospel. I know for certain that he loves all of us. He doesn't just feel affection for us. He loves us with a pure love, charity. He also knows each one of us and that he will never abandon us. He'll always be there when we need Him. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

This lecture kind of turned into a testimony I guess. Thanks for letting me go on and on. For the last testimony meetings, I've kind of been wanting to get up, but I'm too much of a chicken. So maybe this will count. I bore my testimony to the like 6 people that read my blog. hopefully it influences you guys as much as it would in a testimony meeting. Lol. Anyway, thanks again for reading my blog. I Love you all!
Love- Rachel

Halloween!!!

Hello all!
So you might have noticed my last post. Wasn't it wicked? lol. If you want to vote, it's on the right side of that post.
You might also have noticed that I put some Christmas songs on my playlist. It's almost Christmas! I'm so excited! Oh and speaking of holidays, happy Halloween everyone! My mom said that I'm too old to g trick or treating, so I just get the leftovers, and if any of you want to share you candy. . . well I'm open to donations. JK. Keep your candy and have fun getting cavities!
Yesterday my mom took me to look at electric guitars and I found one that comes with a case, an amp, headphones, a tuner, an instructional dvd, and a guitar strap. And the guitar is dark blue and shimmery! It's so amazing! It will cost me $279 but it's a great beginners guitar, and it's good quality and it comes with all the stuff! I am trying to save up money for it. I have $80 so far. So ya.
Shad and this kid named Matt Jensen gave me half of a pie from McDonald's today. I'll tell you the whole story. So the other day, I went to Seminary and the tardy bell was about to ring. I knew Shad and Matt were at school so I texted Shad and told him that he'd better not be sluffing cuz I'd tell Brother Woodward (our teacher). So Shad and Matt came to class and they told me that they were going to sluff and go get pie but they couldn't cuz I was going to rat out on them. Then they were fake mad at me for the rest of the day. The next time we had Seminary, Shad and Matt got there early, and they started walking out of the classroom before the tardy bell rang. I asked them where they were going and they said that they were off to McDonald's to get me some pie. So I told them that I wouldn't tell Brother Woodward because it was for me. They faked guilty and went sadly back to their little seats. So today Shad and Matt came in to Seminary, and Shad presented me with half a apple cinnamon pie from McDonald's. I said what's this for, and he replied that it was a peace offering to me so that I wouldn't be mad at them anymore. I laughed and said thanks. So after class started, Matt asked Shad if he'd given me the pie, then looked at me and asked if it was good. I told him that I was saving it for the bus ride home. He proceeded to inform me that he thought the things were disgusting and that I should remember that it's the thought that counts. I then told him that the things was like an inch and a half long so I wouldn't suffer too much if it was gross. He laughed and agreed. So ya. There you go!
Right now I'm in charge of passing out candy. It was the funniest thing just a few minutes ago. A guy in our ward, Brother Taylor, brought his three s to get candy. Anika was a horse, Sasha was a princess, and Camille and Brother Taylor were clowns. They had the outfits and the rainbow fros. Lol. They were so rad!
Hmmmm. . . what else to say. . . . . Oh yes! I just ate a Now and Later and it got all stuck to my teeth. I don't think those things are meant to be chewed. Lol. I think a lot of people probably could have told me that about thirty seconds ago. Have you noticed that almost every person who follows all of the rules of braces get brackets and stuff broken off, but people like me who break all of the rules of braces, have never broken off a bracket or anything? I think that's kind of ironic, but whatever.
My Auny Eileen is going to come over later to watch a movie. I don't even know what we'll be watching, but I'm guessing it'll be good! I love Halloween you guys. It's so amazing! Do you know how much candy is consumed on Halloween every year by kids in the US? I don't either. If you find out, tell me cuz I'm to lazy to find out for myself.
My mom is eating avocado. That is so disgusting. Avocado is in guacemale and that stuff almost made me throw up the other day. So I it! But it's okif you like it. People like different things and that's fine.
Well, I seriously can think of nothing else, pointless or otherwise, to say.
So TTYL!
-Rachel

We interrupt our normally scheduled blog to bring you: (Note that Rachel Covert's writing is in gray, and Lauren's is in green and Rachel pretending to be Lauren is in purple.)

The Current State of the Union
with your host, Rachel Covert. (Accompanied by Lauren Heperi. :D)

(Wtf???? What's with the Christmas colors? That's messed!! It's not even Halloween yet!!!!)
Lauren is the hottest, most desirable, prettiest, spunkiest, funniest, cutest, and all around best person in the world. (No, the entire universe!!!!!!) She's WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better than all those other crazy s at Provo High and she doesn't need a guy to make her happy. (So take that crazy people.)
And Lauren also thinks that her Sophomore year is exactly like her first grade year. Everyone is running around and kissing each other. It's weird....
Lauren also is obsessed with boys. She told me so herself. But just now she told me that she's not. So now I'm confused....again.
I would also like to mention Lauren's gorgeous, naturally curly hair which she doesn't appreciate. But everyone else on this planet wishes that they had it. So Lauren, shut up. You have amazing hair.
It may also be relevent to say that Lauren, who may not be as brown as Devin, is quite as accomplished as he is. I mean come on. It took him 10 stupid minutes to think of a come back. It wasn't even a good one, but he thought it was pretty good so ya.
And, going to our reporter, Lauren Heperi, who is out in the field right now. Lauren?
Why thank you Rachel. And, might I add, that while Devin (who wishes he was as cool as I am) may be browner than me on the outside, on the inside he is just a greenie. :D (In other words, he has no idea what it really means to be polynesian.) And.... moving on. :D
As it was previously said, I am NOT obsessed with boys. Like I said, Sophomore year is a lot like first grade, and I'm pretty convinced that all the boys at our school have cooties. (I mean, come on. It's either that or they have rabies...) And, that concludes this edition of....
THE STATE OF THE UNION
See ya next time folks!! :D
(Lauren would also like to add that she is prettier than all the freshman s. :D)
(Rachel would like to reply to that by saying that she isn't. I am prettier than all the freshman, Junior, ans Senior s. Lauren, you can just over rule the Sophmores. ok? I think that's pretty much settled.)
(Ha. You suck at typing. That has to prove I'm prettier, smarter, and funnier. :D Maybe you should start a new poll of who people think are prettier. I'd win. :D And, it's Sophomores, moron!! ((I mean, really nice, nice who feeds me after school. :D)) And that settles it. :D)
(I don't care how you spell it. You knew what I meant. You're right. I do suck at typing. But it's ok. That's why you love me. jk. This is fun, I'm making you wait forever while I try to type something. (notice the word "try") It also needs be said that you don't know how to remember names. Lol. It's funny how you can't remember the name of the guy I like. You thought it was Tabias Griner. :D You're sad. I like the idea of the poll. We'll put you, me, Devin, and Mikel on there. Just for kicks. I would laugh if one of the boys won.)
(Lauren died, because Rachel took so long typing that. And Devin wouldn't win. Neither would Mikel. I WOULD WIN!!!!!!! And that's the end of it. ((And if Devin was pretty, that'd mean he was femmy, and that'd scare me.)) So there. But, now I have to go to piano. ((cough, cough, sucks, cough)) Tootles!!)
*the/hottest/girl/in/school has signed off*
(Uh Lauren, I beg to differ on that point. I actually believe that I am going to win! After all, this is my blog, and I run it. I am the one that puts on all the wicked pictures and does that awesome background and everything like that. So that obviously prooves that I am going to win. And I thought it might be good to point out that I have the most amazing braces smile in the universe. So that totally makes the score 1 million - 0, and I'm the one winning. Lol)
(Oh Rachel! I totally agree with you. I mean, you are obviously the better one of the two of us. I'm beautiful and smart and funny, but you are all these things and more! You are organized, dependable, you give food to the needy (me!), amazing, and unbelievable! I could never be all these things. :D)
(Oh stop it Lauren! You're making me blush! I may be better at somethings, but you are so much better at something than I am. You are great at making sarcastic comments, you don't fear anything, you are so stubborn (in a good way, like you never give into anything that you don't want to do). I could never be as good as you are at those things.)
(You know Rachel, you are right about that. I am stubborn, but you've sure changed my mind about the results of this poll. I now realize that you are the obvious winner. So therefore, I have nothing more to say on this matter. I have spoken: RACHEL COVERT WILL WIN!!!!)
(I'm glad you've had a change of heart.)
*the/hottest/girl/in/the/universe has signed off*


Thanks for reading this STATE OF THE UNION broadcast
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