Through the Lord, I Can Do Hard Things.

Day 30: I finished!! I am so proud of myself!! Okay so for this last post of my Book of Mormon reading and also until I'm back in a year and a half, I feel like I just should bear my testimony of the gospel. I know that this church is true and I am so grateful for it. It has led me down the right path and without it I would be headed in the complete wrong direction. I have a testimony of the Book of Mormon and I know that fi you read it and then pray to know if it's true, Heavenly Father will answer you. I am very very excited and nervous and a little scared to go on a mission, but I know that through the Lord, I can do hard things. 

If any of you wanna see what I'm up to during my mission, Emily will be posting on a blog for me. :) here's the link: http://hermanamcintyre.blogspot.com/ 

I love you all and I'll see you in 18 months! Adios!! :)

Last One's

Whenever I'm counting down to something there's always a saying that I use quite frequently. This is the last time I'll (fill in the blank). As I've been counting down the days until my mission, there's been quite a few of them. I can't think about them too much or I start crying and then it's a mess! So here are a few of my "Last One's":

Last day of work...

Last trip with my sister (well part of them anyways)...

Last time seeing Jacqueline...

Last time being all together as a family...

Last Dentist appointment...

Last day being 18....

Last time I see Jessica, Jen, Chris, Katy, Ryan and Grace (since they can't come to my farewell)...

Last hair cut...

Last date with Emily...

And many many more! Then there's ones that are coming up like:

Last fast Sunday...

Last time I see my family...

Last time I see my friends...

Last time I listen to music...

Last full day at home...

Last family dinner...

Last date with my dad...

Last thirsty Thursday...

Last time swimming...

Last day in Idaho...

I could go on for awhile but I won't. You can just imagine all of the "Last One's". It's pretty sad to think about but I am so excited and ready to go serve the Lord for a year and a half. Watch out people of Paraguay! Hermana McIntyre is on her way!! :)

All it Takes is a Little Faith

I'm really sorry if I have annoyed you with all of my posts, but I'm almost done so just hang in there with me for one more after this one! I, for one, am so proud of myself! I have stuck to my goal and read every day and what a blessing it has been! :) I have learned so much and have grown a ton as a person. Whenever I had a spare moment I would grab my glasses and Book of Mormon, go out on the porch, and get readin! I have loved every minute of it!

Day 27 - 29: (Mormon 8 - End of Ether) So Ether is now one of my favorite books in the Book of Mormon! There is soooo much to learn in every verse. But chapter 12 of Ether is all about faith and it was very fitting to my life right now. In 6 days, I will be leaving my family, friends, and comfort of my home to go to Paraguay for a year and a half. It takes a lot of faith to do that on my part and on my families part too. I have to trust in the Lord that what I'm doing is right and that I will be safe and whatever happens is supposed to happen. So it says a ton of times in chapter 12 that nothing can happen unless you have faith. Heavenly Father cannot bring blessings and miracles unto you unless your faith is completely in Him. One verse (verse 6) in particular says, "...faith is things which are hoped for and not seen..." This gospel takes a lot of faith. Faith that Heavenly Father really does exist, that He loves me and knows me. Faith that there is a place beyond this earth and that after this life, Heaven will be awaiting me. Faith that Joseph Smith isn't just some crazy man who wrote a book, that he translated it by the faith that he had and the power of God. All of those things are not tangible. They cannot be touched or carried or held. All you need is just a little bit of faith at first. If that's all you can give than that is enough. Your faith will grow as you read the scriptures and pray. I know this to be true and I believe with all of my heart. 

Choose your Path Wisely

Day 19 - 26: (Alma 46 - End of 3rd Nephi) That's a lotta days....I really am sorry but seeing as I leave in 8 days, I have had so much to do! Now don't you worry, cuz I know you were, I have read every single day! I just haven't had the time to post, so sorry if it's a lil' longer than usual. I'll try to keep it brief. 

The first thing is from Helaman 14:30-31. It says, "And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you." So, last semester at BYU-Idaho I took this Book of Mormon class and my professor would say, "ACT AND DON'T BE ACTED UPON!!" at least once every day. So now that is stuck in my head and I am grateful! Everyone on this earth has agency. We can all choose to do good or to do evil. So it is up to us if we go to Heaven or Hell. Harsh, but true.

The next and last thing is a verse that I used to be very confused by when I was younger, but now I LOVE! It's in 3 Nephi 27:33 "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it; but wide is the gate, and broad the way which leads to death, and many there be that travel therein, until the night cometh, wherein no man can work." Okay, so when I was little, I was like, "Wait a minute! Why would Heavenly Father make it so that the way was narrow to get back to Heaven?!?!" Shouldn't it be wide so that we wont fall off of the sides? But now I understand! Heavenly Father has given us a straight and narrow path that is super easy to follow so that we can easily make it back to Him. It's kinda strict, and sometimes hard, but in the end so worth it! Then the path to death and Hell is pretty wide. There's lots of ways to get there, you don't have to do one specific thing to end up there. You could lead one life style, then another, then another, and would still end up in Hell. So my advise..choose your path wisely. 

Wickedness Never was Happiness

Day 17&18 - (Alma 31-Alma 45) Okay. This one's a good one! Have you ever heard of the scripture: "Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die"? Well here is a scripture that will make you want to never ever follow that saying again. It's in Alma 34:35. It says, "For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked." So this is saying that whenever you sin, you should get down on your knees and repent then and there. Don't just sit around and think, "I'll just wait cuz I'm probably gonna mess up tomorrow too." That is not good to do. What if you died tomorrow or today even? You never know when your time will be up, and if you have procrastinated the day of your repentance, you're really gonna regret it. Sinning might be fun in the moment, but when you are in front of God on judgment day, remembering everything that you've done, you're going to be wishing that you repented a little more and sinned a little less. 

Man, as all of this was coming to my mind last night and today, I told myself that I need to kick it in gear. I will never be convicted of premeditated sin. When I sin, because sadly I will a time or two more before I die, I am promising to myself that I will repent immediately and try my very best, because that's all Heavenly Father asks, to never do it again.

It's Never Too Late

Day 14-16: (Alma 11 - Alma 31) In these 3 days of reading something has really stuck with me. It's never too late. 

So if you don't know who these 2 guys are, their names are Laman and Lemuel and I've talked about them before. (I don't think they actually look like this, but this is one that I just found on google...) They were the sons of Lehi who left Jerusalem. They really struggled following their father and the commandments of God. No matter what, it seemed like they just could not get the hang of the do-the-right-thing-always thing. So, eventually, they left their family behind and took their wives and children and became the notorious Lamanites. They were the cause of a TON of sorrow and bloodshed. But, after years and years of them killing every Nephite (or person of God) that they came in contact with, they started to slowly realize that the traditions of their fathers were wicked and that they really needed to repent and start doing the right things. So they did! The story of the Lamanites and their journey of coming back to the gospel is really cool to me because it shows that it's never too late. Even if you've committed a lot of sin, Heavenly Father will still forgive you and you will still be able to live with Him again because Christ already atoned for your sins. Doesn't that make you so happy? It makes me happy!! :)

Day 10 &11 &12 &13

Day 10-13: (Mosiah 16 - Alma 10) Have you ever done something bad, and felt really terrible for doing it? I have!! I hate that feeling. Sometimes I feel embarrassed to go to my Heavenly Father and tell Him what I've done wrong and repent, but I just have to remember that He already knows what I've done and He loves me and always wants me to come to Him and ask for forgiveness no matter what I've done. There is a scripture that I really like that goes along with this and it says, "...the Lord will be merciful unto all who call on his name." (Alma 9:17) 

So this isn't part of what I read, but I thought of it as I was reading one night so that counts right? Okay weeds are very easy to spread. Either the wind can blow seeds, or seeds can get on your shoe and then get planted somewhere, or (my dad told me this one) a bird can poop a seed out and it can plant a weed. And then the weeds flourish and keep growing for so long without any care. But, if you want to remove the weeds, it takes work and sweat and you have to keep pulling the weeds or else they'll be back! But this isn't the case for good plants such as fruit, crops, veggies, etc. If you want them to grow, you have to plant them in the ground, water them, nourish them, make sure they get enough sunlight, etc. Then you have to constantly watch over them and make they aren't getting too much or not enough of one thing or another. And then, at the end of the year, you finally get your crops IF you did everything right. IF. And then you start all over the next year, whereas weeds will start back up where they ended the summer before. So in life, unless we watch over ourselves and watch what we do and say and how we act, weeds will start popping up and if we dont do anything about them, they will start spreading and taking over. So, we need to constantly be "pulling the weeds" out of our lives.

I hope that made sense. I know it was a lot of rambling, and I'm not the best writer to ever exist, but you get the gist right? Hopefully? Sweet! Well I hope you have gotten at least one bit of knowledge from my brain. This is me. :)