Journey Through California Part 2: Carmel-by-the-Sea

                                           

I think it's safe to say that I got a little bit behind on my blogging this past week. That just means my honeymoon is doing its job! After we left the calm, quiet beaches of Cambria we trekked about 2 1/2 hours north to a small coastal town called Carmel-by-the-Sea. This is one of my favorite Central California beaches. My family and I vacationed here a few times when I was in high school, and I fell in love with the art galleries, white sand beaches, and bakeries and candy shops all over the streets. When taking Austin here, I wanted to make sure he got to experience all of my favorite parts of Carmel.

The first part of my past I wanted to share with him was the inn that my family stayed it. The Monte Verde Inn is easily in my top five favorite vacation stays. On this trip, instead of the family suite, I got to try the Deluxe King w/ Fireplace room, and it was beautiful.

                       

One of my absolute favorite places to go while staying in Carmel is a popular hiking spot called Point Lobos. It's a hiking spot my dad took me too when we came about 5 years ago. I really wanted to show Austin the views, but we got more than we bargained for! It was humpback whale season and there were quite a few out to play for the afternoon! (Sorry about the quality)

Other notable features about our stay in Carmel were the Cottage of Sweets (one of the cutest candy stores I've seen on the West Coast), The Carmel Bakery ice cream, and of course Carmel Beach! All in all, I'd say this was a pretty successful leg of our trip!

  

Journey Through California Part 1: Coasts and Castles

                                          

California is one of the most unique places on earth.
That's why my new husband and I thought it would be the perfect way to spend our honeymoon. I know a honeymoon post is kind of a big jump from a being engaged post, but I don't think I can do my wedding post justice without real wedding photos.
Our honeymoon adventure began in a sleepy beach town called Cambria. It was quaint and rustic with a little bit of natural beachside charm. We stayed in a cute little hotel that was on the beach. Aside from the incredible lack of internet, (which irritated my husband more than anything) the small place was a nice relaxing start to our trip.
Our first stop was a beautiful sunset on the beach, steps away from our door. It was a great way to commemorate our first full day of marriage. There was a wooden boardwalk for us to stroll upon while we talked (about our feelings no less :P). Once we found a good bench we proceeded with our quest to be the ultimate tourists and began snapping eternal memories on our smart phones. 
  

     

We had one mission for our 2nd day in Cambria.

Hearst Castle.

We had spent the whole weekend telling everyone that Hearst Castle was one of the many stops we had planned for the honeymoon. My parents insisted, his parents insisted, so we bit the bullet and purchased the disgustingly overpriced tickets to traverse a 100 year old cattle ranch owned by someone with a very expensive taste in Mediterranean Renaissance art. Despite the high fees, we managed to really enjoy ourselves. I got to admire some remarkable works of art owned by someone who clearly doesn't share my appreciation of frugality, while Austin was busy making plans for our dream home. (Hope he's okay waiting about 30 years.)

                                          

On our third and final morning we had our free continental breakfast and kissed our receptionless, internetless, yet scenic stop goodbye, and began the next part of our adventure.

Carmel By-the-Sea.

                                     

3 Things That No One Tells You About Your Engagement

There's a lot of things that nobody tells you when you get engaged. The focal points I was approached with were: 

1. It will feel like forever.

2. You will be more stressed than ever.

3. It will be the best and worst of times.

I agree with every single one of these points. There were times where I felt like the month would never end and that I would never get to the point I'm at now (15 days before the wedding). I also had points where I was crumbling under the pressure of acting as a go-between for my parents and future in-laws. There were times where I felt like being engaged was the best thing ever and times where I questioned every decision I ever made that got me to this point. However, as I approach the end of my time as a fiancee, I discovered that there were a few things that I learned in this period that were invaluable to me and to my relationship. 

The first thing was realizing how much I need my partner. The joys and sorrows of life are meant to be shared, and when you're knee deep in invitations with a typo, and your in-laws keep trying to change the venue, and your mom is yelling at you for not giving her enough time to plan, the relief of having someone there who is always on your side, batting for your team, and swinging home runs is, in one word, necessary. I never developed so much gratitude for someone than I did for Austin during our engagement. 

The next thing I learned was that the engagement period is a real test on your relationship. The reason that I support having a reasonably timed engagement, is because during the engagement, you learn so much about your partner in a different capacity. You not only get to see them under pressure, but the way they handle situations now is indicative of how they will handle high pressure situations in your life as husband and wife. The more time you have to discover those things, the clearer your picture of the future will be. 

The last thing I got out of my engagement that no one told me about was that, if you organize it right and you have the help you need, your life can work in conjunction with your wedding planning. As a full time student, I was very concerned with the comments that my life would be at a standstill while preparing for the wedding. According to various sources, regardless of the things I planned ahead, I would be drowning in wedding pamphlets and my grades, job, friends, etc. would take a very far back seat. All I can say, as I finished my semester, is that it's possible that some people are using engagements as an excuse to slack off. I'm far from superwoman, and there were moments of very intense stress, but my life was not stopped for this wedding. Planning took up maybe 3 hours of my week, usually consisting of phone calls to various members of my family. As the bride, you are a delegate. You are in charge, and it's your job to oversee everything that goes into the overall plan. With the help of family members and others, you can get it all done, and still have a life. The key is to be organized and not be afraid of asking for help. 

All in all, the engagement period as been a whirlwind of emotions, stress, and work. I stand by the opinion that it is indeed the best and the worst of times in your life. There are things I would have done differently, and things I wish I could change, but at this point, the most important thing is to look forward, and continue my journey with my future husband. 

The Savior's Suffering in Gethsemane

When we think of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice, the world recognizes his death on the cross. As a former Catholic I too only recognized his execution as the only sacrifice he made. It wasn't until I was 18 years old and in my first Sunday School class that I learned that Jesus Christ did something much more for us; something so painful that only someone who had an unmatched eternal brotherly love for the world would undergo. This sacrifice happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Savior bled from every pore and took on every sin, every pain, and every sorrow or disappointment that anyone in the world would ever receive. Do you remember those moments when you felt like you would break from the pain? Something so horrible, so traumatic, so heartbreaking, happened to you that you didn't know how you would get through the next few seconds? Well, everyone does. You are not alone in your sufferings. Jesus took on that pain, and every other pain that you ever had to endure. This was the ultimate sacrifice. Not many things could drive the Savior to his knees, but this did. He begged Heavenly Father to pass the bitter cup over to someone else, but agreed to continue if it was his will. His will was perfectly aligned with the Father's and because of this and his sacrifice, we are saved.

A New Commandment

Before Christ made his ultimate sacrifice for us, he gave his disciples a parting commandment. He said, "love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." This simple commandment is what shows the world that you are a disciple of Christ. The whole point is to emulate Jesus. The main lesson he wanted to teach us through his perfect example is that we need to love each other as much as he loved all of us. Obviously this doesn't mean  that we need to be sacrificing our lives to show people our love, but there are ways that we can show our love to man.
1. We can reach out to those that need friends.
2. We can provide service to those who need it.
3. We can compliment and smile people who need it.
4. We can be generous with our belongings and help those who need it.
5. We can be examples and share the gospel to anyone who will listen.

By understanding the concept of loving our fellow man we can show the world we are disciples of Christ.

Preparing for the Second Coming

Something that we all have to be prepared for is Jesus coming down to earth for the Second Coming. This is easily one of the hardest people to conceptualize in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, because it hasn't happened yet. Everything else we learn is history. This is the one prophecy we have to look forward to. We have no idea when or where or how it's going to happen, but we do have signs given to us from earlier prophets so that we can be on our toes, and we have a list of things we can do to prepare. The two lists I'm going to give you are the signs and the To-Do List.
Signs:
1. "Nations shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. (Basically war.)
2. "...and great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences, and fearful sights.
3. The Saints will be persecuted..
4. We will be betrayed both by parents brethren kinsfolk and friends. Some of us will be put to death.
5. We will be hated of all men because of God.

BUT not a hair on our heads shall perish. IF we do this one thing.

To Do List
"Pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man."

The Second Coming will come. The best thing we can do to prepare is pray, follow the commandments and strive to be like God.

The Jews and Jesus: The Last Week

It's no secret that Christ's preferred method of teaching is through parables. Throughout his ministry on earth he teaches his disciples many important principles through parables. Each parable has a rhyme and a reason to why Jesus is telling it, but towards the end of his ministry we start to see a glaring pattern. His parables are all referring somehow to the Jewish leaders and their people. He gives four significant parables at the end of his ministry that demonstrate this. The first being the cursing of the fig tree, then the two working sons, the parable of the husbandmen in the vineyard, and finally the king's wedding.
1. In the curse of the fig tree, Jesus is hungry and finds a fig tree in his way with leaves that make it appear fruitful but it is producing no fruit. He curses the tree to never produce fruit and it withers away instantly.The Jewish leaders compare to this fig tree in the way that they are professing righteousness and appear on paper to be living the words of God, but are not acting in a righteous manner. They are hypocrites and await the same fate as the fig tree that Jesus destroyed.
2. In the parable of the two sons, a father is asking his two sons to go to work. The first denies him and then repents and does his work. The second says he will and then does not do his work. The first son represents the Gentiles who at first rejected the gospel and were not blessed and then changed their hearts, repented and are counted with the blessed. The second child is the Jewish leaders who are again all talk and no action.
3. In the parable of the evil husbandmen, no surprise the Jewish leaders are the evil husbandmen. Essentially the Lord is compared to the owner of a vineyard who opens his gates to husbandmen who are supposed to yield fruit. The Lord sends his servants to collect the fruits, yet the husbandmen immediately kill them. He continues to send servants and they kill those as well. He then sends his own son (three guesses who that is) and they kill him as well for his inheritance. Well it's no surprise that at the end of the parable these husbandmen are smited by the mighty hand of God and are promptly destroyed. This is the fate of  the Jewish leaders who allowed the son of the Lord to be sacrificed.
4.Finally, easily the most complicated of the parables, is the parable of the King's Wedding. The Lord's kingdom is compared to a wedding held by the king. He sends his servants to invite all the people who the king has invited to the wedding. These initial guests represent the Jewish population. They all exhibit one of three characteristics. They ignore the invitation, they find what they're doing more important, or they kill the servants. All three of these actions are really offensive to the Lord and so he destroyed them. He then had his servants collect everyone, (the Gentiles) these people came in good and bad and somewhere in between. One man comes without his wedding garments, which in this case represent his purity and righteousness. Bad choice, because he is immediately send to outer darkness, where we will all promptly be sent if we try to enter the kingdom unworthily.

All in all, Jesus is leaving us some real gems in his last few sermons. He is giving us direct instruction of what not to do if we want to successfully enter the kingdom of Heaven. All we must do is follow it and we will be blessed.

Being a Disciple of Christ

What does it mean to be a disciple of Christ? When I think of Christ's disciples the main characters of the New Testament always come to mind. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Peter are all great examples of a disciple, but a better example in my opinion is us. The Lord called those men to be his disciples centuries ago, but he never stopped calling. We are also called to be his disciples and not only just disciples, but BETTER disciples, because we have the written accounts of the gospel to guide us and help us avoid the mistakes previous disciples made. That's not to say we aren't going to go without mistakes, but we are called to do the best we can.

So how do we go about doing this?

As called disciples of Christ there are many responsibilities we have to bear as we go along our journey through mortal life. There are many things that we must and must not do if we are to be called disciples. These are a few I just came up with on my own.
Things We Should Do
1.  Follow the commandments. (The rules are there for a reason, don't question, just do.)
2. Have unconditional faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. (Faith is everything)
3. Love the Lord's people and serve them to the best of our abilities. (If you can do something for someone. DO IT.)

Things We Shouldn't Do
1. Question our worth. (How can we expect to be good disciples if we don't believe in ourselves)
2. Blame the Lord or others for our problems and mistakes.  (As disciples we need to take responsibility for our actions.
3. Listen to Satan. (Worst decision you can make. He will consistently bring you down and move you as far away from the path as possible.)

These are just a few of the things we can do and not do when trying to be good disciples of Christ. There are a lot more and I struggle with just these 6. Mainly what the Lord is asking is that we try. If we slip and fall he'll help us back up, but he needs us to be trying and making an effort, or we will never succeed. Being a disciple is the work we're here to do. When we do the things we need to be doing to be those good disciples we are on the path home and we are in the good graces of God.

Becoming as a Child

As future inheritors of God's kingdom there are some specific qualities we need to possess. One of the ones that is emphasized quite a bit throughout the scriptures is "becoming as a little child." But what does this mean. Most of us aren't little children anymore and a great majority of the people who live on earth do not die before the age of 12. Does this mean we won't get into heaven? 

No it doesn't.

The scriptures aren't talking about us being children in the eyes of man, but being children in the eyes of the Lord. 

So what does this entail? Let's look at some qualities that children on earth possess. 

1. Always questioning and curious about the world around them.
2. Willing to accept direction and not rebel against established rules.
3. Open minded to new ideas and concepts.
4. Willing and excited to learn and grow mentally, physically, and spiritually.
5. Flexible and easy to instruct and actively seeking guidance.

In D&C 78:17-18 is says, 

"17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you; 18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours." 

As spirits we are children. We have no clue what Heavenly Father has in store for us. Our minds can't even comprehend all of the wonderful things he has planned and all of the knowledge he can share with us. We are limited by our mortal bodies and so we are always as little children no matter what age we are, because no one can truly know all the things that God does. 

Now what do we do with that information? 

We ACT like children. 

No one likes a kid who thinks they know everything and tries to do whatever they want to do despite the counsel of parents/guardians/teachers/etc. They think they know what is best for them, but we know what will happen if they start climbing on top of a table or playing with matches or stick something electronic in the microwave. The same goes for God. He knows better and yet we continue to object and question and do what we want to do anyways, despite his counsel. The best thing we can do to help gain our inheritance and feel good standing at the pearly gates is to accept the fact that we know very little, and relinquish our pride and allow Heavenly Father to direct us in the way that he knows is the best for us. 

Walking on Water

One of the most pinnacle moments of the Bible is when Jesus is walking on the water to his disciples. The apostles are frightened because they think that the Jesus Christ is a spirit. Christ speaks to them and lets them know not to be afraid because it is only him, but Peter tests him, by saying that if it's truly the Lord he should call out to him and allow him to walk on water to meet him in the ocean. The Savior agrees and Peter starts walking on the water towards him. Peter's faith her is pretty limited in the first place, but on top of the winds and the crazy waves he starts to doubt and get scared and begins to sink. Christ reaches out his hand and saves him and admonishes him to have  faith in him next time so that he doesn't sink. 
There is a lot that we can learn from Peter's experience with Christ. None of us are perfect beings and every day our faith falters. When things get scary out in the world that we live in many times our first response is to protect ourselves. I know that I struggle more than most in letting the Lord handle my problems. I, like Peter, can only see what's going on around me and get scared before I can trust and like Peter, I sink only to eventually be saved by Jesus Christ over and over again. This is something we all struggle with at one time or another. There will always be a storm that tries to scare us into sinking, but if we have faith, we can walk on water. 

Teaching in Parables

What is a parable?

According to the Bible Dictionary the Greek word parable means "setting side by side" or a "comparison." When Jesus speaks in parables he is presenting divine truth by comparing it with material things. 

Why does Jesus teach us  in parables? 

Some of the most famous parables that Jesus taught his disciples were the parable off of tares, the parable of the mustard seed and leaven, the parable of the treasure and the pearl of great price, and the parable of the gospel net. 

1. The parable of tares and the parable of the gospel net explains why some people choose to leave the church. Jesus explains that the kingdom of heaven is like a field and the Lord sowed good seeds, but the devil sowed tares in the field as well and the Lord is allowing the tares and the wheat to grow together so that at the time of harvest he can collect the tares, burn them, and keep the wheat in his barn. The same with the net which is cast into the sea and gathers every kind, and when it is all gathered in the good stay in the vessel and the bad are cast out to sea. 

2. The parable of the mustard seed and leaven explains how the church is going to grow and why we send so many missionaries out. The kingdom of heaven, Jesus taught, is like a mustard seed that is tiny and miniscule but grows into a tree that provides herbs and shelter. Our church is that tiny seed that is growing and will eventually bless the whole world. The leaven is symbolic for our missionary work. The woman puts leaven (the missionaries) in three different measures of meal that have no leaven (no gospel) and that leavens the whole. (the world) 

3. The parable of the treasure and the pearl of great price explains why  our church has grown so considerably in the last few centuries and why people are willing to give up so much for our church. Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is a treasure hidden in a field and when the man found it he hides it and buys the whole field. Our church grows so quickly that when someone discovers the truth they are so filled with joy that they let it in to their whole life and share it with everyone they can. The reason people are so willing to give up all they have is because the kingdom of heaven, like Jesus taught, is like a pearl of great price. It's a pearl that is more valuable than any money in the world and having it in your life is more of a blessing than any worldly thing has to offer. 

I know the sacrifices that I am willing to make for this church. Living with it in my life has brought life changing blessings that I can't bring into words. The faith I have in this Gospel and this Church is immeasurable. It is more than a treasure to me. 

Jesus teaches this way because using parables is a way to help people understand. Sometimes it's hard to take meaning from the pure teachings of this gospel, we know what they are, but through parables we can come to know what they mean. This helps us not only to teach, but to learn. 

Who is Blessed?

One of the most impressive moments in Bible history is Jesus giving his "Sermon on the Mount."  Jesus proclaims to his followers the specifications of what it means to be blessed. 

But what does it mean to be blessed?

In the footnotes of Matthew 5:3a it say's that, "The Latin beatus is the basis of the English 'beatitude' meaning to 'be fortunate','to be happy', or 'to be blessed.' I think that we can all agree that being fortunate and happy are all things that we want in this short mortal life, but where does this happiness come from? How do we get it? These are all things that Jesus describes for us in his sermon. His preachings here give us a road map to becoming blessed. As blessed people we are a lot of things and have lots of responsibilities. As stated in chapter 5 of Matthew we are "the salt of the earth," and "the light of the world." Therefore we are required to maintain our savour and "let [our[ light so shine before men that they may see [our] good works..." 

I try my best to live the beatitudes in my life, some of the ones I focus on are, 

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: Having a poor spirit is something that is required of all of us. Being humble in the face of the Lord is not something that always comes easy. The way I try to remember to stay poor in spirit is by reminding myself constantly that everything I have is because of the Lord, and everything I'm doing is in his name. 

2. Blessed are the meek: This is one that I really struggle with. It is hard for me not to show my talents and feel pride when they go noticed. What I try to do is recognize the talents and gifts the Lord has given me and use them to bless the lives of others. Instead of treating them like achievements to bask in, I treat them like tools to help me work towards greater goals. 

3. Blessed are the peacemakers: This is my favorite thing to do. The trick is to find the goodness in every situation and every person's point of view. When we can successfully find the good in every person, we can be the peacemaker and show the people who have a harder time seeing the positives where they can find them. 

When we act in the way that Jesus preached about in this sermon, we can become blessed. The happiness and the fortune, come from knowing that we are moving closer to inheriting our true prize.... being with Heavenly Father for all eternity. 

Entering the Waters

 

One of the first things you will have to teach your children is the importance of Baptism and what Baptism does for your soul and for your eternal life. Some of the best baptism scriptures are found in the New Testament and the Book of Mormon. Two of my favorites are Mark 3:1-8 and Mosiah 5:7. In both sections the importance of Baptism is greatly stressed. Jesus makes this abundantly clear when he says, 

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3

What Jesus is clearly telling John is that there is no way to get into the kingdom without being born again. This is can be kind of confusing because all of us have already been born. We all have physical bodies and have been born of our earthly parents. Christ was talking about another kind of birth. He clarifies in his statement,

"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:6

We are born of the flesh. That is how we have physical bodies and that is part of the plan, but we also have another creator. The Lord. And he requires that we also choose to be born of the spirit so that we can be with him. To reign alongside Heavenly Father we need to be Spirit, the only way for us to become spirits is through baptism by immersion. 

The blessings we will recieve in life by being members of the church start with this important principle. 

Jesus the Light

Part of having an effective relationship and connection with eternal life is understanding the Savior and who he is. The Savior is the center of all and he is the reason we have life and a promise for the future after this life has ended. To know more about him we have to understand 5 things about him before he was alive and 5 things about him while he walked the earth. 
                                                       Before
                                        1. Jesus was the Light
                                        2. God created Jesus to save his children
                                        3. Jesus was The Word of God
                                        4. Jesus knew about his fate before he came down
                                        5. Jesus wanted to save us.
                  
                                                        After
                                        1. Jesus was in the world. He is one of us, and the world                                                       rejected him
                                        2. He was selfless in all that he did.
                                        3. He knew on Earth what he needed to do and did it willingly
                                        4. He was aware of his powers and the Light inside him. 
                                        5. Those who received him were blessed as God's children.

Jesus the Christ had a lot of different names. One of the ways we can learn more about who he is is by learning about his different names. Some of his most famous ones are Christ, Messiah, Jehovah, Immanuel, and The Word.

• Christ means the anointed one. The Lord anointed Jesus as the chosen one. As his firstborn son he was chosen to do the Lord's work on earth and save mankind.
• Messiah means the anointed one in Aramaic; it's used as a title of office. The Hebrews used this name to identify their prophesized deliverer that they were eagerly expecting. 
• Jehovah is the covenant or proper name of the God of Israel. It means "the unchangeable one" or "the great I AM." Jehovah is the premortal Jesus Christ, before he came down to earth to save mankind.
• Immanuel means "God with us" it's a name title given in Isaiah as sign of God's deliverance. It signifies that Christ as God will be born into mortality from a virgin and will walk the earth and redeem mankind.
• The Word refers to the Greek meaning of "Word." It meant Logos or expression, and it was also another name for master. Jesus was the Word, or the expression of His Father to the world.