Trying to live like Christ

I have a strong respect for uplifting quotes. As a high schooler I found profound, personal satisfaction by coming across quotes that helped me through difficult or trying circumstances. These phrases meant so much to me that I got into the habit of always carrying a little pad of paper with me wherever I went. I liked being able to go back and refer to meaningful quotes when feeling discouraged or lost and I didn’t want to miss out on any new favorite quotes I might have come across. I have since filled my little green quote book up completely and now keep notes of new quotes I discover on my smartphone. Surprisingly, my weathered little green notepad is one of my most prized possessions.  There is something about the effort I put into it that makes those quotes I love that much more special.  Another book that is also one of my most prized possessions the scriptures.  The quotes that I have diligently looked and listened for are very similar to the scriptur...

Podcast Jar-Jar Binks : Ooh mooey mooey I love you!  Qui-Gon Jinn : You almost got us killed! Are you brainless?  Jar-Jar Binks : I spake!  Qui-Gon Jinn : The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get out of here.  The above lines always catch my attention whenever I watch Star Wars: ThePhantom Menace. I like this dialogue so much, in fact, that I wrote down the line, “The ability to speak does not make you intelligent”, in my book of favorite quotes which I started in high school. Back then I had a fetish for labeling people that annoyed me as stupid. I secretly looked at them as a lesser individual as I pitted their ability to think through certain concepts against my own. Somehow, I felt I had ‘won’ some inner competition when I considered myself smarter.   The way I understood Qui-Gon’s words in those days was that despite Jar-Jar’s ability to speak, he was an unintelligent creature and was, for all intents and purpose...

Memory: I walked into my sisters room and sat on her bed. In her hand was a magazine and she was excited to read about the life experience of Spencer W. Kimball. I listened intently as my sister read about how this church leader had a total of  33 black binders  on his personal study shelves which consisted of his journal. To me this was an impressive autobiography. In that moment I felt a little guilty for all the times my parents had encouraged me to write in my own journal and I had either not done so or followed their counsel begrudgingly. What stuck with me all these years is that I had a strong desire to follow Kimball's example. Along with the impressive picture in my mind of all the black binders all in a row, I wanted to someday be able to tell people that I had written in my journal as many consecutive days back to back as Kimball had.  I do not remember the exact number of days the article specified, but I do remember that my sister and I felt the spirit of...

Here is the first installment of my monthly talks in blog form. As a little forewarning, the talk itself is a bit lengthy and has only been proofread a couple of times.  I only recently made the goal to start putting my talks online in my new blog. Meaning, I had to post what I'd already written 'as is' so I could meet my deadline of posting it on the first of this month. The good news is that I've pointed out the highlights over the following few paragraphs so you can refer to some of the most important aspects of the talk again without the need of scanning through the entire talk. Highlights: Choosing to be more compassionate and willing to sacrifice in our own lives will enable us to find more hope and faith; thereby obtaining a more joyful outlook on this life. Compassion starts with the desire to alleviate others’ suffering.  Perhaps our greatest downfall in being compassionate is asking why there is so much suffering in the world around us...