Sunday, April 26, 2015

Truths Learned from Les Miserables

This weekend I watched Les Mis for the first time in over two years. I was reminded of how much I just absolutely LOVE this musical. I grew up knowing the music, and when there were holes to the plot that the songs didn't cover, my mom would clarify plot points. So, when I watched the movie in theaters, I knew exactly what I was in for. I knew I would be watching a story riddled with darkness, misery, hopelessness. I mean it's called The Miserables! It's a story of woe! But that's why I love the music: there was beauty found in the woe, and even a little bit of light. When I watched the movie, I realized that despite the darkness, there is MUCH more light to be found than I realized. There are great truths to be learned from this beautiful story.


  • At the end of the day, there is always hope. You can ALWAYS have hope for tomorrow. In that depressing song "At the End of the Day" there are just a couple lines that break out of that darkness - if you pay attention to the chord progression, you will notice it easier. The words say, "At the end of day there's another day dawning..." No matter what your situation is, you can have that attitude. There will always be a bother day. Today might have been a failure. But there is always going to be a new day, a new moment, a new opportunity. Don't get bogged down.
  • Age and size doesn't matter. Gavroche, this incredible little boy, at one point says, "It only goes to show what little people can do!" He discovers secrets, shows courage and bravery, doesn't back down from a fight, is brilliant, and faces the enemy head on. Look at the scriptures; how many heroes are there that started young? David; Samuel; Nephi; Mormon; Moroni. Age doesn't mean a thing. Anyone an everyone can do great things, even the youth. Don't hold back!!
  • You are not your past. Marius was this pretty little rich boy. Yet, he believed int he people's rights. He forsook what he had and fought for what he believed in. Jean Valjean changed into a great man, full of love, and kindness. He left poverty and petty theft, a life often hard to escape, and didn't let his past define him. Cosette had lived in misery for the first years of her life, yet she found joy in her new life. I'm sure those years before were vivid in her mind - how traumatic they  must have been! - yet, she didn't let the misery of her past bog her down. You don't have to be defined by who you WERE, by your past circumstances, by your past deeds. After all...there's another day dawning!
  • We should live like there is one day more. The powerful song "One Day More" is all about the live changing events that were to happen the next day.  As it turns out...many of those expectations were shattered...but the principle is to be found in their attitude of "One day more"! Granted, there really was just one day before the life changing moment...but what if we held that attitude always? The attitude that tomorrow was going to change your life. Wouldn't it cause you to live your life to the fullest? To set high goals, with the hope that you could reach it?  To give yourself any and all opportunity to HAVE life changing moments Truly, each day can be life changing. Even the smallest decisions determine our destiny. How much more would we be aware of that if we lived as if it was just one day more?
  • Love redeems This is one of my favorites, and I feel is the point of the entire story. And, the principle is taught in its entirety at the very end, though there is shades of it throughout the entire story. It's summed up in Jean Valjean's line, "To love another person is to see the face of God."
    • Fantine. She loved Cosette more than anything. She ended up selling herself, her body, for the sake of providing for Cosette. She only did it because she had absolutely no idea what else to turn to. Yet, at the end, you see her return to bring Valjean hom with God. How was she there? Her love for Cosette redeemed her.
    • Eponine. She was raised by the vilest of people. She did vile things with them. But, then, she falls in love with Marius. She risks her life for him, and in the end, loses her life because of her love for him. Yet, in that finale song, as they all sing, essentially about being in heaven with God, she is there. How, with all of those horrible things she had done? Because, in the end, she learned to love someone more than herself more than the greed and guile that had filled her life before. Her love for Marius redeemed her.
    • And then...of course, Jean Valjean. Now, he was never a BAD man. He was imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread. But those 19 years enslaved turned him angry and bitter. He turned to thievery. He was given a chance to change his life, and he took it and began to change. The change took full effect when he met Cosette and raised her as his own. His love for Cosette completed the change on his hardened, embittered heart, and redeemed his soul. He, in the end, was taken to God, to see the face of God, because he loved another person. As we love others, we change and we are able to be redeemed. What more do you need to know if life, that as we love those around us, we make it possible to return to love with God? I mean, charity was the defining characteristic of the Savior. IT was the root of everything that He did. To love another person is to see the face of God.

So...pretty much...I just super love Les Miserables. It's on my bucket list to read the unabridged book when I have time...and the attention span. It reminds me to find the light in the darkest of times. Because there is ALWAYS light to be found. There is always hope. And, there is always, always love to be found. 

Sunday, April 12, 2015

The tempest is raging


Sometimes I feel like my life is just storming up. Like I'm in the middle of this huge storm, and I'm on this tiny little boat, and I'm completely helpless.

Every since coming home from my mission, I feel like it's been a huge series of storms. From being sick WAY more often than I ever have before, from figuring out my role in life right now, to coming to terms with no longer being on a mission, to just...handling life. So. Many. Storms. I'm sure pretty much everyone can relate.

My favorite hymn in the LDS hymnbook is "Master, the Tempest is Raging." Here are the words to the first verse:

Master the tempest is raging! 
The billows are tossing high!
The sky is o'reshadowed with blackness,
No shelter nor help is nigh.
Carest thou not that we perish?
How canst thou lie asleep
When each moment so madly is threat'ning
A grave in the angry deep?

(Chorus)
The winds and the waves shall obey thy will:
Peace be still;
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea
Or demons or men or whatever may be
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The master of ocean and earth and skies!
The all shall sweetly obey thy will,
Peace be still.

I was reminded of this song the week as I read Mark 4:37-41. Christ is with His apostles. They're still kinda new to the whole deal, having just been called to follow Christ, but they have witnessed many miracles by this time. They're on this little tiny boat, and the storm is threatening to sink or capsize them. And where to they find Christ, their master? Sleeping. They wake Him up, totally freaking out, and He's just like, "C'mon guys, chill out!" And turns to the raging storm and says, "Peace, be still," And it immediate calms. And then, of course, the apostles freak out all over again, because they just saw someone calm a crazy storm. Which is kinda silly, because they literally asked Him to do something about it. Christ's response is, "How is it that ye have no faith?"

Now, I don't believe Christ is saying they have NO faith. I mean, they had enough faith to ask Him to help out. They trusted Him. But, they lacked faith in the sense that they were surprised when He actually did it. They had seen Him perform miracles, many many times, just that day, actually! Yet, when it was a miracle for them, they were shocked that it actually happened - even though they knew He had the power.

Here is the next verse of the hymn:

Master with anguish of spirit
I bow in my grief today.
The depths of my sad heart are troubled,
Oh waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish
Sweep o'er my sinking soul
And I perish! I perish! Dear Master
Oh hasten and take control!

I can't tell you how many times in the past almost 6 month since I've been home when this has been my prayer. Where I feel like my soul, my heart, my mind is sinking, and I just need Him to take control, because what I'm doing isn't doing the trick. When I do cry out to Him, He always responds, and He always calms the terrible tempests. I hope that as He has done so - and will continue to do - He hasn't ever had to say, "How is it that ye have no faith?"

If we have faith in Christ, we are never going to be surprised when He answers our call. We are going to expect Him to do something - not in the sense that we feel entitled, but that we know He will do something! Because we have that much trust in Him! And it doesn't mean He will take away whatever trial we are facing, but He will take away the storm. We can always trust in that.

Here is the last verse of the hymn:

Master, the terror is over,
The elements sweetly rest.
Earth's sun in the calm lake is mirrored
And heaven's within my breast.
Linger, O blessed Redeemer! 
Leave me alone no more
And with joy I shall make the blessed harbor
And rest on the blissful shore.

I wish I had words to express the feelings of my heart right now. Despite how frustrated I've been from some of the backsliding I've experienced from my mission, there is one thing I gained from my mission that I have not faltered in: trusting in the Lord and His grace. With all the many trials I've faced lately, and am currently facing, I trust in my Master. I know He will calm those storms. And, without fail, I am overcome by great love, comfort and peace. I don't ever have to be shocked or surprised at the miracles He sends me, because He ALWAYS sends them. And He always will. Not just for me, but He will for you, as well.

There is a tempest raging for you, just as there is for me. So...just cry out. He will calm them for you.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Go quickly

Friday marked 2 years since I got on that plane and flew to the MTC - the start of my mission. It marked 2 years since I started something that changed the rest of my life; it was the best thing I could have done for my life.

My mission means the world to me, and one of the reasons why it was so hard for me to handle it ending was because I literally was living my dream. A mission was something I had wanted to do every since I was a wee little girl and I discovered girls actually could go on missions. And, the more I learned about the Gospel, the more I yearned to proclaim it to the world. Sometimes, I yearn to put that nametag back on, and do it all over again.

The other day I was reading Matthew 28. It was quite appropriate, with Easter coming up and all. (Happy Easter, friends!) In this particular book in the Bible, this is where Christ is resurrected. When Mary and Mary go to the tomb and find it empty, there are the angels, there to proclaim the good news! As they explain to the two Marys of Christ's resurrection, they say, "And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead," (vs 7). In verse 10, Christ meets them as they run, and He says, "go tell my brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there they shall see me."

The first direction to these saints, after they understand what Christ has done, is to go and share it. The reason? So that they all can meet with Him.

Again, at the end of the chapter, verses 19-20, Christ commands, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even until the end of the world. Amen."

This pretty much is, like, the ultimate commandment from God. Once you know and understand for yourself, GO TELL PEOPLE!! Because Christ wants to meet with you AND them.

How blessed I am to have had the opportunity to share my testimony of the Savior for 18 months. And how blessed I am to have a testimony that I can still share, regardless of wearing that nametag, or not. There are sacred truths out there that need to be said, that need to be a daily part of our lives.

This is what I have been thinking about this Easter season. Do you know that Christ has risen from the tomb, that He lives for me and you? Do you know that He has broken the bonds of death, so that we can continue living the Father's plan of happiness for eternity, so we can have a fullness of joy? If you do know, I urge you to go and share it! And go quickly!