Developing Patience

     D&C 101:38

"And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may posses your souls, and ye shall have eternal life.

    Wow, today I had so many wonderful experiences! I love this gospel. I would share them all but it would be pretty close to a novel. Therefore, I'll just have to pick my favorite.

    To start off, my week has been pretty... eventful... to say the least. With end of term, competition season starting up and football season ending, new dance students, breaking my phone, having some friend struggles, personal temptations and inner conflicts, I feel I've been tested lately.
    I went to bed last night feeling a little frustrated and woke up feeling the same. Despite my negative feelings I decided to put on some MoTab and get ready for church with a smile. When I got to church, I found myself thinking of other things besides the Savior during the sacrament. I was busy thinking about how stressed I was. I thought about that math test that hasn't been entered into skyward, and how I needed to get straight home and review our military routine because my coach had made a lot of changes to the choreography. And it went on and on. When I caught myself, I felt horrible. I needed to keep my focus on the Savior and how I needed to repent for my wrongdoings from the week. After this thought came to me, I felt a calm feeling from head to toe of my Savior's love. I knew right then if I focused on the testimonies that were shared and the lessons that were planned I would have help with all of my stresses with school and drill.
    With that being said, I got a lot more out of church than I usually do. It's amazing what changing your mindset can do! For third hour we had a combined YW lesson. One of my wonderful young woman leaders taught the lesson on Christlike Attributes. We started off the lesson with a little quiz on how well you posses Christlike Attributes. (You can find the same quiz in Preach my Gospel if you would like to take it yourself). Anyways, the quiz consisted of statements like "I believe in Christ and accept him as my Savior." and "I am dependable. I do what I say I will do." And you would rate yourself 1-5. 1 = never, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, 4 = almost always, 5 = always. Of course, I thought to myself  "Sweet! I'm pretty strong in the gospel. I wanna get a ton of those glorious fives." It went pretty good at first. Then I noticed I started putting some 3's, and the occasional 2. I couldn't believe it! I just KNEW the girls around me had more 5's than me. I had to be doing much worse than them. Once I finished, I took a quick peek at my neighbors paper. I saw an equal mix of all the numbers. She had tears in her eyes. As I looked around the room, no one had an excessive amount of fives. Everyone struggled in one way or another.
    Once we were all done, my young woman leader told us to take notice of the attribute that we were lacking in. Mine happened to be patience. I noticed I needed a lot of help in being patient with myself as I try to overcome my weaknesses. (On that one I scored a solid two.) After talking more about Christlike Attributes, we were given a handout on how to develop the attribute we were lacking.

   So, as you can see, I'm going to follow these steps to help me become more patient! The scripture I chose at the top is pretty neato, but I'm sure there are many others. I'll share my goals with you, and I'll also be tracking my progress in my journal.

- accept failure and learn from it
- be proud of myself for the small accomplishments, like remembering to pack my lunch
- don't beat myself up if I give in to a weakness/tendency
- face adversity calmly and hopefully
- remember personal prayer and scripture study
- find joy and satisfaction with my progress

   I'm so thankful for this gospel! I'm thankful for the atonement and the opportunity I have to try again after I make mistakes. The church is true, and that is something I know for sure.

  If you take the quiz in chapter 6 of Preach my Gospel, I challenge you to write a blog post about it! Share as much detail or as little as you would like. All of us would love to be more Christlike, so let's encourage each other as we strive to be like him. :)


Thank for reading! Until next time!