Chelsea's Thank You

Chelsea's Thank You
    On my mission in Vegas, I had the amazing privilege to teach a wonderful Hispanic family in a place we call "Paradise Stake." This family was such a great family to be around. I remember talking with the dad about the hilarity, but also the gospel messages throughout the movie "Lion King" and we joked about watching "Lion King 1.5" if they ever changed the mission rule of no watching unapproved movies. There was a very humbling experience with that family I'd like to share. I can't remember what we were teaching them that particular night, but as my companion and I were packing up our scriptures and teaching tools, we started to say good-bye to each family member. When I got to their seven-year-old daughter Chelsea, she expressed her gratitude in one of the most beautiful ways I've ever seen. It was a simple "Thank you" but it was filled with such sincerity that my heart filled with joy and love for all that I was doing out there. It truly made that point in my life a "paradise." Someone must've pulled on a head hair of mine because I think a little water surfaced around my eyes. From that moment on, I knew the power of a sincere expression of gratitude and what it could mean for the one receiving it.
    As I've thought about Chelsea's thank you, I've seen the need we all have to say "Thank you" more often and with more sincerity. It's my personal conviction that if we genuinely expressed our gratitude to more people and more often, everyone around us (including ourselves) would be filled with greater happiness.

                              Chelsea is the little girl on the left folding her arms...

What is gratitude?
    I think gratitude consists of two things: recognition that someone has done something for us and having a positive emotional response to that person's actions.
    I think something that we should all do is reflect on all that we have been blessed with. We need not only focus on the big things in life that we have, but also we should look for the little things in life that we should be grateful for. I remember talking to a girl I was interested in and she told me about her shower being broken and so she had had cold showers for the last couple weeks. My gratitude for my nice, hot showers immediately rose and became more salient in the coming days. If we look at the ordinary, we can find extraordinary blessings. It seems like those who look for things to be grateful for are happier. It also seems that the more often we meditate on the blessings we have in our lives, the easier it is to find things to be grateful for. Maybe a good analogy is the more time we spend searching for Waldo in the "Where's Waldo?" books the easier it is to find him because we're more practiced and in tune to do so. It is the same way with looking for blessings in the crowded space that is our attention.
    We should also be more willing to respond emotionally to what others do for us. Sometimes we don't want to admit someone has helped us or we shrug it off because we don't know or like that person very much. Rather than do that, we should open our hearts to those who've blessed us in whatever way that they have.

No excuses:
    Expressing gratitude is of such importance that we should be looking for excuses to say "Thank you" rather than for reasons why we shouldn't. Sometimes I feel like it would be awkward with people around, or it's not a big deal if I don't express it this one time, or even "they already know I'm grateful for what they've done for me." But all of these things are just excuses. I'm especially weary about the "they already know" excuse. We should never assume that they know. And even if they do, it'll mean more to everyone involved if there's an expression of gratitude. There might indeed be a good excuse out there, but we should strive to give thanks and not flee from the ranks. Corny, but true.

Gratitude is an action word
    When I say gratitude is an action-packed word, I mean that it's a word that leads us to act. Just like they say faith is an action word for the same reason. When we're truly grateful for something or someone, it should make us want to be better, do better, reach out more, etc. We should want to spread the blessings that we get. There's a popular LDS Hymn with the lyrics "Because I have been given much I too must give." This is a great embodiment of this principle. Gratitude without works is dead (change-up of James 2:17). When we feel that emotion of gratitude it should push us outwards. That's when gratitude has the most beauty. Just as a flower is most beautiful when its petals reach outward, so are we.

Gratitude: The Stepping Stone Attitude
    Gratitude is an attitude that leads to the development of many other attitudes that will bless us. As previously mentioned, gratitude leads to a service-oriented attitude. Another attitude it can lead to is an attitude of faith. As we see the blessings in our lives and recognize from Whom they come, our faith in Him grows. As we increase in faith, we are more prone to do that which leads to our receiving more blessings. Then the cycle continues. Gratitude doesn't just lead to faith in God, but also faith in people. The more we see the good things that people do for us and each other, the more faith we have in human nature, our friends, family, etc. Gratitude also leads to charity. When we've felt the love of others through what they've done for us, we often feel a desire to give something back to them or another. This leads to doing kind deeds. Kind deeds leads to inner joy and peace, which builds our desire to be kind more often. Gratitude can also lead to more diligence in our lives. As our gratitude for the scriptures increases, we are motivated to study them more often in order to more fully benefit from the help and guidance they can give us. All in all, gratitude is a stepping stone attitude. It in itself blesses us and also leads us to other founts of righteousness. It's no wonder the Lord said, "And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more" (D&C 78:19).

                                                Yup... I'm a dork

Jesus Christ: The Perfect Example
Not only did Christ teach the principle of gratitude, but He lived it. He thanked His Father for keeping eternal truths from the prideful (Matt 11:25), for hearing Him when He would that Lazarus arise from the grave (Luke 11:41), and when He was able to feed the four thousand from seven loafs of bread and some fishes (Mark 8:6). Let's all follow His example and be more grateful in our lives. It will lead us to happiness.
                                           
                                             Christ and the thankful leper

I end with the words of Paul:
"In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you" (1 Thess. 5:18).

My Favorite Scripture: 2 Nephi 5:16 "The Importance of Temples" & "Just Do Your Best"

My Favorite Scripture
    2 Nephi 5: 16... It says:

    And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land, wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon's temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine.

The Importance of Temples:
    Nephi, one of the great Book of Mormon prophets, left his home in Jerusalem in order to obey a commandment from God. He and his family traveled many distances to get to the Americas where he would now call home. One of the first things he did when he reached the Americas was to build a temple. That is the context of this scripture. The fact that one of his first priorities in establishing a new place to call home included building a temple tells me a lot about the importance of a temple. The blessings must have been so great to have a temple that he delayed building additional living courters, helping to provide food for his family, and other things.

    While preparing to share a spiritual message with some members nearby (home teaching), I decided to write a list of blessings that the temple gives us members of the Church. These are only the ones I thought of at the time.

1. We become closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ... This includes knowing more about Them, being physically closer to Them, and learning how to become more like Them.
2. We gain an eternal perspective... Being in the temple helps us remember what truly matters most and that this life is only a small space of time compared to the eternities ahead.
3. We gain hope for the future... In the temple we are reminded of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ always loving us and always having a better future for us if we strive to keep Their commandments.
4. We're reminded of our covenants... When we go to the temple we remember the promises we've made to God and it strengthens our zeal to keep those promises.
5. Helps get our priorities and goals straight... This goes along with gaining an eternal perspective. When we know what truly matters most, it becomes easier to prioritize things in our lives. Also, it can become clearer to us what goals we need to set to improve our lives and be happier.
6. Reminds us of sacrifice... Seeing temples can remind us of the sacrifices made to build those temples (tithing, manual labor, etc.). Going to the temple to serve others is also a sacrifice we make. After receiving blessings from that sacrifice, we're reminded that sacrifice really does bring forth the blessings of heaven.
7. Gives us a nice break from life... Temples are always peaceful and spending time there can help us to take a break from the struggles we so oft go through.
8. Strengthens us against temptation... When we're reminded of the blessings to come if we keep the commandments, we're strengthed in our zeal to keep them and to fight any temptation to sin or slack off in our obedience to God.
9. Know how to treat our bodies... Our bodies are compared to temples. We see that the insides and outside of a temple are always in top shape. They're clean, neat, and as beautiful as possible. Seeing a temple, we can easily see how awful it would be to defile it. We should make sure we keep our bodies in the same condition and treat them the same way. But of course, on days off its okay to wear pj's and forget to do our hair. I'm more focused on the not defiling our bodies aspect.

    One of my incredible roommates related temples to the pills used in the movie "Limitless" that helped the characters who took the pill to use more of their brain. The main character described what it was like to take the pill. He said something like this: Your mind becomes clearer, you know what you have to do and you know how to do it. That is what going to the temple does for us. It clears our minds, helps us know what we need to be doing in life and helps us know how to do it and find the motivation to do it.

Just Do Your Best:
    One thing Nephi mentions is that he couldn't build a temple as great as Solomon's temple because he didn't have the materials necessary to do so. He adds that even though he didn't have the best material, the workmanship was still exceedingly fine. When I read this scripture I think of how Nephi did the best with what he had and the Lord was pleased with it. He had good craftmanship skills, but didn't have the best materials. So he took what he had and made the best temple he could. Each of us have talents, skills, strengths, weaknesses, etc. The most important thing in life isn't whether someone has better attributes than us, but rather that we are grateful for what we have and we use it.
    Let me share an example. On my mission, a family needed help doing construction on their house. This actually happened a few times, but we'll use the example of when I first got to Nevada. My mission trainer and I went to help them build this house with additional missionaries. My mission trainer is an army guy: tall, strong, knowledgeable, etc. I'm average height, skinny, and not too knowledgeable when it comes to house construction. We both worked hard and I'm sure he accomplished more than I did in that day. But what was most important was that we both did our best to help this family out. As I see it, that's all the Lord really cares about. I believe that if we do our best with what we have, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will be happy with us and They'll love us no matter what.
   
    Below: One of the houses I helped work on

    A Biblical example is the Parable of the talents (Matthew 25: 14-30). The man with the five talents was just as blessed as the man with two. The only problem with the man with one talent was that he didn't do his best with what he had. Among us members of the LDS Church, some of us have parents that are fully active, some of us have parents that might be less active or only one is active, and some of us have parents who aren't members and are in fact against the Church. I believe that these can represent a number of talents. Fully supportive parents are the 5 talent crew. Partially supportive parents are 2 talents. And if our parents are completely against the Church, we have only 1 talent. It doesn't matter which situation we're in, what matters is that we do the best with what we have. I won't deny the fact that it's definitely harder for some than for others though.
    Moroni, another one of those great Book of Mormon prophets, was scared that his inability to write well would affect the power of the Book of Mormon (Ether 12). He considered his lack of writing skill to be a weakness. But Moroni did the best with the skills he had and wrote some of the most powerful scriptures in the Standard Works. If we do the best with what we have, who knows the miracles that will follow.

    Below:  Moroni praying that what he and others had written would be powerful to all those who would read its pages.

    So let's all be more grateful for what we have and do the best we can with it!

My Blog

About Me:
    Hey everyone! My name is Kevin Harmon. I'm from Southern California and I'm in my early-twenties. Some might say I'm among the young and the restless. My educational background consists of going to a pretty prestigious Jr. High/High School and then going to Utah to attend Brigham Young University. I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and love it! My job consists of helping the mentally ill with living life- it's an incredible job that I love. My friends call me a dork often because I do really weird things and I'm a sort of goofy guy. Maybe you'll get some of that from my blog. Also, I love sports. Any and all! This picture is one of me sledding in the mountains of Nevada.

My Purpose:
    Being a member of the LDS Church means a lot to me. I've seen so many blessings come from the gospel of Jesus Christ that I want to give back to Heavenly Father what little I can. In this case, I want to share with as many as who will read this, some of the spiritual thoughts, life lessons, and general advice that He's given me. I'm not a powerful writer, nor a marvelous intellect, but I want to convey what I can to others and maybe someone will be helped or blessed in the process.
    At BYU, I took two religion courses from a certain teacher. After class, I'd talk with him about the gospel and life in general. One day I asked him if he'd ever thought about writing a book. He said that he had indeed thought of it and was in the process of writing one. He told me that his desire in a book was to write a spiritual book that could target any reader. He mentioned a book by President Gordon B. Hinckley (an LDS prophet). I think the book he mentioned was "Way to Be! 9 Rules For Living the Good Life". Anyway, the book he mentioned is a book discussing traits that everyone should develop in order to find happiness in this life. These traits include being grateful and being humble. What this religion teacher said was that, like President Hinckley's book, he wanted his book to be for anyone of any religious persuasion. Catholics, Buddhists, Protestants, LDS Church members, etc. all can benefit from having honesty in their lives, virtue in their hearts, etc. The purpose of me mentioning my conversation with that teacher is that I want my blog to be for anyone. I plan to use LDS Scripture and a large focus on Jesus Christ to talk about these things, but I hope that anyone can benefit from this blog.

  Above: This is a picture of me while serving a mission for the LDS Church. I am re-enacting a scene from The Book of Mormon when a great prophet named King Benjamin builds a tower and preaches the gospel from on top. A tower wasn't sufficient, so I made a blog.
 Below: I am teaching spanish, which I largely learned from my mission, to two of our Church members in Nevada. They are actually related to President Hinckley who was previously mentioned.

About My Posts:
    As mentioned, I will be using LDS Scripture to discuss different aspects of life. I also plan to use movies, songs, things I hear at Church, among other things to further these discussions. Feel free to make comments. As I mentioned earlier, I'm not the smartest person in the world, so I will probably make mistakes or be a little short-sighted in some interpretations, but bear with me. It should be a fun ride!

My Testimony:
    About a month ago I watched a movie called "How Do You Know." It's definitely not my favorite film, but it was a pretty cute romantic comedy. In one part of the film, Reese Witherspoon's character is going through a hard time in life. She ends up going to a therapist, but is too skeptical and nervous to actually talk to him about her problems. She does, however, ask him a question. It's something like this: "If there's one thing you've learned in all of your experience as a therapist, which helps clients the most, what is it?" He thinks for a second and responds, "It's to know what you need and learn how to ask for it". The wording's probably off, but you get the general idea. Well, just after watching that movie a co-worker was having his last day of work there and so another co-worker was asking him all sorts of questions about his life. I was reading "Catching Fire" at the time so I didn't participate too much in the conversation. I stopped reading for a second and thought that a good question to ask him would be "If there's one thing all of your life experiences have led you to know, what would that be?" I thought good answers would be something like "Honesty really is the best policy" or "Hard work does pay off." I never asked him that question because after thinking of how good a question that would be, I wondered what the answer would be in my life. What has my life led me to know? As I thought about that question, a four word answer came to my mind: the gospel is true.

    My whole life has consisted of experiences that tell me that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. The time's where I've lived the gospel have given me so much joy that I can't deny or ignore where those blessings have come from. The times in my life that I haven't been living the gospel as much as I should've also showed me why we should indeed be living the gospel. In these cases, I've come to know that obeying the commandments of God really does bless our lives. I've been able to see the power of prayer protecting me from temptation and steering me towards a happy life path. I've learned so many life lessons from the Scriptures that I've been able to live my life better and grow more as a person. As I go to Church, I can see others who share this same testimony of the gospel. Each instance of obedience does bring blessings. I want the whole world to know Jesus really is our Savior and can help us through life's troubling times. I know Heavenly Father answers prayers. As I read the Scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon, I can feel Their love for me and Their desire to help me in life. I've come to know through prayer and following his words that President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God on earth today. What a wonderful thing to have! Knowledge that the Book of Mormon is true has deepened my gratitude and conviction that Joseph Smith really was called to be a prophet in these latter-days. I hope we can all grow in our testimonies through this blog.

Conclusion:

I'm in love with the Scriptures so I want to share what I find in them and relate them to things I find outside of the Scriptures.

I call them "The Golden Plates". These are my Scriptures!