No Unhallowed Hand Can Stop This Work from Progressing

I just had the great opportunity of finishing Elder Bednar's talk, "To Sweep the Earth As With a Flood." That was amazing. elder Bednar is bold and loving, and speaks with credibility and clarity and bold testimony.

In answer to a question given on our second day of class, Elder Bednar's talk applies to me and to this class.

We have an amazing opportunity to fill the world with simple messages of truth and righteousness---including in our blogs. I hope we all get to continue them and use them in the future. I learned a lot from Elder Bednar's talk and felt the spirit. Aside from being inspired to share goodness throughout the world and use these technological tools Heavenly Father has given us, I also learned from Elder Bednar's presentation. He had an amazing and wonderful way of presenting lots of good information. I like the way he talks. It's bold and direct and confident and shameless. His visual presentations were nice and attractive and not overwhelming. I hope I can follow Elder Bednar's example in his instruction and in his example.

Standards

Hey, friends! Something that has kind of been on my mind---especially since returning from my mission---is the standards in "For the Strength of Youth." I often heard it said when I was growing up and even since my mission that those standards still apply. I see, however, opposition among people my age to those standards at least do a degree. What do you think? Do the standards in "For the Strength of Youth" still apply to us as adults in college? If so, why are there inconsistencies often observed around us? If not, do we have a similar, simple set of standards that apply more to our age group to which we ought to be adhering?

Happiness

Happiness! What a great thing! I know that we are truly to be happy. Over the years, I've learned ways to be happy. I've learned a great lesson recently---that is to be happy not based on something else or someone else. I know that is possible through Jesus Christ and His teachings. It is amazing how profound an effect our motives have. I've noticed recently that I can serve in essentially everything I do. Doing the dishes for the sake of getting things clean and not having it be so chaotic is one thing---it can totally change when you are cleaning for someone else. I definitely believe that happiness is so important to have. A happy person can do so much and help so profoundly---sometimes it can be challenging. I hope that I can look more to others and how I can help relieve their burdens and help them to be happy. Here are some words from a couple of servants of God concerning happiness. I hope to add to this post.

So to be happy and to avoid misery, we must have a grateful heart. We have seen in our lives the connection between gratitude and happiness. All of us would like to feel gratitude, yet it is not easy to be consistently grateful in all things in the trials of life. Sickness, disappointment, and the loss of people we love come at times in our lives. Our sorrows can make it hard to see our blessings and to appreciate the blessings God has in store for us in the future.

It is a challenge to count our blessings because we have a tendency to take good things for granted. When we lose a roof over our heads, food to eat, or the warmth of friends and family, we realize how grateful we should have been when we had them.

Most of all, sometimes it is hard for us to be sufficiently grateful for the greatest gifts we receive: the birth of Jesus Christ, His Atonement, the promise of resurrection, the opportunity to enjoy eternal life with our families, the Restoration of the gospel with the priesthood and its keys. Only with the help of the Holy Ghost can we begin to feel what those blessings mean for us and for those we love. And only then can we hope to be thankful in all things and avoid the offense to God of ingratitude.

We must ask in prayer that God, by the power of the Holy Ghost, will help us see our blessings clearly even in the midst of our trials. He can help us by the power of the Spirit to recognize and be grateful for blessings we take for granted. What has helped me the most is to ask God in prayer, “Wouldst Thou please direct me to someone I can help for Thee?” It is in helping God bless others that I have seen my own blessings more closely.

(President Henry B. Eyring, "The Choice to Be Grateful," First Presidency Message, December 2011)


These are profound words. As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness.

(President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happiness, Your Heritage," General Conference, October 2008)


I hope you are happy, and, if you are not, I hope you will become happy soon!

Summertime!

Summertime! What a glorious time in life! The great thing about right now is that it's summertime and there's still plenty of summer left!

I feel so amazingly blessed this summer---including to have been involved in two classes at BYU this summer term and to have learned so much

My sister being here at BYU has probably been one of the biggest blessings I've received this summer. She is so sweet and nice, and I feel our relationship has grown a lot even in these past six weeks or so. She is an amazing example of being a friend and being involved. She's already gotten involved with BYUSA, the sort of student government association at BYU. She's gotten me lunch multiple times and has shared with me a lot of cool experiences, in her life. I'm really grateful for her.

Another huge blessing is my roommate and brother, Spencer Hughes, who has been an example to me of courage, creativity, fun, and dedication to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has become a medical marvel in pressing forward with experimental surgery and other treatment to help his ankle heal. Not too long ago, he was in a pretty severe accident where his foot came like halfway off his leg after slipping off a rock wall. He has made huge progress, including experiencing a revival of his left talus bone. He told me this was like a one in 10,000 chance, according to one or more medical professionals. Spencer is an example for many and has helped me learn so much in the past eleven months or so.

I have been so blessed to have experienced a couple family reunions in the past month. I love my family---all of the Anderson and Bastian side. I have had a lot of cool experiences with them just this summer that I hope to always keep in my heart. The Anderson clan to me has been a symbol of hard work, cheer, and faithfulness to God. The Bastian side has emulated a sense of fun and creativity and tradition that I am grateful to have gained in my life.

One of the most powerful experiences I've had recently is realizing that I shouldn't let something else or someone else decide how happy I am. If I truly believe in Jesus Christ, I ought to be happy all the time regardless of my situation. I feel like a happy, positive, optimistic soul can do so much good in the world. At the same time, a negative, pessimistic, angry, self-pitying person can cause so much detriment to the world. My friend, Olivia, has been such a huge example to me of being so positive and so happy and so energetic. If it weren't for her, I know that I would not have discovered the truth and power of being happy as much as I have recently. She is an amazing example and person, and I hope to keep this lesson for life and onward.

The summer is bright and full of opportunity! I hope all of you get to have amazing experiences in the next couple of months while the weather is warm in the northwest and the sun is shining bright. The nice and amazing and miraculous thing is that the sun will always be shining bright---and even if it won't, the Son will.

Evidence for My Grade

Based on the following evidence of me not being very prepared for class (including not having read the texts before class), not turning in at least one or two complete assignments, participating fairly well in class, doing a fairly thorough job of reviewing others' work, turning in completed assignments, and taking hours working on assignments outside of class, I feel I deserve a B in the class.

When I View a Formal Presentation . . .

When I view a formal presentation, I expect that it will be prepared, that the presenters will look nice and at least somewhat formal, that the visual effects will be pleasing to the eye and organized, and that the presentation will sound and feel prepared because I feel like the presenters would have had to have gone through enough preparation to get approval from someone else or a group of people-- including in persuading an audience to their argument-- and to give the information due justice (unless the information is very disagreeable). Also, lose the excuses-- like someone said in class, at the beginning or anywhere in your presentation don't make an excuse of why your presentation may not be very good. In the end, I suppose it is about the argument and being persuasive and honoring your subject material and your listeners. Even if someone weren't doing a presentation for work or a grade, I would still feel that they should give a persuasive argument doing the things mentioned above. Why else take the time to prepare and present?

The Blessing of Others and Their Feedback

One thing that I have noticed recently that has really been a blessing in my life is getting feedback from other people. Before this summer, I didn't have a sibling here at BYU for two or three years. This summer, though, my sister started her first term at BYU! It has been great to have her here. I've realized how much my sister can help me in my life even in just talking with me. I've also seen how much of a better brother I can be. Throughout my career at BYU, I've tended to be pretty independent. I love other people, but for some reason I tend to kind of go it alone in a lot of respects. I've become really close with my roommate, this school year. He has been such a blessing, and it's been awesome to find so many similarities between us. I've realized, though, how much of a better roommate I can be.

I feel like I'm realizing more and more that life is better with other people---even if I don't feel like being with others or think that that will have a benefit in my life. There seems to be a magic in interacting with other people that blesses my life. One thing that I have valued recently is getting others' feedback and having conversations with them that involves me asking for their thoughts on something. I had a really great experience with my sister, this past weekend. I was so grateful for her feedback and that she listened to me so well. I hope I can be so much more for her and the rest of my family and my friends. I want so very much to be a help and a blessing in their lives. Being with friends and having friends with whom I can talk and relate has been such a blessing. I am so grateful for those who take the time to talk with me and be with me. It has been a blessing to hear from them and gain insights from them. I look forward to learning more and more from those around me---truly it is priceless to have others around us. We cannot do it alone.