Do you sin? Guess what?!.. SO DO I!!!!

I've blogged alot about challenges and hard times. We all have them right? We don't have them once or twice a year.. We have them ALOT...

Sometimes people think that to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints you needs be perfect. Some might think that there are to many rules, and we aren't free to do the things that we want to. How do you feel?

I can say that, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints you do not need to be perfect. When I was a teenager I thought that I had to be perfect all the time. When I was about 17 years old, I got sick and tired of it and chose to rebel. I still had a testimony of Jesus Christ, I knew that He was indeed my Savior but I just purposely did things to make others mad or do something to give someone something to talk about. I was a not so happy person.

I thought I was happy, I laughed, I smiled but deep down I was SO miserable and angry.
Now, that I am a missionary I think back on the things that I have done and said to others and I'm not proud of it at all. I have felt SO much guilt, and often thought of just giving up.
I think about how I felt back then, and how I feel now. There is a HUGE difference!
We are to remember the sins or mistakes that we have done, so that we can be reminded how it felt and not do it again. It takes a long time to heal, "healing blessings come in many ways." Remember that the Lord reveals to us our weaknesses so that we can be stronger and strive to be more and more like him. Sounds like alot of work yes? Well, I love what Elder Packer said this general conference. He said.."If someone is looking for a church that requires very little, this is not the one. It is not easy to be a Latter-day Saint, but in the long run it is the only true course." I know this comment to be true. I know that other people have had it worse than I have, but looking back on my decisions and my way of thinking was no bueno. Ya it was easier but I wasn't going anywhere in life. This gospel of Jesus Christ is the way of life! It is mine! Its one of the greatest things that I could have. I will not go back to the person I was because I see what is important. My Savior Jesus Christ is important to me. He was willing to suffer for not just me, but the WHOLE world just so we wouldn't have to. So when I make those sins and mistakes, because we ALL do, I can kneel down and ask Him to forgive me and learn from those mistakes that I made.

I don't know everything about the church of Jesus Christ, and I wont know everything here in this life. What I do know, is that it changed me to be a better person. I know this gospel does bring much happiness into peoples lives, I am a witness of this. I've seen many lives change here in California. Its been one of the greatest things that I have seen, and I feel very blessed to have witnessed these miracles. I thank my Father in Heaven for helping see the things that matter most in life. I thank Him for never leaving me, even when I was a rebellious teenager and a brat to my family. We all sin, but there is ALWAYS repentance! "..as oft as [you] repented and sought forgiveness, with real intent [you] were forgiven." (Moroni 6:8)

Remember who you are and what you stand for!