Reality Check

This week I had a reality check.

As missionaries we go door to door talking about Christ.

By doing this we see some crazy things.

Some crazy amazing and others crazy scary.

Why then do we keep doing this?

Why do we keep asking and trying?

Because after this week I know with out a doubt that people do not need  crazy scary in their lives.

We do not need to linger in that darkness.

We Must seek the light.

and yes I said must

Meaning something that is set in stone.

Why? 

Well, here is some Sister Borchardt logic.

stone is rock

The Rock is Christ

When we build on Christ we cannot fall

Helaman 5:12

 "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Build your foundation where you can't fall. 

Caroling Miracle

 

For Christmas Eve and Christmas the Sister Missionaries in our area went caroling.

The four of us went out singing Christmas hymns and we were invited into many homes!

We shared scriptures about our Saviors Birth from the Bible and the Book of Mormon.

Last night as we were caroling we ended up at a door where no one was answering. 

 

As we were about to stop singing the neighbor opened her door and rushed out.

We asked her if she had a favorite hymn, she answered with "Silent Night."

 

As we started singing a wonderful feeling of light and love surrounded us. 

This woman had tears streaming down her face.

After we finished the song she said "God sent me four angels tonight."

 

She hugged us, we wished her Merry Christmas, and as we were walking away we felt as if WE were the ones visited by an angel.

 

My companion Sister Steadman then said "Now, That is our purpose."

 Our purpose as missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ.

 I know last night everyone in that circle of song felt a little closer to Him.

 

John 8:12

 

"Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."

How do we show our love for God?

How do we show our love for God? 

Why do we need to show Him our love?

"God loves everybody" is a true true true statement.

The worth of all souls is great in His sight.

He also says:

" I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."

in other words 

If we do good the Lord is BOUND to bless us.

If we do bad He still loves us but He doesn't have to bless us.

It all comes down to the question.

Do we love God enough to do what he asks of us?

He says if ye love me keep my commandments.

If we love Him we want to obey Him

we want to follow His words

we want to make the best choices

we want to follow His example

we want to make promises with Him 

We want these things because we want to live with our loving Heavenly Father again.

He sent us to this Earth so we can learn and grow.

We can show God our love for Him by making good choices and by obeying His commandments.

I dont claim to be perfect but I do try to find the best choices God has in store for me.

I know He can make more with my life than I could ever do on my own.

All he asks us to do is to follow him and show Him we love him.

Does God answer prayer?

In life there are always so many things I just want to know!

There are so many questions I want to ask and so many things I just want to understand.

My guess is I am not alone in these desires :) 

I am sure everyone who ever lived wanted to know something sometime ;)

The point of this post is that God wants us to receive answers to these deep desires.

why?
Because He loves us :)

There is a young man in the Book of Mormon named Nephi.

His Father is a Prophet and God reveals many marvelous things to him.

Nephi (the son) wants to know the deeper meaning of the things his father is telling him.

So, what does he do? 

He kneels down to pray and asks God his questions.

This is where most of us stop and say

"Wait a second! God does not answer my questions! I totally tried once!" 

(cough talking from experience cough)

Luckily I kept reading and this is what I found.

Nephi asked God his questions expecting an answer.

Guess what happens next??

God asks Nephi "What desirest thou?"

Aka He asks Nephi to be specific.

We cant just go to God saying:

"Help me! Help me! Help me!" 

Because He is probably saying 

"I would love to! When and how?"
Or if we go to Him saying
"I want to know!"
He is probably saying
"Great! What do you want to know?"
The Book of Mormon chapter I am quoting is 1 Nephi 11 
In the end of this chapter Nephi receives his answer.
 He also receives an undeniable witness that Jesus is the Christ the  Son of God born to Mary.
I am sure that answer was more than He expected.
When we ask specific questions believing we will receive God will not only answer us but He will do it in a way that we cant imagine.
God knows us perfectly.
He knows what we need before we ask.
Please let us ask.

(God knew I needed to meet this woman plus we have the same birthday!)

Keeping Promises

The purpose of the Lord is for us to know Joy.

He wants us to find joy because He is our loving Father in Heaven.

He wants us to think above the line and come unto Him.

He knows our sorrows, joys and deepest desires.

Coming to know Him is believing Him when He says He can make your burdens light.

Isaiah 55: 8-12

 8 ¶For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

 11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

 12 For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

The Lord keeps His promices.

Will you?

House of the Lord

The Temple is the House of the Lord on the earth today.

"In both ancient and modern times, the covenant people of the Lord have built temples. These temples are sacred structures dedicated to the Lord where ordinances are performed that are binding on earth and beyond the grave" - a History of Temples lds.org

On my mission I have been able to visit two beautiful Temples!

Here are some pictures!

for more information on these beautiful buildings visit http://www.lds.org/church/temples 

Happiness or Joy?

In a recent letter from my Dad he closed with the well known phrase 

(well known in my family at least)

"Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!"

This made me smile and think 

" Yeah, yeah. I know.. be happy. Got it Dad."

But I was missing a good 50% of what he was trying to tell me.

Joy

This week I learned the difference between happiness and joy.

I have always been guilty of the thought 

"I will be happy when..." 

and then I would wait for the dot dot dot.

Now I am serving a mission, living my dream and for a moment I had the thought 

"Ok... now what?" 

Silly Sister Borchardt! The "now what" is to find joy.

Happiness is fleeting,

(I realized that when the newness of being a missionary wore off)

but Joy is Full and Lasting.

Joy is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and doing what He would do

  2 Nephi 2:25

"Adam fell that men might be and men are, that they might have joy."

Finding joy is all apart of the plan.

" Joy to the world, the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King!"

and sing 

and sing 

and sing 

and sing  

His Mother and Mine

God is not random in the Mothers He gives us.

Christ had the perfect Mother.

Her life seen by those around her was far from perfect

she was a young unmarried pregnant girl

I am sure that was not the life she had picked out for herself

Yet She was not Ashamed

She knew the Divinity of her Son

she could not and would not deny it

nor would she want to

Luke 2:19 

"19 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart."

Her experiences although unexpected were so important to her she held them close to her heart 

She wouldn't trade them for anything.

Her blessings were far grater than anything she would have chosen on her own.

Last night I received a letter from my mom that touched my heart 

a small clip of what she said was:

"I am thankful for you and all you have done and all you are doing. You are having an authentic life full of wonderful experiences."

Mary may have been mocked and may still be mocked but I am grateful for her example. I am also grateful for my own mother who is there to teach me how to love life even when it doesn't go the way I wanted it to. 

The outcome of Mary's seemingly unideal circumstances brought forth the Birth of our Savior. 

my Mission President wrote:

"I am convinced that as we look back and see the canvas of our life, the brush strokes that appeared to be random at the time, will come together in a most exquisite portrait of an eternal child of God."

 

Are we willing to follow the example of this mother and Her Perfect Son, Even the Son of God?

Mark 8:35-37

 "35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.

 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

 (I really do love my mother)

Washington Vancouver!

Being a Missionary is hard work.

The first thing my mission President said to me when I got here was "buckle up!"  and boy was he right. 

we walk everywhere

carry everything

 talk to everyone

rain or shine

we are up and out every day

and 

I love it. 

I know that The Savior of the world had a lot farther to walk

a lot more to carry

more people to love

 harsher storms to weather

and

He got up and went out every day
His work is a work of pure love

no one would last on a Mission like His without That kind of love.

I have felt of His love personally and deeply

as I try to walk where he walked

through rain and cold

through love and rejection

and everything in between

I know my mission is small in comparison to His 

but I am loving it all the same

My mission is to let the world know of Him.

our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

He lives and His mission is just as real as mine if not more so.

Portland Temple