The Truth About Me

The truth about me is that I am a Powerful Creator. :)

Luvs,
Britt

How Do I Find the Truth About Me? Part Two: Patriarchal Blessings

I remember when I was living in China, I would check every morning to see if I got an email from someone in my family.  I was patiently (okay not so patiently) waiting to hear from them. Any one of them!  When I'd see I finally got one, I would be filled with happiness.  They're letters would tell of home and all that was going on in my absence, and of course encouragement! The best times were actually when I got a letter or package in the mail. Being able to rip open an envelope or a package and find the treasures inside! Some days when I just didn't know if I could make it through the day, I would be lifted by my letters and emails from home and be able to push forward and continue on my amazing journey.

Has there been a time in your life when you've felt this way?

You maybe have days where the storms and winds 

are beating down on you,

and you just don't know if you can make it 

through one more day?

For me my patriarchal blessing

is a letter from home.

I can picture my Heavenly Father

sitting at a desk with a pen and paper

writing me this letter of encouragement,

caution, protection, and inspiration.

It's a letter from the one person 

who knows me better than anyone,

in a place that is my true home.

When we are searching for 

the truth about ourselves,

we can find further answers in our 

patriarchal blessings. 

I know I've share this before, 

but here it is again: :0)

Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said,

"Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential.  

He knows things about us that we do not know ourselves."

Heavenly Father knows us

BETTER THAN WE KNOW OURSELVES!

We can discover more of what He knows about us 

as we read and study our patriarchal blessings.

There are lots of different ways to study your blessing.

Find one that works for you and study it!

Discover things about yourself that 

you never knew!

Luvz,

Meg:0)

P.S.  I'm a little bit behind with my TAM postings on my personal blog (livingincrescendo.blogspot.com),

but I am committed to catching up in the next couple of days!

How do I find the truth about me? Part One: Prayer

Hey friends! How is your Truth About Me challenge going? 

Mine has been fantastic!

It's been a good daily reminder that I'm pretty amazing!

Here are the truths about me for this week:

I am strong!

I am graceful!

I am beautiful!

I am healthy!

I am an amazing aunt!

I am adventurous!

I am perfect in my own perfect growth process!

Over the next few weeks

I'd like to share some ways

 that I've found to help me 

discover the truth about myself again.

The biggest tool and one I use the most often is

PRAYER!

 Here are some important things I've learned about prayer:

1. Be still! I have found that in order for my prayers to be effective for me, I get to be still in mind and body. For me being still in body is much easier.  I find a place where I can be without distractions around me.  I find a quiet place. I turn off my phone.  I kneel. Stilling my mind has always been more difficult for me.  My mind is always going a mile a minute.  I'm always thinking about work and how to help each of the 25-30 (next year it's about 56) children in my class.  I worry about my family and my callings.  I worry about my friends and what I can do to help them.  I think about all the little things I need to get finished before the end of the day.  It's like a hurricane inside of my head. The best way I have found to quiet my mind is to begin my prayers expressing gratitude for the blessings in my life. Then when my mind and body are still I am ready to continue my prayer.
2. Pray with a sincere heart.  Make it meaningful.  In Moroni 7:9 we read that if anyone "shall pray and not with real intent of heart..it profiteth him nothing, for God recieveth none such." We should pray "with all the energy of heart" (Moroni 7:48).  If we are repetitious when we pray, we are not going to receive the answers we are searching for.  In True to the Faith we are told to "Give serious thought to your attitude and to the words you use" (p. 119). I know that as we go to our Father in Heaven in an attitude of humility and are sincere in our prayers that he will give us the answers we seek.
3. Remember He is your father. "As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part" (Bible Dictionary, Prayer). He is our father and He desires for us to tell Him all about what we desire to know and why we desire to know it.  Tell Him your whys. Talk to Him as the loving parent who wants the best for you because He is and He does!
4. Listen! When you close your prayer, take time to listen.  So many times we rush off to get busy with something instead of listening.  We might miss out on an answer that would come if we just stopped to listen.
5. Be patient! Look at Enos.  He said, "...all day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens" (Enos 1:4). Enos eventually heard the voice of God answering his prayer, but it took time. Sometimes our prayers take time.  Maybe we have something more to learn first or there is something different we need in our lives. In the case of asking what the truth about ourselves is, maybe we aren't really ready to receive the answer.
6. Act! Sometimes not getting and answer means that we get to study it further. We get to study the scriptures, prophets, and other gospel resources. When we do receive answers, we get to act on those answers so we can receive further revelation. We get to act in our truth as we were created to be, so we may help ourselves and others to find the path the Savior intended for us to be on.

I know that as we ask Heavenly Father to show

us the truth about ourselves

that we will find it!

Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said, "Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential.  He knows things about us that we do not know ourselves.  He prompts us during our lifetime to fulfill the measure of our creation, to live a good life, and to return to His presence."

Remember to share what you are learning with us!

Luvz, 

Meg :0)

P.S. I'm still posting my truths about me

on my blog:

livingincrescendo.blogspot.com

The Truth About Me Challenge

Sometimes I laugh at how good ideas tend

to come to me while I'm at the gym.  

Today I was thinking about what I wrote

about in the last post,

and I decided to start a challenge.

The Truth About Me Challenge!

I am having quite the journey already

as I work on my new goal:

I live in my Soulful Brilliance as 

my divine self through

action,

gratitude,

holiness,

and 

LOVE!

And a big part of this journey

is in remembering the truth

I know about myself.

I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father!

He has blessed me with gifts, talents,

and divine traits that all add up to 

ME!

When I remember that Soulful Brilliance

and live as that divine being each day,

I am blessed with an amazing life

and the opportunity to love and serve others!

I am working each day at remembering

the truth about me!

Here's the Truth About Me challenge:

Every day

 (or week or couple of days...

whatever works for you)

spend some time

discovering a truth about you

and SHARE IT

with us here on the blog,

on twitter (@SoulfulBrill),

the Facebook page (Soulful Brilliance),

or on Instagram (soulfulbrill).

Use the hashtags #truthaboutme and

#soulfulbrilliance

so we can check out all of the 

amazing things we can all discover

as we work towards remembering

our SOULFUL BRILLIANCE!!!

I'm excited to hear more from you!  

Please, Please, PLEASE share what you discover!

Remember that something you share

may help someone else in their life!

I LOVE you guys!

Meg:0)

P.S.  If you want to follow my day by day

Truth About Me Challenge

read my personal blog

livingincrescendo.blogspot.com!

The Truth

Okay so I've written and rewritten this post several times.  It just hasn't come out quite like I want it to. So I'm going to skip over all the explanations of how this post came to be and just get to the juicy stuff! The Truth!

The truth is that we often get so caught up in learning so many truths of the Gospel that we don't focus on one of the greatest truths that can help us get through anything.  

The truth that we are CHILDREN OF GOD! 

In Moses  1 we read about how Heavenly Father reveals himself to Moses and shows Moses the work of his hands.  He tells Moses, "...thou art my son;...And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son..." After Moses recovers from being in the presence of God, Satan appears to tempt Moses to worship him.  Moses's first reply to Satan is "...Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?"  Moses's first defense in this storm of temptation was stating his knowledge that he was a son of God. 

I am often tempted by Satan and his followers, and I am pretty good at refusing to do the big things that would destroy my peace.  Satan knows that he can't get most of us on the big stuff at first, so he tries to get us with the little stuff.  and when does he stick us most with his lies?  Right after we have had amazing spiritual experiences and learned great spiritual truths.

One of the seemingly small things that many of us, especially women, struggle with is our feelings of self worth. I know I often listen to the lies he repeats in my limiting beliefs. 

I'm not good enough.

I'm not knowledgeable enough.

I'm a failure.

I'm not lovable.

And so many more...

I have always known that I am a daughter of God,

but sometimes I'm not feeling the truth of those words in my heart.

Because I don't feel the truth of it in my heart,

I often fall in to my old patterns of believing 

my limiting beliefs (Satan's lies)

and not doing the things that I could be doing to help others

and to grow spiritually myself.

Satan tries to turn our hearts from truth

 "that [we] become blinded and understand not 

the things which are prepared for [us]."

He especially desires to turn us from the eternal truth

that we are God's children. 

When I don't feel this truth in my heart,

I fall into darkness, depression, and loneliness.

The best weapon to fight Satan in his attack

is to learn more about the truth of

being children of God

and to take it into our hearts.

As I've thought about this I realized

that we don't need to "be a light".

We already are light!

We are God's children and 

"That which is of God is light..."(D&C 50:24-25)

When we know the truth of who we are as 

His children,

we can chase away the darkness

as we shine in our own 

soulful brilliance.

The key is to wash away all those dark limiting beliefs

and remember what the truth is about you.

The one truth we all have in common

is that we are children of God,

but there is much more to each of us individually.

What's the truth about you?

What divine attributes do you share with our Father?

What gifts and talents do you possess?

What empowering beliefs can you find

to help you remember your soulful brilliance?

I know that as we learn more about the 

truth of ourselves and rediscover our soulful brilliance

that we will be able to stand tall in the face of our storms and 

to accomplish all that we have covenanted 

with our Heavenly Father we would do.

I am choosing over the next 90 days to 

work on remembering the truth about myself

and to live in my soulful brilliance.

I will be sharing my insights here each week.

If you'd like a more day to day accounting of my journey

feel free to hop over to my personal blog

livingincrescendo.blogspot.com.

Luvz,

Meg:0)

Finding the Light at the End of the Tunnel

Hey there friends! 

It's been a while, but I'm back for a quick post!

I've finished my first draft of my book and hope to

be able to find more time to dedicate to writing here.

I've been looking back the last few days at how far I have come.

It's kind of crazy to think about where I've come from

and how different my outlook on life has changed.

Yes I still sometimes fall back into my old patterns,

but the thing about that is that now I can

recognize that I'm doing it and

if I choose I can take out some tools

to shift myself back to my new perspective.

The school year for me is winding up in the next few weeks.
I am not going to lie and tell you it has been
the most amazing year I've ever had.
I have spent a lot of time in the last 10 months
complaining and complaining a lot.
I forgot what I knew to be truth,
and instead went back to my old patterns
of eating, talking, and thinking.
Isn't that how it goes?
We're going on through life and doing well.
We've grown as much as we can.
Heavenly Father wants us to keep progressing
and knows that in order to do that
we need a new learning opportunity.

Learning opportunities come in all shapes and sizes.
For me it came in the shape
of an eight year old boy with a big heart
and no ability to control his behavior.
I don't know if he's really learned much this year,
but he has been an instrument in teaching me a lot.

One of the biggest things that I learned
was that I can't do it all by myself.
I need help from others who
have more knowledge than I do.
I get to ask for help.
Even more importantly I need my Savior's help!
And He's there just waiting for us to ask for assistance!
I truly came to see my own nothingness,
and realize on a deeper level that
there was only one way to overcome my weakness--
Grace.
I had done all I could do under my own power.
All I had left to do was take my weak humble self to the Savior
and have faith in the enabling power of the Atonement
to make up the difference.
To "make weak things become strong" (Ether 12:27).

I can't say the situation really got better with this student,
but I was strengthened to be able to handle the situation better.
I truly learned that
"I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me." (Phil. 4:13)
The Savior has enough grace and mercy and love
to make up for our weaknesses and shortcomings.
He is just waiting for us to admit to our
great need for his help.

Another small, but very important thing
I've been reminded of
is how important it is to be
grateful for all the small things.
In 1 Nephi 1:20 we read,
"...but behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance."
I know I've written about tender mercies before.
This past year I have looked more closely for them in my life.
Every night I sit down and write in my journal.
I ask myself a couple of questions (from here).
Did God send a message that was just for me?
Did I see His hand in my life?
These questions have led me to
see the small and often missed
blessings that I receive daily.
The tender mercies that are
as little notes sent daily
of God's love for me,
reminding me that He is there
and that I am a choice daughter
with a divine nature.

As I've been writing my book these last three months,
I've been reminded of some pretty amazing
experiences I've had in my life.
The other day I was thinking about darkness
and was reminded of a place I visited in China.
I wish I could remember where exactly it was,
but I didn't write it down.
Wherever it was,
my friends and I went on a tour of
a cave that went deep into a mountain.
We walked down into this cave
and saw many beautiful rocks and crystals
that you often find in caves.
We stepped into one of the larger caverns that was lit by many lights.
To show how dark caves can be,
the tour guide turned off the lights in the cavern.
We were completely surrounded by darkness.
I can't even give you a good description of it.
It was suffocating.  I literally couldn't breathe.
And then the tour guide turned on a small flashlight.
It was amazing how that small light
could light up that large space
helping us to see the beauty
that surrounded us in that room.

I think this is a great reminder of our lives.

We live in troubling times with wars, rumors of wars,

natural disasters and many other evils surrounding us.
Many times it feels as if we are
standing in a dark tunnel with not even an ounce of light.
We get so focused on things we have no control over.
The darkness surrounding us is our fears.
It is overwhelming and can be suffocating.
Many of us become depressed
and/or shut down and do nothing.
The thing we need to remember is that we
"...have not come this far save it were
by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in Him,
relying wholly upon the merits of Him
who is mighty to save" (2 Nephi 31:19).

There is a Man standing in the cave with us.
Holding a flashlight.
He's just waiting for us to humble ourselves and
ask in faith for Him to shine light on our path.
Then He will deliver us from the darkness.

"...behold, he did deliver them because they did humble themselves before him; and because they cried mightily unto him he did deliver them out of bondage; and thus doth the Lord work with his power in ALL cases among the children of me, extending the arm of mercy towards them that put their trust in him" (Mosiah 29:20).


I know that as we humble ourselves
and place our lives in His hands,
we will be led by His light during
the dark times of our lives
and we will find happiness, peace
and Love as we have faith.

Luvz,
Meg :0)

A Piece of the Divine

Recently I was teaching a temple preparation class and a girl visiting for the day asked what I do when I am doing everything right in my life, but I still feel unworthy of holding a temple recommend.  We preceded to have a great conversation about worthiness and the value of a person as an individual.  The conversation moved on to the lesson, but I still felt like there was something more that I could have said.  It was like there was something just out of reach in my mind that I could share.  Of course more came to me as I got home. I often wish my brain worked faster on the fly, but as I started getting more inspiration flowing through my brain, I knew that it was inspiration just for me.  I'd like to share it with you today, and maybe somehow that sister who was visiting will read this and be reminded of her true value and worth.

I grew up being taught that I was a daughter of God, and in my mind I always have known it, but understanding it with my heart has come more over time. As a child I just knew that Heavenly Father loved me and would answer my prayers.  As I grew I built a wall with my limiting beliefs that kept me from living in my Soulful Brilliance, and it grew more difficult to always feel that love. Luckily, with each new trial or mistake I am reminded of His love for me and that I truly am a daughter of a divine Father in Heaven. 

I recall a time about 11 years ago, I was walking down the crowded street of Zhengzhou, Henan, China.  It was night time and all around me were crowds of people shopping at a market.  The streets were wall-to-wall (or perhaps sidewalk-to-sidewalk:0) with people.  It was noisy with music and merchants selling their wares.  I was just enthralled with how many people were just on this one street.  I thought about how much Heavenly Father loved all of these people.  Then an amazing feeling of love and peace washed over me.  I knew that not only does He love all of the billions of people that have lived, are living, or will live on the Earth, but He loves me personally, and He knows me intimately. He rejoices when I have success, and He sorrows when I'm struggling. He is my Father.  He created me and loves me as only He can love.  It was an amazing moment that I have never completely forgotten. 

After that experience, I still struggled to fully remember that love and knowing with my heart and my mind that I am a beloved daughter of Heavenly Father.  I doubted myself, my choices, and my true worth.

How many of us feel that every day?  When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see all the things you hate about your body and yourself?  Or do you see the amazing BRILLIANT woman who was created by a loving Heavenly Father? Today we live in a world that judges a person by what they look like on the outside. Many of us compare ourselves to what the world considers "perfect." We go about our lives always comparing ourselves to others and always feeling like we've come up short. What if we stopped comparing ourselves to others, and started seeing ourselves as we truly are? 

Who are we? We are daughters of a Heavenly Father who loves us! 

Before we came here to our mortal life, we were create as spirit daughters of a Heavenly Father and Mother.  We were create in their image.  We were created unique from any other spirit. We were created with a Soulful Brilliance! As we lived in our premortal life, we "developed [our] identity and increased [our] spiritual capabilities" (True to the Faith, 116).  We were also blessed with the amazing gift of agency.  We were able to use that gift to make important decisions like following our Heavenly Father's plan to come down to earth and receive a body. 

In Abraham 3:22-23 it says, "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intellegences that were organized before the world was; and among these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born." That was us, the noble and great ones! God foreordained each of us for a special mission here on earth. He has "called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim. 1:9). As we make righteous choices, follow the Lord's will, and remember our Soulful Brilliance, He will reveal to us that mission, one piece at a time.  

Remembering that we are daughters of God, is the one of the most important things to help us on our way.  Because He as a divine being created us, we also have a piece of the divine in us, a divine DNA.  We are capable of so much if we just allow ourselves to be the amazing women we were created to be.  

What stops us from accomplishing the important tasks that we covenanted with our Father we would do?  

Hold your hands in front of you and picture yourself holding a ball of light.  Picture what color it is and how it feels in your hand.  This ball is you.  It's your Soulful Brilliance. It is a ball of power, a ball of love, a ball of all the wisdom you have gained both in your premortal life and your life here on earth.  We came here to earth as babies with this Soulful Brilliance, this radiant light.  It is who we truly are inside. It is always there, a part of us. We've always been worth more than rubies.  We are priceless. 

As we start growing and progressing through life, we go through trials and other learning experiences and we create beliefs about ourselves, others and the world around us.  Sometimes these beliefs are empowering, but many times they become limiting.  These limiting beliefs are like a layer of darkness that covers our brilliance, our greatness. Each limiting belief creates a new layer, obscuring the light of our true selves.  We begin to doubt our worth and our talents.  We begin comparing ourselves to others and seeing imperfection. We don't see our true potential in life.

It is only through the Savior's Atonement that we can begin to break through those layers of fear and doubt and again see our soulful brilliance and find the life that our Heavenly Father intends for us to have. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf once said, "Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential.  He knows things about us that we do not know ourselves.  He prompts us during our lifetime to fulfill the measure of our creation, to live a good life, and to return to His presence." I truly believe that our loving Heavenly Father sends us personal revelation to guide us to live our best lives.  We just have to be in a place in our lives where we can listen to the whisperings of the Spirit.

This week I would like to invite you to really think about your Soulful Brilliance. Pray for His help to see it!  You are one of the 'noble and great ones' that was there in the Council in Heaven. Put your hands over your heart and close your eyes.  Feel your heart beating.  You are a daughter of a Heavenly Father who loves you as only He can love. He created you to succeed gloriously! 

Study

What do the scriptures say about being children of God?

What do they say about our divine nature?

What have we been told in General Conferences?

Ponder

If Heavenly Father were sitting next to you and you asked Him what the truth is about you, 

what would He tell you?

If you have your Patriarchal Blessing, it would be a great thing to look at.

It is like a letter from Heavenly Father reminding us

of our Soulful Brilliance and many other important things.

Record

Remember to record your thoughts in your journal,

and listen for further revelation.

I know with my whole heart that each of us is priceless!  Our value never changes. We have been sent here to earth with an amazing brilliance.  I know that if we live being that radiant person we were created to be, Heavenly Father will bless us to find the next steps in our journey. I feel like I kind of got off track from where I started, so returning to the topic of feeling worthy when we're doing all we need to be doing to live a righteous life, I'd like to leave you with one of my favorite quotes about the importance of temple work and being worth by Elder Boyd K. Packer:

 "When you come to the temple and receive your endowment, and kneel at the altar and be sealed, you can live an ordinary life and be an ordinary soul--struggling against temptation, failing and repenting, and failing again and repenting, but always determined to keep your covenants... Then the day will come when you will receive the benediction: 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord' (Matthew 25:21)."

I can't wait to share more with you later about all the thoughts running through my head!  Heavenly Father loves us and truly wants us to succeed in life! 

Luvz,

Meg:0)

Please remember to share your thoughts either here on the blog or on our Facebook page! Thanks! :0)