How do you think you would feel if you had Jesus Christ physically in your midst, praying for you, teaching you, and blessing you? It would be indescribable!  I love in 3 Nephi 17:17 how the people hear Christ praying for them "unto the Father".  In chapter 18 Christ teaches us that we must be an example for those around us ALWAYS just as he was. "Therefore, hold up your ^alight that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the ^blight which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed" (3 Nephi 18:24). The Savior loves us sooo much and he showed us and has continued to show us over and over again. I love what he says in verse 31; "But if he repent not he shall not be numbered among my people, that he may not destroy my people, for behold I ^aknow ^bmy sheep, and they are numbered" (3 Nephi 18:31). I love the Book of Mormon!

Never go through the days saying, 'Oh tomorrow I'll change'. Never slacken your strength and zeal because you feel secure or think, 'Someone else will pick up the slack'. This is how your week, months, and years go by piling high with regret. Regret is not a happy thing; its so full of would have, should have, could have dones.
Change today. Put your mind forward instead of in the past. Luke 9:62. Repent of those times you've slackened your strength, faith, or desire. Repentance=Change. Change=Progress. Progress=Eternity. Move forward each day. Do all you can to reach your divine potential.
Live and learn. Learn from your mistakes and others around you. Act and do not wait to be acted upon.
Today I felt like sharing something a little different. These are just some thoughts that have been on my mind lately and something I needed to share today. Always remember God loves you. He knows your name, because, well, He named you. Your Savior is always by your side just waiting for you to trust in Him and allow Him to feel/take your burdens and pain. I know God loves us. I know He lives and I know His plan-the Plan of Salvation was made in favor of us. He wants so desperately to have us return to Him but he also loves us so much that He allows us to choose what path we follow. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I know the fullness of that Gospel is found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love this work and I leave these things with you in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all and I hope you have an amazing day where ever you may be!

3 Nephi 8&9 The coming of Christ to the ancient Americas! Chapter 8 is full of the destruction of the people. The people (as usual) failed to heed the warnings of the prophets to repent and thus many people were destroyed. "And in one place they were heard to cry, saying: O that we had repented ^abefore this great and terrible day, and then would our brethren have been spared...And in another place they were heard to cry and mourn, saying: O that we had repented before this great and terrible day, and had not killed and stoned the prophets, and cast them out;...And thus were the howlings of the people great and terrible" (3 Nephi 8:24-25). What is it that we are procrastinating and leaving for that 'great and terrible day'? What ever it is STOP. Change and repent NOW so when that day comes instead of bemoaning your fate you can rejoice and praise God. To go along with that in 3 Nephi 9:2 it says "Wo, wo, wo unto this people; wo unto the inhabitants of the whole earth except they shall ^arepent; for the devil ^blaugheth, and his angels rejoice, because of the slain of the fair sons and daughters of my people; and it is because of their iniquity and abominations that they are fallen!" Instead of allowing Satan the 'pleasure' if you will, to rejoice in our down fall let Satan and his followers be the ones crying and moaning while we rejoice in our God. But this can only be if we use the Atonement daily and come unto our Savior "with full purpose of heart" (Jacob 6:5).
I love the scriptures! and I absolutely love being able to share that with everyone around me! If you are having a bad, hard, or not so awesome day turn to the scriptures and allow the words of our Heavenly Father to give you comfort, peace, and strength.

Man! I'm falling behind again! Here are some of my thoughts from studying this last week...
3 Nephi 2:1-2 "And it came to pass that thus passed away the ninety and fifth year also, and the people began to forget those ^asigns and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen—

 ^aImagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and ^bdeceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a ^cfoolish and a vain thing."

Why do we forget so easily the mighty power of the Lord especially when we too have seen "signs and wonders"? Why do we insist on pushing aside the miracles from the Lord when we've read/heard and even seen the consequences of doing so? Just as they did then, we too try not to recognize the miracles in our lives and pass them off as nothing more then mere coincidence or happenstance. We must recognize the Lord's hand in our lives. We cannot go through this life and succeed without proper and due credit to the Lord.
Recognize the miracles and wonders the Lord puts in our paths everyday. He will bless us with more and more as we let Him know that we have noticed, we do appreciate them, and that we know He is God.

In the next chapter Giddianhi the leader of the Gadianton Robbers attempts to bring the Nephites down to his level by making the Nephites strong/good values seem as a weakness and what will lead to their downfall;  "Therefore I have written this epistle, sealing it with mine own hand, feeling for your welfare, because of your firmness in that which ye believe to be right, and your noble spirit in the field of battle" (3 Nephi 3:5). Just as the world today would rather recognize man than God they also look down on the once (and really forever) qualities of integrity and goodness. The Nephites were mocked because of their "firmness in that which [they] believed to be right...". We must not let satan turn the things of God against us. We must remember the good and follow it despite what the world says. We "must fortify [oursleves] against [our] enemies" (3 Nephi 3:25).

Here are some very late comments on my studies of the end of Alma! Have I said that I love this book yet?!?! :D
In Alma 59:9 "And now as Moroni had supposed that there ^ashould be men sent to the city of Nephihah, to the assistance of the people to maintain that city, and knowing that it was easier to keep the city from falling into the hands of the Lamanites than to retake it from them, he supposed that they would easily maintain that city" (italics added).  When I read this I thought of how much easier it is to follow the commandments and be obedient than it is to fall and have to repent and work our way back to the top. I don't remember who said it but someone said 'its easier to be 100% obedient than 90% obedient' or something to that effect.
Another chapter I really like was Alma 62:40-41 (vs. 41) "But behold, because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened, because of the exceedingly great length of the war; and many were softened because of their ^aafflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility." How do we take our 'afflictions' do we just kind of roll with the punches? Do we take them with bitterness and become even more bitter after each trial or do we live and learn with a humble heart and positive attitude. I'd like to say I'm always the humble type learning from all of my experiences and being grateful for them but...that is something I could definitely work on. Sometimes I think its hard to stay positive during the trying times and we forget that everything we go through is for our good and learning. I hope we can all strive to learn from our challenges and become better and stronger because of them. Let us be like those who "were softened because of their afflictions" and let us humble ourselves before God. Though I may not appreciate my trials at the time they happened I can now say that I am so grateful for the experiences I have had in my life and for the opportunities Heavenly Father has given me to become a stronger, better disciple, and daughter of God.