Here's some more text for my Practicum final. It's a testimony of all my topics! I wish that I could go into more detail on each and every one of these. Enjoy!
Family-
I know that the family is ordained of God. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ had a plan from the beginning for everyone to gain a body and be able to multiple and replenish the earth so that we could have joy. It's really wonderful that Heavenly Father has given us that experience. And it's so wonderful that we have the opportunity to be apart of that plan. I know that families can be together forever. The veil can not stop us from being spiritually together. Our family members can always be with us if we are living righteously.
I know that the family is ordained of God. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ had a plan from the beginning for everyone to gain a body and be able to multiple and replenish the earth so that we could have joy. It's really wonderful that Heavenly Father has given us that experience. And it's so wonderful that we have the opportunity to be apart of that plan. I know that families can be together forever. The veil can not stop us from being spiritually together. Our family members can always be with us if we are living righteously.
Agency-
I know how important agency is in God's plan. I know that Heavenly Father respects everyone's agency. And we should too. Heavenly Father is the only judge for agency. Agency is a gift from God. We are so lucky to be given it on earth and to be able to use it. Adam and Eve weren't originally not going to be able to have it. Satan used to have agency and technically he still kind of does but he abused that power and now he doesn't have what we are all so lucky to have which is a body and an earthly experience.
Atonement of Jesus Christ-
I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. He did actually suffer for all of our sins and did actually become what the Father wanted Him to be. He did actually suffer in the garden of Gethsemane and He did actually die on the cross. He did actually rise from the grave three days later and He did overcome death. He is the Savior of the world, the Savior for us all. He did do all of these things so that we could come and live with Him and our Father in Heaven again like we did before we left for this earth. He wants us to become perfect and He wants for us to become like Him.
Addiction-
Addiction is a horrible thing. Really an addiction to anything is horrible. But it can be overcome through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Whatever that may be. Pornography, sugar, masturbation, alcohol, weed, hard drugs, anything. Let Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer take the wheel and He will help you. With a bit of prayer from God to have a determination to overcome this addiction and using your agency and gut to do so you can overcome this addiction! A growth mindset also really helps in this case. A fixed mindset will never help you to be able to get to where you need to with addiction.
LGBTQIA+-
I know that Heavenly Father had this challenge come at this time for us to be more kind hearted. There's a very popular Taylor Swift song where in the middle of it as a diss to her ex she says, "So go ahead and tell all of your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy that's fine I'll tell mine that you're gay"-Picture to Burn, Taylor Swift. This really goes to show how different things have changed within the past eighteen years. Now, I'm pretty positive that there's either no way that she's going to sing this song at one of her concerts or like she already has has changed the lyrics so that those who are gay don't feel bad.
Loving Your Enemies-
We need to love our enemies. As it was mentioned so much during the past General Conference, it's extremely important to control our angry and to ask God for help to love our enemies. In my opinion it is important to identify who the true enemy is. There are people who we strongly disagree with and probably would prefer not talking to but if you think deeply enough about it, nobody is really our enemy. The real and only enemy are Satan and his followers. Everybody else isn't really our enemy unless they have been educated enough and are deliberately choosing not to follow Christ. If they haven't been educated enough, they are not an enemy. They are a friend who just needs love. Even those who are educated need love.
Dare to Stand Alone-
I know how important it is to stand alone even if you're the only one standing alone. There was one time when I was in high school where I ended up deciding not to watch a certain movie because it was rated R. I went upstairs and a fellow student of mine went upstairs as well. The mom asked us why we weren't watching the movie downstairs and we told her it was because it was rated R. She instantly went downstairs to turn the movie off and we switched it to a different one. That taught me a very important lesson to always stand up for your beliefs even when it's difficult.
Law of Chasity-
The law of Chasity is extremely important. Especially in these past couple of years, I've been really struggling whither or not to sell my eggs for money. Simply because I'm not married yet and I felt like for the longest time that it would be a financial waste to not do it. I'm already twenty-five so what would be the point of having more useless periods if I have a pretty good idea that I'm not going to get married? I know that the church discourages it but I didn't really realize how much so until studying some of the quotes in the law of Chasity. Our God given sperm and eggs are divinely appointed to us. They have the potential to become our future children. Even if I were to donate an egg (or eggs) and to never have become pregnant, it would still be just as bad as having sex because in a sense, it is technically, to God, my child.
I know how important agency is in God's plan. I know that Heavenly Father respects everyone's agency. And we should too. Heavenly Father is the only judge for agency. Agency is a gift from God. We are so lucky to be given it on earth and to be able to use it. Adam and Eve weren't originally not going to be able to have it. Satan used to have agency and technically he still kind of does but he abused that power and now he doesn't have what we are all so lucky to have which is a body and an earthly experience.
Atonement of Jesus Christ-
I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. He did actually suffer for all of our sins and did actually become what the Father wanted Him to be. He did actually suffer in the garden of Gethsemane and He did actually die on the cross. He did actually rise from the grave three days later and He did overcome death. He is the Savior of the world, the Savior for us all. He did do all of these things so that we could come and live with Him and our Father in Heaven again like we did before we left for this earth. He wants us to become perfect and He wants for us to become like Him.
Addiction-
Addiction is a horrible thing. Really an addiction to anything is horrible. But it can be overcome through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Whatever that may be. Pornography, sugar, masturbation, alcohol, weed, hard drugs, anything. Let Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer take the wheel and He will help you. With a bit of prayer from God to have a determination to overcome this addiction and using your agency and gut to do so you can overcome this addiction! A growth mindset also really helps in this case. A fixed mindset will never help you to be able to get to where you need to with addiction.
LGBTQIA+-
I know that Heavenly Father had this challenge come at this time for us to be more kind hearted. There's a very popular Taylor Swift song where in the middle of it as a diss to her ex she says, "So go ahead and tell all of your friends that I'm obsessive and crazy that's fine I'll tell mine that you're gay"-Picture to Burn, Taylor Swift. This really goes to show how different things have changed within the past eighteen years. Now, I'm pretty positive that there's either no way that she's going to sing this song at one of her concerts or like she already has has changed the lyrics so that those who are gay don't feel bad.
Loving Your Enemies-
We need to love our enemies. As it was mentioned so much during the past General Conference, it's extremely important to control our angry and to ask God for help to love our enemies. In my opinion it is important to identify who the true enemy is. There are people who we strongly disagree with and probably would prefer not talking to but if you think deeply enough about it, nobody is really our enemy. The real and only enemy are Satan and his followers. Everybody else isn't really our enemy unless they have been educated enough and are deliberately choosing not to follow Christ. If they haven't been educated enough, they are not an enemy. They are a friend who just needs love. Even those who are educated need love.
Dare to Stand Alone-
I know how important it is to stand alone even if you're the only one standing alone. There was one time when I was in high school where I ended up deciding not to watch a certain movie because it was rated R. I went upstairs and a fellow student of mine went upstairs as well. The mom asked us why we weren't watching the movie downstairs and we told her it was because it was rated R. She instantly went downstairs to turn the movie off and we switched it to a different one. That taught me a very important lesson to always stand up for your beliefs even when it's difficult.
Law of Chasity-
The law of Chasity is extremely important. Especially in these past couple of years, I've been really struggling whither or not to sell my eggs for money. Simply because I'm not married yet and I felt like for the longest time that it would be a financial waste to not do it. I'm already twenty-five so what would be the point of having more useless periods if I have a pretty good idea that I'm not going to get married? I know that the church discourages it but I didn't really realize how much so until studying some of the quotes in the law of Chasity. Our God given sperm and eggs are divinely appointed to us. They have the potential to become our future children. Even if I were to donate an egg (or eggs) and to never have become pregnant, it would still be just as bad as having sex because in a sense, it is technically, to God, my child.