Why Are You Crying? (MTC Week 2)

It's been two weeks and it feels as if Emily just left for the MTC but it also feels as if she's been gone forever.  Here are some excerpts from the two emails she sent this week as well as a glimpse of her life in the MTC through pictures. Enjoy!

Hey Mom! I love getting your emails! They make my days so much better! It also makes them easier because I feel like I'm not missing out as much and that way I kind of know what is going on.  Congrats on losing 8 pounds in only two weeks!! That is awesome. How is dad doing in the challenge? 

I like that you said working to bring others to come unto Christ will make us happy and bring us joy because I feel that every single day!! We have people that we teach here and every time Sister Greenall and I come out of a lesson we are basically jumping for joy and just so excited and can't stop talking about Christ and teaching and commitments and all of that good stuff. It's kind of crazy how my priorities have changed after just two weeks of being in the MTC. I know what really matters. I hope the rest of the girls go on missions because wow it is awesome and they should totally do it. 

Look at those trousers :) 

I like that you guys are playing so many games! We aren't allowed to play games here so it can be kind of boring. I have found a few people that like to play Settlers and we've bonded over our love of nerdy German games. 

So this week was a good one! Sister Greenall and I are still getting along and we're basically besties right now whoop whoop. We're teaching two new people this week and we're hoping to commit Rodrigo (a real person and not a table) to baptism during our lesson tomorrow!! He's right there. He has all the knowledge and he has faith and his feedback in the survey is super good and we're going to emphasize why our baptism is different (priesthood authority) and then how we don't need a perfect knowledge, we just need to take a leap of faith (thank you Alma 32). Pray for us that it'll go well!!! 

Also, the sisters in our district played a prank on us this week. They put an alarm clock under our bed that went off at like 11 and I had no idea where the sound was coming from. It ended up being a blessing in disguise and an answer to prayer though so that's cool. So, my companion Sister Greenall is sick right now and because of that, she's been snoring up a storm. One night, I couldn't sleep because of the snoring and I was just praying for a miracle. I was like "Heavenly Father, I have enough faith and I KNOW that you can help me so please, please just make a miracle because at this point I don't know what else to do" and then all of the sudden this darn ALARM CLOCK goes off and I was like "What the heck? This is just even more noise!" and then Sister Greenall woke up because of the alarm clock and then after a minute the alarm turned off by itself and so then I was like "Wow, the Lord works in mysterious ways" and then I said a prayer of gratitude and went off to sleep. The next night when the alarm went off it was just plain annoying because we still didn't know where it was coming from and this time I didn't have a snoring companion keeping me awake. The sisters confessed that is was them and so for payback, we reset all of the alarms in their room to half an hour earlier than normal and we put two alarm clocks to go off at 12:34 pm. Moral of the story: don't mess with Sister Greenall and I because you will get burned. 

Elder Rodrigues (the Elder that was mean to me) is nice to me now thank goodness because I didn't like having all of those negative feelings. The Elder's in our district are all leaving on Wednesday which is WILD. All of us sisters have an extra week after that because Visitors Center Missionaries have four weeks in the MTC to train specifically to be a missionary at a visitors center. We'll be in an all-girl district then which is kind of a bummer because the Elders are what make it fun. 

I got a package yesterday!!! It isn't the package that you sent though, it was from John and Courtney and Thea. They sent me a bunch of snacks AND a journal Book of Mormon!!! We went to Deseret book right before the MTC and Courtney was looking at them and I mentioned that I had wanted one for Christmas but didn't get it and then she REMEMBERED and sent it in the package. It made my day! So I got the great news that Gram and Grandpa are paying for a month of the mission, they got me money for dress slacks, and to top it all off, John and Courtney sent me a cute package with the journal Book of Mormon, it's like Christmas up in here. 

OH! Yesterday our district got to host the new missionaries!! I helped three sisters and one of them is going to the St. George Visitors Center and is speaking German which is cool but weird at the same time. Also, I realized that I am way to emotional to host because they're all saying goodbye to their families and crying and straight up I'm crying right along with them and wow it was awkward because you don't know where to look and then you're crying and everyone is like "what the heck why is this sister missionary staring at and crying" and I'm like ugh I feel your pain I really, really do. Oh well. I'll never see them again. 

I received an email from Elder Brown and he said he would send a Sister some snacks and to just send him my address so you best believe he will be getting my mailing address. It sounds like he's having fun in Virginia! Elder Rowberry is done with the training part of the mission and is a full-fledged missionary now!!! His pictures are funny and he baptized TWO people this week. It's crazy. I want to get out in the field like majorly so I'm really just trying to hang in there for two more weeks. 

I'm sure I have more to say but I honestly can't remember so I guess just email me soon!!! I love you and miss you! 

Love, 

Sister Moran

Hey everyone!! 

I am now officially halfway done with the MTC! It has been an absolute crazy two weeks and I'm both the most exhausted and the happiest I have ever been. 

This week, we "found" two new people to teach. Their names are Sariah and Rodrigo. Sariah is so nice and is willing to learn but she won't ask questions when she has them so she just ends up being confused. We even ask her if she has any questions and she says she doesn't even when she does which is frustrating. Rodrigo, on the other hand, is GOLDEN! He is so willing to learn and he keeps his commitments and last time we were talking about baptism and he seems open to the idea! We're going to try to commit him (a real person and not just a table) to be baptized tomorrow so wish us luck! 

Sister Greenall and are somehow getting even closer which is weird because we were pretty open from the start. She is awesome and is such a good example to me of how to listen to the spirit and to be okay if everything hasn't gone the way I wanted it to. I love her a lot... especially because she supports my eating ice cream with a ridiculous amount of chocolate and sprinkles and whipped cream for lunch and nothing else. Best. Companion. Ever.  Also, she is the cutest because she really hasn't seen much snow in her life being from California and there was a big snow storm here earlier in the week and she was so excited and jumping around. I wish I was that excited about snow, I just want it to be warm already. 

This week, our district got to host the new missionaries coming into the MTC which was so fun! I got to help three new sisters drag their super heavy bags up multiple flights of stairs so basically, I'm super ripped now #gainz. 

Here is where the crying comes in. So the host (aka me) gets assigned to a car and then they help with the bags and take pictures of the family if they want pictures and all that good stuff. Anyway, I was helping this one sister and her whole family came with her so while I was moving her bags off to the side, she was saying bye and her little sisters and brother were crying and her mom was crying and her dad was crying and then I started crying because I'm an emotional wreck and apparently can't keep it together. And then to make things WORSE the dad looks over at me and gives me a weird look and he's probably thinking "what the heck why is this weird sister missionary staring at us and crying" and I'm just staring right back with tears in my eyes. And then to make things EVEN WORSE, I was telling my district at dinner about my awkward crying moment from hosting and then I started to CRY AGAIN because I was just sad for the sister and then the Elders were looking at me in total bewilderment because of my out of control emotions. Anyway, I think I'm just too emotional and awkward to be a host but that's all good because it was still fun. 

The MTC is the best place ever. I am learning so much and having so much fun at the same time. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be here. With that being said, I am getting cabin fever because you can never leave campus (except to go to the temple on pday) so I really just want to get into the field on the real mission... which is only 35 acres large in my case so I'll probably get just as antsy there too haha. I love and miss you all and I'd love to hear from you! I can read emails all week and then respond on pday so just send an email my way.

Love,

Sister Moran

p.s. the food here is still less than ideal

The cookies and cream milk does exist!

We Committed a Table to Baptism (MTC Week 1)

One week down and Emily had her first P-day so we got our first emails from her! Here's some excerpts from her email to the family followed by her general email she sent to the rest of the world. 

MOM!!!! ( and dad because I think he would like to hear this too),

I'm glad that you're liking the google photos link and I'm glad that you were able to spend so much time at the temple, that is so exciting. We get to go to the temple today and I've been so so excited to go. I am a little nervous to go through the veil because I know that it'll probably take me forever and I'll mess up a bunch but oh well because most of these people have only gone once so everyone will be that way. It looks like Abby got the best of both worlds for the temple. I'm glad that they made the YW like an actual thing so it feels official and important like the YM. I'm also glad she's more humble than me and isn't crazy about equality because it's driving me crazy here with our district leader being kind of not very smart (like seriously he just can't spell or read very well) and just crazy and idiotic. BUT he is nice in general and tells us all that if we ever need anything to come to him because "I don't know how but I seriously love every single one of you guys"

YAY for dad. I'm glad he is liking the new job and that even though he'll be busy you can see him at lunchtime! He is going to kill it, I know he will. Finally his leadership is taking notice and care of him. It really is the hand of the Lord I think. Something we learned a lot about is trials of faith. We taught our two people (because we are teaching real life people here) about how we need to have faith and that it will be hard but eventually the Lord will bless us in some way because of our faith soooooo #blessings. 

I forgive you for going somewhere warm for spring break. I will admit though that I was super bummed out because Portugal is on my list of countries to visit so lame. I guess that serving a mission is slightly more important;) And don't bother sending pictures of the place, just send pics of when you guys are there.... maybe not even that. We'll see how I feel about it hahahahaha. 

My companion is Sister Greenall and she's from Cali and is super nice! On like the second or third day she was seriously about to go home. Like go to the Provo MTC mission president and ask to send her back she couldn't do it anymore (so did another sister in my district). I will admit that night was rough. I was exhausted and discouraged and it was just like the worst. And that's when I started feeling homesick too which is ironic because the night before I wrote in my journal (and I quote) "they keep us too busy to be homesick". That was incorrect. Anyways, I just encouraged her and told her to stick to it and she's still here!! Plus she said that's she's never read the Book of Mormon like this before and felt this way about it and she's starting to actually develop a testimony about it which is great!! I feel like I already had a testimony of it but I've never been so excited to read it and I've been learning so much from my reading everyday and it is just wild. 

ALSO Sister Greenall and I received the assignment to be technology specialists (go ahead, laugh to your heart's content). Sister Greenall is super duper good at the tech stuff and the phones and samsung parameters and I don't know any of that. I think this will really be a learning experience for me so thank you Heavenly Father because I can't figure anything tech out so this will be really good. 

I've learned so much this week it's insane, I feel like I've been here forever and I've honestly changed a lot. My old life seems like a different person and like 50 years ago. Anyways, I'll put more in the group email I just don't want to repeat it here. I love you!! I miss you! Remember to email throughout the week so I can read and not feel so lonely and I promise I'll email back on pday. 

Love, 

Sister Moran

Hey Everyone!!

I have officially been in the MTC for a week and it has been wild from start to finish and it all started in the Paris airport. So there I was, in Paris (this sounds way more cool and exciting than it actually is) and I was looking at the board of flights when lo and behold the one and only, world famous chef, GORDON RAMSEY stops right by me and then keeps on walking toward his gate. I was in shock. And then I saw him AGAIN like ten minutes later which shocked me even more. My poor missionary brain was thinking about how I would be able to present the Book of Mormon to him in a way that he would understand and that's when I realized that my life (in the words of Fresh Prince) got flipped AND turned upside down because I would never have thought that before.

Anyway, the MTC is great (if you think that getting no sleep and being beyond stressed is great that is). Totally kidding. The spirit here is crazy, I am constantly feeling the Holy Ghost and the love of God for everyone around me and it is wild. They had us teaching people on our third day and they could be a member or a nonmember and we have no way of knowing because regardless, they are just all pretending to be nonmembers which is slightly stressful. We're teaching two girls, one named Madeline and another named Britney. They're both going to BYU and were taking the missionary lessons because they have member boyfriends and just want to know about the church and what the big deal is. It is so cool to teach them! Half the time I don't even know what I'm going to say when I start talking but the spirit is just putting words in my mouth like no ones business which is awesome. So, even though teaching people is terrifying, especially when you've only been learning for a week, knowing that Heavenly Father has got your back is really comforting. 

My district is WILD. The Elders are all going to Ogden Utah and at first I thought they were weird, but now I just know that they are insane. We get soooooo off topic so fast which makes class stressful (and funny, just don't tell my teachers that). The sisters in my district are awesome though they are all so sweet and four of the five of us are going to temple square which is awesome because I'll know some people when I get there!! I'm pretty sure that all of us sisters are going to have some weird mannerisms when we get there though, because they Elders are rubbing off on us haha.

My companion's name is Sister Greenall and she's from Cali (which means she is super tan and that means I look even more like a ghost next to her than I usually do but it's all good). She is the sweetest person ever and is so fun and I'm so grateful that I could have a companion like her to start my mission off with because she is awesome. Something that is funny about her is that she's lactose intolerant but she loves dairy (like seriously loves it) so she is always drinking milk and eating ice cream which I wouldn't mind except because I'm her companion, I HAVE to be with her during those long bathroom sessions... oh the joy. 

I know, you're probably all DYING to know the story behind the subject line so here it is. Sister Greenall and I were role playing during companionship study and we didn't have anyone to be the person we were teaching so we just used a table and the lesson went so well that we extended an invitation to be baptized and the TABLE SAID YES! We're pretty sure that we're the best missionaries around because if we could get an inanimate object to be baptized, then we can definitely get some people to be baptized ;) There are so many funny stories that I have but I can't type them all so just imagine a bunch of sister missionaries doing dumb things around the MTC haha.

I am loving the missionary life so far and I'm so happy that I decided to serve! It is easily the best decision that I've made. The biggest thing I've taken away from this week at the MTC is how urgent and important the work is. We need more missionaries out in the field and we need more member missionaries working alongside them! So get out there and get to work! The blessings that you will receive will be unbelievable.I love and miss you all! 

Love,

Sister Moran 

p.s. the food is here is nasty and I'm going to lose ten pounds because I'm only eating a peanut butter and jelly once a day and then pizza when they have it 

p.p.s. please send snacks

MTC!!!!

Hey you guys! This is my "I made it to the MTC in one piece" email! It's been super crazy. I had to get a chest x-ray for TB just to be safe. My nametag is super cute and so is my companion (Sister Greenall), she's going to the Square too and she's from Cali and super duper tan. The other sisters in my district are going to Temple Square and also a visitors center in San Francisco maybe? And all the elders are going to Ogden... they're a little weird, to be honest. Anyways, I don’t know when my pday will be so I’ll email you when I can. I love and miss you guys!!!

Love, 

Sister Moran

Faith is The Opposite of Fear

This Sunday Emily spoke in Sacrament Meeting before leaving to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Her assigned topic was how faith can help us overcome our fears. Here's the text of her talk, with color and capitalization taken directly from her written talk. 

In this earthly life, we will all have fears. In the Saturday morning session of the most recent General Conference, Elder Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a talk entitled, "Be Not Troubled" in which he stated "Fear is not new. As Christ's disciples today, we have fears. Our single adults fear making commitments such as getting married. Young marrieds can fear bringing children into an increasingly wicked world. Missionaries fear lots of things, especially approaching strangers. Widows fear going forward alone. Teenagers fear not being accepted; grade schoolers fear the first day of school; university students fear getting back a test. *We fear failure, rejection, disappointment, and the unknown. We fear hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires that ravage our land and our lives. We fear not being chosen, and on the flip side, we fear being chosen. We fear not being good enough; we fear the Lord has no blessings for us. We fear change, and our fears escalate to terror."*

Fear has inhibited God's children throughout all of human history, but the good news is that we can overcome all of the fears that we may have through faith and the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

FAITH IS THE OPPOSITE OF FEAR!!!

Faith is having a hope and a belief in things that we cannot necessarily see. It should be our goal to be faithful disciples and instruments in the hands of our Heavenly Father. But how do we change our fears into faith?

In his October 1977 General Conference address entitled "Turning Fear into Faith", Russell H. Bishop tells the story of a seemingly fearless missionary. When he asked the young elder how he kept any fears he had at bay, the humble missionary responded, "It's never been hard at all President....once I realized who I was and who I was working for." 

This simple phrase that this young man told his mission president summarizes the principle for changing fear into faith that will work well for all of us. When we recognize who we truly are - sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father - and who we are working for, there will be no room for fear in our hearts and our minds.

Take, for instance, the story of the stripling warriors. These young men are often depicted as being tall, strong and intimidating. The work stripling, however, infers an appearance different than what we may imagine. When Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon, the word stripling meant "a youth in the state of adolescence, or just passing from boy to manhood; a lad." I don't know about you guys, but when I imagine an adolescent boy, I don't see a big muscular dude. These boys were probably short and skinny. Even their leader Helaman said that these boys were "very young" and called them his "little sons" They were facing older, more experienced, and bigger opponents. I would have been terrified if I were them. However, they took courage and exercised their faith in the Lord and relied on Him. In fact, in Alma 56:47 it says that these striplings "did not fear death." Helaman says in verse 45, "never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites."

We can learn a lot from these stripling warriors. Though the trials and difficulties around us may seem large and thought our opponent - the adversary - is more experienced, older, and bigger than we are, we need not fear if we have faith in the Lord. This is not to say that we will emerge from our battles unscathed. Like the stripling warriors, we will likely get beat up along the way. But none of our injuries will be fatal. We will come out on the other side of our trials and fears and we will be okay.

Doctrine and Covenants 38:30 says, "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear." Brothers and sisters, you have no idea how much I relate to this verse. Let me give you a scenario that you may find relatable. Have you ever not been prepared for a test? Whether you forgot about it and didn't study or Netflix was calling your name a little louder than your notes were, I think we can all relate to not being prepared for some kind of test. This past semester at Utah State, I had an experience where I was not prepared for a quiz. I had forgotten to do the reading for my history class and when my professor informed the class that we would be having a reading quiz I was terrified. My grade was already on the edge of a B and I didn't want to reason my grade in the class went down to be that I forgot to study. For the previous reading quizzes, I wasn't scared because I had prepared beforehand.

This same principle applies to our lives. When tests and trials come our way, our fears may overwhelm us if we are not prepared. So how can we be prepared in our lives for the fears and trials we ill surely face? I have a few suggestions.

Firstly, we need to have a knowledge of the gospel. The more knowledge of the gospel that we have in our heads, the less space there is for Satan to distract us with fear. Second, we need to have a strong testimony. As we grow and develop our testimony through daily scripture study (and notice I say study and not simply read), sincere daily prayers, and attending our church meetings our testimonies will grow and we will be better prepared to face the storms that we may face in this life. Third, we must love our fellowmen. Oftentimes when we are scared or going through trials, we understandably turn inward and focus on ourselves. However, if we focus on others, we will not notice our fears and it will help us to overcome them. One good way to show our love for our fellowmen in by serving them. As we serve others, we will invite the light and love of Christ into our lives and this light will drive out the darkness that fear puts into our lives. Elder Stevenson tells a story when he and his wife presided over a mission. He told of times when missionaries would come to his office discouraged, tired, anxious, and scared. his wife would them implement the "cookie therapy." She would give the troubled missionary the ingredients necessary to make cookies and would then give the instruction to make a batch of cookies every morning before heading out for the day. She then told them to pray about someone they could give those cookies to in order to brighten their lives. After a week or two of participating in the cookie therapy, the missionary's mental health would have improved immensely, often to the point where they had no more fear or anxiety afflicting them.

The drastic improvement in these missionaries was due to selflessly serving those around them. By turning their focus from inward to outward, the missionary's problems were remedied. This miraculous transformation can happen in our lives as well if we simply look for opportunities to serve those around us. Elder Stevenson says it best, "The warm golden glow that accompanies service and selflessness has the power to melt away doubts and fears."

We can drive away fear by standing in holy places. When we are in holy places we cannot be scared. Elder Rasband says, "There is no room for fear in these holy places of God or in the hearts of his children. Why? Because of love. God loves us - always - and we love Him. Our love of God counters all fears, and His love abounds in holy places." A week ago, I had the opportunity to go through the London Temple and receive my own endowment. Previous to going to the temple, I had some anxiety because I didn't really know what to expect. However, the love of the temple matron and my super cool parents helped me through the unfamiliar territory and helped me to not feel so nervous. Even more though was the overwhelming feeling of peace, calm, and clarity I felt as I continued through the session completely calmed me. I don't think I've ever felt more at peace than when I prayed in the Celestial Room.  I would encourage you all to increase your temple attendance because I know as we do so, we will have questions answered, fears calmed, and greater peace brought to our lives.

Thankfully, the temple is not the only holy place on this earth. I asked my family places they thought could be considered to be holy places. Some of their responses included our homes, the church building, institute buildings, girls camp, mutual activities, and nature. Anywhere can be a holy place as long as we are living worthily so we can have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Anywhere we go and anywhere we are is a holy place and a place where fear cannot affect us.

Another way to be prepared and to consequently overcome fear is to realize the nature of opposition, or in other words, to know our enemy. The adversary will do whatever he can to exaggerate our feelings of personal inadequacy. And when we recognize and realize this we start to understand our enemy. Every time you feel hesitancy in yourself, each time you recognize your fears, you have recognized the presence of evil. But recognizing this fear is only part of the solution.  Russell H. Bishop said it best by giving us the advice to drive out fear with faith by turning to the Lord in prayer. This doesn't mean that you're ignoring the fear, it simply means that you're letting the Lord do what he does best: taking something bad and making it good. 

We cannot, however, just pray on time and expect all of our problems and fears to improve and go away. We need to make praying a part of our life, a lifestyle of prayer if you will. As we continue to pray and exercise faith in the Lord, he can take our weaknesses and fears and make us STRONG! Elder Anderson said, "Prayer can call down the strength and the revelation that we need to center our thoughts on Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice." As we pray and keep our thoughts focused on the Savior, our fears will disappear.

Doctrine and Covenants 10:5 says "Pray always that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants that do uphold his work." The next time you are scared or fearful, I would encourage you to say a prayer. It will help increase your faith and reduce your fears.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, "Faith, to be faith, must go beyond that which there is confirming evidence. Faith, to be faith, must go into the unknown. Faith, to be faith, must walk to the edge of the light and then take a few steps into the darkness." Faith is an action word. In order to exercise faith, we need to take the plunge into what isn't certain. I know that as we exercise faith, that the fears we may have will be dispelled. We need to put our hand in the Lord's and rely on Him and have faith that He will help us through. WE MUST ACT FIRST IN FAITH.

Elder Gerritt W. Gong said, "When we seek to live the gospel, we are filled with light, and there can be no darkness in us. Light and faith cannot coexist with darkness and fear. When we are filled with light, we feel happy and peaceful and safe." There's a lot to be afraid of in this world that just seems to keep getting worse. We shouldn't minimize the problems and complexities that we face in modern life, but we also shouldn't let them paralyze us. There is an antidote to fear and it requires us to stand with God.

The ever-increasing darkness in our world can easily make us feel troubled and bleak. These pessimistic feelings hinder our goal to decrease our fear. President Gordon B. Hinckley was known for his optimism and encouraged us to be optimistic and have positive attitudes. He advised, "Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight." Our optimism can be more than just a positive attitude. It can be a very powerful force emanating from us, rooted in our faith and trust in God. President Hinckley also counseled, "It isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It all works out. Don't worry. If you do your best it will all work out. Put your trust in God and move forward with faith and confidence and faith in the future. The Lord will not forsake us."

In my psychology class, I learned that you can trick your mind into being happy. All you have to do is smile! The physical act of smiling tricks your mind into being happy so smile more! Moses 1:39 says, "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Heavenly Father is here from us, He glories in helping us - it is His whole purpose. He will never forsake us. Though hard times will come and fears will arise, if we put our trust and faith in God, we cannot fail.

As I have said before, fear is part of our life here on earth. No one will make it through this life without experiencing fear. But looking at life through an eternal lens can help us overcome fear. This is all thanks to the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which gives us HOPE and STRENGTH! When we go through life with an eternal perspective, none of the fears that we deal with in life seem as significant. Through the atonement, we can conquer our fears. Choosing to live with an eternal perspective helps us keep the fears we face in this life on the back burner; it will prevent our fears from taking over our lives and will allow us to more fully live by faith.

I'm going to tell you guys about the most amazing thing that I think has ever happened to me. GETTING MY MISSION CALL!!! I was so, so nervous to see where I was going to go. Let me tell you though, as soon as I read where I was going all of the fear left me and was replaced with an indescribable feeling of peace and joy. Throughout my entire life, I had been told that God loved me. And that made sense because I'm his daughter. My thing was, I didn't think I had ever felt that love before, not until I read my call. Heavenly Father loved ME, Emily Moran, an insignificant girl. He loved me enough to send me to my DREAM MISSION! WHERE I WANTED TO GO! That never ever happens. I wish I could better describe what I was feeling at that moment because it was beautiful and overwhelming and honestly life-changing. I was, for the first time, able to recognize and feel God's love for me. And to think, that we can't even comprehend what God really feels for each and every one of His children. He loves me with a perfect love. He LOVES YOU with a perfect love. AND BECAUSE GOD LOVES US WE DON'T HAVE TO FEAR ANYTHING.

This perfect light and love that our Heavenly Father has for us casts out the darkness of fear, loneliness, anxiety, anger, and doubt that may be in our lives. Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, "Fear and faith cannot coexist in our hearts at the same time. In days of difficulty, we can choose the road of faith." As we take the necessary steps to replace our fears with faith, we begin to see that "He that receiveth light and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." Our questions, doubts, and fears are resolved or become less concerning to us. Our faith becomes simple and pure.

Elder Anderson said, "The opposite of fear is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." It is no surprise that Satan likes people to be scared. We aren't thinking about the Savior when we are scared. By focusing on our fears instead of faith we are letting Satan win. But by choosing to focus on our faith, by choosing Jesus Christ, we are winning. And let's face it, winning is fun and it's certainly more fun than losing; especially losing to Satan.

I think it's only appropriate to end with the words of Jesus Christ himself. In Mark 5:36, He says, "Be not afraid, only believe." This simple phrase spoken by the Savior gives us all of the knowledge we need. Faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ will make our fears vanish.