POTASSIUM!

Tomato Soup has 690mg of Potassium!

Last post I talked about something I know about-erosion. This time I want to talk about something I know very little about-potassium.

A couple of weeks ago we were out walking and I started having a muscle cramp. Sister Franson, in all her wisdom, informed me that potassium helps with muscle cramps, so we decided to go on a potassium hunt.

Rumor has it that bananas have tons and tons of Potassium.

We got to the grocery store and went first to the bananas... Unfortunately the bananas they had at the store were very green and I wasn't in the mood to eat an under-ripe banana, so we kept looking.

I don't have a picture of the V8,
but carrots have lots of Potassium too.

After looking at many Nutrition Facts labels we found a large bottle of V8 Fusion.

I had high hopes for the V8, because it had lots of Potassium and I actually like the fruit flavored V8 juice. But we didn't want to buy a big-huge bottle of juice to carry around so we went to the "personal size" drink section in search of it. Unfortunately we didn't find any V8 Fusion, but there was Orange Juice, which also turned out to be loaded with potassium. So we bought our orange juice and went on our way.

I know very little about Potassium. I don't really know what it is or why it is listed on Nutrition Facts labels. One thing I do know about Potassium is that it works in making muscle cramps go away. Many people are that way with Heavenly Father. They have heard of Him, they believe He exists, and they like Him because they know that He helps when they pray to Him. The sad thing is very few people understand much about the character of our Father in Heaven. They forget that He is a loving God and that He wants the best for us, His children.

Just as I know that there are resources I can go to to learn more about Potassium, there are resources that you  can go to to learn more about your Father in Heaven. Throughout time, God has called prophets to teach the   people and communicate His will for us. The writings of the prophets can be found in the Bible and the Book of Mormon. And, because God loves us so much He has not only provided us with ancient witnesses of His existence, but modern ones as well. The weekend the living prophet and apostles will be speaking to the world in General Conference. I can think of no better resources to come to know more about our Heavenly Father than His prophets and apostles who teach us about Him and testify of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Click Here to find out more information about General Conference.

"Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap..."

Ever since I started "missionary blogging" I've been looking at ordinary things in a different light. I look at lots of things in terms of whether or not I can make a connection to a gospel topic and then I take a picture and write a post.

Well, I've been thinking about doing something for my blog called "The Soap Erosion Experiment." The idea was that I would buy two identical bars of soap and put them in two different places in the shower. One "in the line of fire" (being hit by water whenever the shower was on,) and one out of the way. I would still use both bars of soap equally and I would see which would run out first. I was going to take weekly pictures of each bar of soap and watch the erosion process. (Yes, I am a science nerd if that was what you were wondering. I even made a diagram of the shower.)

As I considered doing this, it hit me that it would be a ridiculous waste of time and money. It isn't really like I didn't know which bar of soap would erode faster (the one in "the line of fire.") I would really just be doing it for the sake of doing it. Then I had the idea of doing a meta-blog post all about going out of my way to make a blog post and relate it to the gospel. So here goes nothing.

This is my bar of soap.

What I learned from this whole idea/ thought process that I had is that you don't need to try something in order to know what the outcome will be. I knew that the bar of soap that is constantly being hit by water whenever the shower was on was going to erode faster than the one that was kept away from the stream of water. I knew this because I learned it from my science teachers in elementary school. It works the same way with the gospel. I don't need to sin in order to find out if it's bad for me or not. I know that when I sin it will damage my soul. I know this because I have been taught. In the Book of Mormon, Alma talked about the effects that his sins had on him. He said,

"But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins...I was tormented with the pains of hell...the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror...for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul...I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins." Alma 36:12-17

That description alone is enough for me to never want to commit sin. I know that Heavenly Father wants all of His children to know the effects of sin so that they will choose to avoid it. He doesn't want any of us to have to feel that way because His son already did.

“There is no greater evidence of the infinite power and perfection of God’s love than is declared by the Apostle John: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son’ (John 3:16). Another Apostle wrote that God ‘spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all’ (Romans 8:32). Think how it must have grieved our Heavenly Father to send His Son to endure incomprehensible suffering for our sins. That is the greatest evidence of His love for each of us!” -Dallin H. Oaks, Love and Law

So, rather than making an experiment of our lives and trying everything to see what the effects will be. Let's learn from the experience of others.

What I KNOW

Sometimes, I like to have a scripture and quote automatically posted for everyone to read. Today, I'd like to do something a little different. I want to share with you what members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints call my personal testimony. Basically, it is what I know to be true, so here goes...

I know that I am a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father. I know that He lives and watches over each and every one of us as we stumble through our lives. I know that His literal Son is the Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that He suffered in Gethsemane and on the cross in order to pay for my sins and to know how to comfort me in my sorrows. (Alma 7:12) I know that it is only through His grace and mercy that any of us have the opportunity to live with our Father in Heaven again. I know that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God. I know that they have been provided for God's children to learn how to find the way back to Him. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith in a grove of trees in answer to his sincere prayer. I know that there has been an unbroken line of prophets of God on the Earth from that time up until today. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the prophet of God on the Earth today. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church. I know all of these things because I asked my Heavenly Father in prayer and He answered by the power of the Holy Ghost. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

So, that is what I know. What do you know? What makes you who you are? What do you know about your eternal identity and your purpose in life? How do you know what you know? Think about these things, I'm not asking you to pour your heart out in a comment. I do want to invite you to think about this and talk to your loved ones about it. Share with them what you know and find out what they know, and if you're not sure what you know, go to your Heavenly Father in prayer and ask Him. I know He will answer you.

Short Introduction to Heavenly Father's Plan

Unicorns & Rainbows

I love serving others, a big part of doing "missionary work" is doing service for people. One of the things that we do as missionaries to keep up the spirit of service is we always ask each other if there is anything we can do to serve them. 

So the other night, we were on the phone with some of the missionaries in our district and they asked us what they could do for us. After we told them what they could do for us, (get us a ride to a meeting that we were having the next day), we asked if there was anything we could do for them. They proceeded to ask us to draw a picture of a unicorn for Katrina, a 9 year old girl who just got baptized. Even though neither Sister Franson or I wouldn't refer to ourselves as particularly talented at drawing, we were excited to do it. There are very few things that I have experienced as a missionary that have made me happier than someone accepting our invitation to serve them. This is the unicorn we came up with. 

Sister Franson used her mad drawing skills, and then I colored it.

King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon said about service,

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." -Mosiah 2:17

When people agree to let us serve them, I am always so excited! Because it is not only an opportunity to serve another one of Heavenly Father's children, it is an opportunity to serve my Heavenly Father. I could never pass up an opportunity to do anything for my Father in Heaven who has already blessed me so much.

I haven't heard how Katrina felt about the unicorn, but I know that Heavenly Father is pleased that we took some time out of our day to brighten somebody else's.