The Luckiest

I just want you all to know that I am The Luckiest. I am the luckiest guy on the face of this earth. I have the most amazing people who surround me. I want all of you who are reading this to know that I love you dearly. You are the reason why my life is so wonderful. Your support has brought me through some of the toughest times of my life. Thank you. Now the real credit goes to the one who made it all possible. The Savior. Jesus Christ literally saved my life. Were it not for the Atonement of the Son of God I would be nothing. My friends, with Heavenly Father I am everything. I stand firm in what I know today. I know that I am worth it. I know that the Lord has forgiven me and I know that I am clean. I am clean! No one can take that away. Those in my past that have judged me, I thank you. You have helped me to be able to stand on my own two feet. You have helped me to become the man that I am now. I did not work as hard as I have for anyone. I did it for me and I did it with the help of the Savior. If you have a similar story to me I congratulate you. I also remind you as I am constantly reminded.. "unto whom much is given, much is required" (D&C 82:3). We owe it all to the Lord. I am pleased to be a servant of my Savior. Though I will never repay my debt, I am having the time of my life trying to pay as much back as possible. To those of you who stand in need of comfort, I am here. I want you to rejoice with me. Let me help you to stand on higher ground. There are blessings that are yours to claim. I want you to have them. My friends, this is a journey that we are all taking together. There isn't a single one of us that is better than the other. You are never too good to reach down to help one in need. The Savior spent his earthly ministry tending to those who made the poorest of choices. Others had difficult situations thrust upon them. Nothing was beyond his reach and that is still the case today. Those who had faith in Christ were healed. Bring your infirmity to the Lord. Whether you chose it or not, He will heal you. You NEED to be healed. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. He never has and never will lead you astray. Please be a friend and if you need a friend, allow someone to be your friend. I am your friend. All glory be to the one who made it all possible. I am The Luckiest.

Sisters

I feel so much love in my heart. I love the times when I am able to just sit and think about all the awesome things in my life. The Lord has given me so much. I have the most amazing family. I miss them a ton. I especially miss my sisters. Seriously, they are my light. I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life than the beauty that lies in them. Without my sisters I would not be me. I have grown to appreciate their examples in my life. They all have been an example to me in different ways. They have overcome adversity, they have taught me how to laugh, they have shown me what it means to have unconditional love, and best of all they have shown me the divine nature of womanhood. I cannot thank them enough for their love and support. I bear my testimony to the world of "Jaren's Thoughts" fans... It does not matter how old you are. It does not matter how insignificant you think you may be. I testify that you do make a difference. You make a difference in the lives of ALL those around you. I learned this lesson from my sisters. They are true disciples of Jesus Christ... and I want to be just like them.

Living for RIGHT NOW

So I was going to title this "...just for the sake of writing..." but I decided that is not appropriate for what I want to write about. I feel impressed to write about how important it is to be happy with where you are. Life is a journey; a really fun journey. I am really bad at this actually so don't feel bad if you are not terribly good at being happy with where you are. That being said, I realize how important it is and I see the need for it in my life. I love my friends. I have met some of the most amazing people over the past few months that have really changed my life. They are awesome people that truly love me for me. They don't judge and they are able to put up with all the stupid things I do and say. That is true love. My family is fantastic. I was thinking about my sister Kaylese tonight and I felt a huge smile come across my face followed by tears welling up in my eyes. The thing that shocked me was how familiar that feeling was. I love my family so much. When I think about them I feel so much love. I felt the need to express these things because I am happy to be with my friends in Utah, but I struggle being away from my family and friends in Arizona. Truth be told though... I am happy. I am happy where I am. I have all that I need. What more could a guy ask for? A wife? maybe.... Smile my friends because it's contagious and certainly worth catching.

Follow your heart

I am amazed again at how well the Lord knows me. He knows what I need and when I need it. I could feel myself starting to slow down in my progression toward eternal happiness and the Lord brought me back. I have realized that it is better to be honest with someone about how you truly feel about them instead of trying to protect them. We as human beings are strong and able to withstand adversity. To try to protect someone from hearing what you truly feel is quite the disservice. I have realized that I do not have to apologize for my true feelings. Proverbs 3:5-6 says this:
5 ¶ ^aTrust in the Lord with all thine ^bheart; and lean not unto thine ^cown ^dunderstanding.

6 In all thy ways ^aacknowledge him, and he shall ^bdirect thy ^cpaths.
I believe that the pursuit of marriage is a divine one and should be guided and sanctioned by the Lord himself. The Lord needs to be your confidant and the guide to who you choose. The Lord has given me impressions as I have met certain people. I can tell that some of them will be life long friends. I had a conversation with a great friend of mine and I was scared to tell her that I was not interested in dating, but I wanted to be friends. I was surprised to hear that she felt the same as me. She said that she realized that our relationship was not supposed to be a romantic one. We have such a strong friend connection that I know we will be friends for life. I now have a renewed sense of my friendships and I am eternally grateful for them. Again I turn to the Lord and place my trust in him.

The past...

I have been thinking a lot lately about how things have been going so well in my life. I feel like I have been reborn. I have a new desire to help others and I have seen some great opportunities for such. I am concerned, however, that in an effort to help I have actually damaged a friendship that I worked hard to build. I had no intention of damaging the relationship, but I feel that sometimes we cannot control how someone will react to things we say. I feel strange because I feel that maybe I should not have shared so much. At the same time I feel like maybe I shared exactly what needed to be shared. I am very confused. Whatever the case may be, I know that God is in command. The reason I have titled this entry "The past..." is because I want to leave the past the past. I am tired of having my past follow me. It is time to look to my future. That is where the true beauty lies. I see that my future is full of wonderful bumps and obstacles to be overcome. I am excited to meet those obstacles faithfully with my family and friends by my side. I love the Lord. I love his teachings. No matter what anyone says about me, I know that I am clean. CLEAN. N0body can take that from me. So to my past I say, "Good riddance!" and a faithful "Hello" I express to my future.

I LOVE YOU

Have I told you lately that I love you? I am sorry if I haven't. I may know you very well or maybe we have never met.. but I want you to know, right now, today, that I love you. I LOVE YOU! Have a good day.

D&C 1:27-28

D&C 1:27-28:

27 "And inasmuch as they sinned they might be ^achastened, that they might ^brepent;

28 And inasmuch as they were ^ahumble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive ^bknowledge from time to time."

I was reading this passage of scripture tonight and I did what I was instructed to do, and I applied it to my life. My thoughts were that the Lord wants to chasten us only to the point of repentance. Nothing further. The Lord's only goal in chastening us is to get us to the point where we begin the repentance process. The Lord will bring that chastisement in different ways depending on circumstance. It may be as simple as a tiny whisper/thought that we shouldn't stay up so late. Or it may be as outwardly public as an intervention put on by those that love us. Or it may even be as serious as a near death experience. However the Lord needs to get our attention, He will. When we begin to sorrow in our hearts for our sins, the Lord ceases to chastise us. Then as we repent the Lord will ensure that we will be "made strong, (be) blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time" (italics added). The Lord does not promise that we will receive his knowledge every minute of every day after that. We receive knowledge from TIME to TIME. The Lord knows what we need and when we need it. That is why He is Lord and we serve Him. Let us be mindful of who is in charge. He has not and will not ever lead us astray.