Courageous Parenting

First and foremost, what does courageous parenting means to you?
Do you have whatever it takes to become a courageous parent?

This post may take you longer than five minutes out of your time to read this post.

This post is based on a October 2010 General Conference talk called, "Courageous Parenting" by Larry R. Lawrence. I would like to share with you some highlights that I liked while I was reading the talk. I hope you will learn something new and enjoy reading this post.

Brother Lawrence mentioned, "There are no perfect parents and no easy answers, but there are principles of truth that we can rely on. As we are reminded in the family proclamation, parents are responsible for the protection of their children. That means spiritually as well as physically.

Elder Robert D. Hales has observed, “Sometimes we are afraid of our children, afraid to counsel with them for fear of offending them.”

It’s so important for husbands and wives to be united when making parenting decisions. If either parent doesn’t feel good about something, then permission should not be granted.

I would like to share with you a letter from a heartbroken mother. Her teenage son gradually lost the Spirit and drifted away from Church activity. She explained how this happened: “All throughout my son’s teenage years, I worried and tried to stop him from playing violent video games. I talked to my husband and showed him articles in the Ensign and in the newspaper that cautioned about these games. But my husband felt it was OK. He said that our son wasn’t out using drugs and that I should stop worrying. There were times that I would hide the controllers, and my husband would give them back. It began to be easier for me to give in … than to fight it. I really feel that gaming is just as addictive as drugs. I would do anything to prevent other parents from going through this experience.”

What the world really needs is courageous parenting from mothers and fathers who are not afraid to speak up and take a stand.      

Brothers and sisters, if your spouse doesn’t feel good about something, show respect for those feelings. When you take the easy way out by saying and doing nothing, you may be enabling destructive behavior.

There is a great deal of wisdom displayed when parents stay up and wait for their children to return home. Young men and women make far better choices when they know their parents are waiting up to hear about their evening and to kiss them good night.

Peer pressure becomes more powerful when our children are away from our influence and when their defenses are weakened late at night. Always be prayerful when it comes to protecting your precious children.

One of the most effective ways we can influence our sons and daughters is to counsel with them in private interviews. By listening closely, we can discover the desires of their hearts, help them set righteous goals, and also share with them the spiritual impressions that we have received about them. Counseling requires courage.

Satan and his followers are striving to bring this generation down; the Lord is counting on valiant parents to bring them up. I know that God hears and will answer your prayers.
I testify that the Lord supports and blesses courageous parents."

I would like to apologize if this post is not what you think it would be about, this post seems to be more targeted to parents who has teenage children. I still hope you will learn something new as you were reading this post. If you would like to read the whole general conference talk in your own time, here is the link below.
www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/courageous-parenting

I look forward to posting sometime on Sunday, and I still have not done for my first Vlog post. I know that I really do need to work on getting out of my comfort zone and I do love Blogging so much better than Vlogging.

What is your opinion about blog posts? Which one do you prefer?
Do you like reading long posts or reading short posts?

Is there any particular question that you have and would like me to share the answer in a blog post? Is there any particular topic that you would like me to blog about?

That is all from me for now, and I hope you will have a great day/evening. 

Faith, Hope, and Relationships

First and foremost, what does faith means to you and what does hope means to you?
This post would take you longer than five minutes out of your time to read this post.

This post is not about my understanding of faith and hope, neither it is not about my current relationship. I hope you will learn something new as you reading this post and I also hope that you will enjoy reading this post.

I would like to let you know that this post is based on an Ensign article called "Faith, Hope, and Relationships" by Elder Michael T. Ringwood from January 2013 and today, I would like to share with you some highlights as I was reading the article.

Desire, belief, and hope should prompt us to develop relationships that lead to marriage.  

Elder Ringwood mentions about his teenage son could have asked him,
"Didn’t you love her? This question should have been his first. My answer would have been yes; that is why I made the list. I really did love her, and I desired more than anything for her to be happy. The list was more about seeing if I could make her happy than it was about whether or not I loved her.

Didn’t you have fun together? Again, my answer would have been yes; that is why I made the list. It was a way to see if my hope that she would always have fun with me could become reality.

Didn’t you think she was the right one? Perhaps this is the most intriguing question of all. I would have answered yes; I did believe she was “the one,” but I wanted to make sure my belief would inspire action on my part to make things work.

Alma identified the need to have a particle of faith, which he described as desire. A desire for something to happen is a powerful influence for us to take the necessary steps to increase our faith.

A second particle of faith is what Alma taught comes from desire: belief. This combination of desire and belief begins to swell in our hearts, and we recognize it as good. Hope is another important particle of faith.

Alma told the humble Zoramites that faith was not a perfect knowledge of things. It was a "hope for things which are not seen, which are true." Hope can be described as the ability to see something better in the future.

No amount of desire, belief, or hope would have helped me find the greater happiness and peace I have found in marriage if those particles hadn’t led me to ask the big question. In such circumstances when things don’t go according to our plan or timing, faith still plays an integral role in our lives.

Faith is important in all we do, including dating and courting. Desire, belief, and hope that there is indeed greater happiness and peace waiting for us should incite us to action to develop relationships that lead to marriage.

Do you desire to follow the plan of happiness? Do you believe that following the plan will lead to greater happiness and peace? (Believe me when I tell you that following the plan and marrying in the temple does lead to greater happiness and peace.) Do you hope for a happy marriage? Does your hope allow you to see yourself in a better place in the future?

If your answers to these questions are yes, then you must complete your faith by taking action. Ask someone on a date! Accept an invitation to go on a date! Put yourself in situations that could lead to meeting other like-minded young adults. In short, pursue a course that will lead to greater happiness and peace.

One of Your Opportunities to Demonstrate Faith

President Thomas S. Monson said:

“There is a point at which it’s time to think seriously about marriage and to seek a companion with whom you want to spend eternity. If you choose wisely and if you are committed to the success of your marriage, there is nothing in this life which will bring you greater happiness.

“When you marry, … you will wish to marry in the house of the Lord. For you who hold the priesthood, there should be no other option. Be careful lest you destroy your eligibility to be so married. You can keep your courtship within proper bounds while still having a wonderful time.”

Your desire, belief, and hope may not be manifested in the form of a list, as they were for me, but however you demonstrate these qualities, they will help you complete your faith by following the Lord’s prophet to seek a companion with whom you can find greater happiness. Your desire, belief, and hope will also help you choose wisely."

If you are interested to read the whole article in your own time, here is the link below.
www.lds.org/ensign/2013/01/faith-hope-and-relationships

My next post will be shared sometime on this Friday and it will be about Courageous Parenting. I hope you will have stay safe and take care of yourself. 

Brother and Sister Dalton speaks to the YSAs prior to TOFW in Gold Coast 2017

This post would take you longer than five minutes out of your time to read this post.

I would share with you what I have learned from two speakers who spoke during the YSA fireside prior to TOFW {Time Out For Women} in Gold Coast 2017 for today's post. You may be asking what is TOFW, here is the definition of TOFW in the link below.

www.tofw.com/about-tofw

Brother Dalton mentioned, - beautiful women, beautiful sisters in the gospel, he thinks about the YSAs, we all have goals and ambitions, we do feel discouragement through experiences, the greatest joy is when a young man and a young woman to be sealed together, they are sealed with promise, and two individuals become one;

We promise that we would follow the Savior when we gain a body, and we would exercise our agency when we come down to Earth. We can choose to become like Jesus Christ. We will marry, we will marry in the Temple. We can multiple and replenish the Earth is one of the first commandments. We will find joy in our apostasy. 

Where are you heading today? Are you here? Which direction are you heading to next? 

If you are facing down, we need to make some changes. Do I have a Temple recommend? 

Is it current? Am I endowed or not? 

We need to be going to the Temple, attending sessions and learning what is required. We can exercise our agency by making choices and remembering the promises is to be kept. Our lives will be blessed.

Brother and Sister Dalton.

Sister Dalton mentioned, - opposition is the greatest, Satan is working every stops, he can do something to discourage us, and delay us of doing something important. We can have the strength to overcome our weaknesses and strength to move forward. Young Women, you are so elect and special. Thank you for, thank you for the light of your eyes. 

Do not be hard on yourself, you are never alone and you may be a little impatient. We need to our very best. Youth can get Temple recommends from the age twelve years old. There are young adults who is working at the Temple. The blessings of being pure is having the constant companion of the Holy Ghost and partaking the sacrament weekly.

We need guidance, we need to remain pure and clean. She shared a part of Wizard of Oz movie where Dorothy had two ways to choose from, and we can relate to that part in our lives either we are walking towards the Temple or walking away from the Temple.

That is all for this post, I have a friend named Stephen who is struggling with finances at the moment and I known him for almost two years. He has always been a great friend to me. 

He recently got laid off from his job in Newfoundland, Canada and he will be driving back to home/Alberta, Canada. He does not expect too many contributions, I know that every dollar counts and unfortunately minimal contributions is CAD $5. If you can help him out, it would be greatly appreciated and here is the link below for the contributions. 

www.gofundme.com/help-me-get-back-to-alberta

How was your weekend? Was it good? Did you learn anything new?

I do plan to blog again sometime on Wednesday and I am not too sure what time I will be posting. I was not being successful of starting a Vlog during the weekend however I decided to start Vlogging sometime on this Saturday, June 30th, this year. 

Another Vacation is Booked in October, 2018

Attention reader, I would like to warn you that this post may take longer than five minutes to read.

First and foremost, do you have any guesses where I would be flying next for my vacation?
Do you think that I would be flying to a destination somewhere international?
Do you think that I would be flying to a destination somewhere in Australia?

From February 6th, this year to February 28th, this year, I flew to Fiji as a layover, I also flew to Los Angeles as another layover, I also flew to Salt Lake City - Utah for staying there for nineteen days and I flew to Auckland, New Zealand as another layover.

Recently, I booked another vacation and getting to my vacation requires me to fly over and I would like to give you two massive hints, First hint, I will be flying international again and second hint is the destination is somewhere in United States.

I would like you to think about the following questions and you can either answer those questions in the comment section below or answer those questions in your mind.

Have you flew in a plane before? Have you flew in a plane more than once? 

If yes, what has been your favourite destination that you have flew to?

If no, that is okay. Whenever you do get the chance to fly for the first time, you may feel nervous for when the plane takes off. I still remember how I felt when I flew for the first time and I felt nervous. I was twelve years old at the time and I was flying from Brisbane, Australia to Canberra, Australia.

"The biggest business of any life is making decisions." - Ezra Taft Benson.

Are you ready to find out where I will be flying to for my next vacation? Guess what? ....

I will be flying international for my next vacation and I will be going to Dallas Texas, United States. Who would have guessed that I will be flying to United States again less than a year?

Roughly two months to three months ago was when I decided to check for the flight prices online from Brisbane, Australia to Dallas Texas, United States. At the time; there was flights offered roughly cheap and affordable and the flights had a range of routes for getting to Dallas Texas, United States from Brisbane Australia.

One flight's route was leaving from Brisbane, Australia to Auckland, New Zealand, from Auckland, New Zealand to San Francisco, United States, from San Francisco, United States to Dallas, Texas United States.

Another flight's route was leaving from Brisbane, Australia to Vancouver, Canada and from Vancouver, Canada to Dallas, Texas, United States.

I decided to wait for a few months because I was hoping that the flight prices will drop but unfortunately, it did not. The flight prices has slightly gone up and the prices is still cheap and affordable. I have acknowledged that there is another range of different routes of getting to Dallas Texas, United States. I finally booked my flight to go to Dallas Texas, United States and I will be leaving Brisbane, Australia in October, this year.

I am very excited to fly over to United States again, and I still have ages to wait before I fly over. I think it is a good thing for me to wait for ages, because it allows me to have opportunities to work, save up before I leave Australia, and hoping that I will find something new to do each day to keep myself busy as time goes by.

I hope you will have a wonderful and safe weekend. During this weekend, I am hoping to focus on starting a Vlog. I will be sharing a blog post again on Monday evening unless I decided to surprise you and share a post during the weekend.

If I have start a Vlog during the weekend, I will remind myself to share a link on Monday evening's blog post.

Temple Evening and Cinemas Evening

Did you read the previous post? It is okay if you did not have a chance to read the previous post, and the post mentioned about my outing adventures at the Gold Coast and Beenleigh with my two YSA friends. It is not too exciting to read that post. Are you ready to go ahead to read this post?

How was your past two evenings? Was it good? Did your original plans went ahead or did you had to change your plans?

The nearest LDS Temple from me is Brisbane Temple, it is currently roughly twenty-five minutes to thirty minutes drive away from home. It has been a huge blessing to have a Temple close to home.

My Tuesday evening was great. I originally was thinking about attending Baptistery session or Endowment session with my friend Manu instead we attended Sealing session at the Temple. It was so good for both of us to do Sealing session because it has been since February this year when I last attended Sealing session and it was ages for Manu since she last attended a Sealing session. I really enjoyed spending some time with her during that evening.

Left to Right: Manu and Me

My Wednesday evening was good. I drove to Victoria Point Cinemas to watch a movie called "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" with two of my friends who I used to work with while I was working at Cleveland Domino's and one of my friends' invited a relative to come along to watch the movie as well. I really enjoyed the movie. I do not watch many action movies, I am more into Drama movies, Comedy movies, etc.

If you are into action movies and if the movie is shown at your nearest cinemas, I encourage you to watch the movie sometime. I have not seen any other Jurassic Park prior to the movie.

I hope to post again on time and post on Friday evening, remember it is Pacific time-zone. I hope the next two days goes well for you. I am welcome to any suggestions that you have for me to share a blog post about. Stay tuned until next time.

Gold Coast and Beenleigh; Outing Adventures

Today marks day one of blogging. I would like to share with you about some highlights of my afternoon.

Overall, my afternoon was good and exhausted. Sometime after I had a video call with my boyfriend via video call and after I picked up a electric heater, I picked up my two YSA friends at the Gold Coast.

My friends names' is Te Manu and Nehima. I was able to spend some quality time with them. While we were in Beenleigh location, we bumped into the Elders and I thought that was awesome.

I know that I am very grateful for my friendship that I have for Te Manu and Nehima. They have been very good friends to me. They even surprised me with a hot chocolate drink when we were at 7/11 Service Station/Gas Station.

I did not expect to learn anything today but I somehow learned one thing and that was to be reminded "It is okay to take some time out of your day to help a friend out even if it is just spending some time together and you being out of your house."

I hope your afternoon was good, I hope you did something productive today and yes work does count for being productive. My next blog post will be shared by this Wednesday evening and hopefully around the same time that I shared this post this evening.