Together Forever

Today I'm just extremely grateful that I'm married to my best friend for time and ALL eternity. :) In my Eternal Family class, we're discussing The Family: A Proclamation To The World, which you can find and print a copy of here.

This week we are discussing the third paragraph which says," In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally." 

These ordinances and covenants are necessary for everyone to enter into if they want to live eternally with God. Our Heavenly Father loves us so dang much. He truly just wants us to be happy! And as we obey Him, he pours out his blessings upon us.  

In The Book of Mormon in Mosiah 16:7-8 it says, 

 7 "And if Christ had not risen from the dead, or have broken the bands of death that the grave should have no victory, and that death should have no sting, there could have been no resurrection.

 8 But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ."

I'm so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ. Because of Him, we will live again! He has taken away that sting of death because of his perfect love towards us. 

Healthy Eating

Wow. I haven't been on here in literally forever. So today I decided that I might as well start back up again! :)

This semester I'm taking classes online at BYU-I. And let me tell you, I'm surprised I'm not dead yet. Haha. It's so time consuming and I may or may not have ended up in tears a few times. But it's fine. I'm starting to get the hang of it.. I think. :)

I'm taking Human Nutrition, Exercise Physiology, Personal Health and Fitness, Sociology, and The Eternal Family. For my Eternal Family class, we were challenged to set a goal about eating healthier and exercising. So I decided to try and eat a fruit and/or vegetable for at least 2 meals of the day and then exercise for 30 min for at least 4 days of the week. It addition to that, I also tracked my calories with every single food that I ate. It might sound like a pain to some people, but I actually loved it! I love learning about nutrition and the things that foods can do for our bodies.

So this morning I decided to get up and make a healthy breakfast. I found this recipe for banana oat greek yogurt muffins on this site http://www.runningwithspoons.com/2014/06/24/banana-oat-greek-yogurt-muffins/ and decided to give it a try! Instead of blending up the oats I just left them whole. I also didn't add the chocolate chips because first of all, my family is doing a health challenge and we can only have sweets for one day out the week. And second of all, I knew I'd eat all of them if they had chocolate chips in them. :)

Let me tell you, these things were DELICIOUS! I may or may not have eaten 2 of them. But, they are so much healthier than regular muffins! They don't contain any refined grains, just 100% whole wheat oats. They also have a good amount protein because of the greek yogurt, and there is a banana in them which is a good source of potassium and fiber. So basically they're packed with nutrients. :)

I ate these muffins as well as an orange while I did some personal study this morning. I read in D&C 89 about the Word of Wisdom and verse 16 stood out to me today. It says, "All grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground." I love that the Lord knows exactly what we need for our bodies to keep them healthy and strong! And I also love the promise that He gives us as we obey and follow the Word of Wisdom.

It's seriously such a cool promise. :) I love the scriptures and I love food and nutrition. So basically I love it when they're both combined. ;)

Eat healthier, people!! :)

Love,
Maurcine

Week 78

Life doesn't even seem real right now. I feel like I'll be a full time missionary forever and yet I know that I'm going home soon. Probably because everyone and their dog keep asking me about it. Haha this old guy in our ward sang to me yesterday, "My bags are packed, I'm ready to gooo!" Apparently it was a song that was playing at the airport when he was coming home from his mission. So every time he ran into me yesterday he'd sing that song. I was like, "Brother Hall! My bags aren't even packed! I'm going to be here forever." Haha he's a clown.. 

I'm so grateful for this opportunity that I've had to represent my Savior. I know that He lives. And striving to bring others unto Him has been one of my greatest blessings. Serving a mission has been the best decision that I have ever made in my life. It's been a roller coaster. Filled with ups and downs! But it has been more than worth it. 

I was reading today in Jacob 4 and in verse 7 it says, "Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things." I know that there is NO way that I could've done this work without the help of my Savior. He has strengthened me more than I can even express. He truly makes our weaknesses strengths. I'm not perfect, but I've grown so much. I know that this gospel is learning experience each and every day of our lives. There are always ways that we can improve! So I'm excited that I can learn and grow in the gospel for the rest of my life. :) 

I know that our Savior's Atonement is real and that it is for each and every one of us. President Henry B. Eyring said, You will never meet anyone ever in your life that the Savior did not love enough to have paid the full price." I know that that's true! And if you haven't read it yet, read through this poem. It's from this month's Ensign. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that He truly is with us at all times. 

I love you all. SO, so, so much. Thank you for your love and support. I have thee greatest friends and Flammily in the world. I'll see you all soon. :) 

Love, 

Sister Maurcine Flamm 

His Perfect Atonement

I used to believe

That there was a hole

In Christ’s Atonement—

That He could save everyone—

Except me.

But I was wrong.

There is not one hole,

But seven.

Two holes in

His Hands

Where they nailed Him

To a cross

At the behest of those

He would die

To save,

Two holes in

His wrists

Where they ensured

The weight of His body

Would not cause

His hands

To rip through

Before His penance

Was complete,

Two holes in

His feet

Where He stood

As a witness to all

Of God’s unyielding love

For each

Of His children,

And one hole in

His side

Where they pierced Him

To prove His work

Was done.

Seven.

Perfection.

Seven perfect holes

In earth’s only

Perfect Man.

The perfect Atonement

To patch the holes in our lives.

His holes make us

Whole.

I was wrong.

There is a

Whole

In Christ’s Atonement

For me

After all.

-Kasey Hammer, Utah, USA

Week 77

Miracles all day every day. :) Last week I went on exchanges with a Tongan sister named Sister Sonasi. She's stinkin hilarious! I just love her. :) So we were walking around about to go back for lunch and she says to me, "Think we can find one more person before we go back?" I was like, "You bet!!" So I start praying for Heavenly Father to lead us to one more person that is prepared. I'm praying and praying and then we see someone clear out in the parking lot getting into his car. So I yell "hello!" but he didn't hear me. So we keep heading toward him, yelling as we go to try and get his attention. Haha. Before he closed his car door I asked him, "Hey! Are you heading off to work?" He stops and says, "Well, it depends on who's asking! Did I win the lottery?" We just laughed and told him that what we had to share was WAY better than winning the lottery. We then testified of how it brought eternal, not temporary, happiness. He was a little hesitant about it but starting opening up to us and asked us some questions.  As we continued talking to him we were able to transition into the Restoration. We pulled out the pamphlet and showed him the pictures as we taught. We were able to help him connect the dots and then he agreed to letting us come back and teach him more. We left him the pamphlet and told him to come with more questions for us. It was really cool because he told us that he had seen missionaries in a few different countries throughout the years as he has traveled. We testified of God's love for all of his children and that missionaries are called throughout the world to share this sacred message. He was definitely impressed! We were praying to find someone ready to accept the gospel before we went home for lunch and sure enough, we found him! It just took a little persistence and not giving up even when it seemed like he was busy. :) As we were leaving we realized that we forgot to say a prayer with him though.(Because saying a prayer at the end now counts as a lesson. :)) Haha so Sister Sonasi quickly turned around and ran over to his car and asked if we could pray with him before he left. He agreed and turned off his car so that we could pray. After the prayer he said, "You're right. This does seem better than winning the lottery!" WHAAAT?! Who says that?! Haha I'm telling ya, this guy was GOLDEN. He's not in my area but I'm really excited that Sister Sonasi and her companion will get to teach him. :) 

  

President and Sister Eaton came over for companion study the other day and it was so great. Haha they kill me. We've had a bunch of bees getting into our apartment for some reason and one of them kept flying around President. So he started chasing after it. He was jumping up and down with a notebook trying to smash the dang thing. Haha it was the funniest sight ever because he's just so short! Haha but sure enough he killed it. :) We had a really good Book of Mormon read with them though. We read about Lehi's family leaving Jerusalem and traveling to the wilderness. He then said, "Journeys to spiritual lands of promise usually involve us making sacrifices." It's so true. But I know that these sacrifices that we are asked to make are often hard, but always worth it. God knows what's going to help us the most. He's just trying to bless us. :) 

Well I hope you all have a week full of miracles! Be good and share the gospel! I love you all :) 

Love, 

Sister Maurcine Flamm 

Week 76

Hello!! 

I hope everyone is having a great week! We've had so many great lessons this last week. The best thing ever is teaching people on the spot though. As we were in this apartment complex trying to find a potential investigator, we ran into this guy who I think was the potentials ex-husband.. Anyways! So we started talking to him and we testified to him about families and how the gospel truly blesses our families. He let us keep talking so then I asked if I could share a scripture with him. We read Helaman 5:12 and he was listening so intently. After I finished he said, "Wow. I think I need to sit down before I pass out." We were like uhh.. are you ok?? He told us that he was but he didn't know what just hit him. So we had him explain how he was feeling and it was definitely the Spirit. Haha it was so great. We told him to download the Book of Mormon app and then wrote down the scripture reference for him as well. He was so excited! He was like I'm going to go inside right now and read it again! He was tearing up big time. We then prayed for him and his family. Man.. I just know with all of my heart that The Book of Mormon is the word of God. It's so true. The world has the Bible, but I'm so grateful to have the privilege of sharing the Book of Mormon with everyone. This crazy world needs it! 

We were on exchanges yesterday and me and my companion were out and about talking to everyone and we saw this big Tongan group at the park. So we were like let's go get some more Restoration pamphlets and go teach them! So as we were walking back to our car, we hear someone yelling, "Sisters! Come over here! Come get some lunch!" Haha turns out that they were all from the Tongan ward.. So they loaded us up with a bunch of food and then we were on our way to find more people to talk to! Ha Polynesians are so great. They said that in their ward they feed the missionaries every day for every single meal. I. Would. Die. Haha talk about MAJOR weight gain. 

Well I love you all so dang much! Be happy! Life is so good. Go help someone in need this week! :) Talk to ya later! 

Sister Maurcine Flamm 

Week 75

Remember when I was going to decide to be grateful in my circumstances this last week? Haha. Well.. I tried. ;) 

So Friday night comes and after our nightly planning I'm just like. "Man. My head itches! Sister Goodman will you see if there's anything on my head?" So we sit down and she just starts fingering through my hair like a monkey. So I'm just sitting there and then all of the sudden this huge wet thing smacks my hand. I look down and then say, "Did you just drool on me?! She just says, "Sorry. I was just so shocked at what I found!" So... want to see what we found?? 

TWENTY. Twenty of these little suckers!!! Do you know what that is?! Well... it's lice. That one in the picture is like a little tiny baby one. We found some like 5x that big. I wanted to die. And shave my head. Yep. That crossed my mind more than once! Haha but then I thought.. Ehh.. better not. ;) 

Sister Goodman is SO great though. She helped me comb through my hair for hours on Saturday. We were nit picking and killing lice left and right. Then she basically cleaned up the whole apartment. I don't know what I would do without her! She's a good one. :) I'm seriously so blessed. We combed through my hair yesterday and didn't find any more. But we have to keep doing it for like a week or so to make sure we got rid of all of them. I'm telling you.. it was crazy stuff. 

But... I was able to go to church yesterday! So that was the best thing ever. Hopefully I didn't pass it on to anyone.. :) Then we went out and contacted and taught a bunch of people. We met these 2 Samoan girls and they let us right into their home. They had a bunch of questions so we were answering those and then taught them the Restoration. As we were teaching about Joseph Smith one of them told us that if she was him she would just make her own church. So we kept teaching and asking questions and then she totally connected the dots. She was like, "Wait! I wouldn't be able to make my own church because I wouldn't have that authority to do that." Haha it was seriously one of the coolest lessons ever. At the end she said, "I just kind of want to cry right now!" The Spirit was so strong in that discussion! Man. I just wanted to cry as well. :) Miracles all over the place!!! Life is good. :) 

Well I hope you all had a fantastic week! And I hope the lice doesn't come your way. But check your heads just in case. :) I love you all so much!! 

Love, 

Sister Maurcine Flamm 

Week 74

Hey! How's everyone doing?

Things have been great here in Federal Way! I love Sister Goodman. She's basically the nicest person on the planet. Always happy and smiling. :) Ha. We just got back from playing soccer with Aiden and his family and the Crawford family. So basically a bunch of kids under the age of 12. :) Haha it was a blast! Sister Goodman is dang good at soccer. And I'm really out of shape.. Ha. So now I'm sweaty and gross and no one is going to want to talk to me. ;) 

We had a lesson with Bro Boyd this week. He's a member in our ward that we read to each week because he's blind. He has strengthened my testimony SO much!! So we were talking with him and he was telling us how he's on dialysis 3 times a week and how he saves Thursday's for us so that we can come by. He needs a kidney transplant and he told us, "Don't pray for a new kidney. I don't want anyone to die for me because HE already did." It just brought tears to my eyes. He's just such a humble man who is suffering so much! Yet he is patient and understanding of our Heavenly Father's timing. He then told us more about his conversion and said that, "God closed my eyes physically but opened them spiritually." He's always just so grateful! It made me think of the talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. In the talk he said, "My dear brothers and sisters, the choice is ours. We can choose to limit our gratitude, based on the blessings we feel we lack. Or we can choose to be like Nephi, whose grateful heart never faltered. When his brothers tied him up on the ship—which he had built to take them to the promised land—his ankles and wrists were so sore “they had swollen exceedingly,” and a violent storm threatened to swallow him up in the depths of the sea. “Nevertheless,” Nephi said, “I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.”

I know that that's true. We can choose to be happy no matter what. :) So that's what I'm working on this week! I'll let you know how it goes. :) Ha. Well I love you all! Talk to you later! 

Love, 

Sister Maurcine Flamm 

P.S. Happy late birthday Paige!! :)