Brightly Beams

The other night I was honored to see an advanced screening of the movie Christopher Robin . First I would like to express how well it was made. Watching this movie brought back memories of when I was 4 or 5 and had a Winnie the Pooh themed birthday party. If I remember right, my mom made me some Winnie the Pooh pajamas that year! While watching this movie you see just how much someone can change once they grow up. Christopher Robin has indeed changed quite a bit from the little boy he once was. I don't want to focus on the movie plot and storyline. I want to focus on each character in the movie. It seems that each character represents a mental disorder of some kind. Winnie the Pooh has the attributes of someone with Impulsivity with obsessive fixations, ADHD and OCD. You see this with the great lengths he goes to get himself some honey. He tends to get himself into trouble, like eating so much honey he gets stuck in his doorway.  Piglet has Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Pigl

Growing up in and being raised by goodly parents I was taught to say no. I was told to say no to drugs, to alcohol, and many other unwise actions. When I asked my parents for things I often heard the response of no. Can I stay up late tonight? Can I sluff school today? Can I get a supersized happy meal? Now that I am older I still hear the answer no. Can I buy an 85 inch TV? Bank account says no. Can I get the new Tesla Model 3? Again my bank account says no. Can I speed down the highway? The officer who pulled me over says no. On my mission, I was told no many times. Can we come in and share a message with you? No. Can we baptize your daughter? No. Can we get extra miles in our car this month? No. Growing up in the church I was taught to always try your best to say yes to a calling. When I was a youth I never heard of people saying no to a calling. Now that I am older I hear it all the time. My parents are in a ward which seems to be doubling by size each week, yet they struggle

On this journey we call life, we have many choices to make. With these choices, we choose how we react to the consequences of those choices. We tend to be happy when things go as planned, mad when things go wrong, and sad when the unexpected happens. The way we react has a great influence on those around us. If you want to be the greatest motivation for others you must be positive. All throughout time, there have been some amazingly influential leaders who have motivated others to do some great and amazing things. George Washington led his troops to victory for freedom, Abraham Lincoln stood up for the freedoms of everyone while Rosa Parks sat down for them. Similarly, there were powerful voices who have led to horrible things. Adolf Hitler led his troops to try and annihilate an entire race. Fidel Castro stood to block people's freedom. Mary I of England had many people be burned at the stake. Who would you rather follow? Who would you rather be?   One of the greatest leader

I love the word love. Love is such a powerful word. You love your friends, you love your family and you love your dreams. Love has been the inspiration for many great things. Many things have been done in the name of love. That is why I believe love is the most powerful force on earth. Jesus Christ talks about how we need to love God, our neighbors, and ourselves. I feel that when we love ourselves and others, we get a glimpse of heaven. The word “love” is in the bible 310 times, so it seems like it is a pretty important word. Just think what would happen when we follow the following advice: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” One of my favorite songs says the following, “Can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel, my heart's in overdrive and you're behind the steering wheel.” Love can get us to do some crazy stuff. Another one of my favori

Growing up in an LDS family was just like growing up in most non-LDS families. Sometimes we got along with our siblings, other times we wanted to kill them. Sometimes we loved our parents, other times we thought they were aliens from a different planet. One thing which made us stand out from the crowd is our weekly three-hour worship at church on Sundays. I always enjoyed going to church, I had a lot of friends there. During my teenage years, I noticed that something about church bugged me, something which now looking back I am so glad it bugged me. Once a month at church we have what is called a “testimony meeting.” For those who don’t know what that is, it is where anyone in the congregation can go up to the podium and share what they believe in. A lot of people use the term “I know this is true.” This line is what bugged me the most. How could anyone know if any of this is true? How could they know if the Book of Mormon is true? How could they know if Joseph Smith was a prop

This past week I asked one of my friends what I should write about, and they told me hammocking. So here is my input on the adventures of hammocking. Hammocking has become quite a popular way to "hang" out with your friends. I have now enjoyed hammocking a couple times now and I am already hooked. But what does hammocking have to do with the gospel, well let me tell you. There are two types of hammocking, first is personal hammocking, this one you do by yourself, usually spent reading a book, enjoying nature or taking a nap. The other is social hammocking, this one is spent with others, you are interacting and getting to know one another. Just like going to church, you are able to learn and grow together. Hammocking helps you to live a more elevated life. You can set up your hammock as high as you want, you can be sitting on the ground, near the top a 100-foot tree or anywhere in between. For some being so high in the air helps them feel closer to God, just like in ancient

Life is meant to be lived. Don't cut your life short, no matter what. You were born to live and to love. I don't know the entire story line of the latest show on Netflix called "13 Reasons Why," but I want to show you 13 reasons why you are important, why you should live and why God loves you. I really enjoy the interaction Moses has with God in the Book of Moses. This interaction really helps us understand who we are, and what we mean to God. "Behold, thou art my son." Five simple words, but these five words tell us who we are. We are children of a loving Heavenly Father, He knows us, He has and is raising us. If you go on and finish reading the chapter you'll see just how amazing that is for you. The fact that we are children of God also lets us know we are children, children who make mistakes and at times feel down about ourselves. We are all miracles, and if you don't believe that, you should read this amazing talk given by President Russe