Faith is to know He Will

  At different times in my life I have referred to the Tender Mercies of the Lord in different ways. Some days I call it the Lord's hand, others it is called, God sent me love through..., and others I just call them blessings.

  No matter what we call them I feel if we strive to look and reflect daily,  we can all see blessing and answers that come to us from our Heavenly Father. I often become very impatient with my current situation and just wish I could fast forward to a week from now or to next month or to the next semester. But, when I take the time to ponder and reflect I am reminded that I must constantly remember that I am in this current stage in my life for a wonderful purpose. I am reminded that the Lord knows much better than I what I need most. And I realize that instead of trying to tackle a week at a time, I should just start with taking it hour by hour, calling upon the Lord frequently for His help and direction. 

  Tonight as  I was reading I found a quote by Henry B. Eyring which reads, 

"Faith is not to hope. Faith is not simply to know God could do something. Faith is to know He will."

  I often feel like I understand completely the first two concepts. But,  I am quick to forget the last part. We need to believe and move forward with the Faith that He will grant us our righteous desires, and grant us daily blessings. Now they might not come as quickly or in the way that we like, but I can testify that they do come, and that His way is always better than our own. 

  The more I study this gospel, the more I realize how simple it is. The more I study and learn, the happier I become. The more I learn about the loving nature of Our Heavenly Father and how much He loves His children, my faith increases and my burdens seem lighter. I know that God lives and that He loves us! I am grateful for that wonderful gospel truth!

A "Puchicka" kind of week

   If you know me well enough, you know I use the word "puchicka" quite a bit. It has become a somewhat overused word in my vocabulary. Before my mission my favorite word was "righteous" and anyone in my family can attest I annoyed people quite a bit. So, I apologize if you think I use the word to much. Especially when I am having an entire conversation in english, then I jump back to "puchicka" then continue onward with english again. One of my many quirks.  But, I  feel it just covers and explains so many of the emotions I feel. So, anyway...( If you just broke out , singing the cat song in your head, it is a common occurrence in Cox 14)

   This week was the first week of school. It has been a busy but, very exciting week. New classes, a whirlwind of weather changes and a whole lot of sickness. However, I have been able to put in practice and be reminded constantly of  the phrase, "Never take counsel from your fears." As the week  progressed I felt like I had  a lot on my plate with work and classes and other things that were demanding my attention. Satan began to make me feel like I would not be able to accomplish everything.He kept telling me to drop the two classes that I feared  most. He told me to run away from them. But, as my mission president once taught me, "the things you fear most,  usually are your hidden talents."

     Tonight I had to go over to a ward members house  and as I was walking home.... I was  able to reflect and  see the Lord's hand in everything this week. I saw the experiences I had had to keep me in the classes that I am in. I was able to realize in that moment how everything just fell into place. And I said to myself  Puchicka,Kyle,( if you did not just get that reference, you need to watch more Boy Meets World.)  Heavenly Father took all of my burdens off my shoulders and carried them.
   He needed me to be reminded once again that I can call on Him and He is there for me. I don't know what this semester will bring. I do know however that the Lord is with me every step of the way!

Dorothy, we are not in Vegas anymore....

 I have always been proud to call Nevada my home.
So, here I sit on the eve of officially saying good bye to my Nevada residency.
My permanent address changed in January to Kanab.
Tragedy struck again in August when my vehicle registration came again and I had to turn in my Nevada license plates.
Tomorrow I am going to the DMV to turn over my last piece of evidence that proved my Nevada residency. Tomorrow I will have a Utah license folks.
Long live Nevada, but now for all intensive purposes I must say I am from Utah. :)

To become as a little child....

 This Thanksgiving holiday I was in Kanab with my family. Everyone was there Thursday to eat and enjoy the holiday. But, a lot of my family members left that night. So, Friday, I had the opportunity to just be at the house with my dad, mom and my little niece Tori who is almost three. My dad was out hunting most of the day with my younger cousin Cody. So, my mom, Tori and I hung out at the house. We went and ran some errands in town and then spent the day doing things around the house, playing with Tori and relaxing. 

    As I  watch Tori play and as I spend time with her,  her love and innocence radiates from her. We often hear that the eyes are the window to her soul and the best way I can describe it is, Tori's little eyes just smile all the time with a light that she has. Yesterday while being with her the following line from Mosiah 3:19 in The Book of Mormon came to my mind, "... and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon Him." 

If you have had an opportunity to be around a little child long enough, you can see a lot of these qualities. Tori, is a really content kid the majority of the time, she is a good listener and she minds. She is always so willing to show love and it is hard to not be happy her.  I feel too as I have been around kids that they can sense when something is wrong. Today on the car ride to St. George to meet my friend Ogden,  I was having a conversation with my mom about my inadequacies and how Satan makes me feel sometimes that I will never be able to overcome them. And from the backseat, Tori goes, " Ashie, Ashie, .....Ashie," ( and at first I did not hear her but she patiently kept saying my name over and over again) and I then said, "Yes Tori?" She said, " Ashie, I love you" How could she have known in that moment that those words was all I needed to hear? How could she have known that by something so simple it could change the course of my thinking in that moment? Children have that gift to sense and to know that something is wrong and are quick to comfort.

 Another instance that happened this weekend, was one morning I woke up with a bad headache. I went to lay down about mid-morning. As I laid down, Tori came in, ( as a preface I have to let you know that  Tori loves baby dolls, she loves playing with her babies and being a mommy to them.) So, I  laid down and she came in and said," Ashie, here is one of my babies in order to help feel you better."The fact that she said "feel you better" just melted my heart,but also she was willing to take something that she loved so much and share it with me.  In her mind, being able to have a toy baby makes her feel better and she was willing to share with her aunt in order to have it make me happy as well! I know that children have that innocence and love like our Heavenly Father. They come to earth with that love and innocence and we as their mothers/fathers/aunts/uncles are able to learn great truths from them. I know that Heavenly Father loves his children. In all the accounts of the scriptures, Heavenly Father took time for the little ones. I know that Heavenly Father wants us to think and be more like children, or in my life, more like my little niece Tori.  

In little kid's minds there is a solution to everything, they do not complicate things with reasoning of men or with doubt, if they think it, they believe it and can achieve it. I want to be more like Tori or a little child in that aspect. I want to believe in myself, that if I think it, I can believe that with God I can achieve it. Satan will always come, Satan will always be on the sidelines of your conscience telling you that you can't or that you are not good enough.  But, we have to remember the Lord does not give us anything that we cannot handle. He does not give us any mountain to high, or anything task that is too hard for us to complete together with the Lord. Lastly, humility means that we are not afraid to fail. I feel many times my talents stay hidden, because I am afraid that I might fail. But, as I watch Tori, when she falls, she gets back up, when her tower of building blocks tumbles over, she builds it up again, and when her dirt pile  gets stomped on by her cousin, she starts all over again. May I work to adapt this mentality and to realize that FAILURE does come in life, because I am not perfect. That I may remember that sometimes I will not do as well in some aspect of my life  as someone else , but to realize that My Heavenly Father loves me the exact same and that Failure and trials are given to me because of that Love and not because I am being punished. 

   My little niece Tori, makes me happy! She makes me realize that the important things in life are not things, but are the gifts and knowledge that only Our Heavenly Father can teach us. The truths that come through His gospel. I am also grateful for the knowledge that Mosiah teaches us that we must become as a little child to work towards becoming more like Our Heavenly Father. I love my little niece Tori and I know that she is loved of her Heavenly Father and that even though she be small, I have a lot to learn from Her. :)

Thanksgiving!

            Ever since I was a little kid, we have always went to Kanab, Utah for Thanksgiving. It was one of the few trips we took every year growing up. I enjoyed seeing all of our extended family on the Bunting side. But, one of my favorite parts was seeing my cousin Kirstie. She was the only cousin on that side my age.  She lives in Colorado so her and I would only see each other once a year over Thanksgiving weekend.  We would kick a soccer ball back and forth, shoot baskets or just play cards in the house. 

   As the years have passed, Thanksgiving has changed a bit, now much of the extended family stay with their immediate families where they live. But, I still find myself with the same excitement as Thanksgiving approaches as I did as a little girl. I am excited to go to Kanab this year and to be able to spend time with my family. To be able to be an active participant of the tradition that started so long ago! Every one of us has a desire to belong, I strongly feel that is why God placed us in family units because He knew that our spirits desire to belong. At Thanksgiving each year, I feel this sense of belonging and acceptance. You have the opportunity to be with those loved ones who know you and love you! I do not know how to explain it necessarily but there is not a greater feeling than coming Home. Home not necessarily being a geographical location but rather coming home to a group of people that you know will love you no matter what! Family who has been through the good and the hard times with you. They are your biggest fans and always cheering you on.

   Thanksgiving has been the holiday that has best captured that feeling for me! I look forward to Thanksgiving every year! I am grateful for the family that I do have on both sides, both the Tribetts and the Buntings. I am grateful for the emphasis that my extended family has put on spending time together for all the different birthdays and holidays during the years. 

 

   I am eternally grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Through it I know that my current and my future family can be together for eternity if we strive to live righteously. I am a family studies major here at BYU,I absolutely love my major because I get to learn how to maintain family values and help families in a world that is diminishing the nurturing of families. I want to help families who are struggling and make it possible for more children to feel that sense of belonging and acceptance in their family units. 

   I am so grateful for Thanksgiving! I am grateful for this wonderful time of year! I am grateful for the love that Our Heavenly Father has for us! I am grateful for my family! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The Simple Things in Life

I have decided that sometimes God sends you love in and through a snow scraper. If it is not a snow scraper it might be an old friend calling you up and inviting you to attend the temple with Him. Receiving a smile from someone, a roommate being there and knowing when something is wrong and provides the opportunity to talk about it.  I know that God has shown His love for me through statistics.Statistics is not a subject that comes easily to me and I have to strive to understand it. But, I have seen little tender mercies that He has sent me little by little this semester in which I am very grateful! But, there is one thing that I know for sure I do know that God knows statistics. I do know that God knew how badly a snow scraper for my car would brighten my day.After, I was able to appreciate the beauty of the first snowfall of the year. He knows how temple attendance makes all of the worldly worries and fears diminish when we enter into His house. And He knows how bad we need certain people in our life in order to progress and for them to sometimes remind us who we are in our Heavenly Father's eyes. I am grateful for the simple things in life. I am grateful for the love that Heavenly Father sends me many times through other people. In the word's of President Uchtdorf: We would do well, to slow down a little bit, and look to the things ( the simple things) that matter most."

  

14 months today!

 First off, I have never thought I would be one to become a blogger. Not that I am against it. I enjoy reading blogs of my friends and acquaintances. I have just always thought I have a journal for my personal experiences and a face book status for anything awesome I wish to share.So, I don't need one! Well, lately I have had to think again. I have had certain experiences that I have had a desire to share with those close friends and loved ones and I have not felt it sufficient to put it as my status nor was the space needed available to me.
       I have been home from my mission  fourteen months today actually. I think this transformation or reality check, call it what you will started the day I got off my mission. From the hour or so after I got off that plane nothing was as I expected.  My home and family were different than what they had been a year and half before. While I think I did realize that is how it would be  I don't think it really hit home until I arrived home.
       Coming home I had life planned of how I thought it would be, I, like missionaries do in the mission field had a plan of how quickly each of my desires would be fulfilled. Well, lets just say a lot of those desires have not yet been fulfilled in the way that I had originally hoped. The first months following my arrival home I questioned the Lord, "why"? I had done his will, I had done the things He had asked of me in Guatemala.  But, as months passed I realized I was happiest when instead of asking "why" I asked, Lord what do I need to do better? How am I able to serve someone else? What can I work on personally in order to overcome my weaknesses? Now, do I still have moments where I sometimes question?... of course it's only natural because I am human. But, I am finding that those moments are fewer and farther in between.
    So, on Tuesday I was in my Doctrine and Covenants class and my Professor was teaching us about D& C 121 when Joseph Smith was in Liberty Jail. My professor stated that a trial is "anything that tests us spiritually." During the class I reflected on that and it was a wonderful lesson. Afterwards, while walking home, this time is often my favorite time of the week because I am able to offer a prayer in my heart to my Heavenly Father and ponder on all that I had learned that day in class. So, on Tuesday as I was walking out of class my Professor gave us a handout with quotes on it to help endure trials.
  The first one I read was the following:
       " God will feel after you and will take your very heartstrings, and He will wrench them, and if you cannot stand it you will not be a fit candidate for the kingdom of God." - Joseph Smith.
   In that moment, I smiled because I knew God knew Ashley Bunting and He knew my trials, He knows my desires, but He also knows what timing is best for me. But, He also knows what He wants me to be, and I know right now He wants me to be just a currant bush. (see video The Will of God by D. Todd Christofferson- mormon message).  Looking back on these past fourteen months I am grateful that my desires did not happen in my timetable because if they had I would have missed out on the amazing experiences I have had. Some good and some bad, but they have helped me to grow and to progress and to ever so slowly start on my path to becoming.....