Jesus Lover

Even though this was a goal of mine that I've had for ages, I didn't really think about what I would even talk about (Like I wrote about Mexican food, bruh. Scroll down more). However, I always knew that with every goal that I set for myself, it needs to include some form of my testimony for the church.

For those that do not know, I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (yes, another Mormon), or the LDS/Mormon church as most people are familiar with. I was born and raised in the church and still continue to practice my beliefs. I do feel very strongly for my church and I truly believe it's because of the path that I have put myself through.

When I was younger, I clearly didn't know as much as I do now. So, I did what most of the other kids did and used my parents' testimony as my own. Only, when I entered my preteen years, I began to stray from not only their testimonies, but from building my own. I started to question a lot of things, like how the spiritual aspect of the creation of the world could ever be parallel to the factual scientific part. I questioned why God let all these horrible things happen in the world, why He didn't prevent them from happening if He had all this mighty power. I questioned why He never physically revealed himself to anyone in this day of age, but could do so to those mentioned in the Bible. I questioned everything, and if you really know me, you know I ask A LOT of questions. It had gotten to the point where I didn't care for the church or for the people within it— I just showed up because my Mom forced me to and slapped the smile on my face that showed that I cared to be there.

It wasn't until I made it to high school that I fully began to understand the gospel. Fortunately for us Mormon children, living in the second most populated state with LDS citizens, Arizona, we had seminary incorporated into our regular school schedules. So, everyday I had the opportunity to learn more and more of the church that I was raised in. I had my guard up for a while, but eventually, I gave in and began to be vocal about all the questions I've had for so long. I actually didn't realize how much of a relief it was for me to openly discuss historical and spiritual matters with my seminary teachers and classmates. In addition, I didn't realize how much I actually needed seminary at all. My seminary teachers—Brother Pickeral, Brother Bawden, Brother Doug (he says it's Rockwood, but I beg to differ), and Brother Robinson—have showed me how to channel the Spirit's love and seek my own answers and build my own testimony. And they didn't have to directly tell us how. No, I learned by their actions; when talk about the gospel, you can see the love they have for it. You can see the love they have for their students and how much happiness they find in being in the church. I yearned for that same happiness and I found it! I found it when I decided to open my mind and willingly listen to the Spirit, not even realizing how close-minded I had been all this time. 

My testimony strengthen even more during my junior year of high school when I was looking at colleges. I had always had my mind set on University of Utah because in my mind, it was perfect. The location (I really love Utah and the snow), the programs they offered, and hello, the football team. The only thing I needed to do was go on a college visit and I'll be set. One thing my cousin, Alora mentioned to me that had always stuck was that I would "know" if the school was for me or not, that it was just a feeling I would get. So, I put that into reality and road tripped up to Utah with the parentals! We arrived the next day and stayed with my uncle's family. While we there, I remembered my uncle talking to me about UofU. He clearly loved the school, his wife and daughter attended. He had amazing things to say about the school that it only pumped me up even more. However, he did also take the time to tell me that although he loves, UofU, he truly believes that I would be a great addition to Brigham Young University. I was seriously taken back. I never had the thought of even going to BYU and I wasn't going to start then. My Dad had always pushed for it, but even he couldn't convince me. I didn't want to be surrounded by instant marriage-seeking freaks. I wanted to go to school and be my own person, not meet someone and come the next day, walk out of the Salt Lake City temple, married for all time and eternity. No, I was on a hype to be successful. So, for this guy to say that, it kind of offended me, but I brushed it off. Though, at the time, I didn't realize that that was my first clue. The second one came when I realized we were late to my college visit (I didn't know Utah was an hour ahead smh)! I opted to have a self-tour after my group left and as I was touring the place, it only made me want to cry. I had all these expectations of the campus when I arrived, especially that feeling that I knew this was the place for me. But it didn't come. I didn't feel anything at the UofU. Nada. I was so disappointed and kind of irritated. My irritation only spiked when Alora begged me to come tour BYU since she was attending the school. She knew I didn't want to go there, but I hadn't seen her for a couple of months, so I gave in.

Turns out, I got my feeling when I went to the school I least wanted to go to, it was incredible. I thought I was gonna see all these marriage hungry people everywhere. Instead, I was met with the feeling that I was home. I just had this family feel for the whole place, and I knew that place was for me. It only fueled my confirmation when Alora invited me and my other cousin, AJ to join her in one of her other classes. It blew my mind that everyone constantly incorporated the gospel into the discussion that was being conducted! I knew this was a church affiliated school, but it still blew my mind that people were actually talking about religion so directly. You don't do that in a regular school! But it really strengthened my testimony that the gospel can be seen in everything and anything!

Anyways, my point is that I have a strong testimony today because of what's happened in my life that was built up to it. I know there is a lot of backlash on my church, but then again, what church doesn't? I've learned how to be open-minded of other beliefs and even have the desire to be familiar with many. It was also a valuable lesson to learn that even though others aren't living their lives with the same standards or lifestyle, you've got to love them and respect their choices anyways! The most you can do is set an example. Another critical lesson was instilling my testimony solely on the gospel and not the church members. Many have left the church because of a mistake someone of high authority has made or committed. Your testimony isn't supposed to be based off that, it's supposed to be on what Heavenly Father has set out for us to learn here on earth. I've also learned that to be able to have your own consolidated testimony of something valuable to you, you have to seek your own answers, but you can build off of others' testimonies to strengthen your own.

I have a testimony that this church is true. I know the gospel is true, the promptings of the spirit are true, I know that our prophet, Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God. I have a strong testimony on seminary, that it can help strengthen and guide you in ways no other class in school can—I know it because it's helped me. I mentioned in the beginning that I didn't know why God didn't ever real himself to us in this time, like how He had done so to those in the Bible. I've come to know that although we don't physically see Him, I know that I see His spirit in us. I see His love that radiates throughout the hearts that live to serve and love others. I know the Plan of Salvation is the true Plan of God and that it can give us comfort and hope. I have a testimony of our missionaries and their unconditional love for the gospel. Lastly, I know the Book of Mormon is true, I've read it and understood that we all have a purpose here and we need to achieve it. I love this gospel like no other and I can bring up every example in my life that it has blessed me, but by then, we'll all probably be awaiting for the gates of Heaven to open. I know I'm not perfect, I wasn't created to be so, but I know my Savior is and I know His love for me is. Just going to end this with a challenge that if you're investigating the church, pray about it! Ask questions, but remember to open your heart and be willing to listen. Bless xx

Doctrine & Covenants 8:11-

"Ask that you may know the mysteries of God, and that you may translate and receive knowledge from all those ancient records which have been hid up, that are sacred; and according to your faith shall it be done unto you."

So, I like Mexican Food...

So, I'm not sure if you read my Facebook post or not, but I practically had this goal of creating a blog and maintaining a stable amount of time building it throughout the year of 2017! My only problem with all of this is that I didn't exactly think past the actual goal of creating a blog and I have no idea what to even talk about. So, I'm just going to start with the fact that I have this slightly concerning obsession with Mexican food! However, I'm just going to break it down for you right now, that if you claim to love Mexican food like myself and your only reference is to Taco Bell, then please take a capitol 'L' and exit this website. I will not tolerate that kind of ignorance, absolutely not. 
Aside from that, Mexican food has been a part of my life like the strenuous mane that the world claims as my hair. I'm not Mexican, by the way. Not even Hispanic, but my love for their food can pose that I am, no? But I was born and raised in the Bay Area, California and if you're familiar with the area, you know that that place is its own culture itself, created by the variety of ethnic backgrounds drawn there—some of many is the Mexican race. Though I was surrounded by several of my own Polynesian community, Hispanics were a distinctive group of locals as well. While I was in grade school in the Bay Area, there were multiple opportunities where we, as students would get the chance to learn and experience different countries and the cultures that inhabited the area. Most of the countries were in Latin America and guess what they passed out to help us get feel for the culture? HISPANIC FOOD (you gotta say it with a Hispanic accent). It was where I found my love for Mexico, Venezuela, and bachata music! Eventually, I noticed we had more celebrations in class regarding Hispanic relations with the extreme emphasis on Mexico (Cinco de Mayo, Día de los Muertos, Día de la Revolución, etc.). I even remember getting a butt load of Mexican food on the days of a classmate's birthday, which I'm not complaining about.
One thing I will praise religiously, is their rice. I'm already a fanatic for rice anyways, but after I tried Mexican rice? My six year-old self was done for. I cannot express to you the amount of desire I have for such a thing as rice, okay. I seriously became so picky over years on who makes good Mexican rice. Here in Arizona? Absolutely none of those I have tried know how to make Mexican rice properly. There are obvious exceptions like Nycole because she literally just moved here from Los Angeles, but seriously, I'm so disappointed in you Arizona residents. And we live on the freaking border, like what is this. Anyways, rice is my main love and go-to in the Mexican food category.
OMG, and SOPES? I don't know who created that, but I thank Heavenly Father for you every day for a mind like yours. If you don't know what sopes are, then I hope you best unfollow me on every social media I own and your memory of me because that is such a disgrace to human society. You could be my Dad and I wouldn't even care...But then that would be irrelevant because my Dad actually knows what sopes are. And he's a fob. Please go and try sopes, though if you haven't because that clearly means you haven't been blessed at all. It's bad enough that some of you claim Taco Bell as a legitimate Mexican delicacy. Anyhow, sopes are Jesus' way of telling us that there is hope for this world. So, go befriend some nice Mexicans and ask their abuelas to educate you in such topics.
I seriously could go on and on and on and on about my love for different Mexican dishes like pazole, menudo, enchiladas, REAL TACOS—anyways, I just hope you all understand that this was all just a rant about nothing and that I'm just trying to fulfill my bucket list goals lol. More rant blogs to come. Bless xx

Now, here are two beautiful pictures of Mexican food from Google. Enjoy.