No!!!!!!!!!!!

"NOOO!"  No.  A simple two letter word that we have all heard, said, and been told.  It is a word all of us learn early on in life.  Most parents can attest to the fact that as soon as a child has learned to say it, they wish they hadn't.  My youngest sister, Amanda, tends to struggle in the speech department, but she has been able to say "no" for a very long time.  Actually, it was the only word she could clearly say for a while.  Drove my family nuts!  Any question we asked her she responded "no!" 

So, with such an easy word (seriously, two letters!), how is it we all seem to stumble a bit in saying it as we get older?

Things we know to be wrong, such as drugs or immorality, come a knockin' and we struggle to say no.  Some excuses to not saying this short little word are (but not limited to): "Everyone is doing it."  "I don't want to hurt their feelings."  "Just once..."  "It's not cool."  Frankly, they are all lame.

We are promised in Luke that "1...with God nothing shall be impossible."  All of the temptations we face are obsolete when we have this promise.  If nothing is impossible, then saying "no" just moved up in the easy department.  Another promise He gives us is:

"2There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

That right there tells us that it is possible to say "no."

Good or bad, yes or no, righteousness or evil, we can choose.  When you find it hard to say no to temptation, dig deep and find that two year old within you.  Guarantee they still know how to give a loud and triumphant "NO!!!"

Oh No You Didn't!

 Certain things just get me all fired up.  It's just who I am and in my nature.  Today someone brought up one of these "fire up" topics and I intend to address it again here.

There is a common stereotype given to the Sister missionaries that has gotten extremely out of hand and is false on so many levels.  Allow me to share with you the exact statement I heard this morning: "The three reasons why a sister missionary serves a mission are 1) They want to and are doing it for the right reasons.  2) They are looking for their future spouse.  3) They couldn't get married."  Oh how lucky that poor child was that I am a missionary and have self restraint.

To share something a little personal, I have been engaged before.  I do not intend to go into detail about it, but know that I was.  At first it was sad, but very quickly I realized what an incredible blessing it was for me!  It would have been a terrible mistake.  The Lord intervened and took me another direction. 

When I first turned 21 and prayed about going on a mission, my initial prompting was no.  So, I didn't.  I continued to work.  But, as I have shared before in my previous post (Why I'm On A Mission), about 6 months later I got the prompting that I should go out and serve the Lord.  A part of me was very apprehensive about it.   Point 3, 'They couldn't get married', was something I didn't want to be labelled.  Thankfully, I listened to my prompting and came out on my mission.  I made that decision and have never regretted it since.  I used my agency to do the best thing I have ever done in my life.

California Santa Rosa Mission Sisters.  Booyah!

Everyone has agency, or the right to choose between good and evil and to act for themselves.  We choose our actions.  This gift is given to everyone.  No one can take that away.  Someone tried once, but he was thrown out.  He tries persistantly to get us to make the wrong choices in life.  Sad thing for him is that he can't force us to do anything.  Silly Satan.  Just never learns.

So, for all you 'nay saying sister haters' out there.  Let me just bluntly tell you that each of us chose to be here.  We weren't forced to come because we "couldn't get married."  We aren't here because we want to "find our future spouse"  It was a conscious choice to come out and serve our Lord and King.  No one took away our agency and kicked us out the door.  This is the best decision I have ever made!