Simply Kenzie M

This year, I have decided to regift. Don't worry family and friends, you'll still get new gifts because I'm not regifting what you think I am. I'm regifting kindness. I'm regifting forgiveness. I'm regifting love and charity. I'm regifting smiles. I'm regifting patience. I'm regifting joy. I'm regifting time. Over two millenia ago, our Father in Heaven gave us the greatest gift there was to give: our Savior Jesus Christ. Born in the most humble of places, Jesus was born to a humble carpenter and his wife. On that night, shepherds came to rejoice in this little baby who would someday grow to Atone for their sins and sorrows. Not able to contain their joy, these shepherds went about sharing the message that the Messiah had been born. They regifted the gift they had been given. When Jesus began His ministry, He "went about doing good". He healed the sick and raised the dead. He comforted the downtrodden and glorified

*Disclaimer: the upcoming message is not meant to say that all technology and social media is inherently evil. Imagine that we live in a world where there is a constant, dense cloud above our heads. In this cloud there are all kinds of things. There are TBH’s, LOL’s, OMG’s, TBT’s, and a myriad of smiley faces and thumbs ups. There are angry birds, frowny faces, and vines.  Bit by bit people lose focus on the world around them and get caught up in this entertaining cloud. People start reaching for the cloud and find comfort in those happy little smiley faces and the successful “likes” that the cloud has given them. Eventually everyone is looking at the cloud, instead of at each other. But what if one day someone got sick of depending on the cloud? What if they wanted to see the sun and the blue sky? What would happen? Slowly people start realizing that this cloud is getting in their way. They find it difficult to connect with family members. Answering phone calls becomes a burden

When President Nelson asked the women to do four things this past Women's Conference I was a bit overwhelmed, to be honest. Read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year?! Regular temple attendance, studying of Relief Society documents and active participation, and a social media fast to top it all off? My initial reaction was sadly to hold up my hands and go "no way!" How could he ask us to do so much? I looked at all of my sisters who are busy being full time mothers and was overwhelmed for them! Thankfully that moment of doubt and incredulous disbelief didn't last long. I'll admit, I still wasn't thrilled to read the entire Book of Mormon by the end of the year, but I have a firm testimony that President Nelson is indeed the prophet and because of that I knew I needed to follow his counsel. There was a reason he was asking us to do all of these things. I may not have known it at the time, but the Lord did. Essentially it was the Lord asking us to do these

In his most recent talk this past April, Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives , Pres. Nelson said,   " I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation".  The prophet has asked us to improve our ability to receive personal revelation. But how do we do that? How do we stretch ourselves to receive more revelation?  Physically, my family is not flexible. As a dancer, this was always a challenge. I would watch girls around me doing the splits or lifting their foot to their head. I was always envious of their flexibility. I stretched and stretched and stretched and only saw minimal improvement. It was painful and frustrating to feel like I wasn't improving at all. I was in junior high school when my ballet teacher finally cracked the whip. I think it was a combination of her being frustrated with our lack of flexibility along with her seeing how much we wanted to improve. She outlined a series of stretching exercise

As a kid and even as a teenager, whenever we went on hikes or vacations, I would hop out of the car and immediately hand my water bottle and anything else I had to my mom and say, "Here will you hold this?" I asked it as a question, but never really meant it that way. I just assumed she would carry all of my things for me. I remember her carrying these heavy bags everywhere we went because us kids couldn't be bothered to carry our own things. When I think about it now, I cringe thinking about the heavy packs of water, cameras, jackets, and souvenirs that she trekked with around Disneyland, numerous airports, and various other locations around the world. And I never  once  heard her complain. As my mother so selflessly did for my temporal (and often emotional) burdens, Jesus Christ invites us to come unto Him that are burdens may be made light. He is offering to carry what we feel too weak to carry. I have had experiences in my life when the Savior has answered my prayer

This morning I was reading in the Book of Mormon in Alma 20. At this point, King Lamoni and his household have been converted to the gospel. Lamoni desires that Ammon come to his father's kingdom with him. However, Alma refuses, telling Lamoni that He has been instructed by the Lord to deliver his brothers in Middoni. Ammon also knows that should he go to Lamoni's father, his life will be in danger. Learning that these instructions are from the Lord, Lamoni insists that he will go with Ammon since he is friends with the king of Middoni. As they are journeying to Middoni, they run into Lamoni's father. The more I read over this passage and thought about it, the more clear it became that it was all in Heavenly Father's plan. I have no doubt that Heavenly Father knew Ammon and Lamoni would run into Lamoni's father on their way to Middoni. Why then was the Spirit so strong in instructing Ammon not to go to see Lamoni's father in his kingdom? Well that's just i

At a Stake Women's Conference yesterday I learned a lot about the woman at the well and the significance of that story. I've always been taught that the significance of this story is that a Jew was talking to a Samaritan. A Samaritan woman even. However, I learned yesterday that there's a lot more to this story than simply being nonjudgemental (which is an important lesson). It's interesting to note that the woman at the well was never named. Perhaps that was done deliberately so we could see ourselves more easily in her place. It's also interesting to note that the woman came to the well in the "sixth hour", which is about noon. Filling water pots was typically something done in the morning before the day had started. Why then would this woman come so late in the day? Was there a reason she perhaps didn't want to be around the other women? In the scriptures she seems excited by the idea that this Man speaking to her could provide her with Living Water

What does communion mean? I love words and I love knowing their exact definitions, so when we came across that word in Relief Society today, I decided to look it up. I came across four definitions: 1. the sharing or exchanging of intimate thoughts and feelings, especially when the exchange is on a mental or spiritual level. 2. the bond uniting Christians as individuals with Jesus. 3. spiritual union 4. entering a close relationship with Christ. I also found several synonyms: friendship, connection, communication, unity, understanding, closeness, togetherness, harmony. We often associate the idea of communion with the ordinance of the sacrament. The sacrament is a time for us to renew sacred covenants with God. As the Bible Dictionary explains: "in partaking of the sacrament emblems, one seeks fellowship with the Master". President David O. McKay further explains that during the sacrament we each have "an opportunity to search ourself introspectively and to consi

A week ago Tuesday my dad took me out to breakfast and we had a really great conversation about something that's been on my mind a lot. The premise of this conversation was my sweet Grandpa Thomas (who passed away the Friday after this took place). For years he struggled with debilitating back pain/severe scoliosis and dementia among other things. It was hard to watch him struggle. But, he took on the trial with dignity and never ending patience and faith. He could make a room full of people smile, even when he was in pain. But as the years passed we continued to watch him get worse and worse.  It's true that trials help us grow and become closer to Christ. Rather than asking "why me" we should ask what we can learn. I agree with this one hundred percent, and it's kept me going during some of my hardest challenges. For years I remember thinking that there was a lot that we all could learn from my grandpa's experience. I know I learned so much watching my gr