going forth to serve

While I know that in the craziness of the semester it might have been forgotten a few times, my purpose with this class and this blog was to help me in seeking to be: "to dream more, learn more, do more and become more..." -John Quincy Adams. I wrote in my first post:

John Quincy Adams said, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." Right now though, I don't feel like what I need to be doing is trying to inspire others. I don't need to be seeking to hide or seeking to lead like President Uchtdorf warns against in his general conference talk, but seeking to be the kind of person who my Heavenly Father can use to accomplish His own goals. 

I am looking for inspiration; I am trying to find what will make me "Dream more, learn more, do more and become more." That is what this semester I hope to do, to open my heart and let Heavenly Father in and to be guided by the Spirit to know who needs my help and what role leadership is supposed to play in my life. I hope to become a leader amongst my friends, roommates, ward family, and community through service and sharing Christ's love.  

I have tried my best to do this, to try to become a better individual and a better tool in the hands of the Lord (I've also tried to find quotes from people other than John Quincy Adams :). I sometimes struggle to see how exactly I am going to move forward from these experiences that I'm having at BYU and use them to serve in the world. I was definitely inspired by the Alumni panel because while they all rely heavily on their education itself, they all acknowledged that what they used to go forth and serve was their experiences of working with people and their faith in Jesus Christ. 


I think one of my favorite things about college is how idealistic I get to be. Being practical is important, but being realistic can sometimes leave you feeling disappointed and let down, but here, I really feel like anything is within my reach and that I can truly decide my own future. I may not know exactly what that is now, but I can't wait to continue growing as He would have me grow and serving as He would have me serve. I know that there are so many things I would like to change about myself and probably even more things that I need to change, but my life will be just a series of opportunities to do so and I can't wait for those to come. 


I will continue to "dream more, learn more, do more, and become more," and what I have found to be the best way to do so is to find ways to serve everyday. 

leading change

In almost every situation in which a person openly chooses to follow a leader, it is because that leader promises change; change that will most likely relieve frustration and spur progression. As is obvious especially in political and more public arenas, this is much easier promised than done. That is largely because real and noticeable changes do come from within the individual, but unless the group in question is whole-heartedly unified, great results usually don't follow. To me, that is what is so intimidating about the prospect of the future. Everyone wants to change the world and do something different or better, but it is often not quite enough to act only as an individual. Often, the goal is actually to lead others in change and together make that impact. 


I enjoyed Sister Gray's lecture on leading change because I think it really did provide some helpful solutions to influence others to make positive changes. She reiterated that our goals need to be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely). What was even more helpful though was how she explained the required motivation and abilities required to promote personal, social, and environmental/structural changes by recognizing vital behaviors and identifying the crucial moments in which one can create positive deviance.


Lately in my apartment, I have really been struggling to cope with my roommates and certain situations and part of me wants to just leave and stop trying to deal with it since change seems so difficult. What I have realized is that even though I want change, I cannot be the only one to want it and that we all have to have similar abilities in order to succeed. I need to make the undesirable (namely cleaning) desirable really try to surpass the limits which I perceive them to have. I know that its a long shot, and I know it will be difficult, but I also know that this change will benefit everyone and I am willing to try.