It all starts with passion.

It all starts with passion and I have finally found what I am passionate about. My passion is making a difference in child welfare. And "the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step." I keep thinking to myself, "what is my first step?" I believe I have found my first step. I've applied to become a volunteer at an organization called, CASA (court appointed special advocates). Every step towards helping with child welfare is a step closer to what I want to do. How I can be a change maker. 

We always seem to think we know what's going on in the world. Going back to school after my mission has been a big wake up call. I've realized that I don't know squat. I've traveled to other countries and I might know a little about their culture but what do I really know about them? Almost nothing. I want to make a change but how am I supposed to if I don't know the facts? In a humorous but fact shocking Ted talk we find that we don't know what is really happening around us. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm5xF-UYgdg) In this video Hans Rosling said, "The best way to know about the future is to know about the present." We all basically have this innate desire to help others. Its just who we are but how can we if we don't know what to do to make a difference. Almost all of us have heard the quote by Ghandi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world." Don't get me wrong, this is one of my favorite quotes but I've now realized we to need to KNOW to be the change. 

One thing everyone needs to read is the story of Tim Ballard. (http://ldsliving.com/story/78169-rescuing-children-from-sex-slavery-one-mormons-inspired-mission) He has found his passion and has coupled it with the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. Our Heavenly Father loves every single one of his children and he truly wants to see His children help one another. Tim Ballard is an amazing example of this. He says in his article, "Every child is precious. We can't solve this problem overnight, but by just saving one child, we can give them back the life that God intended for them." Every child, every person deserves a better life than abuse, human trafficking, poverty and we have the opportunity to make a difference. The spirit is key in this journey because the Lord will guide us in the direction we need to be. In a talk given by Silvia H. Allred in April 2011 she said, "Heavenly Father loves us and knows our unique circumstances and abilities. Although we seek His help daily through prayer, it is usually through another person that He meets our needs." He isn't here personally but he wants us to personally show the love He has for each one of His children. It all starts with one step. 

I want to be a change maker.

"Social entrepreneurs pave avenues of opportunity for those who would, otherwise, be locked into lives without hope." This week was a week of discovery. Everything I had to read and listen to has helped me form an idea of what I want to do in my life. I've always had the dream to make a change. I've realized that I want to be a change maker.  I want to work with the social entrepreneurial heroes of today. I don't have one great big idea to save the human race but I want to work to make this world a better place. That has always been my dream. Today listening to Rob Tonks you could feel his passion. One thing that I loved was when he discussed the fact that this movement is God inspired. We are part of this great generation and I couldn't help but think, "what am I going to do to help with this God inspired movement?"

When I first headed off to college I was trying to find a major that would fit with my passion. I wanted to find some way I could make a difference. Any major can make difference but I wasn't sure which way I wanted to go about it. I started with humanities, I enjoyed some of the classes but it wasn't my passion. After my second trip with an organization called Outreach360 I decided to switch my major to elementary education. Took one class and knew that this major wasn't for me. After returning from my mission in the Dominican Republic I found that my major needed to be Sociology and I did find my place in a certain major. What does this have to do with what I want to become? I want to make a difference, my passion is helping with education in underdeveloped countries and also help change the sex industry throughout the world. I've found that it will be hard but that through my major I can push to make a change and become involved. Even if I don't exactly know how yet. 

When I first heard of the word social entrepreneur I thought, "that's exactly what I want to do." Not even truly understanding what that meant. I'm not someone with one big great idea. The end of the article "Not Everyone Should Be a Social Entrepreneur" was exactly what I needed to read. "They needn't be founders of new organizations to have an impact on the world. But they should be founders of their careers." I've realized that I need to make a change with my major. I don't need to start up my own organization because their are a lot of others out their that have grown and are already pursuing my passion. Why not go in with m talents and be the change maker that I want to be? 

My passion.

I learned a lot of things, almost to the extent that I was overwhelmed by it all but it was worth every minute. I’ve never been told to fully embrace my passion and/or dream of working with or running my own non profit organization. Now I feel as if I can if I continue with passion and pursue with that same passion. One of the main things that first stuck out to me was the question, what do I desire? It made me really analyze what I want to do and what I will do to achieve it. The second lesson I found most valuable was “get out of your comfort zone.” I have always been a shy person and many times thinking to myself I couldn’t amount to anything. But the truth is I can and everyone can but we must get out of our comfort zones and take chances. And the last is, “it all begins with the first step.” If we sit around and keep thinking what I can do to make a difference rather than acting we will never take the first step. Also, to really think what that first step feels like, to know we are finally taking one step closer to our passion/dreams. 

Social innovation has always been my dream but I’ve never known how to accomplish it at such a young age. I felt trapped but at the same time not finding any interest in my previous majors. After switching my major a few times I stuck with Sociology because I do find passion in it but I also had the opportunity to hear about this class and my passion grew even stronger. With Jeffery A. Thompson’s question “What is your calling in life? If you don’t know yet, how will you find out?” I know that my passion is service and the fact that we can all make a difference in the world. The famous quote by Ghandi, “be the change you wish to see in the world” has always been my motto my go to inspiration whenever I feel small. I don’t exactly know what my calling is but I know that it involves social innovation, I know that involves me finding a way to make a difference and I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to find out what that calling might be. 

For me, I believe that the question “how do you fit into the world of social innovation” is a better question then “how do you want to fit into the world of social innovation.” Because we can’t just wait and hope that we can fit into our passions but we must be willing to do the necessary to actually fit into that world. Just like the 4 P’s in the Jeff Sheets video passion, pursue, persistence, and patience. We can’t go about our dreams in a passive aggressive manner because we may never reach them but be unhappily content with what we have now. Desire+Passion=Seek We must seek.

Master Teacher.

My Beehive Advisor/Shauna Polatis and my mother/ Monica bracken are two of the greatest teachers I know. Shauna Polatis, my Beehive Advisor, showed me loving direction within and outside of church. In her role as an advisor she applied the characteristics of a great teacher, and in turn was a great example to me of how to be a great teacher. One of these characteristics she taught me was that to become a great teacher one needs to give themselves to the Lord. In those early young women years as a Beehive, when I first was questioning the Church and finding out for myself if it was true, she not only taught but also taught to nourish, like the Lord would have done. She was an example and a disciple of Christ at all times. Elder Holland said, “A true teacher is always in character. She is her pupils’ teacher wherever they see her. Their eyes are upon her as such.” 

The second woman that I want to mention, my everything, is my mother. Monica Bracken has been the one that I have learned the most about selfless service. She’s given everything for her family and inspired her kids to learn and yearn for the gospel of Jesus Christ. My brothers and I have made many mistakes and she has shown endless love and compassion and taught us to learn from our trials. These women are a great influence for the world. The women we should all be looking towards because they have the essence of a master teacher, Jesus Christ.

            In the movie, “Waiting for Superman said, “I was like what do you mean he’s not real. And she thought I was crying because its like Santa Clause is not real and I was crying because there was no one coming with enough power to save us.” When I heard this man say this I couldn’t help but think, “We have something way better than Superman. We have the Savior of the world, the one great master teacher of the world.” Jesus Christ is our advocate. He’s the one who died for our sins. He has enough power to save us, and through his teachings we can learn how to become a disciple of Him and teach the way he taught. The way Christ taught was so loving and so compassionate. That no matter what walk of life you come from you have that, you have His love.

            I have had many master teachers in my life, and it doesn’t stop with the two that I have mentioned. My list is long and continues to grow. What I have learned from each teacher is that the best quality to have is to show love and support no matter what you, as the teacher, might be feeling. When the Lord asked, “Peter, do you love me?” In the recent conference talk given by Elder Holland, he said, “So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back.” That’s what I have learned about being a master teacher. We are obligated to teach, teach everyone, and through that teaching we show the love that our Father in Heaven has for everyone here on this earth, and with that, we can do great things.

My Heroes.

Heroes in my eyes institute change, they go out of their way to help someone in need, sacrificing almost everything for one or more person. They inspire people to become better, they become role models to some and you look up to them like no one before. "A hero is someone who has a special gift that God has given them and uses it."

My heroes may be cliche and maybe not worldly but my heroes are my three older brothers. Ever since I was born they have been by my side fighting every battle I go through right beside me. Each of them have different qualities but make me who I am today. Riley is the oldest, he isn't perfect but in my eyes he is the most courageous man that I know. He's tread through deep waters called life and never lost who he truly is. Jordan, the second oldest. He's the old softy. He's been through much pain but it has never changed his loving personality. Alec, the youngest of the boys. He's the smart one, a little bit of a super genius. He's taught me to never give up when people say I can't go on.

My family has gotten me through almost everything but my brothers. They are the ones I look up to. They drop and sacrifice everything for our family. They are the best thing in my life and I one day wish that I can become the hero that they are today. My life would be different without them. My heroes.

Because you know Him..

I got the great experience to go to girls camp and be a leader to 20 beautiful daughters of God. The theme was "You are the glow." They gave us a talk by Sister Dalton and one thing she said stuck out to me the most.. because you know Him.

"You knew the plan was good, and you knew that the savior would do what He said He would do- because you knew Him! You stood with Him, and you were eager for your opportunity to come to earth. You knew what was going to be required of you. You knew it would be difficult, and yet you were confident not only that you could accomplish your divine mission but that you could make a difference."

When I read this I thought that I need to put more trust in the Lord, just like I did when I first heard His plan. Putting my whole trust in Him can give me the confidence I need to stand alone and stand tall. I think sometimes I forget what he did for me, what he did for all of us. I am a daughter of God who loves me and I love Him. He sent His son to die for my sins. I yearn for that confidence that I once had in Heaven.

"Abide in Me"

I'm reading this fantastic book written by Jeffrey R. Holland called Broken Things to Mend. I'm almost done and its making me a little sad. Chapter 21 is called Abide in Me.

My father gave me great advice today. Something I really needed. He said that we all have afflictions and hardships but that I needed to make the effort to ask for help from my Heavenly Father. Its funny how much we believe but don't take it into action. His hands and Christs hands are always stretched out to us. And that's where I think the abiding comes in.

Jeffrey R. Holland says, "In spanish that familiar phrase is rendered 'permaneced en mi.' Like the English verb 'abide,' permanecer means 'to remain, to stay,' but even gringos like me can recognize the root cognate there of 'permanence.' The sense of this then is 'stay--but stay forever.' That is the call of the gospel message to everyone in the world. Come, but come to remain. Come with conviction and endurance. Come permanently, for your sake and the sake of all the generations who must follow you, and we will help each other be strong to the very end."
"We are to 'abide' in Him permanently, unyieldingly, steadfastly, forever. For the fruit of the gospel to blossom and bless our lives, we must be firmly attached to Him, the Savior of us all, and to this His church, which bears His holy name."

The branch here in Nicaragua don't have much but they do have really strong testimonies. Its amazing. Their faith is so strong. Abide in Him. Today I got to give my testimony in Spanish to them and it was a great feeling. For me to know that the church never changes wherever you go. They believe in what I believe in and they just need the same help as we all do to be strong to the very end.

Buenos dias hermanos y hermanas, les quiero compartir mi peqeno testimonio. Yo creo en Jesus Cristo y en Nuestro Padre Celestial. Creo en el libro de Mormon y en el Profeta Tomas S. Monson y que si segimos sus mandamientos estaremos con el por siempre. En el nombre Jesus Cristo, Amen.