The Blessing of Paying your Tithing

Tithing has never really been a hard thing for me. I've learned ever since I was little and old enough to be making money that I should pay my tithing. You learn way back in Primary how much to pay and when to pay. My parents also always told me how important it was and helped me learn by making little jars for savings, spending, and tithing.
I've never really had a hard time paying it. It's always just been easy and I've seen the blessings from it countless times.
I didn't make any money my first year of college. It was kind of weird when I went into tithing settlement with my bishop in my singles ward and I had nothing. But I wasn't making anything so it was fine. But now since I've started working again in the summer the money that I pay to tithing is a little harder to pay. I just think of all the things I could do with the money like how much of tuition that is, or that's a whole month of rent, or "that could buy me a whole book." But then I step back and look at what's really important- that is, obeying all God's commandments in full without hesitation. All of them can and are hard in one way or another for someone. But if we just have faith we will be taken care of. But we always have to remember that it is still in His time and way. You may not see the blessing of paying your tithing for years, but they will come and I know that. Also- we may also not see  the blessings in the way that we intended it. We need to keep in mind that again, it is all up to Him and He knows what is best for us.
I know that if I continue to pay my tithing without complaint, having full faith in my Heavenly Father that I will be ok financially in my life. I may not always have money to do everything that I want. But I know that I will have money for the things that I truly need. He will take care of me because I was faithful in paying my tithing. :)

Lost Wallet-For the STRENGTH of Youth!

I swear this story I am about to tell is meant to be in the New Era or something...
So today I was being really dumb. I don't use a purse to carry my stuff, I just carry my wallet. I've never really lost it for reals before. But, I usually just leave it on my counter, my mom told me I needed to stop leaving it places... good advice...
So Andrew, Zach and I were working on my scooter. Excuse me, I need to rephrase that, I was watching Andrew and Zach work on my scooter. We had just gotten back from getting the new battery and I just set my wallet on the top of my mom's car because I was lazy and didn't want to put it inside.
Then for the next hour I kept thinking that I needed to put it inside. I really should have followed that prompting!
My mom left, and she took the car...
I didn't even think about it till we were about to head to Walmart... to buy... a pineapple... and I screamed! I hadn't taken the wallet off! I immediately called my mom and told her. The wallet wasn't still on the top of the car (I guess that makes sense... but you never know) and it wasn't in the car.
I started freaking out! Especially because just the night before, literally, I was thinking of how bad it would be for me to lose my wallet because there was a lot of valuable stuff in there.
As I was in my panic mode I remembered to pray. I knew that if I prayed Heavenly Father would either direct me to my wallet or let me know what to do if I didn't find it. I prayed for him to help me listen to the spirit and be sensitive to it. Also, to help me know what to do and where to look being guided by the spirit. I knew he could help me. I had full faith in him. I normally would do all I could and then pray, but this was a little different because it was so crucial that I found it soon before someone else did.
We drove where my mom had driven because she was still gone. I was going pretty slow on pioneer and redwood looking on the side for any signs of it. I was not going to lose hope! I knew we would find it! We drove all the way down pioneer crossing, no sign of it. I was actually starting to doubt at this point and planning in my mind what I would do first when we got back home. But then Zach said I think we should go on the freeway just at least to the next exit. I thought it sounded crazy because I thought it was impossible that it could have lasted that long on top of the car. But, I went anyways. I was willing to try anything at this point. We were driving on the freeway and guess what we saw on the side of the road? MY WALLET! Yes! We all almost screamed at once, "THERE IT IS!"
I could hardly control myself! I didn't really know what to do, I couldn't just stop there, luckily since there was construction, there was an emergency pull out about a half a mile from it. We stopped in there and Andrew and Zach ran to go and get it. They got it and looked for my belongings that had come out of it, which was everything. Nothing was in it when they first picked it up. But they found a few things, probably the most worthless out of everything (cafe rio card with 2 stamps, office depot gift card, total scrubs card with one stamp, and my BYU I.D card), but that was fine with me! At least I knew what had happened to it! They also would have kept looking, but a construction person came and told them they couldn't be there. Thank you construction because I don't think we would have found my wallet if you didn't have half the freeway blocked off... or it wouldn't have survived.... but no thanks for not letting us look for my stuff.... you weren't even doing construction anywhere near where we were...
I thanked my Heavenly Father for always being there and helping me even when I make mistakes. He loves me so much I can hardly believe it. Prayer works and is real!

It was beyond ruined!

Even the metal was bent, all the change was out... 

It was a mess. 

But, here's the cool part, there was one more thing that was in the wallet when they found it, my little for strength of youth book. I know I'm not a youth anymore, but I keep it with me always anyways, just in case. It was completely untouched. Literally. My BYU card and my gift card were almost ripped to shreds and you couldn't even use them- and they were plastic.

The for strength of youth packet was really small flimsy paper. I couldn't believe it. Well, I could. For the STRENGTH of youth right? ;)
It was a great testimony builder to me. Nothing else really matters in the end. It could all go away, but without my testimony and standards, I would be nothing :) God is all powerful and no matter how hard Satan tries, he can never break my standards or testimony :) Satan cannot touch anything that is holy ;)

*to clarify, I'm not stating that Satan did this to me AT ALL, it's just kind of a cool analogy.

Music's impact!

Music has such a profound impact on all of us. I'm sure we all know that. Your favorite song comes on and you jam out to it, singing at the top of your lungs. It puts you in a good mood, or a bad mood. My music really defines who I am. If you were too look through my iPod you would instantly know what kind of person I was. I would hope... 

So music. I love music so much. Music really just is a huge thing in most people's life. We usually see more people with headphones in, then without. 

So recently my Book of Mormon teacher was talking about music. He really only talked about it for a second, but it really made me think. He just said something along the lines of going through our movies and music and making sure that we aren't embarrassed if the Savior or prophet was looking through our music. We have all heard this more than once I assume; but this time, I was determined! I decided that there were a couple things I had on there that I would not be comfortable if the prophet saw on my iPod. Not that I have super bad songs, but maybe a couple things that I really shouldn't. 

So, I started. I went though iTunes and deleted stuff without hesitation. It was nice because I needed to clean out my "little kid" music anyways. So I went thought and it felt amazing! It was like a game! It made me feel so much better! Now I can just listen to my music and not have to worry! 

I seriously encourage everyone to do it! It might be hard at first. But then you will end up wondering why you spend a dollar on some of the crap you have! But you will feel AMAZING and it will be just one more small and simple thing that will bring you closer to the Savior and help you live a more virtuous life. 

My simple testimony :>

I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he atoned for every single one of our sins. I know that he loves each of us with a love that we could never comprehend. I know our Heavenly Father hears and answers every single one of our prayers even if it isn't in the way that we planned. I know that we are all here for a purpose and we have a Divine Nature unique to us. I know that Christ knows every single pain and suffering that we go through. He knows us, our strengths, and weaknesses and we can over come our weaknesses through him. I know that none of us our perfect, but through him we can be perfect. I know that families are forever and that we can live with them after this life forever if we live worthily. I know that if we strive to do our best and try our hardest that our Heavenly Father will make up for our mistakes. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the ONLY true church upon the face of the earth today and I can never deny that. I know that Christ will come again. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet today and that his teachings are from God. I know that The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and every single word of it was inspired and is true. I know that Heavenly Father blesses us all in ways that we may not see, but he knows what we need right now, we just need to accept it. I know that trials are for our good and that we accepted them before we came to this earth so that we could be tried and tested so our faith would grow. I know that we are on this earth so we can become who we want, and so trials and hardships can shape and define who we are. I know that everything happens for a reason and Heavenly Father is always with us. I know that the Holy Ghost can help us make hard decisions in our life. I know that I am here today because of the choice that I made in heaven. I know that the temple is the house of the Lord and that we can go there to feel at peace and to receive blessings and to help others be with their families forever.

Clarify your Values Assignment...

One of my favorite classes I have is my student development. It's a class especially for incoming freshman. My teacher Sister Burton is beyond AMAZING! She is so spiritual and fun and you can tell she loves what she does. She teaches us different study skills, resources at BYU, who we are and a bunch of other things! I have learned so much and made many new friends. 

This particular assignment we had to do I like a lot and I think it's something we all should think about every so often and think about...

The questions she asked us were:

1. The things I would risk my life for are

My future family and my family now, and my religion. 

2. What the things in my life that define me as a person?

My standards and values, my family, my attitude, and my trials. 

3. If I were to describe the person I want to be when I'm 50 years old, I would say:

I want to be someone who loves the person they are, has achieved many goals but still has some, someone who has a loving family. I would want to still have the standards I have now hopefully stronger, be someone that knows who they are and still has A LOT longer to live. (50 is REALLY old, but I could go a whole lot longer!)

4. Success to me is:

Doing your very best, never giving up, being proud of yourself, and doing everything you can to active your goals.

5. I am the happiest when:

When I am doing what I know is right and when I'm with my family and friends. 

6. The qualities of character I admire most in others are:

Honestly, Respect, Love, Values, Full to the top of service 

7. When I don't have to do something, what I like to do most is:

Relax, Hangout with my family, do something fun and active (I know that's the opposite from the first one, it just depends on the day), and do anything crazy that will make me LAUGH. 

8. What kinds of things do I want to do/be in the next 5 years?

I hope to either be married or have gone on a mission, or both would be fabulous! Hopefully succeeding in my career and graduated, or being a stay at home mommy, or a working mommy. 

9. If my resources were such that I didn't have to work for a living or I could do anything I wanted, I would:

First answer that comet to my mind, I would want to travel the world and help and serve other people and learn new things. But then I think after a while I would just want to come right back home and do exactly what I'm doing now in the place I love :)

10. If I could change anything in society, what would it be?

I think I would want to change the way that sacred things are being portrayed. And a whole lot of other things it would just take a whole long. 

There was more things but these are the ones that I really liked :) It was nice to think about. 

Then she had us write an "I am" statement so here's mine as well... 

I am Nicole Lee Calder. I am named after my hero and my best friend. I am from Saratoga Springs, my favorite place on earth. I know who I am, where I'm going, and how I need to get there. I value and love my religion and family more than anything else in the world. I love anything and anyone that makes me laugh. I love my family and friends. I will always stand up for what I know is right. I crave the outdoors and spending time with others. I have goals and standards.I will be with my family forever and will do anything and everything to reach that goal. I honor my country and people who risk their lives for it. I delight in helping people discover what they were missing. I enjoy serving. I want to be the best person I can be. I value friendships and education. I love my trials and the person they mold me into. I look up to people who are humble and honest and know who they are. I am a beautiful daughter of God. 

Not to great, but it was fun and helped me actually in my life right now. :D 

The end :)