"Be a Light to the World."

I was packing again (it's an ongoing process) and found a letter that my dad had written me when I was in high school. This letter has always meant a lot to me and so even though we are kind of on crunch time, I couldn't help but to stop and read it. This whole being a wife thing has made me a tad bit emotional so when I read it I did cry. Just a little though.

In the letter he talked about when they found out that they were going to have a little girl. He listed all of these things that he hoped I would be. He hoped I would be physically strong and look like my mom, not him. He hoped I would have a love for the outdoors, be a hard worker, and a good leader. Most importantly he hoped thatI would, "gain a knowledge of your Savior and that you would understand your great worth to our Heavenly Father. I have always hoped that you would be a light to the world."  

What a great hope he had for me. 

(My dad is the one on the left)

In the Doctrine and Covenants, which is a book of scripture containing revelations from the Lord, it says, "Arise and shine forth that thy light may be a standard for the nations." This is what my dad wanted me to do. To arise and shine forth. To be a light in the world. 

As I have thought about this, I have wondered what I need to do in order to be that light, that standard for the nations. To do good in the world and to touch the lives of others. I think this ability goes back to another hope that my dad had for me; that I would understand my great worth to my Heavenly Father. In order to shine our great light, we must first know and feel our worth as sons and daughters of God, who loves us. As children of God we have great potential to be a light to the world. Just like my dad wanted me to be a light to the world, so does our Father in Heaven want each of us to be. 

 In one of my classes a few semesters ago we talked about light. The question was posed, "Can darkness penetrate light?" As I thought about this, I realized that no, it cannot. There is darkness all around us, but when the sun shines, it's light penetrates the darkness. The light has power over the darkness.

We live in a world where there is a lot of confusion, negativity, sadness, and darkness. There are so many sources of light. We need to seek them out and we need to shine our own light. We all have the light of Christ within us and he is the ultimate source of light.

I have been trying to focus on the Savior and His light more this month as we celebrate His birth. One of the ways I have been able to do this is through music. Christmas songs create powerful feelings within us and as we focus more on the lyrics, we can feel an even greater power as we recognize the significance of Jesus Christ. The Piano Guys, David Archuleta, and thousands of people came together to create this beautiful rendition of "Angels We Have Heard On High." This song is such a great reminder of the Savior's majesty and glory. They actually even broke the Guinness World Record for largest live nativity.

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I want my dad's hopes to become a a reality. I want to arise and shine forth and be a light to the world. The more I strive to be like the Savior, the more I can be a light to the world.