Strengthening A Testimony

I just read D&C 59 and a scripture stuck out more than the others. It is in verse 5: Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all they might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him. I was thinking of what this really meant. If we followed this commandment completely than we would be following all the other commandments. To love the Lord with all of my heart, might, mind and strength is something that I need to try and do a lot better. I know I love the Lord and am so grateful for Him. I'm never going to be perfect but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't try to get close, right? We are promised so much when we do what the Lord asks with "cheerful hearts and countenances" (v. 15). I get excited of all the blessings that come to me when I do what's right. I want to follow the commandments better; to their fullest.

Nobody knows when our Savior will come again but I know He will come to this earth again. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches that He will come again after many signs and destruction. It makes me feel both excited and nervous. I am nervous because I know that I need to be more spiritually ready for Him. I have a lot of weaknesses that I need to overcome.  I am also very scared for the destruction that is supposed to happen before He comes. I hope that I can live my life in a way that I can be there for when He comes. It of course might not happen until after I die but I want to be prepared for it. I've never thought about it as much as I do now.   One thing that has been on my mind a lot is Zion. This is the promise that the Lord has given us through the hard times that will come. We can have our own heaven on earth. I noticed that in General Conference there was a lot of talk about unity and building up a Zion in our own homes and wards and stakes. I want to be

I listened to most of conference today and I thought I'd write some thoughts before they leave me. It is always frustrating when you think of so many things that uplift you and make you want to do better and then you forget. I wrote notes and so I hope I will go back and look at them and set my goals to be better. I loved all the talks I heard but there were a few talks that really stuck out to me the most. The first one is by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. He spoke of Hope. I was so grateful to hear his words. I feel that I am blessed with always having some hope in things. I don't feel like I'm a negative person and I try to see the good side of things instead of the bad. It still is hard sometimes to find hope in the future when it is so unpredictable. President Uchtdorf talked about how hope gives us eternal happiness. How could we be happy if we do not have hope? He also said that "with hope we can have patience and go through our afflictions." (I didn&#