It's hard for me to get motivated on Mondays a lot of the time.I know this is pretty common or a lot of us.Today I decided to try something different.Let's get motivated together by looking at some gospel quotes that will teach us how to overcome our daily struggles and focus on something a bit more eternal.Join me!

Life has a pattern where we go through trials and often times after that we enjoy a time of peace.

The problem is that we can get very comfortable in that peaceful place.

After a while it becomes easier and easier to snuggle back in the warm sand of that comfortable paradise and forget to call on the Lord or grow to our next challenge.

That's what I want to talk about today.

Sometimes we find ourselves on a beautiful beach.

And sometimes we need to voluntarily get off that beach so we can progress to where the Lord would have us be.

It's not easy, but let's talk about how we can do it...

Christ said, "Be of good cheer."Have we ever thought of that as a commandment before?It's hard to be of good cheer sometimes.I've been very open with my own battle with depression, but I've found some tools that help lighten my load and leave me in a better place?Will these things guarantee happiness?That's up to each of us.But at least we have the admonition of our Savior to be of good cheer, which means it is more than possible.Here are five things I've discovered that will go a long way to bringing each of us the happiness we seek... 

 Happy New Year everybody! I wanted to start out the years with an observation that hit me across the face this week. We all have thoughts that pop into our heads that aren't true. Generally thoughts about ourselves. My little 10-year-old daughter hit me with one this week. "I'm ugly." That's what she was thinking about herself. Let's talk about this. It's something will all deal with, and something we need to combat together. 

I love musicals and I LOVE Les Mis!One of the things that always grabs me about that story is the mercy shown to Jena Val jean by the priest.Without that act of mercy, none of the rest of the story would take place.It was one man's mercy that changed everything.We have the chance to make that sort of difference too.Let's talk about it...

'Fear not' is spoken a lot in the Nativity writings of the New Testament. It's said to a lot of different people.'Fear not.'The thing about fear is that it strangles our hope.So I wanted to talk a bit about that today and take a closer look.So let's listen to the Lords admonition: Fear Not!

Alright, we've come to it:The week of Christmas.And if you're like me, you're probably stressing out more than you should be.Let me put this into perspective:I just spend ten minutes crying in the closet because I was so stress.That is not an exaggeration!So what do we do about this?Let's talk about it and see if we can help each other out...

 I know we put out memes that say 'Prayer Works!' and we smile and feel good. But are we praying in our own lives? Are we grateful? Are we seeking guidance and help?I've gone through times where prayer is something I just do without really thinking about it. I'm pretty sure that's incredibly common. So how do we get out of that cycle and make prayer the centerpiece of our lives? Let's talk about it! 

During Christmas we talk a lot about Christ and Mary of course, but Joseph doesn't tend to get the same amount of attention.Joseph is just kind of there in a lot of our discussions.Well I want to change that today.Joseph was awesome!He was the step-father of the Savior of mankind.As a widow who's children now have a step-dad, I understand the importance of this roll all too well.Let's talk about it!

 Last week we started our Compassion Challenge.First off, I hope it's been a good experience for you so far.I've loved it.But it's got me thinking about what happens when the outcome of our compassion isn't what we expect.Howe does that affect us?How does that lead to us judging others?This is definitely worth looking at closely, so let's talk about it!