Put on Your Happy Ties!

These past few weeks I've been thinking a lot about being happy. Isn't life better when we're happy? It is. And a lot of times we get caught up in the things that the world tells us will make us happy. We know that money doesn't buy happiness, but we somehow still rationalize our relentless pursuit of it. Even more so, living the teachings of the Savior bring happiness, but sometimes we are able to rationalize out of doing those as well. And we're left feeling empty. And then on top of that, there are a lot of hardships and trials that we face in this life-a lot of them! And it would be really easy to let those things get to us, and wallow in our hardships and be miserable. Lehi, a prophet from the Book of Mormon, taught that, "men are, that they might have joy," and that it is the devil who wants us to be miserable, "for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (2 Nephi 2:25,27).

The fact of the matter is, the choice of happiness is ours! We choose whether or not we are happy. As a missionary, life can be pretty tough. We work basically nonstop 16 hours a day, everyday. On top of that, a lot of problems come up, disappointments happen, and some days are just long, tiring and hard. It would be so easy to choose to be miserable. But my companion and I have decided to not let that get to us. God wants us to be happy, and if we live the teachings of His Son, we can be happy no matter what the circumstances. We have adopted the motto of always wearing our "happy ties." It doesn't matter what's going on. If we're wearing our happy ties, it will all be alright. And I've seen miracles these past few weeks. Life has still been hard, but I can honestly say that I am overall happy. When bad things happen, I am reminded of my commitment to wear my happy tie, and I force myself to get over it and be happy anyway. And it works. Happiness is a choice. And so I invite you all to put on your "happy ties," and not let life get you down. God has bigger plans than that!