The Power of Porter

The service missionaries and I did baptisms for the dead on Tuesday. It was such a cool experience because some of them had actually never done it before!   Friday was my 3 year anniversary of my accident. The day I survived. My rebirthday. April 26th. It is crazy it has been that long, but it also feels like it happened a lifetime ago. You might think it would be a hard day for me, but it actually isn’t. I have learned and grown so much in the past 3 years. I have decided that since my birthday is so close to Christmas and I never know what to ask for, I will just start celebrating with presents on the day that changed my life forever. My mom asked what I wanted to do to celebrate my life and I replied serve in the temple. I got to spend more than 5 hours there that day. I worked in the office from 1 to 4 and then did baptisms and confirmations with my little brother and his friend. I love the temple. We are so lucky to have one so close and I am so lucky I get to be there so ofte...

This week I was headed to my typical weekly institute class. We meet upstairs and I have to use the elevator to get up there. We have never had issues with the elevator, and it rarely needs maintenance. When we got there, the elevator wasn’t working. After trying a couple of times, I thought if I say a prayer, God will definitely make the elevator work so that I can go to Institute. I knew it was a good thing to ask for, and I figured that in no way could it be against God‘s will. I said a prayer in faith and was almost positive it would work. I told my mom to just try one more time, confident that God had answered my prayer.   Nothing. Why wouldn’t God answer my prayer? I was trying to go to institute! Why wouldn’t he help me get there? We tried to get help to see if anyone knew a simple fix. A very kind man offered to help. After trying a few things, he still couldn’t get it to work. The elevator needed maintenance. The man apologized and kindly offered to carry me upstairs or fo...

Five months ago today, I was set apart as a Missionary. I have learned and grown so much. Mainly in my testimony and love for the gospel, but also in my love for others. I am learning to be in tune with the spirit. I am learning how prayer works. How to study the scriptures. How to plan and schedule. How to set goals. How to better love my neighbor. I am learning things I never would have learned had I not served a mission.     Learning is literally the reason we are here on Earth. We are all here to learn from each other. From ourselves. From our mistakes. From our trials. We are all given trials. Each person’s trials are hard for them individually.  Bad things happen to good people. Life is unfair. This is not because God doesn’t love us, but because he does. Don’t blame God for everything that goes wrong in your life. Never doubt his love for you. He loves you more than you can even comprehend. Heavenly Father sacrificed His son for us. This is the greatest gift becaus...

I loved general conference this year. I had some questions that I found answers to. Most within the first couple of talks actually. It was the first year I had ever come prepared with prayerful thoughts and questions. It really makes a difference. It felt like some of the talks were written for me. About me. Given straight to me. If you’ve never really done that, you need to.  I am so grateful that we have living prophets and apostles. They are called of God and speak His words. There was a specific focus on prayer and the temple this year. I love going to the temple. We are so lucky to have one so close.  “Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit. Nothing will protect you more as you encounter the world’s mists of darkness. Nothing will bolster your testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His atonement or help you understand Gods magnificent plan more. Nothing will soothe your spirit more d...

I  love Easter. The resurrection has become so much more meaningful to me since my accident. I can no longer watch an Easter video without crying. I have come to truly love Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for him.  Imagine you were there when Pilot was sentencing Jesus to death. Where do you picture yourself in that situation? I think most people picture themselves in the crowd with Jesus‘s friends, screaming, crying, and begging them to release Jesus. Although this is a good place to be, it’s not the case. So where are you? (hint: the title of this post) I am Barabbas. You are Barabbas. We are all Barabbas. Undeserving and unrighteous sinners. Evil and corrupt. We all need serious help. Luckily for us, He willingly took our place. Jesus suffered and died for the bad guy. The sinner and saint alike. The righteous and the evil. Male and female. Bond and free. Every one of us was given a gift that we didn’t earn. We don’t deserve to be free, and yet we are. We are all free. Free ...