This has been such a great class in this world full of uncertainties.
I have learned a lot about myself and it has made me think of my own goals and dreams.
We all have what it takes to be entrepreneurs, we just have to choose when we are going to start.

I have been reminded of how important our goals are, they can take us from one step to the next one. We have to have a goal in life actually many, but start small and gradually work on something a little bigger.

There is no growth in the comfort zone so, let's get out of our comfort zone.

An Attitude of gratitude was the talk I read for this week's homework. It was given by President Monson many years ago. The first time I remember listening and learning about gratitude was in a Young Women camp. We were learning about the six B's. Since then, I have made a special effort to be grateful not only with God but with the people around me.

Another thing that we learned this week was about recognizing opportunities. I don't know if it's just me, or it's the fact that I lived in a big city for 19 years but I'm always up and down, I have to be doing something, I can't just sit down and do nothing. I remember when I first came to the US and I had a little girl, I was just married and I had this same attitude of "I need to be doing more" so without knowing a lot of English I started to look for a job that I could do from home with my little girl. So, I found one, and I've been with the same company for 12 years now. Although I like many things about my job, I still look for more opportunities to grow and learn more.

I think life will pass us by really fast if we don't take advantage of the many opportunities we have to grow. Not only in the work scope, but also in the family life, church life, everything!!.

When we realize that all things are blessings to us and opportunities God gives to perfect ourselves, I think our view changes and even our priorities may change too.

I think we all have the opportunity to be an entrepreneur.  I think we all have it in us.

Becoming a changer!
How can I become a changer? I think first, you have to believe it. We see all around nature things that evolve and change. We are also beings that change, actually, that's the exact reason as to why we came to earth, to change from one spiritual being to a mortal being (check Plan of Salvation for more info.)

But, while we are at this life quest, trying to change, trying to change our environment, our habits, the most important thing to do is to think about the One that knows everything. The One that knows us and knows our potential. 

Elder Holland said one time, "Come as you are, don't plan to stay as you are." the gospel of Christ is a gospel of change. Elder Maxell said, "Coming unto God is not a negotiation, but a surrender."

How do we change then? One of the videos said, "Apparently, earth has not provided the answers, now shall we try heaven." I can see that we can apply that phrase to everything. While we are here on this earth, let's apply it.

Oh, this week! I think this week's lesson has been another witness of the things that should be more important in my life.

First of all, let me get it out of my mind before anything else. This coronavirus has been messing with my life in every single aspect.
- My son who turned 8 years old was supposed to be baptized yesterday. :(
- I won't be going to the temple this month (like I've been doing for the last almost 2 years.
- No meeting, no gathering, no sacrament tomorrow. This really made me cry when I read it.
- My husband is/was the director of the Joseph Smith program he was doing with the stake chorus, there was even an orchestra ready to go in 3 weeks. Canceled.
- My kids' school is not canceling school... which... it worries me.

Life GETS CRAZY in the weirdest way possible and impossible.
This week's lesson has been connected somehow in my mind with what is going on in the world.

It has made me thankful for the jobs I have that I can do from work (with no interruption from the virus).

I don't really know if everything that I'm writing right now has any meaning or connection with the class, but I promise it's connected in my brain.

Balancing! ha! This week we learned about balancing life... I'm pretty sure millions of people are trying to balancing a ton of things right at this moment.

For sure, it's an uncertain world, right now! More than ever before and... while all this is going on, I'm asking myself, am I ready? ready for more craziness?

Yesterday, I wrote in my journal. It was a happy and hard day.

The pursuit of happiness!!! Can we find happiness? YES!! My kids are here with me, no virus so far, my garden is getting bees, I have enough food to last us a couple of weeks. I have the internet to do work and homework... although... I have to say, "The more I do homework, the more I realize being outside (in the garden) is where I want to be."

Life IS great, we can't deny it, WE HAVE A LIVING PROPHET!, who better than a Doctor!.
I'm thankful for the Home centered church approach that the church has right now! Like President Nelson said, these are exciting times! :)

Let's look for that happiness and joy at this moment, and I know we can find it in Christ. Let's give him his victory acknowledging that He already partook of the cup.

There is a quote I like that says “Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we're here we may as well dance.” 

For this week, I read and watch videos about our potential, our dreams and our capabilities. We all, have divine potential to be more than we think. We are sons and daughters of the Master Creator and we have the potential to do and create great things.

Sometimes, we belittle ourselves thinking that we can't accomplish something because we don't have the potential, but I think and I believe we can do great things.

I always told the Young Women of my ward, "You have to try everything, because you can accomplish anything and you might surprise yourselves at the things you can do and become."

Also, I watched a video by Kathy Hober (an engineer). In the video they asked her, "Has gender affected your career?" It made me think about my own experiences. I'm a young woman, Latina (with an accent), mother of 4 kids.I've been living in the USA for almost 14 years and I have seen it everywhere, where people think that "you can't do it because you are a Latina" or just because you have an accent, they think you are not capable or smart enough. Then, when I talk about the things I have done and accomplished in my life, people get "surprised."

A few months ago, I was asking my 7-year-old, "who do you think is the boss?" (I wanted to know what he would answer) so he answered, "Daddy" and I asked him, why do you think daddy is the boss?, and I thought he was going to say that daddy was the boss because he was a man, but he replied was, "because he is older." He did not see any gender, it didn't matter to him that daddy was a man or mom a woman.

The culture where we we live can really shape the way we think of others and ourselves. I do believe it is our duty as parents to teach our children than we are all capable, and that we all have what it takes to become what God wants us to become.

This week, I studied about trustworthiness, true leaders and discipleship. It made me think about my leaders I had growing up. Mostly about my Young Woman President. I had many Presidents, but this one in particular really helped me in a way I didn't see before until I grew and realized the impact she has made in my life. Her name is Marisol. I had to say that I always fought with her, most of the time she was right but above all, I loved her and she loved me.
She was a great leader and I believe she still is. Many of the things I do at church are because of her example. She is truly an inspiration and a disciple of Christ.
She was also my seminary teacher for a year, and her scriptures were so old and scratched up. I wanted my scriptures to be just like hers, and I have to say that my scriptures look like hers did.
I pretty much went to church by myself, my parents were divorced, my mother wasn't a member of the church and my father was inactive, so, I only had my leaders to guide me.
I took everything in, absolutely everything. If they would have taught me that the moon was made out of cheese I would have believed them. That's how much I trusted them. There were true disciples of Christ and I trusted them.

We all have big examples of true leaders, I hope my children see me like I saw my young woman president.

The best thing we can do to be a true leader and disciple of Christ is to show up, care and love. 

Think about the future!
There are so many examples in the scriptures about prophets and leaders thinking about not only their own future but also about their children's future.

I always think about Nephi's example. He had to kill Laban and he didn't want to do it, but after he thought about his children (he didn't have children nor a wife at that moment), he then proceeded to kill Laban.

We, sometimes forget that our decisions will have consequences not only for us but for our children too. In my own life, I have seen how the poor choices of my parents still have a consequence in my life, even now, after many years. Because of it, I think I'm more careful about what I do and say and teach my children. I want them to have not a single doubt that I love them.

I think about other people too and wonder how they got to be where they are/were.

My beautiful grandmother asking a single question to his neighbor changed my life, my husband and my children's life forever. (Her neighbor was a drunk man, but one day she saw him happy and sober. She asked why he was so changed. He talked to her about the church, and that's how everything started). She then got baptized and his children too. She got inactive after but now, I'll be the one helping her go back when I go to the temple and perform the ordinances she needs.

But, I think, why if she would not have asked that question? what if I don't take her name to the temple? what if I decide to stop doing the correct things? My decisions will affect me and the people that surround me.

I know that God, my Father, thought about His own children and He created the earth, and when created this plan. He was thinking about me and you.

Now, what decisions you are going to take to show your children that you are thinking about them?

President Hinckley was the prophet of my youth. I always remember his teachings. 
I was 9 years old when he gave his talk called "Stand True and Faithful."
He said, " We know when we have done the wrong thing and we also know when we have done the right thing." It scares me to know that we are (for many years) starting to see that the world doesn't know or may they don't care about doing the wrong thing.

People trying to take advantage of others, it's a thing we sadly see everywhere now.
President Hinckley also talks about being true, true to ourselves, to our parents, to our religion. True means being honest. He said, "Suppose that you needed a life-saving operation. You would not want that operation performed by a surgeon who had cheated in medical school, would you? Of course not." It made me think about my dealings with others.

Every time, I have the chance to do something, I asked myself, will this help me keep my temple recommend? If not, I don't participate.

This week has been a great week to think about how can I be more trustworthy. There is always room for improvement, I know it. I also make an effort to be true and how do I do that? by just thinking often about it. 

You know, tax season is here, it would be super easy for companies to cheat the numbers and it would super easy for families to cheat numbers too. I wish we could be more like Nephi and Zoram. When they used that oath (As the Lord liveth...) they trusted each other. Their word, that is all that was needed to trust each other.

The world needs more people like Nephi and Zoram, trustworthy.

Ok, now to the homework.
The habit that was more meaningful from the lecture and video from this week was "Be proactive"
The author said, "We have to be self-started, shakers and movers and decision-makers.It's hard to lead from behind."
I think that all the habits we talked about this week will help me live a more meaningful life. Being proactive, putting first things first, thinking win/win, all those can be applied to everybody no matter their circumstances. We can all make a big and positive impact in this world.

2/7/20

This week's lesson was all about loyalty and putting our priorities in order.

I watched a video from brother Newman and I was so touched and impressed by it that I shared it on social media. (if I can figure it out, I'm gonna share the video here, too.)

It's possible to be a successful entrepreneur but you have to be careful with your priorities. We have to know who or what we are going to follow. We can't have 2 masters.

Many times in my life I have had to choose between two things but then I ask myself, is it important? will it make me closer to my family and God? if the answer is yes, then I'll do it.

I'm always thinking about how my actions will affect my children, the things I say and do will affect them for good or bad. I want them to know without a doubt about the things I know to be true.


About entrepreneurship, I have always liked the idea of being an entrepreneur but sometimes (I mean all the time) I don't know what I want. What I do know is that I would like to do something with my garden and teaching. I'm still thinking about having a YouTube channel about garden and provident living, but right now I can't do it because I'm too busy with school and kids and work.

If you get to see the video! enjoy it!


 https://vimeo.com/28075977?ref=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR2mr_25LCFlQm9GkaPNgaJi_Hxjbu9yutH9NeaJDEu8gJvt9Bgbc6_-g3w

This week, I had to come up with names of people that I would like to have as advisors and it helped me think a lot about those who have been and those who are with me.
One of those people I thought of was my grandmother. She did what she wanted and truly she was a free spirit. I love to think about her and I do every single day since she passed away last year. Last night I dreamed about her and I dreamed of the man who invited her to church 60+ years ago. He also passed away. She got baptized but she never went to the temple for her endowment. I will be doing her work in the temple this coming May. The dream I had last night reminded me that the work of God continues on the other side of the vail and dang! I'm sure this man is teaching my grandmother again.

This week I also studied what my passion is. I was doing some homework yesterday and I looked through the window to see outside and the garden and I said to myself, "that's my passion" if I could be outside in the garden all day, planting seeds and seeing them grow, that would be awesome. I would love to know more about gardening.

In the second interview I did with Joe Hendrix, he gave me really good advice on groups I could join to know more about plants and gardening. With this class and with a lot of thought I have been checking off my list things I thought I would like to do and I'm just leaving the ones I still would like to do and pursuit.

I'm thankful for this moment I have to write on this blog. About my dream that I had with my grandmother, I felt the impression to write it in my journal. So, I did.

The fears

1/23/2020

This week I learned a little about fears. I have many fears but I always shove them out of my mind. Fears about an entrepreneur venture are real. I have always thought of things I could do like, opening a restaurant or having a Youtube channel.
Fears are real but I think we need to conquer them. I learned this week that if we have fears we can conquer them by having a plan. What will I do if this happens? how will I fix it? writing down our fears and then trying to conquer them (at least in a paper), it will help us keep our cool if they ever come to happen.

We also talked about our measurement, who we want to become and our core values.
I have been thinking about my own values since I read the book "Launching Leaders."

The truth is that you will see values and the lack of them everywhere you go, even inside the church, even within your closest friends. There is always gonna be someone that will be willing to throw their values out the window for some "gain."

In the end, our core values are the way we communicate with others. The core values are the image we give the world about our own character and the things we are willing to lose and gain.

The last thing I want to save about this week's lesson is the story about this man who spent 2-3 years studying himself. I do think I study myself a lot but I have never written what I'm good at or my thoughts about myself. I think this would be something I would like to do to know myself better.

You are bound to your words

1/18/20

President Faust gave a talk about honesty a long time ago but his message is still in my mind, this week's lesson reminded me of that talk "Honesty, you better believe it."

This week's lesson reminded me of that talk and on how our ethics our values and our beliefs can create the best or the worse place to live in.

I have always been a fan of sister Sheri L. Dew so I was excited to study her message called "True Blue, Through and Through."
She shared something very remarkable (worth making a remark about). I liked it so much that I even shared it on Facebook.

She said, "You don’t really know what you believe until your beliefs are tested. You don’t know if you’re honest until your honesty is tested. You don’t know if you really prize chastity until your virtue is tested. You don’t know if you can be trusted–with someone’s feelings, with money, with influence, with power–until your trust is tested. In every trial comes a moment of truth when you must decide what you really believe."

It made me things of those times where I was tested about my beliefs and my values. I believe we should all think more about our beliefs and values and ask ourselves what we are going to do if we are tested on something, what is going to be our decision when that temptation comes.

She also said something that inspired me so much.“If you need someone who will have the courage and determination to face the world at its worst, here am I, send me. If you need husbands and wives who will be faithful to each other, raise their children in the admonition of the Lord, and defend the family, here am I, send me. If you need men and women who will see through the lies of the world about family and gender and intimacy, and who will never confuse being tolerant of others with tolerating sin, here am I, send me. If you need men and women who can think straight in a confused, twisted world, here am I, send me. If you need men and women who will be fearless in building the kingdom of God, please, here am I, send me.”

It helped me ask myself, what if I'm not worthy, will God even call me? So, how can I make sure that I'm always going to be worthy of being called? By living my beliefs. I know Satan can put thoughts in our minds and make us think that we are not worthy, let me explain that I'm not referring to this situation. I'm referring to when we are not worthy because we have made a wrong choice and we haven't used the Atonement of Christ.

I always tell my kids, "You are bound to your words." If you say you will take the trash out, you do it. If you say you'll bring cookies to church, you do it. Those really are small things BUT they are a big deal to me. I have reflected a lot about it in these last couple of years. One thing that always ticks me off is unpunctuality. It seems to me that everyone now thinks that it's ok to be late. No, it's never ok to be late. Do you know that saying "Better never late"? Yeah, my saying is "Better never late" but why do I make such a 'big deal' out of it? Because I'm bound to keep my word and because I made a covenant that I won't steal from anyone. Believe or not, when we are late on a date or appointment or church or whatever it may be, we are stealing that time from others.

I said I have been reflected on that for many years now, wondering why this "keep your word" is such a big deal to me. My parents were divorced and my father always said that he would come to pick me up and never did. So, now when I say things to my kids, I make sure I'm keeping my words.
This week also, we made a list of I will and I will never do concerning our ethics.
Mine looked like this.

I will never

-          I will never lower my standards so that I can “win” something

-          I will never cheat or steal or hurt others

-          I will never take hard decisions without praying about them

-          I will never make unethical decisions, without principles

-          I will never lie so I can get out of trouble

I will always

-          I will always be honest in my dealings with my fellowmen

-          I will always try to see others as what they can become instead of just seeing them as what they are now

-          I will always keep my word. “You are bound to your words”

-          I will always remember who I am

-          I will always thank God for the blessings He has given me

-          I will always recognize God’s hand in all things

It was easy for me to come up with things that I will always do than the one I will never do.

1/11/2020

What's your calling?

This week's lesson was all about my calling in life and who I want to be and even who I want to become. Those are all great questions; easy questions to answer if you know what you want. For me, those were hard questions. Why? because I want many things.
What do I want?
Teach what I love. I want to garden all day. I want to see my finances every day. I want to be a good steward of what God has blessed me with. I want a job/calling where I can communicate in Spanish.

The truth is that I like so many things and because of it, it's hard for me to choose one path. But, I think I'm figuring it out little by little.

Also, during this week, I read a few talks and watch some videos about this same topic I've been writing about.

Jeffrey A. Thompson said, "He has equipped you with power to do so. You- you personally- are full of divine capacities to do good that you probably don't even fully appreciate." As I was writing this quote, I thought about my patriarchal blessing. I thought about those little words that have always touched my heart. I think I need to tell myself more often that I do have capacities and that because my Father is a creator, I can also create.

When the world ask me the question, "What's your calling?" I always feel obligated to say something about money. I feel like they are waiting for me to say, "I want to be rich", I want to retired by 35," when in reality I don't want any of that. Rich? Why do I want to be rich? The only reason I would want to be rich is to help others but since being rich is not my goal, then I don't have to worry about it. Work is such a blessing, not because it can help you sustain your life, but it can also help you mentally, it can clear your mind of bad thoughts, it can fill it with good thoughts too. I believe in using your work as a tool to bless God's children.

Brother Thompson continue, "Perhaps the state of our hearts is as important as the tasks we do in determining whether our work is truly- and eternally- meaningful." This goes well with Randy Pausch "Last Lecture" of achieving your childhood dreams.

I think that to dream you have to be awake. Why? let me tell you about my childhood dream. I wanted to be a flight attendant. From my house growing up, I could see the airplanes taking off from the airport. I thought it would be cool to work inside an airplane. I always had that dream while I was asleep. Flight attendants are always on the go, far from home and sometimes even days away from home. Also when I was little, flight attendants were no less than 5.5 tall (I'm 5.2). After I "awoke" from that dream and realize all of the pros and cons, I knew that I really did not want to be away from my family and I didn't want to be stuck inside a box without natural air.

Randy Pausch was dreaming while awake. I believe in dreams, and without a doubt, I know dreams can come true. I married the best guy on earth and I have a beautiful family. Dreams do come true. Again, dreaming is important but make sure you are awake.

After all the things I studied this week and now writing about them, I don't know why I want to cry. I guess this lesson has helped me discover who I want to be. And after asking myself, "What's my calling?" I think I may have the answer. My calling is to know and experiment with everything that God has created for me.

1/4/2020

The Beginning: Week 1, BUS 110: Introduction to Entrepreneurship. 

For this first week, I read some very interesting notes full of insights about me and my divinity. Well, not just my divinity only but also, everyone's divinity! 

We can do hard things, I can do hard things! was pretty much the topic of the lesson this week. 

I have always known that I love learning, by seeing others and personal experiences and by also reading other people's experiences. I know many things, I just need to find a way to communicate that with my own self and be more aware of things I know and what things I can keep learning over and over again.
Elder Bednar said, "A disciplined and educated mind is a tool for reasoning and inquiring and evaluating and discerning.  These abilities are not merely the requirements described in a course syllabus; rather, they are essential skills for a spiritual, happy, and productive life. " 

I have run many races and I have learned that you have to be disciplined and know how to run but mostly how to breathe while running. That little part in my life called, "training for a 5K or training for a Half Marathon" had taught me that life is like running a race. 

Elder Bednar also said, "You have a responsibility to your family to become a diligent student as an expression of your appreciation for and gratitude to them." My kids are little and I know very well that I'm sacrificing time with them and they are sacrificing time with me so I can learn and grow. Is it worth it? Of course, it's worth it.

I'm always wondering, what should I know or what should I study so that my skills and talents would be greater use in God's church but also in God's kingdom in the life to come.

While reading the lesson this week, I wrote down some of the keywords I feel they go well with my life and who I am and who I can become as an entrepreneur.

These are the words I wrote:
Garden

Money- $0 Debt

Cooking

Independent woman

Willing to learn

Renovation

Teach 

Life Skills

Always on time, "Better never late"
Goals, goals, goals
Sustainable living

And, to finish this entry I would like to share the following quote by elder Bednar, "We must consecrate unto the Lord both a faithful heart and a strong mind and only our best is good enough for the Lord."