Alma 29: 13-17

Who do you attribute your success and the success of others? Who do you share your success with? 

Alma the younger's joy is full because of his much success. And his joy is more full because of the success of his brethren. And He did acknowledge that it's God who has given him and his brethren their success. 

 " 13 Yea, and that same God did establish his church among them; yea, and that same God hath called me by a ^aholy calling, to ^bpreach the word unto this people, and hath given me much success, in the which my joy is full.

14 But I do not joy in my own ^asuccess alone, but my joy is more full because of the success of my brethren, who have been up to the land of Nephi.

15 Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward!

16 Now, when I think of the success of these my brethren my soul is carried away, even to the separation of it from the body, as it were, so great is my ^ajoy.

17 And now may God grant unto these, my brethren, that they may sit down in the kingdom of God; yea, and also all those who are the fruit of their labors that they may go no more out, but that they may praise him forever. And may God grant that it may be done according to my words, even as I have spoken. Amen." (Alma 29: 13-17)

Are we able to succeed in fulfilling our mission or in the achievement of our goals by ourselves? Are we able to do everything by ourselves without the help of the most powerful being in the universe who created us and has been lending us breath from one moment to another? He has been supporting you and me day by day. Every breath we take is a gift from Him. Every moment, minute, hour of each passing day is a privilege to use the power He has given us to fulfill our mission. He has given us our freedom of choice and the power to "do many things of our own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness". 

"27 Verily I say, men should be ^aanxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

28 For the power is in them, wherein they are ^aagents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their ^breward." (Doctrine and Covenants 58: 27-28)

We do have the power to make things happen. God has given us this power and everything that we have. No wonder He commanded us to thank Him for everything. And yet are we able to remember to take a bit of our time to thank Him? 

What would it be like if there is nobody around us to share our success with? Have you won before and nobody even know? Wouldn't you want to share with others something which brings you joy? Perhaps there are things you just want to keep to yourself and that's all right. Like when I decided to take that pop-singing lessons when I was a university student--I was not that confident with my singing ability. I did tell my friend I'm interested in taking the lessons. She told me to tell her when I do decide to enroll. And yet I didn't really want her around when I'm being coached in my singing. So, I did enroll and I did not tell my friend about it. And when it's time for our show, every student got family and friends who were cheering them on while there was no one there for me...And it's was all right for me then. I didn't want to spread the news about my taking that pop-singing lesson and I didn't do it to become famous with my singing ability. And yet when my friend asked me if I did enroll (of course I told her I did) and she said, "I could have been there cheering for you," it hit me--That time when I was singing on the stage could have been a wonderful moment to share with my friend and our other friends whether my performance was perfect or not. Well, it happened and I couldn't go back and change what I did then. I can only learn from it. I was young back then and needed much guidance to learn and grow. I'm so grateful for what I've been learning from the words of God, the scriptures. And the Book of Mormon is another book of scriptures aside from the Bible and others. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and is the living word of God just as all the other scriptures are. I've read this book many times over the years, from cover to cover and as I read from it everyday I've been learning something new. Now I want to be able to share with my family, friends and others not only my joys but also my pains and the lessons I'm learning as I go through and rise above them. And writing this blog is a great opportunity for me to share these things. And I would love to hear from you as well. Share your thoughts and feelings, your successes and failures, your joys and your pains because we are all in this together. And your joy can add to mine as my joy can add to yours. My pain can be eased as I shared it with you as your pain can be eased as you share it with me. Isn't it amazing how this works? Truly there is a purpose for everything. There's a reason why we were born into families and we're growing up surrounded with people everywhere we go. We are supposed to develop relationships and connect with one another to be able to share our joys, sorrows, hopes, dreams, our struggles, our successes and learn from one another and grow to become our better version. Indeed, no man is an island. Don't you agree?