On the last day of Nauvoo, my friend shared with me something that she felt at the beginning of our two weeks there. When she came she thought about all the talents and abilities she has that she thought she was going to get to use for the pageants. Then at the end she said "I ended up not using what I thought I would and doing things that I'm not very good at."

We all come to this earth with talents and abilities. And throughout our lives we have the chance to get better at our talents and use them in the best way. One of my favorite stories from the Bible is the Parable of the Talents. There are many lessons that we can learn from this story. But I think one of the most important things is not to hide our talents and express and share them with others.

Matthew 5:16 reads "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

We all have lights and talents that are meant to be shared with the world, so we can't "hide them under a bushel". And we can't be afraid to increase these talents and gain new ones because they will bless ours and others' lives.

I'm very grateful for all of the talents and abilities I have been given. I'm still working on learning how to use them to bless others. Never hesitate to use the talents you've been given.