Small Step: Shine your light

Speaker: 00:00:00

So, Bona, my friends, you are listening

to the Creative Spiritual Journey Podcast,

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Small Steps, where we give you small

steps to help you walk deliberately

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with Christ along your journey.

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I'm Judy Cooley.

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I'll be your host for this episode.

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Thanks for joining me here in South

Africa, where I'm serving a mission for

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the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day

Saints with my companion, Elder Cooley.

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I want to share.

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The importance of our light.

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Each one of us came to earth

with the light of Christ.

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And it's up to us to

keep it burning bright.

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So that others can see and follow.

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I love to ask.

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members of the church.

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what is their story?

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How did they become members of the church

of Jesus Christ of latter day saints?

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And I have found a common thread.

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They saw the light.

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Of others.

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They saw the light of a person.

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That attracted them And they wanted to

know who they were, where they were going.

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And Whatever this is, I'm noticing.

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How can I have.

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That.

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In my life.

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I'm going to share with you a story.

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Uh, one of my very first

friends here, sister Kamala.

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but first I want to.

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Tell you about the smile experiment.

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The smile experiment is that

you simply smile at everyone you

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meet and you see what happens.

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I began by smiling in the

mirror in the morning.

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I smile in my prayers.

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And I make it a habit.

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To smile.

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the majority of the time, when you

smile at someone, they will smile back.

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so did you know what

happens when you smile.

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there is actually a research done on this?

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There is a happiness Institute.

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I mean, who doesn't want to go there?

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And they.

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Have found that smiling sets

off fireworks in the brain.

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It sends this message to the brain

that are good for your health and

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happiness, because it releases.

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Neuro-transmitters including dopamine,

serotonin endorphins that reduce

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stress and other negative emotions.

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Such as frustration and anger and

also boost your positive emotions.

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Such as happiness.

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So when you smile.

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Something happens to the person

you're smiling at the neurons

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in their brain respond, with

what is called Mirror neurons.

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Which means they copy the emotions

they see, and that is why happiness.

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Can be contagious.

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I believe if everyone smiled

more, we would live in a happier,

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kinder, and more connected world.

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Did you know the scriptures?

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Talk about smiles.

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In the book of Mormon.

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In.

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35 19.

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Verse.

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25.

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We read that Christ is

praying with the people.

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And his countenance did smile upon them.

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And the light of his

countenance did shine upon them.

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Can you imagine what the smile and

the light of Christ would be like?

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Now that would be something to mirror.

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We smile.

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Sent off those fireworks in our brain,

And we shine that divinely inherited

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light of Christ that is within us.

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And it is contagious.

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So, let me share with you.

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sister Kamala.

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she is so delightful.

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Okay, I'm with Sister Kamalo, Bonnie,

she's one of the first friends on my

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mission, and I'm just so, I just love you.

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I hope you know that.

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I know.

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I do too.

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You have such a light to you.

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The first time we came to your home,

the missionaries dug up a garden area,

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and You cooked them an amazing lunch.

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You have this big heart.

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so I'd love to hear your conversion story.

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So, how I came to know the

church, I was searching.

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I was searching.

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But I was tired of searching and I

was at a point in my life where I

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had just given it to Heavenly Father

to show me the church because I had

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been to so many different churches

and I was disappointed and I thought

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I can't do this on my, on my own.

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And so every day when I went to

bed, I said a prayer and I asked

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him to show me the right church.

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Because I understood that he had witnessed

all the heartache that I had felt or

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all the disappointments that I had

faced as I go through other churches.

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And so I said the same prayer

every day, every day, every

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day I said the same prayer.

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And then one day, I saw this lady, she

looked pretty good for someone her age.

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In my community, when you are older,

you have to dress a certain type.

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Or people that go to other churches,

they go, they wear these uniforms.

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And so she didn't wear a uniform,

and she didn't wear a duke

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or dress like a certain gogo.

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I just loved her energy.

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And every Sunday I noticed this gogo.

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And I got curious of where she was going.

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And every time I would want to

say this everyday prayer of mine,

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suddenly I couldn't utter the word.

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I had this level of guilt and every

time I wanted to say the words, I

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couldn't say the words because now I

knew that heavenly father knows that I

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say I've been to all the churches, but

I haven't been to this woman's church.

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I tried to ignore it because

I was used to having Sundays

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to myself, but I felt guilty.

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I, for some reason, I thought, And me

having been to all the churches, gave me a

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pass for not keeping the Sabbath day holy,

which I didn't know was a Sabbath day holy

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at the time, but I thought it gave me a

pass that having a father understands,

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but suddenly I felt this guilt.

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And then one day I woke up and

I woke up late on this day.

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She had already passed.

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I assumed, and I quickly prepared the kids

and my husband drove me to Where they met.

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And so, I went into the first door that

I saw, and when I went in there, the only

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available chair was at the front, and as

I looked back, there was the woman there.

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And, The missionaries were there.

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I had seen the missionaries before, but

I didn't know they were missionaries.

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I thought they were some chemical

workers because I had seen them

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pushing some lady in a wheelchair.

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I thought maybe they were

volunteers of some sort.

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So they were missionaries.

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And it was a fast and testimony Sunday.

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Oh wow.

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Yes.

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Everyone was bearing their testimonies.

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Although I didn't understand

everyone was saying the church is

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true, which I thought was bizarre.

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But.

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Also, there were, there were girls

and boys, young girls and boys.

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And what they said, although it

didn't make sense to me, but I felt a

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connection to what they were saying.

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And as much as I wanted to rush out,

as soon as I saw faces that I couldn't

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recognize, especially the missionaries,

I thought to myself, you know what?

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I am not coming here next week.

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But as soon as I heard those girls spread

their testimonies, and the missionaries

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came to me afterwards, they introduced

themselves and they asked me who I was,

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and they told me there was going to be

another class, and invited me to stay.

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And I stayed.

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And after church, They offered to walk

me back home with the kids and I allowed

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them to, and they met my husband and

they asked to come and visit us and we

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did allow them to come and visit us and

that was the beginning of my journey.

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so you've been a member for how long?

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I think for thirteen.

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years now.

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And you've been to the temple.

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And it all started with this go go.

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Yes.

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That walked by your house, that had

a light to her and a difference,

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something that caught your eye.

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Yes.

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And you wanted to know,

where is she going?

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Yes.

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What makes her different?

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I couldn't ignore the

light that she carried.

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I couldn't.

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I love that.

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Thank you.

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Okay.

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Now, can you see what I mean?

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She is.

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Delightful.

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Thank you to.

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Bonnie Kamala for Opening

up her heart and her home.

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To share her story and I am

so grateful for that Gogo.

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Which is Zula for grandma.

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That go go.

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That walked by her home.

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Two words, the church.

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Shining her light.

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The savior said, let your light

so shine before man, that they may

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see your good works and glorify

your father, which is in heaven.

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Opportunities to shine are limitless.

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They're all around you.

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My friend, we can be a

source of light to the world.

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Just has turning on a light switch

in the dark room will fill the

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room with light being example.

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Of righteousness being

an example of the savior.

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Can help light up and

increasingly dark world.

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So I invite you.

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to try the smile experiment.

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Go ahead.

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Show off your shine.

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It's so simple, smile, shine.

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That light that you were born with.

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Because you just never

know who's watching.

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B.

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An example of the light of Christ.

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And I promise you just like we

read in doctrine covenants 50, 24.

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That, which is a God is light.

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And he, that receives light and continue

with in God receive with more light.

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And that light grows brighter and

brighter until the perfect day.

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It begins with a smile.

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And if you know, someone that

needs some light shined on their

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path, share this message with them.

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And I'll see you on the trail