December 7, 2010
I opened my scriptures to D&C 127:1-3 and there read the words of Joseph Smith speaking of some persecution he had been enduring. He said, basically, that all the persecution he has experienced doesn't make any sense unless he was "ordained from the foundation of the world for some good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it. Judge ye for yourselves." I like his attitude towards his afflictions. He really had all trust in the Lord and knew that no matter what, God would "mete out a just recompense of reward" to all those who oppressed not only him, but the Saints as well. He says to judge for ourselves whether his work was good or bad. I believe he suffered the persecution he did because the powers of darkness were working to thwart the work he was doing. I am grateful that all he set in motion is still moving forward and that I have had the opportunity and blessing of being part of it. I am thankful for my membership in this Church and I believe this Church holds the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, including the authority to act in the name of God. I am so grateful for Joseph Smith and all that he did, all that he sacrificed. His life has profoundly impacted mine all these hundreds of years later and I am grateful for that.
December 6, 2010
Tonight I read an article from the October General Conference by Neil L. Andersen called Never Leave Him. I LOVED this talk!! He pointed out that not one of us is "immune from the influences of the world." We all will have challenging experiences and whether those challenges refine us and deepen our faith or weaken our resolve and cloud our view will depend on whether we approach our challenges with faith or in a worldly way. He asks some questions that are ones I have also asked myself: "How do we remain true to the Savior, His gospel, and the ordinances of His Priesthood? How do we develop the faith and strength to never leave Him?" His answer is that "we need the believing heart of a child." And once we receive that change of heart, we must choose not to be offended or ashamed. He quoted President Monson two different times and they are both quotes that really stood out to me. The first is, "unless the roots of your testimony are firmly planted, it will be difficult for you to withstand the ridicule of those who challenge your faith." The second is "your testimony, when constantly nourished, will keep you safe." That really highlights the importance of testimony, and of nourishing that testimony daily if I am to "never leave Him." I really loved this talk and appreciated the topic because of its relevance in my life. I do love the Savior and that is why I do my best to keep His commandments.
December 5, 2010
Tonight I read Alma 56:17-57, the rest of the account of Helaman and his stripling warriors. I like the courage in this story. First of all, the courage of Helaman's army to basically act as bait to lure out the largest army of the Lamanites after them. They must have been so exhausted having to march to stay ahead of that army for two days. Then on the third day when they realized the Lamanites had stopped following them, they had a choice to make as to whether or not to turn around and go fight the Lamanites. I admire their faith and courage in making the decision to turn around and face their enemy. They had complete trust and faith in God, knowing that "if they did not doubt, God would deliver them." And sure enough, their faith must have been mighty because they won that battle against the Lamanites without a single of those young Ammonites being killed! Their example of faith in the face of a very potentially scary situation is a wonderful one and one that I hope to always remember and apply in my own life. When faced with challenges, I hope to say, as they did, "if I do not doubt, God will deliver me." And I believe He will always deliver me according to my faith.
December 4, 2010
I read part of an article in the Ensign called Commandments, Calamities, and the Second Coming. What stood out to me from what I read is that so many prophets had seen our time and were overcome with thinking something along the lines of, "How can anyone stand with that kind of opposition?" It makes me realize how much my Heavenly Parents love me and trust me, to send me to earth at this amazing time.
December 3, 2010
I read Alma 56:1-16, which is Helaman's letter to Moroni about the 2,000 stripling warriors. The only thing that stood out to me in these verses is that these sons were younger than 26 years old, at least that's how I understand verse 7: that it's been 26 years since they made their covenant. Anyway, that being the case, they were all younger than I am. They may have been married already with families of their own. I love the example of courage and faith of the 2,000 warriors.
December 2, 2010
Tonight I read in the Ensign, the visiting teaching message and the section on what we believe. The visiting teaching message was on temple and family history work. Joseph Smith is quoted as saying, "The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead." That is quite the grand statement. I really love doing family history work. I love reading the stories of my ancestors' lives and of their faith. It makes me feel connected to them, close to them. And I believe that with that close relationship, they will help me to find and link those of our family who have not received temple ordinances yet. It is a great work to do, and I believe it must be accomplished by faithful servants on BOTH sides of the veil.
The other message I read was about Jesus as the Only Begotten Son of God. I especially liked the examples of faith of those who believed Jesus was the Son of God from the scriptures: His disciples, Martha, Adam & Eve, and Samuel the Lamanite were mentioned in this article. I do believe also that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
The other message I read was about Jesus as the Only Begotten Son of God. I especially liked the examples of faith of those who believed Jesus was the Son of God from the scriptures: His disciples, Martha, Adam & Eve, and Samuel the Lamanite were mentioned in this article. I do believe also that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
December 1, 2010
Tonight I read the First Presidency message in the December Ensign by President Uchtdorf called Can We See the Christ? He talked of how those of us who have taken His name upon us "must not fail to open our hearts and minds and truly see Him." There can be a lot of distractions, but there are also wonderful opportunities, especially at this time of year, to "truly [see] the Prince of Peace in His majesty." I am so grateful for the blessing sin my life that are here because of Jesus Christ who lived over two thousand years ago. I am thankful for his example and his loving sacrifice. I love this special time of year because of the way it reminds me of Jesus. There is a wonderful spirit at this time and I am thankful for it.
November 30, 2010
Tonight I read Moroni 8:14-30. It is part of a letter Mormon wrote to his son Moroni and in these verses he is talking about little children and how they do not need repentance because they are already redeemed. In verse 22 it says that "all little children are alive in Christ, and also all they that are without the law." I thought that was a really interesting quote and I wonder who that includes. But it makes sense to me... why would God condemn one to whom He had not give His law? He is "not a partial God." I love these verses for the way they speak of God's "perfect love" and also of Christ's Atonement. I am very grateful for his Atonement and the blessings that have come to my life as a result of my faith in this wondrous gift.
November 29, 2010
Even though it's a few days past Thanksgiving, I felt like looking up scriptures on thanks and gratitude because my heart has been full of it. I found a scripture in D&C 79:19 that says, "He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more." In the footnote it refers to Mosiah 2:20 which is the beginning of the segment of scriptures that makes the point that even if you give all the "thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess," and you serve God with everything you have, you would still be "unprofitable servants," because of how he blesses and prospers us when we keep his commandments. Basically there will ALWAYS be something to thank the Lord for. And by doing so, "in all things," I will be blessed with the "things of this earth." I love that promise and I love it because I can be thankful and with the blessings I receive, I can give even more to the building up of God's kingdom!
November 28, 2010
Tonight I was turning through the pages of my new conference Ensign and my eye caught on a talk called Courageous Parenting by Elder Larry R. Lawrence of the Seventy. I read it and really feel there was some wise counsel in it. This talk was written specifically for parents of teenagers. I don't have teenagers yet, but just like I have prepared myself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually for being a mother, I do the same thing for being a mother of teenagers (as well as other things, like serving a mission when I'm older and becoming a grandparent.) I really feel it's important for me to look to the future in that way and to prepare myself mentally and emotionally and spiritually for what I may encounter. So while I am not a parent of teenagers, I really appreciated this talk and was able to apply it to myself.
First of all, I really liked his analogy of having a child sitting on the railroad tracks and hearing the train whistle blowing. How would I act under those circumstances? Certainly I would not casually stand by and hope my child heard the whistle, or resign myself to watching them get run over by a train if they chose to ignore my warnings. "[I] would value [their] life more than [their] temporary goodwill" and do everything I could to quickly move my child to a safe place. He says, "challenges and temptations are coming at our teenagers with the speed and power of a freight train." That means it is vitally important for me, as a parent, to protect my children "spiritually as well as physically."
I want to teach my children to recognize and heed spiritual promptings from a young age, and I believe they will then appreciate my spiritual warnings because they will have experience themselves with "trying to recognize the Spirit when He speaks," and they will respect my attempts to do the same. I feel it is so important for children to receive their own spiritual witnesses and stand on their own testimony from as early of an age as possible. This is what I hope to help my children develop.
I really appreciated the counsel he gave about supporting and respecting a spouse's spiritual feelings about things, because truly it is "important for husbands and wives to be united." It takes trust, love and support to get rid of something, turn something off, avoid something, or say 'no' if one spouse "feels uncomfortable about a movie, a television show, a video game, a party, a dress, a swimsuit, or an Internet activity." I want to parent that way with my husband.
I also thought it wise counsel when he said that "peer pressure becomes more powerful when our children are away from our influence and when their defenses are weakened late at night," in talking of being careful about sleepovers. It's definitely something to be mindful of. He mentioned "five fundamental practices that have the power to fortify our youth: family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, family dinner together and regular one on one interviews with each child." Those are all practices that I am striving to develop into habits within our family because I do believe they offer great spiritual protection.
First of all, I really liked his analogy of having a child sitting on the railroad tracks and hearing the train whistle blowing. How would I act under those circumstances? Certainly I would not casually stand by and hope my child heard the whistle, or resign myself to watching them get run over by a train if they chose to ignore my warnings. "[I] would value [their] life more than [their] temporary goodwill" and do everything I could to quickly move my child to a safe place. He says, "challenges and temptations are coming at our teenagers with the speed and power of a freight train." That means it is vitally important for me, as a parent, to protect my children "spiritually as well as physically."
I want to teach my children to recognize and heed spiritual promptings from a young age, and I believe they will then appreciate my spiritual warnings because they will have experience themselves with "trying to recognize the Spirit when He speaks," and they will respect my attempts to do the same. I feel it is so important for children to receive their own spiritual witnesses and stand on their own testimony from as early of an age as possible. This is what I hope to help my children develop.
I really appreciated the counsel he gave about supporting and respecting a spouse's spiritual feelings about things, because truly it is "important for husbands and wives to be united." It takes trust, love and support to get rid of something, turn something off, avoid something, or say 'no' if one spouse "feels uncomfortable about a movie, a television show, a video game, a party, a dress, a swimsuit, or an Internet activity." I want to parent that way with my husband.
I also thought it wise counsel when he said that "peer pressure becomes more powerful when our children are away from our influence and when their defenses are weakened late at night," in talking of being careful about sleepovers. It's definitely something to be mindful of. He mentioned "five fundamental practices that have the power to fortify our youth: family prayer, family scripture study, family home evening, family dinner together and regular one on one interviews with each child." Those are all practices that I am striving to develop into habits within our family because I do believe they offer great spiritual protection.
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