July 6, 2010

I am still on vacation. We are in Nauvoo and it is our last night here. Tonight is a hard night for me to sit down and write. I have felt the Spirit strongly today, especially during the Nauvoo pageant. I felt lifted and strengthened by the spirits of the pioneers who have gone before us. They believed in and dedicated their lives to the cause of Zion and I realized that I also am living (or at least striving to) my life in the same way. I love the idea and vision of Zion and do my best to create it within my own home. I hope to see it spread far and wide.

I also found a picture that I bought today of the Savior sitting on a mountainside engaged in deep personal prayer. I really love the picture because it reminds me that Christ learned his mission through personal revelation, line upon line, just like we are meant to. It just really is a great example to me and one that I always want to remember. I thought of the Atonement and the things Elder Scott talked about the Savior.

Today I was also reading an article in the Ensign called The Eternal Importance of Honesty and learned how the word sincere came to mean what it does. It comes from ancient times when sculptures used a special rare type of marble that cracked easily if it was chiseled against the grain. The cracks could sometimes be made to appear whole, but in reality the statue was weak and not whole because of the fracture. So those who commissioned the work began to really inspect the sculptures to make sure they were sine cere, or "without cracks." The word came to be sincere, meaning truly wholesome, not just APPEARING to be whole. I really loved learning that and thinking how it applies to my life.