September 25, 2010

Tonight I attended a wonderful spiritual feast at the General Relief Society meeting. For my personal study, I read a talk from the last General Young Women's meeting by Ann M. Dibb called Be of a Good Courage. I loved the definition of courage: "a mental or moral strength to persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty." She discusses four ways to "help us overcome our obstacles, complete our journey, and enjoy the blessings of the Lord in our 'land of promise.'" The four ways she talks about are:

1. Prayer
2. Obedience to the commandments
3. Scripture study, and
4. Following the prophet.

Doing these four things in our life "provide[s] the most powerful source of courage and strength there is: FAITH in our Heavenly Father and in His Son Jesus Christ." I could not help but notice a striking similarity to four guides that were talked about in a talk tonight at the broadcast. They were:

1. Daily prayer
2. Daily scripture study
3. Obedience, and
4. Service.

I think it could be easily said that the top 3 essential things we can incorporate into our lives to help us return to our heavenly home are:

1. Daily prayer
2. Daily scripture study, and
3. Obedience to the commandments.

I am so glad that I have the great desire to do all three of those things and that I have established consistent habits. It has been a blessing in my life and I do feel an increased measure of the influence of the Spirit which helps me make right choices, helps me feel peace, and which gives me the strength to resist temptation. It is a joy to be on the path back to my heavenly parents.