Weak things made strong

I was in class talking with a classmate and she and I were working on the  directed study together.  She pointed out something that helped me understand my attribute of Christ, of being humble.  I have just been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, so I have tried to become humble and live life in the moment but have been struggling a bit this last month.  We were discussing Ether chapter twelve about how the Lord can give us weaknesses to help us become humble, not that cancer is a weakness, but we sometimes think our trials are our weaknesses.  Which some do turn into weaknesses if we let them.  But she was saying, “that she believes that the Lord gives us weaknesses that we may become humble and that what I am facing now will give me the strength to endure what lies ahead”.  As I sat there and listen the spirit touched my heart especially when she said that, “when you exercise your faith in the Lord and act upon it by using the ABC’s of the gospel, then will the Lord make the “weak things become strong”, as it says in verse twenty-seven.  I have found in my life that when I feel weak it is because I am lacking in doing one or more of the ABC’s of the gospel.  I should clarify what the ABC’s of the gospel are, I feel that they are faith, prayer, scripture study, tithing, partaking of the sacrament, keeping your covenants, enduring to the end.  Basically the ABC’s are the basic Doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  So when I find myself in a place  where I am weak either emotionally, spiritually or even physically I re-evaluate my life and see where and what I am doing and what I am not doing that draws me closer to my Savior.  

You know we can have the faith of the Brother of Jared when we come before the Lord as he did.  We must be willing to accept His will, desire to do His will, and have the courage to follow through in applying it in our lives.  When we do find His will and accept it, follow it  we will find that  our faith will bring the “mountain of all righteousness” (vs. 28).  I know that in my life I am a lot happier when I humbly strive to accept, follow, and do His will than when I am compelled to do so or choose not to altogether.  The very last verse in Ether chapter twelve commends us to “seek this Jesus”.  So everything we do in our lives either helps us seek Him or draws us further away from Him.  It is our choice, that is what I love about the gospel, we can’t blame anyone else for our misery.  I love what Elder Robert. D. Hales states, “In the gospel of Jesus Christ, there comes a point in time, when we must stand accountable for who we are and what we are going to be”.  How true this statement is and once I figured this out my life changed and so will yours.  

Helaman's Application to Life

Here I am reading in the Book of Mormon in Helaman chapters 10 to 12.  These are very powerful chapters that are very applicable to ones life.  Here is Nephi standing in the middle of people divided, pondering what the Lord had shown him.  He was emotionally drawn because of all the wickedness of the people.  We can think of how divided we are in our day and how our prophet could be feeling just about the same way, don’t you think?  Yeah, well the Lord then tells Nephi how blessed he is because of the things he has done, and in Helaman 10: 6-10 it states:
6 Behold, thou art Nephi, and I am God. Behold, I declare it unto thee in the presence of mine angels, that ye shall have power over this people, and shall smite the earth with famine, and with pestilence and destruction, according to the wickedness of this people.
7 Behold, I give unto you power, that whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven; and thus shall ye have power among this people. 8 And thus, if ye shall say unto this temple it shall be
rent in twain, it shall be done.
9 And if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou cast down and become smooth, it shall be done.
10 And behold, if ye shall say that God shall smite
this people, it shall come to pass.

What person would not want this type of power given them?  I am sure that our prophet today, has this power and could use it if called upon from the Lord.  Sometimes I wish he would use it like in time of old, because it might persuade people to remember the Lord their God, as it did for these people.  Nephi was tired of all these wars.  Once again, are we not tired of all the wars that are going on in our day? So, Nephi prayed and asked if the people could be destroyed by famine instead of by the sword, to help them remember the Lord their God?  The Lord actually answered his prayer and there came a sore famine in the land where thousands perished.  Now I myself would not want to have a famine hit us, at least a physical famine, I really feel there is a spiritual famine going on that we really needs to be addressed. Nephi did addresses it in chapter eleven he tells them what they must do in order to remove the famine in Helaman 11: 10-16 it states:
10 O Lord, behold this people repenteth; and they have swept away the band of Gadianton from amongst them insomuch that they have become extinct, and they have concealed their secret plans
in the earth.

11 Now, O Lord, because of this their humility wilt thou turn away thine anger, and let thine anger be appeased in the destruction of those wicked men
whom thou hast already destroyed.
12 O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, yea,
thyfierce anger, and cause that this famine may cease
in this land.
13 O Lord, wilt thou hearken unto me, and cause that it may be done according to my words, and send forth rain upon the face of the earth, that she may bring forth her fruit, and her grain in the season
of grain.
14 O Lord, thou didst hearken unto my words when I said, Let there be a famine, that the pestilence of the sword might cease; and I know that thou wilt, even at this time, hearken unto my words, for thou saidst that: If this people repent I will spare them.
15 Yea, O Lord, and thou seest that they have repented, because of the famine and the pestilence and destruction which has come unto them.
16 And now, O Lord, wilt thou turn away thine anger, and try again if they will serve thee? And if so, O Lord, thou canst bless them according to thy
words which thou hast said.

What a blessing that was for the people to have prophet amongst them that spoke for and in behalf of them.  That saw that they repented and petitioned the Lord to remove the famine because of the peoples humble repentance.  Now in our day, we have a prophet that does the same for us, we can also go directly to our Savior for personal repentance and to the Bishop if needed.  What a blessing.  The savior did remove the famine and turned His anger from the people and returned the rain to the earth.  Now, I live in California where there has been a drought for awhile, I know how it is to be without water and what a blessing it is when rain finally came.  It is amazing to see in Helaman 12: 2-3, how people truly feel about their Savior Jesus Christ and what they do, it states:

2 Yea, and we may see at the very time when he
doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of
their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in
gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious
things of every kind and art; sparing their lives,
and delivering them out of the hands of their
enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that
they should not declare wars against them; yea,
and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and
happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that
they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord
their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy
One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their
exceedingly great prosperity.
3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten
his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth
visit them with death and with terror, and with famine
and with all manner of pestilence, they will not
remember him.

The people here in the scriptures forgot their Savior and by doing so trampled Him under their feet because of their prosperity.  Needless to say, all their prosperity came for Him who they trampled under their feet.  I feel that is the reason He chastens His people with afflictions, is because they forget the Lord their God, and where all their blessings come from.   Our Savior literally does everything for us, increases our fields, (income), flocks, (family) and herds (ward family).  He protects us, spares us from pain when it’s for the welfare of our happiness and then when the time comes for us to show our appreciation, like the people in the scriptures, we trample Him under our feet.  The chapter goes on to explain, how great the nothingness and how we are made of dust but, even the dust of the earth moveth at the command of the Lords voice.  I thought that this was an interesting fact.  That the Savior of the world can speak and the dirt will move and obey, yet we who claim to love Him find it hard to obey Him.  In the scripture John 14:15, it says, “If ye love me keep my commandments”.  That is the sure foundation on which we can build is love, if we love our Savior we will never do anything that will take us away from Him.  We are the ones who choose to move from Him.  I know this to be true in my life, as I have felt the love of my Savior, I have had that change of heart and have had no more desire to choose evil.  I hope that everyone can have this change of heart and that they too can turn to the Lord their God and feel of His love for them.  It will change your life forever as it did mine.  

Attribute of Obedience

So I finished the first semester of school and  received "A's" in both classes, which was exciting for all the effort I put in.  I enjoyed the two week break and now I am back at it with math and the second half of the Book of Mormon.  Math is hard for me and I don't look forward to it but I will put for the effort to do good and get my "A" in the class.  But I do look forward to the secon half of the Book of Moromon.  This half is my favorite because it teaches about the coming and ministry of the Savior to the Americas, and how He set up His gospel here as well.  I look forward to feeling and recognizing the spirit just as much as I did last semester as I studied the Book of Moromon.

So last semester I mention we had a project due called "The Becoming Project", it was where we had to choose a characteristic of Christ and set goals to become more like Christ.  Last semester my characteristic I chose was Charity.  So this semster they changed the title of the project but the principle stays the same.  The title is "Attributes of Chirst".  The principle is that you "Sow", "Grow" , and "Show".  It is meant to help us look inward, outward, and upward.  As I pondered what attribute I wanted to work on the one that kept coming into my heart was obedience.  Which was interesting because, the very next Sunday Brother Abbott gave a really go talk in Sacrament meeting about not loosing the perspective on “why” we are here on earth, and that is to prepare to return to live with  our Heavenly and to become more like our Savior Jesus Christ.  He taught me something valuable, and that is, don’t loose the “why” of why you do the things you do.  Why do you:  read scriptures, attend church, attend the Temple, partake of the Sacrament, fulfill your callings, serve others, etc.  It was an amazing learning moment that will be with me for a long time.  I can’t wait to learn more about the “why’s” of obedience.  Why are we obedient?  Is it for show?,  Is it for blessings?, Is it because it is a commandment?, or is it rooted in our deep love for our Savior Jesus Christ and our desire to follow and obey His will?  This is what I am looking forward to learning and growing as I put for the effort to apply what I learn from the spirit.

I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I have to grow as a person spiritually, I know that my Savior loves me and wants me to suceed.  I know that as I study and apply the things I learn about being obedient I will be blessed.  I know that by having my heart in the right place then my intentions behind what I do will be sincere.  I know that by following our Saviors obedience we will become like Him and be able to return to live with Him and that is my eternal goal.  This is just one step closer to achieving that.  I hope everyone takes that step with me.

Second Chances

Hello, I watched this Mormon Message, Look to the Light , it touched my heart so much that I had to share it with you.  I relate to this on such a personal level, I remember being right out of High School, feeling the freedom of being an adult.  Not being restricted by all the rules of childhood.  Though I have always attended church, I still continued to make choices that were contrary to what I was taught.  Like the Model in the video, I didn't know who I was, I didn't know  I was a Daughter of God, who know's me and loves me.  Oh, how that would have made a difference back then.  I remember one night feeling so alone, and nothing left, so I did what the business man did, I prayed.  I hadn't gone 10 years without praying, but my prayers back then, were pretty scarce and mote.  But I remember being specific in this prayer, asking that He would make something happen in my life, or one of my family members life, to help me get back on track.  Preferably my life, I wouldn't want my family to suffer because of me.  And a week later, I got in a car accident, where I broke my neck. Now, does Heavenly Father always answer prayers that quickly and that precise?  Not always, but He knew that is what I needed, at that time to get me back on track.  And that is what happened.  I realized at that time, that I had to look to the light, to get rid of the darkness, that was engrossing my life.  I had to embrace the light, and fill my life with light, to be able to walk back into His presence.

How grateful we should be, for the second chances we get, from our Savior's love and mercy He shows us daily.  His love is what changes us from within.  Whatever we seek for, to fill our lives from without, will never fill our lives, if we don't seek Him first within.  We will always be filled when we look to the light, He will never leave us in the dark.  We have that chance to change, because of the Atonement, how blessed the world would be if we all understood, and applied it daily, and by doing so we would be filled with His love.  Which would change our behavior, and we would be more like Him.  And who wouldn't want that?

The Atonement

So this week in my Pathway Program I was the lead student in my Book of Mormon Class. It is the religion class, yes I go to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, most people know us as the Mormons.  So I had the opportunity to teach my class on Chapters found in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9 through 16.  There were two topics to really choose from, The Atonement and Isaiah.  You are correct I chose the Atonement.  I did this because I have a testimony of the power of the Atonement and I know it will and can change lives.

So to start out the lesson I read a thought that was called The Bridge By Melanie Day. It was about a man that sacrificed his son for a passenger train that would cross a larger river.  She compared it to the feelings of how our Heavenly Father felt when He sacrificed His Son for us.  How grateful I am to my Heavenly Father that He willingly did that for all who came to this earth so that we could return to live  with Him.  I love object lessons, I feel they teach in a powerful  way, so I used two different object lessons. The first one, I brought a hard-boiled egg and explained that as we make choices we mark up the shell, the shell sometimes cracks, and it doesn’t look all that pretty anymore.  But as we repent and renew our covenants each week, the power of the Atonement purifies us and we are cleansed (I removed the shell off) from sin and we get to start over again.  The second, object lesson  I took a paper airplane and taped a nickel inside and threw it across the room, it didn’t fly very well.  I explained why, that there was a nickel taped on it.  I told them that the nickel represents our sins or bad choices that hold us back and bring us down.  I then took off the nickel and flew the plane again across the room, and it flew straight.  They then broke up into two groups and discussed the analogy and came up with a question for the other group to answer.  After we came together and discussed it. 

To end the lesson I had found this video  lifting burdens  it talks about how the Atonement can lift all our burdens and how we are forever connected to our Savior Jesus Christ because of the Atonement. I then sang as our closing song a song from Mercy Me called "I can only Imagine" that talks about if you were standing in front of Jesus right now what could you imagine doing?  Would you be speechless?  Forever on your knees?  Or forever worshiping Him? It is one thing we can spend the rest of our lives imagining or we could live now so that when it does happen we will see Him as we know and feel Him now.  That is my hope and prayer for all.  
 

Broken things to mend

Hello

For those who don't know I am in the BYU-I Pathway's Program.  I am taking two classes.  The first class, is Life Skills which teaches you how to learn certain study skills to succeed in school.  the second class, is The Book of Mormon class, the first half of the Book.  Yes, I am a Mormon or what we should more commonly be called, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In my Book of Mormon class we are learning a lot.  I would like to share with you a principle that has touched my heart.  I hope it will touch yours as well.  We have the opportunity to Dig Deeper into the Scriptures, the Book of Mormon, for that is what we are studying right now. They provide these videos I would like to share one with you.  It is a clip from a full talk from Jeffery R. Holland broken things to mend , one of my favorite Apostles.  Yes, we do have Apostles just  like times of old, isn't that awesome the same setup now as in ancient times?  That is one thing I love about the Gospel.  I have to admit, every time I listen to just this small segment of his talk I cry.

I feel the main principle that touched my  heart in his speech is, as we come unto Christ, come to know His voice, and do His will we will find a strength beyond our own.  I look back in my life and realize  that when I live closer to my Savior in action and word my strength is beyond measure.  I find that I had no idea how I got through that trial then when it is all said and done with I look back and  it was because I was listening to the voice of my Savior and striving to do His will, and by doing so I was coming unto Him.  Elder Holland also said, "The Savior will not turn His back on us now, when He says, ""Come unto Me"",  He is saying, He knows the way out, and He knows the up.  He knows it because He's walked it.  He knows the way because He is the way".  This much I know is true because the Spirit has told me so.  I  have felt His love as I have turned toward my Savior in troubled times.  He has always been there for me He has and never will turn His back on me.  I know if you come unto Him with full purpose of heart with real intent He will be there for you to comfort you and give you the strength to endure what you are facing.  Your faith will be sustained and you will find peace in the middle of your storm.  This I testify to you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

school for the school girl

Hello

I am way excited I am going after my dreams. I have always wanted to become a Registered Nerd oh I mean Nurse so there is a program here at West Med College that offers the Licensed Vocational Nurse or in other states it is Licensed Practical Nurse. So getting my LVN is one step closer to becoming an RN. Plus this is a year program that is accredited and I will be taking the boards after I am done. I feel really good about it cuz you know they are always short in LVN's and RN's. After my LVN I want to go after my Bachelors hopefully online. So wish me luck I will need it except for the A&P class this will be my 3rd time taking the class.