Monday Message

"Lessons I Learned as a Boy", by President Gordon B. Hinckley



President Hinckley was so good at sharing stories that were touching and made a person desire to change without telling them how to do that. I loved this story when I heard it. I don't remember where I heard it, I just remember that the story was familiar but with the video in addition, it is a moving representation.

Provident Living

“All of us are responsible to provide for ourselves and our families in both temporal and spiritual ways. To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies. When we live providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior’s example to serve and bless others.”
Elder Robert D. Hales
“Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually,” Ensign, May 2009, 8

S.T.

Scripture Thought - Question
D&C 42:32, 53, 70 -
"And it shall come to pass, that after they are laid before the bishop of my church, and after that he has received these testimonies concerning the consecration of the properties of my church, that they cannot be taken from the church, agreeable to my commandments, every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, as much as is sufficient for himself and family. . . .
"Thou shalt stand in the place of thy stewardship. . . .
"The priests and teachers shall have their stewardships, even as the members."

God makes us stewards over all our blessings; priests, teachers and even members of the church are stewards over all we've been given. I've been thinking about this a lot and wondering what my stewardship responsibilities as a member of the church are?

Any thoughts?

Monday Message

Create, by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf



I love the way this video was made - it is so inspiring. I wanted to find hidden talents after hearing this talk, and even more so after seeing this clip!

The Lord's Way

"The Lord's way is not hard. Life is hard, not the gospel."
Lawrence E. Corbridge

"The Way, Ensign," Nov. 2008, 36

S.T.

Scripture Thought
1 Nephi 17:3 -

"And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness. "

This verse reminds me of 1 Nephi 3:7 in which Nephi tells his testimony about the Lord providing a means to accomplish what He has commanded us. In this (17:3) verse, we learn that when we keep God's commandments, He nourishes us and strengthens us, which gives us the means to continue keeping His commandments. I've been thinking a lot about this particular verse lately, and how all of God's commandments apply to this promise. Take the law of tithing for example. We have been given the command to pay tithing; it's a command that was instituted even in biblical times. When we pay our tithing, the Lord blesses us and strengthens us which gives us a greater resolve to pay our tithing further. Of course, we should pay our tithing because we love the Lord and want to keep His commandments, not just because we want blessings. But the Lord uses His spirit to help strengthen our testimony of His principles.

I believe this principle also applies to trials. Whenever the Lord speaks, it is commandment. I don't view anything He says as a "suggestion". This includes the trials we go through. Perhaps that sounds harsh in a way, but I believe that He desires what is best for us to be happy through eternity, and sometimes that means giving us {or commanding us to go through} trials. When we strive to continue faithful through our trials, He blesses us and gives us the "nourishment" we need to continue faithful in His commands. So this verse applies a circular reasoning to thinking about commandments and the Lord's will for us.

Any thoughts?

Worth of Souls

We had our Home Teachers here on Sunday and received a wonderful lesson from the Ensign. It is titled "Sugar Beets and the Worth of a Soul" and I felt very spiritually fed from it. In this lesson, President Monson shares a story from Bishop Marvin O. Ashton about sugar beets and likens the story to the worth of souls {I won't tell the story so you can go read it yourself and see it told in better words}. Our home teacher asked us about things that we do in the church to be sure that no one gets lost; things we do to help everyone realize their worth as a child of God. Dan mentioned home teaching {of course!} and our home teacher agreed and elaborated by saying that home and visiting teaching are some of the most important callings we have in the church, and yet they are the ones that are followed and magnified the least. Then he said something I've never thought of. He told us that home and visiting teaching is the Lord's way of reaching out and teaching the worth of souls; he taught us that we have home and visiting teaching because the worth of souls is great and because God wants us to reach out to one another.
This made me think about Moroni 6:4 where we learn the of the command to reach out to members of the church - that each member's name is recorded that they may be 1) remembered, and 2) nourished by the good word of God. Both of these injunctions are kept through home and visiting teaching. I was highly enlightened tonight with the added thoughts that we have these injunctions because we are loved by our Heavenly Father, because He feels that we all deserve to be remembered and nourished.
Then later Dan and I were talking about it and I had another thought. Many of us in the church pray to have missionary experiences but I think I am missing the mark. I pray for missionary opportunities and then I miss them - I have the greatest of all missionary tools offered right within the church through visiting teaching. I have this wonderful opportunity to teach the sisters in my stewardship, to be a missionary. I'd never thought of visiting teaching as an opportunity to become a missionary before. I thought of this because of the scripture is D&C that talks about the worth of souls and laboring to bring souls to Christ. What better way is there to bring souls to Christ than through home and visiting teaching??
After this discussion tonight and thinking about it, I'm going to resolve to be a better visiting teacher; to remember the sisters I teach {all throughout the month and not just when we go for the regular visit} and be sure I nourish them through the good word; to be a missionary. I'm resolving to be better.

Monday Message

Marriage and Divorce, by Elder Dallin H. Oaks



I think that the words of advise Elder Oaks gives to couples struggling in their marriages also apply very well to any married couple. Very succint and touching.

Purity

"The Savior was critical of some of the early Saints for their 'lustful . . . desires' (D&C 101:6; see also D&C 88:121). These were people who lived in a non-television, non-film, non-Internet, non-iPod world. In a world now awash in sexualized images and music, are we free from lustful desires and their attendant evils?"

D. Todd Christofferson

"Come to Zion, Ensign," Nov. 2008, 38–39

Scripture Thought

I feel as though this blog falls by the way side a little for me. I have three blogs, and usually my personal and cooking blogs get more updates than this one does. But I've been trying to write in a "scripture journal" with some thoughts from my studies in the scriptures and I've decided that I'm going to try and share some of those thoughts here. I can't guarantee that these thoughts will be daily, but I am going to try to have them more frequently so it will be a "spiritual journal" for me and not just a record of events and quotes that have helped me in some way.

Scripture Thought
1 Nephi 17:13 -

"And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led. "

Though this scripture is specifically talking to Lehi's family and their situation as they strive to get to the promised land, I think it can apply to our personal lives as well. God lightens our journey through life, this "mortal wilderness", with the scriptures, personal revelation, prophets, temples, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. He provides the way for us to get through life and trials by means of the Atonement, so that we can return to the "promised land," the Celestial Kingdom, on the provision that we keep His commandments. Because we know it is through the Atonement that we are able to return to live with God again, we know it is by our Savior - only through Him - we are led to that ultimate goal.

Any other thoughts?

Trust in the Lord

“‘God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.' The Lord Jesus Christ is our partner, helper, and advocate. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to be successful. If we do our part, He will step in."
Joseph B. Wirthlin

"Come What May, and Love It, Ensign," Nov. 2008, 28