tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1860855378767962422024-03-17T18:06:24.423-07:00A Daily DropMatthew 25:4
"Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need."
-Richard G. ScottMeghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.comBlogger263125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-46356578800290562062024-02-11T16:00:00.000-08:002024-02-11T16:00:26.201-08:00Preparing the Sacrament<p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I helped Ethan prepare this talk for Sacrament meeting today, and he did a wonderful job giving it and got many, many compliments both on his delivery and on the content. I hope I can remember these things that we learned together every week when I see those boys preparing the sacrament.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b>Ethan's</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><b> Talk:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hello Brothers and Sisters, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ethan Kenworthy. The topic I was given today was: “How our service in preparing the sacrament helps all of us cherish the gift of repentance and forgiveness by turning to Christ through this sacred ordinance”</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8f7884e4-7fff-e5d8-9045-2ffc344a5c3a"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">A lot of times, preparing the sacrament is just something that is part of my Sunday routine. It’s my duty, and so I do it, and it doesn’t always feel like a big act of service. But receiving this topic gave me a good opportunity to really reflect on what it means for our ward when the teachers prepare the sacrament.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Doctrine and Covenants 59:9-10 says, “For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and pay thy devotions unto the most high.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In his talk titled “Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament,” Elder Oaks said:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“This is a commandment with a promise. By participating weekly and appropriately in the ordinance of the sacrament we qualify for the promise that we will ‘always have his spirit to be with us.’ That Spirit is the foundation of our testimony. It testifies of the father and the son, brings all things unto our remembrance, and leads us into truth. This gift of the Holy Ghost, President Wilford Woodruff taught, ‘is the greatest gift that can be bestowed upon man.’”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">President Oaks continues:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The ordinance of the sacrament makes the sacrament meeting the most sacred and important meeting in the Church. It is the only Sabbath meeting the entire family can attend together. Its content in addition to the sacrament should always be planned and presented to focus our attention on the Atonement and the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">That quote made me ask myself how preparing the sacrament each week could point all of us to the Savior. To start, the symbols of the sacrament and how we prepare them are all designed to remind us of Christ’s Atonement. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The very first thing we do when we arrive is to wash our hands. We do this in order to be clean before we handle the sacrament. In a similar way, every one of us is supposed to come to the sacrament with “clean hands and a pure heart.” (Psalm 24:3-4) We are able to become clean from our sins when we repent, and then we can renew our baptismal covenant by taking the sacrament.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The next thing we do is to prepare the bread and water. We know that the bread symbolizes the body of Jesus Christ, which He sacrificed for us. The water symbolizes Jesus’ blood, which He shed for us in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. In a 2017 General Conference talk, Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “The bread and water represent the flesh and blood of HIm who is the Bread of Life and the LIving Water, poignantly reminding us of the price He paid to redeem us. As the bread is broken, we remember the Savior’s torn flesh. As we drink the water, we think of the blood He shed in Gethsemane and on the cross and its sanctifying power.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">During the sacrament, we pass the sacrament tray to each other down the rows. We serve each other when we pass the trays down the rows, and we all need each other as we partake of the sacrament. Jesus Christ set the example for us by serving everyone he could, like how we serve each other in this way. In the scriptures, we are told to obtain a remission of our sins we need to love, serve, and forgive each other.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">We cover the trays with a cloth, which represents Jesus’ body, just as He was covered with a cloth in the tomb. It reminds us of how Jesus died for all of us so we could be forgiven of our sins. He was then resurrected and the cloth was removed, just like we take off the cloth during the sacrament. This reminds us of Jesus’ resurrection, and that we can also be born again and have new life through His atonement.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In short, every part of the sacrament is about Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God. He came here to pay for our sins. In order to do that He had to live a perfect life. In Elder Christofferon’s talk, he said: “As we partake of the sacramental bread and water each week, we would do well to consider how fully and completely we must incorporate His character and the pattern of His sinless life into our life and being. Jesus could not have atoned for the sins of others unless He Himself was sinless.” Taking the sacrament each week can give us power to overcome our sins and become more like Jesus Christ.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">In Luke 22: 14-20, it says:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: … And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">This shows how Jesus Himself was the first one to institute the sacrament and told his disciples: “This do in remembrance of me.” So since the beginning of the sacrament the purpose was to help us remember and cherish Jesus Christ’s Atonement. When we prepare and partake of the sacrament every week, we are following his example. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I’m thankful for the ability that we have to repent and renew our covenants every week with the sacrament. I know that the sacrament can help us feel closer to Jesus.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.</span></p><br /></span>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-85957834302992588252023-11-16T06:58:00.000-08:002023-11-16T07:00:21.150-08:00Hope, Politics, and the Last Days<p> I read this article last night, "Can Religion be a Healing Force in Society?" by Peter Wehner, Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in DC, and it is just so, so good.</p><p><a href="https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=3&article=1069&context=clarkmemorandum&type=additional">https://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=3&article=1069&context=clarkmemorandum&type=additional</a></p><p>It coincided with a lot of thoughts I have had in the last couple of years regarding hope, the Gospel, and how we interact with the world in politics and everyday life in these last days. In our current ward especially, there seems to be a lot of emphasis on how bad the world around us is, how everything is getting worse, and how we need to prepare for terrible things ahead. And I realize that wickedness is increasing in many ways and that many have lost a clear sense of morality, but I also feel that this focus centers us on half the picture. Why is wickedness increasing in the world? Because light is increasing! There is more light in the world now than there ever was previously! We have an ongoing Restoration where we are growing in light and knowledge and truth and will keep doing so until we come to the measure of the fulness of Christ and His coming. So much wickedness and evil and suffering has been defeated worldwide. In the US, prosperity has grown and so has agency as the horrible injustices and inequalities of the past have been confronted and steps taken to rectify them. </p><p>I think that part of this focus problem is that we neglect the essential role of hope in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hope means that we look forward to a better world, not hunker down and wait for a worse one. And when we hope for that world, we take action and work for it. I love that Wehner said:</p><p>"Followers of Jesus need to light candles instead of simply curse the darkness..." </p><p>I have read that line a dozen times and it still bears repeating. I should embroider it and put it on my wall. I want to be a candle-lighter!</p><p>He then goes on to describe how we can use our faith to strengthen and heal society instead of condemning it or fighting over it. I won't restate the whole address but I highly recommend it.</p>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-47736513758648666642023-04-23T20:39:00.004-07:002023-11-16T06:38:31.129-08:00Talk: Buscando el Perdon del Senor<p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I gave this talk in the Spanish group, and so wrote it in Spanish. With the wonders of Google Translate, I won't worry about creating an English version and will just leave this here with my other talks.</span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Hoy se me ha pedido hablar en cuanto al tema, “Buscando el perdón del Señor.” Inmediatamente me gustó este tema porque, mientras refiere a las cosas que necesitamos hacer para buscar el perdón, se enfoca más en el Señor y cómo Él otorga el perdón. Muchas veces en la iglesia hablamos del arrepentimiento cómo un proceso que nos gana el perdón y la salvación. Repasamos los pasos del arrepentimiento como una lista de verificación: 1. Reconocer que hemos pecado y confesarlo. Cheque. 2. Pedir perdón a dios. Cheque. 3. Pedir perdón a las personas a quienes hayamos lastimado. Cheque. 4. Hacer lo posible para reparar y sanar la herida. Cheque. La escritura que se me asignó hoy, que se encuentra el Doctrina y Convenios 58:42-43, también describe cómo arrepentirse:</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-06229a20-7fff-7a73-e495-ea9602bfba21"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He aquí. quien se ha arrepentido de sus pecados es perdonado; y yo, el señor, no los recuerdo más. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Por esto podréis saber si un hombre se arrepiente de sus pecados: He aquí, los confesará y los abandonará.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Doctrina y Convenios 58:42-43</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Esta escritura da un esquema similar de lo que mencioné antes de cómo arrepentirse: Hay que confesar el pecado y abandonar el pecado. Me parece sencillo, pero al tratar de hacerlo sola por mi misma, cada vez descubro que no lo puedo hacer. Tal vez ustedes han sentido la misma frustración que siento a menudo: a pesar de mis buenas intenciones, día tras día sigo cometiendo los mismos errores y cayendo en las mismas tentaciones que he tratado de dejar. Me enojo con mis hijos sin justificación, juzgo a otros cuando no actúan de acuerdo con mis preferencias, malgasto el tiempo, etcétera, y mis esfuerzos para mejorarme sólo me parecen dar frutos microscópicos. Si tengo que abandonar todos mis pecados para cumplir con los requisitos del arrepentimiento y así ganarme el perdón, nunca lo lograré, y no hay esperanza para mi.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Para darles un ejemplo sencillo, varias veces cuando he estado en el templo he sentido la voz del espíritu decirme que necesito cuidar mejor a mi cuerpo y dormir más de lo que históricamente he hecho. Ya son años que estoy recibiendo esta dirección de dios, y no lo he seguido bien mas de unos dias. Sé lo que debo hacer, pero no lo hago. ¿Hay perdón para mi en este caso, cuando no he abandonado el pecado?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Estos pasos no son malos; realmente son buenos para guiarnos a traves del proceso del arrepentimiento. Pero lo más importante es recordar qu en realidad el perdón no es algo que podemos </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">ganar </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">a través de estos pasos o las buenas obras. El perdón es un don de Dios, que se nos da por medio de la expiación de Jesucristo. Sin este acto de amor y sacrificio, no hay cosa alguna que pudiéramos hacer para ganar el perdón, porque al momento de pecar, hubiéramos perdido la salvación por toda la eternidad. Sí es importante que ponemos el esfuerzo para arrepentirnos y mejorarnos, pero el propósito de este proceso no es perfeccionarnos </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">antes</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> de recibir el perdón, sino que es de reorientarnos hacia el Señor para poder recibir su gracia y el don del perdón que se hace posible por medio de su sacrificio expiatorio. Esta gracia también nos esfuerza para tratar otra vez y seguir adelante cuando desfallezcamos. Voy a leer parte de la escritura antedicha otra vez, pero esta vez quiero enfocarme en lo que nos enseña acerca del carácter de Dios.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">He aquí. Quien se ha arrepentido de sus pecados es perdonado; y yo, el señor, no los recuerdo más. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">¡Esto me dice que el Señor no está buscando oportunidades de condenarme! No quiere que me esconda con vergüenza cuando haya pecado. Es un padre perfecto que quiere perdonarnos libremente y olvidarse completamente de nuestros pecados. Nos ama tanto que dio a su Hijo Unigénito para hacer posible este don, y no creo que lo hizo para que unos pocos de sus hijos escogidos volvieran a Él. Creo que Él quiere que </span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">todos</span><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"> sus hijos sepan de su amor y reciban este don, y asi es algo que todos podemos lograr si tratamos de hacerlo.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">El Profeta y presidente anterior de la Iglesia, Gordon B. HInckley, dijo</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">La gran Expiación fue el acto supremo del perdón. La magnitud de esa Expiación trasciende nuestra capacidad de entender completamente. Lo único que sé es que en verdad aconteció y que fue tanto para mi provecho como para el de ustedes. El sufrimiento fue tan profundo y la agonía tan intensa que nadie puede llegar a comprender que el Salvador se hubiera ofrecido como rescate por los pecados de toda la humanidad.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Por medio de Él obtenemos el perdón. Mediante Él recibimos la promesa cierta de que a todos se nos concederán las bendiciones de la salvación y de la resurrección de los muertos. Por medio de Él y de Su extraordinario y supremo sacrificio, se nos brinda la oportunidad, si es que somos obedientes, de la exaltación y la vida eterna. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Entonces, no podemos arrepentirnos sin Jesucristo. No podemos recibir el perdón sin Jesucristo. Así que, si queremos buscar el perdón del Señor, tenemos que buscar a Jesucristo. Teniendo esto en la mente, al estudiar las escrituras en cuánto al perdón, podemos entender los consejos no como demandas que Dios nos pone para lograr el perdón; en cambio, podemos verlos como una guía que podemos seguir para buscar a Cristo y re-fijar nuestra mirada hacia Él cuando hayamos desfallecido y nos hayamos extraviado de la senda estrecha.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">El buscar a Cristo requiere que aprendamos quien es Él. Y las mejores maneras de conocer a Cristo son de comunicarse con Él a través de la oración y aprender de Él por medio de las escrituras, las cuales proveen una historia de cómo ha guiado a su pueblo trás la historia. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">En el Nuevo Testament, Jesús afirme que tiene el poder de sanarnos. Dice:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">El Hijo del Hombre tiene potestad para perdonar pecados,</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">¿Y cómo aplica Él este poder con nosotros? En el libro de Números, Lo describe asi:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Jehová, que es tardo para la ira y grande en misericordia, que perdona la iniquidad y la transgresión.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Esto me indica cuán liberal es el Señor en perdonarnos. Tal vez el ejemplo más poderoso de su capacidad de perdonar se ve cuando Jesús estaba colgado en la cruz, y aún entre el sufrimiento extremo, pidió perdón por los que le estaba torturando y matando, porque no entendían lo que hacían.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Éste es un Dios a quien me puedo acercar. Es un Dios misericordioso. Es un Dios a quien puedo pedir sin temor si mi corazón está sincera. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Teniendo en mente este conocimiento de quien es el Señor, voy a volver a los consejos que nos ha dado en las escrituras en cuanto a cómo recibir el don del perdón.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Ya dijimos que debemos hacer lo que podemos para dejar nuestros pecados al confesarlos, pedir perdón, y abandonarlos. Cada vez que pecamos, podemos pedir de nuevo, sin temer que el Señor se va a cansar de nuestras pedidas. En el Libro de Mormón, en el Libro de Mosias, el Señor dice al Rey Benjamin:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Sí, y cuántas veces mi pueblo se arrepienta, le perdonaré sus transgresiones contra mí.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Además, al trabajar en la obra del Señor, nos ayuda a mantener el perdón porque nos ayuda a mantenernos cerca a Jesucristo. Primeramente, al hacer y guardar convenios con el Señor, él nos perdona los pecados. En el libro de Hechos, 2:38, Pedro dice al pueblo:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Arrepentíos y bautícese cada uno de vosotros en el nombre de Jesucristo para perdón de los pecados, y recibiréis el don del Espíritu Santo.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Al ejercitar la fe y cumplir con las sagradas promesas que hacemos con el Señor al bautizarnos y después al hacer más convenios en el templo, podemos seguir recibiendo el perdón de nuestros pecados a pesar de nuestra debilidad.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Además, El Rey Benjamin también dijo:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Y también os perdonaréis vuestras ofensas los unos a los otros; porque en verdad os digo que el que no perdona las ofensas de su prójimo, cuando este dice que se arrepiente, tal ha traído sobre sí la condenación.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Entonces, otro requisito para recibir el perdón del Señor es perdonar a los demás cuando nos hayan ofendido. Al perdonar a otros, seguimos el ejemplo del Señor y nos acercamos a Él. Benjamin siguió su discurso en cuanto a cómo podemos buscar la remisión de nuestros pecados al buscar al Señor:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Y otra vez os digo, según dije antes, que así como habéis llegado al conocimiento de la gloria de Dios, o si habéis sabido de su bondad, y probado su amor, y habéis recibido la remisión de vuestros pecados, lo que ocasiona tan inmenso gozo en vuestras almas, así quisiera que recordaseis y retuvieseis siempre en vuestra memoria la grandeza de Dios, y vuestra propia nulidad, y su bondad y longanimidad para con vosotros, indignas criaturas, y os humillaseis aun en las profundidades de la humildad, invocando el nombre del Señor diariamente, y permaneciendo firmes en la fe de lo que está por venir, que fue anunciado por boca del ángel.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Y he aquí, os digo que si hacéis esto, siempre os regocijaréis, y seréis llenos del amor de Dios y siempre retendréis la remisión de vuestros pecados; y aumentaréis en el conocimiento de la gloria de aquel que os creó, o sea, en el conocimiento de lo que es justo y verdadero.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Y ahora bien, por causa de estas cosas que os he hablado —es decir, a fin de retener la remisión de vuestros pecados de día en día, para que andéis sin culpa ante Dios— quisiera que de vuestros bienes dieseis al pobre, cada cual según lo que tuviere, tal como alimentar al hambriento, vestir al desnudo, visitar al enfermo, y ministrar para su alivio, tanto espiritual como temporalmente, según sus necesidades.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Podemos ver que todas estas cosas no son cosas que podemos hacer de una vez y ser perdonados. Son cosas que nos trae el perdón porque nos traen a Jesucristo y nos inspiran a caminar en esta vida siguiendo el ejemplo que nos dejó: el de amar y servir y perdonar a todos los demás. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Si ustedes son perfeccionistas como la soy yo, puede ser que al escuchar todos estos requisitos y recomendaciones, sientan abrumados. A veces no siento que puedo hacer más de lo que estoy haciendo ahora. Pero como dije al principio, no tenemos que hacer todo en este mismo momento, por nosotros mismos. Si estamos haciendo un esfuerzo con buenas intenciones, tratando de buscar a Cristo, tengo confianza de que nuestros esfuerzos serán aceptados. También se nos ha dado el don del Espíritu Santo para guiarnos y enfocarnos en las cosas que Dios quiere que hagamos en cualquier momento. El profeta Nefi enseñó:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Porque he aquí, os digo otra vez, que si entráis por la senda y recibís el Espíritu Santo, él os mostrará todas las cosas que debéis hacer.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Quiero invitar a cada uno de nosotros a considerar el estado de nuestra relación con Dios, y a preguntarle lo que Él quiere que haga, sabiendo que Él te ama de todo corazón, que Él quiere perdonarte, que no te va a dar un trabajo que no puedes hacer, y que te ayudaré en cumplirlo.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Quiero terminar enfatizando mi testimonio de Jesucristo: Yo sé que tenemos a Padres Celestiales, que nos aman perfectamente y que quieren que todos sus hijos regresemos a su presencia. Por esto fue mandado Jesucristo a la tierra para llevar la carga de nuestros pecados y ganarnos la salvación. Estoy siempre agradecida por este don y el amor que tuvo para llevar a cabo este milagro que es el centro de todo el plan de salvación y de todo lo que hacemos en esta iglesia. El tratar de seguir a Cristo me ha traido a este mismo momento en mi vida, y nunca me a ha fallado. Este conocimiento me humilla y me da esperanza para seguir adelante.</span></p><div><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></div></span>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-53962141594164948682022-08-28T16:29:00.004-07:002023-10-15T20:42:11.408-07:00Talk: Perfect in Christ<p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; text-align: center; white-space: pre-wrap;">Perfection in Christ</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-55ff6e83-7fff-62ec-ea56-b570301c5009"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">August 28, 2022</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I was pondering how to start my talk today, my mind somewhat randomly came to a phrase in my patriarchal blessing, which I think will be okay to share here. I am cautioned that at times Satan will attempt to bruise my heels and lead me astray. In the scriptures we read that Satan will have power to bruise our heels here in mortality, and I wondered what that really meant. So I Iooked up what it means to have a bruised heel, and Dr. Kenworthy over there confirmed that my internet search didn’t lead me too far astray, even if my medical terminology was incorrect. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A bruised heel happens when the fat pad in your heel, which cushions the heel bone, is compressed and displaced, allowing the bone to bruise. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is caused by repetitive impact on the heel, especially from repetitive jumping or long-distance running (which happens to be my favorite sport. Not that I run that far these days, but if I’m going to do something, it’s usually running). Contributing factors are poor footwear and training errors, like increasing your training too far, too fast, or changing the surface you run on or your footwear you use without time to adapt. In short, it is an overuse injury.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I know this would have zero meaning to most people from a spiritual standpoint, but when I read that I caught my breath and had to stop for a minute, because I knew that this phrase was put there for a reason, for me. The Lord wanted to remind me right now that He knows me, and a main vulnerability to my spiritual well-being is overuse fatigue--expecting myself to be able to do more and be more right now, and being discouraged when I don’t measure up. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But how do we reconcile all of the counsel we get to do better with the plain fact that we can’t do it all? This is something that I feel that the Lord has been teaching me over and over and over again. (Apparently I am not just a perfectionist, I am a stubborn perfectionist. But really, it’s something I’ve always struggled with)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the past I have thought that if I was obedient enough I could do everything. Aren’t we promised that keeping the commandments will mean that we can run and not be weary and walk and not faint? It’s funny, given how much of my life I have spent running, how long it took me to actually learn about what all these scripture references to running mean in practice. We need to remember that the kind of stamina needed to run without becoming weary is only ever achieved by long, slow training, always with an eye to pacing. The Lord may ask me to run a marathon, but he doesn’t expect me to up and do it at World Championship pace right this second. Along that route, I need periods of slow runs, sprint and medley workouts to build speed, and lots of nourishment and rest.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I also like to pause when I hear the word, “shall.” This one came up a lot in my legal writing class way back when, because it really has multiple meanings. It can express what will happen, but it can also express a command. So commandment keeping will make it so that we will be able to run and not be weary, but if it’s a commandment as well as a promise, we need to do the practical things that keep us from getting weary: pacing ourselves, taking care of ourselves, making sure our shoes don’t get worn out and our form is proper, and sometimes taking a break or riding a bike or swimming instead of running at at all. Scriptures like Mosiah 4:27 explain how to do this: “And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.” The running really isn’t the important part here: it’s the diligence. And we enable ourselves to be consistent and diligent when we give ourselves a sustainable pace.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you haven’t had enough misinterpreted scriptural running analogies, then I’m sorry but I’m on a roll so we are going to keep going. We often talk about running a race with respect to living the Gospel, and there is a lot we can learn from this analogy that is useful. Hebrews 12 encourages us to “lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” But I think this idea also can get us off track if we don’t understand the limits of the metaphor. The main characteristic of a race is competition. But living the Gospel, whose purpose is to redeem the whole human family, should be anything but a competition.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The girls on my high school cross-country team were all Christian, and our team scripture became 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth a prize? So run, that ye may obtain. Great scripture, and it inspired me to run my hardest and try my best in more than just running. But 16-year-old me did not take time to understand the context of the rest of Paul’s message here. He continues: “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” Oh, right there he is saying that we need to moderate our efforts and keep balance! Not just run flat out without stopping. “Now they (meaning the runners in a race) do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” Right there Paul is saying that he is actually contrasting living the gospel with running a race to point out how they are different. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we run our race with temperance, we should remember that the eternal race isn’t at all about how ahead or behind we perceive ourselves to be compared to the people around us or reaching a certain righteousness index. Certainly as we follow Christ He will help us to overcome sins and temptations, but the important part really isn’t the progress metric, but the process itself. Because the moment we think that we don’t need Christ desperately, or don’t need HIm as much as other people, we are right back at the starting line. This reminds me of the Nephites who were there when Christ appeared. They heard a voice, and the first two times they didn’t understand it because they looked around at each other to try to figure out what was happening. It wasn’t until the third time that they looked steadfastly to heaven, and not to each other, that they were able to understand what the Lord had to say to them.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I wrote about competition and comparison, in my mind's eye I saw our ward as my high school track practice, where lots of different athletes of different abilities are training. Some are jogging slowly, some are doing sprints, some are walking or stretching. They all have different abilities and strengths. They are all training for different events. Some are practicing shot put or pole vault. Some, like me at some points, are in the field house icing their shins or riding a stationary bike because they, shockingly, have an overuse injury. And I felt the love of the Savior, who would look on each of those athletes that He loves and not care an ounce what mistakes they had made or what struggles they had or what place they came in at the last meet. Knowling all these things, He would only care that they were there showing up, willing to be coached and stretched, willing to try because they trust HIm and trust in the process He has laid out for each of them, and they want to do their best.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think that’s why another phrase has been coming back to me for the last several months: the Lord’s course is “one eternal round.” Like that track where we can all train and help one another, remembering as Paul did that worldly races are about winning but eternal races aren’t. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think it’s so interesting that we regularly have images of the Lord being on a straight path but also being on a round one. In Alma 7 he says:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“For I perceive that ye are in the paths of righteousness; I perceive that ye are in the path which leads to the kingdom of God; yea, I perceive that ye are making his paths straight.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I perceive that it has been made known unto you, by the testimony of his word, that he cannot walk in crooked paths; neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning from the right to the left, or from that which is right to that which is wrong; therefore, his course is one eternal round.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The path is straight because it is narrow and doesn’t vary, but it’s round because the Lord is always on the right and never going to the left (or to what is wrong). When it comes to my analogy we may need to run the track backwards so we will always be turning right, but otherwise, I think the metaphor holds. And I think it’s safe to say that if you feel like you are running in circles and your efforts aren’t taking you as far as you might like, you are still on the Lord’s path. If you make the same mistakes you’ve made before but you get up and try again, you are still on the Lord’s path. And it doesn’t matter where on that track you are as long as you are trying to listen to His voice and do what He asks. It just matters that you are there trying, and supporting the other people that are there training with you.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In my effort to run and not be weary, for the last good while I have been slowly going through the Book of Mormon again, trying to take time and to open myself up to what the Lord might teach me, not putting too much pressure on myself to finish a certain study plan or have a remarkable insight every time. I think it was no coincidence that when I received this assignment I had been working my way through Christ’s teachings to the Nephites in 3 Nephi for a week or so.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, what do you know, I open up the talk that Bishop Smith suggested I reference for this talk and immediately Elder Holland brought up those very passages! He said:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The Sermon on the Mount begins with soothing, gentle beatitudes, but in the verses that follow, we are told--among other things--not only not to kill but also not even to be angry. We are told not only not to commit adultery but also not even to have impure thoughts. To those who ask for it, we are to give our coat and then give our cloak also. We are to love our enemies, bless those who curse us, and do good to them who hate us.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He continues, “If that is your morning scripture study, and after reading just that far you are pretty certain you are not going to get good marks on your gospel report card, then the final commandment in the chain is sure to finish the job: ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father…in heaven is perfect.’ With that concluding imperative, we want to go back to bed and pull the covers over our head. Such celestial goals seem beyond our reach. Yet surely the Lord would never give us a commandment He knew we could not keep.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part of the problem that Elder Holland alludes to here comes from the fact that the connotations of the word “perfect” in modern English are different from the original meaning in the scriptures. And now we get to go back to the tried-and-true, stereotypical way to start a talk:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The dictionary defines the word perfect as: </span></p><ol style="margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 0; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">conforming absolutely to the description or definition of an ideal type:</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">excellent or complete beyond practical or theoretical improvement:</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unblemished, faultless, flawless</span></p></li></ol><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If we apply this definition to Jesus’ injunction, we are likely to despair. No matter how much I try and how much I trust and how much I repent, I don’t see a way for me to conform absolutely to the measure of Christ, to get to the point that I can’t make any theoretical improvement, or to be faultless or flawless. Just ask my boys how many times in a week I have to apologize to them because I reacted poorly to something. But despair is a tool of Satan, not God. Despair is how I’m prone to being led astray, thinking that I just can’t measure up and so it’s less painful not to try. We can similarly be led astray if we expect that righteousness should make others free from error too. If we expect righteousness to mean perfectionism, then every leader and prophet from the beginning of time down to Russell M. Nelson will be a disappointment. And if the prophets can’t be perfect, and we can’t be perfect, what’s the point? This is why Satan wants so badly for us to spend our time tearing ourselves and others down, using a measuring stick that isn’t scaled for grace and mercy and the pure love of Christ. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thankfully, this is not what Christ asks of us. President Nelson has taught that the word used in Matthew 5 is the Greek teleios, meaning complete. Its prefix, tele-, as in telephone or telegram, indicates something far off. Its verb form means to complete or to reach a distant end or goal. (CR Oct 1995, “Perfection Pending”)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This definition of perfection is so much more hopeful to me. It’s something I can work toward, little by little, with help; not something I have to demonstrate now to be worthy. It causes me to look up at the goal instead of down on myself. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I think that is a huge key to becoming perfect in Christ. It’s looking to Him instead of looking to our own strength and wisdom and understanding. It’s trusting that even though the gap between our expectations and our performance seems wide, He can use us for His purposes and, line upon line, make us like He is.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back to Elder Holland’s talk, which is from October 2017 for anyone who would like to read it:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“‘Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him,...,’ Moroni pleads. “Love God with all your might, mind and strength, then … </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">’ Our only hope for true perfection is in receiving it as a gift from heaven--we can’t ‘earn’ it. Thus, the grace of Christ offers us not only salvation from sorrow and sin and death but also salvation from our own persistent self-criticism.” </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I love to think about what it means to receive the gift of perfection from Christ like Elder Holland says rather than trying to earn it myself. When I think about the magnitude of that gift, I’m inspired to obey Him out of love and to give what I can to His other children. I don’t excuse my sins and mistakes, but I can forgive myself for them and resolve to keep on trying. That’s the difference between guilt vs. shame, between grace vs. perfectionism, and really between what Christ tells us about ourselves vs. what the adversary wants us to believe. We are supposed to have weakness so that Christ can mold us into the people He needs us to be.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So going back to those “soothing, gentle beatitudes” that Christ gives before asking us to live a higher, more demanding law, I see now why it was so important that they be given first. If we come up against the demands of the law and feel broken or weak, if we sin and we mourn and we feel like the poorest in spirit, then the law is having its proper effect on us: it has shown us our need for Christ. Remember the people who He blesses are poor, broken, meek, hungry, thirsty, and persecuted. These aren’t things we are trying to avoid, as we do in a worldly sense. These are things we are seeking after, because it’s not so much the achievements as the continual turning to HIm that He is looking for. It’s the broken heart that He wants, because it’s a broken heart that can let Him in to stretch and grow and change. “And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit.” (3 Nephi 9:20) Then if we turn to Him we will be blessed as He described!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Elder Holland put it this way: “Brothers and sisters, every one of us aspires to a more Christlike life than we often succeed in living. If we admit that honestly and are trying to improve, we are not hypocrites; we are human. May we refuse to let our own mortal follies, and the inevitable shortcomings of even the best men and women around us, make us cynical about the truths of the gospel, the truthfulness of the Church, our hope for our future, or the possibility of godliness. If we persevere, then somewhere in eternity our refinement will be finished and complete--which is the New Testament meaning of perfection.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With that in mind, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">my</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> personal invitation for all of us is that we press forward toward perfection in the sense that we press forward toward Christ. We keep looking to Him, trying to do what He asks us with the understanding that He’ll provide the strength and the light and He can make our small and imperfect offerings able to accomplish His great work.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We can “be not weary in well-doing, for [we] are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind.” (D&C 64:33–34) Not perfection; desire and willingness. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“[We] are not able to abide the presence of God now, neither the ministering of angels; wherefore, continue in patience until [we] are perfected.” (D&C 67:13)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We follow the counsel to “not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided…; but be diligent unto the end.” (D&C 10:3)</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve taught:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“As we seek new and holier ways to love God and help us and others prepare to meet Him, we remember that perfection is in Christ, not in ourselves or in the perfectionism of the world.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“God’s invitations are full of love and possibility because Jesus Christ is “the way, the truth, and the life.” To those who feel burdened, He invites, “Come unto me,” and to those who come to Him, He promises, “I will give you rest.” “Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, … love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ.”</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I leave that invitation and my testimony that Jesus is the Christ, who took all of our sins and weaknesses and infirmities upon Himself so that He can make us whole, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.</span></p><br /></span>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-10738946495211772802022-02-13T13:55:00.003-08:002022-02-13T13:55:32.237-08:00Dispelling Clouds of Darkness<p> I have been sitting with this scripture during my last couple of study sessions. </p><p><i>Now, this is what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness--yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God--</i></p><p><i>Alma 19:6</i></p><p>On my first reading, my thought was, "I want the light of Everlasting Life to be lit up in my soul." Do you know that feeling when you learn something and some truth sinks into your heart and you just feel lit up inside? You want to tell everyone! Those moments are more few and far-between than I would like, and I want to keep my soul lit up so that I can share light with others and be filled with charity toward the people I interact with. When my soul is filled with stress or overwhelm then stress and overwhelm spill out when I am pressed. But when I open up my soul to be filled with light, then light is what spills out.</p><p>On today's reading, I thought about the process of joy dispersing the clouds of darkness. The king Lamoni story presents the straightforward process of repentance bringing joy that dispels the darkness caused by sin. And when we see people who have a hard time feeling the Spirit, we recommend the things that dispel sin, like studying or praying more, giving service or being more obedient. And certainly those things won't hurt, but what may hurt is the implication that all clouds come from sin. How much harm has this kind of assumption had on those who fall into the kinds of darkness that come not from personal sin but from depression, grief, anxiety, or trial? How do we enable joy and light to dispel those kinds of clouds? Some thoughts I have:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>When we can't feel the Spirit, praying more won't necessarily make us magically able to feel it more strongly if there are other factors darkening our minds. </li><li>What we can do is operate under the assumption that the light is pointed in our direction (i.e. that God loves us fully) and that He can reveal to us what we can do in our particular circumstances to thin the clouds blocking that light.</li><li>We can find comfort knowing that the presence of clouds does not equate to the presence of sin (more than what we all regularly sin daily).</li><li>Recognize that different kinds of clouds require different steps to dispel. Sin clouds need repentance. Depression clouds may need therapy, medication, coaching, and time. Clouds of grief may require time, therapy, and our willingness to let our feelings come to the surface so we can process them.</li><li>Know that God can handle our darkness. We don't need to be ashamed of it or feel unworthy because it is there. He can handle us being disappointed, sad, and angry, even with Him. He wants to dispel it as much as we do, and he knows exactly why and how long it needs to be there. He can teach us our way through it. </li><li>Mists of darkness may go on for hours. He will gives us scripture and prayer and revelation--the word of God--not to make us feel guilty that we aren't using them enough, but so that we have something to cling to when we can't see our way. Being able to see out of the cloud has nothing to do with whether we are on the right track. If we are clinging on and taking steps in the darkness, that is when we are exercising the very most faith.</li><li>Another way that the light can dispel darkness is when truth dispels the lies that we believe. King Lamoni believed many false things about the Nephites, about the nature of God, and about himself. We like to tell ourselves in the church that since we have so much truth we should always be happy--the happiest people in the world. But all of us are prey to believing lies that Satan teaches us through life's experiences and society's expectations. Lies like, "You aren't good enough." "You have to do more to earn your way to righteousness." "Everyone else has it together and you can't do it." "Your body is too much or not enough." "You don't have anything to offer." "Your contribution doesn't matter." What a cloud over our minds blocking our joy! We can get help to dispel these lies and let other truths sink it. That our worth is not tied to our productivity. That our bodies are wonderful tools that allow us to feel and experience so many things regardless of our health or size or image. That our bodies and souls are worthy of love simply because we are children of God, created in the image of Heavenly Parents. That the intent of our heart is what makes our actions matter, not our results or our productivity. That trying is all that is required.</li></ul><div>There is so much more to say on the subject, and lots of people know it better than I do, but I want to work on dispelling the darkness for myself, one cloud at a time, so I have more light to share.</div><p></p><p><br /></p>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-13217423886700618182022-02-08T21:02:00.000-08:002022-02-08T21:02:09.184-08:00Ammon and Great Missionary Work<p> I have had plenty of lessons extolling Ammon as a missionary. And he was a great missionary. Most of those focused on how he was willing to serve, how he was brave, and how God protected him and gave him power. All important things, but today my studies reminded me how normal Ammon was. And sometimes I need that because I don't see myself in heroes, but I do see myself in people who are trying, and don't really know what they are doing, but make an awkward attempt anyway. </p><p>Let's recap Ammon's encounter with King Lamoni and see where I can relate.</p><p>Ammon arrives and is immediately arrested and brought before the king to see how he should be disposed of. The king asks if he desires to live among his people and Ammon says yes and reveals that he really doesn't know the long-term plan and may stay there forever for all he knows. </p><p><i>Moving forward even though I don't have my future figured out? Been there, done that, doing that.</i></p><p>The king is happy with this answer and offers Ammon his daughter for a wife. Ammon declines and asks to be a servant. </p><p><i>Attempt to tactfully dodge romantic advances that don't lead where I want to go? Did that a couple of times. </i></p><p><i>Avoid awkwardness by being excessively helpful? Yes and yes.</i></p><p>Next Ammon goes out to work with the king's servants. Bad guys come and scatter the flocks, the servants melt down because they don't want to get killed, and Ammon sees an opportunity to show his power and win them over. </p><p><i>Again with the excessive helpfulness. Right up my alley.</i></p><p>He helps them gather the sheep back together, but the bad guys are relentless and come back for more. Epic battle ensues in which Ammon kills six with his sling, then disarms his other attackers more literally than I like to imagine. </p><p><i>This is the part that is usually emphasized in this story, and with which I relate 0%. I would not be cutting off any arms unless the Spirit straight up took over my brain and my body. I am not wired for blood and guts and certainly not for cutting off anyone's arms.</i></p><p>They head back to the king's complex and the rest of the guys bring back the loose arms. They take them to show the king while Ammon goes on to the next task they were supposed to do.</p><p><i>Avoiding attention? Not wanting to brag when I accomplished something that clearly wasn't my own strength? Being traumatized for harming people when I was trying to do what's right? Not wanting to show my face until my jobs are done? Yuppers.</i></p><p>Ammon finishes getting the king's horses ready and then goes back to report. When he walks in he can see that the king is looking troubled. Perhaps Ammon recalls how easily the king could call for his execution; he did just kill six of the king's subjects and severely maim several more. He was about to turn tail and back right out of that room when one of the servant addresses him with a title of high honor and asks him to stay.</p><p><i>Wanting to cut and run when I think someone may be mad at me? Most definitely yes.</i></p><p>Ammon gets bold and asks the king what he can do for him. And then he waits FOR AN HOUR. He stands there awkwardly for an hour.</p><p><i>This may be the thing I can relate to most of all. The pressure is on, I feel like I need to say something or explain myself or connect, and nothing. No words, brain racing and frozen at the same time.</i></p><p>After an hour Ammon asks again with no response, and THEN he is filled with the Spirit, at which time he asks the very obvious question of whether the king is troubled because he had just singlehandedly and superhumanly defended the king's flocks and servants. He is like, "What's so impressive about that? I'm just a man." And in this kind of obvious answer the Spirit speaks through him to King Lamoni, helps the latter articulate the real questions he has, and stops his brain paralysis.</p><p><i>Fumbling through just opening my mouth to say what the Lord might want me to say, feeling like maybe that didn't make any sense at all because I am really nothing, but somehow the Spirit speaks through that mess anyway? Exactly how I feel whenever I teach.</i></p><p>Ammon tells the king that he wants to serve him, and "whatsoever thou desirest which is right, that will I do."</p><p><i>Bonding through service? My go-to. The only way I know how to make friends and relate to people. I just want to do things for them and make them feel comfortable with me.</i></p><p>Ammon proceeds to answer the king's questions on the condition that the king will believe what Ammon says.</p><p><i>Not wanting to put myself out there if the person will reject the sacred thing I have to share? Yes yes yes.</i></p><p>I could go on but this covers the bulk of it. Of course I don't really know all of Ammon's personality, and I don't mean at all to downplay what a brave and bold missionary he was, but it is such a comfort to me to imagine these very human people feeling their way along in the work of the Lord and trusting that He will come through even when they don't know how that will all work out. That is something I feel like I can do for the cause, even if I'll never raise a sword in defense of the cause. So maybe I can liken Ammon's story to me after all.</p><p><br /></p>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-7202873140580509052021-12-26T08:48:00.002-08:002023-10-15T20:43:22.158-07:00Christmas Talk 2021: <p> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">December 26, 2021 Talk</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-778faea6-7fff-7c3c-542d-4707016034e9"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">First-century Nazareth and Bethlehem were not bustling, prosperous towns. Most of their inhabitants, numbering just a few hundred each, labored for their daily subsistence and little more. They were shepherds, farmers, fishermen, carpenters. No one expected anything particularly good to come of those places or people. (John 1:45-46), but these are the people and places who raised the Son of God.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His toddlerhood was spent as a refugee in a foreign land. His youth was spent laboring beside his stepfather and his earthly family, growing from grace to grace. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">His ministry began far from the seats of power and his chosen aides did not come from the exalted or admired, but were chosen from the margins. He was unafraid to mingle with the rejected, the sin-stained, the unclean, and He saw in them a capacity for love and gratitude and service that exceeded the depth of those who felt they had little need for forgiveness. (Luke 7:40-50) He saw past each individual’s outward circumstance to know the thoughts and desires of their hearts, their strengths and weaknesses. Being seen and known this way, some went away sorrowing from their interactions. Others ran to Him, trusting Him to forgive much, to love mercy, and to help their unbelief.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As I savor the last echoes of this Christmas season and look into another year as one under covenant to follow the path Christ walked, I am inclined to keep trying to shift my focus away from the externalities of life and even of discipleship. Because we are not called to look or talk a certain way, to have certain things or uphold a certain image. I am, however, under covenant to mourn with those who mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort. To be with people in our imperfect world, seeing the best of their potential and trusting that God will use the best of theirs and mine for His purposes even when we all get it wrong so regularly. As Hayley so beautifully sang,</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Truly He taught us to love one another; His law is Love and His gospel is Peace; </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother, and in his name all oppression shall cease,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sweet hymns of joy in grateful Chorus raise we; let all within us praise His Holy name.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am thankful for a Savior who carried our sorrows and bore our griefs and burdens, and who then allows us to know Him by inviting us to do that work with Him. We can pick up a tiny part of our neighbor’s load, minister to their needs, listen to understand their life experiences and perspectives so we can see and build on every good intention of their hearts. We can do this in our homes with our children and family members, in our ward family, and in our communities. I know that doing so can expand our hearts and allow us to feel His love for others and for us as well. Life eternal is knowing our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ whom he sent, and there seems to me to be no better way to get to know them than to do their work and love as Christ did.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2019/01/mary-the-mother-of-jesus?lang=eng</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-32058205870706697462021-01-28T20:51:00.000-08:002021-01-28T20:51:00.023-08:00Men Are That They Might Have Misery<p> I know this sounds depressing, but lately I have felt and received a growing witness from my study of the scriptures that we signed up for earth life so that we could be miserable. Hear me out.</p><p>So often in the church we focus on the promise of happiness and joy for living the gospel. We read repeatedly that if we obey the commandments we will prosper in the land, and we think that means that we will have happiness and success and feel joy all the time, and then when something goes wrong or even if nothing goes wrong but we don’t feel happy, we must be off track or not doing or being enough. We came here to have joy, right?</p><p>Of course it’s true that our purpose is to have joy. It spells it right out in that scripture we all memorize because it’s easy (two lines!) and comforting. “Men are that they might have joy.” But joy does not mean feeling happy all the time, and it definitely does not mean worldly prosperity. This is not a prosperity gospel, and our works won’t earn us salvation in this life or the next. The plan of happiness is not titled this way because it makes us feel happy all the time, but rather because we lacked capacity to know true happiness or joy before we came to earth! We had to pass through darkness and unhappiness to obtain it. We could not know a fullness of joy because we didn’t know real suffering. We didn’t know physical pain. We didn’t know separation from God. We had no depth. Just a couple of verses before everyone’s favorite seminary scripture, Lehi explains this to us:</p><p>“And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.</p><p>“And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, <i>having no joy, for they knew no misery</i>; doing no good, for they knew no sin.</p><p>“But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.</p><p>“Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.”</p><p>(2 Nephi 2:22-25)</p><p>We came to earth to experience opposition. We came to be miserable. We came for sadness and depression and loneliness and death. </p><p>And we came because we had Heavenly Parents who assured us that this was the only way to be able to obtain the joy and the glory that They have, and we trusted them, and trusted in our brother Jesus Christ to redeem us from all that, so that those depths sounded by trial and struggle and pain could be turned to joy.</p><p>Satan wanted to avoid this path; he wanted the glory without the guts, the fullness without the fight. And ironically it won him only the misery without the promise of joy. So he seeks to make us “miserable like unto himself.” But he has no power over us unless we give it to him, because misery is exactly what we came here for! And as long as we turn to the Savior, all of that can be turned to joy. But we have to pass through it first. That’s what we signed up for, and we are prepared for the task.</p><p>What do we do with the knowledge that joy requires misery?</p><p>First, I think we share our misery. We learn that the joy of eternal life is meant to be shared, with all of us linked and sealed together as the family of our Heavenly Parents. Don’t you think, then, that we are also supposed to share our misery? THIS IS THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST. To bear one another’s burdens. To lift each other. To bring everyone to Christ so that the transformation from misery to joy can take place. As a wise friend of mine likes to say, to walk each other home.</p><p>I think we also need to let ourselves off the hook for trying to feel happy all the time and to make the people around us happy all the time. We remove the shame from depression and anxiety and mental illness and overwhelm. We leave people-pleasing for authenticity. We stop hiding darkness and doubt, trouble and trauma, sadness and sin, and stop making the people around us hide them. We talk about our pain and the parts of our life where things are going “wrong.” We allow ourselves to feel discomfort instead of avoiding it. Not to seek it out or to wallow in it, but to allow it and embrace it when it comes our way, knowing that it has a work to do in us that, according to the promise, will turn to joy. Because those are exactly the experiences that will bring us to Jesus Christ. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-31957629339648304792020-12-28T21:04:00.001-08:002023-10-15T20:44:50.079-07:00The Broken Hearted<p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Sunday, September 20, 2020</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">It is good to be back with you. I thought we would stay home a bit longer, but after a lot of discussion with John we ultimately decided that our 8-year-old Luke’s baptism day would be a good day to come back. We no sooner made this decision, than John mentioned that he needed speakers for today and I hadn’t spoken in Sacrament Meeting in quite some time. I feel his motives were suspect but I’ll give the talk anyway. I was actually supposed to speak the first week that church was cancelled because of COVID-19, so maybe me finally speaking now will break the curse! Who knows? Regardless, I hope that I can share something meaningful with you today.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">A while back John and I were reading the talk by Elder Renlund that became the basis for today’s topic, and this quote stuck with him so much that he texted it to himself from my phone so he wouldn’t lose it: “remember, joyfully and reverently, that the Savior loves to restore what you cannot restore; He loves to heal wounds you cannot heal; He loves to fix what has been irreparably broken; He compensates for any unfairness inflicted upon you; and He loves to permanently heal even shattered hearts.”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">As I have been studying Come, Follow Me and pondering on how the Savior mends our broken hearts, I have found myself circling around a bit of a paradox in my mind. There are some scriptures that speak of the Lord’s ability to mend or bind up broken hearts:</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Isaiah 61:1–The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">;</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">But as I searched I found that the vast majority of the scriptures on the topic speak of a broken heart as an offering to the Lord or a prerequisite for the companionship of His Spirit, as in this scripture from this week’s reading in the Book of Mormon. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-style: italic;">3 Nephi 9:20–And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">It got me wondering how these metaphors relate to one another and what that means for applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ in my life. As I thought about this, two experiences came to mind.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The first was probably the most dramatic and trying experience of my life. Shortly after my 18th birthday, and this next part will date me quite a bit, our family received a fax that changed my life forever. At the time my dad had been working for his mother and step-father’s company in Japan, and was traveling back and forth between Tokyo and our home in the Central Coast of California. This time we hadn’t heard much from him after he arrived, and assumed things were busy at the office. But a few days later my sister and I found a hand-written fax on our machine with a little picture of an ambulance drawn on top. We couldn’t read Japanese so we didn’t know what it said, but I still remember that little drawing. We called my mom who quickly got in contact with the office in Japan, and it turns out my dad had suffered a stroke a few days previous and was in the hospital. My grandmother hadn’t told us, out of some mixture of fear and guilt and distress, but one of the employees at their small family company felt we should know and sent the message. We were assured that my dad was stable, and my mom and brother got on a plane as soon as they could to go be with him.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">The next two days were full of assurances from doctors and a promising blessing given by the president of the Tokyo South Mission. Plans were made for physical therapy, for my mom and brother to stay with my Dad in Japan until he could travel home, and for my sister and I to go see him as soon as we could arrange passport renewals. But the next night my father had another stroke and passed away.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I remember how crushed I was to find out, and how completely surreal it was. I remember having to tell my sister and her throwing her pager across the room in anger and despair (again I’m telling my age here). But even more I remember that night as I knelt on my bed for what must have been an hour or two or more. I have never been good about kneeling and having long, formal prayer conversations; I am forgetful and so I tend to say a lot of little prayers throughout the day, right when I am thinking of whatever it is that I need to ask for or thank my Father for. But that night I felt I absolutely had to have it out with Heavenly Father, however long it took. I had to know if my Dad really wasn’t gone forever. I had to know if I would see him again, and if the course I was setting for the rest of my life was the right one. I had to keep reaching until I received that consolation because otherwise I didn’t know how I could face the next day and all the ensuing ones. And eventually that night I did know. My heart was bound up in peace, and I knew it would be okay, even if I knew nothing else. And little by little, from that moment, my broken heart was mended, and while the pain of losing my Dad will never be completely gone, I was able to feel whole because of that peace and those assurances. I know that the Savior can hold us and heal our hearts when mortality brings its inevitable heartbreaks, because He suffered all these and more so that He would know how to help us.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Fast forward to my other experience, which started just over 11½ years ago and will continue the next 18 years and probably the rest of my life. That experience, or combination of experiences, is motherhood. And while motherhood has been beautiful and soul-enriching experience that has brought me so much love and joy, and of course my six boys, it has also been the most heart-breaking experience I have had. Losing my dad was something external that happened, and my heart broke from sadness—the kind of heartbreak we usually talk about in the world, where we lose something and we grieve the loss. But it is possibly even more heartbreaking to me to daily come up against my own weakness and to fail my boys on a regular basis. Every time I lose my patience or my temper and wound their little hearts, mine breaks. I find myself constantly forgetting that, and least until they are 8, they are the perfect ones and I am here to teach and coach them and learn with them, not to control or force them to obey me and walk the path I would choose for them. As a result I spend many nights asking forgiveness for the same things and wondering if I will ever feel like I’m doing it right or if I’ll always be broken.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">This is where that second type of scripture I mentioned has brought me hope. Perhaps I am broken-hearted because of my failings, but that broken heart means that the Savior can enter. In fact, He requires it of us, because none of us is perfect, and that sorrow, if yielded up to God, brings us to Him. All of us are broken—every one of us on this earth—and we can choose to build a wall of shame or of pride to hide our brokenness, or we can be vulnerable and offer up our heart so that His light can penetrate. Being vulnerable is against the nature of the natural man, and takes humility and spiritual work to achieve. It requires that we constantly keep our focus on removing the beams from our own eyes, so to speak.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">In October 2015 General Conference, Sister Neill Marriot of the Young Women’s General Presidency put it this way:</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">True worship begins when our hearts are right before the Father and the Son. What is our heart condition today? Paradoxically, in order to have a healed and faithful heart, we must first allow it to break before the Lord. “Ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit,” the lord declares. The result of sacrificing our heart, or our will, to the Lord is that we receive the spiritual guidance we need. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">With a growing understanding of the Lord’s grace and mercy, we will find that our self-willed hearts begin to crack and break in gratitude. Then we reach for Him, yearning to yoke ourselves to the Only Begotten Son of God. In our broken-hearted reaching and yoking, we receive new hope and fresh guidance through the Holy Ghost.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">In short, the only way the Lord can heal my broken heart is if I offer it up to Him, trusting that He will make it whole this time and every other time, day after day, until at some point in an eternity I can’t now see my heart will be one with His. I don’t have to do the work of healing on my own, but I do need to do the work of opening my heart to Him and submitting to His will. That may mean that I follow a prompting to change a behavior or to offer an apology. It may also require me to consider a medical or psychological intervention, or to ask for and accept help. If my heart is truly broken, I’ll be willing to do whatever it takes to facilitate the healing I’m asking for. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">In October 2013 General Conference, Elder Randy D. Funk shared this:</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The Lord instructs His servants to be humble because the process of being made whole spiritually begins with a broken heart. Think of the good that comes from broken things: Soil is broken to plant wheat. Wheat is broken to make bread. Bread is broken to become the emblems of the sacrament. When one who is repentant partakes of the sacrament with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, he or she becomes whole. As we repent and become whole through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we have much more to offer the Savior as we serve Him. “Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him.”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">We can safely offer our whole souls and hearts to Him because He knows how to succor us. Like that sacrament bread, He was broken for us. We can’t imagine how broken He felt in those moments, but it was enough that He cried out for the pain to be taken away if possible, and later to question why His Father had left Him. He understands when we likewise feel alone with our heavy burdens and broken hearts, but because of His gift we don’t have to carry our burdens alone. </span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Elder Funk continues:</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">If you are burdened by sin and need to repent, please do so immediately. When the Savior healed those who were afflicted, He often invited them to rise up. The scriptures record that they did so straightway, or immediately. To be healed of your spiritual afflictions, please accept His invitation to rise up. Without delay, talk to your bishop,...and begin the process of repentance now.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The healing power of the Atonement will bring peace to your soul and enable you to feel the Holy Spirit. The Savior’s sacrifice is beyond measure, but our sins, though numerous and serious, may be counted and confessed, forsaken and forgiven. “And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I know that the Lord has forgiven me and healed even my self-inflicted wounds, and I trust that He will also cover the wounds I have inflicted on others because of my failings. I still get discouraged regularly, and still wonder if I’ll ever close the gap between what I am and what I know I should be. When I spend time focused on that gap, as I tend to do, I get depressed and exhausted. But when I shift my focus to the Savior and bare my heart to Him, He fills that gap and forgives me time after time. And if I am broken, He has asked me to be.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">If you find yourself right now broken-hearted and lacking hope, please let these words sink into your heart.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">President Benson:</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The Lord is pleased with every effort, even the tiny, daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him. Though we may see that we have far to go on the road to perfection, we must not give up hope.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;">Elder Anderson, Wounded, October 2018:</p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Never give up—however deep the wounds of your soul, whatever their source, wherever or whenever they happen, and however short or long they persist, you are not meant to perish spiritually. You are meant to survive spiritually and blossom in your faith and trust in God.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">God did not create our spirits to be independent of Him. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through the incalculable gift of His Atonement, not only saves us from death and offers us, through repentance, forgiveness for our sins, but He also stands ready to save us from the sorrows and pains of our wounded souls.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The Good Samaritan</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The Savior is our Good Samaritan, sent “to heal the brokenhearted.” He comes to us when others pass us by. With compassion, He places His healing balm on our wounds and binds them up. He carries us. He cares for us. He bids us, “Come unto me … and I shall heal [you].”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">“And [Jesus] shall … [suffer] pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; … that … he [might] take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people … [taking upon Himself our] infirmities, [being] filled with mercy.”</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;">If you find that you aren’t brokenhearted, I’d invite you to follow Sister Marriott’s counsel that I shared earlier, and reflect on the incomprehensible grace and mercy of Jesus Christ and allow that to break your heart. Ask, “what lack I yet?” and be willing to hear the response. It’s something I need to do more often, and I avoid it too often because it’s hard to face more of my own failings. But failing in mortality doesn’t make us failures. Failing in mortality, to one degree or another, is why we are here, because failing shows us where we can learn and where we can rely on the Savior. It’s what opens the opportunity for us to repent and to come to know Him in the process. <span style="font-style: italic;">The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">(Psalm 34:18)</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;">I testify that He suffered all things and died for us, and that He lives again. I don’t know everything, but I do know that He can bind up our broken hearts and give us His peace.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; height: 11pt; line-height: 1.15; margin: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></p><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;" />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-66757440341089732452020-12-28T20:57:00.002-08:002020-12-28T20:57:33.849-08:00Experimenting and Exercising<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HWC1y3hKu5s/X-q3A5gwy5I/AAAAAAABJ_Q/kA2NQ5VKXNQ5mwgK7zjveDDQdl_k6mBQACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/05BFF253-60E2-4D48-A741-D34977267FDA.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1187" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HWC1y3hKu5s/X-q3A5gwy5I/AAAAAAABJ_Q/kA2NQ5VKXNQ5mwgK7zjveDDQdl_k6mBQACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/05BFF253-60E2-4D48-A741-D34977267FDA.jpeg" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-85025510907702220052020-12-28T20:55:00.002-08:002020-12-28T20:55:10.915-08:00Afflictions, Pain, and Joy<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4nls7Izsr0/X-q2NFaySOI/AAAAAAABJ_I/yHNWqfj5lc0qsN5FgVb6ebM6G5v8O4gbgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/D8DAFAA3-E4D9-4086-94CC-AFE1DF9D2889.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1176" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p4nls7Izsr0/X-q2NFaySOI/AAAAAAABJ_I/yHNWqfj5lc0qsN5FgVb6ebM6G5v8O4gbgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/D8DAFAA3-E4D9-4086-94CC-AFE1DF9D2889.jpeg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">He adds joy.</div><br /><p></p>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-58649127311405296002020-11-26T00:00:00.003-08:002020-11-26T00:21:31.465-08:00Notes on Faith from Ether 12<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R2U2v6li8rU/X79gVHRIm5I/AAAAAAABINs/EFv8M1NutXQ3qLRE3I34F-izd9apsem4QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/A957B493-0F61-4346-B6BE-891FFA254F16.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1485" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R2U2v6li8rU/X79gVHRIm5I/AAAAAAABINs/EFv8M1NutXQ3qLRE3I34F-izd9apsem4QCLcBGAsYHQ/w464-h640/A957B493-0F61-4346-B6BE-891FFA254F16.jpeg" width="464" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Se9LbjZujzQ/X79gUkb_VSI/AAAAAAABINo/BVtEneuIIIUV5Npt6Htma3iNZaDtx3nZQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/FAAD6F80-AACC-435B-ADAE-B2D8517A9E9E.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1639" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Se9LbjZujzQ/X79gUkb_VSI/AAAAAAABINo/BVtEneuIIIUV5Npt6Htma3iNZaDtx3nZQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h320/FAAD6F80-AACC-435B-ADAE-B2D8517A9E9E.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /> <p></p>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-19328920246867494562020-04-07T08:57:00.004-07:002023-10-15T20:45:11.042-07:00The Ongoing RestorationI was scheduled to give a talk on March 15. Usually my talk preparation drags out, and I revise and revise until right up until I give it. But this time I pounded out a talk early in the week, read it through, and then couldn't think of anything else and set it aside. Of course that was the first week that our regular church gatherings were cancelled, so this talk wasn't meant to be given. But I am sure I was meant to study and write it. So I'll post it here like I usually do with the talks I write.<br />
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<b>The Ongoing
Restoration</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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When he was getting ready to plan speakers for this month,
John decided to go through the old programs and lists of who has spoken in the
last year or so to make sure he didn’t ask people who had just recently spoken.
He came downstairs after compiling his spreadsheet and asked, “You know who I
noticed hasn’t spoken in quite a while?” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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You can guess the answer, and here I am, packing in all of
my Sacrament Meeting participation before I have this baby next month and
become a hermit for a while.<i> (This is funny in retrospect; we all became hermits a lot sooner than I had anticipated.)</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Today I’m going to talk about the ongoing nature of the restoration
and what it means for us to live now, in the dispensation of the fullness of
times. I’m grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to reflect on it this month as
we are preparing for General Conference and the bicentennial of the First
Vision. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve told of a
time when he was with a group of stake officers and someone asked him how long
it had been since the Church had received a revelation. Elder Widtsoe rubbed his
chin thoughtfully and replied, <i>“Oh, probably since last Thursday.”</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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In his talk, “Are you Sleeping Through the Restoration?”
Elder Uchtdorf said, <i>“Sometimes we think of the Restoration of the gospel as
something that is complete, already behind us—Joseph Smith translated the Book
of Mormon, he received priesthood keys, the Church was organized. In reality,
the Restoration is an ongoing process; we are living in it right now. It
includes “all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal,” and the “many
great and important things” that “He will yet reveal.” Brethren, the exciting
developments of today are part of that long-foretold period of preparation that
will culminate in the glorious Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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A huge part of what makes us different as a church is our
belief that revelation is ongoing; that “[God] will yet reveal many great and
important things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” I love this doctrine, and I
love that we have a living prophet on the earth today to guide us. But there
has always been a little question or tension in my mind, which I have summed up
this way: How is it that we say that the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of
the Gospel, or that the Prophet Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the Gospel,
if there are still great and important things yet to be revealed?<o:p></o:p></div>
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When I think logically about this, two answers come to mind:</div>
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<ol>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">There must be a difference between what we call
“having a fullness” and “having everything.”</span></li>
<li><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Having a fullness doesn’t mean that we understand
and apply it fully.</span></li>
</ol>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think both of these apply to us in these last days; we are
seeking to understand the fulness we have been given and to increase to
perfection through Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Elder Bruce R. McConkie explained what it means to live in
the dispensation of the fulness of times:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>“Whenever the Lord reveals the
plan of salvation anew so that men do not have to rely solely upon prior
dispensings from heaven of the same glories and wonders, it is called a
dispensation of the gospel. This may or may not involve a restoration of keys
and powers and priesthoods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>…<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>“We live in the dispensation of
the fulness of times. That is to say, we live in the dispensation of the
fulness of dispensations. We have received all of the ‘keys, powers, and glories,’
possessed by them of old. Angelic ministrants have come from these Biblical
dispensations which had distinctive keys and powers—‘all declaring their
dispensation, their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory,
and the power of their priesthood.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>“In the dispensation of the
fulness of times,’ as Paul promised, the Lord will ‘gather together in one all
things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth.’ All of the
rivers of the past have or will flow into the ocean of the present; already all
of the keys and powers have fallen to our lot; in due course all of the
doctrines and truths will be manifest to us.” <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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My translation of all of this is this: we have all of the
Priesthood keys and powers, all of the principles and ordinances of the Gospel
necessary for our salvation and exaltation, and because of that, we have the
ability to receive every doctrine and truth as we are prepared to do so
individually and as a church.<o:p></o:p></div>
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President Spencer W. Kimball said, <i>“Of all things, that
for which we should be most grateful today is that the heavens are indeed open
and that the restored church of Jesus Christ is founded upon the rock of
revelation. Continuous revelation is indeed the very lifeblood of the gospel of
the living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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We are all a covenant part of this dispensation and of this
process of ongoing revelation and restoration. It will not b<span style="background-color: white;">e completed <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-size: initial;">“until we come to the fullness of
the body of Christ</span>,” a</span>nd it requires something of all of us. President
Kimball continued:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>“it is the sad truth that if prophets and people are
unreachable, the Lord generally does nothing for them. Having given them free
agency, their Heavenly Father calls, persuades, and directs aright his
children, but waits for their upreaching hands, their solemn prayers, their
sincere, dedicated approach to him. If they are heedless, they are left
floundering in midnight’s darkness when they could have the noonday sun.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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I think if any one of us examines our own hearts, our own
understanding, and our own commitment to the Gospel, we will find places where
we are lacking the investment of time or study or obedience that would be
required to really understand and apply the principles of the Gospel in our
lives. These things come, as Nephi put it, “line up one line, precept upon
precept, here a little and there a little.” It is the work of a lifetime and
then some to grow and be converted unto the measure of the fullness of Christ.
The more we learn and obey, the more the Lord can add to our understanding. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The same is true for us collectively as a Church. Sometimes
we expect perfection out of the church organization and leadership, and become
upset when teachings or policies change over time, but we forget that the
Church is no more than the sum of a whole lot of imperfect people striving to
become perfect through Christ and trying to follow Him. The only perfect thing
about it is the person leading it—Jesus Christ—and the authority that He has
delegated. The process of growth and revelation that this authority enables
works just as it does for each of us as individuals: we are taught line upon
line as we are ready to receive, and our understanding as a church will grow
and be perfected over time. This means that we should not only accept when the
prophet asks us to stretch or grow or even change our minds, we should expect
him to do so.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It also means that as we look back on the great unfolding of
this dispensation so far, we shouldn’t be surprised to see that there were
imperfections and blind spots among our predecessors, even among the greatest
of them, any more than we should be surprised to find them in ourselves. They,
like us, were learning line upon line, and could only be taught as much as they
were prepared to ask. In response to their questions about how the Church
should be established, many really hard things were required of them, and I am
constantly inspired by the bravery and faith with which they responded. But I
know that as great as they were, they didn’t respond perfectly. They didn’t
understand perfectly. No one from Joseph Smith until now has attained
perfection or managed to live the fullness of the Gospel without taint from the
philosophies of their time, their own weaknesses, and their own intentional or
unintentional biases. And I feel to say, thank goodness. Thank goodness that kind
of perfection isn’t expected of me and of you in this life, and thank goodness
that the Lord is able to bring about His work in spite of what poor agents we
can be on His errands. As Elder Holland famously said, <i>Except in the case of
His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to
work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So
should we. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Elder Holland also said:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Brothers and sisters, this is a divine work in process,
with the manifestations and blessings of it abounding in every direction, so
please don’t hyperventilate if from time to time issues arise that need to be
examined, understood, and resolved. They do and they will. In this Church, what
we know will always trump what we do not know. And remember, in this world,
everyone is to walk by faith.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>…<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>And when you see imperfection, remember that the
limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested,
when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there
is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all. Those finite
vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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I love the way that Clayton Christensen described the
process of modern revelation in his book <u>The Power of Everyday Missinoaries</u>:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Revelation is a lot like a detective movie. The
protagonist (the prophet) starts out with limited understanding of a
complicated problem. As he asks question after question, the truth becomes
clearer, but not without dead ends and wrong hypotheses based on limited
information along the way. </i></div>
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<i>These movies end with the message on the screen, </i>To
be continued . . . <i>(as in, “. . . we believe that He will yet reveal many
great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God,” stated in our
ninth Article of Faith). There are many of these ‘movies’ in the process of
revelation. The ‘stars’ of these other movies include Moses, Peter, Thomas,
Joseph Smith, and others—prophets whose understanding of God came from
iterating processes of questions, answers, and teaching; questions, answers,
and teaching.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Perspective matters a lot. From God’s perspective, the
doctrine of Christ is complete and unchangeable. Some current or former members
of our church pray that our prophets will change our doctrines or policies to
conform to emerging societal norms. God does not invent the rules and doctrines
on the fly to keep pace with society, however. From God’s perspective, doctrine
is unchangeable. But from </i>our<i> perspective, we must always expect that
the doctrine that we understand </i>will always evolve and improve.<i> We
should expect that the Prophet might change things, on occasion. But we must
also believe that we, as members, might be wrong too—and we might need to be
willing to change our position on a policy or belief as we learn more about the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. We simply must pray that we might ask the right
questions, questions that will lead to our knowing more of what God knows.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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I suppose what I have taken from all of this is summed up in
that last sentence. I hope that we will seek and pray to ask the right
questions. To ask the questions that will lead us to repent. To ask the
questions that will stretch us and lead us to grow. To ask the questions that
will help us to increase in understanding line upon line, precept upon precept,
and to be patient in that process. I know that Christ lives and that we are
part of His latter-day work. I know that Joseph Smith was called to be a
prophet of God, to restore the Gospel fulness and to launch this ongoing
dispensation of light and knowledge that we get to be a part of. That doesn’t
mean that we or our leaders are necessarily more perfect than anyone else, but
it does mean that we have covenanted to be on His side. As my primary class
discussed a few weeks back, we are free agents, but through covenant we have committed
to be on the Lord’s team, to act on His behalf, and to keep trying when we fall
short. As we do so I know that He is anxious to give us knowledge and blessings
according as we are prepared to receive them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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President Nelson has recently taught: <i>“These are exciting
days. The Lord is hastening His work right before our eyes. It is thrilling. It
is rigorous. More is required from each of us—more than ever before. And more
is being given. </i><i>… My dear brothers and sisters, the ‘veil o’er the earth
is continuing to burst, and one of the deep desires of my heart is for you to
receive all that the Lord is ready to reveal to you.”</i></div>
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That this desire sinks deep into my heart and yours is my
prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-55440014169821640222020-01-17T20:51:00.001-08:002020-01-17T20:53:35.240-08:00Shame, Guilt, and GospelI went through a Brene Brown kick a while back where I listened to several of her audiobooks in a row. (I tend to do that with different authors.) She has so much good insight into the destructive power of shame in our lives and the gifts of vulnerability and refusing to hide when shame tells us to.<br />
<br />
A key distinction that she and others in the psychotherapy world make is the difference between shame and guilt. Shame tells us that we are inherently flawed, and unworthy, and that we should shrink, hide, or disappear. It makes our sins and mistakes mean that we are not enough. Guilt, on the other hand, is a signal that our actions are out of alignment with who we are and our values, and that something needs to change. Guilt, essentially, leads to self-knowledge that we can use to repent. I would posit that guilt can be the <a href="http://www.ldsliving.com/-Come-Follow-Me-FHE-Understanding-Godly-Sorrow/s/90773">godly sorrow</a> mentioned in the scriptures, but shame cannot.<br />
<br />
As I was reading the account of<a href="https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/1-ne/8?lang=eng"> Lehi's vision</a> this time around, I got stuck on the phrase, "And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed." (1 Nephi 8:25) It seems crazy that just after partaking of this most joyful fruit, the people could be shamed by the bullies in the great and spacious building. "And after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed, because of those that were scoffing at them; and they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost." (v. 28) It made me wonder in what ways shame might be hindering my progress in the Gospel.<br />
<br />
One way that I know I have dropped the fruit, so to speak, is in my failure to share the Gospel with others. Last week I read the book <i>The Power of Everyday Missionaries</i> by Clay Christiansen, and it really laid out how the world convinces most of us in the Church that we can't and shouldn't share the Gospel all the time. And even knowing this, I am not sure I can open my mouth and say what I know I should. It seems so risky for some reason even though the only thing I have to lose is possibly the good opinion of others. That comes from shame--feeling like I need to hide who I am or reveal the Gospel only to those I know are interested. I plan to really pray and work on this because I realized just how much I am missing by not obeying that commandment and partaking of that fruit.<br />
<br />
I looked for other references to shame in the Book of Mormon, and noticed this pattern: shame teaches us to hide, and the Lord says that the wicked will be ashamed in the presence of God. The righteous are instructed to put shame off and refuse to hide.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Jacob 2:6, 6:9; Alma 12:15 - Wickedness will lead to feeling shame in the presence of God. The wicked will wish they could hide from Him because of their knowledge of their sins.</li>
<li>2 Nephi 7:5/Isaiah 50:6 - "I hid not my face from shame and spitting." The Lord was temped with shame just as we are, but he refused to hide. We follow Him when we stay in the light and refuse to hide, whether it be hiding what we know and avoiding the world's scorn or hiding our own sins from the Lord and from the world.</li>
<li>2 Nephi 9:18 - Saints who "despise the shame of [the world] shall inherit the Kingdom.</li>
<li>Jacob 1:8 - men should bear the shame of the world, suffering Christ's cross. In this case, I don't think bear means to internalize it or accept it; I think it means not to hide from it or to turn inward because of it. To shake it off and keep living the Gospel out loud.</li>
<li>3 Nephi 22:4 - we shouldn't be confounded, "for thou shalt not be put to shame, shalt forget the shame of thy youth."</li>
</ul>
<br />
My conclusion was this: If we apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ to our lives, we should shed shame. The world will try to shame us, but discipleship requires us to disregard that shame. It requires us to be vulnerable in both our public and private life, and willing to lay bare our true selves. That means refusing to hide who we are and refusing to hide from our sins.<br />
<br />
Satan will try to convince us when we fail that we are inherently incapable of change and of success, so we shouldn't try; we can't change so the only way forward is to shrink of God's presence, to hide our sins and weaknesses or to justify them in comparison and judgment of others around us. At its core this concept is really very typical of Lucifer, who has always attacked the agency of man. If we are inherently incapable of obedience, then we do not have the agency to choose it. This is not of God, and is a lie. Because of Christ's Atonement, we can choose to change and be made whole in Him, regardless of how many times we fail, as long as we are willing to admit our sins, turn to Him, and just keep trying.<br />
<br />
So I'll keep trying to put off shame and to put on the armor of God--to choose to lay bare my sins before Him daily and to trust that He can make me more than I am. I'll choose to live and speak the Gospel more boldly and to be the same person at home, work, and play that I am in church. And when I fall short, that will be okay too.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-84966998380765337442019-02-07T12:02:00.001-08:002019-02-07T12:02:15.281-08:00Insight on the Law of the FastStudying in Luke 4-5 and Matthew 4 this week has me thinking about fasting. And I wanted to save these insights:<br />
<br />
“For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command
thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy
poor, and to thy needy, in thy land” (<a class="scripture-ref" data-old-href="../../scriptures/ot/deut/15.html?verse=11#p11" href="https://www.lds.org/study/scriptures/ot/deut/15.11?lang=eng#p11">Deuteronomy 15:11</a>).<br />
<i>How wide is my hand opened? Is it open at all? Why am I afraid to let it be open?</i><br />
<br />
President Joseph F. Smith also counsels us to be wise in our fasting.
“There is such a thing as overdoing. A man may fast and pray till he
kills himself; and there isn’t any necessity for it; nor wisdom in it. …
The Lord can hear a simple prayer, offered in faith, in half a dozen
words, and he will recognize fasting that may not continue more than
twenty-four hours, just as readily and as effectually as He will answer a
prayer of a thousand words and fasting for a month. … The Lord will
accept that which is enough, with a good deal more pleasure and
satisfaction than that which is too much and unnecessary” (in Conference
Report, Oct. 1912, 133–34).<br />
<i>Am I looking beyond the mark, thinking the Lord is expecting more than "that which is enough"? Not just in fasting but in all areas of my Gospel efforts?</i><br />
<br />
“Be liberal in your giving, that you yourselves may grow. Don’t give
just for the benefit of the poor, but give for your own welfare. Give
enough so that you can give yourself into the kingdom of God through
consecrating of your means and your time. Pay an honest tithing and a
generous fast offering if you want the blessings of heaven. I promise
every one of you who will do it that you will increase your own
prosperity, both spiritually and temporally. The Lord will reward you
according to your deeds” (Marion G. Romney, Welfare Agricultural
Meeting, Sept. 30, 1967; see also Marion G. Romney, <a class="cross-ref" data-old-href="../../ensign/1982/07/the-blessings-of-the-fast.html" href="https://www.lds.org/study/ensign/1982/07/the-blessings-of-the-fast">“The Blessings of the Fast,”</a> July 1982).<br />
<i>Do I forget that I have consecrated all of my time and means, so that they are not my own?</i> <br />
<br />
President Gordon B. Hinckley taught: “We hope that through the payment
of liberal fast offerings there will be more than enough to provide for
the needs of the less fortunate. If every member of this church observed
the fast and contributed generously, the poor and the needy—not only
of the Church, but many others as well, would be blessed and provided
for. Every giver would be blessed in body and spirit, and the hungry
would be fed, the naked clothed according to need” (<a class="cross-ref" data-old-href="../../general-conference/1990/04/rise-to-a-larger-vision-of-the-work.html" href="https://www.lds.org/study/general-conference/1990/04/rise-to-a-larger-vision-of-the-work">“Rise to a Larger Vision of the Work,” Apr. 1990 general conference).</a><br />
<i>Do I trust in the Lord's promises?</i> Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-59218831486593583392018-12-27T20:47:00.000-08:002020-04-07T09:01:48.653-07:00How Is It Done?I finished reading the Book of Mormon today. I have learned so much about his time through and have been reminded how much Christ should be the center of my life. As I have read and looked for Christ in each page and each verse, I came to see again that there is a lack in my life, a place in my heart that is walled in by fear; a place where I have a hard time letting Christ in, where I can’t seem to apply my faith.<br />
<br />
I believe in a Christ. I know He loves me, that He loves and died for each of us, that we can all be forgiven and have hope in His Atonement. And yet I often can’t seem to feel that it applies to me. Let’s take this week’s example:<br />
<br />
I have been working a lot for the last who-knows-how-long at not yelling and losing my temper with my kids. It is my natural reaction to their defiance, and even though I know that it really doesn't help to fix any problems, I still fall into it. And I hate it. I hate how I feel, I hate how my kids look at me, I hate the thought of treating my babies that way. I am ashamed of myself, and I question my life decisions and my fitness for motherhood each time I do it.<br />
<br />
Last week I did really well. I refused to get triggered by a lot of things, I was patient with my kids, I made a huge effort to have a good attitude through Christmas stress and tantrums and gatherings and messes, and I was proud of myself. I let my kids have friends over for a whole day and I cleaned up after their messes and bought them pizza and dealt with their meltdowns. And then a child was rude and defiant and persistently in my face instead of letting me cool off like I asked him to and I absolutely lost it. Maybe the worst I have ever done. I released all of my frustration on him and was just terrible. And then I could hardly look at my children for the rest of the night. I felt worthless and absolutely hopeless. I have been given so much and I just can’t get it right, can’t be who I am supposed to be, can’t really change. I keep trying without getting any better. How can that happen? How can I ever overcome and how could that kind of behavior ever be erased? I’ve already scarred my children with it, I’ve already seen them look at me the way I swore as a child I would never make them do. How can I recover from that?<br />
<br />
All week the words of Enos in his prayer echoed in the back of my mind, “How is it done, Lord?” How can this guilt be lifted and this rift mended? How could all of this possibly be swept away when I am screwing it up so royally?<br />
<br />
He answers, “Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen.”<br />
<br />
Enos didn’t just believe in Christ; he prayed all day and into the night with such earnestness that he called down an answer. He wrestled with himself before the Lord. And when God told him he was forgiven, he knew God couldn’t lie, so he believed.<br />
<br />
Somewhere deep inside I am afraid to believe. Afraid to let go in case I am actually not enough, and my efforts aren’t enough to merit forgiveness. To be counted as His. Afraid that He really won’t make up for when I fail my children. Afraid that my failure will lead to theirs. And all that fear drives away my faith.<br />
<br />
It was timely that I am as reading Moroni at this same time, because he taught me again about faith. How it leads to hope and love and every good thing, and not to despair. How Christ is calling me to Him and not looking for reasons to say I’m not enough or to punish me for my failings. He gave His life to bind up my wounds, and so that all of our imperfect efforts can be sanctified.<br />
<br />
Tonight we had a little family counsel about the new Come, Follow Me curriculum and how we can make our home more gospel-centered. We talked about forgiveness, and about how we all mess up and even Mommy and Daddy are trying to do better so we can help each other. The same boy from the episode I described earlier declared, “You’re the best Mommy and the nicest Mommy in the world!”<br />
<br />
My very sensitive and maybe more honest boy said, “Well, maybe you’re not the nicest mommy in the whole world, but I mean you’re nice.”<br />
<br />
Thankfully I don't need to be the nicest or the best or the most perfect, because Christ did that already. But I can have hope that I can be nicer, better, and more perfect in Him.<br />
<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-5403032775673017492018-03-09T10:24:00.000-08:002018-03-09T10:24:12.205-08:00DrossLast night I was reading in Alma 32 and thinking about the downtrodden poor. Those who have been cast out of society, who are viewed as excessive. Unworthy. Trash. The scum left when purification has found the rest of us to be acceptable. And I thought about how I am doing, both in how I judge others I meet and what I am doing to lift others out of poverty.<br />
<br />
Then today I came across this timely post, and I wanted to hold on to it for future reference. Here you go:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://mormonmidrashim.blogspot.com/2018/01/on-contempt-for-poor.html">On Contempt for the Poor</a>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-90990500380011326732018-01-02T22:10:00.001-08:002018-01-02T22:12:54.710-08:00"One Thing Needful" by Patricia Holland<a href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/1987/10/one-thing-needful-becoming-women-of-greater-faith-in-christ?lang=eng">https://www.lds.org/ensign/1987/10/one-thing-needful-becoming-women-of-greater-faith-in-christ?lang=eng</a><br />
<br />
Just so, so on point.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-59964431928344781372017-12-18T07:58:00.001-08:002023-10-15T20:46:52.511-07:00Talk on Increasing Faith<div class="MsoNormal">
Brother Carey asked me last week if I would speak on how we
can increase our faith in Jesus Christ. Immediately when he mentioned the
topic, I thought of the film, “Finding Faith in Christ,” which I shared so
often on my mission that I had most of it memorized. In my head I could hear
the actor playing Jesus turn to the Pharisees and ask, “Que cabilais in
vuestros corazones?” and it made me smile.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But when I got home I decided that I would re-watch Finding
Faith in Christ, and for nostalgia’s sake I watched it in Spanish. As it
started I was struck during the very first scene by something that goes along
with how I have been feeling about my faith lately. As the movie opens, it
shows the disciples in a boat, struggling on the Sea of Galilee while the
Savior sleeps. Most of us know the story—one of the 12 wakes Jesus, asking “carest
thou not that we perish?” Jesus’ answer is this: he stands, calms the sea, and
says, “Peace, be still.” In Spanish, it is worded, “Paz, calmaos,” which is a
second-person plural command. Translated to Texan, it is something like saying,
“Peace, y’all calm down.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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In the scriptures it says that he spoke to the waves, but it
seemed to me that he was speaking to His disciples, and to me, telling us to
stop worrying and to trust in Him more—to be still and to exercise faith, just
as he exhorted the men in the boat to do after he had calmed the waters.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Most of us are here because we believe in the life, mission,
and divinity of Jesus Christ. Our baptism into His church and our attendance
here today manifest that we have faith in Him enough to act, to serve, and to
keep coming when the whole experience of Church membership is designed to
demand a lot of us. So why is it still sometimes hard to trust in Christ when
times get tough, and why do we sometimes feel disconnected from Him?<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was a really timely message for me, because it is
something that I have been reflecting and working on in the last couple of
months, and so you will have to forgive me that this talk is really personal for
me and also if I do a lot of quoting. The lawyer in me likes to appeal to
precedent wherever possible, and this talk is mostly a collection of things
that I needed right now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have been trying lately to really focus on some of my
weaknesses, particularly in parenting my boys, and it is slow going. Old habits
die hard, and over and over I have felt frustrated with my failures and my
inability to follow through on what I know is the right way to go about things
when I am in the moment. I fluctuate between determination and dejection, and
it has been hard to hold on to hope that I can really change or be better than
I have been in the past. Listening to a parenting book recently, I told John I
couldn’t help but feel like I had already messed up our kids so much that maybe
it was hopeless. And then I pile on more self-reproach because I don’t have the
will or the faith to do better.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
President Gordon B. Hinckley said, <i>If there is any one thing that you and I need, to help us find success
and fulfillment in this world, it is faith—that dynamic, powerful, marvelous
element by which, as Paul declared, the very worlds were framed. I refer not to
some ethereal concept but to a practical, pragmatic, working faith—the kind of
faith that moves us to get on our knees and plead with the Lord for guidance,
and then, having a measure of divine confidence, get to our feet and go to work
to help bring the desired results to pass. Such faith is an asset beyond
compare. Such faith is, when all is said and done, our only genuine and lasting
hope.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For me this hit the nail on the head as far as where my
faith sometimes falters. I have got the belief in Jesus Christ and His
Atonement, but because of my own self-doubt and my frustration with my weakness
and folly, I don’t always feel that divine confidence that President Hinckley describes,
and so I lack the hope that I really can bring my desired results to pass. My
own fears and insecurities prevent me from allowing my faith to be transformational;
they dim that perfect brightness of hope that the Father wants us to have.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I thought about this, I thought of the book, “Believing
Christ,” by Stephen E. Robinson, a BYU professor. I read it in college and
thought I had a copy, but as it turns out I didn’t have one. But thanks to the modern
miracle of Amazon Prime, 36 hours and $7 later I had a copy in my hands and I
found just the passage that I had in mind and that I really needed to hear again.
I think I could just read the whole book and it would be much better than my
talk. I won’t do that, but I will indulge myself and share a bit of what he
says.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Speaking of Christ’s ability to forgive and erase our sins,
he says, <i>“Unfortunately, there are many
members of the Church who simply do not believe this. Though they claim to have
testimonies of Christ and of his gospel, they reject the witness of the
scriptures and of the prophets about the good news of Christ’s atonement. Often
these people naively hold on to mutually contradictory propositions without
even realizing the nature of the contradiction. For example, they may believe
that the Church is true, that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith was a
prophet of God, while at the same time refusing to accept the possibility of
their own complete forgiveness and eventual exaltation in the kingdom of God. They
believe IN Christ, but they do not BELIEVE Christ. HE says, ‘thought your sins
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. I can make you pure and worthy
and celestial,’ and they answer back, ‘No, you can’t. The gospel only works for
other people; it won’t work for me.’</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>…<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Faith is the first
principle of the gospel, but this does not mean just believing the historical
claims of the gospel… The first Article of Faith specifies that we must have
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We often think that having faith in Christ
means believing in his identity as the Son of God and the Savior of the world.
But believing in Jesus’ identity as the Christ is only the first half of it.
The other half is believing in his ability, in his power to cleanse and to save—to
make unworthy sons and daughters worthy.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Not only must we
believe that he is who he says he is, we must also believe that he can do what
he says he can do. We must not only believe IN Christ, we must also BELIEVE
CHRIST when he says he can clean us up and make us celestial. He says that
through his atoning blood, all mankind may be saved—and ‘all mankind’ must
logically include you and me. So until we accept the real possibility of our
own exaltation in the kingdom of God, we do not yet have faith in Christ; we do
not yet believe.”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Brother Robinson goes on to describe how this concept
applies in various situations—to those who feel the Atonement can’t apply to
them because their sin is too bad, or because they don’t have what they deem to
be a big or important role in the kingdom, or because they feel like they need
to become perfect on their own before Christ can heal them and perfect them. This
is so totally me! I feel like I have been so blessed and so favored of the
Lord, and I am so keenly aware of my indebtedness to Him, that I almost feel
badly asking Him to help me AGAIN with the same old things that I just can’t
seem to fully overcome, let alone just turning them over to Him and trusting
that things will work out and He can change me. But that is exactly the promise
of the Atonement—that even though we can’t be perfect, Christ can lend up His
perfection if we unite ourselves with Him. I love this next passage:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>For example, look at
Ether 3:2 in the Book of Mormon. The speaker is the brother of Jared, one of
the greatest prophets who ever lived. His faith was so great that, as is
recorded in this chapter, he was able to pierce the veil and see God, But look
at how this good and faithful man approached God. </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>“Now behold, O Lord, and do
not be angry with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; for we know
that thou are holy…and that we are unworthy before thee.” Imagine that! He was
one of the great prophets of all time and he began his prayer with an apology
for his weakness and his unworthiness. Certainly he was under no illusions
about being perfect.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>He went on to say, “Because
of the fall our natures have become evil continually.” All this means that as a
result of the fall of Adam, human beings are subject to the natural conditions
of mortality. As long as we are in the flesh, we will have to wrestle with the
flesh, with our carnal natures, and occasionally the flesh will win. Such a
defect is always wrong, and we will be held accountable, but it is </i>going<i> to happen from time to time. We can expect
this struggle to go on as long as we live. …<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>But this I not the
most important part of what the brother of Jared has to say in Ether 3:2. The
most important part comes at the end of the verse: “Nevertheless, O Lord, thou
hast given us a commandment that we must call upon thee, that from thee we may
receive according to our desires.” </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>… Notice that he says, “according to our
desires,” and not strictly “according to our merits” or “according to our works”
or according to any other combination some of us might expect.</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>What matters is that through
the atonement of Jesus Christ we can receive, despite our unworthiness, what we
desire, what we long for—but only if it </i>is<i> what we really long for. So what do you want? What do you </i>really<i> want? In Matthew 5:6 the lord says: “Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be
filled.” We regularly misinterpret this scripture to mean something like “Blessed
are the righteous.” But that is not what it means at all. When are we hungry?
When do we thirst? </i>After<i> Thanksgiving
dinner with all the trimmings? No, we are hungry when we haven’t eaten; we are
thirsty when we haven’t drunk, when we don’t have the object of our desire. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>This beatitude refers
to people like you and me who want to do what is right, who long for, who
hunger and thirst after righteousness—the pure righteousness of God, the
perfect righteousness and absolute innocence of the Celestial Kingdom. Blessed
are they who desire with all their hearts to be righteous as Christ is
righteous, to be perfect as he is perfect, who long for it and seek it, and who
would give anything for it, though they do not have it. What is their reward?
They shall, through the Atonement of Christ, receive it according to their
fondest desires! IN the words of the beatitude, they shall be filled.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I can trust in the Savior that even when my mortal weakness
has me falling into the same sins and mistakes, He can fill me up and make up
for what I lack. But my fear is always that I am not doing my part to qualify
for that divine grace, and that others, like my kids or the people I am called
to serve, will suffer from my failings, because I just can’t measure up. In an
April 2009 talk, Elder Kevin W. Pearson reminded us that as we strive to obey,
faith comes as a gift from God, while giving into fear undermines that gift. He
says:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Faith and fear cannot
coexist. One gives way to the other. The simple fact is we all need to
constantly build faith and overcome sources of destructive disbelief…<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>We do have a choice. We
get what we focus on consistently. Because there is an opposition in all
things, there are forces that erode our faith. Some of these are the result of
Satan’s direct influence. But for others, we have no one but ourselves to
blame. These stem from personal tendencies, attitudes and habits we can learn
to change. I will refer to these influences as the ‘Six Destructive Ds.’ As I
do, consider their influence on you or your children:<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>First is doubt. Doubt
is not a principle of the gospel. It does not come from the Light of Christ or
the influence of the Holy Ghost. Doubt is a negative emotion related to fear.
It comes from a lack of confidence in one’s self or abilities. It is
inconsistent with our divine identity as children of God. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Doubt leads to discouragement.
Discouragement comes from missed expectations. Chronic discouragement leads to
lower expectations, decreased effort, weakened desire, and greater difficulty
feeling and following the Spirit. Discouragement and despair are the very
antithesis of faith.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Discouragement leads
to distraction, a lack of focus. Distraction eliminates the very focus the eye
of faith requires. Discouragement and distraction are two of Satan’s most
effective tools, but they are also bad habits.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Distraction leads to a
lack of diligence, a reduced commitment to remain true and faithful and to
carry on through despite hardship and disappointment. Disappointment is an
inevitable part of life, but it need not lead to doubt, discouragement,
distraction, or a lack of diligence.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>If not reversed, this
path ultimately leads to disobedience, which undermines the very basis of
faith. So often the result is disbelief, the conscious or unconscious refusal
to believe. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is so on point for me! How much more faith would I
have, and how much more would I be able to accomplish if I could shift my focus
away from fear and discouragement and toward obedience to Heavenly Father and
hope through Jesus Christ? I don’t have to place reservations on my faith because
of my imperfections. I don’t have to distance myself because I don’t measure
up. And, if I need a pep talk, I can always turn to Elder Holland! I love this from
last year’s general conference:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jeffrey R. Holland https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/tomorrow-the-lord-will-do-wonders-among-you?lang=eng<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>First of all, if in
the days ahead you … find elements in your own life that don’t yet measure up
to the messages you have heard this weekend, please don’t be cast down in
spirit and don’t give up. The gospel, the Church, and these wonderful
semiannual gatherings are intended to give hope and inspiration. They are not
intended to discourage you. Only the adversary, the enemy of us all, would try
to convince us that the ideals outlined in general conference are depressing
and unrealistic, that people don’t really improve, that no one really
progresses. And why does Lucifer give that speech? Because he knows he can’t improve, he can’t progress, that
worlds without end he will
never have a bright tomorrow. He is a miserable man bound by eternal
limitations, and he wants you to be miserable too. Well, don’t fall for that.
With the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the strength of heaven to
help us, we can improve,
and the great thing about the gospel is we get credit for trying, even if we don’t always
succeed.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>..<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Please remember
tomorrow, and all the days after that, that the Lord blesses those who want to improve, who accept the
need for commandments and try to
keep them, who cherish Christlike virtues and strive to the best of their ability to acquire them. If you
stumble in that pursuit, so does everyone; the Savior is there to help you keep
going. If you fall, summon His strength. Call out like Alma, “O Jesus, … have
mercy on me.”<a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/tomorrow-the-lord-will-do-wonders-among-you?lang=eng#note7"><sup>7</sup></a> He
will help you get back up. He will help you repent, repair, fix whatever you
have to fix, and keep going. Soon enough you will have the success you seek.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As we celebrate Christ’s birth and life and prepare to enter
into a new year, I am challenging myself, and would like to challenge each of
you, to let go of doubt and discouragement and to not be afraid to ask Heavenly
Father what He would have us work on in our lives, or afraid to accept a
challenge or a calling with patience and faith. We can give those things over
to the Savior, and then the Holy Ghost can teach us how we can do our part. We
can forgive ourselves when, inevitably, we don’t measure up perfectly, because
the Savior, who is perfect, can magnify us through His infinite perfection if
we exercise our faith. As President Hinckley said:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The challenge which
faces every member of this Church is to take the next step, to accept that
responsibility to which he is called, even though he does not feel equal to it,
and to do so in faith with the full expectation that the Lord will light the
way before him. <br />
…<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d like to conclude by joining my petition with President Hinckley’s:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Father, increase our
faith. Of all our needs, I think the greatest is an increase in faith, and so,
dear Father, increase our faith in Thee, and in Thy Beloved Son, in Thy great
eternal work, in ourselves as Thy children, and in our capacity to go and do
according to Thy will, and Thy precepts, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus
Christ, amen.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Lyrics<o:p></o:p></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">1. Be still, my soul:
The Lord is on thy side;<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Leave to thy God to order and provide;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in;">2. Be still, my soul:
Thy God doth undertake<o:p></o:p></li>
</ol>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
To guide the future as he has the past.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
3. Be still, my
soul: The hour is hast’ning on<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
When we shall be forever with the Lord,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-61138291498406549542017-11-18T21:30:00.002-08:002017-11-18T21:30:49.728-08:00A Letter about Coming BackI was going through a box of lesson supplies and unfinished projects, and in an odd spot I found an unfinished letter that I started writing in October of 2011. My feelings then are so applicable now and that I thought I would go ahead and record that testimony here.<br />
<br />
<i>I read this scripture this morning and it touched me so, so deeply:</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
For the things which some men esteem to be of great worth, both to the body and soul, others set at naught and trample under their feet. Yea, even the very God of Israel do men trample under their feet; I say trample under their feet but I would speak in other words--they set himn at naught, and hearken not to the voice of his counsels.<br />
<br />
And behold, he cometh...<br />
<br />
And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore theyh scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. They spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, when that day cometh, saith the prophet, that they no more turn aside their hearts against the Holy one of Israel, then will he remember the covenants which he made to their fathers.<br />
<br />
...<br />
<br />
Yea, and all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord.<br />
<br />
-1 Nephi 19:7-17<br />
<br />
<i>There are so many things we think of associated with "the Church." There are people and policies we don't like or don't understand. The administration is imperfect. Mistakes--both inadvertent and blatant--are made. These things provide a lot of excuses, but when it comes down to it, it is Christ's church. He puts up with a lot because He loves us and He is patient with our imperfections. So the main concern, and the real root of activity in the Church is this: Am I willing to lay everything else aside and turn my heart to Jesus Christ?</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>I know that He lives. I know that He was willing to undergo humiliation and incomprehensible suffering because He was filled with love and compassion for us in our weakness. He knows you. He loves you. He doesn't care what you have done in the past or what counsels you have disobeyed. He suffered all things so that you could have the gift of repentance--of turning to Him whenever you choose and having <u>everything</u> cleaned and forgiven and forgotten in His book. He has waited thousands of years for the Jews--who He so lovingly led through the wilderness out of captivity only to so blatantly reject Him-- to come back to Him; that speaks to how lovingly He is waiting for us to come to Him and to receive all the blessings HE longs to give us. He wants to bless you. He wants to bless your children. He will help you qualify for those blessings. He will carry the burdens that weight on you if you let Him. I know it is true because I have experienced it over and over again. He has a work that only you can do in His kingdom and He needs you here. There is a reason you have the gift of the Gospel.</i>Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-36232814505624446792017-09-11T15:22:00.000-07:002017-09-11T15:22:52.105-07:00The Bar of God<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYAHWzzoIAk/WbcMXPk-b-I/AAAAAAAAaVM/fEqeXdSLR6Igr1VJc8K7zYfULZXOMssQwCLcBGAs/s1600/2017-09-10%2B21.39.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZYAHWzzoIAk/WbcMXPk-b-I/AAAAAAAAaVM/fEqeXdSLR6Igr1VJc8K7zYfULZXOMssQwCLcBGAs/s640/2017-09-10%2B21.39.46.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-25864099135278510822017-09-11T15:20:00.000-07:002017-09-11T15:20:29.360-07:00"Giving a Chance" to Satan<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GBrgozDkni8/WbcL1N0YhGI/AAAAAAAAaVE/-7qdypX7mBwrZwgZLQe1tXrDsAKY4MAzgCLcBGAs/s1600/2017-09-10%2B21.44.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GBrgozDkni8/WbcL1N0YhGI/AAAAAAAAaVE/-7qdypX7mBwrZwgZLQe1tXrDsAKY4MAzgCLcBGAs/s640/2017-09-10%2B21.44.15.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-15986808379272550732017-07-02T20:25:00.002-07:002017-07-02T20:25:44.732-07:00Magnifying your calling“The Prophet Joseph Smith was once asked, ‘Brother Joseph, you frequently urge that we magnify our callings. What does this mean?’ He is said to have replied, ‘To magnify a calling is to hold it up in dignity and importance, that the light of heaven may shine through one’s performance.’”<br />
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President Thomas S. Monson, “Our Sacred Priesthood Trust,” Ensign, May 2006, 56.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-32337123175902045302017-04-05T20:18:00.003-07:002017-04-05T20:18:58.301-07:00Be ReconciledStudying in 2 Nephi 10, Jacob sums up his teachings with the exhortation:<br />
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<i>Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to teh will of God, and not to the will of hte devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in an through the grace of God that ye are saved.</i><br />
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I dwelt somewhat on the word "reconcile." Here's the definition from dictionary.com:<br />
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<ol>
<li><i> to cause (a person) to accept or be resigned to something not desired: </i><i>He was reconciled to his fate.</i></li>
<li><i>to win over to friendliness; cause to become amicable: </i><i>to reconcile hostile persons.</i></li>
<li><i>to compose or settle (a quarrel, dispute, etc.).</i></li>
<li><i>to bring into agreement or harmony; make compatible or consistent: </i><i>to reconcile differing statements; to reconcile accounts.</i></li>
<li><i>to reconsecrate (a desecrated church, cemetery, etc.).</i></li>
<li><i>to restore (an excommunicate or penitent) to communion in a church.</i></li>
</ol>
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Definitions 3-6 seem to be the most applicable here. In implies bringing into harmony. Note that we are supposed to reconcile ourselves to God, not the other way around; we are the ones that need to become compatible or consistent, to reconsecrate ourselves and to restore ourselves to communion (i.e. oneness, communication) with God. Then even when we are reconciled, we must rely on His grace and continue this process until the end in order to become like He is.</div>
Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-186085537876796242.post-27344891861759886582016-09-30T07:21:00.001-07:002016-09-30T07:21:44.759-07:00Ponderize<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I started using the Ponderize App. It is awesome! It even gives you a reminder each week to change your scripture. I am finally doing it consistently.Meghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00829215628766931592noreply@blogger.com0