Week 14

With finals coming up, I've been having a rough time staying focused and motivated, and wondering if its even worth it. This feeling brought me to go to a scripture thats helped me out over and over again in 1 Nephi 10:19, "For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round."

While the mysteries of God are of course the spiritual things and involve personal revelation, I like to think of this in terms of school as well, and it's comforting to me to think that if I do all that I can, and seek for knowledge in every part of my life, the Lord will help me out and make me see what I need to. The course of the Lord is an eternal round that goes on forever, and He doesn't pick and choose who he is going to help. The love of the Lord can help me through every hard time I have, from the hardest things I'll have to go through to the simpler ones, like finals week, and I am so grateful for that.

Week 13

This week, I was reading in Alma and thinking a lot about obedience, something so simple yet something we sometimes make out as so hard. It was kind of a strange thing that led me to think so much about this. In Alma chapter 20 verses 5 and 6 it says, "And Ammon said unto him: No one hath told me, save it be God; and he said unto me- Go and deliver they brethren, for they are in prison in the land of Middoni. Now when Lamoni had heard this he caused that his servants should make ready his horses and his chariots."

King Lamoni was so simply and unquestionably obedient in this moment. He didn't ask questions or wonder if this was the smart thing to do, or suggest maybe having a slightly better plan first. God had told Ammon it needed to be done, and Lamoni trusted that God would help them to do it. This is the kind of obedience that we should all be striving for. In Sunday school this past week, someone was sharing how they were trying to work on acting on impulses. Not bad impulses, but any time he got the feeling to do something, instead of trying to decipher if it was his own head or the spirit, he just did it. He talked about how even though everything he acts on is from the spirit, he feels like the Lord can trust him to follow promptings more, because he is trying to train himself to leap up and do it the first time he feels something.

I think we can learn a lot about obedience from these two things. Obedience to the Lord is not something to be questioned. He's not going to ask us to do something bad, or something that is not going to help us or the ones around us in the long run, and He's not going to tell you to do something impossible. I've made a goal to become more obedient about the things I feel to do, as well as the commandments and guidance I might have some more trouble following. Being obedient can bless us and those around us in more ways we know.

Week 12

This week I was reading in Alma chapter 32, and verse 28 caught my attention. It says, "Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves- It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my sould; yea, it beginnith to enlighten my understanding, yea it beginneth to be delicious to me."

This verse stood out to me, it seems like I always think of seeds being planted in non-members hearts, or those who are inactive, never myself. However, reading this really struck something within me because it made me realize how much I relate to it. I feel like for most of my life I was kind of going along with what my parents believed, knowing it but not truly for myself. Only since being on my own and really having to build my own testimony have I felt this seed inside of me growing. I have had some of my most powerful experiences with the gospel this last year, each thing confirming my own testimony and beliefs. I've felt the swelling that is described in this verse, and I can look back and truly see how my seed of a testimony has grown since the end of my senior year.

I think that it is truly important to realize that this seed is within all of us, and can always be grown further. I have seen that it is good, and it has enlightened my life.

Week 11

This week I was reading in 2 Nephi, and read verse 27 which says, "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh, and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." This verse got me thinking a lot about agency, and how it affects us.

Agency is something that can be hard for me to fully accept, mostly because it is hard for me to see others use their agency so poorly. However, it is also a blessing in our lives because we are able to freely choose liberty and eternal life, and work for it in a way that is fulfilling and wonderful. I think agency is also something that we take for granted, not realizing how the choices we make using that agency truly affect ourselves and those around us.

We should be striving every day for all of our choices to be pointing us towards living with Heavenly Father again. Every choice we make takes us in one direction or the other, and I know I always want to be pointed towards Him. While we cannot force others to make the same choices as us, we can be an example of how the right decisions can positively affect a life. By living our truth and making as many good choices as we can, we can be headed back to our Heavenly Father, as well as showing others the light the gospel can bring.

Week 10

Today while watching the women's session of General Conference, Sister McConkie told a story that stayed with me. She talked about a girl who was called to be a Beehive President, and would magnify her calling by going out to the less active girl's houses to see if she could help them get coming back to church again. She discovered that Sunday's were for doing chores, and a lot of the girls did not finish in time to be allowed to go to church. She helped these girls by going to their homes and helping them with their chores so that they would be able to come to church. This story of such a young girl doing so much to magnify her calling and help others was something that really made me take stock of my life and callings, and how I could better be serving those around me.

In the Joseph Smith Translation of the scripture 1 Corinthians 7:32, it says; "But I would, brethren, that ye magnify your calling. For he careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord; therefore he prevaileth." Magnifying our callings is an important way to show the Lord that we care about and respect the responsibilities He has given us. A calling comes from Him, after all, and we should understand that so that we can more fully serve to the best of our ability. Not only should we do this for the Lord, and for those whom we are serving, but for our own salvation.

The Lord only calls those who he knows can do what He requires of them, and He won't ever leave us when we need help. In my calling, I sometimes find it hard to make time for it, but when I do I can feel the Lord helping me and the people I serve to know the best things to do. Anyone and everyone has the ability to magnify their callings, and by doing so we can bring so much light into our lives and the lives of those around us.

Week 9

This week I was studying about what it means to press forward, and how we can do that in our lives. I started in 2 Nephi 31:20 where it says, "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God an of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure the the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." This made me think about the unique phrasing of that term, it is more than just persevering, or not giving up. The term of pressing forward to me means that there is something that we are pressing against, the world itself and it's wicked temptation is what we are moving and pressing against.

To press is to move into a position of contact with something by exerting a continuous force, and to move forward is to make progress towards a successful conclusion. We are on earth trying to move into constant contact with the Holy Ghost, as well as with our Savior, so that we can reach the successful conclusion we seek, which is eternal life and happiness. It stands out to me that the word continuous was used, we must always be exerting force on the temptations of the world around us in order to move forward. Once we let up on the force applied, things can all too quickly spin out of our grasp, sending us backwards in our journey.

College is a difficult time in life, when it is easy to be distracted. By following God's commandments and continually pressing forward we can make it through and be blessed. Reading scriptures about how the writers of the Book of Mormon continually pressed forward is something that helps to remind me that it is possible for me to do it as well, and that it will be beyond worth it in the end.

Week 8

This week I received my mission call to the Adriatic North Mission, it is comprised of 5 countries, and there is just so much work to do there! While I was studying my scriptures, specifically about missionary work, there were a few scriptures that stuck out to me. One was in Alma 26, verse 22, "Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing- unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal such things which have never been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance,"

This scripture really hit a chord with me, reminding me how important it is to actively prepare to serve my mission. I cannot expect to "bring thousands of souls to repentance" or even one soul, without preparing myself to have the Lord work through me. I need to be continually praying, exercising faith, doing good works and repenting so that I am worthy and ready to receive all the guidance the Lord is willing to give me as I embark on what will likely be the hardest 18 months of my life thus far. This is especially important for me, because the Croatian/Serbian/Monetenegrian/ Bosnian/Slovanian people deserve dedicated missionaries who desire to love them and invite them to accept Christ in their lives, and it is up to me to help give them that.

In connection, another scripture I read in Alma 30 verse 5 says, "And now, as the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just- yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them- therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God."

The people of the Adriatic North Mission have seen a lot of hardship, and they should know the power of the word of God that transcends any of the hard things they have managed to bear up to this point. The word of God is the most powerful tool we have to show people that they truly can live their lives in a fulfilling and beautiful way, no matter their other circumstances. I am so humbled to be able to go and serve these people for 18 months, and I hope that I can find it in myself to be so faithful and obedient to truly make a difference in their lives, and complete my mission of spreading the word of Christ to the best of my ability.

Week 7

This week I was reading in Mosiah and noticed some verses I had highlighted in the past; chapter 2 verses 21-23, "I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another- I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants. And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you. And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him." I was reminded of why I highlighted these verses, and the importance of realizing that we are here and indebted to the Lord for our bodies and lives. 

The importance of keeping the commandments is stressed here, and that blessings will come to us when we do so. I remember my seminary teacher saying that we were on a type of "rent to own" program with our bodies, they aren't ours now, so we need to take care of them and pay our "rent" of keeping the commandments and serving those around us so that one day we can own our bodies and all the incredible blessings that come with that. This reminds me that I have a responsibility on this earth, it's not just a free ride! 

These commandments are given to us for our own good and salvation, and not something to be taken lightly. To go to the tried and true phrase, our body is a temple so treat it like one. We should be living our lives so that we can one day be with God again, become resurrected, and continue on in the plan for us. This starts with the commandments and service, for right now we are God's servants on this earth, and that is a privileged opportunity.

Week 6

This week I was reading in Alma chapter 53, which is the chapter of the stripling warriors. While reading this, verse 17 struck me, "And they entered into a covenant to fight for the liberty of the Nephites, yea to protect the land even unto the laying down of their lives; yea, even they covenanted that they never would give up their liberty, but they would fight in all cases to protect the Nephites and themselves from bondage." There were 2,000 men who decided to fight because their fathers couldn't, and not only did they decide this, but entered into a covenant. It was a very different covenant from their fathers but one just as important.

This shows me that The Lord truly has a plan for each of us, and if we listen to Him and follow that plan we will end up doing the best we can. If the fathers of the stripling warriors had broken their covenant, they would have been lost. In contrast, if their sons had not been raised by peace loving mothers and fathers, only deciding to fight for the reason of keeping their home and only fighting with the power of the Lord, they would have failed as well. But as it was, in verse 56 of chapter 56, "But behold to my great joy, there had not been one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea and they had fought as if with the strength of God".

These stripling warriors, as well as the parents that raised them, can be an example of total faith and trust in the Lord. When making the promise to no longer bear arms, the fathers of the stripling warriors had faith the Lord would protect them in other ways. When going into battle, the stripling warriors knew the Lord would be with them in the battle. I want to have the faith that when I do the right, obey the Lord's commandments and do as he asks of me, everything will be well in my life in the end. I also want to be sure to teach my children the same thing, and raise more stripling warriors in this world that seems to be getting more and more wicked every day. Following God's plan for us, and even knowing that He does indeed have one for each and every one of us can help me get closer to this goal.

Week 5

This week I was reading in 2 Nephi and verse 21 of chapter really struck me. It says, "That these things which I shall write be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation.” I began thinking about the blessing that it is that we are able to have this book that was written so specifically for our day and time, here to guide and help us.

When Nephi and Alma and all the other writers of the Book of Mormon were writing their histories and revelations down, they were doing it for us, for the people in the future that would need those words. They didn't have the entirety of the book with them, they didn't get to read the finished product. But the Lord told them that it needed to be done, so they did it.

The blessing of the Book of Mormon in my life is one that I can take for granted, but as I was thinking about it more deeply this week I realized how much it really does for me. Moroni, while his people and himself were dying, thought only to finish the book, because that is how important it was. Thinking of this reminded me of a question that Ezra Taft Benson told us we should be asking more often in our scripture study, "Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (Or Moroni, or Alma) or any of these writers to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?” I have made it a goal to ask this question more often, and to think of how the Lord truly did inspire those ancient prophets to write the words that we would most need, and that it is a blessing and an amazing privilege to have those revelations so close to us at all times.

Week 4

This week I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants sections 10 and 19. In section 10 verse 5 it says, "Pray always, that you may come off conquerer; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work."
This struck me and made me think about the importance of prayer in our lives. While prayer is an important way to speak to the Lord, it also is important to help us resist the adversary. Satan and those that try to tempt us can be hard to resist, and without the power of prayer in our lives it can be very difficult to not join in.

I thought this related to another scripture in section 19 verse 23, "Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me."
Prayer is our line to the Lord to learn from Him, and to use what we learn in our lives. The peace we get from that is something should be sought after.

In my life, prayer is an important part of starting and ending my days. However, sometimes my prayers, like many others, can get repetitive and not as meaningful as they could be. These scriptures reminded me of the threefold reasons to pray daily. Communication, a way to ward off temptation, and a way to learn from the Lord. These things are all important to have consistently in our lives, and I made a goal to make my prayers more able to totally fulfill me.

Prayer is something that is important in my life, and something that I feel is often overlooked between everything else that goes on. However, prayer is more important than we often think. Prayer is something that there isn't a cap on, you can't pray too much. It's importance can't be overstated, it is our connection to the Lord and the way we can gain more knowledge than we thought possible.

Week 3

This week I was thinking a lot about the temple endowment and other important covenants that we make in our lifetime. It was while thinking about these things that I read 2 Nephi 9: 27,
"But wo unto him that has the law given, yea, that has all the commandments of God, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state!"
This might seem like a harsh scripture, but I think that it is mainly trying to get the point of how important the laws and covenants of the church are. We are blessed to be able to know and obey them, but also it is a responsibility that once we acknowledge it, can't be ignored.

As I'm preparing to enter the temple this is especially striking to me, as I am going to be part of an extremely important covenant. While the knowledge and ability to participate is a blessing in my life, but it is also something that shouldn't be taken lightly. This also helped me to realize why we, in the church, will ask someone to stop taking the sacrament or even become excommunicated as part of the repentance process, sometimes it is more beneficial to remove those covenant when someone is breaking them, because of the severity of what that could mean.

I had some interesting thoughts on this that I hadn't necessarily before, and learned a little more about covenants that I hadn't known before, which was really interesting for me, especially from a place like 2nd Nephi, where it feels like I've read it so many times. It really shows that every time you read the scriptures you can gain something new.

Week 2

This week has been a busy one, classes are getting more challenging and sometimes it is hard for me to keep up with the work that I have to do. However, I got up early on Thursday morning to go to the temple, and that time that I had while there to ponder and recharge was time well spent and much needed. It was while I was in the temple that I read one of my favorite scriptures, 2 Nephi 2:11-13, specifically verse 13 which says, "And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away."

This made me realize that although life is going to be hard, there will be sadness and hard times. However, it is because of these hard times that the happiness and blessings of the Lord will appear so much more strongly. While reading further, I noticed a correlation to these verses in verse 25 that I hadn't before. Verse 25 says, "Adam fell that men might be, and men are, that they might have joy." Adam's fall itself was a thing that had to happen, and even though it was painful for Adam, because of it his life as well as the lives of everyone who came after him was greatly enriched. 

This led me to think about the principle of gratitude, and how I thought a this means we should not just be grateful for the blessings in our lives, but for the trials and hard things as well. It is because of those things that we are able to better appreciate and love the happy and beautiful moments in our lives. While no one necessarily likes being sad and tested, it is ultimately for our benefit; the Lord would not purposefully make us miserable if it did not mean a more glorious future coming ahead.

Week 1

This week I was reading in the beginning of 1 Nephi, and a certain piece of the well known story stuck with me. In chapter 2 verses 2-3 it says, 

"And it came to pass that the Lord commanded my father, even in his dream, that he should depart into the wilderness. And it came to pass that he was obedient unto the word of the Lord, wherefore he did as the Lord commanded him." 

These two verses haven't had this effect on me before, but this time I was really struck by the unfailing obedience of Lehi. He had a comfortable home, land, and familiar surroundings in Jerusalem, but he gave it all up in a moment because the Lord asked him to. It doesn't mention fear, but I would think that Lehi would have been, if not scared, apprehensive about what laid ahead, but that didn't stop him. 

I think that these words had this effect on me because of my recent decision to start my mission papers. After graduating high school, I had been filled with a lot of doubt and fear about going on a mission. I didn't know if it was right, or what I really should be doing with my life. But it was after really reading these verses that I felt a confirmation that a mission is what I need to do next with my life. I can't let fear get in the way of what the Lord wants for me, and all the strengthening experiences that are ahead of me. I really related to Lehi, I might not have had the Lord come to me in a dream, commanding me to do this, but I have felt the promptings and assurance that it is the right thing to do. 

This doctrine of obedience is one that I found to be especially encouraging, especially in this time of my life. Knowing what I know about Lehi's journey through the wilderness, it was not easy or comfortable, but it led to more blessings for his future family than he could have imagined. Sometimes, obedience is hard, it won't always be easy or fair. However, the Lord will bless us for what we do in obedience, which is worth every hardship we might endure.