What Do  I/You Value?

As mentioned in previous blogs, I am working on my Person Progress.  This week included value experiences in Individual Worth and Divine Nature. D&C 18:10, “Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;" was the first scripture referenced in the experience.  

For some reason my kindle highlighted the next verse also.  D&C 18:11

                                

“For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him”

Whoa!  Wait a minute!  You know those times when the Spirit finally gets that spiritual bat to hit you right between the eyes and you wake up and think for a second.  This was one of them.  How great is the worth of souls to God?  Our Savior obviously must value mankind enough  to suffer death in the flesh and to suffer the pain of all men so we could repent.  Wait a minute…How much does the Lord value me? Does He value me also? I was stunned at the impact I felt from this verse.  What value...what love Christ has for us, for me.  

The next scripture was D&C 121:45, “Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men…”

Charity:  True love of Christ.  

Do I have the love that Christ has? How much value do I place on my brothers and sisters around me?  The spiritual bat was really beating me up now! 

As I was mulling these thoughts in my mind, my sweat little Granddaughter, Chloe, dumped all her yogurt bites on the floor.  What was the first reaction in my mind, “Oh, thanks, Chloe!  Now I have to clean up your yogurt bites. Sigh, mumble, mumble.”  Thank goodness the Spirit still had his bat in his hand and hit me again, square between the eyes.  How quickly I resorted to the natural man.  I love my precious Chloe.  She is the light of my day.  Yet, after just deciding to be more charitable...I was total without charity in my thoughts.  Thank goodness that bat hit me, because I was able to react in a much more gracious manner.  “That’s okay.  Let’s pick ‘em up.”  

  

The next day we went to Utah and spent some time with Erik.  Another moment of the bat hitting me on the head.  Erik reminded me that I have a tendency to criticize and make fun of others.  Yep right between the eyes once again. 

As we were leaving Utah Valley, there was a radio program on Mormon Times talking about older singles and dating.  The man talking said that all daters need to change their perspective  from “What can I get out of this date?” to, “How can I benefit and bless the life of the person I am dating?”

Today, I read Dale Carnegie’s words, “When we are not engaged in thinking about some definite problem, we usually spend about 95 percent of our time thinking about ourselves.”

The bat has been swinging everyday!  

Is this the way I can develop that charity, the true love of Christ, His ability to value others?  Do I need to stop thinking about me?  That just does not fit with the culture in which I live.   “Me” is such an important part of our culture. 

Where does the word “me” come into our Savior’s life. "Thy will be done."  "The glory by thine."  Not a lot of me, in His thinking.  Our Redeemer suffered death in the flesh for you and me, he suffered the pain of all men. Not much “me” in that.  

What do I resolve?  To look out beyond myself, forget my problems.  I am blessed to know who I am.  I know of my worth.  There are so many who do not.  I must remember that the worth of souls is great in the Sight of my Savior.  Do I value others, as He does.  Better yet, do I value Him?   

Side note:  While I was preparing this blog, I could hear crunching in the other room.  I assumed Chloe was crushing crackers.  Nope, she was painstakingly dismantling the wicker basket that holds her books.  Oh, well.  Got that taken care of and gave her some wipe off markers and the whiteboard to keep her entertained.  However, the white board was not as entertaining as each of the squares of the tile floor.  But together we sang songs and picked up the pieces of wicker basket and played with the" bubbles" used to clean the floor and wash her hands. Valuing Chloe was much better than valuing my basket or the floor.  

Knowledge

Working on Knowledge

Value Experience #1

I read Proverbs 1:5; 4:7; 2 Nephi 38:30; and Doctrine and Covenants 88:78-80, 118, 90:15; 130:18-19; 131:6.

I am to think about why I need to gain knowledge and understand about how to apply gospel principles to my family life.  I am to write in my journal what I have learned and discuss it with my family.  So here I am killing 2 birds with one stone.  I figure blogging is the journal part.  I would love to have comments made and that way I will be discussing it.  So folks, help me out and make comments, so I can get my YW medallion.

We should seek knowledge above everything else according to Proverbs 4:7 and with it wisdom.   Wisdom is defined as the ability to make sensible decisions and judgments based on personal knowledge and experience. I would add that wisdom is also making sensible decisions and judgments based on personal knowledge and experience of others.  As I have aged, I have observed in my life, that at times, I learn quite slowly.  But no matter whether I learn vicariously or through personal experience, to really learn, to make it worthwhile, I have to exercise faith, either in someone else or in my Savior.  By learning and trying to gain wisdom I have prepared myself to fulfill my calling as a mother, wife and member of God’s kingdom. 

In Proverbs 1:5 we learn that wise people listen to others and learn from that which they hear.  If you are smart you will seek out people who already know what to do or have been through similar situations.  This is vicarious learning.  We believe the person who tells us the stove is hot.  That is enough for us not to test it for ourselves.  We can learn many things vicariously through the scriptures.  We can learn that it is worthwhile to pray by studying the story of the Brother of Jared.  We can learn how to serve others by reading the example of Christ’s life. 

But the Lord wants us to learn as much about everything as possible.  In D&C 88:78-80, we are encouraged to gain knowledge about everything including theory, principle, doctrine and law of the Gospel.  But also we should learn of things in the heaven, the earth, and under the earth.  We need to become knowledgeable in the history, politics of nations as well as our own. I think the Lord wants us to read a little fiction too, for he advises us in D&C 88:118 to seek out of the best books.  Gandalf, Dorothy and Pumpkin Head as well as Harry Potter have all helped me gain a little knowledge and wisdom. 

As I mentioned before, I have discovered over the course of my life that I learn relatively slowly.  I was watching Chloe the other day flicking through my I-pod, finding Netflix, dismissing an add by touching the x in the corner and scrolling through numerous movies until finding the  one she wanted to watch.  How quickly she can learn at such a young age.  It took me months to master simple things using the same contraption.  My slow learning does not just apply to my old age.  As a returning missionary, I remember arrogantly thinking I understood the Gospel.  I actually wondered what I would learn in Sunday School for the rest of my life.  If I could only reach out and slap my younger self.  The understanding that comes line upon line and precept upon precept as described in 2 Nephi 28:30 will continue for eternity.  How I wish I could have understood the gospel on my mission the way I do now.  How I wish I could understand the gospel now the way I will once I have entered into the presence of my Savior. 

This leads me to the last point.  Some things we just need to experience ourselves.  We have to endure pain to understand and empathize with one in pain.  We have to taste sugar to truly know what it tastes like.  This is why I found the last line of D&C 88:118 so interesting, “…to seek learning, even by study (mostly vicarious learning) and also by FAITH.”  We have to put what we learn to the test.  That test usually requires faith in our Savior.  Faith that he will not allow us to go astray.  How many times do we set out on our own voyage across uncharted waters as did the Jaradites.  How often do we feel we are in the dark and pray for assistance and get the answer, “Figure it out for yourself.”  We seek the knowledge and then we are required to put that knowledge to the test.   We see how wise we really are. But we must have faith that Christ will be there with us, he will not allow us to fail, at least not eternally.  We often don't know the next step for sure. I can, however, testify that I have been warned spiritually whenever I have been about to take a misstep.  Can't say I always listened to the warning, but that is all in how I have gained a little wisdom.   

If we can work on gaining knowledge and applying wisdom etiher vicariously or personal experience, then the Lord can use us in his Kingdom as it explains in D&C 88:80.  We will be prepared in all things to magnify our callings, to help our children, and support our spouse.  We will be able to fulfill the mission with which he has commissioned us. 

What My Mother Taught Me about Faith

and

How She Did It.

My mother was an interesting woman for her age.  In the 1960’s, men seemed to know and read the scriptures more than the women.  Most of my friends mother’s “lived” the gospel rather than “studied” it. 

Not my mom, she lived it and studied it.  I saw her reading her scriptures quite often.  She knew her Old Testament amazingly well and I was often told a Bible story for a bedtime story or just during the day because she thought it was a good time to tell me the story.  We had this big Family Bible with pictures.  Mom, often told me to look through it at the pictures (this was a way of keeping me busy while she was doing something else).  I didn’t like the pictures.  I still don’t like that artist’s work.  But the pictures made me ask questions and Mom would tell me the story regarding the picture.  Because of this, I gained a good foundation for my study of the Old Testament later. 

My first year of teaching Seminary turned out to be an Old Testament year.  I would often begin the lesson by saying, “Oh, this is one of my favorite stories!  Who can tell me the story of Jonah and the Whale (for instance)?”  I was shocked at how many kids did not know anything about the Old Testament.  They knew Adam and Eve, a few knew about Noah (the good one, not the bad king) but the rest of the book was just a black hole to many of my students.  (I also wondered if they had not gone to the Doctor and the Dentist.  When I was a kid there was this blue book of Bible stories in all the doctor’s and dentist’s offices.  That was another place I learned about the scriptures from my mom. She would sit by me and read the stories or just tell them in her own words. There wasn’t much else to do while sitting there.  Sure there was Highlights Magazine, but that was not as much fun as having Mom read to me.  But I digress.)

From listening to my Mom relate the stories of the Bible to me, I knew that she believed in God.  She loved her Savior.  I knew at a very young age that my mother had a testimony. 

I knew that she said her prayers.  I never saw her, at least not that I recall.  She would close her door to say them.  She was very good at getting me to say my evening prayers as part of my bedtime ritual.  She would whisper what I should say and I would repeat it.  Then one day in either Sunbeams or Stars we were challenged by Sister Inkley to say our prayers at home by ourselves and to ask Heavenly Father if he was really there and if he loved us.  That night I told Mom that I needed to pray by myself.  It was the beginning of my testimony.  But Mom never listened to my prayers again.  I was a little hurt by that at first.  However, Mom knew that I no longer needed her guidance with my prayers.  Her job there was finished.  Because of this I developed a very good relationship with my Father in Heaven that has helped a lot during my life.  She knew when to let go.

Mom taught me to keep the commandments and to expect the blessings that came from obeying them.  She often quoted D&C 130:20-21, “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven…upon which all blessing are predicated…when we receive any blessing…it is by obedience to that law…”

She often took me to deliver food to the sick or a new mother.  She would tell me that she was offering a service and that she would receive a blessing for doing so.  She told me that by watching for that blessing she could be thankful for it.  Another one of her favorite scriptures she liked to quote to me is also found in the Doctrine and Covenants 59:21.  “And in nothing doth man offend God,…save those who confess not his hand in all things…”

“If you don’t expect the blessings,” she taught, “you won’t notice them and you won’t thank God for them.”

One day when I was in Junior High, Mom was getting ready to prepare dinner.  Michael and Kathleen were both on their missions.  Kennecott Copper Company was on strike in Utah causing economic problems for the community.  Therefore, Dad did not have a lot of work.  No one was building new homes.  Well, Mom pulled out the shelf that had the soup cans on it.  “Wow, we only have one can of soup left to make dinner tonight.  Don’t know what I will do tomorrow night.  Glad I paid the tithing this month.” 

This was spoken so matter-of-factly I did not think there was anything to worry about.  I had dinner the next night and the next night and every night thereafter.  When I was a mother myself, I asked Mom about that time.  She said she remembered that night.  There really was only one can of soup in the cupboard.  She said there was other food in the house, but not much, cans of vegetables and all the bottles of fruit downstairs.  But she said that we had absolutely no cash in the house and no cash coming in.  The savings were being eaten up with bills and missionary checks.  Then she bore her testimony to me again…”But I had paid our tithing at the beginning of the month.  I wasn’t worried.  We would make it.  My goodness, two of our children were serving missions.  Your Dad was in the bishopric.  I was in some calling.  We were doing what we were supposed to be doing.  We weren’t going to be left destitute.”  Again, she was very matter-of-fact. 

There was one area in which I was surprised at my mother’s lack of faith.  That was in herself.  One day when I was about 10, I asked what she thought it was going to be like in the Celestial Kingdom.  She informed me that she didn’t think she was going to go there, but she thought the Terrestrial Kingdom was going to be beautiful. 

I was shocked!  How could my mother not think she was not going to be in the Celestial Kingdom?  As I developed a better understanding of the atonement and salvation I would often read a few scriptures with her and discuss it. So did my siblings.  I think she changed her viewpoint on this towards the end of her life. 

Her lack of faith in her own worthiness helped me to study and investigate the truth.  Because my Mother read her scriptures and believed and acted on them, because she expected blessings for obedience, because she knew when to leave me alone with my Father in Heaven, and because she had lack of faith in herself, I developed my faith.  It is the greatest gift she ever gave me.  Thanks Mom.  Love you. 

Grandma's Baking Adventure With Chloe

This morning Kreed asked me to pick up some treats for his home teachees, if I went to the store.  Well, after entertaining Chloe for a couple of hours, I thought I would take her to the store and we would pick up those treats.  But then I started thinking about all the effort it would take to put her in the car seat, get her out of the car seat and then fight her to stay in the grocery cart, finally giving up and taking her out and then running after her.  I decided baking something at home would be much easier and more time efficient.

Now, you must keep in mind that I have not baked anything from scratch for the past 4 months since starting P90X. 

I decided to make pumpkin bread.  Nope, the pumpkin cans had expired in July.   Okay, how about the mincmeat.  I like mincemeat cookies.  Good…not expired.  But the condensed mincemeat was expiring before the stuff in the jar, so I decided to use that. 

So I got out a pan, broke up the mincemeat, added the water and set the pan to boil. Then I began to gather the remaining ingredients. 

Meanwhile Chloe was walking around the kitchen trying to get her hands on anything higher than her head.  Kreed’s pears tasted good to her as long as she had only one bite per pear.  Numerous toys were brought out by her grandmother, but their interest lasted a total of 60 seconds.

In between removing Chloe from dangerous situations or removing objects I did not want her touching, I was still gathering ingredients.  This is how it went.

Shortening:  expired and rancid.  As I said, haven’t baked in a long time.  Shortening does not keep well in the Las Vegas heat.  This was unused new shortening, a little discouraging.  But then…a light bulb moment…food storage!  I had lots of dehydrated shortening, never been used and now might be a good time to learn how to use it.  So went and found the shortening, then opened the can and read the instructions.   

To the fridge to get the eggs. While on P90X I have used only egg whites in the carton.  You guessed it, the eggs were expired (by only 2 weeks).  Ah, but I have dried eggs in food storage too. Went and dug those out of storage and opened the can.  I now know that 3 eggs are equal to ¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons and 1 ½ teaspoon of dried eggs and equal part water.  You have to whisk this together.  Finally into the mixing bowl with the sugar shortening and eggs. 

Now to get the flour out.  I grind my own.  You guessed it.  There was not enough to make 2 batches of cookies.  I now had to grind more wheat.  In the meantime, the bug man showed up to spray the house.  Are you serious! He is supposed to come on Monday at 9:00!. 

The condensed mincemeat was still too warm and moist when I added it to the cookie mix, so I turned that into a cake.  Tastes very good.  The second batch was made with the canned mincemeat and I did not add all it said to add.  These also turned out wonderful, they are actual cookies. 

Now that the work is done, Chloe is playing quietly with a book in her box house.  I am cleaning up and the baked goods taste pretty good. 

Lesson learned, food storage is not just for financial emergencies or natural disasters but also very helpful when you just don’t have the energy to follow a 20-month-old around the grocery store.  Because it is obvious that going into Albertson’s and picking up a couple of dozen cookies would have been a lot harder than what I just did. 

God is in His heaven.

Over the past few months, I have been praying that the Lord would help my unbelief.  I, like the father who brought the ill son to the Lord, need help with my unbelief. (Mark 9:18-27

My request has been granted in so many simple ways.  I have found myself asking for help with such simple things because I have known He would help.  It seems that all that I have asked for has been given. this has given me pause, if what I ask for is so readily given, I may need to be careful for that which I ask. My desire to ask for only things that God desires has increased. 

So as this election day of 2012 begins, I have been searching for the way to phrase my prayers.   Personally, I want Romney to win.

 I do not know if I can endure another 4 years of the divisive politics of President Obama.  I fear the apathy that Obama's redistribution policy will place on our students.  I fear the tolerance that will be displayed to our youth about morals and values that are so important for them to develop for success in their families and careers.  I just don't want the grinding whine of Senator Reid and Congresswoman Polosi to be present in the media.

I want the security of knowing that someone is in the White House who prays before a committee meeting, someone  who desires to listen to others , someone who really understands the free enterprise system, a true capitalist.  Someone who is actually worthy of attending the temple.  It just gives me peace of mind. 

But, I do not know what God's will is?  I know what mine is. I have heard an apostle of God at the BYUI commencement promise that a time of prosperity is coming to America, perhaps it might be a short time, but that things still needed to be invented to promote the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world.  The Church needs a time of prosperity to continue its work.  Wonderful!  Will the next 4 years be that time?  I do not know. 

What I do know is that God is in his heaven.  As Lehi discovered in 1 Nephi 1, God is in control.  He has made a plan and His plan will succeed.  Whatever happens today will not impede that plan.  So, Father, help thou my unbelief.  Help me to trust in thee.  Help me to remember, you are in control.

Devision

Division

A few weeks ago Kreed and I were reading 2 Nephi 30 for our scripture study.  Basically it is a revelation Nephi received describing how many of the gentiles and Jews during the last days will accept the gospel.  The Jews will again be gathered, etc.  But verse 10 really caught my attention.  Perhaps because of the political climate right now.

The verse reads, "For the time speedily cometh that the Lord God shall cause a great division among the people,..." 

Fulfilled prophecy!

Remember the gulf that divided those partaking of the fruit of the tree of life along with those holding to the rod from the great and spacious building.  1 Nephi 12:18, "...And a great and terrible gulf divideth them; (now look at what the gulf is) yea, even the word of the justice of the Eternal God..."  Justice divideth.

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for ME and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 24:15. 

 I do not need to try to stretch across the gulf and have a foothold in the "vain imaginations of the world" while trying to hold on to the rod.  I accept there is a division.   I choose the Lord. 
! 

Rejoice? Really?

Trying out Elder Bednar’s suggestion of studying a specific topic by using an inexpensive Book of Mormon and reading to find answers to that topic.  How can I apply the atonement more effectively in my life. This topic incorporates a lot of subcategories which I have listed as faith, repentance and forgiveness.  Forgiveness is unique as I am trying to understand how I can be forgiven and accept that forgiveness.  I have discovered some subcategories of faith including diligence and endurance.  This blog attempts to elucidate some of the inspiration received in 1 Nephi 1.

Many members of the church probably feel as I felt as I turned to 1 Nephi 1, “What new tidbit could I possibly learn from this chapter.”  This chapter is probably the most read chapter of any book of scripture.  “I Nephi, having been born of goodly parents…” Yeah, yeah, yeah…we have all read it numerous times.  Many of us have taught it numerous times in Sunday School, seminary, etc.  As I began that verse, my mind raced ahead to the rest of the chapter, “Lehi is going to have a couple of visions and then he is going to go out and preach.” 

Wait a minute..I remembered that I would be reading some things I had previously found to be a bit incongruous.   Lehi prays because of his concern for his people.  He then has a vision of a fire resting on a rock. He presumably sees the destruction of Jerusalem and it troubles him.  Verse 7, says that once he returned home he cast himself on his bed and was overcome with the Spirit and the things which he had seen.  This all makes sense to me. It would disturb me if I saw a vision of the destruction of Las Vegas (not hard to imagine).

While pondering on his bed, Lehi sees God sitting on his throne, Christ coming to earth, the twelve, and is told to read a book (In John the Beloved’s vision he was instructed to eat the book).  Lehi reads as described in verse 13, “Wo, wo, unto Jerusalem, for I have seen thy abominations!”  He then sees the destruction of Jerusalem and that many “perish by the sword, and many should be carried away captive…”

Now comes the part I have always found to be a bit inconsistent.  After seeing this great destruction, Lehi praises God for his mercy in verse 14.  Mercy?  Really?  He has just witnessed many deaths and the captivity of those that are left and he is talking about the mercy of God? Verse 15 is really odd.  Nephi records, “for his (Lehi’s) soul did rejoice, and his whole heart was filled, because of the things which he had seen.”  Now he is rejoicing?  I must have missed something.  I reread the entire chapter looking for the reason for such joy amidst such bad news. I believe I caught a glimpse of what gave Lehi reason to rejoice. 

Now I would like to hear from you what you believe gave Lehi reason to rejoice and his heart to be filled.  Nephi admits in Verse 16 that he did not write all that his father saw, but he alludes to it here and there.  Why is this particular vision and his Lehi’s reaction to it, used as the beginning of the Book of Mormon?  I would enjoy hearing from you, my readers.  Please, comment.  I will supply my thoughts latter.