Repent

In John 8, Jesus shows a few different thing about sin and repentance. First wi the woman taken in adultery, he shows that we can't judge other's sins, no matter how serious they are. He also demonstrated how willing He is to forgive when we have a broken heart and contrite spirit. 

Later on, Jesus shows the Pharisees that  they don't know God, that they are servants of sin: 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.

Nephi builds a ship

One interesting thing about 1 Nephi is the just apposition between Nephi being shown what to do and Nephi figuring things out on His own. The Liahona gave lots of directions, when they were righteous. But it didn't tell them where to find tools. Instead, Nephi knew in order to be a god steward, there were a few things he would need to do on his own first before asking the Lord. For example, he made a new bow. He asked the Lord where to find ore (I wonder if he looked in his own first). The spirit of the Lord was present and powerful when it needed to be, but it wasn't there and strong so often that they did every little thing according to it. The Lord trusted them to make their own decisions and to use their muscles or their best judgment figure things out. 

By this shall men know

John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

This is how people we going to know that I am a real disciple of Christ: if and how I show love. Am I truly a disciple of Christ? Do I really want to follow Him and be like Him? 

He loves me. Am I perfect? Do I deserve His love? No. Not really. But He loves me always. That is how I should love others. 

1 John 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

How I can improve my prayers

I sang "Prayer Is the Soul's Sincere Desire" for my scriptures study this morning. That hymn is so good, all seven verses. The references it gave led to 3 Nephi 13:5-18, which include the Lord's Prayer. From it I learn this:

"Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." 

This makes me feel that I need to have more sacred reverence and respect for God and His will when I pray. I also need to realize that He knows of what I need before I ask Him, which means I should ask Him more fervently what I should pray about and for. Pray to Him as though He really is all-knowing and omniscient and the Potter and I just the clay. 

"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." What this means is that once we have forgiven others, we can then ask for forgiveness for ourselves. So maybe the first step in this part of prayer is to work on figuring out who we need to forgive and doing it. 

Then we ask for help with things we are tempted with. And we do this by recognizing that He has all power and will receive all glory from everything good. 

Keep the commandments and exhort others to do the same

There is a major theme in 1 Nephi about keeping the commandments and how doing so will only bring blessings. Blessings like prosperity, things working out, etc. 

Also there is a verse that talks about inviting others to keep them too: 

1 Nephi 17:15 "Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence."

The footnotes are especially insightful. They talk about exhorting wth diligence and authority. That idea reminds me of what my stake president, President Cutler, says to his high councilman, that they should not be embarrassed to teach others and train them in the way of the gospel. To teach without reservation.

Right now Jessie and Mark are having a hard time. I wonder how we can help them and if we can use this verse. Look up the footnotes! 

Repentance and what the Atonement can do for you.

It's really beautiful all the immense changes that Alma the Younger and his peeps the sons of Mosiah went through and how they changed, how they were changed by the power of the Atonement. Heavenly Father and Jesus are so amazing! The Atonement changed them from being destructive, selfish, ignorant, unkind to the following:

preaching Jesus and explaining the scriptures to all who wanted to listen
teaching with long-suffering (they were kind to the people who didn't want to listen and were mean to them, and they were patient with the ones who took a while to latch on)
publishing peace
comforting people
confirming their faith, their actions showed what they felt and believed to be true.
eager to encourage others to keep the commandments and repent and change and come to a knowledge of their Redeemer

This says to me that they were kind, they didn't force people to listen or change, they went to those who were ready, and they were kind to those who weren't.

Personal Goals

Joseph and I set family goals this year:
1. Save 10% of all income
2. Budget better; spend differently
2. Set monthly goals (e.g. missionary work). Pray for divine guidance in your goal setting!
3. Pray more often and fervently, as a couple and a family


But I want to have my personal goals, too. So here they are:

1. Read scriptures every morning. Wake up at 6:30 am to study.
2. Send 4 articles to publishers this semester
3. Use kind words and kind thoughts. Preach Jesus by the words I use, especially the words I use about others.
4. Weekly plan for meals.
5. Wash the dishes better.
6. Get counseling to enjoy the moment better.
7. Especially after I graduate: keep setting goals; learning goals, too. Learn new things and continue to progress. Don't fall in a stagnant rut when I have little to measure my progression by. Even journal about my progress, often! At least twice a year. Talk about what I have learned and how I have changed. (See: https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/12/young-adults/navigating-the-currents-of-life?cid=HP_MO_1-11-2016_dPFD_fENSN_xLIDyL2-4_&lang=eng)

What measure ye mete

I just learned that the judgments we use to judge others are not only the judgments they will use tonight us, but also and more importantly the judgments God will use to judge us! 

D&C 1:10 Unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man.

Think of King Noah and Mordecai. And 1 Nephi 14:3. Wow. It's pretty literal.

Pay attention to the second verse below. Guard other's names as I would my own.

Karma really is a gospel principle, the idea that what you send out returns to you. Alma 41:14-15 says:

"14 Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.

15 For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all."

This is a good scripture to ponderizing. 

A few scriptures on obedience

I'm applying what I learned in primary yesterday to study just a few scriptures, or just one verse, at a time and try to get as much as I can out of it.

"Keep the Commandments, in this there is safety, in this there is peace." Safety and peace. It's got to be true.

Mosiah 2:22 "All that he requires of you is to keep His commandments." It's true, huh!

What commandments do I have trouble keeping? 

• Having charity for others (Moroni 7:45: "suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things..."). I don't suffer long with some people. I rejoice in the iniquity of talking bad about them and of telling other people, like girlfriends, things they do that annoy me. Crystal, the Potters, Jordan, a few others I can't think of especially. When I am with them, I feel love. It's the image in my mind, the version of them I have created that I don't like. But when I'm with Crystal or the Potters, I feel love for them, and it's easier for me to treat them well. The emotion is the one that I need to cultivate all the time. These are my biggest sins: speaking and feeling poorly about others, being easily provoked, thinking evil of them, rejoiceth in iniquity, bearing all things. I need to bear all things better, realize people aren't perfect, realize that my talking badly about them results in distance from the Spirit and from Heavenly Father. This is a commandment I can keep better. 
• Watching my thoughts, words, deeds (Mosiah 4:30). Sometimes my words don't reflect how I actually feel about things. I say unkind things about other people, or I joke about sacred things.

The verse that I'm dissecting today (Mosiah 2:22) mentions that Heavenly Father never varies from what He says. Why, then, do I need to vary? Why do I sometimes want to keep the commandment, then other times don't? 

The footnote on "keep" leads to several other scriptures that say the same thing, the same formula: keep the commandments and you will prosper, be safe. There are so many promises for us when we keep the commandments. We are safe in the box. We are protected from harm, temptation, falling, eternal sadness, punishment, eternal confusion. 

On the second "keep" (it's interesting that the two different "keeps" have different footnotes), the footnote leads to Psalms 19:9-11: The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgmentsof the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

10  More to be desired are theythan gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keepingof them there is great reward.

Pretty cool. Pretty vivid imagery. His judgments are more to be desired than gold; they are sweeter than honey. Keeping His commandments yields rewards greater than gold and sweeter than honey. 

If you want to be close to Him, spend some alone time with Him.

Uchtdorf said that, and I figure he is probably right. So I am going to spend some alone time with Heavenly Father. I went to the temple this afternoon, and I didn't really like it. I liked the part about Eve and how she is a good mom to us all. She put us before herself and let a really beautiful world to face suffering and hardship, just so we could come. I really love her and appreciate her. I also liked how beautiful the temple is physically, especially the celestial room. I liked how the workers were all nice and that Joseph seemed like he wanted to be there.

Anyway one thing that stuck out to me in my thoughts was obedience. There must be something amiss in my life, something I need to repent of, something I have been disobedient about because I feel cold and spiritually hungry and raw and negative sometimes. It was getting better for a minute, but it's back. I read John 15 and Jesus says that if we are branches on the vine, then we get purged. And we are branches if we have brought forth fruit before. I can't figure out if I am getting purged, or if I am one of the branches that got cut off (meaning I cut myself off, because that's the only reason I would get cut from the vine--if I had disobeyed and didn't deserve to be a part of the vine anymore).

I guess things will probably get better. I'm sure they will if I do what is right. There are still lots of things here and there that hit me, that are sweet and beautiful and assuring, that remind me that this is all true and that Heavenly Father loves me. Like the worker who took me through the veil. I have never felt so strongly that the veil worker represented Heavenly Father, but today it was so clear. I felt Heavenly Father's love for me, and His desire for me to make it to and through the veil.

So I'm going to study repentance right now.

I am watching President Monson's talk "Keep the Commandments" from last conference. He says a few things that I like:
1. Keep the commandments.
2. The adversary is a monster, looking for ways to destroy us. He knows me, and knows what will harm me most.
3. It will take courage.
4. Listen to the still small voice of the Spirit. Follow what He says. It will be harder to hear Him than it will be to hear the voices of the world, the loud, intimidating, persuasive, sophisticated, smart voices of the world.
5. The peace that comes from repentance is quiet and real.

Things I should repent of:
Bitterness toward Jordan
Bitterness toward Crystal, annoyance/impatience too
Speaking irreverently/sarcastically about sacred things
Bad language
Pride
Allowing doubts