Temple thoughts and other stuff

I've been reading the Book of Mormon quickly, trying to not re-read or look up too many footnotes, and also trying to look at it like it was my first time reading it. It's so good. I like how clear it is about Christ.

Tonight I read Enos and Jarom, and I asked Heavenly Father beforehand to teach me something He wanted me to learn (leftover from going to the temple yesterday, in case I missed something while I was there--because I'd been feeling like I needed to go to the temple, and it was a great experience, but nothing earth-shattering--see below). In Enos, I realized that Enos may not have been a bad guy. I always thought his repentance process was because he was really sinful. Maybe not. Maybe he just went through that wrestling with God because he was becoming more refined and consecrated--not necessarily because of serious sin.

I can apply this to me by thinking about different experiences or callings in my life. Becoming a mother. Getting married. Getting a new calling. Having an experience where you feel you need to play a certain role in someone's life or do something. Figuring out the Lord's will for you, etc. It reminded me of in Jacob when he says he got his "errand of the Lord" by visiting the temple.

Ok and here, about the temple. It was so nice. I did 10 names in initiatories,and all the workers made me feel so good, like they really needed me there and were so happy to see me. It made me feel really special.  I also learned a bit about "anointed." And how it means like set apart for something, but not necessarily ordained. I used to think that the initiatory was kind of like us women getting the priesthood, once we're in the next life and if we get sealed to a husband in this life. But it's not that, I don't think, although we get all the blessings of the priesthood. But being anointed is getting set apart for something (the calling of becoming a queen and priestess) and cleansed in preparation for something (all the blessing in the anointing section of initiatory, and also the clothing one). It also has to do with oil. I'm basing these three definitions of "anoint" off of the TG entry on that word.

I liked the temple. I felt love. I felt to pray for the YW presidency, my priesthood leaders, and my dear friends who are having faith struggles. I felt close to Heavenly Father. And grateful for opportunities to have spiritual exposures in life.

BoM is sufficient

2nd Nephi 33 verse 10 and 25 or 28 are so good. They just say that the Book of Mormon is sufficient for us to know how to follow Christ. And it teaches all men what we should do and that we should do good

Grateful for Jesus

I just read 2nd Nephi 9. It is such a great chapter. Jacob is so serious and sincere and full of power about the atonement, and Jesus Christ and coming into Jesus Christ and using what he did for us to help us, save us, bring us joy. You can tell that Jacob just feels like the answer is so clear, and it's because he's experienced what it feels like when you know Jesus. I'm grateful for Jesus and what he did for me in the atonement, and that I know I will answer to him.

Don't fear or be ashamed

Isaiah is cool amd carries this theme.

2 Nephi 7:7 For the Lord God will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed.
8 And the Lord is near, and he justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me, and I will smite him with the strength of my mouth.
9 For the Lord God will help me. And all they who shall condemn me, behold, all they shall wax old as a garment, and the moth shall eat them up.

8:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment; and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart I have written my law, fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool. But my righteousness shall be forever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
12 I am he; yea, I am he that comforteth you. Behold, who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of man, who shall die, and of the son of man, who shall be made like unto grass?
13 And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth, and hast feared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor?

Don't fear what people think of me. Anyone. Focus on Christ's love and salvation.

Behind every person

Three times in Acts Paul mentions what jesus said when He stopped Paul in the way: I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.

Behind everyone paul was mean to was Jesus.

That phrase must have haunted him and inspired the way he lived.

What to teach children

This also applies to youth.

2 Nephi 25:26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins

Teach them enough so at least they will know where to look when times get hard.

Do all you can

Do all you can to qualify for what he has in store for me.

Keep all commandments, and fully.

Holy ghost

Do I believe that the Holy Ghost can comfort me? Do I believe that He will?

Mercy and justice relationship

There needs to be both justice and mercy. You can't ref a basketball game just with mercy. There needs to be justice. And use God's laws as a basis. I dont have to decide what the commandments are.

Those who fall away

Omg. See the TG under Adversity of Individuals.

Wake up with...

Wake up with a happy expectation of the Holy Ghost. Amd what He can do for you.

Patience

We must have it in order to have patience. Four of the qualities needed for charity relate to patience in 1 Corinthians 13

Serving others

Perhaps our effort to love our enemies [Our whomever] will soften their hearts and influence them for good. Perhaps it will not. But that does not change our commitment to follow Jesus Christ.

Loving others

We are responsible for our own discipleship, and it has little—if anything—to do with the way others treat us. We obviously hope that they will be understanding and charitable in return, but our love for them is independent of their feelings toward us.

UCHTDORF

Pleasing God

This is good. Do I try to please God or others?

See 1 Nephi 6:5 and the footnotes.

1 Nephi 1

The BofM must start off in an an inspired way, right? Today as I read it, I tried to have the perspective of someone who is reading it for the first time. With that perspective in mind, the first chapter of the Book of Mormon seems to be a perfect way to show that Lehi had to take his family away from Jerusalem, and therefore settle in America. It also established Lehi as an inspired prophet.

Knowing God's will for others

First you have to love them. Then you have to pray to know their needs. Sometimes you have to ask their parents for tips too.

When I'm sad about bad choices of others

O Lord, wilt thou give me strength, that I may bear with mine infirmities. For I am infirm, and such wickedness among this people doth pain my soul

Alma 36: 24-36

I can ask for strength, patience, and comfort. 

General womens session

Ways to be a woman of influence (Kimball

2. Be articulate. Say clearly and peacefully and non contentiously how I feel and why I feel that way. Why I stay in the church...why I believe the prophet...

MARRIOTT

I need to learn about God and always strengthen my relationship with him. Find out his will. Fall to my knees when I have trials.

Put his will first. Plead that Christ can cleanse me. Plead more. Always ask what His will is, see through my personal agenda (with YW and parenting).

This will all help with my relationships with others. He will share his love for others with me.

SOMEONE

I'm part of a church that teaches that I am a woman have individual with and purpose. That I matter.

"Worth"and "worthiness" are not the same. Worht is infinite, taintless, and lasts forever. We cant do anything to change our worth.

Savor the sweet whisperings of the HG. Those times verify our worth. And at those moments we are counted worthy to receive that gift.

Our LOVE for Him needs to be greater than the ENERGY we give to our weaknesses. Same with the ENERGY we give to the world give to temptation. 

UCHTDORF

Our love for others shouldn't depend on how they feel toward us.

Don't villify those I don't agree with. Don't demean them. That's the first step to Nazism. Love my enemies. Love those I don't agree with.

If you leave, where would you go? Problems with church history: what does that change? The church focuses on what's important, like families and that we are children of God. But other, non important things. 

Blessed us to find peace and to walk in the path of discipleship. 

Measures of personal spiritual success

Read ensign talk. Septemebr 2017.

Have I repented daily?

Am I trying?

Am I making choices that strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement?

Am I committed to keeping my covenants (even though my efforts are imperfect)?

Am I repenting daily?

Am I learning how to better recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost and follow them?

Am I joyfully enduring to the end or have I given up trying?

Stake conference

*In teaching the YW, discern their needs and teach to those needs. Pray to know their needs as I prepare. And to know God's will for them.

*BEHOLD: Behold others by seeing them, who they are and what they can become. Behold them, then love them, then teach them.

*Read Mothers Who Know. They testify often. They teach, not babysit. Equally tilted with Fathers of Faith.

*Repentance isn't just what is supposed to happen when we mess up. It's the plan! Repentance isn't a bad thing. It's a blessing! Joyous and wonderful and it's something ee should always be doing!

*If I let annoyance or whatever get too far ahead of me, I end go looking the spirit. I should nip it at the bud instead, for the sake of preserving the Spirit. Think, what will I miss out on without the Spirit? What revelation will I miss? What feelings will I miss?

*Take care that my use of media doesn't 1) full my Spirit or 2) affect my relationships (such as replace valuable interactions) with other people. Don't partake in anything that shows violence or immorality as acceptable. There is no neutral ground in the universe. Each inch of ground is either claimed by God or by Satan. Get offended and be offended and turn things off.

*Pray about family media use. How to do it. How to earn it. How to limit it.

*YW: Figure out and pray about ways to enable the YW to do things...rides, phone calls, fasting. Ask THEM what we need to do. See them as resources and wealths of knowledge and ideas and faith.

Songs unsung

I feel so heartbroken about Lauren Havertz not being active anymore. I could cry at any moment about it. We shared so many spiritual experiences together and she's forgotten them. I listened to Holland's April 17 talk about how there is a place for everyone in God's choir. And how He wants us to come as we are and then to allow Jesus and His Atonement to change me. He wants every level of timber and tone and color, each unique characteristic of every voice. His gospel is all I inclusive but not because he wants us to be the same. He WANTS the variety.

Tm

*1/27 Heavenly Father helped me a lot this week. I've been struggling having patience with Conley because he's been having lots of accidents, both number 1 and 2, and he's been running away from me when we leave public places, after throwing a fit. I haven't really known what to do. I put holds on some books at the library, and I'm looking forward to those. Then I prayed and asked really fervently for patience (because I'd lost my temper quite a few times at him; and I hate that, because I really love him, and because I know that patience and calmness are two crucial parenting strategies). And Heavenly Father really helped me today. He gave me the idea to give Conley a thinking time right when he is starting to throw a fit--before we even leave. And I did that twice today, and he listened better. It wasn't perfect, he still squirmed when we got in the car, but it was much better, and I kept my cool and showed him love and patience. 

*Also, I had weird vibes from Kayla again, and I prayed that I would just be able to show her love and feel it for real and not feel weird, like we had to compete or anything like that. And it worked. It felt great and normal friends.

*I also have bit my tongue and not said unkind things about people to Joseph, and Heavenly Father has helped me do that.

*I had a commute today, alone, and thought to pray, and it was just a really nice experience. I learned things and realized most of the above during that time. And I got to think about the YW. 

*Joseph didn't get mad when I forgot my card at Costco.
*I have had unasked prayers answered.  Particularly about personal disappointments aabout YW not wanting to participate and about or friends having hard times with the church.
*lulu came to YW and had a great time
*Conley took a nap, so o got to read my scriptures

*Rachel canceled a canning date we had. It was on a day I had already done something, so I felt overwhelmed already and didn't want to do something else.
*Conley took a nap during my first presidency meeting.
*I have felt more poignantly the worth of my children. And how fortunate I am to stay home with them.
*9/14 Everyone slept in late and I got to read my scriptures.

Praying without real intent

Moroni says it's evil to pray without real intent. Not just that it doesn't profit you, but that it's evil. 

Temple thoughts 1

1. Protect my children. Teach them the gospel and how to be safe and happy.
2. Satan said, "I have said nothing of Father." A lot of his tactics these days include just simply forgetting the Father. It can be deceiving because some harmful things don't explicitly say anything against God, but they are still harmful.
3. ลองดู with asking if there are any unkind feelings before family prayer.

I am a sinful man

I'm reading all the references under Jesus in the TG, and so far I'm still in the summary part. And what touched me today was Luke 5:8, and that Simon Peter was so humbled and inadequate-feeling when he saw what Jesus could do, when he saw what he Peter could do with Jesus's help. He immediately recognized his sins and wanted to get rid of them in order to feel worthy of His presence. This is interesting ans applied to missionary work: when we help others taste of the love of Christ, they want to get to know Him. 

Gcs for YW

Trust in the Lord and lean not unto thine own understanding
Acknowledge him. Do this by:

1 feasting upon the word. "More scriptures enlighten our minds, nourish our spirits, answer our questions, increase our trust in the Lord, and help us center our lives on Him."

2 Pray. "As we make a habit of approaching Heavenly Father in prayer, we will come to know the Savior. We will come to trust Him. Our desires will become more like His. We will be able to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that Heavenly Father is ready to give if we will but ask in faith."

3 Serve. "Service enabled her to withstand her pain and afflictions and to live this scripture: 'When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.'"

Women's conference

-God is a giver, not a taker. Pay attention to the girfts He has given me. Pay attention to the difficulties I face, and try to see them as gifts, as something that will help me and allow me to be helpful to him.

-God is a giver, not a taker. Pay attention to the girfts He has given me. Pay attention to the difficulties I face, and try to see them as gifts, as something that will help me and allow me to be helpful to him.

Ok. I want to BELIEVE this. So I'm goinf to LET Him give to me. And I need to do my part. By going to bed early and getting up early every day. So I can have at least 30 solid minutes of scripture study.  And I'm going to ask Him to give me the gifts of patience and a calm heart. And to know And abide by my limits.

-Meekness comes before faith and any other principle. Meekness isn't weakness. Imagine a stallion that stops from a full gallop at the voice of his master. Meekness is recognizing where strength comes. And knowing why it's important.

-Make a list of things I expect myself to do, the world, and God.

-Sis Nelson: what's your premortal to do list?

Ask God what He thinks of what I'm doing with my life. Pay attention to this feeling; "there's something not quite right..." With family or self or whatever. What needs to change?

-If you can remember where you were when a promoting came, it probably is the spirit. Or if it's chastisement.

-Ask the Lord if He is happy with the way I spend time.

Matthew 23:23

-MAKE time for the Lord. Go to the temple.

-Have faith that we can get specific answers to prayers and questions.

-Dispatch angels to help people in earth and myself.

-21 days of sacrificing my time for family history and temple work

Every night at 9 do 10 minutes of th and go to the temple at least twice

-The scriptures are a manual for the temple. Study the scriptures and look for stuff about the temple.

Treat the temple as an iv. Let myself be attached to it and get life from it.  I must be attached to the vine (Christ) to handle my challenges.

Pray to fulfill the measure of my creation. To the mission he has in store for me. Things that may need to change:

Associates

Internet use

Social media

How I use my time

Education

Work

Temple use

News exposure

General conference is something I need to prepare for. It is a time when heaven and earth come together. It is Heavenly Father and Jesus speaking to me.

Sis Nelson taught is to repent and prepare in haste for the second coming.

Teach your children what it really means to be a child of god. Teach them how to pray. Heavenly Father wants a morning hug and kiss and greeting. They don't need to be long or fancy.

Understand About Christ:

His mission--to bring salvation and immortality

His ministry

Daddys read scriptures to the children.

Read the proclamation as a family and understand it.

Give correction ocassionally. And only in private and lovingly, quietly. In public, praise them. Find and point out their strengths.

Teach them to be missionaries. Teach them to focus in the temple. Bring the kids to tithing setttlement. Give them money and teach them to pay tithing. Teach them about education. When they get bad grades, encourage them and tell them to keep trying. 

Hr bkessed us

To be god neighbors. To have warm and eowceful and invitijng homes

To deast on the word

Is was a bkessing, not a commandment

Take heed

34 ¶ And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares

I think it's important for me to remember this in my life. It has to do with my p blessing too, where it says that I don't need to know a lot of things that are current in the earth...

Serve

President Hinckley in chapter 14 days that the greatest antidote to selfishness, loneliness, so on, is service. Serve others with an eye single to the glory of God and your body and heart and soul will be filled with light.

Art thou greater than He?

Adversity helps us be better friend and family members and examples because it teaches us how to empathize.

Winds that push

Ether 6. Sometimes when life is hard it does feel like we are at a standstill. But Ether 6 describes it as always moving forward, the winds always pushing the barges forward. Always toward the place God wanted them to be. And what's more, they ALWAYS had the light of the rocks to light their lives and lighten their hearts. 

Gratitude

Having gratiutde is a way to course correct, to remember God, to bring the Spirit, to overcome mean-heartedness.

No matter where we are on the gratitude spectrum, we can improve it.

Dont inhale it 1

President Uchtdorf's most recent talk has good advice on how to avoid being prideful in your calling or seeking the glory for yourself. He says to view others as Heavenly father's children and to do things out of pure love for them. I like that idea because even with huge callings they are truly just doing it because they love the children they serve, each one. That makes every calling really important and also equal, because we are all his children.

Another piece of advice is to do service and do each calling as a step toward greater discipleship. So to view our actions as drawing us closer to the savior because it is service. Then when I was thinking of is just to involve heavenly father in my calling.

Shadow by day

I'm singing in a stake choir for a special Stake conference where an Apostle's going come next month, and last night the conductor pointed out that in Redeemer of Israel, it talks about the Shadow by day and the pillar by night. And although it isn't like scriptural examples nowadays, where a physical Shadow or or pillar lead people and was a representation of Christ, she points out that our garments and the cabinets with made in the temple are a symbol of Christ and heavenly father being with us always and protecting us and leading us. This came at a good time because I've been wondering why garments are important. And also I've been wanting to strengthen my testimony of them.

Glory to God, not self

The spirit chastised me yesterday about thinking I was good at my calling. I heard myself say it out loud, and realize that I was doing things and and expecting things for my own glory and not the Lord's. And so I tried to start repenting and asking the Lord how did you better about this and to not inhale compliments and especially to not seek them. Today in scripture study he told me that one way to do that is by involving him more in the process of my calling. I should involve him with the hymns that I choose the people I choose to perform in the songs I choose, Etc.

Also, Mormon 9:28

"Ask not, that ye may consume it on your lusts, but ask with a firmness unshaken, that ye will yield to no temptation, but that ye will serve the true and living God."

Obedience

I read a talk by Clayton and a chapter by President Hinckley that are both about obeying the simple things. Our seems a temptation to do otherwise might show itself soon.

Holy ghost

Based on Rasband's talk, I need to ask for the HG each day and live worthy of Him.  I need to think about the Savior so I can have the HG with me. Also I need to have faith that the HG will give me promptings throughout the day to help me. And then I need to act on them, as though it were an emergency and I were a first responder. As though the Lord were relying on me.

The lord helps those who help themselves

Today's scripture reading was cool because i remembered to ask the question, "What doctrine is being taught?" And I learned and enjoyed it all more. Here it was.

Mormon 2. Mormon led his armies and sometimed they had success. But either way they were left to their own strength because they were unrighteous and didn't seek the Lord. He can't help those who don't help themselves. And people can experience success without him, but not spiritual.

Motherhood

Motherhood thus becomes a holy calling, a sacred dedication for carrying out the Lord's plans.

First presidency, 1942

Studying by faith

The reason it is important to study with faith is because that is how learning becomes knowledge. Also because it shows that we acknowledge that God know all things and knows them perfectly, and having faith allows him to teach us those things or to improve or become perfect about certain things.

Agency in gospel learning

Self reliant gospel learner

“let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me” (see Jeremiah 9:23–24).

What doctrine is being taught in these verses, and what do I learn about that doctrine?
Where and when have I seen this gospel principle effectively applied?
What do I learn about Heavenly Father and His plan for my happiness?
What do I learn about Jesus Christ and His Atonement?
What does the Lord want me to learn from this?
What inspired thoughts and feelings am I receiving as I read?
Is there something here that helps me with a current challenge in my life?
What do I learn that will help me live from day to day?

Parenting without anger

Think about where the anger is coming from. Is it actually another emotion? Like stress? Lack of sleep? Etc.

Think about the kid as a newborn before you yell at him. I wouldn't yell at the newborn. So don't yell at the kid.

Ask them to help you with how you're feeling and tell them how you are feeling. 

Think about what you think the perfect parent is. Then forget about it.... Focus on doing your best and slowly improving and keeping them alive.

Holiness

I want to increase the holiness in my home. That requires that I

Increase my own holiness.
Sit at the feet of the Savior.
Give time to holiness. Set aside my phone and my to do list.
Do and say and think things that invite the Spirit as my companion.
Develop Christlike attributes
Realize and remember my dependence on the Lord

Sabbath day

Prepare in advance. Clothes and meals schedules and snacks.

Study what I want to focis on

Repent all week and think about what I need to repent of.

Connecting prayers

Eyring said one way to improve prayers is to connect our morning prayers to our evening prayers....checking in, following up, repenting of....

Feeling the Holy Ghost means we are being sanctified and we are being remitted of our sins. 

Getting closer to Christ

Prayer can help us grow closer to Christ. He is our advocate. So when we pray to the Father we get closer to Christ. Faust said that when we pray fervently daily, we open up a flow of revelation and love and communication from Christ.

Working on my relationship with Jesus and Heavenly Father maybe is how I can figure out repentance and forgiveness right now. Because I'm at a loss.

Stake conference

Doing family history work can help protect us and give us strength against the adversary.

Doing family history work might help me enjoy the temple and learn more about it. 

A kid who recently got baptized talked about how the biggest change in him and his life was more love and compassion. That's the real influence of Christ. His and his family's conversions took a while and had lots of factors, and some of them were just LDS people being kind to them. This makes me want to be kind and talk to others.

Going to the temple precedes desire to keep going.

Overcoming adversity:
1 pray with gratitude
2 feast on his word
3 serve and share the gospel
4 look for joy

Getting revelation

Why is it dangerous to expect marvelous or astonishing visions or manifestations?

One reason is because we cant tell the Lord how to give us an answer. He will do it how he wants to.

Also, burning in the bosom isn't always physical. It also isn't the only way to recieve revelation.

I'm in a war with Satan and the first thing he wants to do is to cut off the communication between me and God.  He will make me forget to pray or not want to.

"The adversary’s design is to distract us from spiritual witnesses, while the Lord’s desire is to enlighten and engage us in His work."

Rasband 10/16

Remember to immerse myself in things that will grow my faith and pray to remember times that it was strong. And also write down experiences of spiritual note.

Becoming like God

These qualities aren't each equal and independent. They build upon and lead to each other.

2 Peter 1:5-10

Get revelation

Gotta

Be humble
Be meek
Repent
Be obedient
Ask
Act
Be studying the scriptures

D&C 5:24

Asking inspired questions

TISW has some things about asking inspired questions. I want to apply the suggestions to my own personal learning, like the talk in Sunday taught me about. So here are some:

Ask questions (to myself) that give me a chance to bear my testimony.

Ask myself questions that encourage self-evaluation. Like when Jesus was asking Peter if he loved Him, and He asked Peter three times, Peter realizes on the last time that God knows all things and the point of Jesus's asking was for Peter to know the answer for himself, the real answer. And that that he needed to reflect on what that real answer was.