How to Survive in Enemy Territory...and more

Yep that's where we live, in enemy territory.  We are constantly surround by attacks and temptations from the adversary.   And I have felt over the past year or more that my foundation that I have been standing on has been shrinking smaller and smaller.  I feel the wind pushing me to and fro, with not even enough room to plant my feet squarely to brace against the wind.  

I skipped Spanish Relief Society this last Sunday and tried to go to English Sacrament, but baby girl would have me staying in any class.  So I ended up in the mother's lounge, but that was okay because baby girl could walk around and jabber and I turned up the speaker and was still able to listen.   A mother, whose children are grown, but still has no less worries about them, got up to speak.  I love listening to her, she's real.  She doesn't sugar coat it, she just says it as it is and then finds a way to laugh about it too.  Her sense of humor is such a relief.  She spoke about prayer.  After exhausting all her normal resources for calming her down during another cancer scare, she then turned to the Lord. Who told her to go outside. She began gardening, but didn't feel better, she then looked up to the Lord and saw two birds flying. One with a chunk out of his wing.  He had had a trauma of some sort, but he was still flying with the healthy bird and just as fast and as well.  Even though we can feel damaged, we can continue on our course, pressing forward, still able to fly and just as well as the bird that was whole. 

Other speaker said his example of getting caught in fog while out in his little boat and praying his way back into the small sandy beach surrounded by rocky shore.  He said that was the only time in his life that his prayers had been answered exactly how he had wanted.  Prayers are just answered in the Lord's way.  

I needed to hear about prayer.  I haven't stopped praying, but I have stopped listening.   I recognize that now, which is good, but I don't know how to get answers to prayers, especially that level I dream of where you are constantly guided by the Holy Ghost.  So how did I get answers before.  Well, I did what I was supposed to do.  I made sure that I was in the right place at the right time.  If there was an extra church meeting that I was invited to attend I knew that if I didn't go I would be missing an opportunity for the Lord to answer my prayers through someone else.  I also went to the temple at least once a month, usually every week.  With all that going on, I felt like reading my scriptures and occasionally would receive answers there.   The obstacles seemed smaller then.  

Now, I feel like I am clambering at any tiny piece of doctrine I can get to feed my soul with.  Longtime ago I listened to a churchy song, which I heard on the radio when I was in Utah last visiting family.  The song, "Oh my Soul Hungered."   Wow, I hadn't realized that's right where I was. Spiritually starving. I try to put myself in the right place ie, church, but I don't understand the language.  And I guess that's how this post all started.  To save the quote written below.  Which is the answer to my questions and my prayer. 

"President Packer closed by saying, “Do not squander these years of seminary instruction  (insert motherhood or life or whatever it is right here).  … If you want to be happy, you must pay the price through obedience."

There it is, that's all it is.  I'm at the crux of it all. What do I want?  I know what I want.  But am I willing to do the work to get there.  I have two spanish books sitting next to my computer.  If I want this to work I've got to do the work and I have to commit to it.  For me that means, putting myself to bed at a decent hour and then getting up at 6 or 6:30 to get "my stuff" done before I start doing everyone else's stuff.  I need to do 15-20 minutes in the scriptures and then 20 minutes of Spanish.   There it is.  

So now that I've got it all mapped out on paper, comes the implementing part.  Oh I'm going to need some serious help accomplishing this one.  I am, by nature, not a morning person.  When 10pm hits I'm wide awake.  I've been resisting this change all my life and as someone once told me, it's time to "embrace" the change.  Embrace it, there it is, I need to change the way I see it.  I need to open my heart to it and welcome it, then it will be possible.   Here goes.  I'll keep you posted. 

Notes

We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.


Don’t limit yourself and don’t let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities.


Courage becomes a worthwhile and meaningful virtue when it is regarded not so much as a willingness to die manfully but as a determination to live decently.
Thomas S. Monson

Rely on Steady Scaffolding by L Tom Perry

“None of us know when the Savior will come again, but I’m quite certain that you sense, as I do, an unmistakable acceleration in the fulfillment of prophecies. Each of us must prepare now to play his or her foreordained part as the final pieces of Heavenly Father’s plan come together in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times. It will require of us much because much has been given to us.”

“Make the honoring of family traditions and the development of new ones a priority throughout your lives,” Elder Perry says. “Studies show that the reason young people join gangs is for the tradition and ritual of belonging to something larger than self. That is what a family should be. Be certain you are creating a rich environment for your family to look forward to in these special times of the year when traditions hold you together as a great eternal family unit.

“Family traditions can offer the basic and lasting support, but there’s a lot that must be built around them. Perhaps family traditions can only work when we create a role for every member of the family and there is a united effort to build them. This means that family members need to spend time together and also learn how to work together. When it comes to families, there is no such thing as quality time without a certain amount of quantity time. … The scaffolding of the Church will help remind you of these eternal priorities.”

As a former retail executive, Elder Perry would attend meetings in which alcoholic beverages were served. Instead of blending in or hiding his morality from his colleagues, Elder Perry determined to order a glass of milk to show everyone his standards and what they meant to him.

“Then a funny thing started to happen,” Elder Perry says. “At future meetings more people started ordering milk and drinking it with me. They confided in me that their wives did not like them drinking because it might impair their driving as they returned home. Instead of feeling awkward during cocktail hours, I soon became the center of conversation. It helped me meet more people and fulfill the purpose to which I was gathering.

“I learned an important lesson from this experience. If I keep my promises to the Lord, He will always keep His promises to me. He would always fulfill His end of the bargain—and much, much more—if I fulfilled mine.” 

Quote of the Day:

Our religion must find expression in our everyday lives. 
George Albert Smith

New Year's Resolutions

The year has already begun, but it's never too late to start something new.  I like to just pick two or three resolutions so as to keep them attainable and easy to remember:

New Year's Resolution;
1. Testify
2. Consistant
3. Attend the temple once every month.

Since I have been attending church in Spanish for almost 3 years now, I now understand a little bit of what is going on some of the time, however, making comments has only happened 4 or 5 times.  I never realized how something so simple as making comments in church can be so vital to our testimonies. 

What is Grace?

Knowing I was going to be washing dishes for about an hour, I decided to get something out of it too.  I turned to the BYU Speeches website and clicked on the first speech, it looked good enough to give my "mom brain" some stimulation.  I must say that I wasn't expecting what I got.  This was the best, clearest, simplest definition of Grace that I have ever heard.  Mostly because I've heard much about Grace but still never got it.  Brother Wilcox's explanation and example help me to understand Grace at a level that now I can apply it in my life.  I understand now how Grace can help me with the areas I'm struggling, while I am doing all I can do. Grace can help strengthen me even though I am attending church in spanish and don't understand what is going on (my own personal doctrinal drought). Grace will help me to become a better mother, be patient with my children when I'm at the edge, see clearly when the fog of life is surrounding me.   I think that I am going to have to listen and read this talk two or three more times to really get the depth of understanding that is available through this talk.   I hope you read or listen to it--it lightened my load just by learning the doctrine of Grace through Jesus Christ.  Hearing these words has sparked that small warm fuzzy in my heart which gives me a bit more determination to keep trying.  I really needed that.  I miss feeling that way all the time, but tonight I just put one little drop of oil in my lamp.  Keep practicing.


I was going to copy the text of the talk here, but it is a bit long and was having trouble copying and pasting.  Just click here and download the free MP3 or free PDF of the whole talk.

Here are some of my favorite quotes I heard tonight:

“Jesus doesn’t make up the difference. Jesus makes all the difference. Grace is not about filling gaps. it is about filling us.”

 "We will all be resurrected. We will all go back to God’s presence. What is left to be determined by our obedience is what kind of body we plan on being resurrected with and how comfortable we plan to be in God’s presence and how long we plan to stay there.”

"Christ asks us to show faith in Him, repent, make and keep covenants, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. By complying, we are not paying the demands of justice—not even the smallest part. Instead, we are showing appreciation for what Jesus Christ did by using it to live a life like His. Justice requires immediate perfection or a punishment when we fall short. Because Jesus took that punishment, He can offer us the chance for ultimate perfection (see Matthew 5:48, 3 Nephi 12:48) and help us reach that goal. He can forgive what justice never could, and He can turn to us now with His own set of requirements (see 3 Nephi 28:35)."

"Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. How many know what I am talking about? Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve.  And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice."

"In the same way, because Jesus has paid justice, He can now turn to us and say, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19), “Keep my commandments” (John 14:15). "

"Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said, referring to President Spencer W. Kimball’s explanation, “The repenting sinner must suffer for his sins, but this suffering has a different purpose than punishment or payment. its purpose is change” (The Lord’s Way [Salt lake city: deseret Book, 1991], 223; emphasis in original). Let’s put that in terms of our analogy: The child must practice the piano, but this practice has a different purpose than punishment or payment. Its purpose is change."

Okay, There are just too many good quotes. I'm gonna have to stop copying them, you've got to read/listen to the whole thing.