Before Joseph began translating again after losing the 116 page manuscript, the Lord gave him the counsel which is recorded in D&C 10:3–5, the latter part of which could apply to any of us as we set our feet on the right path after repenting.

3 Nevertheless, it is now ^arestored unto you again; therefore see that you are faithful and continue on unto the finishing of the remainder of the work of ^btranslation as you have begun.

 4 Do not run ^afaster or labor more than you have ^bstrength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be ^cdiligent unto the end.

 5 ^aPray always, that you may come off ^bconqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may ^cescape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.

Doctrine & Covenants 3:4

For although a man may have many ^arevelations, and have^bpower to do many mighty works, yet if he ^cboasts in his own^dstrength, and sets at naught the ^ecounsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and ^fcarnal desires, he must fall and incur the ^gvengeance of a ^hjust God upon him.

D & C 3:19-20 

And for this very ^apurpose are these ^bplates ^cpreserved, which contain these records—that the ^dpromises of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he made to his ^epeople;

 20 And that the ^aLamanites might come to the knowledge of their fathers, and that they might know the ^bpromises of the Lord, and that they may ^cbelieve the gospel and ^drely upon the merits of Jesus Christ, and be ^eglorified through faith in his name, and that through their repentance they might be saved. Amen.

I think that it is interesting that D &C 2 speaks of Elijah and turning the hearts of the children toward their fathers.  And then the Lord in D & C 3 states that a reason for the Book of Mormon is teach the descendents of the Nephites and Lamanites the promises made to their fathers, thus turning their hearts to their fathers. 

Learning the language of the Spirit

My main goal this year with studying the book of Doctrine and Covenants is to learn how to be guided by the Spirit on a regular basis in my life.  This weekend I realized one way that the Spirit speaks to me.  Just a thought.  Yep that's it, just a thought.  Sunday morning a thought popped into my head.  It was something that would be nice if I did, but wouldn't be noticeable at all if I didn't.   I thought, yeah maybe I should do that.  And then before I knew it I was getting the kids dressed for church, packing snacks, getting myself ready for church and the opportunity to do what I had thought of had passed.  I recognize now that that is how the Spirit speaks to me, but once again I had allowed distractions, excuses, and busyness to take the place of following the Spirit.

I remember that in one of the recent conference addresses President Monson had taught us that when a prompting comes don't wait, act immediately.  These promptings are fleeting moments and if we don't act immediately more frequently, we have lost the opportunity.    Unfortunately sometimes I learn things the hard way.

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