Mountains to Climb

After praying this morning I began searching for something on faith on the Mormon Channel. I added a couple of things to my playlist and then suddenly this video began playing.  It was just what I needed to hear.

Parenting Handbook: Chapter 1

Children don't come with instruction manuals, but we do have our scriptures to teach us how to raise our children.    From my free online Doctrine & Covenants class we have been studying the Armor of God as mentioned in Ephesians 6:11-18 as well as Doctrine & Covenants 27:15-18.

A Quote by Harold B. Lee was shared and I feel like it provides us parents with knowledge as to how to protect our children today.

Now the loins are that part of the body between the lower rib and the hip into which you will recognize are the vital organs which have to do with reproduction. . . . And so he was saying that that part of the body was one of the most vulnerable. We should have our loins girt about with armor. . . . Next we would have a breastplate over the heart. Now in the scriptures you will remember that the heart has always been used to typify our conduct. . . .

. . . Now there we have the four parts of the body that the Apostle Paul said or saw to be the most vulnerable to the powers of darkness. The loins typify virtue and chastity. The heart typifys our conduct. Our feet, our goals or objectives in life and finally our head, our thoughts. . . .

. . . We should have our loins girt about with truth. What is truth? Truth, the Lord said, was knowledge of things as they are, things as they were and things as they are to come . . . . What is going to guide us along the path of proper morals or proper choices? It will be the knowledge of truth. There must be a standard by which we measure our conduct else how shall we know which is right? . . . "Our loins shall be girt about with truth," the prophet said.

And the heart, what kind of a breastplate shall protect our conduct in life? We shall have over our hearts a breastplate of righteousness. Well, having learned truth we have a measure by which we can judge between right and wrong and so our conduct will always be gaged by that thing which we know to be true. Our breastplate to cover our conduct shall be the breastplate of righteousness.

What shall . . . protect our feet, or by what shall we gage our objectives or goals in life? . . . "Your feet [should be] shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." (Ephesians 6:15.) Interesting? What is the gospel of peace? The whole core and center of the gospel of peace was built around the person of Him who was cradled in the manger, of whom on that night the angels sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace good-will to men." Or to put it even more correctly, "on earth peace to men of good-will." Our feet should be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace to them of good-will. . . .

And then finally the helmet of salvation. Did you ever hear of that kind of a helmet? The helmet of salvation. What is salvation? Salvation is to be saved. Saved from what? Saved from death and saved from sin. . . .

. . . The Apostle Paul said, in effect, "A helmet of salvation shall guide our thinkings all through our days." Well, as we think that through, let me review them again for just a moment, to get the full significance. Truth to safeguard our virtue; righteousness to keep our conduct right; the preparation of the gospel of peace to guide our course and to set our standards and aims in life; salvation, a return back to the presence of the Lord shall be the inhibiting promise and a motivating objective to guide us on to the victory of life over death. That is what it means. . . .

Well, now the Apostle Paul went one step further. He didn't leave the man just with the armour on and expect him to cope against an army, seen or unseen. He had his armoured man holding in his hand a shield and in his other hand a sword, which were the weapons of those days. That shield was the shield of faith and the sword was the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. I can't think of any more powerful weapons than faith and a knowledge of the scriptures in which are contained the Word of God. One so armoured and one so prepared with those weapons is prepared to go out against the enemy that is more to be feared than the enemies of the light. . . . [the] more to be feared than the enemies that come in the daylight that we can see are the enemies that strike in the darkness of the night that we can't see with our eyes. (Harold B. Lee, Feet Shod with the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year [Provo, 9 Nov. 1954], pp. 2–3, 6–7.)

This gives us as parents a great guide as to what are the best things to teach our children. Not just to protect them defensively against Satan, but giving them offensive weapons that will help our children to progress and build the kingdom of God.   This quote strengthens my resolve to have my little children read and know the scriptures, for it is their sword with which they will fight their battles in life.

Faith

Today I ended up on Seth Adam Smith's blog reading his posting about faith.   This quote from his blog made me rethink about my experiences (trials) over the last few years.  While I have struggled through years of church in another language, feeling starved for spirituality and feeling like my faith was diminishing quickly, I wondered why when I need spiritual experiences most am I in a place where I don't understand them while they are going on all around me.  His blog quote says:

Doubt—opposition to our faith—actually gives us the ability to strengthen our faith. So keep in mind that if Lehi’s formula of opposition is true, then opposition will grow in proportion to our faith. Ironically, the more we increase in faith, the more our faith will be tested and opposed. It’s a law of nature that must be observed.

Maybe instead of my faith slipping, it was just me being pushed to greater faith because of greater opposition.  Maybe my faith was stronger than I realized.  I really liked this posting I read on Seth Adam Smith's blog, it's a good read.

No woman can afford...

Today I am studying D & C 25 which is a revelation received by Joseph Smith to his wife Emma, however in the last verse (16) it says, "And verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my voice unto all. Amen." Although is was received for Emma, it applies to all.

In Doctrine and Covenants 25 verse 2 it reads: "A revelation I give unto you concerning my will; and if thou art faithful and walk in the paths of virtue before me, I will preserve thy life, and thou shalt receive an inheritance in Zion."

This verse caught my eye since recently I was reading about doing the will of the Lord instead of my own will. And I'm currently trying to figure out what the Lord's will is for me.  This verse clearly states what the Lord's will is for us as his children.  This next quote I read in my online Doctrine and Covenants independent study class.

"In very large measure each of us holds the key to the blessings of the Almighty upon us. If we wish the blessing, we must pay the price. A part of that price lies in being faithful. Faithful to what? Faithful to ourselves, to the very best that is within us. No woman can afford to demean herself, to belittle herself, to downgrade her abilities or her capacities. Let each be faithful to the great, divine attributes that are within her. Be faithful to the gospel. Be faithful to the Church. We have all about us those who are seeking to undermine it, to look for weaknesses in its early leaders, to find fault with its programs, to speak critically of it. I give you my testimony that it is the work of God and those who speak against it are speaking against him.

Be faithful to him. He is the one true source of your strength. He is your Father in Heaven. He lives. He hears and answers prayers. Be faithful to God." (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, Nov. 1984, p. 90; or Conference Report, Oct. 1989, p. 111.)

I love this quote in so many ways:

1)    When he says "No woman can afford to demean herself, to belittle herself, to downgrade her abilities or her capacities."  This fills me with strength to do one the things that I have been struggling to do all these years--Wake early, before kids, and study the scriptures, for one.  I can always find an excuse as to why this won't work on any given day, but it doesn't matter, because I feel like this has been a commandment given to me and regardless of what time my kids fall asleep (11 pm last night) or what time I finally got to bed (12:40 am) I still need that time of peace and quiet to study and hopefully listen to the will of the Lord.  I love how President Hinckley counsels me that I can't afford to downgrade my ability. I am capable of waking that early and studying and the more I do it the more it will be a habit and become easier.  And so I will set my alarm for 5 am again (since my spicy toddler wakes between 6 and 6:30 even when she didn't fall asleep until 11 pm.)  The Lord helped me to wake yesterday when my mom accidentally and unknowingly called me at 5 am my time when she was going into work-an unusual blessing.

2)   To a large degree, we hold the key to blessings from our Father, according to our faithfulness.  I love his perspective on faithfulness. Frequently we discuss faithfulness almost as a check list of commandments.  But he points out that we are to be "Faithful to ourselves, to the very best that is within us."  We ourselves were taught our first lessons in the premortal existence and to those truths that we know in our hearts we are to be faithful.  The very best that is within us is also our divine potential as we are the spirit children of God, our Heavenly Father.  As his children we possess divine qualities and character traits.  And as His children, and through the atonement of Christ we all possess the ability to return to our Heavenly Father, to become like Him.  That is what we need to be faithful to. Those are the things that are the very best within all of us. It's easy, so easy to loose sight of this when the world is constantly putting us down, trying to tell us we are less than, not good enough.  I love that Heavenly Father and His prophet haven't lost sight of our goodness within and our potential.  And gently, they  remind us of who we are to become.  Quite the contrast from the bombardment of noisy lies and misconceptions that come from the world and Satan.  And thus it brings me back to the point that I need to be up in the early morning, reading, and listening to that still small voice to guide me in these truths.

3)   President Hinckley.  This quote comes from President Hinckley.  The prophet that preceeded the current prophet, President Monson.  All prophets are called of God, I know that, but I loved President Hinckley.  And part of the reason why I felt so much love for him was because each time he spoke I felt so much love from him.  Even though he was the prophet for the whole world, all of those millions of people. It felt like he knew me individually.  It felt like he was praying for me.  He had that gift of God, the capacity to love everyone and for me to feel it.  It is how I imagine Christ is.  With so many people that have lived on this earth from Adam to now, Christ is able to know each one of us, individually, he knows what our pains, concerns, weaknesses, strengths, and desires are. Christ loves us and we can feel it.  President Hinckley was a great example to me of this Christ-like love.  So when President Hinckley says, "Be faithful to him. He is the one true source of your strength. He is your Father in Heaven. He lives. He hears and answers prayers. Be faithful to God."  I believe it, even when my faith is weak, because I feel that love from him and I know that it comes from God.

Check out my next posting on "And Walk in the Paths of Virtue" (D & C 25:2).

What is My Will?

Today's lesson is “I Seek Not Mine Own Will, but the Will of the Father”.  I have been evaluating myself recently on the subject of pride and have been recognizing how my pride had influenced my decisions to my detriment.  Here are some quotes from the lesson that are giving me insights into moving forward with no regrets.

"When we seek God’s will, we follow a course in which there will be no failure."

"There is a course for every person to pursue in which there will be no failure. It will apply to temporal as well as spiritual matters. The Lord has given us the keyword in these verses that I have read from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants:

“If your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you, and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Therefore sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God.” [D&C 88:67–68.]"

I want to be filled with light and comprehend all things, or even just more than I understand right now.  This scripture tells me how I can be filled with light and filled with happiness--seek God's will first in all things.

Even our Savior, Christ the Lord, our perfect example said:  “I can of mine own self do nothing.” [John 5:30.]

Lorenzo Snow commented:

"It is remarkable that the God who made the worlds, who came down here clothed with flesh, performed mighty miracles, and sacrificed his life on Mount Calvary for the salvation of the human family—that He should say,“I can of mine own self do nothing.” And He goes on to say:

“As I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” [John 5:30.]

That is a wonderful saying, and there is a great deal in it. Now, what we want is to have that spirit in every act of our lives and in every undertaking, whether temporal or spiritual, and not think of self. We should try to ascertain how we should spend the money and the information that God has given us. The answer is simple—for the glory of God. Our eye should be single to the glory of God. That is what we left the other life for and [came] into this. We should seek to promote the interests of the Most High God, and to feel as Jesus felt, “I can of mine own self do nothing.” Inasmuch as we act today and tomorrow, this week and next week, in the interest of God, and have our eye single to His glory, there can be no failure.2 "

I need to make sure that my prayers aren't just a laundry list of things that I need, but instead ask God how I can be in His service and what is His will.  A couple of weeks ago I recognized that service was missing in my life.  I hadn't been serving others as I could because I was too busy or couldn't afford it.  I realized how many blessings and feelings of goodness I was missing out on and how I had also prevented the Lord from blessing others by avoiding these opportunities.  It's true that I was busy and money was tight, but I realized that my faith was not sufficient to believe that "all things are possible" through my Lord and Savior.  So about a month ago I began praying for opportunities to serve and told my Heavenly Father that I would accept these opportunities without hesitation. It was amazing how opportunities came at me everyday.  I was able to clean my friends house when she was sick and unable to. I was driving out of my neighborhood and saw my neighbor walking, clearly out of breath and struggling up the hill.  I'm so glad I recognized this opportunity and turned around and went back and asked her if she wanted a ride somewhere.  She said she was walking to the car repair shop to pick up her car.  She had only accomplished a few hundred feet and had another mile or two to go.  She climbed in my car and we were there at the shop in 3 or 4 minutes. This walk would have taken her an hour or more.  It was on my way to where I was going and wan't even an inconvenience at all, but I recognized what a huge help it was to her that day.  And I felt joy that I could help my Heavenly Father.  With my kids' school year coming to an end my busyness exploded with all the end of the year parties and field trips.  Writing this today has helped me recognize that I have fallen back into the trap of busyness and have once again missed opportunities to serve.  I need to seek out these opportunities again in prayer.  

Hope

If we heed the commandments and the words of the living prophets then "the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name's glory."

What a powerful promise this is that we are given.  Doctrine and Covenants 21:4-6

4 Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me;

5 For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.

6 For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name’s glory.

The Sacrament

The Sacrament Prayers

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there are set prayers that are used each time to bless the Sacrament before passing it to the congregation. Here are the prayers that we use, they can be found in the book Doctrine & Covenants 20:75-79:

75 It is expedient that the church meet together often to partake of bread and wine in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus;
76 And the elder or priest shall administer it; and after this manner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer, saying:
77 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.
78 The manner of administering the wine—he shall take the cup also, and say:
79 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

In my online class that I am taking on the Doctrine & Covenants, I am studying the sacrament. One of the things that I read was something that I had never thought of before, even after 30+ years of hearing those prayers every Sunday. The course mentioned that the sacrament prayers don't actually bless the bread and the water, but they bless the souls of those who partake of the emblems. It does say in the prayers, "to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it," and " to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it. " I had never considered that these prayers aren't actually blessing the bread and water, but were blessing them to the good of my soul. If we take of the sacrament worthily we are made holy, not the emblems. I'm looking forward to going to church today and considering this element of the Sacrament prayer as I partake.