It's all just so good!

Ok so this is just the second of what will likely be many posts about my Doctrine and Covenants class. BECAUSE IT IS ALL JUST SO GOOD! 

Today's reading were sections 6-9. They all discuss receiving revelation and the answers to prayers. PERFECT for me. On any day. Today though I absolutely fell in love with section 6.

This summer I worked for an awesome program called Retreat for Girls. It is a camp for girl's ages 12-15 that focuses on how to help them have faith and how to incorporate God in their lives. It is given from an LDS faith, but is for any and all girls. During my time there, I discovered verses 33-37. They helped me throughout the rough patches of being a counselor. As well to give advice to my friends on missions who were having a difficult time.

These verses are just so perfect. Don't believe me? Let me share them with you:

"Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you. Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pieced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen."

If this doesn't give you motivation, then read it until it does. I assure you that those words came from the Lord himself, and he knows how to encourage us to do what it is that we need to do. Fear not to do good. You will never regret it. 

So these were ones that I already knew about and the rediscovery renewed my motivation and courage that I had already received from these verses.

What I really wanted to focus on are verses 8 through 13. Again marvelous words full of glorious goodness. When I read these verses, I circled the action words that Joseph and Oliver were asked to do in order to receive the revelation that they were looking for. Again doing so I applied them to myself. The actions included:

Desire

Keep my commandments

Remember

Inquire

Exercise thy gift

Do good

Hold out faithful

Why are these things so essential to receiving answers to our questions?

Desire: You can't just expect the revelation that you need to know right then is just magically going to come. You have to desire to know the truth that you need. Have a question. It isn't just going to come without you desiring it to come. 

Keep my commandments: Revelation comes through the Holy Ghost. He can only dwell in holy temples and holy places. Meaning if you aren't worthy, his words will not come. If you are doing things you aren't supposed to, then the revelation you seek cannot come. You must live worthy of the spirit.

Remember: remember that it is the Lord that can answer your questions. Turn to him, the source of truth, rather than those that do not have the truth. As shown in this video:

Inquire: This goes back to this video as well. You have to ask. It doesn't just come

Exercise thy gift: This is the gift of the Holy Ghost. For those that are members of the LDS church, we have the Holy Spirit with us wherever we go. We have to utilize that gift. Rely on his promptings and act upon them. They can be answers to our questions. If you aren't a member, you can still receive promptings and feelings from the Holy Ghost. Pay special attention to ideas that don't seem to come from you. That can be guidance from our friend.

Do good: This is more than just keeping the ten commandments. It is seeking to help those around you. Serving others is a great way to receive answers. I know this from experience.

Hold out faithful: This is the most important and difficult piece to the revelation puzzle. Hold out faithful. Heavenly Father doesn't always answer right away. But he DOES answer. Keep the faith during that time, and you will without a doubt receive it.

Revelation is such a key to this life. I have come to love and truly rely on the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I know that it has saved me, brought me peace, answered a difficult question, stopped me from making dumb mistakes and much much more. It is such an important part of my life. If it isn't in yours, I encourage you to do these things so that you too can have it in your life. 

He Knows What's Up and Exactly What We Need

So with the beginning of the semester at BYU comes a new and interesting religion class. This semester I am taking Doctrine and Covenants, which is modern day revelation from God about the organization of His true church. Such a fantastic class. Seriously though. I have been in this class two days and I have already learned so much. 

Today I read Sections 3 and 10. These sections came in response to the lost 116 pages of the Book of Mormon. I just thought it was going to two chapters of thinking "Oh! You've been chastised!" Totally not true. I mean, yes there is chastisement in there, but it also has some fantastic things to apply. My second assumption was that I was going to really connect with section 10 because of the awesome verse 5. Which was true, but what I wasn't expecting was the tremendous words inside section 3. SO MUCH GOODNESS!!! Have I told you how much I love the scriptures? Because I do. A LOT!

D&C 3:4- "For although a man may have many revelations, and have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God upon him."

Wow. All of those hard times that I thought I made it through on my own. Yeah right! This explains how I would just dig myself a deeper hole somedays. If there is one thing that I have learned these past couple of years, it is that I can do nothing without Him. Well I can, but it really is so much better to pass through this life with Heavenly Father by my side. I feel much like Ammon in Alma 26:12 when he said, "I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God." I cannot say that I have anything to credit to my name. It is our dear Heavenly Father who made the work happen, I was just a tool in His hand.

Don't believe how great He is? See verses 7&8 of section 3, then try it. You will definitely see.

Verses 9-11 of section 3 are what struck me the most. My favorite way to apply the scriptures in the D&C is to insert my own name. So verse 9: "Behold, thou art [Beth], and thou wast chosen to do the work of the Lord..." Well this is fantastic new. I have been chosen to do the work of the Lord. We all have been chosen to do His work. We each have a unique role in which only we can do. But here is the rest of the verse that is the condition, "...but because of transgression, if thou art not aware thou wilt fall."

We are going to make mistakes. That is inevitable. I personally probably make 35 a day. On a good day. However, I do my best to always stay righteous. Do I fall now and then? Yes, but I get up as fast as possible. The point that this scripture is saying that we need to be aware of the mistakes that could disqualify us from doing the work we have been called to do. If we are sensitive to the spirit, we will feel the Holy Ghost us stopping us from making serious mistakes. Following such promptings will allow to maintain worthy to accomplish our individual missions in carrying out the work of the Lord.

What if you have disqualified yourself? See verse 10. "But, remember, God is merciful: therefore, repent of that which thou hast done which is contrary to the commandment which I gave you, and thou are still chose and art again called to the work." Repent of your mistakes. He will call us again to the work. 

It is my testimony that each of us have been given unique gifts and talents to assist us in the work that we were called to do. When we turn to Heavenly Father, together we can accomplish this work. To be an instrument in His hands is wonderful experience, something that I will always cherish. Follow the promptings of the spirit and two things will happen. We will not be lead astray and we will discover what the work is that He has in store for us. There are amazing things that each of us will do. Don't give up that opportunity for a few minutes of pleasure. 

Lessons from the Prophets

So it's been one of those weeks. And it has only added on to it being one of those years. This weekend I had a great opportunity that I expected to be the light at the end of the tunnel. And it was. Well it was actually the light in the middle of the tunnel and it was super dark before and after. As I was waiting in line for this experience, it dumped rain on me. It finished putting me into some despair. I am not sure why at the moment I felt like that. I had been protected and watched out for the whole way, but the increasing load blinded me. During this brief moment of despair I felt like I was losing everything that I had going right in my life. Again, I am not sure why, because it wasn't true. Anyway, the thought came out of nowhere that I need to study the story of Job.

Then I remembered an experience a couple of years ago during high school. I had begun reading the Book of Mormon over again. The best part about reading it, is it starts with one of my favorite characters and stories, Nephi. His story came alive so vividly to me this time around. The reason why? I felt exactly like him. No I didn't move across unknown seas. No, I definitely was not called to be a prophet or to lead my people. But I was living among some really wicked people. My high school was filled with people who had lost their way, or didn't know how to find the way. And to then add to it, I realized that I was called to be an example to my older siblings. I felt the pressure to be righteous. My Heavenly Father was teaching me the importance of how to apply the scriptures to my own life. I related to Nephi and so his words became that much more meaningful to me. 

Now here I am. 19 years old and it is my second year at BYU. And Heavenly Father is teaching me yet another important story from the scriptures. Apparently the way I learn is by having to see it myself. Some what unfortunate but I am and will forever be grateful for these lessons He is teaching me. 

So today I started my journey of learning about the story of Job, and how I can apply his story to me. I began it by reading a conference talk given by Elder Robert D. Hales entitled Examples from the Life of a Prophet. The fantastic thing about this talk is that he discusses a modern day Job. A real person that I can follow the example of so much easier. And that is President Kimball.

Elder Hales discusses the three great tests that we will likely face at some point in our lives. They are:

1. Temporal Setbacks

2. Physical Illness

3. Depression

Now I will admit, that when I read this, I felt as though I am experiencing a little bit of each of these at once. Obviously not to the extent that either Job or President Kimball felt. But in the Beth scale amount. So this talk was definitely what I needed to read today. 

Elder Hales says that the greatest lesson from these two story is that "in all this Job [or President Kimball] sinned not, nor charges God foolishly." Job 1:22 

One of my favorite ways to apply the scriptures is to insert my own name. I can only imagine how amazing it would be to be able to right in my journal, "In all this [Beth] sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." In some ways, this time around I can say this. However, I know that I still have a long way to come and that I didn't do it perfectly. How can Beth improve? I am so glad that you asked because, Elder Hales covers this as well. Using the example of President Kimball the way to go is to hold strong to your integrity and testimony and sing praises of the Lord throughout trials. We can do it. Hold on despite despair. Be grateful for the trial placed before you. Don't try to go alone, but recognize that you need Heavenly Father's help. 

Ok. I can do those things. Is there anything else? Reach for the one. Think of the needs of everyone else around you. This is the hard part for me. I can pray and ask for help no problem. I KNOW that I have no ability to make it through this life alone. And I can be grateful. I KNOW that when I receive small inspired thoughts, a stranger reach out, an unexpected visit with a friend, or a perfectly timed letter from missionary friend that they are sent from God. That they are for me and what I need. I can even hold to my testimony now. I KNOW that it isn't punishment for me to go through these trials, but rather love. Love that molds me into what I need to become. However, I have struggles with forgetting myself and serving those around me. I get so locked into wo is ME, help ME, I hurt, send ME love. I forget about how are YOU, what can be done to help THEM, here are cookies for YOU, and a prayer for YOU. On the rare occasion that I do look to help others, it helps me to forget about my problems and relieves the pain and hurt that I feel. 

Elder Hales discussed a time that he was with President Kimball and health concerns for the Prophet arose. President Kimball's response was "What I am afraid of is that I will meet the Savior and he will say 'You could have done better.'" How amazing for a prophet of God to say that. I hope and am working toward adopting that same attitude. Giving all I can to the one. Focusing on what I can offer others, rather than what others offer me. 

Another great attitude that comes from President Kimball is his talk "Give Me This Mountain". A wonderful talk to be studied and discussed another time. But it is the attitude of bring it on, I got this that I want to focus on. Rather than running and hiding from the trials that are meant to mold and shape us into the people that we want to become, embrace them and say, "You and me, Heavenly Father. We got this."

Give me this mountain, Heavenly Father. I know that with thee I can do all things. I know that the comfort thou hast given me during this time in my life has been as monumental as the trials that I am called to pass through at this time. I wish to not sin or charge thee foolishly. Give me this mountain, because I know thou will give me the walking stick and strength I need it.

Beautiful Heartbreak

Ok, I know I have been a slacker lately. But I have been on vacation with my family for a week. Sorry. 

Anyway, very recent events have gotten me to thinking about the difficulties in our lives and why challenges and trials arise. I learned a long time ago that everything has a time, place and reason for happening. And while we may have one idea, it is Heavenly Father's plan for each of us that is happens. It is up to us to align our will with His. When we do that, we have better abilities to handle the trials that are placed before us. Life doesn't get easier when we are righteous. But we have the strength to handle the hard times when we walk hand in hand with God. 

Still though. Sometimes He throws us curve balls. It isn't because he hates us, is angry with us, bored or neglecting us. In fact it is just the opposite. It is because he loves us. He sees the potential that we have to become amazing people. However, we cannot reach that potential when life is easy. The hard times helps us to learn to rely on the strength that Christ can offer us. We need to learn very important lessons that can help us to make positive changes, these come best through difficult times. It also tests our faith, helping us to increase it and strengthen our knowledge even more. Yes, it is difficult. But we can get through it, when we trust in the Lord.

It is said best in this song:

It is entitled Beautiful Heartbreak by Hilary Weeks. She says it best. When we climb the mountain, we see the view that we could not see before. And when we do that we will not trade it for anything else.

"Prayer is not a negotiation process. It is an alignment process."

When I was younger, I really struggled with the habit of praying regularly. Now that I have gotten older, I am in a better habit of praying, but now the struggle is focusing and saying meaningful prayers. I have really noticed the past couple of weeks how bad I have gotten and the true need to fix it. So my study today, and will be for a while, is how to make them more meaningful. It is fantastic and amazing how much material there is to help us have better communion with Heavenly Father.

The first thing that I found was an idea list from the Jan 2001 New Era. It had great ideas from youth as to how to make prayer more meaningful. The one that I loved said in order to maintain focus it is best to ponder your day and what you will pray about beforehand. For me, it is really easy to just get in a habit of saying the things that I am grateful for and things that I want to see happen over and over again. I truly am grateful for those things and I strongly want those blessings, but at the same time, I have said them so much in the same way, that it is no longer meaningful and I say them without thinking. It is better to take the time to think about what I want to say, then pray. It's ok I repeat gratitude or desired blessings, but I need to say it the fifth time with the same attitude I had when I said it the first time. If I don't, then it becomes a vain repetition. 

There was also a scripture mentioned that stood out to me. It is Matthew 6:8. It is during the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, when He is talking about the importance of prayer and how to pray. What stands out specifically in this verse is the phrase "your Father knoweth what things you have need of, before ye ask them." At first it is easy to ask, if he already knows, then why do I ask? When we ask, we acknowledge that all things come through Him, and we can't do it without Him. In an article in the June 2013 Ensign Elder Pearson stated that "Prayer is not a negotiation process. It is an alignment process." Coming humbly, with sincere heart to Heavenly Father, acknowledging His hand in all things, asking for His divine strength and help is what will truly bring blessings. It would be nice if He just gave us the blessings that we need, and sometimes He does. However, if that were to happen all of the time, we wouldn't be able to experience the growth and humility that is needed and comes when we plead for His help. We would forget about Him and think that all of our numerous blessings came from ourselves, rather than give credit to who truly gave it. We would then feel as though we had no reason to pray. How sad would that be? We would be as small children. Unable to do anything for ourselves, taking all from our parents, who give us all, and giving nothing in return. Hence, the reason why we pray. 

I know without a doubt that our Heavenly Father wants to hear from us. He loves to hear from us. Just as our parents love the call home while we are gone. Just as our friends love to catch up during a separation, He wants us to tell Him what is going on in our lives. He wants us to express our gratitude, so that we are humble and know that we can go through this life with Him. He wants us to sincerely ask Him for blessings. As I have learned of these things, I feel a strong and sincere desire to make my prayers better. To have a true conversation with Him. I don't like it when my friends go through the motions and have a superficial conversation with me. I don't want to do that with Him any longer. I will ponder what I want to say to Him before I pray, so that I can stay focused better. It will be a struggle at first. But I know that as I continue the habit, I know that it will become easier and that my relationship with my Heavenly Father will be so much better because of it.

Foundations

Today I studied a talk given by Bishop David M. Davies entitled A Sure Foundation given in the last session of General Conference. For those who don't know what General Conference is, our church has a conference every April and October where we sustain our leaders and hear inspired messages from them. In this talk, Bishop Davies told a story of an earthquake that he experienced and the importance of foundations were during that time. He then taught how we can apply that to our own lives. 

Bishop Davies quoted an awesome verse from the Book of Mormon, Helaman 5:12, that says, "And now my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his might storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are build, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Within this verse and talk, the phrase sure foundation was repeated. I thought it was so interesting that the foundation must be sure. Not okay, not enough to meet code or pass inspection, but a sure foundation. The Savior gave a parable to help illustrate what a sure foundation is. It can be found in Matthew 7:24-27. A sure foundation is a rock. Above we learned that the rock that we can build our lives is Christ. What is the sand that we must avoid?

Sand is constantly changing. Shifting, it moves how the water moves it, and squishes under the feet of those that walk on it. So is our world today. Standards, what is "in", popular media and other things that seem to be so important in today's world are constantly changing. They move with the decisions of who is famous. Good standards are squished with the decaying public opinion. The good in the world is slowly slipping away. The world is the sand that we can build our foundation. 

I'd like to point out a key word from the first verse that I shared. When. The first says When the devil shall send for his mighty winds. It isn't if it comes. When it comes. Unfortunately, part of this life is to experience the hard storms of life. We are to learn and to be tested. When these storms come we have two options. We can be built upon the moveable sand and be washed away. Or we can be built on the rock of Christ and be immoveable in the hard times. 

2 Timothy 2:19 states that "the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His." Our "sure" foundation is God. And He knows us and will send us the exact strength that we will need to survive the storms of life. How do we develop this sure foundation? Bishop Davies said, "Faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end are part of the 'blueprints' of life. They help form the appropriate building blocks that will anchor our lives to the Atonement of Christ. These shape and frame the supporting structure of of a person's life. Then,...specifications...give detailed instructions about how to form and integrate essential components, praying, reading scriptures, partaking of the sacrament, and receiving essential priesthood ordinances become the 'specifications' that help integrate and bind together the structure of life." Doing all of these things, being consistent in our prayer, scripture study and partaking of the sacrament, builds our foundation strong and sure.

On a family trip the Oregon Coast, I saw this picture

The storms will come. If we build on a sure foundation, like this lighthouse is, we will be able survive the storm and be safe, as the man will be. If we are built on the sand of the world, we will be dragged down  to the gulfs of misery and endless wo. 

Stay strong my friends. Through Christ, we can make it.

Fix You

One of my very first experiences at college, two of my roommates and I sat in the hallway of our building with our new friend Grant until boys had to leave, at 1:30. The entire time we discussed music and dancing. My roommate showed me this song and gave a great thought about it. 

This song is called Fix You, by the band Coldplay. When the song was played she mentioned to think of our Savior's atonement. It was like magic! It fit so perfectly. I have thought a lot about this song recently and all the way it was true.

Alma 7:11-14 states the nature of the atonement. Notice how the mention of sins doesn't come until the 3rd verse. Many people think that His grace and atonement only reaches through to our sins to make us clean (see Isaiah 1:18). While this is a highly important part of the atonement, this isn't the only thing. He reaches out to us through all of our pains, sufferings, and heart aches. He felt all of our pains, so that He knows how to best comfort us. 

Elder David A. Bednar gave a fantastic devotional at BYU in which he discusses what this is: "I suspect that you and I are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming power of the Atonement than we are with the enabling power of the Atonement... Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient and worthy and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. I frankly do not think many of us “get it” concerning this enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement, and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities."

I used to be in that same boat. I had walked off the strait and narrow path and was started towards a difficult and lonely path. One day I had the great opportunity to attend a conference that was specific to the youth in my area. I listened to a talk that I really needed to hear. I was touched and knew that I needed to change. At first it was really rough. It was difficult to make the changes that I made because I still wasn't in the habit of reading my scripture and praying daily. I tried to make the changes on my own; drop habits without any help from my Savior. About six months later I came home from a church dance feeling discouraged and alone. I dropped on my knees, and with extreme tears prayed for the first time in a long time. I asked for help and for a friend to be there for me. While the friend I prayed for came a little while later, an answer came that night. It was exactly as described in the chorus of this song. I saw light in my life again. The Holy Ghost wrapped its arms around me and filled me so that I felt like my whole body was burning. And together, Christ and I began a long journey to fix me. 

Ever since that night in my room, I have learned to turn to my Savior to guide me and to help me be fixed. His atonement is real and is there for anyone and everyone to use. However, we have to put in our own work. We have to work to eliminate evil from our lives, walk in His paths, live what we know, and become who He wants us to be. The beauty of this though, is that when we work with Him, the work becomes doable. We can do nothing alone because we have "obviously limited capacities." With Him, we can do anything.

Has my life been easy since I made my turning point? No. Have I been perfect since then? Definitely not. I have a very far way to go. However, my life has been infinitely better, because I have learned to turn to the Savior for help. 

I testify of the realness of both side of atonement. I know without a doubt that it is for us. I know because I have felt its power. I have been purified and cleansed by Christ's blood. I know that he answers our plea for forgiveness, strength and help. I have come to know by putting it to the test. If you do not know, I encourage you to kneel and pray with a sincere desire to learn. He will listen. And He will answer.