Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A Walk With Christ: Day Two

Day Two

Question:  Am I seeking Christ's help?


Read:  Proverbs 3:5-6 
 5 aTrust in the Lord with all thine bheart; and lean not unto thine cown dunderstanding.
6 In all thy ways aacknowledge him, and he shall bdirect thy cpaths.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9 And he said unto me, My agrace is sufficient for thee: for my bstrength is made perfect in cweakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may drest upon me.  
10 Therefore I take pleasure in ainfirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in bpersecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am cweak, then am I dstrong.

Jacob 4:7
7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our aweakness that we may know that it is by his bgrace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.

Ether 12:27
 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their aweakness. I bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my cgrace is sufficient for all men that dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make eweak things become strong unto them.

Ponder:  How can the Lord help me to overcome my weaknesses?

Monday, November 8, 2010

A Walk With Christ

During a Relief Society lesson I had a couple weeks ago our teacher challenged us to go through this two week program.  It's purpose is for us to better understand the Savior and the things he has done for us.  If you would like to join me that would be awesome!

Intro:
The only way we can really know another person is to: walk in his shoes..." think what he thinks... learn what he knows... say what he would say... and do what he does. Christ said, "Be ye therefore perfect."  We can only accomplish this as we become more like Him.  Faithfully follow this fourteen day walk with Christ and you will understand Him better.


Day 1

Question:  How can I follow in his steps?
Read: 1 Peter 2:21
 21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also asuffered for us, leaving us an bexample, that ye should follow his steps:

Abraham 1:2
2 And, finding there was greater ahappiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same; having been myself a follower of brighteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great cknowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge, and to be a father of many dnations, a prince of peace, and edesiring to receive instructions, and to keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a fHigh Priest, holding the right belonging to the fathers.

Moroni 7:48
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, apray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true bfollowers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall cbe like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be dpurified even as he is pure. Amen.

Ponder:  How can I follow in Jesus Christ's steps today?

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Teaching Primary to Teaching Relief Society

I have taught in primary for the last three and a half years.  I love teaching children and watching them learn and grow.  It is so amazing how much knowledge they have.  I have learned a lot about teaching children.  From using play dough and coloring pictures to singing a primary song.  I know that sometimes it would get frustrating but I loved teaching them and I loved learning from these children of Heavenly Father.

I was released from primary teaching about seven months ago.  Now I have been called to be a Relief Society Instructor.  Exciting?  Yes.  Scary?  Yes.  Nervous?  Yes.  So far I have taught three lessons, and I feel a little more comfortable.  I have been teaching the Teaching For Our Times lessons and it has been quite the challenge.  I find myself reading the assigned talks over and over until I have it memorized.  Currently I am preparing to teach this Sunday.  The talk I am teaching from is Elder David A. Bednar's talk entitled More Diligent and Concerned at Home, found in the November 2009 Ensign.I love this talk and some of the reasons are that he has the key points highlighted for me.  I have just gone through and highlighted all of the parts that I want to focus on. 

I wanted to share some of my favorite thoughts from this talk.
Express Love and Show it:  President Thomas S. Monson recently counseled "Often we assume that [the people around us] must know how much we love them.  But we should never assume; we should let them know....We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown.  Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us."  ("Finding Joy in the Journey,"  Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2008, 86)

I had never thought about that before, but it is so true.  The relationships we make here on earth, especially those with our spouse and children, will be the ones we carry with us into the next life.  We are going to have the same love and same relationship there.

Feeling the security and constancy of love from a spouse, a parent, or a child is a rich blessing....Such love is the desire of every human soul.

Bear Testimony--and Live it:  Within the walls of our own homes, we can and should bear pure testimony of the divinity and reality of the Father and the Son, of the great plan of happiness, and of the Restoration.

Bearing testimony is not only good for our own spiritual growth but it is also good for our loved ones to know and be reminded of the things we believe.

We should remember that bearing a heartfelt testimony is only a beginning .  We need to bear testimony, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need consistently to live it.  We need to both declare and live our testimonies.

By living what we know to be true we can strengthen our testimonies further.  We will be allowing the Holy Ghost to be with us all the time.  I have a two year old son and I know that he is learning both by word and example.  At bedtime he will say to me, "Pray".  It is so wonderful to know that I have already fostered in his little mind and heart that prayer is very important.  With that knowledge my testimony of the gospel increases.  I have affected my child in a good way and he has reminded me of the importance it is in our family.

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints was restored to the earth.  I am grateful for Joseph Smith and his desire to know which church to join.  I am grateful for have modern day prophets and for being able to learn the things my Heavenly Father wants me to learn.  I know that as I bear testimony I will be sharing and living the gospel the way I should. 

Friday, March 5, 2010

Alma Chapter 46: The Title of Liberty

This chapter has taught me that Satan will stop at nothing to destroy the Church of God.

Alma 46:4-7

 4  "And Amalickiah was desirous to be a aking; and those people who were wroth were also desirous that he should be their king; and they were the greater part of them the lower bjudges of the land, and they were seeking for power."
 5 And they had been led by the aflatteries of Amalickiah, that if they would support him and establish him to be their king that he would make them rulers over the people.


  6 Thus they were led away by Amalickiah to dissensions, notwithstanding the preaching of Helaman and his brethren, yea, notwithstanding their exceedingly great care over the church, for they were ahigh priests over the church.

  7 And there were many in the church who believed in the aflattering words of Amalickiah, therefore they bdissented even from the church; and thus were the affairs of the people of Nephi exceedingly precarious and dangerous, notwithstanding their great cvictory which they had had over the Lamanites, and their great rejoicings which they had had because of their ddeliverance by the hand of the Lord.

 In verses 8-9 it speaks of how easily we forget the Lord.

8 Thus we see how aquick the children of men do bforget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do ciniquity, and to be led away by the evil one.

  9 Yea, and we also see the great awickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men. 
THE TITLE OF LIBERTY
12 And it came to pass that he rent his coat; and he took a piece thereof, and wrote upon it—aIn memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—and he fastened it upon the end of a pole. 
We are so blessed to have the freedoms we have in this day.  May we always remember and be thankful for all our blessings. 

The Plan

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I have been a member my whole life and I would like to share my thoughts and feelings about my religion.  This is more for me than anything.  Even though I have grown up as a Mormon, I find it hard to stay on track spiritually.  I want to bring the teachings of Jesus Christ into my daily life and into the lives of my children. 

THE PLAN

My first challenge will be to read the Book of Mormon.  I am currently in the process of reading the Book of Mormon, so I will start where I currently am, which is in Alma 45.

THOUGHTS FROM ALMA 45

 Alma 45:1, " Behold, now it came to pass that the people of Nephi were exceedingly rejoiced, because the Lord had again delivered them out of the hands of their enemies;  therefore they gave thanks unto the Lord their God;  yea, and they did fast much and pray much, and they did worship God with exceedingly great joy."

I LOVE this verse.  It is what I have been taught to do since my days in primary.  Not only are we to worship and give thanks to God when he blesses us, but on a daily basis we are commanded to pray and thank our Father in Heaven for all that we have.  

I know this is something I need to work on.  I am always finding time to do OTHER things when I KNOW what I should be doing is reading my scriptures and saying my daily prayers.  I am truly blessed to have the gospel in my life and I know with all my heart that it is true.  I have read the Book of Mormon and heeded the words of Moroni. 

Moroni 10:3-4

 3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how amerciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and bponder it in your chearts.

  4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would aask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not btrue; and if ye shall ask with a csincere heart, with dreal intent, having efaith in Christ, he will fmanifest the gtruth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.