tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78730673100053890492024-02-06T19:26:37.730-08:00Spiritual CrusadeCome Join the Crusade; Come Unto ChristCraig Conoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01109931317629165839noreply@blogger.comBlogger610125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-23930151713489864762019-01-16T18:37:00.001-08:002019-01-16T18:37:09.908-08:00Book of Mormon by Marion G. Romney<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Book of Mormon</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Marion G. Romney</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Book of Mormon and the holy scriptures are given of me for your instruction” (D&C 33:16).</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Prophet Joseph Smith “told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book”</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The great overall struggle in the world today is, as it has always been, for the souls of men. Every soul is personally engaged in the struggle, and he makes his fight with what is in his mind. In the final analysis the battleground is, for each individual, within himself. Inevitably he gravitates toward the subjects of his thoughts. Ages ago the wise man thus succinctly stated this great truth: “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7).</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If we would escape the lusts of the flesh and build for ourselves and our children great and noble characters, we must keep in our minds and in their minds true and righteous principles for our thoughts and their thoughts to dwell upon.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If we would avoid adopting the evils of the world, we must pursue a course which will daily feed our minds with and call them back to the things of the Spirit. I know of no better way to do this than by daily reading the Book of Mormon.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Search the scriptures” (John 5:39), said Jesus to his carping critics, who, being surfeited with the things of this world, rejected him. In the scriptures they could, if they would, learn the truth about him and the things of eternal life which he taught them.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know that the things of the Spirit are taught with mighty power in the Book of Mormon.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I believe with all my heart, for example, that if our young people could come out of our homes thoroughly acquainted with the life of Nephi, imbued with the spirit of his courage and love of truth, they would choose the right when the choice is placed before them.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">From almost every page of the book (Book of Mormon), there will come to them a moving testimony that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of the living God, our Redeemer and Savior. This witness alone will be a sustaining anchor in every storm.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the Book of Mormon they will find the plainest explanation of Christ’s divine mission and his atonement to be found anywhere in sacred scriptures.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I counsel you, my beloved brothers and sisters and friends everywhere, to make reading the Book of Mormon a few minutes each day a lifelong practice. All of us need the uninterrupted association with the Spirit of the Lord. We need to take the Holy Spirit for our constant guide that we be not deceived.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Don’t be content with what someone else tells you about what is in it. (The Book of Mormon) Drink deeply from the divine fountain itself.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to the counsel of their parents. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity--the pure love of Christ--will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness.</span></p><div><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><br></span></div> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-6432932148154877802019-01-16T17:53:00.001-08:002019-01-16T17:53:48.198-08:00<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Living Christ paragraph 13</span><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.</span></div><div><br></div> Craig Conoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01109931317629165839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-71866614413261846952019-01-15T20:22:00.001-08:002019-01-15T20:26:28.493-08:00<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’m not going to lie...being a mom is the toughest, most rewarding job on the planet! </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I’ve always believed anything worth having takes hard work. Kids are no different. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Whether we are puking our guts out and nauseas all day, or trying to stay in the zone and keeping our cool, while contractions hit our backs like a bag of bricks. Whether we are changing diapers every hour, nursing on demand, getting up to get water for little ones, or waking a bed wetter to help them learn how to stay dry. Whether we are getting up before dawn to take a kid to sports practice, or staying up late to help with homework. Whether we are the all day chauffeur, or bringing forgotten homework to school. Whether we are monitoring text messages, holding family prayer and scriptures, fixing a before bed snack or giving Tylenol for a fever. Whether we are listening to break up songs with our teenager who just got the news, or jumping up and down for a new crush. Whether we are rebounding for our basketball player, riding our bike next to our runner, or picking up tennis balls. Whether we are giving money for the movies, dinner with friends, or for new shoes. Whether we are making cookies for a weekend of friends, helping paint for a project, or redecorating a bedroom. Whether we are cheering for our Eagle Scout or crying for our wayward teen! It’s just plain tough. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There are moments of laughter, moments of calm, moments of crying and moments of crazy. When everyone is asleep, I walk around and check to make sure they all have a blanket on: it’s at that moment that I can stand back and admire each one individually, and gear up for the next day. I could stare at them forever. The Book, “I’ll love you forever, I’ll love you always, as long as your living my baby you’ll be” rings true. Sometimes I curl up next to my teens and just think about the years that have passed so quickly. Sometimes I pick up the little ones and put them in my bed for old time memories. Sometimes I shed a tear, because the time just speeds on. Sometimes I laugh at the funny moments of the day. But I never ever think any less than “I am the luckiest mom ever!” </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My love for my kids helps me understand how much my Heavenly Father loves me! For if he loves perfectly...and I’m imperfect, than that’s the most love imaginable!! </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my kids. There’s no problem to big that I won’t walk beside them, praying diligently, and assisting them every way possible. There no sorrow so sad that I wouldn’t spend my days and nights holding them tight and crying along with them, and then offering the best encouragement possible. There’s no mistake they can make that would cause me to not welcome them home with open arms, big hugs, and over abundance of love. There’s no trial to heavy that I wouldn’t do all I could to help carry it. There’s no illness to severe that I wouldn’t take upon myself if it was possible! </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All I know is motherhood is tough....and OH SO WORTH IT!!</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">SO MOMMAS...give your self a pat on the back!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!!</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child. -Jeffrey R Holland</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Though earthly families are far from perfect, they give Gods children the best chance to be welcomed to the world with the only love on earth that comes close to what we felt in heaven.-parental love. (Henry B Eyring)</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A wonderful young mother recently wrote to me: “How is it that a human being can love a child so deeply that you willingly give up a major portion of your freedom for it? How can mortal love be so strong that you voluntarily subject yourself to responsibility, vulnerability, anxiety, and heartache and just keep coming back for more of the same? What kind of mortal love can make you feel, once you have a child, that your life is never, ever your own again? Maternal love has to be divine. There is no other explanation for it. What mothers do is an essential element of Christ’s work. Knowing that should be enough to tell us the impact of such love will range between unbearable and transcendent, over and over again, until with the safety and salvation of the very last child on earth, we can [then] say with Jesus, ‘[Father!] I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.’ ” -Jeffrey R. Holland</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; color: rgb(69, 69, 69); min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"></span><br></p> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-66694400008147642662019-01-15T10:41:00.001-08:002019-01-17T04:25:22.963-08:00Embracing Our Own “Wilderness” Adventures with the Help of the Holy Ghost: Alma 37 -Part3<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The other day while talking with my friend about her tough situation, in an attempt to encourage her to stay strong even though the end is unknown. I told her...”You’ve stepped into the wilderness, left everything, and allowing Heavenly Father to guide you.” All the sudden I understood, Lehi’s story for us is literally relevant in our daily lives. It is not a foreshadowing of a country being fully destroyed and the saints having to leave into the “wilderness” when called by the Lord. (Not that a situation like that can’t happen...the pioneers would be a good example of this type of wilderness movement) However, after I understood that this call to the wilderness is individual and can be in small and simple ways. My mind raced at all the stories I knew of my own experiences, and those I’m aquatinted with who, when prompted to leave the comfort of their lives and move, they did. Every-time, it was scary, prayers were offered, answers received, and faith was practiced. The stories that come to mind, all had happy endings, even though difficult in the beginning. The Lord is wiser than ourselves and will direct us for our good and for the good of others if we will listen and respond. The wilderness could be a career change, moving states, or taking on a new calling. The wilderness could be choosing to be foster parents, news of a chronic disease, or a fatal accident. The wilderness could be the loss of job, wayward child, or having to find forgiveness for major offense. The wilderness is never comfortable or easy, it’s a place that challenges us and forces us to grow stronger than we knew possible. We desperately need to keep our Liahonas close to our hearts, which without a doubt is the most precious tool, made of the most curious workmanship. It can’t be duplicated by man, no GPS compares. It never runs out of data, you can’t forget it at home, or misplace it. However it can lose its signal and it can be lost.</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The power that moved our gospel forebears was the power of faith in God. It was the same power which made possible the exodus from Egypt, the passage through the Red Sea, the long journey through the wilderness, and the establishment of Israel in the Promised Land. …</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We need so very, very much a strong burning of that faith in the living God and in his living, resurrected Son, for this was the great, moving faith of our gospel forebears. -Gordon B. Hinckley</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alma 37:38 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director--or our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">39 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">40 And it </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">did work for them according to their faith in God; </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">therefore, </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go,</span><span style="font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">behold, it was done; </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; text-decoration: underline;">therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We no longer have a ball with spindles. We have the most precious of all gifts, the gift of the Holy Ghost. Like the Liahona, it is easy to become complacent, and assume that it will continue to work. It’s not true, for one, the spindles are the soft whispering of direction given by the Holy Ghost to us. If we are not listening we will not hear the guidance of the Lord. We will miss precious protection and direction. Also, if we do not live righteously, the Holy Ghost leaves. For the Holy Ghost can only be present in environments where the commandments are lived. It is affected by the music we listen to, conversations we have...even over text, and the movies we watch. It is affected by our temperament as well, we can’t miss treat others, through control and anger and expect to be led by the Lord through the Holy Ghost. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is no greater blessing that can come into our lives than the gift of the Holy Ghost--the companionship of the Holy Spirit to guide us, protect us, and bless us, to go, as it were, as a pillar before us and a flame to lead us in paths of righteousness and truth. That guiding power of the third member of the Godhead can be ours if we live worthy of it. -Gordon B. Hinckley </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_d4c8_2170_d17d_5141" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OSQX65Fc3hQ/XD9aai_QNeI/AAAAAAAA0ng/XhYyQuM66_EndgJlNHmVP3tUNC6pgZ90wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alma warns us of misuse of our “Liahona”</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alma 37:43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">44 For <i><u>behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.</u></i></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">46 O my son, <i><u>do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; </u></i>for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">47 And now, my son, see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the word, and be sober. My son, farewell.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_7af_2ae8_ebfe_7d6f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cwN5Yx2BSUk/XD-F4m44ENI/AAAAAAAA0oA/BfHlce8GUNUENQcG1dsT3unm7qIMun_JQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There have been many explanations of being “slothful” with our liahonas. We become complacent and feel that “all is well”, letting down our guard, (shields of faith), to rest for a bit, and enjoy those temporal things around us. It is at this time, that the adversary waits to strike. He is aware of us, and wants nothing more but to steer us away from the Lord. We have also heard of the need to “wake up”, another perfect analogy of how we lose our way. It’s a slow and steady process, as we sleep the work of the Lord moves forward and we find ourselves slumbering with the ways of the world. The fight for truth and righteousness is difficult and requires steady movement forward. We can’t sit still, we are either moving forward or backwards. With my children, I teach them about the dangers of falling asleep, pertaining to spiritual things, as frogs being boiled. If you put frogs in luke warm water, they will stay, then you can turn the heat up slowly, and they don’t notice the danger around them. They will simple sit in their comfortable place until they die from heat. They can easily be boiled alive, as long as the heat is turned up slowly. Now, if you were to put the frogs directly into boiling water, they would jump out. They are too smart for that. As are we. Satan is aware of this. He knows we desire to follow the Lord. So he takes a slow process, without us even recognize what’s happening, unless we are aware and able to hear the promptings of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will warn us of luke warm water so that we can run before we get lulled to sleep. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One of the purposes of the scriptures is to show us how righteous people respond to temptation and evil. In short, they avoid it! Joseph ran from Potiphar’s wife. Lehi took his family and left Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph fled into Egypt to escape Herod’s wicked plot. In every instance, Heavenly Father warned these believers. Similarly, He will help us know whether to fight, flee, or go with the flow of our unfolding circumstances. He will speak to us through prayer, and when we pray, we will have the Holy Ghost, who will guide us. We have the scriptures, the teachings of living prophets, patriarchal blessings, the counsel of inspired parents, priesthood and auxiliary leaders, and, above all, the still, small voice of the Spirit. -Elder Robert D. Hales</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; color: rgb(69, 69, 69); min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"></span><img id="id_1e4b_7b3c_587d_66dd" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-JqXdwVMAndw/XD9-RdmnjDI/AAAAAAAA0n0/zX8ZDDiR9x84ZKe4vCG9C-otaaabPLqKACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-4111645572475979572019-01-15T05:47:00.001-08:002019-01-15T05:47:16.253-08:00Does this support the life I’m trying to create<img id="id_94ea_6e1a_bc03_652a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UH-jNsTYFZ4/XD3kX_1R8xI/AAAAAAAAZXM/K2h8Y7cU3-wyoCPg6DlEfAYCjxF2Z6CUQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"><br><br>My mom saw this analogy on facebook and I think it’s such an amazing motto to live by. “Does this support the life I’m trying to create?” It’s so easy to think of what you want to do and who you want to become, but it’s way harder to actually stick to that plan. It’s simple to set high standards for yourself, but when the worlds standards are so far from yours, it’s easy to get distracted and follow the world instead of what’s right. In our everyday lives, if we are constantly checking ourselves and making sure we’re on the right path, our lives will be so much better and we will be able to rise above the world and be good fruit spreading to the bad. <div><br></div><div><img id="id_c7f8_5305_dbd9_32e5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AH6xsDd6_uU/XD3kYWCShPI/AAAAAAAAZXQ/zwOKf6pxxRoK-oRYQouqSRpvUPrkkAltACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_799d_552a_6ddd_bce1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6CEnE8ji_1g/XD3kYu0MFbI/AAAAAAAAZXU/fK6Hlq9IVy0vOm6CXqqgfNr8kOUxKRBkgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Alexa<br></span><br><br></div>Craig Conoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01109931317629165839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-56631885812563373712019-01-14T20:27:00.001-08:002019-01-14T20:27:28.813-08:00<div><img id="id_b93b_232d_ea7c_4c37" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6LaniphE_mM/XD1hL9HChqI/AAAAAAAAZW8/3drsgL56f5ImM2D_lo9f1rmjebVplwmsQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"></div><div><br></div><div><div>3 Nephi 14:14</div><div>Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.</div><br></div><div>I loved this picture because it makes me feel the narrowness of the way. We must be willing to walk the straight and narrow path. I am constantly amazed at how evil the world that we send our kids into everyday. Luckily, I know that the Lord is stronger than the opposition and if I teach them the hold onto to the iron rod, they will be able to navigate through the filth out there and land their feet solidly on the path that leads to eternal life.</div><div><br></div><div>Craig</div> Craig Conoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01109931317629165839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-54715376123732133772019-01-14T19:15:00.001-08:002019-01-15T07:20:39.152-08:00<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We can do much better and should do better in welcoming new friends into the Church.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_2a6f_480a_c2a6_d347" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EyCfjqW9p4E/XD1RHhsii9I/AAAAAAAA0k8/qubxVW8TG34d0QxMdYrmdrYAwqfLeh4HgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a similar way that the Solimões and Negro Rivers flow together to make the great Amazon River, the children of God come together in the restored Church of Jesus Christ from different social backgrounds, traditions, and cultures, forming this wonderful community of Saints in Christ. Eventually, as we encourage, support, and love each other, we combine to form a mighty force for good in the world. As followers of Jesus Christ, flowing as one in this river of goodness, we will be able to provide the “fresh water” of the gospel to a thirsty world.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_9f36_f8dd_9d7f_24e7" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8-RqmmkTPRMF0pFKOCbZYbqhP9ApJwTxLEbnDpTtohS_BQBC8tA2jVcb_KOv9Hr_udkGIPVdEET806AmFOugQRMrW6GKzvwB-UbCEyj6uIOCiDohJlo3tqt-TbOugg8Qea8b1tnFpRPVJ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lord has inspired His prophets to teach us how we can support and love each other so we can become united in faith and purpose in following Jesus Christ. Paul, the New Testament Apostle, taught that those who “have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ … : for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_9941_efc9_33f0_a849" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2ljLeBOPd4o/XD1RIJB6GWI/AAAAAAAA0lE/A3C5YDw9bAYp_CJjyRVT_upvyOUH8rtPQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When we promise at baptism to follow the Savior, we witness before the Father that we are willing to take upon us the name of Christ. As we strive to acquire His divine attributes in our lives, we become different than we were, through the Atonement of Christ the Lord, and our love for all people increases naturally. We feel a sincere concern for everyone’s welfare and happiness. We see each other as brothers and sisters, as children of God with divine origin, attributes, and potential. We desire to care for each other and bear one another’s burdens.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_3b8e_36ff_5035_e3ad" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WGM4N73YJCk/XD1RIcQY0KI/AAAAAAAA0lI/L9NegIxT4DEo8DZpJsSJyPA46SyG3ivAQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When these new friends come out of the world and embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, joining His Church, they become His disciples, being born again through Him. They leave behind a world they knew well and choose to follow Jesus Christ, with full purpose of heart, joining a new “river” like the mighty Amazon River--a river that is a valiant force of goodness and righteousness that flows toward the presence of God.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_eba6_424c_279c_28a0" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6JJg20g2rrY/XD1RIptpC7I/AAAAAAAA0lM/8D2pLxHNZUYr_b_eF-jVtDVXFr9cOeFzQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Those of us who are at different points in the long journey of discipleship must extend a warm hand of fellowship to our new friends, accept them where they are, and help, love, and include them in our lives. All of these new friends are precious sons and daughters of God.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_180e_4a09_b12d_37d9" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMV1IT5gegATY1lOWqVzJ6xi2-hdwQSp9imDaUDV1LKSrGVd9LGUUR3N08-ZVREqCScrKOIg8noSVxWnU9OQt7_IfmJgto70lOjuenHZPxp7wExvdBsvTXLSwvcGbnuw13qzrJoSIj1Rb/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As we open our hearts to our new friends in some of these ways, we are acting in the spirit of ministering. When we minister to them like the Savior did, they won’t feel like “strangers within our gates.” They will feel like they can fit in and make new friends, and most importantly, they will feel the Savior’s love through our genuine care.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_1acb_61dc_74b0_6421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbZ7Zn40tYTunTQeV_kr5Gu1KZpoNYjtiF8xhL7ZhCoOqisfzmGSzAqrAYLRnfQqpGsJwOUiFUmI3cxXdv7PnYlT_nRW2Jl-WYO_0A-iI0xq1O8kKYjyhmcxy4Xlkfld4W3Plmc_LT28bl/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Service is one of the great geniuses of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is a process by which our faith can grow stronger.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_668_b11_bc49_bc79" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zTrAam4L_f8/XD1RJ0BN7dI/AAAAAAAA0lY/JBPzA1GBn4sgh26HKX2-97QKl5m4AIqUgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Be careful not to let your Church assignments get in the way of welcoming new friends at Church meetings and activities. After all, these souls are precious before the eyes of God and are much more important than programs and activities</span></p><img id="id_f6c0_c1e7_1452_cf98" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5s95tpBu0qU/XD1RKO9IHDI/AAAAAAAA0lc/F3l8rC_HWjkUx5Gb0t3IIUaHFd8RyJrHgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-6637593010456283052019-01-14T18:50:00.001-08:002019-01-16T11:53:03.683-08:00 Part Member<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><img id="id_1646_f37_607a_6f2c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aqgtXr6ohFk/XD8b4lN1VfI/AAAAAAAA0mw/7X5--o4jcJcDfLJBkEqpjzKVG8RHNjMsgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I am sure I will post many of these since I myself crave to hear encouragement, advise, and stories from others who are part member families of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I cannot lie, I wish I could tell you it is easy...but it is not! I can promise you that if you will stay faithful it IS WORTH IT!</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I will do my best to help you get to the point where I am now...faster than I have. It has been a 22 year journey thus far for me.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you have feelings of giving up...you’re not alone. It seems to be an easy solution, but that comes with its own set of issues. At the same time that I married Mark, I had a friend marry a nonmember. Rather than fight through the bumps in the road they opted to not have religion as a part of their lives. As a result their children do not even know who Christ is. What a devastating consequence. Trust me when I tell you the only person that is putting those thoughts in your head is Satan. You can just tell him “NO” right now. The Lord wants his children all of them to know him, and he wants them to know his gospel. He loves you! He loves your spouse! And he loves your children! So fear not, he will help you work this situation out.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Keep trying. Be believing. Be happy. Don’t get discouraged. Things will work out.’” -Gordon B Hinckley</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_48b4_1f3b_3ab2_4160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4scbMa4ux2VTQh1VBjLae1o8eFFTEcTGhTpjTgDDHeajd00TTzDz3lXqBmpcFi8XKYT2GneHaYDPwc8rHrjWPZVN5VlaC5J8CWlBiU6SZPpny4Q53Na8TrljhabnBAo6wANLlU_-LEGfN/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you spend endless hours on your knees crying unto the Lord for your spouse to join the church...with no avail. It is not because the Lord doesn’t hear your prayers. He is listening. But remember your spouse has to make that choice as well. Conversion is personal. The Lord will not force anyone to believe in the gospel...if he did, the whole</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">world would believe. But our conversion wouldn’t be very strong, for nothing worth having comes easy. A testimony of the gospel is one that each individual person must develop on their own through diligent prayers....earnest seeking...faithful studying....partnered with ears that can hear what the Lord is teaching, hearts that can feel the prompting of the holy Ghost, and minds and bodies that are willing to obey. Your spouse too must go through this same process when they are ready. There is no amount of force that will develop a testimony for someone else. You can’t give them your testimony, although you will try endlessly...but it would do them no good! They must have their own. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However it is crucial that you maintain your testimony, that you stay strong. If there is any chance your spouse will join the church it will be through your faithfulness, hope, and peace. I have found it to be essential that I do my absolute best to live the gospel 100% without excuses. It is important to listen to and follow the prophet exactly. Find time to read The Book of Mormon every single day. And under no circumstances read or engage in anti mormon talk or literature. It poisons the mind and is filled with the darkest spirit I have ever encountered. (More on that later) Live the standard of the church in word, deed, and dress. Beware of justifying your actions just because your spouse is not a member. I have felt that it is even more important for me to follow everything 100%, since I am trying to set an example for the most important person in my life, my soon to be eternal companion. ;)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Now children add a whole new level of intensity to this situation. It is our responsibility to teach our children the gospel....and yet we need to support our spouses at the same time. This can be an absolute juggling act and requires the most amazing amount of balance. Now if your spouse doesn’t have a preference and allows you to do whatever you want without causing contention...hooray!!! Go for it! Don’t hold back!! My situation is a little different than that. My husband has his own faith and goes every week...he has no interest in the gospel , and has come a long way in allowing me to teach in the home. However, regardless of your situation REMEMBER, THE HOLY GHOST TESTIFIES OF TRUTH. Children are remarkably sensitive the the spirit...they are so close to heaven. (Which explains why the Lord tells us to be like little children!) This is another reason why it is so important to follow the Lord with exactness...because you want your home to be filled with the Holy Ghost at all times. Without it they can’t comprehend truth or decern falsehood. During the years when my husband was contentious against the church, I focused solely on this principle. I was not allowed for years to read the Book of Mormon or to teach “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” doctrine. I was only allowed to teach from the Bible. Lucky for me the gospel is taught in the Bible as well, which is why the Book of Mormon is a SECOND testament of Jesus Christ. So that’s what I did. I taught my kids the gospel through the Bible and lived in a way that the spirit of the Lord dwelled in my home. From there the children are able to discern truth on their own.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mark and I decided not to make the kids choose between us. We knew that this wasn’t a competition of who was right. We win together and we lose together...we may be different denominations but we were still one in marriage. We feel that if the kids feel like they are picking a parent then they will always have guilt and sadness. Both feelings we didn’t want them to associate with church. We NEVER ask them which church they believe in, we don’t want them to feel like they have to make a choice between mom or dad. We support and respect each other and we do our best to keep it a happy situation. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The church is not the wedge...contention is the wedge. At all costs keep the peace. Always be the peacemaker...and if always doesn’t work...do your best. Not to toot my horn, but I have been able to be a peacemaker throughout, I believe it has been a gift from the Lord. Probably an answered prayer. With that said, there have been plenty of times in the last 22 years where I allowed the adversary to get to me and I lost my “peacekeeping” stance. Luckily, I was able to recognize it and then resume back to peace. There is really no purpose in fighting or being angry over it, that only invites Satan, and removes the Holy Ghost. For contention is of Satan and peace is of the Lord...the two can’t co-exist. Always choose the Lord. Besides the church focuses on families, it’s what we are all about. As you focus on loving your spouse and living the gospel...everything else will fall into place. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Let us do the best we can and try to improve each day. When our imperfections appear, we can keep trying to correct them. We can be more forgiving of flaws in ourselves and among those we love. We can be comforted and forbearing. The Lord taught, “Ye are not able to abide the presence of God now … ; wherefore, continue in patience until ye are perfected.” -Russell M. Nelson</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_a4d_16d8_a190_a0b5" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrTv3fTOxGuSpsJuNLhmcOtkLYqQCYNLziYfIpup5NtvEKTeEufqTnr8mtpwPv1QOBw0lVZ5ch9zdpH8QHUcEgZ9ibm05CzBUVriJCVpO8V3t33cfiF_zewk96pykPtWVoQR8wLN1K8u2/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I didn’t go to the temple for 20 years. I tried year after year, but when it came down to it, Mark wasn’t ready for me to go. Although I wanted to go more than anything in the world, I am now thankful that I waited for him to be ready. The temple emphasized and strengthened my commitment to Mark and my understanding of how special marriage and family is. I believe preparing for all those years and praying about it regularly, helped me to be prepared for a simple sweet experience. I prepared by living temple recommend ready at all times. I heard about the saints in Africa who lived too far away from the temple to go, and they were given the advise to have a recommend even if you can’t go at that time. I figured that advise was for all members who wanted to go to the temple but couldn’t and so I took it. I lived my life fully as if I already had my endowments. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Another difficult part to handle is the fact that most members around you have spouses that are member also, this can feel very lonely. There are lots of stories of others who were part members and their spouses joined, some 5 years, 11 years, or more. While these are encouraging, as your marriage passes those mile marks, it can feel like crossing a finish line of a marathons and the race isn’t over. Stay positive. Don’t worry about how others situations work, or what others are thinking? Pray and ask the Lord to direct you. He will. How it all works may change several times In your marriage...that’s no big deal. The Lord works in mysterious ways, here a little there a little. Have faith in Him, knowing that he loves you and wants the best for you. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever. -Jeffrey R. Holland</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_7503_1e6b_9915_3fc1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdTcqc9yye8ELPjMSrGKsr-qd_7koRG5jpbxVnSANxrydvOvuvWHGLJc4B3wZfcqVNJuWkZPjyME41hQR5-2BrzVgpDgXUTWJs30IkNyomsPZ_PnR4bUHDN79woiWPJ395lfy0_Nim36m/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Another thing that has helped is I stopped praying just for Mark and started praying for me...what can I do? That’s a humbling thing to do, I realized there were countless things that I could improve on. I remember praying to please humble Mark...but could you leave me out of it. (Hahha). I just didn’t want to be praying for more tribulations! It was a beautiful day when I got to the point where I could pray, humble Mark and I’ll take the humility too. It was actually very therapeutic ....I finally felt like I trusted the Lord! I was willing to let him handle my situation and I would follow. I can’t even tell you the comfort that it brings, to trust the Lord and let His will take place.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">D&C 101:16 Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_c8e4_fa8a_c2f4_c415" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk9uk8NvyRLYLJJeBvx_pmYPQ7nP55MhkvC1hqgWpPuFhF5YOUpRNQEnsAxtQXGXcNwNEU-5MVBPKz6cdbUehqotKGpjKgjphwmmse8TUR9FwVge17aC7GzRrBWkbIOEDgudPH18huiwNd/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">* Although my husband is not a member, we have developed the most beautiful faith filled home. He supports me fully, and I support him equally in his faith, Together we parent by choosing the high road when we come to a fork in the road. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">My oldest daughter was baptized at 18, which was in respect of her father’s council. He spoke at her baptism, and it was a beautiful experience. Many of my other children have shared their testimonies with me, and I am eternally thankful to the Holy Ghost who has gently taught and protected my children. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><img id="id_5368_ddb9_8c99_5b06" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EXbD6qDyRRQ/XD-LnRDDVlI/AAAAAAAA0oM/VYoe8rdEOLgy1TaiapUNFQ9BHvzw8gf5QCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br><img id="id_efcd_207f_77b4_6668" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fiTpnLvFH_c/XD8b7LHBnxI/AAAAAAAA0m4/K6QGuP3NPBkCQwedv5hAlGqhMO-cwEHRgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br></p> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-3276940773258494802019-01-13T20:44:00.001-08:002019-01-13T20:44:49.713-08:00<img id="id_fcd6_23_994c_a7ec" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Mdaud4e-YAw/XDwTv6LeJnI/AAAAAAAAZWs/8wq4WNAK6pwjSKEIv0whE0b0EbYrXZqOgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">My customer the other day said this in our conversation and I loved it, “surrender to God.”. With all the changes in the church and the craziness of the world, we need to just surrender to God and go to work. Our wills are not nearly as important as the will of the Lord, and the sooner we start to surrender to His will, the sooner we will start living unto Him. Isn’t that what eternal life is all about anyway, living the life that God lives? Let’s not wait for some day in the future, let’s start today to become like Him and surrender to Him.</span><br> </div>Craig Conoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01109931317629165839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-1263192261927950332019-01-13T18:10:00.001-08:002019-01-13T18:14:47.516-08:00 Honesty and integrity <p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_86db_8ab9_d261_54b5" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HumOP0GjJTQ/XDvwexbpDoI/AAAAAAAA0js/XJRhE-Wa4bI-wCmvXx94QTd3tITV-X6cwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Be honest with yourself, others, and God at all times.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_2884_5d21_742d_e529" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-snDVz8gRvEc/XDvwfsb4X-I/AAAAAAAA0jw/ATG1s2M-ZesIUY8Q7jxdR2yNPp02VArdgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Being honest means choosing not to lie, steal, cheat, or deceive in any way.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_128_db9d_ca11_d092" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CiHx9WQG11w/XDvwgE3WehI/AAAAAAAA0j0/zHRL0FA2CIAHxyS4PQSmTx8iFHQXhaqvwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When you are honest, you build strength of character that will allow you to be of great service to God and others. You will be blessed with peace of mind and self-respect. You will be trusted by the Lord and will be worthy to enter into His holy temples.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_aff4_8eb0_f6ba_2559" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CSsw8a_jydM/XDvwg2SSmfI/AAAAAAAA0j4/cYBMQRVEZaseh2rW_IC6A4avhNiOCbmJgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dishonesty harms you and harms others as well. If you lie, steal, shoplift, or cheat, you damage your spirit and your relationships with others.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_a6de_591f_2960_2963" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NmWXD-RJMHY/XDvwhTxDeHI/AAAAAAAA0j8/OGDPbKwHgacG3eLcgmYM6qilVn41IwHWgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Being honest will enhance your future opportunities and your ability to be guided by the Holy Ghost.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_71fe_fca_d167_51e0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPpbBQZYQaGXygTFlxaWYZV331XVW5YHngEh08xywyw_PqMizloPuZqQh6r6stuV9_q32vvF9OED2_EOIW4F8E-Lzir6JVt4763q_c6EFE4Zoz7r4BvjtjzvpH_pY-hzQs5IzLdZqx3C_4/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Be honest at school; choose not to cheat in any way. Be honest in your job, giving a full amount of work for your pay. Do not rationalize that being dishonest is acceptable, even though others may think it does not matter.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_8f86_4d_ad5e_11e6" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Xg0fG9GA4ek/XDvwjC_DiuI/AAAAAAAA0kE/9lwSlgjAgkoMvkXkDML1DSrBBPvThH80ACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Closely associated with honesty is integrity. Integrity means thinking and doing what is right at all times, no matter what the consequences.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_3a78_d5cd_3c50_24fb" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O3A6sFk4fio/XDvwj6fQj7I/AAAAAAAA0kI/JV_Bmw8r1ukzR_9w0m0Rf85lh-ocAXa3ACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When you have integrity, you are willing to live by your standards and beliefs even when no one is watching.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_6afe_beb7_cc8a_3879" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0yGpuHqVEh6vHEybkhoLTQlwGNxdqIgM1Lm0eEq-kDOtDAU5Row7K-faBD4tFs9r31i2S0hTtNz2C1bRojGuYqPRHXT3EyKviF2CgpbvYUta4kcqvbFk8aE8Y7rMqC4O8PJrjBXE6V2iL/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Choose to live so that your thoughts and behavior are always in harmony with the gospel.</span></p><div><img id="id_5fdb_4ebc_bddc_6ed" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvrUP2gLFXsbPGfdfnQBwoqaJFUZpz2d-MseVJc2Vcf1yeJt1_20xN61ZF420tquPjkE7vRVKiUO78J64-kFW2N8f4zn5_81ymvpAPUhPk8YrUaV2OJTXgmHl9YQftbanDoUObkESLD2fX/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><br></span></div> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-65921890198652532432019-01-13T07:28:00.001-08:002019-01-13T15:45:33.379-08:00The Family is the Heart of God’s Plan<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lord and and his laws are Eternal. The family stands at the heart of those laws, it’s structure and importance is the same yesterday, today, and forever. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_3b0e_2ea2_c12a_ba93" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zBvIUC0Zy6U/XDtb4eAFAXI/AAAAAAAA0hg/VyKlIkgDAfIMReAPE2mwrfXbkk2d1CilgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mormon 9:9 For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As we watch the organization of the family unit crumble before our eyes we can discern these false practices by studying families who have followed the Lord previously. During the ”Come Follow Me” bible study that we have been doing as a family, I was impressed by what great examples Joseph and Mary were to the organization and function of the family. I got out my copy of “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”, and step by step compared Jospeh and Mary from over 2000 years ago to this document given to us, the world, from the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 23 years ago. They were great examples and proof that families are eternal, their importance is the same today, as it was yesterday, and will forever be. Families are Central to God’s eternal plan, and will always be. We must fight for our own families by striving to live as the Lord has directed and by supporting political candidates and organizations that fight for family values. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Let’s have some fun and look at Joseph and Mary’s example as it fits with today’s proclamation. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_9ba2_f948_4945_3a3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7y1Yv4W6d6_uKFW9SZswSV71pgZe7ayHzOhI1GGZyhiMvIaWFPikkHosoPQO4KODrJ1Yn2MCwRcr8tB-D06dG_Fjs6IGI-UjyQQGOxzJV6nJ48Sh_1i6Sl3kN2tPzmfK3bDth1mdqHbXd/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even though Mary’s situation was different then any other situation, it was still essential that she had a husband and that Jesus had an earthly father to teach him who he was, and help Jesus prepare to fulfill his earthly mission. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even though Jesus was literally the Son of God, he was still in need of guidance. He came to earth and experienced the effects of the veil, just as each of us did. He had to learn His mission, line upon line, here a little there a little, through the guidance of his righteous earthly parents and the direction of the Holy Ghost. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">D&C 93:12 And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Over his mind had fallen the veil of forgetfulness common to all who are born to earth, by which the remembrance of primeval existence is shut off.” -Elder James E. Talmage: </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">All human beings--male and female--are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_fa89_fbdb_295e_2409" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0dAWQ5hvUR6sLVIBGLfGGQRvoaAnvLOfLfL2E74_qBQp4WRX7d2I1MEP96VRL4LUOxYuO68dLZO0NOWpPd8zOKW9Jzw-WW1yNPlncWleECky_7qek5cUlj05P16Ox647BL3sZjxIlYUpu/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Here we have the literal Son of God, though he gained mortality from his earthly mother, he still inherited divine characteristics both spiritually and physical from Heavenly Father as well as from his mother. Just as my children look like me in some ways and look like Mark in other ways, so did Jesus, look like Mary as well as Heavenly Father. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“That Child to be born of Mary was begotten of Elohim, the Eternal Father, not in violation of natural law but in accordance with a higher manifestation thereof; … In His nature would be combined the powers of Godhood with the capacity and possibilities of mortality; and this through the ordinary operation of the fundamental law of heredity, declared of God, demonstrated by science, and admitted by philosophy, that living beings shall propagate—after their kind. The Child Jesus was to inherit the physical, mental, and spiritual traits, tendencies, and powers that characterized His parents—one immortal and glorified—God, the other human—woman” (Jesus the Christ, 3rd ed. [1916], <a href="http://www.lds.org/manual/jesus-the-christ/chapter-7.p19">81</a>).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_6641_f6db_e232_64ad" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2u7ftiRuBhY/XDtlIG-ByuI/AAAAAAAA0iE/XxZMdEIH2r4fqC0CkjgVE5btKY1lU8jhgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mary and Joseph were both valiant spirits premaritally in order to have been prepared to parent the Redeemer of all mankind. They also lived their life in direct obedience and honor to the Lords covenants and ordinances. Both lived their life so that they were able to have open communication from heaven through the power of the Holy Ghost. This is well illustrated through the testimonies of both Mary and Jospeh when Mary was to conceive Jesus.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mathew 1:Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Jesus also followed the law and ordinances that are important to receive here on earth. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mathew 3:13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Jesus himself, made this whole paragraph possible through His sinless, selfless sacrifice for all his brothers and sister who have ever lived and who ever will live on this earth. His mission all started in the preexistence, where he stood as our Eldest brother during the war in heaven and fought for our freedom of choice, so that we would be able to come to earth, gain an eternal body and make decisions that would play a huge part in our eternal progress. We all agreed to this test, called earth, knowing that it was our opportunity to receive a body, and to prove that we could follow the teachings taught to us by our Heavenly Father. (Sounds familiar parents of teenagers who have to eventually leave and head into the world) This is where happiness is found, in following the Lord in all things. That’s where happiness was available in the preexistence, that’s where it’s found here on earth, and that is where it will be found in heaven.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_3b86_4fd4_3a65_a97a" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wS3MkCNVri0/XDtmewobSoI/AAAAAAAA0iQ/2e5SaGZuB14CI2d_N_zS9SqkKALTT6_ygCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mary and Jospeh had a family, with sons and daughters. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mathew 13: 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_f994_9ac9_8029_fb09" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-93pV2-L1O3c/XDtoukbVz5I/AAAAAAAA0ic/UpqonsE1_AQ3BSK4_hQq3oN1V4GPKpRbACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mary was a virgin, representing her purity and devotion to the importance of the chastity. She was also fulfilling prophesies of ancient prophets. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1 Nephi 11:15 </span>And I said unto him: A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins.</p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.</p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">Jospeh and Mary were espoused, and if her conception of Christ was not of full virtue, she would have been punished by law, which most likely was stoning. Which is why the Holy Ghost had to testify to Joseph of the truth fullness of Mary being the mother of Jesus the Only Beggoten of the Father. </p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives--mothers and fathers--will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_5321_316d_df22_403f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m0t8A3H5vyo/XDtsdgdAXWI/AAAAAAAA0io/AWICvOvWHjQJePXYdX7KTjOXjBgRQ4ALgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mary and Jospeh did everything in their Power to protect Jesus, and to follow the laws of the Lord at that time. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Luke 2: 21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">22 And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They taught by their actions how important it is to act in the promptings of the Holy Ghost. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mathew 2: 13 And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_729_693e_33dd_ab45" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXaytMGyhmvnfuZUdtx6qR3vTTKVoQk5HQBwSOckQ3jMFYD6-I_bmsFjFzQQZNf6n1HAsEdmWdoOXoT9S-Q84xDduXi6LMuuD64EccHjwOgGT-qjpFbkohBDCiOMc2hUbllYcfzOJdnFk/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Considering that Christ himself was in this family, I’m going to say, the they were about the “Fathers business”. Jospeh was an excellent example of leading his family in righteousness, and his unwavering faith in the direction of the Holy Ghost. He stopped at nothing to protect his family, he acted immediately upon receiving the prompting from the Holy Ghost to move the family to Egypt to avoid danger. There are very few verses about Jospeh himself, but the ones we do have are filled with faith in God, complete obedience to the laws and promptings form the Lord. He also shows the upmost loyalty and devotion to his family. He taught Jesus to live the laws of the Lord, as describe through their pattern of worship and they spent time in the temple. He also made sure that Jesus had a way to make a living during His time on earth. He taught him his carpenter trade. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Luke 2:55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary?</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mathew 13:55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mary accepted her role as Christ’s mother immediately regardless of the backlash she could have received from others knowing that she was expecting a baby without a husband. Thankfully Joseph accepted the role as Christ’s father as well. Together they were taking on a huge responsibility that would affect all mankind. They had unknowingly prepared previously, to the day the angel and the Holy Ghost approached them about baby Jesus. They prepared with faithfulness and obedience to God’s laws. We see that their faithfulness continues without interruption following the birth as they raised not only Jesus but his brothers and sister in the family structure ordained by God to be an eternal unit.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_dbbf_638f_1f70_ee92" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YEuZN0uBTc0/XDtzqw0VoiI/AAAAAAAA0jA/cxlmYfyKWR09UQfjUunIu51n_WDDIp9twCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This was a fun exercise to support a principle of the gospel that is dear to my heart. For besides the loss of individual identity that Satan is reaping upon this generation. He is successfully creating a society that is self centered, which is slowly diminishing the growth of families, causing divorces, and lack of instruction in the home. There is nothing greater than families. I know for myself, being one of twelve, that my siblings are priceless. There is no amount of money, no exotic vacation, elaborate home, fancy car or designer clothes that have ever been of more value then them. They are the inheritance that my parents will leave us when they return to their heaven home someday. The wisdom, love, compassion, empathy, friendships, and memories of 11 siblings all for myself. In return, I offer those same things to each of my siblings with pure enthusiasm and love. We are scattered all Over the United States, our times to see each other are far and between, but our hearts are close and our reunions magical. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_8ca_bcf4_4eb4_12d3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_EQWafFprb8HRqq-8i6RHeGXfTFHTUPtLLHi5dVKPSnNVOfuptYqD_Gv0QMxkPFgNxYdD4sLoOFapFA-QWyYVjQUCuDvVS5tpYDWGs7GOkH54Bjxw4NsYqOohqPNW9QhAGYESg50Juujy/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Being a mother has brought a greater understanding of the unconditional love that our Heavenly Father has for each of us. I would spend all the days of my life seeking to rescue each and everyone of my children if they were ever lost, when I found them, I would put them on my shoulders and carry them home, where we would gather for a feat of the greatest importance. I understand fully the value of the one. I get that there is no respector of persons, a parent loves all their children equally, regardless of their weaknesses and strengths. I can’t imagine how fantastic the reunion with our Heavenly Father will be someday. I’m not sure there are words to describe this sort of love. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; color: rgb(69, 69, 69); min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"></span><img id="id_1841_564a_5d7b_737a" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5-FmNixOR9__A0Zkc9Srv9kU702fGKTkyk-LDCVGg3k05HXXOcXVJcPD44xeHHS6bOSJZU3x-Vftr-P_jVOx6t_QlkWdne5Mu-IFtZSVPrmkFJHC4i2MNAagN5Js0b-hcmdjGJoiCPTK3/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-26078962758485100262019-01-12T05:02:00.001-08:002019-01-12T07:45:51.437-08:00Quotes that help conquer fear: As we put God first<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Savior is the rock upon which we can stand safely and without fear in every storm we face. -Henry B Eyring</span></p><div><img id="id_8b54_39b9_20ac_34fb" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VZzTEUvVYW4/XDnoYv9w1TI/AAAAAAAA0ew/OnDCWh5ejREy-Wm1DnlK0mIjYmM-rpYxgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If you are feeling lost, abandoned, or forgotten--fear not. The Good Shepherd will find you. He will lift you upon His shoulders. And He will carry you home -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf</span></div><div><img id="id_dfe4_d239_430a_6e72" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoMo_hHG8EwI52GlfwbfyONLeTxsIRVy_kQTCudJO4Q2HfaVGGjXNsxXcp6RcnXLNg026WRT2DbsmpKxhB-GaBwBI7uti09ZS9x_51IDBQRYVG3c53hnK7K1eenHJkjn_jR3SlU00C8Uo5/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses--yes, the very longings of your heart. -President Russell M. Nelson</span></div><div><img id="id_96b8_a6b3_2747_a585" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sLTMGH5Ji-Y/XDnwGX9sPXI/AAAAAAAA0fI/patBPC09RrklWIFcMRWGjEtTiu1UoMO_QCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lord has taught me that discouragement and fear are tools of the adversary. The Lord’s answer to hard times is to go forward with faith. -Elder Stanley G. Ellis</span></div><div><img id="id_f33b_6af3_cdf8_8acf" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Hyxk5-bwL1Q/XDnybbKnVfI/AAAAAAAA0fU/5n2OICIneSUrDhotJcDQ8PBnIxSGt4FlwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We need not be paralyzed by fear because bad things might happen. Instead, we can move forward with faith, courage, determination, and trust in God as we approach the challenges and opportunities ahead. -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf</span></div><div><img id="id_dbe7_8f9_f5f4_334b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YgcBMa2bjWo/XDn1oUB-5YI/AAAAAAAA0fg/Fyueo6lhb3oAn52DCoSZ-qDK1ItJ0asoQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is no room for fear in these holy places of God or in the hearts of His children. Why? Because of love. God loves us--always--and we love Him. Our love of God counters all fears, and His love abounds in holy places. -Elder Ronald A. Rasband</span></div>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_35eb_1efd_4cab_7742" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u54FM96Lm3g/XDnlXEHl-1I/AAAAAAAA0ek/c6OctYTZRb8HT0LwF-1xgEExGHkj8G_pgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yes, we live in perilous times, but as we stay on the covenant path, we need not fear. -Elder Ronald A. Rasband</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_39d8_1890_7649_f5e9" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUPYN2hhziRb5mclfife_yRZIQW6obRdOKX6GNSZ2WycT_QNINGY6iAfgVL6rfPqbSXmUR8GKyttdnwwZJ4RMF0P1acMTV3Kq5nMdrHdng3CL-Z4bJWEV964ApcZNiRElAEI0xvlodr4x/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">His love is greater than our fears, our wounds, our addictions, our doubts, our temptations, our sins, our broken families, our depression and anxieties, our chronic illness, our poverty, our abuse, our despair, and our loneliness. He wants all to know there is nothing and no one He is unable to heal and deliver to enduring joy. -Elder Robert C. Gay</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_fce_57f6_30ae_8935" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj7jz4lSLCgCUYH8duVtit0tOJmQPYViOBXr3TDpJ-m1yN7E-nZjU-B_aUrxXm9TXikJhVUjRxHiEfOWvwocl0Lc16Q4VeygWPyb4cC3mi3DdHjcUiuNxBX1f9AJPbJn4ajYbpvIPpfhWX/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Without that trust and faith, there’s fear and doubt -Elder Richard J. Maynes</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_7e4f_a40c_390_d48b" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjd-kf-AdRxpNbf9aOBMz4PNvypcIZr33BcwIIeX81uHc2AiYdP4lBEKJ7b90oti_xvm2KUjaNIvb8bDwAOWVVXQSKRt1XrLdZOx1mQhk6ePgeVTcmioCmJhj3QsDAzRuA54pqSuZUKwF8/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lord tells us that when we stand with faith upon His rock, doubt and fear are diminished; the desire to do good increases. -Henry B. Eyring</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_4a52_e1ff_e826_9929" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p_7yt_L592c/XDn8vSctsAI/AAAAAAAA0gU/gX_Sn_pzmSwZU_thEcQzTNVE14Iz9cb2ACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Faith always defeats fear -Henry B. Eyring</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_f6ec_5434_d045_7927" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJH4Pos2ChaggVxgr5NULrPewRDDteVxvU-FLxdTnAfsMjM4QWs1UxJgENGAjHHYNQD0dPGmkvwKTsdSFokBaTihDqSzOIRcFcHzJfWBgYE3bATuYr-Lla2e2pgm1y0ZMGPH02y2UwaanV/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In whatever we do, we should not decide nor act out of a spirit of fear. Truly, “God hath not given us the spirit of fear -Elder Stanley G. Ellis</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_7a5f_e1f0_685b_f3da" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcpvTcGxQAof95fCzVduFK6MlaQTZQg7pVRyfeSm2Zwv-RIgPbMDKwOahpYNq7g4fu7iU-FBUL0cOkktpOLYf4-ob0MTV0dSVaZHIalMxVqHJCTV-dVNGUSIobWnH5AD45kBciePY_bIce/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Don’t fear, just live right. -Neal A. Maxwell</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_c90b_c3de_6e6_b3e3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LyPhofbtCSw/XDoHzpDybHI/AAAAAAAA0g8/C-7cbXCOQvUqrmAwXUaz7qEW4wpqn_OWACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives. -Thomas S. Monson</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_b425_b22d_db6a_51a9" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTBXa4eyro-sw83ZdSdf4qxVi9O4bS5Cm4Dj13hIpxZzoGEUPcW_9WhWEvPRRe5ygpo9AODyFtta0cwaAvVdDgefpQskUYs5axGcN_SoyTmR3bVJTD2daI8LbjCDe86_1WlbSYdV2-x-bI/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Let us set aside our fears and live instead with joy, humility, hope, and a bold confidence that the Lord is with us. -President Dieter F. Uchtdorf</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_7cbf_8bc8_c6e7_7a64" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oK-hq_WH8xg/XDoKUhO6EBI/AAAAAAAA0hQ/VnNj-WwUDTsqpXpZ4OOnzaZOmxZmA-QxgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><br></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; color: rgb(69, 69, 69); min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"></span><br></p> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-28454796391959638512019-01-10T13:27:00.001-08:002019-01-10T15:22:05.101-08:007 Quotes from “Come, Listen to a Prophet’s Voice by Bishop Dean M. Davies<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As we solidify in our lives the practice of listening to and heeding the voice of the living prophets, we will reap eternal blessings.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_35fa_21d5_4624_bb33" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1CA071mn2I3KwQxSVev-ptQYdy761N3UxJicy3bvBL6ETMCM_n7TrT3z5WlkgTgdcSONGB_w7H84t76YtTMF17-xGSCwPwEVcI9efHiblCH0XJzdhT46zjj8LiXB6VG5HzUPBoQMjCtd/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lord has revealed and continues to reveal to the President of the Church the patterns by which the kingdom of God is to be directed in our day.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_fc4d_be62_56ca_b1de" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimqsAoOivj9Va7CnPfmEJewFSi3b-dEQ75ZXaln-ONyzXGSgMko0262Gfg41J2pXyA-JOp6ujcuWmr-Jncc0dXeK6Ayn3b-H3bYwBOqhYAqq5xbJIUPyqd9jnB9ujGd83hHKhuU4zk3sBy/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lord provides guidance as to how each of us should direct our lives, such that our conduct may likewise be acceptable to the Lord.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_ffbc_b62e_52e_264b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--a2E54LEgyw/XDfTjuvJSQI/AAAAAAAA0dk/4KOKORtpwocqkY5sSyI7FYc63J8NZk1VQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We could reasonably ask ourselves, “What building blocks should we put in place in order to make our lives beautiful, majestic, and resistant to the storms of the world?”</span></p><img id="id_5773_99c8_e914_208e" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XVJT8rKpbOA/XDfTkFOcswI/AAAAAAAA0do/7tUZEmaLJpICWQnRCGvwEmLy6QwgYfBSwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">n the introduction to the Book of Mormon, we are taught that “those who gain [a] divine witness from the Holy Spirit [that the Book of Mormon is the word of God] will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is His revelator and [prophet of the Restoration], and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth.”</span><div><img id="id_d9aa_989d_61e0_8a03" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bZHtg_EQ_pU/XDfTlUroJAI/AAAAAAAA0ds/1R33ArPBQxg2RddrS3v-pw33o7avwZBeQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br></span>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We come to fully and truly sustain the living prophet as we develop the pattern of confiding in his words, having the faith to act upon them, and then praying for the Lord’s continued blessings upon him.</span></p><img id="id_57c9_ad80_d7aa_c05b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Gc4yzZCUfSI/XDfTmSIZgnI/AAAAAAAA0dw/G3PcgsuJOnQp5Fm0M4qPh6pexGI9V5hZwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Listening to and hearkening to living prophets will have profound, even life-changing effects in our lives. We are strengthened. We are more assured and confident in the Lord. We hear the word of the Lord. We feel God’s love. We will know how to conduct our lives with purpose.</span> </div><div><img id="id_72e9_6d98_e467_bc3c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-YNUUIGgeOjU/XDfTm2eD-lI/AAAAAAAA0d0/wCvi-rmbr5MrMtNvQSHyA6pc_3U5XI_zQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div>Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-1874465949979073282019-01-10T10:55:00.001-08:002019-01-10T10:55:45.403-08:00Picture for primary come follow me<div><img id="id_b06c_c6e2_34d9_f0e8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3NhZwti7QgA/XDeVF19cC7I/AAAAAAAAW8Y/pPrN32QKayUIh-ZoKjQUnucj5U-Z-YUNACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_3c21_8fc3_80ab_847d" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxPxc0R6keDnW9LDfh_Saem8UVi82UYd4NF91LS2gZ4TOEZu2UgXkt4UDJ8WM3J1dZcYqY2djDXfYVqWhFoVka0e6Xy_t7j0BvFNNxNAjDdT5XU9xgsXLq2yYtQZ3WkOUcrKEc9Rc49I-2/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_e67b_386f_21bf_be23" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRb5rgpzG17rzU0QUr21DUqemJApvDA7MfSdeLIPaClRPbxBxwWTbuyp9JWNPCodO0PapM60FlWqF-1lEnWKC0ESvw8ArMX9_WaHWIZvz-PzQZ9sSQ1ZH3_DmByJyyf1WICJOBRxb7mbQz/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_aeb2_8ba7_f434_38b3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_xmr-QfHQIntMkES1fXdGcf5jDSv870i03mxSVgYJCPFDXE7K7LCMa4YDCo93BvkHWewshQbD4xQc1VasQA8KryNMAD7rSLdM1HPvJXLI-eHcWhebgK2O-XNklC4aPnnjIqnQ_oXIYap/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_11e0_4f30_35ad_2718" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGwRO2BDwm1A0630PkXYOIp8P_RR64YeCHC9QshWgKOlTKbZoQz8nLzi84O326Ibsr3bRVty9Yka_cP2fjFy3UvLwbnKpiVmqb8zip6i1zcbL1NJc1FbgRAnm1VeVSaV7OLjj0jHl5WIfC/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_9fb2_a7fe_93c3_f2f1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_UY4uBOKwXc_vowukqpM_JbBkJNpDD10nBKdPuAgxTMlm-SBL9h67TIp8jgao89wVPtByhmHaoiYYdr2LHnCpaZxnbT2ABT-uiPH2Zx_JtFpOHRSQrkxobyrSi2R1LInQF5yvn2Bkx52K/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_b9e1_7d39_d3f4_be95" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TKkYgAi6WSDLJ01gzRjuw6fuRe1EkOfIYfLdp4UiDvPFq3Ch_1pEp1JPgi4IGzGTt6zcNwAewIQYpKkdvhhvuzeNcE39hwqClEBjjKFXUhZGPxm20AXMc9hXXhLaR1980vKmVJVIQSMN/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_56de_819b_3af_7942" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Dbm_frXOFWc/XDeVIdd-zBI/AAAAAAAAW80/M0wMuwv_95A5UIpNNC3AuVlMmKUvUVxSgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_903b_77c2_ac4_b388" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gp-R0HeXvPI/XDeVInzrcRI/AAAAAAAAW84/wXd3kSfaqdsWj7HasNG1l56uhtetxPJVgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_414b_a695_e877_38d9" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-UKVlQYpoUHc/XDeVJMXXWGI/AAAAAAAAW88/2xY1H5OaIbQbX94A3kjd5-d9Oz7tUOe1wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><img id="id_9e6c_4972_22c3_3feb" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b61LmKzBOQc/XDeVJbZacsI/AAAAAAAAW9A/VGPERgb41ZEEWa3NfI82Tf00NCgh12zWgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_e84_61c9_f1b0_cda6" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-OAlJVSFomPzYQHk5lFdEUgOptXNTTe1SJOoNRiZ6w4yj9hFE8WojsVh1SxGv4FZlIK-6yX9vkxm2Sjt1kD7rkP61jXYXiV495QCbJBZUAZ9vf4ZABKZ6wZIocFOwfoMZYFRYjil27Ip/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_72a0_4cb4_ded2_3e82" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MgmJZ1JLnhY/XDeVKIfMfoI/AAAAAAAAW9I/U7TFBjX5dmQginmqCQLWsakZ2_3tkw0_ACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br><img id="id_28ec_1d4_611e_b9cb" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wnQiU0rmYf6Bjigk5XDAI-6HCW461RU9lfrmR3x6WzP1qzC9Gg_FEuARjf_pLm8Hof4Fs36XI1Y_J7mv94QJaL_68LDdg78MJqjWR59LWndV6ntR4WHQvARq8Sn80TUpV1l6HK_pb2dZ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_e0a6_3d10_fc3a_bcf1" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iksY2vdpXVI/XDeVK4ad7UI/AAAAAAAAW9Q/a3wRhxEoSLsfnod58waqLySvqiGKp2rPgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_9a17_6aab_a51a_500b" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge5WRH6_fL4eEdO7M9i00JqqoISfdqo8h-KscC4xYF4FFrIR9LY5hxk4K2_h6_lzH5c8gQVrgPEmbmFMb4IbLO3enoHFayxXbmRylQq3rpQlySPIg2VQwOTvKx9JYwlnTpuJDL7-bna9kw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_8120_62ee_8451_4289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7k8mG-ZieL1kRteogGG0txUJAbtwNYoe2z2mv7XQgeKEkupatsG7siEosPa8sR3q9qqIFOpdKVc_HnBGr534a4swNvdvV0Z-2JLMlrvoZclYj159pg7X2gvKCxBg02nk2JtPBgEKxnyyq/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_fda4_95bd_c882_4d17" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tnka7YulG2w/XDeVMMSGu0I/AAAAAAAAW9c/o1jTmFIZDNYIWi9AHSxqP75Yhj4wx1PlgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><br></div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10985522768297579008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-33411555190988093702019-01-10T04:55:00.001-08:002019-01-10T05:46:52.167-08:00Come follow me weekly challenge<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_936a_5c83_60af_85c3" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Ur6z0DewFVs/XDdArNRmYvI/AAAAAAAA0cA/QsOCu7JpN90a2O7bp8hGJM33e9f9KdQAACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him” (<a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/matt/2.1-2?lang=eng#0">Matthew 2:1–2</a>).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_a267_d1_97cb_fd53" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1cEOSmvnZ_997tsobWEYd1QRm3mNaAXAfQlYMO1ViEJfA4Xb1EBJ8yXYx3oZL-8uO-eagW43g5TbKfJst4HqMxZx5wLnYGmnSXaGZB547ORBsqpcd4KMzeYXt6rOUnyat52y9J1TeqAjx/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The “Friend” describes the star that directed the Wise men to the baby Jesus as a compass. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One star shone more brightly than the rest, and the Wise Men followed it like a compass. They had been watching for the star, and they knew it would lead them to a new king. -Friend December 2015</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_a343_54e0_b1b4_b257" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5Zx_w8B-0u8/XDdHqRtF1aI/AAAAAAAA0cY/2Zx0BPl-caUmxJL9kYv3P9DZ2Ev9eNYkACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Which is a perfect analogy as we can still be directed which way to go, by that same light in our lives today, as we walk the path back to Eternal life, where we will be united with our Heavenly Father and our Beloved Older brother, our Savior, Jesus Christ. We are fortunate that it doesn’t have to be night or dark for us to see and follow the light, we are able to look to Christ himself through his example and through the Holy Ghost’s direction and stay safely on the path that is illuminated by the light we seek, Christ himself. When we find ourselves in the dark, dreary parts of life called trials, we too can still find that same guiding light, that will shine brighter than ever if we will allow it to as it will be our source of peace and comfort during the toughest moments. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It is true today as it was in biblical times, <span style="font-weight: bold;">the wisest of men follow the light of a Christ. </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They seek after Jesus, and so it has ever been. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">No search is so universal. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">No undertaking so richly rewarding. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">No effort so ennobling. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">No purpose so divine. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">-Thomas S. Monson</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_741_5232_3198_7d76" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-klz32dnFj2k/XDdJbgc7sdI/AAAAAAAA0ck/rSBLDEaBRrci7nq391q6GW8y-aK2cWazgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I love this video, of the wiseman seeking Jesus. When reading in Mathew a couple verses, it is easy to feel like this was an easy quest. The truth is it took months if not longer. They would have been faced with all sorts of weather, terrain, and obstacles. I am sure they experienced feelings of despair, fear, worry, and long suffering. Imagine their joy when they reached the baby Jesus and had made their journey successfully. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mathew 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">How great is our daily joy when we are doing our best to follow the Lord? </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">How much greater will our joy be at the end of the journey when we embrace Christ, and know that we successfully followed His light until the end of our life’s journey?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">From last week’s study we learned to not fear, trust the Lord. Fear not...if you encounter storms of various kinds during your journey home. Fear not if your travel is slowed by a steep hill or crooked road. Fear not if you fall. Fear not, the Lord will help you finish...just don’t step off the path. You’re always safer on the path, even if you have to crawl for a moment. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">From our shepherd, “Fear not, little flock” -D&C 6:34</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_ea77_8276_8623_c00d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-N7V6cJkNwQQ/XDdKgzWBmgI/AAAAAAAA0cw/RNNoeYLRAsoDyzJn5d8M7M7TJyhcgwDEwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. - </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Isaiah 41:10 (My son, Luke’s favorite scripture)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_46c1_d9a7_c40b_5198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBora_r15H5RzEYaDlttN8di_TzRTfsQ4hSswUSDufbnHnh0ZoPerI5gWA1U7QN_pEJnxZg6hqfS5pap7UyuzSTJ2GEaK-HZ1EJ-AR_uAm8MQlDm_0rlbmZyT1k4-uKC7TaSMBPmFuUzu/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I can’t quote this enough....one of my favorite encouraging quotes by Jeffery R. Holland....</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying....You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come. -Thomas S Monson</span></p><img id="id_323b_136f_6f_7542" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pMdXP7CQC44/XDdMyndz2_I/AAAAAAAA0dI/g9Nryrl1ZQUwsJiMpwuGdkWK4smyIrHLwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-40278515897184895072019-01-09T17:13:00.001-08:002019-01-09T17:13:25.005-08:00The Living Christ paragraph 12<div><br></div><div>We testify that He will someday return to earth. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together” (Isa. 40:5). He will rule as King of Kings and reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to our works and the desires of our hearts. </div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_d08e_48b0_a8aa_104d" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsPL8U5CVvfR8poGhwBzqIbjahxmLRpgojSmJsUW_RDV9Fa37dpEV4fQ19oHLQ4uI4mQyizubFp6MoHC494r6UYiD2cbAmbw5FRKqK6axOBa5tECmozUh_CHu2bBzddoRu52H4qdHaadVj/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_653f_fdad_fa8f_da2f" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jMiApylUJ5E/XDacM6xuCyI/AAAAAAAAZVw/xxBsVGk45uw8GFTLVb4uYEN0tRwfnMimQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>Craig Conoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01109931317629165839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-30613779525563572642019-01-09T16:49:00.001-08:002019-01-09T17:03:50.966-08:00 Jeffrey R Holland’s personal story of “Trust God and Believe In Good Things to Come”<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><img id="id_990_5e43_3b7_823c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7TXDHKR77zw/XDaYoYscEWI/AAAAAAAA0bc/jpBTvaJXxoQP-MJneTHuRlf7QAQLofi_gCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Forgive me for a personal conclusion, which does not represent the terrible burdens so many of you carry but it is meant to be encouraging. Thirty years ago last month, a little family set out to cross the United States to attend graduate school--no money, an old car, every earthly possession they owned packed into less than half the space of the smallest U-Haul trailer available. Bidding their apprehensive parents farewell, they drove exactly 34 miles up the highway, at which point their beleaguered car erupted.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Pulling off the freeway onto a frontage road, the young father surveyed the steam, matched it with his own, then left his trusting wife and two innocent children--the youngest just three months old--to wait in the car while he walked the three miles or so to the southern Utah metropolis of Kanarraville, population then, I suppose, 65. Some water was secured at the edge of town, and a very kind citizen offered a drive back to the stranded family. The car was attended to and slowly--very slowly--driven back to St. George for inspection--U-Haul trailer and all.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After more than two hours of checking and rechecking, no immediate problem could be detected, so once again the journey was begun. In exactly the same amount of elapsed time at exactly the same location on that highway with exactly the same pyrotechnics from under the hood, the car exploded again. It could not have been 15 feet from the earlier collapse, probably not 5 feet from it! Obviously the most precise laws of automotive physics were at work.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Now feeling more foolish than angry, the chagrined young father once more left his trusting loved ones and started the long walk for help once again. This time the man providing the water said, “Either you or that fellow who looks just like you ought to get a new radiator for that car.” For the second time a kind neighbor offered a lift back to the same automobile and its anxious little occupants. He didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry at the plight of this young family.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“How far have you come?” he said. “Thirty-four miles,” I answered. “How much farther do you have to go?” “Twenty-six hundred miles,” I said. “Well, you might make that trip, and your wife and those two little kiddies might make that trip, but none of you are going to make it in that car.” He proved to be prophetic on all counts.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Just two weeks ago this weekend, I drove by that exact spot where the freeway turnoff leads to a frontage road, just three miles or so west of Kanarraville, Utah. That same beautiful and loyal wife, my dearest friend and greatest supporter for all these years, was curled up asleep in the seat beside me. The two children in the story, and the little brother who later joined them, have long since grown up and served missions, married perfectly, and are now raising children of their own. The automobile we were driving this time was modest but very pleasant and very safe. In fact, except for me and my lovely Pat situated so peacefully at my side, nothing of that moment two weeks ago was even remotely like the distressing circumstances of three decades earlier.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Yet in my mind’s eye, for just an instant, I thought perhaps I saw on that side road an old car with a devoted young wife and two little children making the best of a bad situation there. Just ahead of them I imagined that I saw a young fellow walking toward Kanarraville, with plenty of distance still ahead of him. His shoulders seemed to be slumping a little, the weight of a young father’s fear evident in his pace. In the scriptural phrase his hands did seem to “hang down.” In that imaginary instant, I couldn’t help calling out to him: “Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead--a lot of it--30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.”</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><img id="id_8725_cb21_fb14_96e4" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieSlkcjiPgFnkG_fnnu-axEQa908lXycC0bD7rQFz55efZOFInky4NLm8NOII8DFZfmQ-riMLEhYDL9i18Yh8BLK-4KHCQLRDhRKqnHVKywsYvSQ7diN9SRJTybGohlMlc9lZYfBc-Y1ta/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><img id="id_2de1_514f_fc53_1459" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-rOOAaQ4y52k/XDaZ9fm_EQI/AAAAAAAA0bw/QYFZ4feW6VsbYE2BUvXv1afI7aWwv8fiACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-55602144393801893092019-01-08T16:28:00.001-08:002019-01-08T16:28:49.877-08:00<div>Yesterday in our morning devotional, the concept of fear preventing us from seeing God or coming into his presence was discussed. The below scriptures are very instructive and powerful. I would put our doubts and disbelief into this same category. </div><div><br></div><div>Doctrine and Covenants 67:3</div><div>Ye endeavored to believe that ye should receive the blessing which was offered unto you; but behold, verily I say unto you there were fears in your hearts, and verily this is the reason that ye did not receive.</div><br><a href="https://www.lds.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/67?id=p3#p3">https://www.lds.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/67?id=p3#p3</a><br><div><br></div><div><img id="id_1b9f_fab7_987f_c002" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wdhdrkfjgEE/XDVANvOJUSI/AAAAAAAAZVI/18edFP00Dy4Gv0AQ3AaAnx-Juiz1k08IQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"><br><br><div>Doctrine and Covenants 67:10</div><div>And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am--not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.</div><br><a href="https://www.lds.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/67?id=p10#p10">https://www.lds.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/67?id=p10#p10</a></div><div><br><img id="id_4a95_c875_a978_a634" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aCk0wWugPB4/XDVAOU58qQI/AAAAAAAAZVM/74xuJK7OC3kKmoFLnicWze4fL0CNtReLACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">Interestingly enough, in our team training this morning this phrase was mentioned, </span>What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? <span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span><br><img id="id_3a08_cc21_db14_6214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyq0v3m4AMpWLImBAUiG74OiGVIQrk2fmFhoQ2laot-5-nbTAUGl7AIuLBRowAmoW_QwXPsmcoRQx840xk2jkfyg_262NKvGvkTMMEnoBKCW1H6ASu6yr5C2zqoRQBK00MvV3dtU6UiTDR/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"><br><br>This really rang through for me as I pondered the concept of fear or doubt standing in our way from beholding our Savior. I decided to make a second quote, with a spiritual spin on the same words. </div><div><br><img id="id_15b2_b1fa_d31b_58ee" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3ptxEqQSycM/XDVAP-mA46I/AAAAAAAAZVU/goV1N8eX39kOKQHDOrdRHqliE-xWm2F6gCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"><br><br>I love this, because seriously the only factor that should stand in our way from being in the presence of Christ, should be the Lord's timing, not our fears and doubts. We should act with such obedience and perfect faith, just like Moses did, or the brother of Jared, or all those who enjoyed His presence while in the flesh. </div><div><br></div><div>Let's get working on replacing our fears and doubts with great faith and perfect belief!!!</div><div><br></div><div>Craig</div>Craig Conoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01109931317629165839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-35837547385718433512019-01-07T18:11:00.001-08:002019-01-07T18:11:01.506-08:00(Temporary Back<div><img id="id_fc00_8571_434c_44d4" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AMVaegKy2v4vxfZStXTNvDgtCy-2yJpsO7RQrZp4jqLnd-4Y8pzcV4YpNuk1dgroeNtDcvvc6PP2HLoRtp6qehqtMhEBnxEVWZi22SOknNHcfI8GYaB_nkEWsprtC3T50jZLJP-SXA_y/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div><div><br></div><div>I love it when I read the scriptures and the characters come alive for me. Years ago Moroni became one of these such characters. His story, his absolute loneliness, his unshakable faith and determination to “not deny the Christ” has left an imprint on my life. He is one of my Heros! I can not begin to imagine how he must have felt, everyone he loved had been killed, his own life was constantly sought after, he had to wander from place to place and yet through it all his faith never wavered. His father had given him the plates to write and preserve their story. A lesser man, if forced to wander from place to place, might have given up on the plates, called them a burden to carry around or he could have lost faith in God because he had lost everything. Thank goodness Moroni was not a “lesser man”! He knew, without a doubt, the importance of the plates and preserving their story. He knew Jesus Christ was his Savior and he would not deny him. </div><div>Let’s take a look at the verses, scattered between three different books, that tell his story. </div><div><br></div><div>(Emphasis added)</div><div><br></div>The Words of Mormon 1:1-2<div><div>1 And now I, Mormon, being about to deliver up the record which I have been making into the hands of my son Moroni, behold I have witnessed almost all the destruction of my people, the Nephites.</div><div>2 And it is many hundred years after the coming of Christ that I deliver these records into the hands of my <b>son</b>; and it supposeth me that he will witness the <b>entire destruction of my people. </b>But may God grant that he may <b>survive them, </b>that he may <b>write somewhat concerning them, </b>and <b>somewhat concerning Christ</b>, that perhaps some day it may profit them.</div></div><div><br></div><div>Mormon 8:1-5</div><div><div>Behold I, Moroni, do finish the record of my father, Mormon. Behold, I have but few things to write, which things I have been commanded by my father.</div><div>2 And now it came to pass that after the great and tremendous battle at Cumorah, behold, the Nephites who had escaped into the country southward were hunted by the Lamanites, until they were <b>all destroyed</b>.</div><div>3 And my <b>father also was killed by them, </b>and I even remain <b>alone </b>to write the sad tale of the destruction of my people. But behold, they are <b>gone, </b>and I fulfil the commandment of my father. And whether they will slay me, <b>I know not. </b></div><div>4 Therefore I will write and hide up the records in the earth; and whither <b>I go it mattereth not.</b></div><div>5 Behold, my father hath made this record, and he hath written the intent thereof. And behold, I would write it also if I had room upon the plates, but I <b>have not;</b> and ore <b>I have none, </b>for <b>I am alone. </b>My <b>father</b> hath been <b>slain </b>in battle, and all my <b>kinsfolk, </b>and I have <b>not friends </b>nor <b>whither to go;</b> and how long the Lord will suffer that I may live <b>I know not.</b></div></div><div><br></div><div>The Book of Moroni 1:1-4</div><div><div>Now I, Moroni, after having made an end of abridging the account of the people of Jared, I had supposed not to have written more, but <b>I have not as yet perished; </b>and I make not myself known to the Lamanites <b>lest they should destroy me. </b></div><div>2 For behold, their wars are exceedingly fierce among themselves; and because of their hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ.</div><div>3 <b>And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ; </b>wherefore, I <b>wander whithersoever I can for the safety of mine own life.</b></div><div>4 Wherefore, I write a few more things, contrary to that which I had supposed; for I had supposed not to have written any more; but I write a few more things, that perhaps <b>they may be of worth unto my brethren, </b>the Lamanites, in some future day, according to the will of the Lord.</div></div><div><br></div><div>These verses create a visual, like watching a movie, of this great mans life. I am grateful for Moroni and for his effort and the effort of his father Mormon in keeping and preserving the plates so that we could have their story today. Before he died he hid the records in the side of a mountain. That is where the young boy Joseph Smith, lead by an angel, found them. </div><div>I love the Book of Mormon! I have come to know my Savior Jesus Christ so much better as I have read and pondered it’s pages. It is a true record of the ancient people who lived here in America, (kind of like their journals). They knew and testified of Jesus Christ and his gospel. They wrote the record specially to draw all people unto Him. </div><div>Another great hero of mine from the Book of Mormon said it this way,</div><div>(Emphasis added)</div><div> Jacob 4:1-4</div><div><div>1 Now behold, it came to pass that I, Jacob, having ministered much unto my people in word, (<b>and I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates) </b>and we know that the things which we <b>write upon plates must remain;</b></div><div>2 But whatsoever things we <b>write upon anything save it be upon plates must perish and vanish away; </b>but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, <b>a small degree of knowledge concerning us, </b>or concerning their fathers--</div><div>3 Now in this thing we do <b>rejoice; and we labor diligently to engraven these words </b>upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will <b>recieve them with thankful hearts</b>, and look upon them that they may learn with <b>joy</b> and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first parents.</div><div>4 For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we <b>knew of Christ, and had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us. </b></div></div><div><img id="id_d67_4cb3_3142_dbec" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BVHFRWnA0IM/XDQGtHXoj7I/AAAAAAAAW50/uxS7bBfJ9b4fyqWeJ6e9J5u17ioFPXVagCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 746px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></div>Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10985522768297579008noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-3211597602271206102019-01-07T12:19:00.001-08:002019-01-09T04:47:38.547-08:00 The Holy Ghost Testifies of Jesus Christ: Come Follow Me (Mathew 1, Luke 1)<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It has never been the popular or easy road to be a believer of Jesus Christ. Yet, those who are willing to listen to the testifying powers of the Holy Ghost are blessed beyond measure. As I read Luke 1, I kept going back to the way the Holy Ghost testifies immediately to Elisabeth of the truthfulness of what was taking place in Mary’s womb. Elisabeth took her acquired knowledge and rejoiced with Mary, for the Holy Ghost testified to her, of the reality of Mary’s conception and that her son was indeed going to be the Savior. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Luke 1:39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">41 And it came to pass, that, when <span style="font-weight: bold;">Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:</span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My daughter was in her Sunday school class yesterday. This was her first time with the young women and young men, since she will be 12 in August. She told me that usually she enjoys class, but this time everything flowed, her understanding was clear, and she felt something special inside. She got a huge smile on her face, and then she said, “It was so awesome.” I was excited to teach her that what she was feeling, was the Holy Ghost, testifying of truth. She was ecstatic for she has been praying to have her own testimony.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“A testimony is a witness or confirmation of eternal truth impressed upon individual hearts and souls through the Holy Ghost, whose primary ministry is to testify of truth, particularly as it relates to the Father and the Son. When one receives a testimony of truth through this divinely appointed process, it immediately begins to have impact on that person’s life. According to Alma the Younger, “it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves … the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me” (Alma 32:28). - M. Russell Ballard</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_de61_b5c2_a583_cb4f" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSs_XVBwXTbf2ot6mHs187P9wEKX2aQ77OKD6JVV-Szb-hawuhXzvK9wyZQz1UgBBI52SW6jhunbOF9O7CzwllnaFI9gDetrGuZuQ-u7tmfdoU21jDFgXsuRFIi8bbha1WerO3bjfZENVk/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Holy Ghost has many roles that are blessings to us, for he comforts, guides, protects, and leads us towards Christ if we will listen. But his main number one role here on earth is to testify of Christ. Those are the moments that Alma speaks of:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Alma 5:26 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_7437_969f_ccf1_35f9" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlBeH4ADlb5_R9JAFe7bJJiR1E4xxdp1wtUUL7ffBeDOrlX3isWnOuKzcWr3q7NxK2VZQilRqsUYwv4R9UYHXmj7OHgyOnB1qrkxG3TDMO29tac8QuaLSVuey2ejO3c1E4DENiTsB59ngB/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I felt those moments of “redeeming love”, when the Holy Ghost has come upon me with a peace and assurance that I explain as a warm embrace, or hug from heaven. I will never forget those moments, I hold them dear to my heart. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I grew up in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I was baptized at 8, attended seminary, went to all my activities, and I loved the gospel. Maybe, I put down my shield of faith for a moment of rest, I’m not sure...but a couple years in my early twenties where lived in a manner different than I knew best. During that time, I met my darling husband, and we were married. Within 6 months I was faced with a huge decision, what do I do about church? Mark was completely against The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I am by nature a peacemaker. I knew I had a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel, but was it the only church that contained the fullness of Christ church? Had it been restored? I needed to know for myself. So I prayed like I’ve never prayed before, “Dear Heavenly Father, I must know if the church is true? If it’s just another good church, then I will promise to faithfully go to church every week with Mark and love you and follow you with with my whole heart and soul. But...If The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true, if it truly has been restored by a living prophet, and is directed by YOU today through living prophets ...I NEED TO KNOW. If you will tell me, I promise to be faithful my entire life, I will live every principle to the best of my mortal ability! I will feast upon and obey the prophets as if you were speaking to me personally. I will not faulter!” Then I went to work. I read the Book of Mormon, the Bible, D&C, Pearl of Great Price. I bought the institute manuals and went through each one. I prayed and prayed. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I GOT MY ANSWER!</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I know without a doubt, that Joseph Smith prayed as a young 14 year old boy to know which church was true. In answer to his prayer he saw the Father and the Son standing side by side clearifying with out a doubt the identity of the Godhead. Through the direction of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, young Joseph was inspired what to do to fully restore the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know the Book of Mormon is indeed a living scripture that stands side by side with the Bible to testify of Christ. I know that the Holy Ghost is an essential part of the Godhead that allows us here in mortality to be near our Heavenly home. I know that Christ came to earth for each of us individually. That he truly is a REDEEMER and SAVIOR, who heals with empathy and compassion, who forgives with love and understanding. He feels our pain, and will carry us every step of the way if that is what is needed, but he puts us down, let’s us walk so that we too can progress and learn. I know that there is a living prophet here on earth today, who speaks the will of the Jesus Christ. He is a watchman on the tower, whose life is devoted to Christ for us. He speaks for the Lord here on earth, and if we choose to follow him we will be following Christ. The path is clearer with Heavenly direction. Most importantly I know that we are loved! These things are MY testimony, they belong to me. They have been rooted deep into my heart, mind and soul through diligent study and prayer, and. by the power of the Holy Ghost. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><img id="id_836b_314e_72d7_7d59" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-FkUtxIRpRYY/XDXtaHkehHI/AAAAAAAA0a8/cEGQM1ox0Jg6xhw8v3UTDVog0mtpGjO4gCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That’s the power of the Holy Ghost!</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He testifies of truth to our souls, it’s personal, it’s sacred, it’s special! ITS REAL! I will stand as a witness for my entire life with enthusiasm and love for others. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“The things of the Spirit are sacred and hard to express. We, like Ammon, declare, “Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel” (Alma 26:16).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">However, I witness that the Holy Ghost is real and He is the testator, revelator, comforter, guide, and supernal teacher.” -Jay E. Jensen</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_18d9_1954_988d_a544" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DWtWlbvcBt4/XDPPR2VJY7I/AAAAAAAA0Zs/o5jQ_TIeatIZ7842nLv79YKtIaKLso9FACHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It’s that jump inside us described by Elisabeth, that awesome feeling described by Annika, or that warm embrace described by me. It’s a personal witness that will come to each of us, in our own way, as we seek him. When it does, the memory will never leave us, as long as we will allow it to take root and develop into more than a moment. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Mankind need not struggle in the dark to gain faith in the only true God and Jesus Christ, nor in the gospel plan of life and salvation. The Comforter, or the Holy Ghost, which Christ promised to send, is the Spirit of truth and is to guide his followers into all truth. The Holy Ghost is to testify of the Father and the Son and is a teacher, also a revelator. Witness Peter’s statement that “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:21), and Paul’s declaration, “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Cor. 12:3). John, the beloved apostle, taught, “It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” (1 Jn. 5:6.) -Delbert L. Stapley</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; color: rgb(69, 69, 69); min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"></span><img id="id_79ae_b0ca_cfd1_f20b" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhPJneh0vjgJwWubgL5CNCJa0eZLme3CtUKSpA3HpLPuzcnGIIk6IXytYVB1mf2vpl7z8M8PWemdBv8_ZDoSw96U3rFykWPlDZ4X3w5y7IJKfzwjy8QzmhMJj8ljof854F9vbLiUM6L7K2/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br>** After I finished writing this post, Luke read it. His comments were enlightening. He explained that everything the Holy Ghost does is a testament of Christ’s love for us. Testifying of Christ is not only His number one purpose it is his entire purpose. Our peace, comfort, forgiveness, reassurance, guidance, love...comes from Christ, through the Holy Ghost to us. It’s all connected. </p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; color: rgb(69, 69, 69); min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_7321_208e_96c7_9597" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRtlCP9OSBu1-Wxlp7MKbMRgj158IFYpFn31Qx9nxIlyucLca5XYRv04XHdDwoi43XInB-O76RZyMQueRVOUKNF3k4yxZpz4aVpMTFJef4QbehyphenhyphenLti9iWGVsn1rxZXRvOUo4ngJDYsoey/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; color: rgb(69, 69, 69); min-height: 20.3px;">It was the most beautiful testimony of the Holy Ghost from a 13 year old who has spent the last 7 years of his life sick. He has relied on love from Christ, peace and comfort, and he has received it. He has spent many dark hours pouring his heart out. He recongnizes where it comes from. </p> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-31101765285725852412019-01-07T07:00:00.001-08:002019-01-07T07:00:32.166-08:00<div>We had our first Come Follow Me lesson yesterday, and it worked out really good. On fast Sunday’s we like to do a family fast and testiomony time, so we had a shorter lesson and did our fast and testimonies. <br><br>Matthew 13:3-9</div><div>And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;</div><div>4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:</div><div>5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:</div><div>6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.</div><div>7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:</div><div>8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.</div><div>9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.</div><div><br></div><div><img id="id_32b9_f4f5_b62a_230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi42s-dO7BBniyZqkG53zChri8Duss3TK5F8hb8WfsyKvS8c3OgWj6X7nzMY0RxqY3agqbs0PGGl34pWh7-MS0NJOx8x8L4g0BrOHFK1fb4pRTDG02_rnb3NokAsbToY6dFgYPe1UhNhUqJ/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 550px; height: auto;"></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">We discussed how we want to be disciples of Jesus Christ, and produce a hundredfold instead of sixtyfold or thirtyfold. So the question is how do you produce a hundredfold of fruit?</span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);"><br></span></div><div><span style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);">We need to be agents and disciples of Christ. We need to read, search, and ponder the scriptures, say our prayers, and have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion. As we do this day in day out, we will start to produce fruit, yea even an hundredfold and serve our God.<br></span><br>Craig</div>Craig Conoverhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01109931317629165839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-76048396382963721882019-01-06T13:19:00.001-08:002019-01-11T05:24:06.332-08:00 Patriarchal Blessing<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">My oldest daughter got baptized this last summer. She waited her whole life with patience and respect for her daddy. I can’t help but to be excited for her to get her patriarchal blessing. I wanted to prepare a little something for her to help her better understand what it was! She has grown up with me mentioning mine, she watches me read it often, and she knows my love and appreciation for the gentle guidance it has given me in my life. I thought I would do an official post to give an explanation to anyone wanting to know a little more. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What is a patriarchal blessing?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Why do we get patriarchal blessings?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Who is the patriarch who gives the blessings?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">What is a patriarchal blessing?</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Receive a patriarchal blessing. Study it carefully and regard it as personal scripture to you--for that indeed is what it is. A patriarchal blessing is “an inspired and prophetic statement of [your life’s] mission … together with such blessings, cautions, and admonitions as the patriarch may be prompted to give” -Ezra Taft Benson</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_e34a_3405_57f6_d8cf" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-twHmrzVOPN8/XDJ5tHMUZ9I/AAAAAAAA0YE/Uz2x24URdZc92ZF5cWkZJVdLG-HAvIM7wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A patriarchal blessing--given through an ordained patriarch--contains words inspired by God to His sons and daughters, serving as a guide and comfort for a lifetime and even with eternal significance. Think of the wonder of it. -James E. Faust</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_e280_8f24_e184_9c00" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNr5J0ccbgp4emmFJV0JAL3N_a3LM-fTslrqKPIeJX6AW-PaudzyNKZFaZ8sepsWlRJwCvyXWM0X_uzlKOr3v8BpP6QqgXKuw2BC1kCnuqkAbHo8vf5f5vxjTtqJzlr3tdzdV42AHKXm8y/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Patriarchal blessings are … similar to a road map that indicates the paths that may be traveled and destinations that may be reached if we stay within those paths. -Elaine L. Jack</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_a403_3b39_57a1_40c" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-leevs6wUTnA/XDKHB_chtPI/AAAAAAAA0Yc/iJH6J-GpJNIICf_iCJ-1P8VhTs9RPNzowCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I love the explanation of a road map, even more today when road maps are rarely used. We all have GPS that gives us step by step directions. However, when our data is out or we are out of reach of any signal we aren’t able to use our GPS, and we have to look at a road map. There are usually many different roads to take or ways to get there....But without it we would be lost. Our patriarchal blessing supersedes all technology, or man made theories. It’s always there for us, to refer to for direction in life. Especially those moments we feel a little lost and out of data. It’s not a fortune teller and it doesn’t give exact instructions of exactly what to do, but it reminds us where we are going and who we are. If prayerfully studied and applied we learn more about our character and purpose. Not always through direct words, but through the teaching of the Holy Ghost. </span></p><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A patriarchal blessing is a revelation to the recipient, even a white line down the middle of the road, to protect, inspire, and motivate activity and righteousness. A patriarchal blessing literally contains chapters from your book of eternal possibilities. I say eternal, for just as life is eternal, so is a patriarchal blessing. What may not come to fulfillment in this life may occur in the next. We do not govern God’s timetable. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.</span><br>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:8–9).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_ccc_2e7a_ea16_653" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhowpqifygzVG6LyTYZ7JbcraqZqoJ8c09hjXFf0X_UDidJZmAz2HI8WYLuwliTcYhtfTAHudxbPXfoa0vsU1w_YXV3XLo_Dr-6rak19Y7MDrrLmkPdqUGnNxu0i3k1_Uy8tfkPP0H4KdsX/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Your patriarchal blessing is yours and yours alone. It may be brief or lengthy, simple or profound. Length and language do not a patriarchal blessing make. It is the Spirit that conveys the true meaning. Your blessing is not to be folded neatly and tucked away. It is not to be framed or published. Rather, it is to be read. It is to be loved. It is to be followed. Your patriarchal blessing will see you through the darkest night. It will guide you through life’s dangers. Unlike the struggling bomber of yesteryear, lost in the desert wastes, the sands and storms of life will not destroy you on your eternal flight. Your patriarchal blessing is to you a personal Liahona to chart your course and guide your way.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_c74b_7627_e1f7_847b" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7cGDEH6OvS5SN-eJ1EBMpCfMm8bSo4Sdc9buZkWwjJ6AFYRsMzQNvy3uwblHKcJOMjbw230Fm95P6jhIQJKaYp7dgCU7Boq2m8em-lEbwOzSzjdpfvPBbxDEJiXdZNMWX6UBhC5dL7cU7/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Unlike Alice, each of us knows where he or she wants to go. It does matter which way we go, for the path we follow in this life surely leads to the path we shall follow in the next. -President Thomas S. Monson</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“How far is Heaven?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It’s not very far.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">When you live close to God,</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It’s right where you are.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Your patriarchal blessing is your passport to peace in this life. It is a Liahona of light to guide you unerringly to your heavenly home.” -President Thomas S. Monson </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_7581_72ff_19cb_1d06" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-39ijhHsVLE8/XDUKNShPtAI/AAAAAAAA0ag/qboJAarj3TkRDAj-vZEziAhGtuL5rZ4BwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Why do we get a patriarchal blessing?</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There are numerous reason to get a patriarchal blessing. However, during this exciting time fo history when the last gathering of Israel is taking place, its awesome to know what lineage we belong to. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have several copies of patriarchal blessing, so that I can read it it often. I have one in my scriptures, one in my journal, and one in the top drawer of my desk. I use to carry one in my purse as well, but it eventually fell apart from overuse. I enjoy reading them often, because I feel like I get something out of it each time. It’s a gentle guidance tool, a gentle warning tool, and a gentle advise giver. Over the years my blessing has become a part of who I am as I watch the pages unfold in my life. It has given me encouragement during rough moments. It feels like a personal letter from Heavenly Father. If you could only writes one letter to your daughter or son, what would it say? Well, our Heavenly Father knows the beginning from the end, so His letter is perfect for each recipient. That’s my number one reason why every member of the church should get a patriarchal blessing...because it’s a letter from home. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Patriarchal blessings contemplate an inspired declaration of the lineage of the recipient. A patriarchal blessing also includes an inspired and prophetic statement of the life possibilities and mission of the recipient. It may include such blessings, promises, advice, admonitions, and warnings as the patriarch may be prompted to give. It should always be made clear that the realization of all promised blessings is conditioned upon faithfulness and the Lord’s will” (Information and Suggestions for Patriarchs [1970], 3–4).</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lord loves His children and wants to bless them and wants all of them to return to Him and dwell in His presence for time and all eternity (see Moses 1:39). The Lord is willing to pronounce His blessing upon those who love Him and keep His commandments.”</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">-Richard D. Allred. 1997</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Our blessings can encourage us when we are discouraged, strengthen us when we are fearful, comfort us when we sorrow, give us courage when we are filled with anxiety, and lift us up when we are weak in spirit. Our testimonies can be strengthened every time</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_bb9b_397a_e17a_225b" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zsuVC5FA0cE/XDUOsu4kcMI/AAAAAAAA0as/d8LPVefYXdk3JKSqe0CNpaTnG2QugeS3wCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Like the images in my grandmother’s magnifying glass, we can become stronger, our talents and ability can be magnified and multiplied, our understanding can be greatly enlarged, and our spirituality can flower. Moroni taught that “every good gift cometh of Christ.” But the Lord said, “What doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift?” -James E. Faust</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Who is the patriarch who gives the blessings?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In my case, and I believe this is the case for the majority of members, I had never met the patriarch who gave me my blessing. It was a calling that he had in the church. I do know that he told me he had faster and prayed for 24 hours before giving me my blessing. I asked him if he always fasted and he said he did. Every time he gives a blessing he fast for 24 hours for that one blessing. This made a huge impression on me, and still makes me tear up, for an 18 little girl whom he had never met before and would never see again, this man fated for 24 hours and prayed for me. He carries a huge responsibility, and he lives up to the task. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I really like what James E. Faust has to say about patriarchal blessings. The next 5 paragraphs are copied directly from his talk “Priesthood Blessing” given in 1995</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“We are most fortunate some men are specifically ordained and authorized by their priesthood office and calling to give blessings and declare our lineage in the house of Israel. The inspired declaration of lineage is an integral part of the blessing. I pay honor and tribute to the noble, faithful men who are our ordained patriarchs. They have not sought this heavy and lonely responsibility. They are often among the most humble and devoted of our brethren. These chosen men live worthy of the inspiration of heaven. Patriarchs are privileged to bestow blessings, for they are entitled to speak authoritatively under the inspiration of the Lord.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The office of patriarch is an office of the Melchizedek Priesthood. It is one of blessing, not of administration. It is a sacred and spiritual revelatory calling which usually continues for much of the patriarch’s life. Our patriarchs devote themselves fully to their callings and do all they can to live in faith and worthiness so that each blessing is inspired. The patriarch’s calling becomes a beautiful, sacred, spiritual, and fulfilling experience. As moved upon by the Holy Spirit, the patriarch declares by inspiration the lineage in the house of Israel of the recipient, together with such blessings, spiritual gifts, promises, advice, admonition, and warnings the patriarch feels inspired to give. The patriarchal blessing is, in essence, a prophetic blessing and utterance.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A patriarchal blessing from an ordained patriarch can give us a star to follow, which is a personal revelation from God to each individual. If we follow this star, we are less likely to stumble and be misled. Our patriarchal blessing will be an anchor to our souls, and if we are worthy, neither death nor the devil can deprive us of the blessings pronounced. They are blessings we can enjoy now and forever.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_4110_96ca_ec61_b919" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXHlGr-Sni6bKgYvyDF2SXVlqLWpEYGRvMWjDSnVtdMviy3EQ-GT6eXpl0LVjPx6Ktqe7bGxOkYysPWCpl32B6HvwhrGAJSSBfL6AxAESEtE41ttMdiPjfJVvCR3VQqO2xoMmklmMs0is/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The patriarch has no blessing of his own to give. We heard Elder LeGrand Richards tell of a patriarch who once said to a woman, “I have a wonderful blessing for you.” But when the patriarch laid his hands on the head of the recipient, his mind went completely blank. He apologized. “I was mistaken. I do not have a blessing for you. It is the Lord who has the blessing for you.” The woman came back the next day, and after the patriarch had prayerfully importuned the Lord, a blessing came that mentioned many concerns known only to this good sister. All blessings come from God. Our Heavenly Father knows His children. He knows their strengths and weaknesses. He knows their capabilities and potential. Our patriarchal blessings indicate what He expects of us and what our potential can be.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Two finishing quotes:</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Patriarchal blessings should be read humbly, prayerfully, and frequently. A patriarchal blessing is very sacred and personal, but it may be shared with close family members. It is a sacred guideline of counsel, promises, and information from the Lord; however, a person should not expect the blessing to detail all that will happen to him or her or to answer all questions. The fact that one’s patriarchal blessing may not mention an important event in life, such as a mission or marriage, does not mean that it will not happen. In order to receive the fulfillment of our patriarchal blessings, we should treasure in our hearts the precious words they contain, ponder them, and so live that we will obtain the blessings in mortality and a crown of righteousness in the hereafter. -James E. Faust</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Elder John A. Widtsoe said: “It should always be kept in mind that the realization of the promises made may come in this or the future life. Men have stumbled at times because promised blessings have not occurred in this life. They have failed to remember that, in the gospel, life with all its activities continues forever and that the labors of earth may be continued in heaven. Besides, the Giver of the blessings, the Lord, reserves the right to have them become active in our lives, as suits His divine purpose. We and our blessings are in the hands of the Lord. But, there is the general testimony that when the gospel law has been obeyed, the promised blessings have been realized.”</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 17px; line-height: normal; font-family: ".SF UI Text"; color: rgb(69, 69, 69); min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"></span><br></p> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-33461247621036532992019-01-05T23:10:00.001-08:002019-01-06T13:21:15.053-08:00 Come Follow Me: I believe, Help My Unbelief (Mathew 1, Luke1)<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>Luke 1: 18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.</b></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.</b></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><b>20 And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.</b></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_57ed_3fa9_ffee_69d1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHt2OTyBRXJ0IJsnGCdWrECIBRZ5etf22LbHSAbUsu7rruAfSww5Lgd9KEl9zuSGACz75PMzuQbKJTQ9LCa6sgmm4SSpWs5OQAAjmdVZyfyRNErjabH-dj8FWD7Ep2NSW9TaynNOiEJ1EP/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As I read this chapterI couldn’t shake this part. I felt so strong that the Lord wasn’t punishing Zacharias for his question, but helping him in some way. I felt it was a blessing instead of a curse. It took me quite a few days and several prayers to understand why this was important for me. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Now if we could pause for a moment: this is what I am most excited about the “Come Follow Me” study. It is designed for each of us to personally seek inspiration for ourselves, to Ask, Seek, and Ponder...until we understand. Like Nephi tells us, it’s an opportunity to apply the scriptures to our lives. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">1 Nephi 19:23 And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_5e79_924b_48e8_132d" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-DftNfzYYirY/XDINo4waIEI/AAAAAAAA0XU/8uw8uqztHwsEK24Kvq_NuvzUo_9-bYrbgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ok! Back to my personal application. (Which I share to inspire you to seek for yourself) </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I had Zacharias on my mind. We know he was a righteous man, who followed the Lord, and we know he wasn’t just going through the motions because he spent time in the temple, which we all understand takes dedication, due to the time commitment and the fact that Lucifer wishes for all of us to have reasons to not be able to go. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We also know that the Lord has asked us to ASK! So he couldn’t have been upset about that. We know that 3 verses doesn’t let us know what fully happened in the temple at that time because the next verse tells us that the people waited a LONG time for Zacharias to come out of the temple. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We know his question was due to the fact the his wife was past the years of child bearing and that they had desperately wanted children. I think it is safe to assume that this was a prayer that was prayed 1000 times for Zacharias and Elisabeth, with no answer of a child. It is difficult to pray for a long time and not receive the answer and to keep the faith. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Especially for those who understand, that God’s will is not always our will. It would be easy and likely to have the question of how? And disbelief? </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With all that on my mind, I was praying one of my life long prayers, for help and healing for my son. My heart was broken in desperate cries of humble plea for direction. The talk by David A. Bednar stuck my mind...</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I have reflected many times on this father’s request: “Help thou mine unbelief.” I wonder if the intent of the man’s pleading was not primarily to help him believe in Jesus as our Redeemer and in His healing power. He already may have acknowledged Christ as the Son of God. But perhaps he needed help to believe the Master’s healing power indeed could be so individual and so personalized as to bless his own beloved son. He may have believed in Christ generally but not believed Christ specifically and personally.</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I got it! </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Zacharias believed the Lord, he knew God could do the impossible, but didn’t believe this applied to him. He didn’t believe that the Lord could give him a child, answer his life long prayer, now while he was old?! He had unbelief and so he asked for help with his unbelief. “How shall I know this?” This was his plea of “I believe, help me with my unbelief.” He was struck dumb, so that he didn’t have to question why his elderly wife was ill from morning sickness, it wasn’t the plaque. He wouldn’t have to wonder why her stomach was swelling, it wasn’t a tumor. He would be able to remember the angle who spoke God’s blessing upon him, with out lack of faith. </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Later in the chapter we here Mary question “how” as well? What’s the difference? I believe the difference is in her thoughts, what was behind the question. Zachariah lacked the faith that a miracle could take place in his behalf, whereas Mary was asking about the details. Rather important details, mainly how she could conceive without a husband? </span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">This was a great answer to my own personal wrestle with the Lord. I believe that with God nothing is impossible. I believe that miracles are just as real today as they were in the biblical times. I’ve been the recipient of a real life health changing miracle, when my daughter’s heart condition was literally changed overnight. (I’ll write on that soon) Yet, from the answer of my prayers, I have come to realize, I too have unbelief. Where does that come from and how do we get to a point to where we have faith unwavering. It’s hard to explain In a post, for if you where to ask me if the Lord could heal Luke. My answer would be “of course!”, “Absolutely!”, “No doubt about it!” However, am I fully ready to except Luke’s healing? ...I have unbelief. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">That’s my new prayer! I believe! Please help me with my unbelief! </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_c3d_c8d8_349d_e549" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kpV1uUO02rM/XDINqVcmc0I/AAAAAAAA0XY/dovXrtnUWkYgvYlxH_26gLaSvX_GDbO0gCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As for how do we get the the point that we believe in Christ no questions asked? David A. Bednar lays it out for us....</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Coming to Know</span></p>
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<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Jesus said:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.”</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">We come to know the Father as we come to know His Beloved Son.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A grand objective of mortality is not merely learning about the Only Begotten of the Father but also striving to know Him. <span style="font-weight: bold;">Four essential steps that can help us come to know the Lord are exercising faith in Him, following Him, serving Him, and believing Him.”</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><img id="id_f3a1_a798_3ee1_86d8" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1mirQu-NotinZYh6yRNrwh_1I2wxHySs4qfyFXF4IbDxEY80rX1KNJ3nIo7U0vqVenhclNjErl6mpb2Mm3h0BPOp3mWbCdJkE2F6nzdGO4sOfPRtpDzfF-j-oL_kIVi7wK0_7cJEsSAr/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br></span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Along with my new prayer I’m going to focus on these four steps...</span></p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">1. Exercising faith in Him</span><br><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">2. Following Him</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">3. Serving Him</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">4. Believing Him</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">They seem simple, they seem like steps that are already part of my life....you may feel the same. However, if you have a BIG prayer that’s not answered that you have prayed unceasingly for over a period of years and years, you may also want to dive into these 4 steps. Let’s take them to a new level. Are we prepared for our unanswered prayers to be answered and to believe it without question? </span></p>Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-54563771480269321862019-01-05T10:18:00.001-08:002019-01-05T10:18:22.922-08:00Gratitude<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_9379_10dd_1eee_ae39" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qvfk3_1Frjg/XDD04omR-2I/AAAAAAAA0WQ/AeuXK2CMXA4UB0fmkxOcyAci5yCtU2KzQCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Lord wants you to have a spirit of gratitude in all you do and say.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_4e5b_a0b8_f68d_9e29" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zWwCyPuS-a0/XDD05Bfk4cI/AAAAAAAA0WU/FXnw4ebTl34-17bqQ7Hr8MXs7gVSEqBwwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Live with a spirit of thanksgiving and you will have greater happiness and satisfaction in life.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_6692_84c9_a71f_cf08" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iKKE09LQadY/XDD05pPCn2I/AAAAAAAA0WY/AFVw8B9egp40C3Ih8UWHx08nIdl8m3h8QCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Gratitude will turn your heart to the Lord and help you recognize His influence and blessings in your life.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_828e_54d0_fbfb_8f0e" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIA_bAJAozldp4EfdFX-PE2IOHulpoHYbKot3Af6TdXbJOhT0hNZbCcHoHAuyiGAS2VZhBU1aaVztwn-ki4X2bYEFjh968l3PTYtan9aZto9LjIAFMw814n0OTrpyK_8tlEy5fnOaM7uCK/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Even in your most difficult times, you can find much to be grateful for. Doing so will strengthen and bless you.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_1f3a_a1b_26fd_6e2f" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ-igZvD11dbBAdugd_HqpWnQOVzdC1vMZd-X7HnxODE7NSYkKelLYYs4mS_lUzb3IUAJhq7N_LJH8d1kuyyDSvdqLg6n1fxXbTnyDU4_OP1ZW2o8avo1T2GzI7cJcC57CYjV1ht-yjO3K/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In your prayers, pour out your heart to your Father in Heaven in thanks for the blessings you have received. Be specific in thanking Him for His goodness, for your family, for friends, for leaders and teachers, for the gospel, and for His Son, Jesus Christ.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_6e47_71a6_8aa6_bad4" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gosQxTIuxfc/XDD06vls51I/AAAAAAAA0Wk/SvM7FYasMBodNChJe0xqdyKLZ181NhWbgCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">You also express gratitude to the Lord by the way you live. When you keep His commandments and serve others, you show that you love Him and are grateful to Him</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><img id="id_2a4c_29ba_ded0_5fe4" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhprBW-E_gGLv256osWQ7QSp2_48g9hFsNTgSy8V157lwCkrbPWKu2m3VXqGUsYaa3HSPiXqfj9Ggc6P7ZYkEiAhMQGjtjTgfDEF3Ft9OCFuhiJksL0iWuHOG5ycIDgoEbx63BTWP7lSNpL/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Express your gratitude to others for the many ways they bless your life.</span></p><div><img id="id_5b76_5412_2919_ff8" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HOhRhfGMz9w/XDD07SSCeYI/AAAAAAAA0Ws/NSTArOwvxTUbBGforIN4FiSjbKnTb6b0QCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;">-Sherri Jorgensen</span></div> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7873067310005389049.post-76816947805364187492019-01-05T06:01:00.001-08:002019-01-05T06:05:51.725-08:00Come Follow Me Weekly Challenge: Mathew 1, Luke 1<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It was not a coincidence that the miracle of Jesus’s birth and John the Baptist’s birth were at the same time. Every detail of these two stories...from two completely different lives happening at the same time were 100% God’s plan. God’s plan was perfect, he knew before their births who they were and He knew that even in mortality they would be able to resist Satan and fulfill their purpose perfectly. John was as near perfect as any man who ever lived but he had no problem taking zero credit. He gave it all the Christ, for He was about God’s plan. However, the Lord needed John to fulfill his part. He needed a righteous God fearing, man to be ready to baptize Christ himself. The Lord knew before the womb, the 2 miracles that were going to bless the whole earth. He hand picked the parents, because He knew that Jesus and John would need earthly support and teaching. It was all planned out perfectly. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The truth is that if we will allow the Lord to guide our lives, he will do it with exactness. There will be no coincidences and there will be no mistakes. Do we trust that the Lord has us in the palm of His hands?? Do we trust that he knows every detail about us, the good, the bad, the ugly? Do we trust Him with the desires of our hearts, with the prayers of our souls? Do we believe that miracles can happen in our own lives?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I once heard that miracles in the Bible are figurative. That’s a lie that can only come from one source. Every miracle in the Bible is literal. Including this beautiful one of Elisabeth having a son when she had far passed the age of child bearing, and the miracle of Mary having God’s son. They are true.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 20.3px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Before I dive into the details of these two chapters and how they can apply to our lives. I want to encourage everyone to do a 1 week Come Follow Me challenge....</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sit down with your family, give each person a paper, and have them write down all the miracles that they have seen in their own life. Big miracles, small miracles, and tender mercies; don’t discount the small moments when you recognize help from heaven. That’s a miracle! Any help, guidance, advise, answer, healing, strength, ....that you receive is miraculous for they all show that we indeed have a father in Heaven who cares about us and loved us independently and individually. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After the lists are made, you can discuss them if you would like. Gather them up, and for the next week, pass them out each night, during family prayer and scripture time and let each person record the Lord’s hand in their lives that day. Record miracles! This is a way we can see the finger of Lord in our lives, through recognizing all he does. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Once we learn to see the Lord in our daily lives, slowly we will start to be filled with love and joy from the overwhelming realization that He is in every detail and that we are not alone. We are loved beyond measure.</span></p><div><img id="id_14fe_2058_c08f_9656" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-A9Xkhqf1Vnw/XDC4rW5N0RI/AAAAAAAA0WE/MLwb5vhLUB4X931aQpPULTbCf_ZYWkwAwCHMYCw/s5000/%255BUNSET%255D" alt="" title="" tooltip="" style="width: 392px; height: auto;"><br><br><span style="font-family: ".SFUIText"; font-size: 17pt;"><br></span></div> Sherrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04475627777506921957noreply@blogger.com0