I see the Hand of the Lord today

I see the Hand of the Lord today.

This morning, when I felt too tired to get out of bed and study together with DH,
I felt the tug of the Spirit to go,

and

heard the tender words of my husband
that his day runs so much smoother when we have our study time,

and so,

I listened.

This morning, as he and I read together,
I learned from Lehi's example,
that in all things and in all times I can show gratitude to Heavenly Father.

This morning, when the girls came up for prayers, breakfast and scriptures,
they were willing, and cheerful,
albeit tired.

This morning, when I knelt to pray, 
I felt the Spirit's comfort.

This morning, before our children left for school,
their grandma gave each of them a hug
and an "I love you!"

"I want to be a Missionary..."

Tonight, the sister missionaries called to see if I could go on exchanges with them.  So glad I could go.  We visited a member family in the stake with the purpose to invite them to invite a friend.

AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!!

The gospel is such a HAPPY thing to have. Why not share it? Sister Fellman taught them the "how" in sharing and them invited them to practice inviting a friend.

The father of the home role played inviting a sister in the ward to an upcoming activity. And even though it was role play, the Spirit confirmed that the Lord's work is moving forward and that if we/I will, we/I can play a role in this.

We visited a few other people. And I had the chance to share my feelings how God answers our prayers, if we ask Him sincerely. That the Book of Mormon will give us peace will give answers that we seek.  Again, I felt the conviction that God's church IS ON THE EARTH today.  With Christ at the head, and all the keys restored, with living prophets who speak with God for man today, modern revelation, proper priesthood authority, eternal families, covenants and ordinances, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost.
It is in the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints that we can find these truths. 

Anyway, I know these things for myself. As surely as the sun shone today and will tomorrow, whether it is hidden behind the clouds of not, it is still there.
The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is here, again. And the beauty of it is that anyone can find out for him/her-self. That is the beauty of it!

I love missionary work!

What happened when Laman and Lemuel came for a visit

This morning before leaving for church, we had family Book of Mormon time.  We read from 1 Nephi 4.

I think everytime I read this chapter, I am struck with how dense Laman and Lemuel think, behave, ARE.

After an angel comes and declares :

"Behold ye shall go up to Jerusalem again, and the Lord will deliver Laban into your hands."

Laman and Lemuel show their absolute lack of faith in the Lord by responding:

"How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?"

And Nephi, being Nephi, says:

"Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands? Therefore let us go up..."

All the while going back to Jerusalem, these two older brothers murmur.

After reading this, I thought, "You've got to be kidding me! These two JUST SAW  and HEARD AN ANGEL!!! Can people really be this faithless?!"

So...skipping to Relief Society and today's lesson and MY LESSON about being faithless...and being faithful.

Our lesson was from the talk by Sis. Julie B Beck, "And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit".

She described sisters all over the world, facing similar and difficult challenges. She says about she has met in these visits:

"...I have felt that there has never been a greater need for increased faith and personal righteousness. There has never been a greater need for strong families and homes. There has never been more that could be done to help others who are in need."
   
Sister Beck points out that PERSONAL REVELATION is the answer to increasing faith, strengthening families, and providing relief. It is the answer to finding answers to our own questions and stand strong and immovable against incredible opposition and difficulty .

"The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life."

 

And this is how we get it:

• 
  
  Qualifying for the Lord’s Spirit begins with a desire for that Spirit and implies a certain degree of worthiness.
• 
  
  Keeping the commandments, repenting, and renewing covenants made at baptism lead to the blessing of always having the Lord’s Spirit with us.
• 
  
  Making and keeping temple covenants also adds spiritual strength and power to a woman’s life.
• 
  
  Many answers to difficult questions are found by reading the scriptures because the scriptures are an aid to revelation.
• 
  
  Insight found in scripture accumulates over time, so it is important to spend some time in the scriptures every day.
• 
  
  Daily prayer is also essential to having the Lord’s Spirit with us.
• 
  
  Those who earnestly seek help through prayer and scripture study often have a paper and pencil nearby to write questions and record impressions and ideas.

So, as I sat there in Relief Society, reading and listening to the teacher, I started pondering over what I need to do to receive personal revelation.

In my mind, Laman and Lemuel popped in for a visit. True story!

And this is what they had to offer for advise.

"But my mind is too cluttered and unfocused to really study. I can't do it. Not planned study anyway. I'd never finish or follow through. I'd quit before I started. 

I can't write what I think!  That's  too hard for me because I am too disorganized to write and understand my own thoughts.

This is too hard. I am too short focused to sit and follow this counsel."

I started to write these thoughts on this notepad I carried with me, for I was hoping for somekind of helpful inspiration today.

After thinking these words, I felt pretty much defeated.  The thoughts were self-defeating...and useless.

And then....

The thought came back to Nephi.

REMEMBER NEPHI'S WORDS TO HIS BROTHERS!
"let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth."

Thank you, Nephi for being FAITHFUL!!!

I felt a growing determination to be steadfast and immovable.

The Spirit taught me:

Pray with faith and then just DO IT!

Remember Nephi and his faithless brothers. BE LIKE NEPHI!

Do the things Sister Beck counseled to SEEK AND UNDERSTAND MY WILL...not to show others that you are doing the right things.

I pondered on the thought that I don't have to be deceived.

I NEED TO SEEK THE LORD so I don't believe the "murmuring voices of doubt and hardship to follow the Lord".
 
And then the Spirit gave me direction...specific direction I was hoping for and seeking.

The Spirit witnessed to me, that HE WILL HELP ME (and anyone for that matter) to DO what the Lord asks.
 
And I CAN DO WHAT THE LORD ASKS.  Because, His promises are sure!
 
Just like Nephi and his brothers who saw and heard an angel...
I can be like Nephi and reply:
 
"...let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth..."
 
My lesson on personal revelation, was personal revelation!

Sink into the Heart

I am currently reading in the book of Mosiah.

A quick summary of where I am...

Abinadi, a prophet sent to call the people and more particularly a wicked king to repentance, has been captured,  imprisoned, and now tied up, is presented to the king.

His BOLD declaration of God's call to repentance and promises for the people and the king  if they choose to repent or not to repent mulls around and hardens the hearts of the wicked priests.

They try to slay him.

But, because he has not finished delivering God's message to the king, no one can touch him.

So, bound before the king, prophet Abinadi declares redemption through Jesus Christ. Repentance and Salvation.

Okay, so for the purpose of this post...

I was struck by a couple of verses where Abinadi BOLDY tells them the condition of the their hearts...

Mosiah 12:27

"Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise..."

Mosiah 13:7
"Yea, and I perceive that it cuts you to your hearts because I tell you the truth concerning your iniquities..."

Mosiah 13:11
"And now I read unto you the remainder of the acommandments of God, for I perceive that they are not written in your hearts..."

I was struck by the contrast of the condition of the heart of righteous King Benjamin and his people. 

Before he turns over his reign to his son, he too preaches repentence and redemption through Christ to his people.

Preparing them for his message he declares:

Mosiah 2:9
"My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view. "

First they are instructed to use their senses.

And they do...

And, in contrast to the wicked king and his people, we read:

Mosiah 4:2
"And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men."

Mosiah 5:2
"And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually."

And this change of heart caused for outward actions...and the people covenant to follow Christ.

And again with the heart...

Mosiah 5:7
"And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters."

finally...

Mosiah 5:11,12,13
"11 ... therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress, that the name be not blotted out of your hearts.

12 I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts...
13 For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?"
 
There is something peaceful and enriching about letting Christ sink deep into my heart...

...something beautiful about REMEMBERING to retain HIS name in my heart

...and something POWERUL and SAFE, KNOWING HE is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIGHT.

I know that He makes the heart soft...

When I REMEMBER Him, and He is sunk into my heart, I am softer and kinder...patient and more understanding...

I am His.

So, tomorrow, I'll try again to rememember...

Knowing that when I forget...which I do too often as life busies around me...

I can trust in His perfect atonement...and repent and try again...

And when I do, I will feel His love just as King Benjamin's people did.

Book of Mormon Game

Before reading to our children tonight, we played a game that was introduced to us by the Sister Missionaries in our area.

They call it "The Scripture Search Game".

So the object of the game is to see how a randomly picked scripture applies to the subject chosen.

The first subject our 9 year-old daughter chose was baptism.

I opened the book and let the pages fan through my fingers until one of the other children shouted, "STOP!"

I asked, "Left or right"(referring to which side of the page we would read from).

Another daugher answered, "Right".

I asked, "Left or right" again (now picking the column from which we would be reading).

"Right."

Then I had them pick one of the verses (31-34 in this particular column)from that column.

So, think baptism.

And this is the verse that was randomly picked.

Moroni 10: 32
"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."

Our 11 year-old described it this way...
When we come to Christ, we have faith in Him. And when we deny ourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all our might mind and strength, we repent. And that leads to Baptism.

She talked about the steps that lead to baptism.

I thought about how having faith in Christ leads us to repentance...wanting a change of heart. Which leads us to making covenants with Him. Because we trust that His grace is sufficient for us and we can nowise deny the power of God.

The second topic was prayer.
And the scripture was 3 Nephi 11:7

"Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him."

So, the answer from our daughters, "The people of Nephi were praying a lot and because they had been praying, they could hear Heavenly Father speak."

Finally, the last topic was missionary work.
We landed on Alma 11:23

Amulek is preaching to the people of Ammonihah.

"Now Amulek said: O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?"

And with this verse, there was a laugh and giggle because Amulek is preaching repentance and faith on Christ.

So, thank you, Sister Missionaries for introducing this game.

Caused for some pondering and really nice gospel discussion.

Promises

This morning, I'm doing dishes and listening to Book of Mormon on CD.

I heard this verse:

1 Ne. 9: 6
6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.

WOW! Now that is POWER!

Listening

I am practicing listening.

Yesterday, I was feeling really nauseas. I was sitting and talking with my husband and a warm loving thought filled my heart.

"Go read the Book of Mormon. Take some time out and read."

I kept talking and the nausea continued. And again, the promptings tugged at my heart.

"Go read the Book of Mormon. Take some time out and read."

So, I did.

I snuggled under the covers and flipped open to Moroni 7. And I read...and it was wonderful. I dozed into a nice slumber and woke up feeling quite a bit better.

I love it when I really listen to the still small voice. I feel so happy when I do. And strength comes.