Day 10: With all the feeling of a tender parent...

Lehi exhorted his sons to keep the commandments of the Lord. His sons who rebelled against everything he believed in. Those young men who were so far away from choosing the right, that they tried to kill their brother, Nephi ~ several times! I can only imagine how hard it would be to be the parent of a rebellious child (teenager or adult) ~ especially THAT rebellious. Our daughter is only 4. She listens to her parents (for the most part), and mirrors the choices that we make. She chooses wisely, because she wants to have rewarding results. We try to be selective of which battles we take on with her, and at her age she still trusts us. The more independent she wants to become, the more we see how her desire to listen to us and trust us becomes less and less. My husband and I have adopted the parenting style of "Love and Logic". We believe that natural consequences are much better teachers than any other form of teaching or preaching or disciplining. It also takes the pressure of personal responsibility away from us and gives it to her, where it belongs.

We have both watched her learn and turn away from bad choices much quicker and longer lasting when she understands choice and accountability and consequences. She knows that we love her ~ no matter what, and that it's choices that bring happiness or unhappiness, not lack of love or respect from us. For the most part, she gets to choose her actions, but she doesn't get to choose the consequences. That is also how God works too but on a much grandeur scale. His love for us in unconditional, but consequences are inseparably connected with choices.

In my naivety, I have always believed that if our children feel loved by us, they will trust us and follow our lead. But that thinking can lead to despair and devastation if their choices don't turn out to be what we expect them to be. God loves us. We feel His love. How does that effect our choices? Sometimes it doesn't. Laman and Lemuel show us that love or lack of love from their parents has nothing to do with their choices. They still get to choose like we do, and sometimes their choices are not what we want them to make. Lehi is a great example of a parent who doesn't give up his role of being a loving parent; exhorting with tenderness, praying for them, making the choices that he wants them to make, preaching to them and then letting go (see 1 Nephi 8:37, 38). Do the choices that our kids make have anything to do with our parenting abilities? God knows, ask Him.

Lyrics to Families Can Be Together Forever

1. 1. I have a fam'ly here on earth.
   They are so good to me.
   I want to share my life with them through all eternity.
2. (Chorus)
   Fam'lies can be together forever
   Through Heav'nly Father's plan.
   I always want to be with my own family,
   And the Lord has shown me how I can.
   The Lord has shown me how I can.
3. 2. While I am in my early years,
   I'll prepare most carefully,
   So I can marry in God's temple for eternity.

Day 9: Let Your Light Shine

Elder Neal A. Maxwell explains briefly in one of his speeches, that the Tree of Life, being The love of God, is most profoundly expressed to us in the gift of Jesus as our Redeemer. To partake of the Love of God is to partake of Jesus' atonement and the emancipation (freedom from bondage) and joys which it can bring. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoso believeth in Him should no perish, but have everlasting life!" John 3:16

I took this reading passage and assignment in a different direction today, to make it personal for me. In the passage and talk that I read today, I thought about God's work and glory, which is to bring our immortality and eternal life to pass. I thought about the role that Christ plays in helping God fulfill His work and glory, and about our role. "The Lord has made it clear that each of us has a responsibility to exert an influence for good in the lives of those who share this mortal experience with us. We cannot live in isolation from others and still fulfill the purpose of our existence. Our actions, our words, our thoughts, and our values will inevitably affect the souls of those whose lives brush against ours. If fact, the Lord himself said that this influence may continue to reverberate long after we have departed, even to the ensuing generations. (See Mosiah 13:13.) This is an awesome prospect. When we contemplate the power we have for perpetrating both good and evil in the lives of others, we have good reason to search for careful understanding of this power." Dean L. Larsen

If you have never experienced the Love of God like Lehi explains; "it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy", pray with all the energy of heart that you might be filled with this love (Moroni 7:48). Our Father bestows this love upon all who are true followers of His Son, so that we may become the sons (and daughters) of God. I believe that we cannot influence others without love, because without charity, the pure love of Christ, we are nothing! I also believe that we cannot love anyone with Christ's love without first feeling it ourselves. 1 John 4:19

Day 7: I Know That My Redeemer Lives!

Today I read Lehi's and Sariah's testimonies. When Sariah feared for their son's lives, Lehi comforted her with his testimony; "I know that The Lord will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto us in the wilderness." She was comforted by his words before they arrived, but it wasn't until they did that she was able to KNOW. When they returned, she said; "Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them." And they rejoiced exceedingly, ...and gave thanks unto the God of Israel.

Testimonies strengthen us in times of doubt and fear. The testimony that I have of Jesus Christ is what is carrying me through the hardest trial of my life right now. I know that He lives and loves me. When I focus on that fact, all of my fears disappear and I am filled with peace and hope. There is nothing that is too hard for the Lord. With Him as my advocate, there is nothing that we can't do.

I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Click to watch a video on The Savior's life and resurrection.

I add my testimony to Samuel Medley's testimony (the author of that song), that my Redeemer lives!  

He lives to bless me with his love. I feel His love every day. 

He lives to plead for me above. He is my advocate, I do not stand alone.

He lives my hungry soul to feed. When my soul is empty, He feeds my soul!

He lives to bless in time of need, always there waiting to bless me with what I need, when I need it!

He lives to grant me rich supply. He has never let me go without the things that I need. 

He lives to guide me with his eye. He watches over me, giving me the strength to do the right thing.

He lives to comfort me when faint. Those times when I have nothing left to give, His love lifts me and heals me and gives me strength to rise above my circumstances.

He lives to hear my soul's complaint. Sometimes He offers His understanding, and other times He chastens me in my weakness.

He lives to silence all my fears. His word and His love encourage me to live in faith and hope.

He lives to wipe away my tears. His compassion and empathy are always felt.

He lives to calm my troubled heart with a peace that no one else can offer!

He lives all blessings to impart.

He lives, my kind, wise heav'nly Friend.

He lives and loves me to the end.

He lives, and while he lives, I'll sing.

He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King.

He lives and grants me daily breath.

He lives, and I shall conquer death.

He lives my mansion to prepare.

He lives to bring me safely there.

He lives! All glory to his name!

He lives, my Savior, still the same.

Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives:

"I know that my Redeemer lives!"

Samuel Medley died of a painful illness in 1799. I am curious if this is when he wrote this song (during the time of likely his greatest trial of his life). I don't know when he wrote it, I'll have to do some more research. But I do know that it is only through the hardest of times that this type of a testimony is built. I know that because that is the case for me. I have always believed, and right now my belief is turning to knowledge!

I know that He lives and loves me. That knowledge give me strength to carry on in my darkest moments. When I am doing the best I can and bad things are still happening; he is there to comfort me and buoy me up. When I feel alone or misunderstood, I know that He understands. I know that He will make everything right when it needs to be made right. He fights my every battle. He calms my every fear. He loves me without condition. And it is through my belief that I am able to feel it. 

He did. He does. He is. He will!

Day 6: He Knows!

I read 1 Nephi 4:20 - chapter 5:6 today. This is the part of Nephi's story where he obtained the plates of brass from Laban and then traveled back with this brothers to their parents' tent in the wilderness. I have always wondered why God did not make this task easier for them. Wouldn't it have been much easier if He would have said; "Before you head out into the wilderness, stop by Laban's house and get the brass plates from him? And then swing by Ishmael's house, take his daughters as wives for your sons and bring them with you." It would have been easier, but what would they have missed out on if He did that? The experiences that provided trials and blessings for building patience; trust in the Lord; humility; trust in their father and husband, Lehi; determination; working together, etc. The talk that I read today is found in the Liahona, entitled Enduring Well, by Elder Neil A. Maxwell. "Rather than simply passing through trials, we must allow trials to pass through us in ways that sanctify us." He said.

"Trying to comprehend the trials and meaning of this life without understanding Heavenly Father’s marvelously encompassing plan of salvation is like trying to understand a three-act play while seeing only the second act. Fortunately, our knowledge of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and His Atonement helps us to endure our trials and to see purpose in suffering and to trust God for what we cannot comprehend.

Revealed truths reassure us that we are enclosed in divine empathy. As Enoch witnessed, we worship a God who wept over needless human misery and wickedness (see Moses 7:28–29, 33, 37). Jesus’ perfect empathy was ensured when, along with His Atonement for our sins, He took upon Himself our sicknesses, sorrows, griefs, and infirmities and came to know these “according to the flesh” (Alma 7:11–12).

He did this in order that He might be filled with perfect, personal mercy and empathy and thereby know how to succor us in our infirmities. He thus fully comprehends human suffering. Truly Christ “descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things” (D&C 88:6)." Knowing this allows me to endure the trials that I am asked to bear. I know that Christ is right there beside me, watching me, empathizing with me and pulling for me to make it through gracefully and graciously, like He did. In all of my aloneness, the suffering that I experience that no one else understands, Christ is there with all wisdom and all understanding. Every pain that I feel, every fear that I experience that causes my heart to ache unnoticed by others, He knows! Click this link to hear a song that inspires the testimony that is in me, sung by Jeremy Camp.

Day 5 - Blessings from keeping the commandments

1 Nephi 4 1-19: What great blessings have you seen in your life as you have been obedient and were faithful in keeping the commandments of The Lord?

• The blessing of always having my temporal needs met, from obeying the law of Tithing.
• The blessing of having the Spirit guide me in my every day decisions; large and small.
• The blessing of seeing God's hand in my life; His tender mercies, the love notes that he leaves for me everywhere I look. I think of Him, I pray to Him, I know he's there and I witness His love for me and everyone else around me.
• The blessing of peace and happiness regardless of what is going on around me.
• The blessings of whatever it is that I need to help me make it through tough times. Sometimes I need confidence, sometimes humility, other times courage, patience, charity or hope. He blesses me with what I need to help His purposes get accomplished.
• Peace of mind
• Love For Him. Love for myself and love for others with that same love.
• Freedom from regret or other painful consequences

I know there's more, but right now I need to put it on hold and take care of my little one...

Tell Me The Stories Of Jesus

I am starting a new Book of Mormon reading schedule. I have been reading since January 1st (like everyone else does on January 1st of every year), but now I want some study helps. I want to get more out of reading the Book of Mormon than I ever have and gain a testimony of Christ and His gospel more than I have to this point in my life.

My mom told me about BOM365, an app for Instagram. I started yesterday and will either try to catch up to their schedule or go at my own pace. I will use this blog as a way to journal about my journey.

DAY 1 (01-30-16) How can we teach our children to have faith in Christ?

When my daughter feels overwhelmed with a problem, sad about something that seems hopeless, or worried about something that she can’t get over, I remind her to pray. The Savior can do ANYTHING and He will help us do what we need to do when we ask Him. I remind her that He will help us to be happy, help us find something that is lost, help us feel love for someone when they hurt us and help us to forgive. He will help us, guide us, and love us. We can turn to Him in any moment every day. I sing songs of faith and praise and turn to Christ myself when I feel down. I love the scriptures, I tell her stories to help instill faith in her and I turn to prayer myself. She hears me pray, she knows I believe in Him and His omnipotent power. She follows my lead. She does what I do and believes what I believe. BUT for some reason I feel like most of my efforts are in teaching her. I want to instill these things in her. I want her to make a right choice because it is the right thing to do; not because I say so, but because she wants to.

The suggested article for today is “Tell Me The Stories of Jesus” by Neil A. Anderson. I would highlight the parts that spoke to me, but it would be the whole thing! I take them as instructions for me personally of how to instill a testimony in her. It can't be done in Family Home Evenings or simply taking her to church every Sunday, or even reading the scriptures to her on a regular basis, it has to be done over time in every day situations, allowing her to apply these truths to herself in her own life. It has to come from me, from my study of Christ's life and from the way I speak of and live His gospel. 

Here it is...

"Have our children visualized the pre-mortal council, where Jesus—the greatest of all—declared, “Here am I, send me”?  Do they see their own willingness to serve as following His example? Do they think about His humble birth, the Savior of the world lying in a manger?  Do His circumstances help them better understand the proper place of material possessions? Do they know that Jesus often taught, “Ask, and ye shall receive”?  Do His prayers of thankfulness and His pleadings to His Father flow through our children’s minds as they kneel in prayer with their own concerns? Have we told them of the love Jesus has for children, how He held them in His arms, prayed for them, and wept?  

Do our children know that Jesus stands ready “with open arms to receive [them]”?  Do they take strength in the stories of Jesus fasting — as we teach them the law of the fast? In their own loneliness, do our children know the loneliness the Savior felt as His friends deserted Him and as He asked His Apostles, “Will ye also go away?” Have our children felt the power of the Savior’s miracles? Jesus healed the leper, gave sight to the blind. He fed the 5,000, calmed the sea, and raised Lazarus from the dead. 

Do our children believe that “it is by faith that miracles are wrought,” and do they pray for miracles in their own lives? Have our children taken courage from the Savior’s words to the ruler of the synagogue: “Be not afraid, only believe”? Do our children know about His perfect life, His selfless ministry, His betrayal and cruel Crucifixion? Have we testified to them of the certainty of His Resurrection, of His visit to the Nephites in the Americas, of His appearance to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove? 

Do they anticipate His majestic return, when all will be made right and every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ?  Do our children say, “Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear”?  As you reverently speak about the Savior—in the car, on the bus, at the dinner table, as you kneel in prayer, during scripture study, or in late-night conversations—the Spirit of the Lord will accompany your words. As you do your best, the testimony of Jesus will gently distill upon your children’s hearts. They will go to their Heavenly Father in humble prayer and feel His influence through the power of the Holy Ghost. A stronger personal faith in Jesus Christ will prepare them for the challenges they will most surely face."

Scripture to memorize: "And now (Sheri) remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. " Helaman 5:12

Combating Pornography

Our stake has been invited to attend three workshops on Combating Pornography. All stake and ward members are encouraged to attend. There are hundreds of couples in our stake who are struggling with this battle, more than any of us would care to imagine. The adversary uses this tool to destroy many lives and eternal marriages. It can be extremely addictive. Even though it can be overcome with the atoning power of our Savior, avoiding its grip would save a lot of heartache and suffering. 

We need to educate ourselves and our children about its effects and the seriousness and reality of the hold that it can have on any of us. Pornography interferes with respect and intimacy and confuses participants with enticement and lust; calling evil good and good evil. It robs men and women who participate in it of the Spirit, by mocking eternal love and womanhood. Christ tells us in Matt 5:28, "...whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

The church provides several means for support to those who struggle with this, but prevention is the easiest way to combat it before the temptation ever starts. Awareness and avoidance prevents the temptation from having any effect. The first of these three workshops will be held on January 21st. A panel discussion with local Priesthood leaders, church members and professionals from LDS Family Services will address us. The next workshop; "Intervention", will be held on February 18th. And at the third workshop they will address "Healing". All of these will take place at the American Fork Tabernacle; 110 East Main Street In American Fork at 7:pm. If you want to learn more on this subject before Thursday, read any or all of the articles posted on LDS.org or watch a video or two.

There are church support groups for those who are struggling to overcome pornography and ones designed for family members. Don’t struggle or suffer alone! For more information on the church’s Addiction Recover Program, go to arp.lds.org