Warning to Everyone

1 ^aHearken, O ye people of my ^bchurch, saith the voice of him who dwells on high, and whose ^ceyes are upon all men; yea, verily I say: Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.

2 For verily the ^avoice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to ^bescape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ^cear that shall not hear, neither ^dheart that shall not be penetrated.

3 And the ^arebellious shall be ^bpierced with much ^csorrow; for their iniquities shall be ^dspoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed.

4 And the ^avoice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have ^bchosen in these ^clast days.

Who has the Lord chosen? Interested? Read Doctrine and Covenants 1 and check out www.lds.org

There is eternal influence and power in motherhood

Today while visiting teaching an interesting subject came up. There are not many people who are married and have a child at my age, or at the young ages of many people in my neighborhood. I just graduated with my undergraduate degree, and my husband is about to graduate with his undergraduate degree. Considering that we are not financially established, and do we even have solid future plans, why are we already married with a child?

It was NOT a mistake that we were married 2 years ago, and NOT a mistake that we now have a baby.

Part of it goes to our beliefs as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are not afraid of marriage. In fact, we believe 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." (The Family: A Proclamation to the world) And "we believe in having children." (Julie B. Beck, General Relief Society President "What Latter-Day Saint Women do Best")

Being single is great fun and is an awesome time to learn and grow. However (not to make any single person feel sad), there is a much higher ground. God created Eve to be a help meet for Adam. This was a blessing to both of them, not a curse for either of them. And just like God's commandments to Adam and Eve still apply to us today, God's blessings for Adam and Eve are also blessings for us. (ie: the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth, the blessings of children and Eternal Life through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.)

My sister said a wise thing to me while I was on my mission. She said that she had to work hard to have a good marriage. So yes, a good marriage requires work. Fireproof is a GREAT Christian movie that illustrates this vividly.

My husband is the greatest blessing ever. Since marrying him I understand now how much I desire to have Eternal Life, or, living as an eternal family in the presence of God forevermore. If everyone could understand this then the baptismal fonts would be full, the temples would be full, the church buildings would be overflowing, missionaries would not have to knock doors, there would be no children conceived out of wedlock, divorce courts would be shut down (and perhaps turned into meeting houses), 95% of the content on TV would be discontinued, "R" rated movies would not make a cent, pornography would be extinct, poverty would diminish, and so many more improvements.

Sure, it can be scary to have a family. Everywhere you can see examples difficult children and broken families. But, "We have faith that with the Lord’s help we can be successful in rearing and teaching children." (Beck) The VT messages and Relief Society lessons are always have a family themed overtone. I really feel like these messages have helped me to realize how much God wants me to be a wife and mother - more than anything else. Even though the world tells me that I should leave my children at a daycare and go and make a difference in the world, Church leaders have instructed us that actually "There is eternal influence and power in motherhood." (Beck, Mothers Who Know) And that power and influence, being eternal, is greater than anything that could be offered by the world.

There are great resources available to keep your marriage and family strong. Those are rehearsed time and again in the Church. "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." (Proclamation) "...ye will ^ateach [your children] to ^bwalk in the ways of truth and ^csoberness; ye will teach them to ^dlove one another, and to serve one another." (Book of Mormon, Mosiah 4:14-15)

Conversely, if someone neglects his or her marriage or children then he or she will have to answer to God. "And again, inasmuch as ^aparents have children in Zion, or in any of her ^bstakes which are organized, that ^cteach them not to understand the ^ddoctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when ^eeight years old, the ^fsin be upon the heads of the parents. " (D&C 68:25) "Therefore shall a ^aman leave his ^bfather and his mother, and shall ^ccleave unto his ^dwife: and they shall be ^eone flesh." (Genesis 2:24)

I love my husband and my daughter. I will always work diligently to keep our marriage strong and to raise our children in righteousness.

Creation Symbolism

I was recently contemplating the symbolism that can be found in the Creation. I really NEVER thought of these things before, but they make me wonder if God intended it to be like this. If not, I still enjoy identifying symbolism because it helps me learn and I always feel the Spirit while doing so.

"And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters. And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light. And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was bright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided from the darkness." (Abraham 4:2-5)

It is interesting that darkness reigned before the light was introduced to the earth. Is this perhaps because Satan and his followers were cast to the earth and thus reigning with darkness? When were they cast to the earth? I understand that the earth was organized on the first day of the creation. And Adam was a key player in kicking out Satan from God's presence. So did the great battle in the pre-mortal life happen during the week of the creation? Or before?

Later it says that Gods comprehended the light. Does this mean that they did not comprehend the darkness? Again this infers that there is an evil or lack-of-divinity in the darkness. Does this mean that the light is symbolic of the knowledge of God? The light and darkness had to be divided. Darkness flees when light is present, showing that light is superior. And darkness is only present when there is no light. This seems to be symbolic of the light of the gospel. When the light of the gospel is allowed to fill your mind, then darkness flees. Also, only when the gospel is not present, obeyed, or considered can darkness fill your mind.

Leadership

"...But our kings were mighty men in the faith of the Lord; and they taught the people the ways of the Lord; wherefore, we withstood the Lamanites and swept them away out of our lands, and began to fortify our cities, or whatsoever place of our inheritance." Jarom 1:7

I think it is so interesting that Jarom attributes much of the success of the Nephites over the Lamanites to the leaders who are mighty in the faith. How does that apply to us? We can learn from our leaders. And if they are righteous and we follow them, then surely we will triumph over our enemies as well. Consider President Monson. If we follow him, we can also sweep evil out of our land (our homes, wards, communities). We can also fortify our cities, which I imagine can mean that we can prepare against any further attack of the adversary. This can happen by strengthening our faith and testimony. I love how this scripture says, "or whatsoever place of our inheritance." It opens up a big window for personal application. What is our inheritance? The blessings of Heavenly Father and Eternal Life. With the adversary gone out of our mists, it gives us an opportunity to fortify and secure what shall be ours. This is a chance to work toward out Eternal Life and secure the blessings of exaltation. This is a great service that leaders can do for their people.

"And their leader was a strong and mighty man, and a stiffnecked man, wherefore he caused a contention among them; and they were all slain, save fify, in the wilderness, and they returned to the land of Zarahemla. And it came to pass that they also took others to a considerable number and took their journey again to the wilderness. And I, Amaleki, had a brother, who also wnt with them; and I have not since known concerning them..." Omni 1:28

This was the opposite effect of having good leaders. They were in the wilderness which can be interpreted as the place where they would be tried (for us, Earth). And then after their time in the wilderness they returned to the place where they came from (for us, the presence of God). Athough the leader was strong and mighty, he was stiffnecked. This means that he was not humble and not willing to turn his head to where the Lord would have him turn it to. He would not obey the will of the Lord and perhaps thought his decisions were sufficient. It doesn't say that all the men were stiffnecked; in fact it is possible that these people were very similar to the people that were Nephites under the righteous king mentioned before. These results are attributed to the leader. There was contention among them caused by the leader. And contention is of the devil, so this is evidence that the Adversary had power among them. And many of them were slain. Perhaps this can be applied as, several of them did not survive. And I think it is interesting that even after this happened, there were still others that followed! And Amaleki, the writer, said his brother never came back. It was foolishness on the part of the brother to go with them after seeing the negative results of the first journey.

What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ?

From the Sunday School study guide: What does it mean to have faith in Jesus Christ? How can we strengthen our faith in Jesus Christ?

"Learn of me, and listen to my words: walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me." (D&C 19:23)

There is so much packed in this verse!
"Learn of me..."
This is a first stage of having faith in Christ. It starts with curiosity about Him. And if you are already faithful and seeking to develop your faith, then this is a curiosity about a certain principle or commandment or scripture that you will now seek to develop (for example, keeping the Sabbath day holy).

"...and listen to my words..."
This is going beyond learning. This is starting to process what you have been learning. It is accepting what you will need to do. You will need to start living like Christ, or you will need to start being more diligent in keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.

"walk in the meekness of my Spirit..."
After learning and listening, processing and accepting, you are started to do what is necessary. You are starting to try to be like Christ and do what he commands. You are stopping your old ways and going to Church, or you are testing out focusing on the Lord all day on Sunday. This is a key step! This is the different between saying that you have faith and having faith. Faith implies action. Your action is proof, validity, and the meat of your faith.

"...and you shall have peace..."
Once you have tried out being like Christ, following his commandments, and focusing on Christ on Sunday, then you will have blessings. This may mean that you will feel the Spirit - which always brings peace. You may see a pleasant difference in your feelings, your actions, or desires. You will see that the change that you made was a good change. The blessings you receive will make your efforts worth while. These blessings will encourage you to keep doing better until you have aligned your life a little more with the gospel. This is an assurance that you have made a good decision and solidifies your faith.

"...in me."
I'm not sure what this means. Perhaps having peace in Him means that He is pleased with you. In addition to the Spirit received for keeping commandments, there is an increased satisfaction and internal sense of well being when the Lord is pleased with you. This is very desirable, and you may obtain a knowledge of where you stand with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ if you pray and ask.

Submit our will to God

A question from the Sunday School study guide: Why should we submit our will to God’s will when we seek personal revelation?

"And now, verily, verily, I say unto thee, put your trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good - yeah, to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit." (D&C 11:12)

"Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind an strength." (D&C 11:20)

Sometimes it is difficult to "put your trust in that Spirit," but why? Partly because the Spirit "leadeth... to walk humbly." Being humble is terribly difficult. Even when you are already pretty humble, you still have more to go, and that is terribly difficult. For example, say you are humble enough to ask Heavenly Father whether you should go to grad school. You actually want to get a job and get out of school, but you want to cover your ground and ask anyway. So you ask. But the problem comes when God's answer is "yes, you should go to grad school." Now you get job offers. Great job offers - promising, attractive, and convenient. Now the test is on. What do you do? You have your answer, and it is not the one you want. It will be plenty more difficult to follow through with this direction from the Lord. Either route probably will lead to good things, but the Lord wants you to take the hard route. What do you do?

Do you see? It is difficult. I believe that this is one reason why people do not consult with the Lord in their doings (aside from not knowing how to pray or inexperience in receiving answers or doubtful thoughts.) This has actually happened to me. Usually it is easy and reassuring to do what the Lord asks (go on a mission, pursue the career path I am on, get married, have a child). However it is happened that I asked the Lord about something that I didn't want to do, hoping that he wouldn't give the answer that I knew he would give. And he told me to o exactly what I didn't want to do. It was very very hard. The Spirit was leading me to be humble. And that was so difficult.

Another thing that scares people is asking whether The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the one and only true church. If they receive the answer that "yes, this is the Church," then they will have to change their lives! They will have to defy their earthly roots, reject their old ways, and start living a completely new life. Not easy. In fact, it would be a very humbleing experience. Yet I know the Church is true and encourage everyone to ask God to also gain this testimony. Although I was born in the Church, there have been times when I had to change my life and live differently than I used to in order to align my life better with the teachings of the gospel.

It is humbleing, but more than worth it to submit your will to God's.