Witness

We had a great Sunday School lesson today about witnesses. Not long after Jesus was resurrected He spent time teaching His apostles before He ascends into heaven. The rest of the New Testament is about the lives and teachings of the apostles who had been witnesses of the Savior and His life and teachings. They saw Him and His miracles. They heard His teachings. I love Acts 2, but especially Acts 2:32.

A witness is someone that has seen something, but more than that they will stand up and actively proclaim what they experienced for others to hear. We had a neat discussion on being an active witness vs. a passive observer. Someone shared the example of having witnessed a crime/accident and knowing there were many others around at the time that could have stayed to give a report and she was the only one that took the time and made the effort to give her report. It might often be easier to not worry about standing up to be a witness, but especially when talking about something so important, I hope we will all take the time to give our witness of Jesus Christ.

We can all know that Jesus is the Christ through a witness of the Holy Ghost. We may not have lived while He did on the earth, but we can each know through the power of His Spirit that He is the Son of God, as it says in Acts 15:8. In fact, we all must know for ourselves and then are sent to go and testify to others.

Although I have not seen Him I have felt His love and received a witness through the power of the Holy Ghost. I am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and for witnesses of Him--prophets, scriptures, the Holy Ghost and His creations. I am a witness of Him and His love in my life! :) I will not just stand by, but will actively proclaim my testimony of Him and His mission and power and plan. I know He lives and that through Him we can find lasting happiness, direction, peace and truth.

Moroni 9:6

I finished the Book of Mormon again today. I love the Book of Mormon. It is the word of God. I'm grateful for the its teachings and the power of the Holy Ghost that testifies to me of its truthfulness every time I open it up. :)

Here is a verse that really struck me as I was finishing this time, "...notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God."

I love the reminder of what our purpose is and the labor we must perform here in this life. Things get busy and it could be easy to be confused, but the Lord teaches us through His prophets. I am grateful for their guidance and our Savior's life and love who makes it possible for us to conquer the enemy of all righteousness.

I love my little ipod shuffle.....

....it reminds me of China! :) (P.S. It's been a year since I got home. What a great adventure!) I first used my ipod during my summer in China last year. It was WONDERFUL to be able to find great peace listening to "I Believe in Christ" and "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go" and my other favorite church songs in the midst of a place where I was not allowed to talk about them at all.

Again today I am grateful for my ipod and good music that really can take me to a totally different place. :) You can be in the middle of a busy metro train or walking down a bustling street of chaos in D.C. where everyone is talking about the debt limit or just in the middle of a stressful day at work....and then stepping outside for lunch for a few minutes and music can totally change the mood. It's pretty hard to be stressed walking down the street and listening to "The Spirit of God." :)

I love my little ipod shuffle.... :)

1 Corinthians 3:6

"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." I love this scripture! It's not very often that you get to hear a follow up story on a seed you planted or helped to water after nearly ten years. When picking someone up for Institute tonight I learned about just one of these seeds.

Ten years ago my companion and I went to visit her parents at her home in Taegu, South Korea, just a few months after she was baptized as a high school student. Her parents weren't very excited about her baptism and after just a couple of months she was already inactive. She didn't really understand that she was expected to keep coming back to church.

She had already started dodging the missionaries, so she was shocked when my American companion and I were sitting in her living room talking and laughing with her parents and eating peaches when she came home from school one day several months after she was baptized. She remembered my name, the peaches and that I was studying geography. :) She had written about us in her journal. She didn't come back to church at that time.

It wasn't until about four years later when she was having a hard time and wondering whether God existed that she picked up her Book of Mormon and read it all in a day or so. She promised herself that the next time the missionaries contacted her she would go back to church. They called a few weeks later and this sweet sister came back to church and is currently studying at BYU and happens to be in DC for the summer for an internship.

It was such a sweet tender mercy of the Lord for each of us to have the chance to see each other again and learn of the influence we had on each other! :) God lives and loves us. We must continue to plant and water and wait for the Lord to give the increase. It was wonderful to sit at Institute with her and study the scriptures and the path to the Celestial Kingdom together. She is a sweet and faithful and dedicated example and was a strength to me tonight as she reminded me of this small half hour visit we had ten years ago. :) I love the Lord! I love His gospel! I'm grateful for His tender mercies and guidance in my life.

Galatians 5:14

"For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."

That's what it's all about! No need to judge, just LOVE! :)

Oh, How Lovely was the Morning!

It was wonderful to spend a quick weekend in Palmyra, NY to enjoy the Hill Cumorah Pageant, Sacred Grove and Palmyra Temple! I am grateful for the Restoration of Jesus Christ's gospel, the Book of Mormon, and how they have blessed my life!

Isaiah 26:3

I LOVED institute last night--lots of neat thoughts, but the theme for me was:

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." - Isaiah 26:3

There is perfect peace and hope in the Savior! Even in the midst of chaos or wickedness or trials we can choose to have hope because of Jesus Christ! As we focus purely on Christ it brings hope in our lives. We forget ourselves and our trials and think of Him and others and serving and helping.

This morning I was reading 3 Nephi 1. I love the example of the faith of the believers who will be put to death if the sign of Christ's birth doesn't come that night. As they watch steadfastly for Him and Nephi cries mightily the Lord answers, "Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets."

Then there is the example of Moroni. His life is one of loneliness, but sure faithfulness in the midst of overwhelming evil and wickedness. In chapter 1 he says "...because of [the Lamanites'] hatred they put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ. And I Moroni will not deny the Christ...." Even after these immense trials and after he "supposed not to have written more" he spends some of his last days writing of HOPE (see Moroni 7)!

I know that as we wait on the Lord and focus on Him we will have peace and hope in our lives. We don't always need to do more to find that peace and hope, but let go and let the take the lead. We should "cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then...stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed (D & C 123:17)."

We must be focused on the Lord to survive. We must move forward in faith. The Lord will speak to us as we understand and will do His work wonderfully and excellently (see Isaiah 28: 23-29). :) It is neat to hear Isaiah prophecy of how the Lord will prepare the world for the Second Coming (see Isaiah 24-28). He will destroy the wicked and bless the righteous.

I am so grateful for the scriptures and prophets and the Spirit that help us to know the Lord. That's really what life is all about--come to know the Lord! I am also very grateful for good music. I had a really neat experience today similar to an experience the teacher shared yesterday. During a much needed lunch break today I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with being alone in my responsibilities and life. I turned on my ipod and it was in the middle of How Firm a Foundation cued to the very words I needed to hear:

"Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,

For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.

I'll strengthen thee, help thee...."

I immediately felt the Lord's love and concern and guidance in my life. I know He is there and with Him there is peace and joy and HOPE! :)

Hhhmmmm.....

I don't know how I feel about this.

Welcome, Welcome Sabbath Morning!

It was a wonderful day of studying, learning, pondering (at Church and at home):

• "Don't let a day go by without doing something to act on the promptings of the Spirit." - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Your Potential, Your Privilege

• The Best is Yet to Be, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

• A Wonderful Flood of Light, Elder Neal A. Maxwell (This is a classic and WONDERFUL talk that Elder Holland refers to in his talk. So good in teaching who we really are!)

• Rely on the Lord! What does that really mean? It means, as someone taught today at church, understanding that when someone tells you you're a perfectionist that's not a compliment. We must be open and humble and forgive ourselves and let go and let the Lord heal us so that we can move on and really be what He wants for us! We all need Him and his love and forgiveness and healing! :)

• Along those same lines, we must use the Atonement and rely on the Lord as the father who asks the Savior when his son needs to be healed in Mark 9, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief."

• What Matters Most Lasts Longest, Elder M. Russell Ballard

• Are We Not All Mothers?, Sheri Dew

Discipline

I am grateful for good Christ-like examples....some people that I know well, others that I wish I would have known better, others that I don't know at all.

I realized today that we each have our own path--we can't take the place of someone else, for better or worse. Life is eternal. Covenants and relationships are what matter!

In a busy world of shifting values, competing priorities and lots of information there are constantly things vying for our time, so discipline is very important. We determine who we are and what we will be by how we spend our time! :) We must choose to be a disciple of something or we end up wasting a lot of time. I want to be a disciple of Christ!

I love institute! I love the scriptures! I love Isaiah. It's all all seemed so clear tonight: Wickedness = Destruction. Righteousness = Blessings.

We need to live in the present and not worry about anything else. Be Christ-like today and now! :)

In God is our Trust

‎"O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

Happy 4th of July! I'm grateful for visionary, selfless leaders that courageously stood up for important values and principles 235 years ago and for those that have sacrificed since then to keep our nation free and safe.

Companionship

I am grateful for the law of the fast! I am grateful for the peace and strength I feel as I strive to focus on the Lord more throughout the day. Today I was thinking about a lot of things. I probably should try to focus better on very specific things to fast for, but here are some of the answers that came today to my broad questions/desires/prayers:

• There is something powerful and important about praying vocally. :)

• True and lasting happiness only comes through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

• It seemed especially appropriate and helpful and meaningful to me today that we studied John 15 and 16 in Sunday School today and talked about the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I am very grateful for the Holy Ghost and the roles it plays as Comforter and Companion.

• We talked about the ten virgins in Relief Society. We were talking about what we need to do to fill our lamps and prepare extra oil. We were making a list of lots of interesting things and pointing out the importance of consistency, etc. but the point I loved the best was the reminder of Mary and Martha and the importance of really spending time with the Savior and knowing Him and focusing or worrying as much about the list! :)

• I was reading Sister Beck's talk from Women's Conference at BYU in May. She was talking about the history of Relief Society and a few things that she said really struck me as important in understanding who we are as sisters and daughters of God, and specifically who I am! :) She seemed to articulate well the broader ideas I have been thinking/praying about lately, “Am I aligned with the Lord’s vision of me and what He needs me to become?” This is a personal responsibility we each have to find out for ourselves and then she goes on to explain the purpose of the Relief Society organization. "We have an organization because we have a purpose. And when we have a purpose, there is an expected work and outcome. Relief Society isn’t just a feel-good, get-together, let’s-enjoy-each-other, do-anything-anytime-anyplace-for-any-reason” organization. This is part of the Lord’s work....The purposes of the Relief Society (to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and help those in need) have been determined by the Lord, the outcome is that “we will improve women individually and as a whole.” We’re not about causes or advocacy groups. We have an advocate. The Savior Jesus Christ is our Advocate with the Father, and we stand by Him, doing His great work for His great cause. I’m just beginning to have a glimpse of what the Lord has in mind for His daughters. The vision that comes to me sometimes is so glorious and staggering and humbling and thrilling that it is difficult to contemplate. It’s part of the vision of Daniel and the stone rolling forward to bless the whole earth. The Lord expects and requires His daughters to be involved.”

• I was also thinking about part of a talk from the Spring 1999 BYU Magazine, They That Wait Upon the Lord referring to the scripture in Isaiah 40 and 41: "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint....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. . . ."

• Elder Oaks gave a neat talk fireside talk in 1992, Our Strengths Can Become our Downfall. He gives many clear warnings about some things that can seem very good, but need to be kept in balance. Great talk!

• Be humble! Beware of pride.

• I am grateful for....freedom, a warm and safe home, time to rest and think and study and pray, a peaceful country, opportunities.

• I need to learn Chinese!

I know these are a little random and unrelated, but I'm grateful for direction for the Lord. I know that He knows us and loves us each individually! :)