Alma 5

This weeks reading included Alma 5.  In Alma chapter 5 there at 42 questions. It's actually a really good chapter for self review.  My favorite part about this weeks lesson and gathering was the lesson that our lead student gave on the study skill of visualization. She pointed out that there is ample opportunity for visualization in Alma chapter 5. Namely because Alma asks the people in Zarahemla to do just that.

Alma 5:16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth? 

17 Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you? 18 Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God? (emphasis added)

He basically asks us to use visualization to do a self evaluation of where we stand before God. Thinking about the judgement day and truly visualizing it, is powerful. If this exercise is done with real intent and introspection, then I would hope that it can be life changing. On the other hand it might be life affirming. While I am not where I would like to be in all things. I hope that am I closer to verse 16 than verse 18.

This weeks reading was Enos-Mosiah 3. These are jam packed chapters, but I want to focus on King Benjamin's address regarding service. Mosiah 2:17 states "And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." Serving those around us brings us closer to our Heavenly Father because we are becoming more like Him and His son Jesus Christ.

Christ is the ultimate example of service. He gave of his time, his love, his wisdom and ultimately his life. I found the following quote insightful.

"He paid a dept he did not owe, to free us from a debt we can never pay." ~ Elder Wirthlin

I seek to follow His example of service and as I do I am blessed. I have found in my life that if I am irritated with somebody I can make that irritation go away by serving them. I know that as I continue to serve the Lord, He will continue to bless me.

All Nations Shall Write

This week our reading for my religion class was 2 Nephi 28-33. One of the things that stuck out to me during this reading and the videos surrounding this reading was the fact that the Lord spoke to all nations.

Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

For behold, I shall speak unto the Jews and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the Nephites and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto the other tribes of the house of Israel, which I have led away, and they shall write it; and I shall also speak unto all nations of the earth and they shall write it.2 Nephi 29:7, 12

Several things stuck out to me in these verses.

1. The Lord has spoken scripture to more than just the Jews and those who lived at Christ time (and shortly thereafter). He spoke to many nations and commanded them to write His words.
2. At some point we will have the writings of all these other nations.
3. The Book of Mormon and the Bible are part of these writings.

Elder Nelson stated the following about the Bible and the Book of Mormon

"Each book refers to the other. Each book stands as evidence that God lives and speaks to His children by revelation to His prophets. Love for the Book of Mormon expands one's love for the Bible and vice versa. stated in General conference " Ensign Nov 2007

I am grateful to have both the Bible and the Book of Mormon in my life and I do believe that they support each other. I also believe that the Lord still speaks to all Nations today through His living prophet.

Becoming Project

As part of my religion class for the Pathway program. We have each been asked to do a "Becoming Project." For this project, we had to pick a Christlike attribute to work on throughout the Semester. I chose the attribute of diligence. In Preach My Gospel it says that "Diligence is steady, consistent, earnest and energetic effort in doing the Lord's work." I like the adjectives in this sentence. Not just being steady and consistent, but also being energetic. Preach My Gospel continues and says "The Lord expects you to work diligently-persistently and with great effort and care." Again, there are great adjectives in this sentence. I like the idea of working with great care.

Over the years, I've gotten little lax in some of the basic things of the gospel, so I felt like developing diligence would help me to regain some of those basic things.

This last week we had to set several week long goals to work on. one of my goals was to make an Obedience Chart. Here is a picture of my chart in case it might be helpful to anybody else. :)

These might seem like basic tasks, but honestly, I haven't been great at doing all of these things. When I talked with Ryan about wanting to get better at the basics as part of my "Becoming Project," he suggested an obedience chart. He said that they had used them in the mission and I thought this was a great idea. I'm all about keep information organized! We actually printed out two copies of the chart and each hung it on the wall at our bedside. It's been a good reminder to see in there every morning and report out to myself every night.  As I was musing out loud, wondering if taking a lunch really means "I took my lunch from home," or if it just means "I didn't have to buy lunch at work" (which is the real goal), Ryan reminded me that it's not a competition, it's just a way for me to be aware of what I'm doing. I won't report out here on how I'm doing on my goals, but I will tell you that setting goals and writing them down has made a difference in accomplishing those goals.

On setting and achieving goals Elder Ballard said the following:

Often the lack of clear direction and goals can waste away our time and energy and contribute to imbalance in our lives....Just do the very best you can each day. Do the basic things and, before you realize it, your life will be full of spiritual understanding that will confirm to you that your Heavenly Father loves you. When a person knows this, then life will be full of purpose and meaning, making balance easier to maintain.

Elder Faust said the following:

Tomorrows blessing and opportunities depend on the choices we make today.

I recently started an college program called Pathway. It's kind of a "jumpstart to college" program through BYU-Idaho. Sometimes my assignments call for me to make posts on a public blog where it would be OK to discuss religious topics. Since this is my blog, this is certainly an OK place to discuss religious topics. So here I am.

We'll start with some background. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or a Mormon. I was raised in a family that attended the Mormon church and am grateful for the foundation in Christ and His teachings that this has given me. My family has been through some ups and downs to say the least and I am currently the only member of my immediate family (other than my mom) who still goes to church. My wonderful husband was raised in the Mormon faith and shares my strong testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's church on the earth today.

As part of the Pathway program I am taking two classes. A General Studies class and a religion class that focuses on Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is a book of scripture that compliments the Bible. If you would like to learn more about the Book of Mormon you can visit Mormon.org or click on this link. Each week, I meet with other students in my area to discuss what we learn online each week. We take turns leading the meetings and learning from each other. Today my post will be about my Religion Class.

This week we read 1 Nephi 15-22 and our student leader went a little bit rogue in his teaching methods. He brought in a object lesson that was not outlined in the options for discussion in the teaching material, but I guess that keeps things interesting. He brought in kefir, which is a powerful probiotic that you can grow at home. He specifically grows water Kefir. Here's a link with similar information to what he taught us.  After he taught us a little bit about kefir he asked us to compare kefir to aspects of the gospel and the gathering of Israel that we had read about this week. Here are some of the things we discussed.

1) You must feed kefir specific things one of them being pure water. We noted that it's important to put only pure things in our lives.

2) You must feed kefir the correct things for it to grow. Similarly, we must feed ourselves the correct things spiritually (learning through scriptures, prayer, modern day revelation etc.) in order to grow.

3) If you feed kefir correctly it will grow so abundantly that there will no longer be room in the original container for all your kefir and you will need to either throw some of the excess away or share it with others, so they can grow their own kefir. The same is true with us. If we feed ourselves spiritually our faith will grow, so that eventually we will have an excess that we can share with others. We can either let that excess go to waste or bless others by sharing it.

While the lesson deviated from the typical lesson plan it was neat to learn in a different way. I appreciated our student leader's creativity and passion for teaching and sharing what he knew. He also gave out twelve kefir grain starts to those that wanted them (see the scattering of the twelve tribes of Israel). Here is a picture of my new kefir grains. We'll see if I keep them alive!