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.