What's important as a Woman

I have been meaning to write about the fireside I went to almost 2 weeks ago with Sister Beck. Instead of speaking she had a question and answer session with all of us for over 2 hours. I noticed that a lot of the questions were about being a woman or becoming a Mother; however there was a wide array of questions. Some of the things she said (in my words) were....

We are divine spirits with Heavenly Parents. We fought for the privilege of coming here. We need to have a STRONGER testimony of who we are! Read and study your patriarchal blessings. KNOWING HOW TO SEEK, RECEIVE, AND ACQUIRE THE SPIRIT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN OUR LIVES!

To achieve the blessings of Eternal Life we are given a title, we are given the title of Mother. If you are a member of this church, you are buying into the whole thing, including being a Mother. Limit Distractions. That includes music, movies, and reading material.

BE THE MOST HOPEFUL PERSON IN THE WORLD WHEN IT COMES TO MARRIAGE!

And my favorite line or part from the fireside (taken or quoted from Preach my Gospel: Chapter 1)- You know you are doing a good job if: you feel the spirit, your doing the best you can, you are doing good, and you share the gospel!

Go Green, Not Plastic

Happy St. Patrick's Day! So a few months ago I decided to really get serious about saving money, paying off bills, and not using a credit card. So crazy me decided to freeze my credit card (you know like the movie "Shopaholic") so that I would avoid using it entirely. I wasn't in a lot debt, I just don't like using a credit card. During the time my credit card was frozen I used cash and saved!!! It felt so good! And now I don't feel like I am flushing my money down the drain.

I understand the counsel given to us by the prophet and general authorities! President Gordon B. Hinckley has said, “Debt can be a terrible thing. It is so easy to incur and so difficult to repay. Borrowed money is had only at a price, and that price can be burdensome” (Ensign, Mar. 1990, 4). I am amazed how much more money I have when I am not paying off a credit card! Plus it ALWAYS helps when you pay your tithes and offerings.

Rocks and Sand

Have you ever thought about the wise man and the foolish man? I mean more deeply then the primary song we were all taught. I was reading recently in 3 Nephi 14:24-27and the commentary really got me thinking (so don't think these are my original thoughts). So we know the ROCK=Christ or His teachings, but did you ever think about the house? The HOUSE=our lives and/or our families. So essentially Christ wants us to build our lives on his teachings. So if the ROCK=Our Savior then the Sand=Satan. You might also be interested in reading Revelations 13:1 which has a footnote to Joseph Smith Translation. With all the literal flooding going on around the world it makes me think if only these people knew the spiritual meaning of what they are going through.

The Blessings of Temple Attendance

This past weekend I had Stake Conference were the topic focused on was the Temple. I gleaned so many insights I thought I would share some. We can gain some of the greatest blessings by regular temple attendance.

My Stake President talked about 3 things in particular. 1-We need to understand the temple. 2-Understand the sacrifices and be willing to make them. 3-Be worthy of and hold a current temple recommend. He was a Mission President in Africa prior to his calling as our Stake President and shared pictures and thoughts from the saints in Nigeria. I cannot believe the sacrifices the people of that country made to get to the temple!!! It truly makes me grateful that I can attend weekly and only drive 10-15 minutes to get there. I especially loved a talk that our Stake President shared by Julie Beck in a CES fireside in March of 2008. Here is a link to it: http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,538-1-4430-1,00.html

My favorite part of her talk is this story-

"A much-told family story illustrates the importance of a temple recommend. When one of my sisters was a young single adult, she danced one night with a man whom she thought she would like to know better. When she returned home she told my mother about him. My mother was skeptical and said there was no possible way to know if a man was good just by dancing with him.

My sister replied, “He has a temple recommend, so he must be pretty good.”

Mother asked, “How do you know he has a recommend? Did you ask as you were dancing, ‘So, do you have a recommend?’”

My sister laughed and said, “No, but he said something about having plans to go to the temple tomorrow with a mission companion, and he must have a recommend to do that.”

Deliberately, my mother asked, “Why is it so important to know that?”

My sister answered, “Well, if I know a man has a recommend, I know he keeps the Word of Wisdom, I know he pays his tithing, I know he attends his meetings, I know he honors his priesthood, I know he sustains the leaders of the Church, and I know he has a testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I want to start with a recommend as the basis for any relationship and go from there. When I know a man has a recommend, there are a lot of questions I don’t have to ask.”

We also had the privilege to hear from the Hawaii Laie Temple President and his wife while they are on leave here in Utah. The most insightful thing I gained from the Temple President was when he talked about the purpose of Moses leading the children of Israel into the wilderness. The reason Moses brought the children of Israel into the wilderness was to bring them back into the presence of God. Essentially God wanted the children of Israel to meet him on Mt. Sinai (the temple), but the children of Israel were too lazy and idolatrous and sent Moses to do their errand. Other people cannot do our errand, we must prepare OURSELVES to meet God and that preparation is done by going to the temple!

Basic Beliefs

My aunt emailed a link to an amazing talk that I read. It is by Elder Oaks and was given at Harvard Law School. I liked it so much because it talks about our basic Mormon beliefs. Obviously he cannot cover everything about our church in the allotted time of speaking, but 3 points he chose to focus on were:

1.The nature of God, including the role of the three members of the Godhead, and the corollary truth that there are moral absolutes.
2.The purpose of life.
3.The three-fold sources of truth about man and the universe: science, the scriptures, and continuing revelation, and how we can know them.

I encourage you to read the full text (I couldn't get it to copy the link, but I'm sure you all know how to copy and paste), you won't regret it!

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/news-releases-stories/fundamental-premises-of-our-faith-talk-given-by-elder-dallin-h-oaks-at-harvard-law-school

Yellow Star

I just finished reading a book called "Yellow Star" about a little girl named Syvia who was one of only 12 children to survive in a ghetto in Poland during World War 2. It was a really good book and the part that impressed me the most was when the Russian Soldiers came to the ghetto with orders to bomb everything. A certain soldier said he was in the middle of bombing everything when the spotlight on his plane enabled him to see the Star of David sewn onto many coats. He, being a Jewish solider, knew not to bomb the area with the yellow stars. After the bombing stopped the soldier along with all the other Yiddish Russian Soldiers went to the ghetto to save the people whom they had seen with the yellow stars on their coats.

The reason I share this part of the book, which by the way is a true story, is because it made me think of the Star Bellied Sneeches from a familiar Dr. Seuss story. I don't mean to compare the Jewish people to the Star Bellied Sneeches in a dis-respectful way, but my point is there are very special people out there, whether or not a star is displayed. Sometimes you have to really look for the star (like the Russian Solider did) to spot something special.

When I say special I am talking about people out there who look like everyday people, but in reality they are smiling, seeking to serve others, and take no thought about themselves. I met several of these people in the last week or so. One in particular was a temple worker who had more of an interest in me then usual temple workers. Another was a friend who sent me an email asking how I was doing. It is rare to find special people out there today in a cynical world, but I am here to say these people exist even though you may have to look for them with a spotlight.