Earth Life Is a Nanosecond

I was reading the current issue of the Ensign the other day and came across this article entitled, “Living for the Eternities” written by Elder Keith K. Hilbig who was serving as a member of the seventy at the time. Part of that article stuck with me and I mentioned it to Mom. I couldn’t remember where I read it because I read several different church related things that day. But I decided to go find it again and put it on my blog.

Here’s the first part of the article:

 “How different and difficult is the world …today when compared to the …world of two or three generations ago. Many challenges today did not even exist, or were much less intense, than when I was in college.

But you are here now, in this moment. You are pressing forward as your elders are passing into the eternities. You are here at this time not by chance but as part of an eternal plan—designed, agreed upon, and implemented before the earth was ever created.

How fortunate you are to be aware of the Restoration of the gospel! You know there was a premortal existence in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. You were schooled and tested. You learned of the laws that would allow you to progress and advance. You followed those laws, and thus you were entitled to come to earth, placing you on a course leading to exaltation, dominion, and godhood.

You understand the purposes of mortality on earth, and you have been taught concerning postmortal opportunities. In short, you have the perspective of the eternities—you can look back, and you can gaze forward.

The majority of your …peers who are not members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and the world in general, know little of these realities. They live as if in a box defined by two events: birth and death. They make decisions and engage in behaviors circumscribed by a limited perspective. Essentially they live for the moment—the length of time between their births and their deaths, which is a mere nanosecond in the scheme of eternity. They likely know nothing of their premortal existence and little of eternity.” – Elder Keith K.Hilbig, served as a member of the 70 from 2001 to 2012, from a devotional address given at BYU Idaho March 20, 2007, July 2013 Ensign

The last paragraph is what made me think. I began thinking about some of my relatives and certain people I’ve met who do not have the gospel. I thought about how their lives have no direction or purpose other than to have fun and live for the moment. This scripture came to mind: “2 Nephi 28: 7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: ^aEat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.”

Then I started thinking about how long this time on earth really is, it seems like it’s always related to the blink of an eye compared to eternity. But, if you take Elder Hilbig’s quote about our time on earth being a nanosecond compared to eternity, the blink of an eye comparison is much too long.

Let’s break it down. A nanosecond is 10 ^-9 seconds or 1 billionth of a second (1/1,000,000,000). A human eye blinks at the rate of 300 to 400 ms (a millisecond is 1/1000 of a second). Which means that the human eye can blink about three times per second. So, the blink of an eye is the equivalent of 300,000,000 to 400,000,000 ns (300-400 million nanoseconds). So putting this in perspective, we could live 300 million to 400 million lifetimes in the blink of an eye, if our lifetime between birth and death is only a nanosecond compared to eternity.

Thinking about it this way, it makes all of our choices during mortality even more important considering how short this test of mortality really is. Everything that is not related to following the Commandments and not helping your eternal progression is irrelevant.  Not only that, but doing anything contrary to the will of God is extremely detrimental. Considering how short this test is and how important each decision, thought, and action is in our eternal destiny, we should all be doing everything we can to live the gospel by following the commandments the best we can and helping others to do the same. Perhaps this is why there is such a push for missionary work right now. Time is short, and those of us blessed with the gospel in our lives have a great responsibility to share our blessings, the blessings the gospel brings in our lives, with others not as fortunate.

Doctrine and Covenants 18: 15-16

 15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one ^asoul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

 16 And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the ^akingdom of my Father, how great will be your ^bjoy if you should bring many ^csouls unto me!

 That’s my two cents.

Chicken Pot Pie

Yesterday for FHE we had homemade chicken pot pie that was to die for. I found a recipe from my favorite food network chef, Ina Garten. We made a few minor adjustments to the recipe, and here’s the result:

Chicken Pot Pie

Adapted from a recipe by Ina Garten

 

Ingredients:

• 1 pint canned chicken
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• Salt-and-pepper
• 5 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• ¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups yellow onions, chopped (2 onions)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups medium-diced carrots, blanched for 2 minutes
• 2 cups diced potatoes, boiled five minutes
• 2 cups frozen peas (10 ounce package)
• 1 cup diced celery

 

For the pastry:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
• Salt-and-pepper

 

Directions:

Drain canned chicken, reserving broth for sauce. Place chicken in large bowl. Add olive oil and sprinkle with salt and Pepper. Mix together thoroughly. Set aside while preparing vegetables. Add vegetables to chicken mixture.

 

In a small saucepan, heat the chicken stock and dissolve the bouillon cubes in the stock. In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the onions over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the hot chicken stock to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and heavy cream. Add to the chicken, carrots, peas, potatoes and celery. Mix well.

 

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

 

Pour filling into rectangular casserole dish.  Rollout dough into rectangle to cover casserole dish. Crimp the edges. Brush the dough with egg wash.  Cut slits in top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for one hour or until the top is golden brown and filling is bubbling hot.

 

*to make two extra large glass casserole dishes, we tripled the recipe for the filling and doubled the recipe for the pastry.

Alternatively you could use puff pastry from the grocery store in lieu of the homemade pastry topping.

Delicious!

Random thoughts on Independence Day

I have several random thoughts to share today. First of all, let’s not forget the obvious – happy birthday America! (And Samson) it is somewhat bittersweet to think about this wonderful nation in which we live. From the beginning declaring our independence as a nation to where we are now as a people becoming more and more dependent upon our nation i.e. government. Somewhat ironic. Anyway, happy Independence Day!

Another thought that has been in the back of my mind is the whole Paula Deen witch hunt. It is totally ridiculous what the liberal, low information, Obama loving, mainstream media is doing to Paula Deen. Now I don’t know Paula personally, nor do I know much about her except that I’ve seen her cooking show several times. But I challenge anybody to find someone who is 60+ years old and especially those who grew up in the South who has not uttered “the n word”. Times change. What is acceptable to society changes. Often times for the worse. But how can you condemn someone for something they said many years ago which, if the truth be known, was totally acceptable to society at the time. And even if it was something more recent or something meant derogatorily. Don’t we all make mistakes? Don’t we all say things we wish we hadn’t? Things we wish we could take back? I just think the media is going way overboard with this whole thing. It’s like they are on a witch hunt.

I read an article in the Salt Lake Tribune about a brawl in an LDS chapel in Weber County Utah. It’s been a few days but if I remember correctly there was a missionary farewell and baby blessing going on at the same time. Therefore the chapel was very crowded. One group related to the baby blessing was saving seats. Not members of the Ward. A Ward member came in and sat in the supposedly saved seats. An ensuing brawl broke out and law enforcement was called. I believe there were some arrests.

Anyway, I found this interesting because I think it is something we can all relate to even though it is outrageous behavior especially in a church. But, haven’t we all been inside church buildings where people save seats? And don’t we all get somewhat irked by that behavior? Or is it just me? Doesn’t it seem like no matter what Ward you are in, there are certain pews that are off-limits because they are a certain family’s pew? It’s like an unwritten law or something.

I’m the type of person who would deliberately sit in a pew that was “someone else’s” even though it was empty and unoccupied. Just to ruffle a few feathers and teach people a lesson that it really is not their bench. But that’s just me. Of course I would never come to fisticuffs over it. But I can totally see how it could happen.

People are creatures of habit. But is it really that bad to have to sit in a slightly different place? I don’t mind if people get there early to get their bench. But saving seats when there are people who need them (seating is limited) and the people who you are saving them for are not there, and may never come-- is just plain wrong.

Obviously you think people would try to be on their best behavior at church. Interestingly enough, they aren’t. I guess this is why we have to have locks on the cupboard doors in church buildings and even lockers at the temple.

These are a few of my thoughts today.

That’s my two cents.

The Lamanites Shall Blossom As the Rose

I heard an interesting tidbit on the news last night. As of yesterday, there are more Latinos in California than Caucasians or any other race. I know when I lived in Downey, California that I was most certainly a minority. And that was over 10 years ago.

The news report said that California’s the second state to reach that status. New Mexico being the first several years ago. And Texas will be next. Within the next decade they said.

When I heard this report on the news I immediately thought of the prophecy in the Scriptures.

Doctrine and Covenants 49:24 “But before the great day of the Lord shall come, ^aJacob shall flourish in the wilderness, and the Lamanites shall ^bblossom as the rose.”

It’s obvious that this prophecy is being fulfilled. My interpretation of that Scripture is that the Lamanites (Latinos) will Blossom in righteousness. Or in other words, will accept the Gospel. Now with the great increase in missionaries, this will happen at an accelerated rate.

Anyway, these were the thoughts that went through my head after I heard the news report yesterday.

That’s my two cents.

Interesting article -- The Source of Our Moral Decay

Okay I’m still sick but I read this article the same day that I read the other article I posted a couple days ago. Interestingly the day after I read the article I read about the Texas state legislator who pulled the filibuster in favor of abortion. The article I read in the Deseret news mentioned that this particular Texas state legislator was a single teenage mom who turned her life around and went to Harvard. Or something like that. Anyway, putting two and two together it makes me wonder how her child feels about her filibuster. Apparently if she had the chance she would have murdered her child before it was born. At least that’s what I get out of her filibuster. So I decided to post this article that I read at American thinker about the source of moral decay. It is written by the same author as my last post from American thinker. He has interesting ideas. Although I don’t agree with everything he says, most of it is true. If nothing else, it will make you start to think. Here is the article:

May 8, 2013

The Source of Our Moral Decay?

By Paul Shlichta

Like many senior citizens, I have been bewildered by the rapid degeneration of our American society. A half-century ago, we were a decent people and a benevolent force in global affairs. Even then, we had to contend with drugs, violence, pornography, and the materialism engendered by prosperity, but we somehow managed to keep these malignancies at sub-critical levels.
But by 1990, even though the threat of Communism seemed to be fading away, we had become aware that something was seriously wrong. Consider Michelle's famous "Pollyanna" monolog in TV's "Knots Landing":

People SHOULD be nice. Nice should be the norm. I hate it that I can't trust anyone! I hate it that I can't put my daughter on the front lawn by herself! I hate it that I have to lock my car, and that I have to worry about an alarm system in my house, and I can't send cash in the mail! That's not the way it's supposed to be...

This resonated in the minds of many as a belated tocsin that our American society had begun to decay.

Since then, things have worsened at an ever-increasing pace. Drug traffic has become so prevalent and profitable that drug cartels virtually rule sections of  a neighboring country and have established a vast fungus-like infrastructure within our own. The institution of marriage has degenerated to the point where homosexuality, promiscuity, and date rape are "the new normal," half of all marriages end in divorce, and over 40 percent of our babies (the ones that escape abortion) are born to unwed mothers. Lying and cheating have become so commonplace that a substantial fraction of all resumes contain false entries and students routinely cheat on tests and buy term papers on the Internet.

I have no tangible proof, but I have come to believe that the primary source of our decay is the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973. I contend that abortion is slowly killing us.

Abortion may be the moral equivalent of AIDS. Our bodies, though under constant attack from bacteria, viruses, and cancers, can normally keep most or all of these invaders at bay.  The primary symptoms of the HIV virus, such as a week or two of fever or soreness, are so mild that they often go unnoticed. But AIDS eventually destroys the immune system, thereby allowing the already-present invaders and a host of new ones to ravage the body unchecked. Ultimately, the AIDS victim dies from one or more infections that otherwise would have been trivial.

In the same way, the death of some 50 million  babies -- or rather, the hypocrisy and moral evasion required to allow those deaths -- has hardened the collective American conscience to the point where it can easily tolerate other moral degeneracies and ignore their obvious destructive effects on our society.

As might be expected, this moral AIDS has had a particularly virulent effect on the practitioners of abortion. The horrors described during the trial of Kermit Gosnell -- the beheadings and snippings of spines to kill babies that survived abortions -- sound like things done in concentration camps. The attempts of the media to ignore or downplay these deeds are reminiscent of the Nazi efforts to hide their "Endlösung". Even more horrible is the contention that Gosnell's clinic is merely the most recent of many such cases.

This is not the first time that we have suffered from such an infection. Starting in the mid-seventeenth century, the institution of slavery had a similar poisonous influence. For two centuries, the American public managed to ignore or rationalize this monstrosity until they were ultimately forced to pay the price of 620,000 deaths in a horrible war [3].

Ancient examples of the effects of child-sacrifice -- which is essentially what abortion is -- are not encouraging. Carthage was one of the most progressive and technologically advanced civilizations in the pre-Christian world. It was in many ways preferable to its rival, Rome, except for its quaint custom of having parents throw their babies into the fire as a way of begging favors from their gods. Scholars disagree as to how prevalent this "peculiar institution" was in Carthaginian society, but it was certainly a major reason (or excuse) that Rome cited for obliterating its rival.

If I am right, then our battles against violence, drugs, sexual deconstruction, and other forms of moral degeneraton are merely symptomatic treatments. Until we end the horror of abortion, we will continue to decay -- or perhaps it is already too late.

If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination. Once begun upon this downward path, you never know where you are to stop. Many a man has dated his ruin from some murder or other that perhaps he thought little of at the time.                      
- Thomas de Quincey, in "Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts" 

---

  As has been discussed elsewhere, the Roe v. Wade decision was essentially the work of one man, Justice William O. Douglas
  The AIDS acronym could be reinterpreted as "Abortion Is Destroying our Society".
  Contrary to the proclamations of many preachers, I don't believe that God ever actually punishes. It is rather that He has instituted moral laws, more subtle, but as inexorable as the laws of physics, that cause evil actions to automatically entail equivalent retributive consequences.
 

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2013/05/the_source_of_our_moral_decay.html at June 28, 2013 - 01:06:40 PM CDT

Supreme Court overturns DOMA

I still have pneumonia so I’m feeling quite ill but I wanted to post the church’s response to the Supreme Court overturning Defense of marriage act a.k.a.DOMA today. I also read an article yesterday that I almost posted but didn’t which goes along the same line. I thought it was well-written and brings out a  few important points. so here is the church’s statement followed by the article from American thinker. Enjoy. "By ruling that supporters of Proposition 8 lacked standing to bring this case to court, the Supreme Court has highlighted troubling questions about how our democratic and judicial system operates," LDS Church spokesman Michael Otterson said. "Many Californians will wonder if there is something fundamentally wrong when their government will not defend or protect a popular vote that reflects the views of a majority of their citizens. "In addition, the effect of the ruling is to raise further complex jurisdictional issues that will need to be resolved. "Regardless of the court decision, the Church remains irrevocably committed to strengthening traditional marriage between a man and a woman, which for thousands of years has proven to be the best environment for nurturing children. Notably, the court decision does not change the definition of marriage in nearly three fourths of the states."

June 25, 2013

What's wrong with Same-Sex Marriage?

By Paul Shlichta

This year, June's wedding bells had a discordant tone, as they ushered in a raft of same-sex marriages. I hereby invoke a panel of experts -- Fr. Thomas Vandenberg, G. K. Chesterton, and Kurt Vonnegut -- to explain why such marriages are a dangerous debasement of the concept of marriage.
Fr. Vandenberg's new book, Rediscovering a Pearl of Great Price , is an inspired exposition of the full meaning of Christian marriage, It should be required reading for couples planning to marry, although some of the passages may come as a surprise:

The greatest gift a husband can give his children is to love their mother, and the greatest gift a mother can give her children is to love their father. That is what will keep the proper balance in the family and make their home environment secure. That is what will free the children from their primary fear, which is to be abandoned by one of their parents. Why do they fear that? Because that is what has happened to so many of their friends at school.

Marriage is supposed to have the ambitious goal of providing children with a nurturing and reassuring base from which to learn to face the world. Therefore, parents must not only be good persons, not only a man and a woman (so as to provide the dual role models psychologists say they need), but also so unshakably devoted to each other that their mutual love can withstand all the temptations and shocks that life will hurl at them, as well as the abrasion of living with each other.

To this end, sexual passion and the bewildering differences between the sexes jointly play a vital role. As Chesterton put it:

The differences between a man and a woman are at the best so obstinate and exasperating that they practically cannot be got over unless there is an atmosphere of exaggerated tenderness and mutual interest.  To put the matter in one metaphor, the sexes are two stubborn pieces of iron; if they are to be welded together, it must be while they are red-hot... 

Therefore, as Fr. Vandenberg goes on to emphasize, sexual intercourse is not merely a permitted "perk" or a reluctantly tolerated means of procreation but rather a vital and holy part of marriage -- a divinely sanctioned means of demonstrating and intensifying conjugal love to make it withstand the rigors attendant upon raising children.*

Fortunately, as with all animals, men and women have the proper equipment for such activities. The corresponding parts of the male and female body interact quite neatly for both mutual pleasure and procreation.

Not so for homosexual men and women. Whether or not there is anything wrong with their desires, they simply don't have the proper apparatus to fulfill them. They must resort to clumsy makeshifts, like cargo cult devotees trying to make airplanes out of straw. Alternatively, they submit to grotesque operations, trying to alter their bodies to suit their desires. The artificiality of these attempts to mimic normal sexuality will inevitably distort the emotions that arise from them and will tend to adversely affect any children living with them.

Homosexuals who engage in such desperate expedients shouldn't be condemned for wanting to do so. As the psychoanalyst in Kurt Vonnegut's God Bless You Mr. Rosewater  explained:

Let's assume that a healthy young man is supposed to be sexually aroused by an attractive woman not his mother or sister. if he's aroused by other things, another man, say, or an umbrella, or the ostrich boa of the Empress Josephine or a sheep or a corpse or his mother or a stolen garter belt, he is what we call a pervert. Let us hasten on to the admission that every case of perversion is essentially a case of crossed wires...

In fact, there is neurological evidence that at least some homosexuals are wired differently and cannot help their proclivities. Others contend that homosexuality may be one of the aftereffects of sexual abuse during childhood. In recognition of such factors, the Catechism of the Catholic Church proposes the apparent paradox of condemning homosexual acts while urging that people afflicted with homosexuality be treated with sympathy.

But we cannot debase the whole concept of sex and marriage merely to oblige them. The objective of what a gay activist has called the ""war we've already won" is to reduce marriage to a lowest-common-denominator status that will inevitably include polygamy, which is already being touted on ABC-TV as  "normal" and being campaigned for in Canada. That's too high a price to pay for making homosexuals feel better about themselves.

As Fr. Vandenberg points out in his appendix on same-sex marriage:

Society, for centuries, has had a stake in marriage....It set certain standards for marriage because it needed marriage to be strong for the well-being of the community; it wanted to help strengthen and support it in order to foster good social order, especially around the generation of new life and the raising of children so they would grow up to be responsible members of that community...This extended relationship of the couple to the larger community is evidenced by the civil requirements for a valid marriage...An obvious example would be laws forbidding marriage between couples who were first cousins.

Unfortunately, the institution of marriage is currently being attacked by several forces that, deliberately or inadvertently, are destroying it and thereby undermining our society:  

• The current fad of cohabitation. Single mothers usually do not assume this role voluntarily but are forced to do so by the perfidy and selfishness of men who desert them when they become pregnant. In consequence, the children suffer from the absence of a father and seek a male role model and mentor, often by joining gangs.
• Ultrafeminists, who regard men as "the enemy". They encourage the idea that men are unnecessary for raising children and regard lesbian couples as the new "normal". To this end, they cite psychological studies that fall apart when examined.
• Our protosocialist state, which seeks to diminish the concept of family in order to make the state the primary "parent". This may be one reason why liberals are so enthusiastic about same-sex marriage -- because it weakens the status and importance of families.

But whatever the causes, the debasement of the concepts of marriage and family will destroy us. Lycurgus achieved it in ancient Sparta and produced a nation of racist brutes. The USSR tried it, with partial success, in the last century and begat a dysfunctional society that is now painfully groping its way back to normality. These are hardly encouraging precedents. The legalization of same-sex marriage is a decisive step down that slippery slope.

Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/../2013/06/whats_wrong_with_same-sex_marriage.html at June 26, 2013 - 12:20:31 PM CDT

Relief Society Lesson -- This Is My Work and Glory

This Is My Work and Glory

Elder M. Russell Ballard

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

April 2013 General Conference

The source of the priesthood power is God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ.

The power of the priesthood is a sacred and essential gift of God.

Priesthood Authority versus Priesthood Power

Priesthood authority is the authorization to act in God’s name. The authorization or ordination is given by the laying on of hands.

The power of the priesthood comes only when those who exercise it are worthy and acting in accordance with God’s will.

“The Lord has given to all of us, as holders of the priesthood, certain of his authority, but we can only tap the powers of heaven on the basis of our personal righteousness”—President Spencer W. Kimball

During the glorious days of the Restoration and the reestablishment of the Church of Jesus Christ in the world today, John the Baptist; Peter, James, and John; Moses; Elias; and Elijah came to the earth and restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith all of the keys and authority of the priesthood for the work of God in these latter days.

It is by these keys, this authority, and this power that the Church of Jesus Christ is organized today, with Christ at the head directing His living prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and assisted by duly called and ordained Apostles.

Men have the unique responsibility to administer the priesthood, but they are not the priesthood.

Men and women have different but equally valued roles. Just as a woman cannot conceive a child without a man, so a man cannot fully exercise the power of the priesthood to establish an eternal family without a woman. In other words, in the eternal perspective, both the procreative power and the priesthood power are shared by husband and wife.

It is crucial for us to understand that Heavenly Father has provided a way for all of His sons and His daughters to have access to the blessings of and be strengthened by the power of the priesthood.

As the literal spirit children of our loving Heavenly Father, we have unlimited, divine potential. But if we are not careful, we can become like the wilted tomato plant. We can drift away from the true doctrine and gospel of Christ and become spiritually undernourished and wilted, having removed ourselves from the divine light and living waters of the Savior’s eternal love and priesthood power.

The primary purpose of this priesthood power is to bless, sanctify, and purify us so we can live together with our families in the presence of our heavenly parents…

“The Priesthood is an everlasting principle, and existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years” – Joseph Smith

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father’s Day, Dad! Thanks for all you do for me. I love you!

Relief Society Lesson -- For Peace at Home

For Peace at Home

Elder Richard G. Scott

Of the Quorum of the 12 apostles

April 2013 General Conference

The ideal place for peace is within the walls of our own homes.

When Christ is the center of your home, there is peace and serenity.

Weight bearing beams in the construction of a Christ-centered home:

daily personal & family prayer

daily personal & family scripture study

weekly family home evening

Be obedient to the teachings of Christ…

Don’t rationalize away future happiness…

Remember: little things lead to big things.

You came to mortality with magnificent capacities and endless possibilities. Yet there is real danger in the environment surrounding you. Your great potential and ability could be limited or destroyed if you yield to the devil-inspired contamination around you. However, Satan is no match for the Savior. Satan’s fate is decided. He knows he has lost, but he wants to take as many with him as he can. He will try to ruin your goodness and abilities by exploiting your weaknesses. Stay on the Lord’s side, and you will win every time.

Doing all we can to invite the gentle, guiding influence of the Holy Ghost into our lives is critical in our attempts to center our homes on the Savior.

Greater peace will come as you couple your efforts to be obedient with serving those around you.

Selfishness is the root of great evil. The antidote for that evil is …in unselfish service to others.

When we obey the commandments of the Lord and serve His children unselfishly, the natural consequence is power from God—power to do more than we can do by ourselves. Our insights, our talents, our abilities are expanded because we receive strength and power from the Lord. The Lord’s power is a fundamental component to establishing a home filled with peace.

One of the greatest blessings we can offer to the world is the power of a Christ-centered home where the gospel is taught, covenants are kept, and love abounds.

Do all you can to have just such a home.

Recognize the good in others, not their stains.

We need not worry if we can’t simultaneously do all of the things that the Lord has counseled us to do. He has spoken of a time and a season for all things.

In response to our sincere prayers for guidance, He will direct us in what should be emphasized at each phase of our life. We can learn, grow, and become like Him one consistent step at a time.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy birthday to the most wonderful mother in the world! Thank you for all you have done for me and continue to do for me! I love you beyond words. Happy birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy birthday to my marvelous, hard-working wonderful dad who selflessly cares for me. I love you!

Happy Mother's Day!

"I have come to know that faith is a real power, not just an expression of belief. There are few things more powerful than the faithful prayers of a righteous mother."

—Boyd K. Packer, "These Things I Know" April 2013
Happy Mother's Day to the most awesome mother in the world! I love you, Mom!

Relief Society Lesson --Personal Peace: The Reward of Righteousness

Personal Peace: The Reward of  Righteousness

Elder Quentin L. Cook

Of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles

April 2013 General Conference

Agency is essential to the plan of happiness.

1.allows for the love, sacrifice, personal growth, and experience necessary for our eternal progression.

2. allows for all the pain and suffering we experience in mortality, even when caused by things we do not understand and the devastating evil choices of others.

“Think not that I am come to send peace on earth.”-Matthew 10:34

It is clear that universal peace did not exist on the earth during Christ’s mortal ministry, and it does not now.

The Spirit of the Lord “shall not always strive with man.” and “peace shall be taken from the earth.”

--Doctrine and Covenants 1:33,35

Prophets have declared that peace has indeed been taken from the earth. Lucifer has not yet been bound and exercises power in this dominion.

There never can come to the world that spirit of peace and love … until mankind will receive God’s truth and God’s message … , and acknowledge his power and authority which is divine.” – Pres. Joseph F. Smith

“…he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.”-Doctrine and Covenants 59:23

President Heber J. Grant described the Savior’s peace this way:

“His peace will ease our suffering, bind up our broken hearts, blot out our hates, engender in our breasts a love of fellow men that will suffuse our souls with calm and happiness.”

Peace is not just safety or lack of war, violence, conflict, and contention.

 

Peace comes from knowing that the Savior knows who we are and knows that we have faith in Him, love Him, and keep His commandments, even and especially amid life’s devastating trials and tragedies.

For those who reject God, there is no peace. We all participated in the councils of heaven that provided for moral agency, knowing that there would be mortal pain and even unspeakable tragedy because of the abuse of agency. We understood that this could leave us angry, bewildered, defenseless, and vulnerable. But we also knew that the Savior’s Atonement would overcome and compensate for all of the unfairness of mortal life and bring us peace.

What are the sources of peace?

Many search for peace in worldly ways, which never have and never will succeed.

Peace is not found:

By attaining great wealth, power, or prominence.  Or in the pursuit of pleasure, entertainment, or leisure.

None of these can, even when attained in abundance, create any lasting happiness or peace.

How do we stay close to the Savior? Humbling ourselves before God, praying always, repenting of sins, entering the waters of baptism with a broken heart and contrite spirit, and becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ are profound examples of the righteousness that is rewarded by abiding peace.

The Church is a refuge where followers of Christ attain peace.

Some young people in the world say they are spiritual but not religious.

… it is priesthood authority in the Church that provides for sacred ordinances and covenants that bind families together and qualify each of us to return to God the Father and Jesus Christ in the celestial kingdom. These ordinances bring peace because they are covenants with the Lord.

The Savior is the source of true peace.

Even with the trials of life, because of the Savior’s Atonement and His grace, righteous living will be rewarded with personal peace.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33

Abinadi and King Noah

"King Noah was evil and led his people into wickedness (see Mosiah 11:1–4). The Lord sent a prophet named Abinadi to tell King Noah and his people to repent. Abinadi warned that if they did not repent, their enemies would conquer them. King Noah and his people were angry with Abinadi and wanted to kill him, but the Lord protected him. (See Mosiah 11:20–29.)

Two years later Abinadi returned to Noah’s people. He said because they had not repented, their enemies would conquer them. If they did not repent after that, they would be destroyed. The people were angry and took Abinadi to King Noah, who threw Abinadi into prison. Then the king and his wicked priests questioned him. Abinadi answered all their questions and told King Noah and his priests they were teaching false things and needed to repent. (See Mosiah 12:1–2, 9, 17–19, 26–37.)

King Noah was angry and ordered that Abinadi be put to death. But Abinadi said, “God shall smite you if ye lay your hands upon me, for I have not delivered the message which the Lord sent me to deliver” (Mosiah 13:3; see also Mosiah 13:1–2).

The Lord’s Spirit rested on Abinadi so strongly his face shone with light. He spoke “with power and authority from God” as he declared the rest of his message. (See Mosiah 13:5–6.) He read the Ten Commandments to King Noah and his priests. He also taught them about Jesus and the Atonement. Again he called on them to repent. (See Mosiah 13:5–35; see also Mosiah 14–16.)

After Abinadi finished speaking, King Noah ordered his guards to put him in prison (see Mosiah 17:1, 5). Three days later King Noah brought Abinadi before him. King Noah told Abinadi he would kill him unless he took back what he had said against him and his people. Abinadi said he would never deny the truth. King Noah feared that what Abinadi had said would come true. The king was about to release him, but the priests made King Noah angry again against Abinadi. (See Mosiah 17:6–12.)

The guards tied Abinadi up and beat him. Then they burned him with fire. As Abinadi died, he again warned the people to repent and believe in God. He said King Noah would also suffer death by fire. Abinadi gave his life as a witness of the truth. (See Mosiah 17:13–20.)" - LDS.org Gospel Art Kit summary
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I have always loved the story of Abinadi. So I thought I would post this picture by Arnold Frieberg and summary on my blog today. Since today is the day that Abinadi’s namesake came back!

The picture and summary of  Abinadi are taken from LDS.org

Rex and Lisa's Temple Sealing

Friday was a special day. We were able to go to the Seattle Temple to witness Lisa and Rex being sealed together for time and all eternity. It was a long road but they finally made it! Congratulations!