And thus were they prepared

When the Lamanites were wanting to take the city Noah, they were surprised that they couldn't overthrow them. Why? Because the Nephites had obeyed the words of the Lord. They fortified themselves with the things the Lord gave them and hence had "all power over their enemies."

How many years have we been told to be prepared??? One year supply of food storage, keeping enough oil in our lamps, attend the temple often, nurture our family. It's not only to protect us physically, but spiritually as well. How much are we heeding to that counsel?

Scriptures are like a book of answers

Did you ever have one of those Sundays where you listened to the speakers or teachers and just soaked everything in? Today was one of those Sundays for me. It started off when I woke up early to study the Sunday school lesson...which actually is next week's lesson as I came to find out at church. (woops).

In Doctrine & Covenants 19:23 it says

Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you
shall have peace in me.

My question I want to throw out is this: What does it mean to "walk in the meekness of my spirit"? Learn of him is studying, reading, pondering, etc. about his Gospel. Listening to his words, speakers, teachers, etc at church, listening to the promptings of the Spirit. I get that. But how do you walk in the meekness of his Spirit???
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As we live our lives here on Earth we try to live by the Holy Ghost. Our actions and examples bear the fruit of our faith. Problems or situations will arise that we may not know the answer to. What is our first response to this? I'll admit that sometimes I want to vent out emotions or I'll run it through my head until my stress level has reached an all time high. :-o Yeah, I know...soooo not healthy!

Today I learned that if you don't know what to pray for, then pray to know what to pray for. We need to be asking specific questions in order to get specific answers. Funny thing is, sometimes Heavenly Father doesn't answer us with an answer, but with lessons that teach us. Now and then when we come to Him in sincere prayer asking in faith, he will test that faith.

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you. (St.John 15:7)

Our discussion turned to how we can abide in Christ. What does it mean to abide in him? How does he abide with us? Keeping the commandments, loving thy neighbor, keeping the word of wisdom, living a life of righteousness that is in keeping with the Spirit, and most importantly, aligning your will with His. When we can do that, the promise given in the scripture above can come to pass.
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I heard this today and it stuck out to me.

If you have fear in your heart, get down on your knees.

"...if all men had been,a nd were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni..."

The Title of Liberty

Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them. (Alma 46:12)

Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men. (Alma 48:17)

When I read these scriptures, I could see the potential that my husband (and all other men) can have. He was not only physically strong, but spiritually strong in his understandings of the Spirit. He yearned for liberty and freedom instead of violence. He had a firm testimony in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Alma 48:11-13)

When you read further in this chapter, you see that Helaman and his brethren went out to spread the gospel and their words humbled people insomuch that the Lord blessed them with peace. Because they went out, it helped the others draw closer to Heavenly Father. There are two types of people in this world: those that humble themselves and those that are compelled to be humble. Do we humble ourselves by studying His word or do we wait for someone to come to us and tell us about it in order to become humble?

Recently I changed my msn message to read "he really is my better half" because that is how I feel about him. There are times that I feel I make the right choices not only because I know it's the right thing or that I know the Lord would want me to make the right choice, but because I know Randy would also think it is the right choice. And that is one thing that I love about him...that he brings out the best in me when I need it. :-)

The Best 3 Hours of the Week

"Service changes people. It refines, purifies, gives a finer perspective, and brings out the best in each one of us. It gets us looking outward instead of inward. Righteous service is the expression of true charity, such
as the Savior showed."

--Derek A. Cuthbert, "The Spirituality of Service", Ensign, May 1990, 12





We watched a really cool video at mutual last night for the Young Women. It was called The Best 3 Hours of the Week by John Bytheway. I would HIGHLY recommend watching it. I love his talks and this one is how we can help ourselves get the most out of Church.

• Deseret Bookstore (DVD): 19.95

http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4961129

• Ebay (Audiotape): 7.95(buy it now!)

http://cgi.ebay.com/Audio-The-Best-Three-Hours-of-the-Week-John-Bytheway_W0QQitemZ130116210713QQihZ003QQcategoryZ29792QQcmdZViewItem

Wearing the Armour of God

I was reading about wars in the scriptures. In Alma 43 it talks about how Captain Moroni sought counsel from the prophet Alma to know what the will of the Lord was in this war against the Lamanites. Specifically, he asked Alma to inquire of the Lord where they should go in order to keep themselves and their people protected.

How can we know what to do to keep ourselves protected from today's evils? We can follow Captain Moroni's example and seek the counsel of the prophet to know the will of the Lord. We can do the things needed to wearing the armor of God.

1) What has the prophet spoken about recently? [Last general conference issue of the Ensign --http://www.lds.org/conference/apr2007/archive/0,20920,7545-1,00.html
or the current First Presidency message in this month's Ensign http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.b12f9d18fae655bb69095bd3e44916a0/?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=02303bc909592110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=true

2) What are the things needed to do in order to wear the full armor of God? Last night in Family Home Evening (FHE), we discussed the Armor of God in Ephesians 6:11-17.
(http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?search=Ephesians+6%3A11-17)

• Girdle of truth
• Breastplate of righteousness
• Shoes helping us to walk in gospel truths
• Shielf of faith
• Helmet of salvation
• Sword of the Spirit

As we continue to keep our lamps fill our lamps with drops of oil everyday, we are in the act of wearing the armor of God.
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"Just as order gave life and beauty to the earth when it was dark and void, so it does to us. Obedience helps us develop the full potential Heavenly Father desires for us in becoming celestial beings worthy some day to live in His presence."

--James E. Faust, "Obedience: The Path to Freedom", May 1999 Ensign

I Love the Sabbath Day

Especially putting on church music on the computer so we can listen to it while we are getting ready for church. :-) I love this day of rest. I love being able to feel the Spirit as I go to church. I love being able to feel the Spirit when I'm there. I love hearing other peoples' testimonies. I love going to the classes and learning what the teachers have prepared for us.

There's something about going to church every Sunday. It's hard to explain. I come home feeling filled more than I was before. I feel a better person than before. I feel more happy than before. On Sundays like these I know I have filled my lamp with enough oil for the week. At least in that aspect of my life. It is what I am taught at Church that motivates me to do the things I need to. Like the "lamp oil" quiz below. I am so much closer to the Spirit as I have strived to work on the things I'm lacking on. It's the greatest feeling knowing that you have progessed spiritually than from last week...and that you are headed on the right path.

I think another blessing from following the council of the Lord is helping you see your strengths and faults...where you need to work on the most. I know that bc I've tried to keep close to the Spirit, my heart has been opened up to finding out these things about myself. And it's very liberating!! Knowing these things will have a positive ripple effect in life as I change my will over to the will of the Lord.

The True Nature of God

One of the things we discussed at Sunday school this last week is how we need to know the true nature of Heavenly Father. How can one pray to someone you don't even know? Getting to know Him and his ways can help us draw closer to Him. I was reading in the scriptures where it said,

And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness (Alma 41:11)

The part that stuck out to me was the nature of God. What is the nature of God? How do we get to know the true nature of God? We sometimes have a saying of "It isn't in his/her nature to do that", so when we are talking about the nature of God we are talking about the ways of his thinking, his actions, his reactions, and how he deals with life. One big things back in high school was wearing the WWJD wrist bands. Growing up in the bible belt of the USA there were a lot of kids at school wearing them. It's a good reminder, bc it makes you think of our Heavenly Father's nature and what he would do.

What boggles my mind is that Jesus was the one perfect being that has lived here on earth. Our human nature (or in other words, our natural man) is to not always do the right things. We can let pride take over us, let ourselves be offended, let the anger inside us boil over, decide to ignore the promptings of the Holy Ghost, choose the easier route instead of the right route.

So, I ask you again...why do we try to get to know the true nature of God? Bc it can help us overcome our natural man tendencies and strive to live righteously. And living righteously can bring the calming peace and happiness we all long for and seek everyday.

Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgement restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again. (Alma 41:14)

Will I have oil in my lamp?

A. Read Matthew 25:1-13 here

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/25/1-13#1

B. Take this questionnaire to see how much oil you really have in your lamp right now:

1. I read from my copy of the Book of Mormon: (please circle answer)
a. about once a month or less
b. about once a week
c. every few days
d. every day

2. I read from the other scriptures: (please cirlce answer)
a. about once a month or less
b. about once a week
c. every few days
d. every day

3. Do you take notes sometimes when you read the scriptures or any other material?
a.Yes
b. No

4. Generally speaking, do you read your Sunday School lesson before the teacher presents it on Sunday? (Please circle an answer).
a. Almost always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Seldom
e. Never

5. Generally Speaking, do you read RS or Priesthood lesson before the teacher presents it on Sunday? (Please circle an answer).
a. Almost
a. Almost always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Seldom
e. Never

6. Do you do your Visiting Teaching or your Home Teaching regularly? (Please cirlce answer).
a. Almost always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Seldom
e. Never

7. Does your family get together daily for family scripture study? (Please cirlce answer).
a. Almost always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Seldom
e. Never

8. Does your family get together daily for family prayer? (Please cirlce answer).
a. Almost always
b. Often
c. Sometimes
d. Seldom
e. Never

9. Do you keep the Word of Wisdom?
a. Yes
b. No

10.Do you hold regular Family Home Evening?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Irregular

11. Are you "quick to obey" the counsel we are given from our leaders or do you choose not to be strict in keeping the counsel (TV viewing habits, clean music, pornography, etc.)?
a. Quick to obey
b. Like to rationalize my behavior as "not that bad"

12. Do you take your callings in your home and in the Church seriously and strive to be better?
a. Callings are a chore
b. Callings are a chance to improve myself

13.Do you have a current temple recommend?
a. Yes
b. No

14. When is the last time you wen to the temple?

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C. Write down a list of the areas you need to improve on, makes some goals to accomplish those improvements, and Implement them!!

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I was reading in Alma 38 this morning and some verses stuck out to me. Alma 38:2-5
http://scriptures.lds.org/en/search?search=Alma+38%3A2-5

In these verses I felt it expressed Heavenly Father's feelings for me as I've kept my oil filled with oil to be prepared or as I have strived to keep it filled with oil. There is definitely room for improvement!