7 Ways to Mind Your Mind

"If we can pattern our life after the Master, and take his teachings and example as the supreme pattern for our own, we will not find it difficult to be consistent and loyal in every walk of life, for we will be committed to a
single, sacred standard of conduct and belief."

--Howard W. Hunter, "Standing As Witnesses of God", Ensign, May 1990, 60


Choosing the right isn't always about choosing from right and wrong. Sometimes it can be about choosing the right way and choosing the easier way. Something that someone said in church yesterday has stuck in my head. They said you can really tell what kind of a person someone is by what kind of thinking they do when there is no need for thinking at all. When not engaged in learning, conversation, etc., what do you think about it? There's some food for thought.

One speaker at the youth conference held this past weekend gave a pretty amazing talk about 7 Ways to Mind Your Mind, because a member of our Bishopric that went spoke about it in Sacrament.

1. Guard your mind in what you see and think
2. Discipline your mind, aka: No dumping allowed!"
3. Help discipline your mind by memorization of spiritual thoughts (aka: scriptures, hymns)
4. Clear your mind of noise (you don't always have to be listening to music, watching tv, or have some type of background noise. Listen for the whisperings of the Spirit to talk to you)
5. Putting in additional light in your mind
6. Develop your minds (aka: education)
7. Don't do anything that would cast out the Spirit or drive the Spirit away.

Moral Agency

"As we yield our will to His, God will tutor us in the successful use of our moral agency. We will find freedom to be, to feel, and to do."

--Name Elder D Todd Christofferson, "Allegiance to God", Ensign, Jan. 2005, 8

Doctrine & Covenants 101:78 --That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

Helaman 14:30-31 -- And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a knowledge and he hath made you free. He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.

---------
Our lesson today in young women's was about agency. We learned about how every choice we make has a consequence, whether that be a positive or negative consequence. Funny that the things I studied today also discussed about agency. :-)

In sacrament the youth that attended the youth conference over this past weekend went to bear their testimonies about attending it. As I listened to them, it brought me back on memory lane remembering the burst of light and being high on life leaving those conferences with the strength, confidence, and the Spirit in me to take on the world and what it might have in store for me. Some of the youth talked about how they felt they (those that attended from our ward) drew closer to one another into a more tight knit circle of friends...bonded...while there. How awesome is that to have our youth draw strength from one another, buoy each other up and walk side by side through life?