Quoting my Friend

A long time friend of mine that I met on ldslinkup over 5 years ago shared a very thought provoking idea today on her FB page (Thanks, Shabang!).  I am stealing it to post on here because it seems ironic (perhaps a better word is CRITICAL) to read the point of it just the day after I started the BOM challenge.

Every time you declare yourself to be or do something, everything unlike it will show up to test you.*meaning: when you decide to make real changes in your life, things will come your way that will interfere with your desire to change. It then becomes your divine opportunity to determine if you are serious about making those changes. Show the Lord you ARE serious.*

One word: WOW!

Some questions you may have as you begin reading your scriptures are

• Why am I here on earth? 
• Why am I here in this family?
• What can I be doing to make me a better wife? Mother? Daughter? Friend?
• What is it that the Lord wants of me?
• What message should I be bringing to my sisters who I visit teach?
• How am I supposed to get through this difficult situation and "endure well" as they say it?
• What kind of example do I need to be so that others can see His light through me?
• Who needs to feel the love of the Lord today through me?

I always have one or two questions in mind before I begin reading so that I may better focus on the words and the meaning they can give to me.  As our questions change, so will the answers and enlightenment...even though it is the same scripture passages that we may be reading.

Thing that stuck out to me today:

• 1 Nephi 5:9 -- And it came to pass that they did rejoice exceedingly, and did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto the Lord; and they gave thanks unto the God of Israel.
• The Lord asks of us only a few things: Endure our trials, Remember Him, give thanks to the Lord.  Of course there are a lot of other principles surrounding these, but they pretty much sum it up. 
• 1 Nephi 7: 8-15 -- (found here)
• His brothers and their wives wanted to rebel against their father and not leave Jerusalem to go back into the wilderness.  But Nephi knew in his heart that that was exactly what the Lord and his father Lehi had asked of them.  He knew it was the right thing to do in order to save them.  What he did next seems very "drama-inducing".  He very bluntly told them what was what in a very matter of fact way.  No icing or smoothing over the edges...just how it was.  You stay here, you perish.  You come back, you will prosper.  As a parent, I pondered whether this approach would work on my own kids.  For Laman and Lemuel it worked this time. But will it always work to be so blunt?  Perhaps Nephi knew his brothers so well and he was close enough to the Spirit that he would know how to handle them?  He was such a spiritual man.  We MUST strive to be as close to the Spirit if we are going to be able to know how to "bluntly" tell our children..."hey, you are a little bit of course.  You need to stay in this direction." Of course, all children are different and you handle situations in different ways.  The only thing I can think of is to be open to the Spirit to let us know exactly what each child is in need of to hear to help them soften their own hearts and turn towards the Lord.
• 1 Nephi 7:17 -- But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound.
• We must always turn towards the Lord in our time of need.  This one scripture reminds me when I am dealing with my children.  At that split second when a decision needs to be made -- am I going to get mad and accuse or will I calmly assess the situation and tenderly give direction to what needs to be done instead of the mistakes being made.  If we always have a prayer in our heart that we may handle our children like Christ would, I know that we can get instant promptings on how to better handle situations.  I know this to be true because it happens all the time!  I am not a perfect mother.  No way.  But the Lord does refine me and steer me in better ways to raise my children.
• 1 Nephi 7:21 -- And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness.  And it came to pass that they did so.  And after they had done praying unto the Lord we did again travel on our journey towards the tent of our father.
• His brothers just beat him to a pulp to leave him to the animals to devour, then he stood up to them, called them to repentance and then forgave them of it all when they did repent and asked for forgiveness. I know in primary, seminary and sunday school that we are taught that we must forgive all.  And that it is up to the Lord to decide whether to forgive everyone.  It is not up to us whether they deserve it or not.  It is our duty to forgive.  We must always forgive tresspasses against us.  It is way more harder to do that, but I know that it is definitely worth it in the end. I read a book about the Atonement once and it enlightened my look on the purposes of the Atonement.  What I realized was that the Atonement is not just for those of us that need to repent of our sins, but that it is there to help us that need to forgive others.  It took me a while to ponder this through and accept it but is it not true?  Does it not speak and ring of truth?  I think so.
• 1 Nephi 7:22 -- And it came to pass that we did  come down unto the tent of our father. And after I and my brethren and all the house of Ishmael had come down unto the tent of my father, they did give thanks unto the Lord their God; and they did offer sacrifice and burnt offerings unto him.
• Here again is the trial/remember/give thanks pattern.  They remembered the Lord after fulfilling a commandment.  They endured through it (not so well, but they did it), and now they are giving thanks. 
• 1 Nephi 8:8 -- And after I had traveled for the space of many hours in darkness, I begain to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the multitude of his tender mercies.
• The phrase "tender mercies" will always remind me of one of Elder Bednar's first talks! :-) When we feel lost and/or feel like our life does not have any clear direction, we should turn to the Lord in prayer.  He will answer us and show us the way.  We must be reading and delving into the scriptures to try to understand His ways.  And I know that as we do this, that the Lord will prompt us as we are studying His words.  Although, everyone is different on how and when they get those answers.  My visiting teacher and I were discussing how the Lord answers us. For her, she never feels He answers her.  But down the road 6 months she would get an affirmation that she was on the right path.  For me, it's not a strong yes or no answer.  I have to calm myself, listen to the VERY small voice of the Spirit.  I always have a feeling of calmness and rightness of a situation.  Like when I had the decision of going to China for a semester to teach English, going on a mission or continuing my education, marrying my husband, when we were ready to start growing our family, joining the military and leaving behind the union.  All of these answers were immediate..."Yeah, this is a good thing to do.  Ok.  Let's do it!"  Some, I was given options.  Like going on a mission or doing more education -- I felt like both were right and that the Lord would be pleased with either decision, that the Lord could use me in either capacities.  I pondered it on my own.  Randy (who was on his mission at the time) told me that if I wanted to go on a mission, too, he would wait for me.  So, was I willing to do that in hopes that he would still be waiting for me after?  Of course, all that know me knows that I decided to start my life with Randy sooner than later.  I did another semester at BYU and then got married 4 months after he returned home from his mission.  Point being is that sometimes the Lord gives us options and we need to decide for ourselves which path we want to take.  It may not be a "Yes, go this way and not that way" but a "Which part of your life do you want to grow in at this time?" 
• 1 Nephi 8:25 -- And after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed.
• Am I ashamed to share the gospel?  I shouldn't be.  I should be praying for opportunities to share the Light of Christ with others.  And it doesn't need to be a "missionary" moment where they eventually join the church.  Sometimes it is joyful to just share in the warmth of His light.  Perhaps someone just needs to feel His love for them through our kindness and charity. 
• 1 Nephi 8:33 -- And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of scorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.
• How will I react to any form of persecution?
• 1 Nephi 8:37 -- And he did exhort them then whith all the feeling of a tender parent, that they would hearken to his words, that perhaps the Lord would be merciful to them, and not cast them off; yea, my father did preach unto them.
• Lovingly correct our family who make wrong choices. I asked my DH about his childhood.  He had a rebellious kick in him.  I asked what his parents did when trying to handle him and all he said there was a lot of arguing.  My children are still young, ages 2 and 7.  If you have had experiences with older children, what have you done to keep the peace while trying to correct wrong behavior?
• 1 Nephi 9:6 -- But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen.
• I already had this scripture underlined from a previous reading.  I learned a long time ago that if I am called to do part of His work, whether that is through a church calling or growing my family, that Heavenly Father will provide the means in order to accomplish it.  Both my DH and I feel strongly that you should never turn down a calling.  There is a reason why the Lord called you and there is strength in performing service to others.
• 1 Nephi 10:17 -- And it came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father...was desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these thing, by the power of the Holy Ghost...
• After hearing the words of a prophet, apostle, bishop or other church leader, we should pray and seek out if the words are true through prayer and fasting.
• 1 Nephi 10:21 -- Wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgement-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever.
• In our combined Relief Society/Priesthood meeting with the Bishop, he talked about how we should try harder to attend the temple as often as we can.  Especially since we have it so readily available next door from our church (I attend the stake center on the DC temple grounds).  What was interesting was what is keeping us from going.  1) Inconvenience to  actually get there, find babysitters, get off of work early, etc.  2) We feel unworthy to go.  But the Bishop told us if we can honestly answer yes and no(where applicable) to all the questions for a temple interview...then we are worthy to go.  Do we make mistakes?  Like not read our scriptures everyday or forget some prayers or struggling to pay tithing, etc.  He said that is what the Atonement is for -- to repent of these sins and strive to not to do them again.