Answers and Strength Do Come As We Study His Words

As I have been diligently striving to study the scriptures and/or the General Conference talks every morning, I have come to know that Heavenly Father really does speak to me through His words. Answers do come and knowledge is given before it is needed. I have been having discussions with friends where I have known exactly what to say from my morning studies. I am seeking knowledge myself and His words answer them.

Elder Randall K. Bennett's talk Your Next Step couldn't have been named more perfectly! I just want to write down the points that really stuck out to me from his talk.

• When faith is exercised, faith increases.

3 Principles to Help Us Return To Our Heavenly Father

1. We need to do what we did as children -- childlike humility and willingness to focus on our Father in Heaven and our Savior, we take steps toward Them, never giving up hope, even if we fall.
2. Be willing to act with faith in Jesus Christ and take another step and we may be blessed with strength.
• Strength is given to those who keep seeking and trying.
• 2 Essential weekly signposts that mark our journey back to our HF are the perpetual covenant of the ordinance of the sacrament and our Sabbath day observance -- sign to the Lord that we love Him.
• Blessings from these signposts -- Holy Spirit's influence improves, strengthens, teaches, and guide us.
• Devoted Sabbath day observance brings the fullness of the earth to be ours.
• Ordinances and covenants become our credentials for admission into God's presence.
3. We must counter the natural man's tendency to procrastinate, to put off, or to give up.
• Faith in Heavenly Father and in Jesus Christ is a principle of ACTION and POWER. 
• If we are willing to act, we will be blessed with the strength to repent and with the strength to change.
• We fail only if we fail to take another faithful step forward.

In this talk he prompts us to do a couple things.

• Become as a little child - humble and meek. 
• Willingly act in faith in Jesus Christ and take that next step! Don't wait! Take it now!
• Be worthy of and use our temple recommends to serve regularly.
• Partake of the sacrament weekly and observe the Sabbath Day

Has there been a thought, a decision or a prompting that you've been sitting on for a bit that needs attention? Have your procrastinated in studying it over and pondering on the right direction to go with that? Elder Bennett says that we should not wait to act upon it. We need to act now, even if it is only through faith and he promises us that the Lord with strengthen us through the Holy Spirit to continue to act and guide us in the right direction we need.

Doing My Family History

My MIL sent me some names ready to be done in the temple.  I was able to get my visiting teacher to babysit my kids this morning so I could go today.  My body must've known I needed a good night's rest before going bc I fell asleep around 8:30pm...no joke.  Which is odd for me bc I usually stay up until midnight or so.  I woke up wide awake before my alarm went off around 6:30am. 

You always hear of stories that make it hard for people to get to the temple.  Mine wasn't hard, it just made my schedule late.  I live about 12 minutes away from the temple but I had to drop my kids off first.  When I went to plug in my VT's address in my GPS, it couldn't find the address or the street.  I used multiple city names...nada.  I went back inside to Mapquest it...that website couldn't find the address either!  I googled the metro station stop where she lives near and found the exact address for that...the GPS couldn't find that address either.  I was able to finally mapquest near the station so I hand wrote down the directions.  I still got lost getting there but after a few phone calls to her I finally made it to the Kiss & Ride where she picked up my kids.  This made me about 30 minutes later than I wanted to be but no rush since the temple in DC runs every 30 minutes on Saturdays. 

I made it to the 9:30am session.  I really tried hard to listen and I feel this was a great session for me personally. I did better on the things I needed to do and can't wait to come back to do the daughter.  It'll be even more amazing to do their sealings when my hubby can come help do the husbands. 

My goal for this year (what's left of it anyways) is to print out the names that are ready on my mother's side.  We have moved several times and somehow in one of the moves I found the Lorge Family History notebook that Grandma Lorge was working on.  How did it get into my belongings?????  I have NO IDEA!  But I've already looked up some of the names in it on ONE PAGE and half of the work has been done.  And I have hundreds of pages in this book.  I think that I will be busy this next year!

Blessings that come through Temple Attendance

I had the chance to go to the Baton Rouge temple this weekend bc of a kind sister in our ward. She drove down with me and watched my kids while I went in to do a couple sessions. And she was there in between the sessions so I could nurse Connor. KJ had so much fun bc they went to this sister's son's house who had a son KJ's age. They played and got along so well that I was invited to use them any time I wanted to come down to go to the temple and needed a babysitter. :-) I've been thinking a lot of this visit to the temple and I found this quote that seems to sum up what I took from this visit.

The temple is a house of prayer. We may receive answers to our heart-felt questions if we go to the temple with a sincere desire to obtain them. There, the Holy Ghost may grant us added light and knowledge and the privilege of receiving the answers to the problems and trials the world presents.

Harold Glen Clark, “Four Blessings of the Temple,” Ensign, Oct 1983, 68