The Only Way to Be Happy is to Live the Gospel

I am still reading that book by Shari Dew God Wants a Powerful People. I have another quote to share from the book:
"In contrast to sin, which is ugly and costly, obedience is brilliant and its fruits are endless. One of those fruits is happiness. The only way to be happy is to live the gospel.
It is not possible to sin enough to be happy. It isn't possible to buy enough to be happy, or to entertain or indulge or pamper ourselves enough to be happy. It is not possible to hide enough or run far enough away from trials and troubles to be happy. Happiness and joy come only when we are living up to who we are. King Benjamin understood this and taught it clearly when he admonished us to 'consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For ... they are blessed in all things, ... and if they hold out faithful to the end ... they may dwell with God in a state of never ending happiness' (Mosiah 2:41).
Satan likely bristles at this principle, for happiness is something that the ultimate narcissist will never experience. I have never met anyone who was happier because he was immoral, or because he was addicted to something, or because he was dishonest and compromised his integrity. The Lord has blessed us with covenants that keep us on the straight and narrow path because this 'road less traveled' is actually the easier road. It is so much easier to be righteous than to sin, so much easier to deal with a clear conscience than one ravaged by guilt, so much easier to feel peace of mind and heart when we are living up to who we are rather than coping with the emotional and spiritual ravages of regret, knowing we have lived beneath our divine nature."

I am just really enjoying this book. When I feel uplifted I just can't help but share it. All the time that I was growing up and learning the gospel I felt like there were all these things that I couldn't do. Now that I understand the gospel all of those things that I can't do don't matter and through the course of my life I have learned that great sorrow and pain come from those things anyway. Since I have been trying to live the gospel and be true to who I am, I have felt peace and happiness.

A Note on Faith

Hebrews 11:11 "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised."

From Shari Dew's book God Wants a Powerful People:
"Challenges that tax our faith are usually opportunities to stretch and strengthen our faith by finding out if we really believe the Lord will help us.
If your faith is wobbly, if you're not sure the Lord will come to your aid, experiment. Put Him to the test. A great place to start is in the scriptures, for as Jacob wrote: 'We search the prophets, and we have many revelations... and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken' (Jacob 4:6).
Unshaken faith activiates the power of God in our lives, 'for he worketh by power, acording to the faith of the children of men' (Moroni 10:7)."

I like it in the scriptures when faith is compared to a mustard seed which is tiny but grows into a very large tree. My faith may be small but I know that it can become a sheltering tree.

New Beginnings 2009

I went with Heather to New Beginnings last night where I had the opportunity to introduce her. I brought her marshmallow shooter and warned the Bishop that you have to really watch the quiet ones.

One of the young women talked about the values, this year they are adding the value of virtue to the other seven values (faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works and integrity). Something that she said really stuck out in my mind, it was a comment about individual worth, the Lord wants me to be a strong and confident woman. That way He can use me as an instrument for good in building up His kingdom. If I am always down on myself and beset with insecurities how can He use me? I know that I am a daughter of God, I want to be useful, I need His help to overcome myself and be what He wants me to be.

The bishop used an analogy in his talk. He likened steps in our progress to a bouquet of flowers. Beginning with our blessing as infants, learning to pray and love God, getting baptized, completing the young women personal progress program, getting our patriarchal blessing, attending seminary, these are all flowers or elements of the bouquet that is our life. All of these elements support the crowning bloom, temple covenants, all of these steps prepare us to enter the temple. Then he talked about the vase which is the vase of virtue. With out the vase the bouquet falls apart. Virtue is needed to hold everything together. I really liked the visual that this created in my mind and in that moment I realized that I need to make sure that Heather is prepared. I know where the focus of our family home evening lessons need to be, in that moment I knew that that is what Heavenly Father wants me to do. I know that He will help me to know what I need to do to prepare Heather.

The mutual theme this year is 1 Timothy 4:12 "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity"

President Spencer W. Kimball testified that "good women of the world...will be drawn to the church in large numbers" in the last days. "This will happen to the degree that the women of the church reflect righteousness...in their lives and ...are seen as distinct and different...in happy ways...from the women of the world"

We reflect on the story of Queen Esther, who saved her people through her faithfulness. President Lorenzo Snow once suggested that the day might come when Latter Day Saint sisters would act the part of Esther. This is a sobering thought, how can we act the part of Esther and save our people if we know nothing of faith, virtue and purity. Needless to say I was very glad that I went and supported Heather. I feel like I have been reminded of my great responsibility and I love Heather so much I am determined not to let her down or my Heavenly Father.

The bishop also challenged us to read D&C 109, it's the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland temple. I read it this morning and I feel invigorated and encouraged. I want to share just a small part of what I read today:

verse 13 "And that all people who shall enter upon the threshold of the Lord’s house may feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it, and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness."

I am hoping that this may be true of a temple just prior to its dedication too. The Draper temple is completed and we are planning to go to the open house and our son Brian and his fiance Heather want to go and see the temple. I really believe in this promise, I pray that hearts may be softened so that they can feel that it is the house of the Lord.

verse 24-26 "We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the people that shall worship, and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all generations and for eternity;

That no weapon formed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a pit for them shall fall into the same himself;

That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house;"

I feel the strength in these promises, they apply to us.

verse 37-38 "And let thy house be filled, as with a rushing mighty wind, with thy glory.

Put upon thy servants the testimony of the covenant, that when they go out and proclaim thy word they may seal up the law, and prepare the hearts of thy saints for all those judgments thou art about to send, in thy wrath, upon the inhabitants of the earth, because of their transgressions, that thy people may not faint in the day of trouble."

As we faithfully attend the temple we will be prepared to proclaim the gospel and be prepared for the day of trouble. Wow!

verse 54 "Have mercy, O Lord, upon all the nations of the earth; have mercy upon the rulers of our land; may those principles, which were so honorably and nobly defended, namely, the Constitution of our land, by our fathers, be established forever."

Some times I think that things look rather bleak for our country, I read this and I feel hopeful. I know that I am on the winning side, as long as I am true to my covenants. The Lords work will not fail, His promises will all be fulfilled. I am so glad that I can read things, that maybe I have read before, and take them more fully into my heart and make a New Beginning. Ah the gospel, it really is the good news!

Pray Always

Here are a couple of scriptures that I read this morning.

1 Nephi 18:3
And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.


D&C 19:38
Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof.

I'm not going to add a lot to the message here, I will only reaffirm that I know this to be true. When I am faithful in praying I feel blessed.

The Power of the Holy Ghost

I am reading God Wants A Powerful People by Sheri Dew. She is one of my favorite people of all time. She has a way of saying things that seems to go straight into my heart. Anyway I wanted to share a quote from President John Taylor that I found in this book:

"You may pour wealth, honor, influence, and all the luxuries of this world into the lap of man; and, destitute of the Spirit of God, he will not be happy, for that is the only source from which true happiness and comfort can come" (The Gospel Kingdom, 341).

I have experienced this personally. Not the wealth or luxuries part, the caring more about the world and what the world thinks of me part. Since I have made a concerted effort to think more about what God wants and have tried to do that, I have felt true happiness. I feel like I now experience the true happiness and comfort even through fiery trials and challenges.

The Beauty of Challenges

I have found recently that my challenges help me to move in the right direction. Yesterday I couldn't hear a thing out of my right ear. This has happened before and I used over the counter products to clean out my ear and things have been fine. I had never experienced the loss of hearing that I did yesterday, it kinda scared me. I was forced to find out how to use our new insurance and find a doctor for our family. There are other reasons why I needed to do this but they seemed easy to put off, I am so grateful to have challenges that force me to move forward. It's nice when you can see the beauty in our challenges, like the a sunrise at the top of a mountain after a long climb.

I Finished!

This morning I finished reading the Book of Mormon. I think that this is my second time through it since I returned to the church from inactivity. I love the scriptures and I feel closer to Heavenly Father when I read them. It seems that there is always some new message there, or my understanding gets expanded every time I take the time to study and listen.

Moroni 10:32"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."

I have felt God's love and power through the scriptures and I am learning what it means to love Him with all of my might, mind and strength. I feel so blessed, I know that I have been given so much.

It's Interesting How We Can Get Reminders For Our Daily Lives From The Scriptures

I am so grateful that I thought to read the scriptures today. I often forget to on the weekends because there is so much to do. Today I was in a contentious mood, it started with an early call that disturbed my sleep and kind of snowballed from there. Then I read Moroni 9:3 "And now behold, my son, I fear lest the Lamanites shall destroy this people; for they do not repent, and Satan stirreth them up continually to anger one with another."

I really had to think after I read this, there is really only one person who feels good when I am angry or contentious... Satan. The change in my mood wasn't immediate but I know that the Lord is mindful of me and I am grateful for this message through the scriptures.

A Father's Love

Moroni 8:3
"I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end."

Mormon wrote this to his son Moroni and I really like it. I feel the same way about our kids I like to pray for them and even though they may not share my belief I think that they know that I care about them a lot.

Today's Musings

Today I am finishing up the Book of Mormon in Moroni chapter 7. In verse 8 "For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God."

D&C 64: 34.
"Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days."

I think this really struck me because I wonder if I am not somewhat grudging at times when I am either giving of my time or talents. I am sure that I am not an evil person, but Heavenly Father can't be very happy when I do things with reservation or grudgingly. The Lord requires the heart and a willing mind. This isn't a suggestion but a requirement. I guess that this is just something that I will have to keep working on. I am really grateful for the Atonement.

Verse 19:
"Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ."

I just really like this scripture. Moroni is so plain in teaching us about how to know good from evil. I get the sense that he really cares, I imagine that if I heard him speaking to me at general conference I would feel the same love for me that I feel from President Monson.

He also reminds us of the five characteristics of prayer that Jesus taught in verse 26:
"And after that he came men also were saved by faith in his name; and by faith, they become the sons of God. And as surely as Christ liveth he spake these words unto our fathers, saying: Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you."

Then verses 47-48 are a couple of my favorite scriptures.
"But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."

I really do feel better when I read the scriptures, when I take the time to think about the messages that are in there for me. I want to be a better person, I want to be like Jesus Christ, I want to know Him when He comes again.

The End of the Jaredites

Today I finished reading the book of Ether in the Book of Mormon. Here are some of the things that I read.

"And it came to pass when Coriantumr had recovered of his wounds, he began to remember the words which Ether had spoken unto him.

He saw that there had been slain by the sword already nearly two millions of his people, and he began to sorrow in his heart; yea, there had been slain two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children.

He began to repent of the evil which he had done; he began to remember the words which had been spoken by the mouth of all the prophets, and he saw them that they were fulfilled thus far, every whit; and his soul mourned and refused to be comforted."

This reminds me of the scripture that teaches that wickedness never was happiness. Coriantumr began to understand this but his people had already suffered a huge loss. He was beginning to see that the prophets knew what they were talking about. I am grateful to have a living prophet to follow today. Coriantumr tried to write the opposing force and get the war to stop but the other leader Shiz would not. So for four years they each gathered together all the people who would follow them.

Verses 15-16:
"And it came to pass that when they were all gathered together, every one to the army which he would, with their wives and their children—both men, women and children being armed with weapons of war, having shields, and breastplates, and head-plates, and being clothed after the manner of war—they did march forth one against another to battle; and they fought all that day, and conquered not.

And it came to pass that when it was night they were weary, and retired to their camps; and after they had retired to their camps they took up a howling and a lamentation for the loss of the slain of their people; and so great were their cries, their howlings and lamentations, that they did rend the air exceedingly."

I can't imagine what it would be like to gather together all the people and then arm everyone, even women and children to go to battle. No wonder the howling and lamentation was so terrible. I think that I would yell and scream and cry if women and children were slain in battle. I like to think that we are far from having anything like this happen here, but are we really?

19"But behold, the Spirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and Satan had full power over the hearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed; wherefore they went again to battle."

I want to be sure I continue to heed the words of the prophets, that I continue to pray and attend my meetings and keep the commandments. Ether witnessed the destruction of all of the people by their own hands. The Lord had sent prophets to cry repentence unto them and they would not. Hatred, anger and pride caused them to turn from the Lord and they killed each other every one. Ether was left alone to write the record of the destruction of the people.

The last words of Ether "Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen."

It doesn't matter what happens to us here, the trials and challenges, if we are true to what we know to be true and keep the commandments, then we will see the kingdom of God.

A New Heaven and Earth

I was continuing my reading in Ether today (chapter 13), he was a prophet who saw the days of Christ and tried to cry repentance unto his people but they headed him not.

2 "For behold, they rejected all the words of Ether; for he truly told them of all things, from the beginning of man; and that after the waters had receded from off the face of this land it became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof;"

This is the land that we live in, we are reminded over and over in the scriptures of this fact. Sometimes when I see all of the evil all around I wonder how this can still be true, then I have to kick the author of all stinky thinking off of my left shoulder and start looking for all of the good around me.

8-10 "Wherefore, the remnant of the house of Joseph shall be built upon this land; and it shall be a land of their inheritance; and they shall build up a holy city unto the Lord, like unto the Jerusalem of old; and they shall no more be confounded, until the end come when the earth shall pass away."

Moro. 10: 31.
"And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled."

(This is talking about us, those of us who believe and are true to our covenants, who repent and rely on the Atonement. We will not be confounded, the work of the Lord will press forward until it fill the whole earth)

"And there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things have become new."

3 Ne. 15: 3
"And he said unto them: Marvel not that I said unto you that old things had passed away, and that all things had become new."

(There will be a new heaven and earth. This is something wonderful to look forward to.)

"And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of Joseph, who were of the house of Israel."

Rev. 7:14
"And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. "

3Nephi 27:19
"And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end."

We can pass through the tribulation of these trying and some times terrifying times and look forward with hope to see the New Jerusalem. How cool is that?!

1John 1:7
"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. "

I love this scripture! If we walk in His light we have the fellowship of each other and the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all sin. There is a really great quote from John Bytheway in his book Isaiah for Airheads "God is the source of light and truth. To walk in our own light is compared to walking in nothing but sparks, which last only an instant and give off little illumination. Those who refuse the light of the Son and prefer their own light will lie down in sorrow." I pray that we may all stay in His light that we may have joy as we see the old become new again.

New Years Resolutions

I have decided that 11 posts is not enough on this blog that is supposed to be like my testimony. I'm feeling a little bit pathetic in my writing here. I am really feeling bummed because during the Christmas season when my focus should be the Savior I couldn't even find time to read the scriptures and post about how it made me feel. I resolve to make more posts here during the coming year.

Last night our family started reading the Doctrine and Covenants for our family scripture study. Verse 10 of chapter 1 really caught my eye.

"Unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man."

Whoa, I think about the amount of mercy that I give to my family when they do things that irritate me or when I am trying to discipline someone, yikes! I should be a lot more merciful and kind and tenderhearted. Knowing all of the screw ups that I make I should think about how I would want the Lord to be merciful to me in my weaknesses. I am going to try really hard in the coming year to think of how I would want the Lord to deal with me when I am dealing with my family or friends.

This morning I was reading in the Book of Mormon in Ether chapter 12, in verse 25 Moroni says"Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words."

I don't feel like my words are powerful, I do feel like I say them better than I write them, because the Spirit helps out a lot when I am talking. I feel like my writing is a weakness and yet I feel driven to record my thoughts about things in the hope that I may benefit someone. I certainly don't feel like I would be mocked, but I can relate to what Moroni is saying here (maybe this relation is the important part). Anyway there were a few things from my reading that I would like to share but felt to confess my weakness first :).

Verse 4:Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God."

When I think about the world that I am living in I sometimes get into a pattern of "stinky thinking" or in other words not having a very positive outlook on things. I am sure that the adversary has a lot to do with this. He is the only one that I can think of who would want me to have such a poor and dismal outlook. This scripture reminds me that I can hope for a better world, the Savior will come again, I know this for a surety so I will continue to see miracles all around me and hope for the better world. This hope will anchor me to Christ, who has the power to help me face all of the challenges that I will encounter while I wait for Him to come again. If I overcome my "stinky thinking" and help others I will be abounding in good works and feel the joy and happiness that Heavenly Father wants me to feel. Hooray!

Verse 6:"And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

Here was another good reminder for me. Trials are necessary... they are like fertilizer for our faith. My recent experiences in growing a garden have helped me understand that fertilizer is a gardener's friend. As a daughter of God I can look upon trials as opportunities for my faith to grow, then even if I cannot smile through adversity I can hope for the genuine smile of relief after the trial is over and know that my faith will be stronger.

Verse 19:"And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad."

This scripture is talking about those who believed in Christ even before He came and because they believed they were able to see Him with their eyes. I know that when He comes again I will see Him with my eyes. I wonder though if this can be applied to other things... say our children or the children that we hope to have. It seems that all things go back to this for me, it is just a huge desire and longing in my soul, so I wonder if I can see my children with an eye of faith will I ever behold them with my natural eyes? Then will I be glad? I think that I need to learn to be glad as I wait to see if this application applies.

Verse 37"And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father."

Whew... if I see my weaknesses I can be made strong. What a relief because I see my weaknesses all of the time. I think that the strength will come because I am so disgusted by my weaknesses that I try to overcome them. I know that with the Lord's help, one day I will overcome all of my weaknesses. Until that day, they will continue to drive me to my knees in repentance, begging for help to overcome.

Last one, verse 41:"And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen."

How awesome! I guess that I will continue to seek Jesus through the scriptures because having the grace of God the Father and Jesus Christ abide in me forever sounds like a really wonderful thing.