Fortification

A few days ago, in my quest to read the {Book of Mormon} again, I came to {Alma 49}. They are in the midst of the war years during this chapter. What struck me this time was the measure of the Nephites' attack preparation. They did one of two things during this time period: fought or prepared to fight.

They never once asked if the fight may or may not happen. They knew, one day, it would happen--- so they prepared. They didn't waste a moment making sure their families and cities could withstand the imminent Lamanite invasion. When the invasion occurred in Chapter 49, the Nephites' fortifications worked. Now, the Lamanites tried numerous ways to get through the Nephites' defenses. They didn't just stop after the first attack, they kept going. With the guidance of Moroni, the Nephites prepared for more than one attacks. Even though the Lamanites kept trying to get in, the Nephites stood strong through their protection.

Such is the same today. We may not be in a physical war, but we are in a spiritual war. Satan and his followers will try to get at us in more than one way; they won't give up because they want us to be miserable like them. Does that mean we should give up? NO! We must follow the example of the Nephites and prepare! Use our time to strengthen ourselves and others through the gospel---so that when our trials come (because they will) we will stand strong and be able to fight off the foe!

The best part about this whole reading was in Chapter 50 verse 23:

But behold there never was a ^ahappier time among the people of Nephi, since the days of Nephi, than in the days of Moroni, yea, even at this time, in the twenty and first year of the reign of the judges.

Just because they spent time preparing for the battles in life, didn't mean they couldn't be happy. Not just happy either--- really really happy. We can find joy in fighting for the truth because it is that--- the truth!

I needed this message now because it reminded me that the little things I do for myself, others, and my family matter. If I'm doing the right thing, then I'm helping the fortification become that much stronger and we become that much happier. :)

Spiritual Application!

I absolutely love fifth Sunday lessons; I love being able to having another testimony of the Bishopric. Since we had family in town, I was able to take notes and delve into the topic.

A few months ago, all of the regional leaders in our area had a training with Elder Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Our Bishop was so touched by how it was done that he spoke to the youth a couple months ago (my husband works with them, so that's how I know) and then the adults this past Sunday.

We were asked to come to the meeting with questions about our multiple stewardships, be they in the family or at church. And, not just any questions, but the type of questions that keep you up at night. He then stated: When a problem is present, there needs to be a reinforcement of doctrine or principles. Well, in order to reinforce we must first understand what doctrine and principles are.

Doctrine is truth revealed from heaven about eternal progression. It answers the why questions in life. Elder Bednar explained there are only 3 or 4 doctrines: Nature of the Godhead, Plan of Salvation, the Atonement and an unknown (it was implied that either E. Bednar was still trying to figure this one out or didn't want to give it away because it's meant for own discovery). These doctrine, eternal truths, set the foundation for everything else in the church and in life.

Principles then are guidelines for activity which grow out of doctrine. They answer the what? question; things like faith, obedience, repentance, everything in the scriptures, etc. Our Bishop reminded us not to get too rapped up in classification. The importance is in how we apply the doctrines and principles in our lives.

Applications of doctrine and principles are very personal and can change throughout time and circumstance. Applications cannot be taught by an every day mortal human being; they must be taught through the Holy Ghost through personal revelation. We use personal revelation to apply revealed principles like the Word of Wisdom, Sabbath Day, repentance, etc. in our lives and do so; but what may be good for one is not what was revealed to another.

Does this mean one is right and the other is wrong? I don't know, but what I do know if two trying-to-be righteous individuals are using the gift of the Holy Ghost to make right decisions, then they must both be right. The key there is we know if it's right for us by our own personal worthiness. We need to be worthy of the Holy Ghost in order to make decisions with his help.

What we can do is use our illustrations (experiences) of how personal applications of doctrine and principles work in our lives; which I think is exactly what we do with this blog! "I read this the other day," or "I was thinking about..." is usually how our posts begin. The spirit is talking to us; wanting us to share how it helped us because then we help each other. We try to grow closer to Christ, and each other, by sharing our own personal experiences of how we applied the gospel.

This whole hour was a big A-Ha! moment for me. The gospel is much simpler than we think. My husband wonderfully shared when the Bishop spoke to the youth, but I didn't write it down so I forgot. I remember how when he shared with me how I wanted to turn around and share it to my Spirituality sisters and everyone who would listen. I'm so grateful for inspired leaders who take their stewardship responsibility seriously and strive to spread the happiness around.

Let's never be afraid to share our 'secret weapon' because it's a something that helps us all.

Self Reliance

I made a fun video about food storage the other day to post on here today and I cannot get it to upload. I have tried so many times and I'm just getting so stressed about it that I'm going to give up for now. But I'll share it later if I can get it to work.

Since the last month's VT message was about self reliance, and my VT companion thought that meant "food storage", it just got me thinking about it some more. We discussed that it is important to store food that you actually know how to prepare and that you'd actually want to eat. For me that means uber healthy nuts and seeds and some grains. I was able to share in a group buy through a website that I routinely follow and get a good deal on some of the previously mentioned items. I bought some mason jars through walmart.com (site to store) and then filled them up.

Last March, there was a "new approach" to food storage put out by the church. Here is a summary of what it means:

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  1. Gradually build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet until it is sufficient for three months.
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  2. Store drinking water.
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  3. Establish a financial reserve by setting aside a little money each week, and gradually increase it to a reasonable amount.
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  4. Once families have achieved the first three objectives, they are counseled to expand their efforts, as circumstances allow, into a supply of long-term basic foods such as grains, legumes, and other staples.

Of the new guidelines, Presiding Bishop H. David Burton says, “Our objective was to establish a simple, inexpensive, and achievable program that would help people become self-reliant. We are confident that by introducing these few, simple steps we can, over time, have more success.”

I guess it just hit me that around the world people keep experience catastrophes and who knows when it will be you that is experiencing one. Best to be prepared and have some food on hand in case you are no longer able to buy food at the store. Perhaps your catastrophe will be more personal, like a financial trouble (jobloss). If you have stored extra of the things you need now then you won't have to worry when a troubling time hits.

I was talking to someone recently about my decision to start using cloth diaper inserts in the gDiaper pants. They were saying that having cloth diapers is actually good for the same reason. If there is a disaster of some sort and you are depending on the store to buy disposables then what will you do when you cannot go there anymore? Just a thought...

It is all about being self-reliant. If we are self-reliant now through being diligent in keeping this commandment then we will be more able to follow the Savior and have charity by being able to help those who are in need. I encourage you all to set a goal or two, maybe something from the quote that you aren't currently doing your best in. Remember that God doesn't give us commandments that are only temporal, but all commandments have a spiritual side to them as well. Love you all!

Self Reliance: It's Not Just Food Storage!!!

My visiting teachers came over on Wednesday and were sharing a message about self-reliance and their personal experiences with it. One of my visiting teachers shared a very poignant experience. Her first husband died suddenly not very long into their life together. They had one daughter and no savings because they were young and hadn't expected anything like this to happen. She had a wonderful ward that helped her financially, but also visited and brought her meals. She told me about how grateful she was for the emotional support because she was so spiritually and emotionally drained. One of the best things she has ever done was to go to the bishop of that ward a few months later and pay back every penny that they gave her plus a little more so that they could continue to help others like they helped her.

The whole of our visit was spent talking about how nice it is to be able to take care of ourselves because it allows us to take care of others, especially spiritually. We see it throughout the scriptures where the prophets repented for themselves and their weaknesses and then were able to feed their people the Word of God. As we live up to the spiritual goals we set for ourselves this year, let's hope it leads to the desire to help others reach that same place in their lives.

Debt

My husband is a financial analyst and is very intelligent when it comes to money. Ever since we got married we have used a budget and he has taught me how to save, invest, etc. Now that we are both graduated and in the work force, we are pushing ourselves to pay off our school loans. The prophets have counseled us continually to get out of debt. This is such an important subject, yet millions of people all over the world keep loading the debt up higher and higher. It is such a touchy subject because many people get offended by the counsel to not have debt. I have heard so many people say, "We don't need a budget." My question is, "How do you expect to get out of debt, whether the debt is a mortgage payment, school loans, or consumer debt, if you don't use a budget."

Here is what the leaders of the Church have to say about debt:

"Avoid debt...Today everything is seemingly geared toward debt. 'Get your cards, and buy everything on time': you're encouraged to do it. But the truth is that we don't need to do it to live. We wonder what our people will do who have been spending their all and more. If employment and income should reduce, what then? Are you living beyond your means? Do you owe what you cannot pay if times became perilous? Are your shock absorbers in condition to take a shock? Plan and work in a way that will permit you to be happy even as you do without certain things that in times of affluence may have been available to you. Live within your means and not beyond them...Purchase your essentials wisely and carefully. Strive to save a portion of that which you earn. Do not mistake many wants for basic needs."

That's a mouthful. And this is only the beginning of what the Prophets and leaders of the Church have said about debt. We need to make getting out of debt a top priority. My husband and I have been reading this book:


It is wonderful! It is a great guide to getting out of debt, saving, investing, and also has a lot of advice for buying cars, houses, and saving for your kids' college tuition. We have really enjoyed it and found it very helpful as we are working hard to pay of school loans and save for a house (if we can ever afford one here in Northern California).

Anyway, I hope that I haven't offended anyone. Just remember: it's not my advice but a commandment from God, through his prophets here on the Earth.

True Freedom & Enjoyment

Right now, Gweg and I are in the midst of building, and buying, our first home. It's very exciting and very easy to make little decisions into large ones.

When we first realized we wanted to build our home, we only had two choices (to fit the requirement of staying in our ward). One, at the time, seemed like the house of our dreams. It had everything we needed and wanted---there was one problem---it was a little above our price range. We thought we could handle it because it was what we wanted. Our second choice, seemed like the lesser of the two. It had more of what we needed for our family now and not what we thought we would want 5, 10, 15 years down the road---plus it was within our budget.

In our story, we chose number 2. I know the Lord was with us in this choice. Many of things we worried about in the beginning have already resolved themselves. This was the choice we were supposed to make, and I can't help wonder what would have happened if we chose the first option.

It's no wonder that so many people are struggling in the economy right now because of the real estate and monetary decisions they made. A lot of people make finanical decisions based on what the world tells them they need and forget to think about what their family actually needs; we covet way more than we should. In April, Elder Robert D. Hales said:

“Being provident providers, we must keep that most basic commandment, ‘Thou shalt not covet’ (Exodus 20:17). Our world is fraught with feelings of entitlement. Some of us feel embarrassed, ashamed, less worthwhile if our family does not have everything the neighbors have. As a result, we go into debt to buy things we can’t afford—and things we do not really need. Whenever we do this, we become poor temporally and spiritually. We give away some of our precious, priceless agency and put ourselves in self-imposed servitude. Money we could have used to care for ourselves and others must now be used to pay our debts.”

“Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually,” Ensign, May 2009, 8

What hit me the most about this quote is that when we go into unnecessary debt, we are giving away part of our free agency. The only thing we have that is truly ours to give and we auction it off to the highest bidder. True freedom and enjoyment does not come from trying to keep up with our neighbors or fellow ward members; it comes from making the best with what the Lord has given us---and this will be all we need to provide for our family's true happiness.

The Lord's Law of Health

My new calling is teaching the investigator class during Sunday School (or the Gospel Essentials class), so many of my posts will probably stem from my lessons each week. This week the lesson was on the Word of Wisdom. I wanted to share something that I have thought about frequently over the past few years, but has now been confirmed to me through this lesson. The question that I have been thinking about for a long time now is whether or not it is okay for members to drink caffeine. I had personally come to the conclusion that I should not drink caffeine, but I felt like I needed further confirmation that caffeine should be avoided. I know that this is a very controversial subject but I want to quote from the church website (click HERE if you want to read more). "We should avoid all drinks that contain harmful drugs." I have personally felt the effects of living a caffeine free life. In my chosen profession I am constantly surrounded by others who just can't seem to function without their caffeinated beverages (whether they be coffee, tea, or caffeinated soda). I see the addiction that is there and each day I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who has given us the word of wisdom to guide us in our choices. I know that my body is healthier and that I have more energy to perform my daily duties. Not to mention I have more money in my pocket because I mostly drink water!

Another quick note on the word of wisdom that I want to share is the promised blessings that we receive when we obey the word of wisdom. In D&C 89 the Lord promises that the destroying angel shall pass us by. Elder Spencer W. Kimball said that in our time this means we will be saved from spiritual death. "For observing the Word of Wisdom the reward is life, not only prolonged mortal life but life eternal." What a great blessing that is and I know that if we obey this commandment to keep our bodies pure and healthy we will gain eternal life and will never know the sadness of heartache of experiencing spiritual death.