Article of Faith 13

"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul- We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."

I memorized this article of faith one Sunday when we had a sub in our primary class. I thought so much of myself after that because it was the longest, hardest, article of faith to memorize in my opinion. Now, having that message easily accessible to my awareness has allowed me to discover for myself in my life what is part of the gospel. Sometimes it seems increasingly difficult to decipher with so many conflicting ideas, or just thought pathways out there. Do you ever just wish you could go live in a tent in the woods and not have to hear all the fuss and the hub-bub of everything?

Sometimes I think that kind of situation might be ideal, but then I think that being alone would not be very fun either. In fact having such easy access to other people's opinions via internet social networking is quite a blessing much of the time! I am a member of a group that is about helping families who want to succeed in cloth diapering their babies. (Many people view this as quite a challenge since they are used to disposables.) It is easy for me to ask a question in this group on my computer and quickly get responses from others experiences. 

Therefore, the whole "hiding in the woods" scenario probably is not ideal for long periods of time. Maybe I will just plan a nice camping trip and feel rejuvenated when I get back. Anyway, what I would like to emphasize today in this post is that even though there are a lot of good things out there to be involved in....a lot of "praiseworthy" or "of good report" things and they totally overwhelm us sometimes....we need not run and hide in the woods from utter exhaustion of "too much of a good thing". If you are ever feeling like this, just have a moment to yourself to reflect on all the societies and peoples of the past who did not have these blessings. Think of the prophets of old who foresaw our time and probably were thinking of all the great and wonderful things that could be accomplished easily. Think of the prophets today who do what they can to spread the gospel around the world and are always relying on us to BE the gospel. They count on us to shine our light and wake up the world. 

How easy it is...

how easy!

Quick thought

I have been really tired lately because my son hasn't been sleeping very well. His teeth act like they want to come in and then they just don't. But I can tell that they hurt him because of the drool and the fingers in the mouth, the list goes on there. Sometimes days just seem to go by unnoticed, unappreciated for many of us. When we look back on these days and wonder how we got through them all, let us remember the poem,

"Footprints on the sand":

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”

The Lord replied,
“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you.”

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

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Mothering

I often ask myself this question: 

"Do all mothers feel the same way I do? Like they are failing...like they will never be the kind of mother they wish they could be?"

Answering that question may be a different feat for every mother. So my thoughts are on how I have felt about that question today. Yes, babies can be very draining to a mother's energy. The more my baby cries, the more I feel like I am going to lose my mind. 

But what I realized in his time of need was that I needed to be more fully present and understand his ordeals. He is just so little and so many think that such a small being isn't capable of much feeling or thought at all. But I disagree with those who would say that. I think my baby is aware of much. And although his memory may not be fully developed as of yet, his feelings are present..... until they change.

What I had to admit to myself lately was that I need to be less selfish. It feels like I had nothing much going on in my life until my little boy came into the world. I spent way too much time entertaining myself...basically just waiting for him to show up. And now that he is here I feel like suddenly I have all these pursuits that I have been undertaking and sometimes because of them I cannot give myself fully over to being a mother. And it isn't that my pursuits are bad or dishonest. It is that I let them overwhelm me, and take more time than I ought to sometimes. 

It is funny what music can do for our hearts. 

My husband was a dear and suggested something that I had never uttered the other day, but that I was feeling and thinking about already. That was to play the music from a CD I got at a baby shower for the baby while he is going to sleep. We just had been using the mobile and other little fishy contraption for this purpose. But that music doesn't play very long and I don't know if it is really best suited for helping a baby fall asleep. Anyway we pulled out my old CD player that I was sure wasn't working well, and put the CD in it. We have been playing it the last few days for him while he sleeps. I think it must affect him in a better way than the chimes do/did. It affects me in a much better way. 

I wrap him up in a blankie, turn on the music and just give him all of the snuggles and love from my heart. I decided to just listen to the music with my heart instead of focusing on "When is this baby going to fall asleep???!" (so I could go get something done) Wow. You know what? That approach real well. It appears the babe knows when my heart is fully vested in him and he sleeps quicker and better.  He knows when I am really "loving" him. Also it is a time of contemplation for me. The spirit talks to me. I feel good inside. My heart is touched and my gaze is guided to the place it ought to be.

I guess my main point or final thought here is that when we as mothers have our priorities straight (focusing our heart on our children) then we are more able to receive what we require and desire in our lives. Things work out. Our children are taken care of. We feel good about it. Our heart continues on in worthy pursuits. 

Sometimes it might not be easy but it is worth it.

The FHE post

For FHE tonight, Nick and I are writing a post together. We found the recent conference talks online. And we decided to listen to Elder Christofferson speak because we like him. (We like all of them, but we like him a lot because we know him on a more personal basis.)

His talk centered around the scriptures and the story of William Tindale and all of the efforts made hundreds of years ago in the publishing of the Bible. Also he spoke of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and how in times past people who had a Bible in their house were considered very lucky or privileged. They were hard to come by. And William Tindale was executed for translating the Bible into English.
Hearing this talk made me feel a bit ashamed for not being more thankful for my scriptures and not reading them and cherishing them more often. Also during the talk I thought about how we can be like prophets of old in our writings and have something to pass onto our future generations. We may or may not have many of the writings of our ancestors but our progeny will sure have much from us! How blessed we are to live in this day and age where all of this is possible to us. Not only can our writings be much more easily kept and organized for our future generations but also for the current generation. How fast doth information flow these days with the internet and so much technology!

From my (Nick's) point of view... this was a most excellent and invigorating piece of elocution. I think the main point that struck home to me was that we are all so familiar with so many stories from the scriptures - ranging from the Old Testament prophets like Moses, through New Testament and Book of Mormon prophets like Peter, Nephi, or later Joseph Smith.
Then I got thinking about how much we would really know today about God without the scriptures... basically nothing. Or rather, we would possibly know the theory and principles of the gospel through inspiration in our time, but we wouldn't be able to put them into context as easily as we can today. It is so much easier to think about Faith when you've read about the example of a seed growing into a tree, and it is so much more simple to talk about what kind of man Jesus was when you can read about his teachings and miracles.
So I guess I'm just echoing Trish's thoughts - stop taking what you know for granted and go back and learn more. The more you read these revelations the more you open your mind and heart to receive other revelation that is on a much more personal level.

Wow that was a fun activity! Do you and your spouse (if you are married) study the scriptures together? It is also fun writing spiritual blog posts together about the scriptures! Try it sometime!

God's message to me

The other night I was feeling particularly drowsy. I couldn't keep my eyes opened or my focus on anything. So to be short and quick, my husband flipped the scriptures open and read this:

6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall ^areap also sparingly; and he which ^bsoweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

  7 Every man according as he ^apurposeth in his heart, so let him give; not ^bgrudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a ^ccheerful ^dgiver.

I imagine this type of scripture having a varied reaction depending on the receiver of the message. I don't imagine that what I got from the message is something that my husband might have gotten from it. And another interesting insight from this was that, this one short message stuck in my drowsy mind longer than when he reads an entire chapter to me and I am lying next to him mostly awake. (Usually I am participating in this, just not when I'm nursing my son.)

Anyway I believe that the scriptures are full of a lot of great principles that God has taught his children throughout history. Then he prompts us to open up our scriptures and read and often times we find something that is exactly what we need. The message is clear to us. Because God knows us, and how we will interpret what we are told, or what we read and he thus works with us. This has happened to me one other specific time that I can remember. It was a time of a great struggle in my life, and as I lay weeping in sorrow and in Satan's grasp the spirit whispered to me to open my scriptures. I obeyed and found a clear and precise set of instructions to get me out of my hole. It was amazing.

The scripture above wasn't meant to get me "out of a hole" again this time. This time there was a different purpose. To me it was more of a "keep up your good work" kind of feeling. You see, I sometimes feel like I'm a bit overbearing; at the same time I know that I can't help myself. It is just who I am.

Smile. God sees you. He loves who you are.

What time is it? Conference time!

Don't forget General Conference is tomorrow and Sunday! If you live in Utah, you can listen to KSL or on local TV. If you don't live in Utah you can catch it online. Also some cable providers have BYU TV and they broadcast it as well. Anyway, take notes and then (for authors) write posts this next week about what inspired you and what thoughts you had. I hope you all have a fabulous Easter and enjoy General Conference!

Happy Passover!

To all our Jewish friends out there...

Happy Passover!!

Interestingly enough, our lesson this past Sunday was on the story of Moses! What good timing! The teacher taught us all about the passover and the story of how the children of Israel were delivered out of Egypt. Then we sampled this unleavened bread (called matzo I believe) in tradition of the Jewish Passover.

“Leaven, or yeast, was seen anciently as a symbol of corruption because it so easily spoiled and turned moldy. … For the Israelites, eating the unleavened bread symbolized that they were partaking of the bread which had no corruption or impurity, namely, the Bread of Life, who is Jesus Christ."

Even though we don't celebrate Passover in the LDS religion because of our Christian belief that Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law of Moses, I feel it is quite remarkable that this passover celebration has literally been celebrated by the Jews traditionally ever since the first one. What other holiday has gone on that long? 

Today in our religion, we take bread and water weekly at church (the sacrament) as a way to remember our Savior and the covenants we made at baptism.

• Elder Jeffrey R. Holland asked:
  
• “Do we see [the sacrament] as our passover, remembrance of our safety and deliverance and redemption?
  
• “With so very much at stake, this ordinance commemorating our escape from the angel of darkness should be taken more seriously than it sometimes is. It should be a powerful, reverent, reflective moment. It should encourage spiritual feelings and impressions”

I hope that for the LDS readers of this blog, that they will take more time to ponder over the sacrament. And for the Jewish readers, that they enjoy their Passover.

An honest heart

Yes, there is a city with this name it is in New Mexico.

Today I want to talk about honesty. Because more and more all the time I get the feeling that people are choosing on purpose to be dishonest. Not just dishonest with other people but dishonest with themselves. People are completely out of touch with themselves because they have been lying to themselves for so long. Also they are choosing to believe lies...from other people...from Satan....or whatever the source.

The more and more we are honest with ourselves, the better of a person we become....the more like Jesus we become. I think that our cells respond to it. We physically feel inferior to someone who has a higher standard of honesty. When we are dishonest with ourselves and/or others we shrink.

The little things each day provide us with an opportunity to be honest. To illustrate: 

My son cries. He wants to be held/fed/etc. I want him to be held/fed/etc. I don't want him to feel neglected. He is the most important thing to me. Yet I may choose to hold off because I am googling something amazing and just can't wait to find the results...which makes me even more curious....and causes me to ignore my son's wishes even more. Hopefully this doesn't happen to anyone else. But I have an intense need to be involved on the internet with finding new interesting things that could possibly enrich my life or give me some sort of pleasure. So sometimes I struggle with that. It is a simple thing but I try to be honest with myself and my son in how I REALLY feel about him.

That example may or may not have worked out well for you. I apologize if it didn't. But I hope that you can begin to realize that it is the little things that we tell ourselves or choose to believe or tell other people that either make us a more honest person or a dishonest person. 

D&C 51:9

9 And let every man deal ^ahonestly, and be alike among this people, and receive alike, that ye may be ^bone, even as I have commanded you.

I found this off the church website under honesty:

When we are honest in every way, we are able to enjoy peace of mind and maintain self-respect. We build strength of character, which allows us to be of service to God and others. We are trustworthy in the eyes of God and those around us.

On the other hand, if we are dishonest in our words or actions, we hurt ourselves and often hurt others as well. If we lie, steal, cheat, or neglect to give the full amount of work for our pay, we lose our self-respect. We lose the guidance of the Holy Ghost. We may find that we have damaged relationships with family members and friends and that people no longer trust us.

Being honest often requires courage and sacrifice, especially when others try to persuade us to justify dishonest behavior. If we find ourselves in such a situation, we can remember that the lasting peace that comes from being honest is more valuable than the momentary relief of following the crowd.

Make a goal to be more honest today. Start with what you tell yourself.  

Give oh give away

I've been thinking lately about this little primary song and I how I didn't understand it when I was in primary. I was seeking to understand it, but I just sang it because it was a fun song to sing. But now I can understand what it means to be like a little stream and to give life and love to all those we come in contact with. I didn't know about the other two verses on this video. I hope you take a moment to ponder the meaning of this song and how you can give more to others.

Accountability

I feel increasingly drawn toward this value. I remember growing up in the church in Young Womens and reciting the value statement, "Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Choice and Accountability, Good works, and Integrity." (now virtue too!) There has been an unfortunately large use of the word, "free agency" in the church which really confuses people and leads them to less than effective thinking patterns. (such as "I can do whatever I want, ha ha")

My goal is everyday to think of being 100% accountable for my actions. Do I really want to answer to the Savior for this or that action/word/thought? What would I say if he asked me what I chose one thing over another? Goodness sakes, I don't want to feel embarrassed standing in front of a perfect being and feeling like I coulda/shoulda/woulda repented more often of whatever mistake I instead chose to keep repeating. Not only that but I want to choose to live like Christ would live if he were here today.

For each of us that represents various challenges. Because we all have unique strengths and weaknesses, it takes recognizing our own challenges and to refrain from judging others on the same path as us. Perhaps our strength is their weakness and what they need is a little understanding and guidance. In this case we need to do so lovingly.

We all can recognize the light of Christ within each other. We don't always see it in ourselves. Therefore I think we ought to tell each other about this light we see. Empowerment is the result of this type of encouragement. When I was really quite new to blogging I had a good example of someone who would always leave me nice, positive, and thoughtful comments.

This woman currently writes on this blog on Sundays. Because of her early example I decided that I wanted to be that person. I wanted to be the person who always made other people feel good by leaving them comments as often as I could. Occasionally I let myself get worked up over people who haven't left me any comments and think that they deserve not to have any comments. But really that is not what Christ would do. He would look far beyond his own need of love and see the needs of others - they need comments too.

That is just one example of encouragement, or charity, a Christlike attribute. There are so many others. Over the next couple of weeks I encourage my faithful bloggers to write about a Christlike attribute. Maybe it will be your strength, or a strength you see in someone else. I can't wait to read what all ya'll write about!

With love,
Trish

The Ensign is for all nations

Today I want to talk about the Ensign magazine that our church puts out every month. Growing up I wasn't completely aware of what a wonderful and significant item this is. Consider this: when in all the world's history has there been a time where prophets and apostles of God have sent out publications throughout all the world containing their words (God's will) for members of the church?

Answer: umm....never before the Ensign...

We have scriptures and they are wonderful things. They teach about many great men and women and we can learn lessons from them. Also we need to study the Ensign every month. It is something written with all of today's struggles and challenges kept in mind. I remember when I just left on my mission and I was reading an article in the Ensign. As I read it I was nearly overcome with tears because I knew that it was written to help not only people close to me with a specific challenge but others who struggled similarly.

Have you read this month's Ensign yet? There are some amazing articles about:
*How to choose the right when everyone around you is choosing wrong (pg 22)
*How to put family first, ahead of other worthy pursuits (pg 16)
*Learning to Love Learning (pg 26) I love this one especially and have a strong testimony that it is so relevant to members of the church today!
*Partaking worthily of the sacrament (pg 31)

Honestly if you aren't reading the Ensign every month then can you honestly say that you are fully aware of the Lord's will for your life? Maybe you (and I) aren't always living up to all our blessings and privileges because we aren't doing "all that we can do". You can find out easily enough though, just read the Ensign!!

Anxiously engaged

Yesterday was Stake Conference for us. Nick and I rushed to get ready and leave early so we could get decent seats. But of course even 20-25 mins early we still had to sit on a hard seat in the gym. I don't recall this same event happening to us in Utah much.

Oh well, but it was great. There were some really inspiring words spoken. Out of all of the words spoken I think I was most touched by this scripture as quoted by our Stake President:
D&C 58: 26-29

26 For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is ^acompelled in all things, the same is a ^bslothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

27 Verily I say, men should be ^aanxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

28 For the power is in them, wherein they are ^aagents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their ^breward.

29 But he that ^adoeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with ^bdoubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is ^cdamned.

Somehow I had forgotten about this scripture and in my mind and heart was pondering so many things. Mostly about why there are so many differing opinions in the church and why the people in the church are sometimes lazy and aren't do things as they should. Then I realized after reading this scripture that we are all agents to ourselves and we have to choose to be anxiously engaged in a good cause.

We don't have to receive everything by way of commandment. If we are searching for truth in our heart and doing our best to learn each day then hopefully that will equate to "being anxiously engaged in a good cause" for us. The gospel contains all truth that is supposed to fit together somehow.

This was consoling to my heart. I realized that the church is true, but not all of the members are true to the church at all times. In fact, I'm not 100% perfect in everything at all times. So why am I being judgmental of others? They probably are wondering why I'm not doing better at what they do well.

I think we can easily get caught in that trap that Satan sets for us. Instead of focusing on our eternal goals, we think about why other people aren't doing this or that. Then we can sometimes get off track and lose sight of what matters most. I hope that if any of you have this problem like me that you will get back on track soon! Repentance is a wonderful thing!

Love ya!
Trish

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:

• 
  

• 
  1. Gradually build a small supply of food that is part of your normal, daily diet until it is sufficient for three months.
• 
  2. Store drinking water.
• 
  3. Establish a financial reserve by setting aside a little money each week, and gradually increase it to a reasonable amount.
• 
  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!

God is love

Sorry for not posting yesterday. It was a "rain cloud over my head" type day. Last night Nick and I read from the Ensign for FHE and talked about how much God really wants to communicate with us. In the article we read it said that He won't let us go too far the wrong way without sending us the message that what we are doing is wrong. He wants to answer our prayers whenever he can but when we don't pray, it means a lot that he still wants us to stay close to him.

I'm grateful for the knowledge that I have of God. I'm grateful to know that I can turn to him in prayer and he will communicate with me. I'm grateful that he has sent me warning signals throughout my life when I was about to go the wrong way. I know that God loves each one of us and wants us to make the correct choices and learn to love the same way he does.

I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Virtue

I just wanted to reiterate how important virtue is. But I thought these ladies said it better than I could. Hope you all enjoy!

Why go to church?

I'm so glad that we are going back to basics in Relief Society/Priesthood. Yesterday the lesson was wonderful and everyone gave such great comments! During the lesson the instructor asked a question that I didn't get to offer my answer to. Her question was "Why do you come to church each week?" The answers people gave were: being obedient, showing a good example to kids, renew covenants, etc. I wanted to give my answer because it was simple. I wanted to say, "I come to church because I like it." Seriously. I miss it when I don't go. If it means I'm obedient then great! Of course my kids will be more likely to do what is right if I am doing it too. But I just enjoy going to church.

I haven't always enjoyed going to church. Growing up I really did. I liked going to young womens and hearing the lessons, even though I didn't have amazing best friends in my group. I had friends, sure, but they weren't the reason I wanted to go. But when I started going to singles wards, it wasn't super fun. I was kind of shy and felt a bit isolated. That was until I went to the BYU wards. No one seems to get left behind there.

But anyway, I wonder if my answer has to be any deeper than that. It is really the reason why I do most things that I do- because I like to. If I don't like to do something, then why should I do it? When I go to church I get the same type of feeling as when I am in my nice warm bed and very comfortable. It is the same feeling I get when I hug my husband, nurse my son, and snuggle with either of them. Satisfaction.

Hopefully everyone who reads this feels the same way I do about church and likes going. If not for you, then . . . .well. . . . I highly recommend it.

Chastity

The other day I was watching the Rachael Ray show and Julie Andrews was a guest that day. I was excited to hear about what she was up to these days. One of Rachael's questions to her was about a quote she gave to Vanity Fair magazine. In it she was quoted as saying, "Chastity is an overrated virtue." Julie confirmed that this was genuine and that she still felt that way.

I was slightly shocked at this. I mean that- yeah people in Hollywood do not quite share the moral standards that I hold dear. But sometimes you get thinking that when an actor is constantly portraying someone (in their films) with moral fiber that they might actually have some them self. For some reason I always thought that a good girl could pretend to be bad but bad one couldn't pretend to be good. Well I was wrong! But I still want to speak about chastity today because I don't agree with media that it is an overrated virtue.

After searching the scriptures on lds.org for the word "chastity" I was returned with two scriptural references:

1. Jacob 2: 28
   28 For I, the Lord God, delight in the ^achastity of women. And ^bwhoredoms are an abomination before me; thus saith the Lord of Hosts.
2. Moro. 9: 9
   9 And notwithstanding this great ^aabomination of the Lamanites, it doth not exceed that of our people in Moriantum. For behold, many of the daughters of the Lamanites have they taken prisoners; and after ^bdepriving them of that which was most dear and precious above all things, which is ^cchastity and ^dvirtue—

In these Book of Mormon scriptures we learn that the Lord God delights in the chastity of women and that the most dear and precious thing we have is our chastity and virtue. There are many other scriptures that contain the word (or its forms) "virtue" which here is used interchangeably.

I am so glad that recently a new value has been added to the young women values of the church- "virtue". Yesterday in Relief Society we were given the pamphlet and asked to also hold to this value and follow the same program that the young women do. It is no wonder that we are needing to emphasize this value in the church today even more than before. There are obviously so many that believe it is not important anymore.

An amazing talk on the subject came from President Benson:

Do not be misled by Satan’s lies. There is no lasting happiness in immorality. There is no joy to be found in breaking the law of chastity. Just the opposite is true. There may be momentary pleasure. For a time it may seem like everything is wonderful. But quickly the relationship will sour. Guilt and shame set in. We become fearful that our sins will be discovered. We must sneak and hide, lie and cheat. Love begins to die. Bitterness, jealousy, anger, and even hate begin to grow. All of these are the natural results of sin and transgression.

On the other hand, when we obey the law of chastity and keep ourselves morally clean, we will experience the blessings of increased love and peace, greater trust and respect for our marital partners, deeper commitment to each other, and therefore a deep and significant sense of joy and happiness.

We must not be misled into thinking these sins are minor or that consequences are not that serious.

I decided to post about this today not because the other authors of this blog need to hear about it. We were all married in the temple and currently enjoy the blessings that come from it. I wanted to post this because so many people don't understand how important this value is. So many people are keeping quiet about it. More people need to speak out and declare the importance of this value. More people should bear their testimony about it. The people living on the earth today need to know there are other people who hold these values dear and teach them to their children. Please if you are reading this and also feel the same about chastity, leave a comment. Tell everyone what this value means to you.

Keeping a Testimony

During FHE tonight we came across this quote from the 1st presidency message in the new Ensign:

"Testimony isn't something that you have today and you keep always. Testimony is either going to grow and grow to the brightness of certainty, or it is going to diminish to nothingness, depending upon what we do about it. I say, the testimony that we recapture day by day is the thing that saves us from the pitfalls of the adversary."

This quote stood out to me today because it reminded me that we have to do something everyday to keep our testimony strong. I think I knew of this before and that was why I wanted to start this blog. That way I could have an uplifting thing to read everyday that someone I know had written. And I would also have a chance to inspire other people.

Reading this blog has helped me to keep my testimony strong and vibrant and has allowed me to continue growing and striving towards my intended celestial destination. Everyday we make choices that can bring us closer or take us further away from it. What have you done recently to keep yours strong and vibrant?

Families

One aspect of the belonging to this church that I feel especially fond of is the focus on families, and eternal families. Now that I am a mother this has taken on a whole new meaning. This gospel isn't a race to the finish, or all about trying to outshine the next person. It is about having a family and finding our way back to our Heavenly Father's presence together.

I am especially thankful for the Family Proclamation that was given when I was in my youth so that I could grow up with it and now cherish each part of it as I endeavor to raise a celestially bound family. I want to share a part of it today and hope that we can each reflect on it with a stronger faith and testimony of the principles taught within it. I pulled an excerpt out for reflection but feel free to click the above link and read the entire thing.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

I pray that we will always hold true to these values and be a good example of them to our family and friends. What blessings have you noticed in your life as a result of holding true to these values?