So what learned about decide in my study's this week is you are constantly deciding to choose good or bad. If we choose good we can be happy :) but if we choose bad thand we have to go back and try again.   

The Lincoln Hypothesis

Here is my blog post on the Lincoln Hypothesis! If you guys didn't read that book for master, I recommend making it a summer read. :) 

Love you all! Have a great day!

PS. Also, that blog is the blog I use for all my A-Ha's as well. 

My VG Inspirement

Hey everyone (again! Am I getting annoying at all? :p)!

I'm not feeling extra creative this week. :p It's been a really long one!

So I just wrote another blog post! Here it is! :)

BTW, this is my blog for pretty much any Ah-hahs I get, or blog posts I do for Inspirements, so if you would like to subscribe to it, go ahead!

Love you all!!!

~ Gracious

My thoughts on Decide

Making decisions is kinda like making a choice except you can make decisions that make it so that you don't have to make choices later like deciding never to smoke or drink. You can also make decisions that will make you have to do bad things later. We should not make these kind of decisions it makes the spirit leave us and that is extremely bad. I hope that we can all make the right decisions this week concerning our school our media and our everyday life

Jared

Small choices can make a big difference

hmm how do I start this?

Decisions decisions......

when I first read the topic, I immediately thought to the talk entitled: A Matter of a Few Degrees by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. In this address he emphasizes the point of careful and well thought out decisions with a story where an airline is off by 2 degrees and consequently crashes into a volcano. Those 2 degrees made a world of difference in the end.

I like to compare this to our daily decisions, while some of our choices are black and white (very defined) others may not seem to make an impact and be kind of grayish. These grayish choices can greatly effect us in the end, just like the 2 degrees! In the moment it makes little or no difference but if you make that gray decision you have just brought yourself closer to another a little bit darker decision. And soon you are way off course! This can be illustrated with a decision tree:

Fred is at the beginning (the star), Fred is new in a group and he is introducing himself to them. lets say he has the choice of:

A: telling a little white lie to make him look better.

B: telling the plain old truth

now lets evaluate:

If he made choice A:

since he told something that is not true, he now has to lie whenever the story comes into question if he wants to keep the false status.

So now he has another choice:

1: keep the false status
2: tell the truth

now chances are he is going to choose 1 because he doesn't want to look bad and it is an easy choice. Telling the truth is hard and he has to back out of whatever lies he has told and he most assuredly is going to look bad. So he's probably going to end up telling another lie.

If Fred made choice B:

since he didn't lie he has no need to keep up any false status. And he has increased his self-esteem and character by saying no to lying.

Later on Fred is faced with another decision, this time more serious. Fred sees something in the lost and found that he really wants! But he knows it is not his. He also knows he can have it if he just lies to the clerk saying it was his.

Fred can make choice + or choice - which will he choose?

Well if we are talking about Fred A then he is going to know that he can pull it off and since he has been lying all the time it makes it easier. But really he is just conditioning himself to be okay with lying and stealing. And next time it will be easier to make the wrong choice.

However if we are talking about Fred B he is going to know that he turned down a lie once, so he can do it again. And he will know that the next time he is faced with a choice!

Do you see where this would lead? One decision, just like 2 degrees can make a huge difference.

So now your wondering How do we avoid this?

• Check Yourself! Whenever you are faced with a decision big or small make sure it is in line with your goal (whatever it might be)

• Counsel with God in all your doings (Alma 37:37)

• Be Humble and ready to receive Gods advice

if you make a wrong decision. Don't worry, that is what the atonement is for. Make a point not to make the same mistake and carry on.

God knows you better then you do, he knows whats best for you! I cant stress this enough. Always counsel with god in every decision. I bear my testimony that I know this to be true.

Decide to Want it!

So the reason I really like is Quote is because it's saying you NEED to DECIDE!

Decide to Want to Love!
Decide to Want to Never drink!
Decide to Want to be Happy!
Decide to Want to Always go to Church!
Decide to Want to live the Word of Wisdom!
Decide to Want to Never smoke!
Decide to Want to go to the Temple!
Decide to Want to Always be Honest!
Decide to Want to Serve!
Decide to Want to be an Example of Christ!
Decide to Want to...

BE LIKE CHRIST!

We can't be Afraid to...
-Love!
-Say, "No!" to a drink!
-Put a Smile:) on when we're down!
-Tell your friends you going to go to Church!
-Say, "No!" to things that aren't good for your  body!
-Say, "No!" to a cigarette!
-Say, "I'm going to the Temple!"
-Be Honest!
-Serve!
-Act Like Christ!
-And we can't be afraid to WALK IN HIS FOOT  STEPS!

Be PROUD of all of this! Be Proud that YOU can say, "NO!" to the Bad! And, "YES!!!!!!!!!!" to the Good!

Personally, I want to Walk in the Foot Steps of Christ! Do I have some work to do? HECK YES!!!!!! We all do! But, You CAN do it! If you DECIDE that you WANT to!

Thanks Everyone!

Love you ALL!
Ashley!:D

The Great Decision

Last night, I had a really amazing experience.

I posted last week about my horrible week. I was really not having an amazing time!

But last night... something happened, and I realized that the decision to follow really is the greatest decision anyone could make in their entire life.

Without God, what are we? Really, nothing!

I was imagining my life without God. And really, I do believe that is the dark tunnel!

I felt last week that I was following God, but, really, was I?

God never abandons us, and really, we only can find true happiness if we come unto Him! It is absolutely impossible to ever find happiness without Him! I think, this is what it was, I decided!

I chose not to see the light.

I felt that I was in a dark tunnel, and I did not know what to do, but I chose to not look at everything! That's why my week was so dreadful! I was refusing to see the good around me!

There were tone of lanterns floating all around, there was SO much that I chose not to see!



We have to look around with God's eyes. I realized last night that I really didn't want to be mine, I wanted to be completely His!

And that is what brings happiness!!!!

Everyone thinks that following "your passion" will bring you happiness.

But I have noticed that unless your passion is God, that happiness never comes!

It is not possible to be happy or perfect without Him. And I noticed that my unhappiness was all me!

Unhappiness doesn't come because I don't get everything that I want. Happiness comes from being grateful!

There is absolutely no way to be happy unless you are continually following God.

God will lead you to your passion. God will lead you to your happiness. God will lead you to where you need to be! You may think that is not where you want to be, but it is the path of true happiness!

I love you all, and I really, sincerely hope that you will remember to trust Him, for true happiness will never come if you don't.

Love,
Gracious

P.S. Sorry there aren't lots of pictures! :p I even think my own post is boring! :p There were just too many thoughts to put into pictures! ;)

Decisions Determine Destiny

President Monson said "Decisions Determine Destiny"
I loved the video of Tet for Hebrew we were supposed to watch and I think it went so well with this quote by President Monson and I love how Jim Staley said that "...(Tet) is the letter of decision, when you come to a decision point, a brick wall not a speed bump a brick wall, you need to make a choice, Hebraiclly  your in the letter Tet it is the most incredible most exciting and scariest place to be on the Hebrew alphabet because it hinges on good and evil..."  its at that point when we are in Tet that we have to decide what we are going to do when its our choice our decision and that's why its the most exciting and the most scary because it will either be one of the hardest choices or one of the easiest and that's why our church leaders always say to decide before although i agree you cant decide everything before like Megan said but we can make some and those decisions will determine your destiny whether they are big or small.

On Sunday we had an amazing 5th Sunday lesson about the honest challenges we face so not like drugs and such more like not fitting in and not having confidence, anyway so we made an honest list of how we felt were our actual challenges and we also made a list of things we hope, know, want, or believe we have a testimony of.
And then we talked about how those things we want or have a testimony of can help us with those trials and thats why its so important to get testimonies of those things because that's what will help us and how those trials will help us be stronger... my bishop taught us something really cool, In Ether 2: 17 it talks about the vessels and how they have to be "tight like unto a dish" and how hard it was to write back then but they wrote that chapter anyway and what was the point about talking about how they needed to be tight like unto a dish :D it just didn't make sense and then he told us to think about what if the vessels were US doesn't that change your point of view of why they wrote that scripture?

 17 And they were built after a manner that they were exceedingly tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dish; and the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish; and the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish.

And then think about verses 24-25

 24 For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.

 25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?

That is how he prepares and pushes us for the promised land (which was where they were going) was those winds and waves... You cant get to the promised land/Celestial Kingdom without those waves and winds/trials.  You cant get to the promised land in calm waters!

I knew that trials shaped us and that's why we were here on this earth but i never thought of it before! 

That was my amazing Ah-ha for the week! 

I hope you got as much out of it as i did!

Thanks!

Rachel

One Decision Away

This week was pretty dang hard for me, but really what I've realized is it's my fault. Sometimes you really can't control your circumstances or what happens to you. That's just life. But one thing you can do is decide to be happy. Decide to enjoy life. That is one of the biggest decisions we can make, and it's a daily decision. Men are that they might have joy. We won't just have joy if we're sitting around getting mad and blaming others for bad things that happen. We have to make that decision ourselves to have joy. 

Good decisions lead to freedom to make more decisions. Bad decisions lead to slavery of limited decisions. This week I finished the Lincoln Hypothesis, and instead of ending the book with Lincoln, Timothy Ballard used the last chapter (not to spoil it for anybody :D) to apply it to us. The American Covenant is still very intact, and we will only prosper if we decide to keep our side of the covenant. Right now, America really isn't choosing that. We're choosing to be lazy, reliant, and ignorant. In the past, America has just become greater and greater. We've been given more and more freedom, and right now, there is great freedom for Americans. That is diminishing though, because we are using our freedom to make bad decisions. Bad decisions lead to slavery. If we use our freedom right, then we will continue to gain more and more freedom and stewardship. If we decide to use our freedom in the wrong way, though, our freedom will be taken away. And that is what is going to happen if we continue to abuse our freedom. 

So, decide today to be happy. And decide today just to make good decisions with the freedom that you have, because that will bring more freedom, and the alternative will bring slavery. 

The Decision to Follow...

Yes, Miss Gracious. I did just copy your post heading. I hope your OK with that, because I felt that there were no other titles that fit this post. Bear with me, everyone. 

So, like Gracious I had a pretty tough week. But I've learned a lot of really important lessons through it. Here's a few. :)

Really. Sitting there will not help you. At. All. I learned this week it actually makes you more anxious and overwhelmed. In church today we talked about saying 'No' to bad decisions and saying 'Yes' to good ones. Sometimes, I think it's harder for us to say 'Yes' maybe because of fear, or because of laziness, or... anything really! But one thing we decided is that we need to find the Courage to flick the light switch ourselves and find the way to God's light.

 
Only God can lead you through the Darkness and make something Great out of something difficult. But we have to LET Him. He can't do anything without our consent, without us reaching out our hands for Him to grab. I think that letting Him is the hardest step. Because we have to let go of all of our pride and just do it. Which is much easier said than done. But it is so much easier to get through life's awfulness if we just LET HIM  Grab our hand. 

Gracious, this one's for you. :) <3! Help and Happiness will come if we Trust God, and have FAITH in good things to come. We need to always remember that 'Christ never said it would be easy, He just promised it would be worth it.' And we'll all make it through. 

Love you all! Never forget to smile! :)

Quote!

 7 Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.

 8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in yourmind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shallfeel that it is right.

 9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which issacred save it be given you from me.

I liked this because it tells us how to make the right decisions. It's really helpful :).

Decide means to me to try to choose between one thing or another thing. (Preferably the right one :)) I think I can work on it this week by really focusing when making a decision.

Daily Decisions to Choose the Uncomfortable

Running a half marathon today reminded me of the importance of daily decisions. I wrote the following about the experience:

Happy Thanksgiving!
I ran 13.1 miles this morning. This was my third (and slowest) half marathon, but I wanted to share some things I learned through the somewhat painful process. Then anyone who reads this can learn what I learned and not have to run a half marathon! What a bargain :-)

Gratitude gives you energy
My favorite part of this race (besides running it with my husband) was the different signs along the way, expressing gratitude for different blessings. I honestly felt a burst of energy when I would remember my blessings as I ran. Gratitude connects you to God.

Relax and trust God
I learned this when I was training. I would set a goal to run as fast as I could to a certain spot, then walk, then pick another spot to run to. At one point I found I wasn't running all that fast and I would tense up and try to run faster. It hurt, but my speed didn't increase much. The I remembered, "Wait a minute, I know how to handle pain, I have had 7 babies! I just need to relax." I made myself relax, and I found I ran a lot faster and with less pain. I practiced this through the race.

It reminded me that while it is important to have a goal I am trying to reach, as I move toward it, I need to relax and trust God instead or relying on my own strength and efforts.

This morning I wrote an email to a friend about an issue I wanted to help her with. While I was running, I realized that in my efforts to help, I was a little worried and tense. I said some things I probably should have kept to myself in my desire to help her see what I perceived was the truth. During my run, I realized that even though my intent was to help, I would have been more helpful if I had only said those things I felt would help her want to seek truth from the real source of truth instead of being so blunt about my opinion. I was trying to follow the spirit, but I don't think the Spirit pushes thoughts on anyone without their consent. Maybe I wan't trusting God enough. I am not sure. But I do know I don't want to send emails anymore if I am in a state of worry.

Pay the price to be prepared
This may seem like the opposite of what I just talked about, but I think the two principles compliment each other nicely. I didn't train for this half marathon as well as I trained for the other two I ran. I was a little nervous that I wouldn't be able to finish. My time was 2:26. It was a lot better then I expected to get. But it was over 2 minutes slower - per mile - then the last half marathon I ran. For that one, nothing kept me home from going on a training run. I ran in cold, icy weather in the dark Baltimore streets. This time, I skipped runs if it was too cold or if I got too busy. It is okay - I had different priorities this time around. But it reminded me how each day I make decisions that determine how prepared I will be for the work God has for me to do.

When that work comes my way (as it does every day), I can be sort of prepared and unsure or I can be excited and well prepared. Preparation for a half marathon can be uncomfortable, inconvenient and not always fun. Especially when your house is so warm and outside is so cold! The decisions I make each day can be to do the comfortable and easy, but those won't help me reach my potential.

The Decision to Follow

This week has been... well... not necessarily amazing. :p

This week has been good, I suppose, but a lot of things this way just kind of haven't been going my way. It's been kind of hard.

But through these trials, Heavenly Father taught me something.

I see it as a dark tunnel I'm traveling through.




Heavenly Father has my hand, but sometimes I let go.



He always has his arm outstretched, but sometimes I choose to go my own way, because I have agency to choose to follow or not.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel that Heavenly Father sees shining brightly, but through my imperfectness, I can't see it.

Sometimes, I don't understand where I'm being led, and sometimes I just want to go my own way, because the natural man wants to be in charge. And of course, I am in charge, but I am never going to be able to get to that shining light at the end of the tunnel if I don't depend on Heavenly Father.

Right now it's just hard.

I do have a question, though, if someone could answer it for me.

How do we just depend on Heavenly Father all of the time? I mean, when things aren't going our way, when we have trials, when we aren't necessarily happy? Doesn't Heavenly Father want us to be happy? How do we stay with Him, and trust Him when we can't see the light?

I do have a testimony that he knows what's best for me, and that he'll lead me in the right way, but how to I stay with Him? How do I not ever let go of that always outstretched hand?

Please help me!

I love you all!

Love,
Gracious

Decisions.

I'm just gonna come out and say it,

I hate decisions.

 People tell me its because I'm a two or because it's the way I am but it doesn't make any difference to me. Decisions are hard, confusing, and stressful. I always get really worried when I have a decision that must be made. What if I choose the wrong thing? What if it doesn't work out? What then?

Some decisions are pretty obvious. Some are less so, but still fairly easy. Some are harder, take more work and concentration, I believe all decisions should be made with God's help. He knows best, right? He already knows what is going to happen!

So....

Since I hate making decisions some times the only thing I want to do is do nothing, to ignore it and hope it goes away. Maybe it is for this reason that my favorite quote was this one by Theodore Roosevelt: "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." It is comforting to know that even doing the wrong thing is better than doing nothing.

Often in young women's or primary I was told to 'make the decision now rather then later' what does that even mean? Obviously we can't make all decisions early in life but we can make some. Are some decisions more important then others? We made a pretty big one to come down to earth and gain a body to go through this mortal experience. Did we make decisions before that in heaven? Will we continue to make decisions after we die? I guess we will just have to wait and see :)

If decisions are so important to Heavenly Father then maybe I should learn to love them more... I guess its time to look up some scriptures :D

Good luck deciding! Click here for the link to my word study!
♥Color Girl♥

My life Goals and Purpose

I just wrote this to apply for an internship at the capitol. When I was done, I realized that it had quite a bit to do with decisions. So I'm posting it!

_______________________________________________________________________________

There are many currents flowing through our lives. Each one striving to pull our attention after them. There is music, there are cliques, there’s the latest fashion, and always the ever looming quest for popularity. We find ourselves drifting aimlessly far too often. The hard truth is this; following the crowd will never make you better than the crowd. A deliberate, anchored life is the surest way to achieve greatness and success. That is the life I live. What happens to a boat without an anchor, a sail without wind, or ship without a rudder?

In the ship we call life, each of us has the ability to steer ourselves through the currents of life. Surely, there are currents, tides, and waves that will be in our favor. But floating aimlessly where the wind and water take us will only end in ruin. To echo the words of Thomas Carlyle  “A man without a goal is like a ship without a rudder.” Truly, becoming great requires great aspirations, and goals are the way to achieve those.

If goals are our rudders, then we must make and keep goals. Goals are the absolute key to success in our lives. Great, impactful people like Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs, Mahatma Gandhi, and so many others all made and followed through with great, impactful goals. These were the key to their success. It stands to reason that if we would also become great, that we must plan and make goals. We must live deliberately for greatness. This is the way to succeed

What is this “success?” By definition, it is the act of succeeding at something. What is this thing we are succeeding at? This, is the key to setting goals. Many people will make goals only to fall back into the flow because they are not purposeful in their goals. It is this same “purpose” that we must succeed in completing.

Each individual has their own purpose they approach in life. Some purposes are not well founded, and hence, do not provide the support needed to guide their ships through the sea of trends. My personal purpose has been a guiding force for me for several years. Guiding me through the currents around.

My purpose in life is to lead positive change in the world through politics. This is a lofty vision, but it gives me the direction I need to become great. My goals to achieve this vision are:

• Become an Intern in a major government entity, such as the Utah Governor's office, legislature, or other like entity.
• Attend LDS Business College and receive my associates in Paralegal Studies.
• Continue to BYU and receive my Bachelors in Political Science.
• Switch to J. Reuben Clark Law School and receive my MBA.
• Pursue a career as a Lawyer.
• Engage in the political arena as a public servant.

These goals demonstrate my plan to achieve the aforementioned purpose. It is through the achievement of these six steps that I can begin to become great. This is my rudder, and they are guiding my ship to new lands of greatness and wonder. I am living deliberately.

My Favorite Quotes about Decision! ;)

This is my favorite quote that I found about decision:

I love Dr. Seuss!!! :)

What is one or your favorite quotes on decision?

Love,

Gracious! :)

P.S. I'm sorry that I didn't have anything that hit me super hard this time! ;) Maybe as I go along the week, I'll find something! :D

Decisions, Decisions

There were a lot of quotes on decide that I liked, but I'm gonna go with the plain and simple Bob Marley:

"Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny."

It seems obvious, but it's really true. We have the freedom to decide who we will be, where we will go, what we will do, and when we will do it. Agency is one of the greatest gifts God has given us, but people often forget that decisions determine destiny. With every decision comes a consequence. You can't "decide" to do something wrong and get away with it. Every decision we make has a consequence, but by making the decision, we can choose the consequence.

Sometimes when we have questions, we want God to answer us and tell us what to do, but sometimes he wants us to make decisions for ourselves. Even though the decision process can be frustrating, it helps us to grow and become more like Christ, which is our ultimate goal. 

Will You Decide True Happiness?

"Hey Mom! Joshy is making my mad! He stole my tinker toy!"
"Stooop!You don't always have to sing at the top of your lungs! You're annoying me!"
"You're disgusting me! Chew with your mouth closed!"
"I can't do my jobs because he hasn't finished his!"
"You're making me so frustrated!"
"Just stop arguing! Your just making me more angry!"
"She makes me so mad! She doesn't know how to treat others."
"It's all his fault! Now I feel really sad."
"You guys are stressing me out! Be quiet!"
"She keeps leaving me out and making me feel unwanted."
"He keeps ignoring me and making me feel worthless."

Does any of this sound familiar or relatable?
There are countless ways to blame others for how we feel, but is this right? Are any of these accusations even accurate?
Considering the fact that WE CHOOSE HOW WE FEEL, no. It is impossible for anyone else to make us feel any emotion. We DECIDE who and what we will let effect us.
It's the natural law of agency. If we were forced to feel a certain ways according to the actions of others, agency would become void, and our ability to decide things for ourselves wouldn't exist.

Now, I'm not saying that what others do doesn't have a profound EFFECT on what we feel, it can -if we let it. Sometimes it seems hard, and even at times impossible, not to let it. If someone that you trusted came up to you and said "You know, I have to tell you the truth. You are absolutely hideous." It might feel like you have no other choice but to be sad! But, even though that person made it harder for you to feel happy, that doesn't mean they made it impossible. You still have the choice to forgive and not let them determine who you really are.
 




You decide.
Your true happiness is a decision between obedience and disobedience. Love, or hate. Service, or selfishness. Christ or Satan. Commandment's or rebellion.
2Nephi 2:27
 Wherefore, men are ^afree according to the ^bflesh; and ^call things are ^dgiven them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to ^echoose ^fliberty and eternal ^glife, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be ^hmiserable like unto himself.

Now, you might think, if happiness was really a choice, couldn't we choose to be happy even if we weren't keeping the commandments? Well, if you went and murdered someone, would would it be possible to feel good? (TRULY good?) Or have you ever disobeyed your parents and found a sense of explicit joy? (TRUE joy?) Or have you ever failed to love your neighbor and said something hurtful and felt cheerful afterward? (REALLY cheerful?) Or have you ever decided to go on google+ instead of putting the Lord first and getting your priorities done, and afterward felt free? (REALLY free?) Or have you ever decided to listen to music that was not uplifting and felt spiritually enlightened? (TRUELY spiritually enlightened?) Now, in answer to some of these questions, sometimes at first we get a sense of 'pleasure' but that is not true joy. It comes from Satan and it wares down after a while, leaving you feeling even emptier than before. 

The commandments are a basic moral code for happy living. They are natural laws with an unbreakable link of joyful outcomes.

"But I keep the commandments! I live the gospel!" You say. "And sometimes I still get sad!"
That is true, But in those sad moments, who are you thinking about? Is it a selfish self pity or stressful worry? If so, those feelings you know don't come from God, and you can repent.
But sometimes we get sad merely because of our love for another who has gone astray. That is not a selfish sadness. I think God feels like that sometimes when we refuse to come unto Him because He loves us. God always has love and peace. If you don't feel peace, you need to trust the Lord.
Sometimes we are just experiencing a trial that we need to go through for our spiritual progression.
Remember, if we didn't ever experience sadness, we wouldn't even know what happiness was!

If you are truly living the gospel, I believe you will have true joy. You will have peace.
Living the gospel requires living the spirit of the law also. You could look at the Pharisees and say they kept the kept the commandments -they lived the law of Moses to a pin! And yet, they didn't seem to really be happy. They were always complaining and accusing people who didn't do "what was right" in their eyes. They didn't live the true spirit of the Gospel.

3Nephi 12:

 44 But behold I say unto you, love your ^aenemies, bless them that curse you, do ^bgood to them that hate you, and ^cpray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you;

 45 That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise ^aon the evil and on the good.

 46 Therefore those things which were of old time, which were under the law, in me are all ^afulfilled.

 47 ^aOld things are done away, and all things have become ^bnew.

 48 Therefore I would that ye should be ^aperfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

What a beautiful commandment! To be perfect...even as Jesus Christ or Heavenly Father is perfect... woah....!
And we know that the Lord doesn't command anything that we can't accomplish, so it is possible! We get to become perfect as long as we are trying! (The atonement enables us and makes up for our lack if we choose to accept it.)
Choosing to live this 'higher law" I believe will bring you true joy and perfection.
It's called the "Great plan of Happiness" after all!

I think it's easy to forget sometimes that the commandments are really all there for our freedom and benefit. They aren't restricting in any way! They aren't just a bunch of 'rules' that we have to follow just because, or just because we want to escape eternal damnation. They will help with that, but there's so much more to them! We don't have to follow them. We could choose not to, but we wouldn't be as free or as happy or as full of peace as we would if we did.

Decide to be grateful! Thank God for the wonderful knowledge we have of this amazing Gospel that gives us wonderful guidelines to find true happiness!
Gratitude is an amazing tool in helping us choose to be happy. When we are thankful, we are showing God appreciation for all He has given us, and showing appreciation is an outcome of someone who is joyful.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf said:
"It is my prayer that you will experience a renewed and an expanded measure of the beautiful love of God in your lives; that you will find the faith, determination, and commitment to learn God’s commandments, treasure them in your hearts, and live the gospel joyful."

The gospel is really such a joyful thing. We have the marvelous choice to treasure it in our hearts as we decide to live it and glow with the resilience of God's love.

DECIDE: verb: to make up one's mind; to find an answer.

Decision, I think, can be defined as finding an answer because deciding is knowing which one to choose, which side to be on, etc. and that is finding an answer.
   Decisions are great opportunities, whether they are everyday things, like deciding if you should have a banana or an apple, or if they are important things, like accepting a call from your Bishop to be the ward chorister.(come to think of it, all decisions are important!)
   One way to decide is to ask; What would Jesus choose?
                 - Ellie
                   
    

Remember Christ

In Uncle Toms cabin (I like using references to Uncle Toms cabin :)) Tom remembers Christ even in his trails.

 I think when we are facing dark times we need to remember Christ. Like that one quote by Dumbledore "Happiness can be found in the darkest of times if only one remembers to turn on the light" part of turning on the light is remembering Christ.

 77 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

 79 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

Taking the Sacrament is a very important thing to do every week! We take it every Sunday, the prayers make the Bread and water sacred and we must always be willing to take it! I love taking the Sacrament! I always feel so clean after I take it!

How Will You "Always Remember Him?"

In Elder Holland's October 1995 General Conference Address entitled "This Do in Rememberance of Me," he talks a lot about the importance of the sacrament and the atonement, but he also brings up a very significant point. Every week when we partake of the sacrament, we are renewing our baptisimal covenant to "always remember Him." Do we always remember Christ? Do we think about Him in every thought and action we experience in our lives? It's definitely really hard for me to do that. How can we always remember Him?

In Moroni 7:24, it says: 

And behold, there were divers ways that he did manifest things unto the children of men, which were good; and all things which are good cometh of Christ; otherwise men were fallen, and there could no good thing come unto them.

I think that's really the key to remembering Christ always. Since all good things come from Christ, as long as we're always involved in doing good, the Spirit will be with us to remind us of Him, because we are working for Him. You don't always have to be reading your scriptures or doing service necessarily, but everything you do should be good. And if we can do that, we can always remember Him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Ezra Taft Benson's "This Nation Shall Endure," he talks about how everyone around us is always trashing our founding fathers and what kind of people they were. By doing this, they are trashing the principles that those men stood for. In short, they are destroying their own country by forgetting God and His principles. This is God's chosen land, so no external force can destroy us without the allowance of God. This nation can only be destroyed internally, and it is being destroyed internally because we are forgetting God. America has only lasted because of the few Americans who do remember Him, and it will only continue to last if we continue to remember Him.

"We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us." --Abraham Lincoln

Remember to Preach His Gospel!

In seminary we were talking about remembering your testimony. My teacher said "that when you remember your testimony and WHY you have that testimony then you are in the same place and having the same feelings from when you first received that testimony." Do you agree with that?

There are around 492 times that the scriptures say the word "remember" I think it is pretty important to remember this word! ;) God commands us over and over to remember Him, remember His Son, remember His promise and our covenants, remember what we stand for, remember we are His children, remember we have great worth, remember you name, remember your ancestors, remember to pray, remember the prophet, remember, remember, remember!!

Harriet Tubman said: "Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."

In preach my gospel the very very very last page (like, the cover part.) It has a list of things for missionaries to remember... Cool right? Here is a picture:

Not all of them are for us but a lot of them are!! Like the 'Teach what you find, find what you teach."

Do we always teach what we find? This is really important to me because I love Ah-has! (Which by-the-way you should all be preparing to share this week!) But sometimes we don't always find what we teach, and then we are not being led by the spirit which often leads to false doctrine.

Sacrament and ReMEMBER

I had a huge epiphany during Family Home Evening! We were learning about the sacrament, and this is what I got:

RE means to do it over again, right? Well, when we get baptized, we become a member of the church.



Well, what if REMEMBERing Christ on Sunday as we take the sacrament is becoming a member again?

That's why the main part of the Sacrament is remembering Christ, remembering what He did, and remembering what we did wrong, and what we need to repent for.

That's what the sacrament is all about, right?



Here is the video we watched for FHE that made me think all of this!!!

Tell me your thoughts, please!!!

Love,
Gracious :)

Chiasmus: The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways!

A had a major ah-ha today as I was reading an interpretation of the book of revelation. I thought maybe someone had already done a project on the connection I made, but I found nothing. So I took it upon myself to make a Chiasmus of the life of Earth, from the pre-mortal life through the history of earth into eternity. What I found was awe-inspiring, to say the least.

The Timeline:

For starters, I made an actual timeline, which you can see below:

Look in the symmetrical location of each item to see it's chiastic partner

I could probably ramble enough to write a book on the ah-ha's I've been getting from this. But I'll try to consolidate my thoughts to a few pages.

The Chiasmus:

1. Pre-mortal life: ...Forever into the past.
 2. Counsel in Heaven: Plan of Salvation/Plan of Misery Proposed. Some choose each plan.
  3. War in Heaven: Satan loses, he and his host are cast from Heaven.
   4. Creation/Garden of Eden: Peace, no temptation, and God is personally on the earth.
    5. The Fall: Earth becomes temporal through sin.
     6. 1st Dispensation: Dispensation of Adam.
      7. Sacrifices are Given: Cain and Abel give sacrifices to the Lord. The Lord denies Cains offering.
       8. Cain's Covenant: Cain makes promises to Satan, secret combinations are born.
        9. Wickedness: People war with each other, righteous are persecuted Satan rules and evil abounds.
         10. 2nd Dispensation: Dispensation of Enoch.
          11. Zion: The righteous gather under the direction of Enoch. They are translated by their righteousness.
           12. The Great Flood: The Earth is cleansed of wickedness by a baptism of water.
            13. The Exodus: The Children of Israel flee the persecution of Egypt.
             14. Jewish Kingdoms: The tribes are organised into a political kingdom.
               15. Jewish Persecution: Disobedience in Israel causes them to be scattered by the great empires of the time.
                  16. The Life of Jesus Christ: Christ is born, performs his ministry and the Atonement, and is Crucified in the Meridian (middle) of time. This is the beginning of the 5th Dispensation.
               15. Christian Persecution: Early Christians begin to apostatize, persecution comes from the greatest empire of the time, the Roman Empire.
             14. Papal Rule of Europe: The Romans accept and begin to enforce Christianity. It becomes political power.
            13. The Reformation: After the church became corrupt righteous people began to flee persecution.
           12. The American Revolution: Our nation is "baptized" or purified in the blood of the wicked. 
          11. The Restoration: The Church is Restored. The Later-day building of Zion begins.
         10. 6th Dispensation: Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, opened in the restoration by Joseph Smith.
        9. Wickedness: "Comparable in wickedness to the days of Noah" (Ezra T. Benson) 
       8. Satan's "Church": Satan has a strong hold on the world by his earthly kingdoms, which are built on Secret Combinations.
      7. Levite Sacrifice: "This [the priesthood] shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness." (D&C 13: 1)
     6. 7th Dispensation: The equivalent of Sunday, the dispensation of Christ.
    5. The Earth is Glorified: The earth is renewed (restored) to it's Celestial Glory through the Atonement.
   4. The Millennium: The earth returns to peace, Satan is bound, and Christ reigns personally on the earth.
  3. Satan is Loosed: For a time, Satan is released on the earth, he makes one final battle on the saints, and is defeated! 
 2. The Final Judgement: The final decision of all our choices in the counsel and on Earth. Different glories assigned. 
1. Eternal Life: We continue in our kingdoms forever...


Obliviously this is not even close to an all-inclusive list of historical events. But I hope you've come to some of the connections in reading these. Allow me to share some of the things I've seen here.

Ah-has and Connections:

Remember

First off, let me begin by saying that even if we know the past, we are destined to repeat it. Those who do not know the past are destined to repeat it, and those who know the past are prepared to repeat it.

This brings us an important connection with this month's study on the word "remember". Let me direct your attention to the Hebrew meaning of Remember. To remember something in Hebrew is to recall something and then act upon that recollection. And is that concept not chiasmus? Something before which appears again later, or something in the past which is remembered.

How important is it then, to study history (especially the Old Testament) with the perspective of looking for the future? The Lord works in mysterious ways, one of which are chiasmuses. By learning one way He works, we can better prepare for His coming. Does this put a new perspective on the "always remember him" part of the covenant we make each week?

"One Eternal Round"

Doctrine and Covenants chapter 35 verse 1 says: "Listen to the voice of the Lord our God, even Alpha (First letter) and Omega, (Last letter) the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever." 

How fascinating that Christ refers to Himself as the First and the Last letter, when we know that God works in a manner where the first and the last things are the same? This, for me, puts a whole new perspective on the other line, one eternal round. A round is something that returns back to itself, wouldn't it be interesting to format our chiasmus in a circle? 

Fill in the Blanks

Is there any cycles such as the Pride, Tytler, or Fourth Turnings which we could overlay here? Obviously this cycle only happens once for this world, but does it manifest it's self in smaller versions? I don't know, but it's food for thought. 

Triangle!

So like every good thing, our chiasmus has to relate to a triangle, right? (did anyone catch that Pythagorean pun?) So lets analyze it from a more angular point of view. 

It's quite hard to find a good connection for the bottom line of the triangle, but the one I did find is that it is a foundation. God governs the whole equation. It's important to remember that everything is under the constant care of our father. This is the foundation of any study of the plan. After all, it is His plan. 

Were we to make it into a visual, it would look something like this:

Shows some parallels to our lives, doesn't it? 

There are also many things to be learned from this. What cycles or patterns do you think show this? Can this be related to my diagram of Faith, Hope, and Charity as a triangle leading us to Christ?

Conclusion:

To sum it all up, God works in mysterious ways, but when we seek diligently those mysteries can be unfolded unto us. One such mystery is how He uses patterns in His plan. If we can learn to remember what He has shown us in the past, we will be prepared for what is to come. 

Thank you for reading all the way, I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.