Goals for 2015

I am working on getting my goals for 2015 fine-tuned.  

This last Sunday, I substituted for a friend of mine who was sick, and taught the Teaching for Our Times lesson in Relief Society.  I taught from the General Conference talks: Free Forever, to Act for Themselves, by Elder D. Todd Christofferson and Yes, Lord, I Will Follow Thee, by Elder Eduardo Gavarret.

I taught mainly from Elder Christofferson's talk (which is on agency), but I touched on a few points from Elder Gavarret's talk (which is on choosing to follow Christ), and those are the points I want to focus on for this post.

"The invitation to “follow Him” is the most simple, direct, and powerful invitation we can receive. It comes from a clear voice that cannot be confused.

". . . it is an invitation to act.

"As you strive to come to Him, you will gain the power to relieve life’s burdens, whether physical or spiritual, and experience a positive inner change that will help you be happier.

"The decision to “come unto me” and “follow me” is personal.

"Reach out your hand, touch His garment, accept His invitation, say, “Yes, Lord, I will follow Thee!”—and walk with Him.

"What steps can we take today to “walk with Him”?

1. Feed the desire to be a better follower of Christ.

2. Pray for this desire that your faith in Him may grow.

3. Obtain knowledge from the scriptures, lighting the way and strengthening your desire to change. (emphasis added because it is talking about scripture study!)

4. Make the decision today to act and say, “Yes, Lord, I will follow Thee!” Simply knowing the truth will not change your world unless you turn knowledge into action.

5. Persevere in the decision you have made by exercising these principles daily."

As I am forming my goals for the coming year, I was grateful for the reminder to choose goals that reflect using my agency to wisely follow my Savior, Jesus Christ.

From Elder Christofferson's talk, "we must exert ourselves, repent, and choose God for Him to be able to act in our lives consistent with justice and moral agency. My plea is simply to take responsibility and go to work so that there is something for God to help us with."

1. Exert ourselves, make an effort, we have to do more than want it, we have to ACT!

2. Repent, get rid of the baggage that is weighing us down!

3. Choose to follow God, to come unto Him, walk with Him.  Make the conscious effort to act in a way that is pleasing to Him.  Blessings upon blessings will follow as we make that choice!  We will be happier!

I am all for a happier 2015!

Goal for 2014 completed!

I set a lot of goals for myself in 2014.  Some I did well on, some I completely forgot, and others I did so-so on.  One goal I did well on was to read the Book of Mormon with the focus on the Christ-like attribute of mercy.

This morning I finished reading the Book of Mormon and counted the number of times I underlined the word mercy (mercies, merciful).  110 times!  Brilliant!!

I really feel that concentrating on the word mercy has strengthened my ability to be more merciful, to recognize ways to apply mercy to others and to situations.  I am grateful for this experience and the way that it has brought me closer, through the blessings of the Spirit, to my Heavenly Father and my Savior and to the people around me, especially my own family.

I highly recommend the practice of reading through the Book of Mormon with a focus on a particular principle or idea.  I am anxious to begin again on the next focus on my list!

He Is The Gift #ShareTheGift

Remembering

I am reading in Ether these days.  (I had better hurry up if I am going to finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year!)

One thing that has stuck out to me in the last few chapters is remembering.  In Ether 6:12, it talks about the Brother of Jared and his family landing in the Promised Land, after traveling for nearly a year on the ocean.  They immediately drop to their knees in thanks to their God for bringing them safely there.  They "did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because the multitude of his tender mercies over them."

When you look at the footnote for 12c, "tender mercies", it references two other scriptures, Ether 7:27 and Ether 10:2.

In Ether 7:27 it says:  "And there were no more wars in the days of Shule; and he remembered the great things that the Lord had done for his fathers in bringing them across the great deep into the promised land; wherefore he did execute judgment in righteousness all his days."  (emphasis added)

Ether 10:2 says: "And it came to pass that Shez did remember the destruction of his fathers, and he did build up a righteous kingdom; for he remembered what the Lord had done in bringing Jared and his brother across the deep; and he did walk in the ways of the Lord; and he begat sons and daughters."  (emphasis added)

It would seem that the tender mercies that they were referring to came because they remembered.  They remembered that the Lord had done great and marvelous things for them and for those who had come before them.

tender mercies = remembering blessings

good judgement = remembering blessings

righteous living = remembering blessings

I am seeing a pattern here!

Even the promise of the Book of Mormon found in Moroni 10:3-5 says:

"Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

"And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

acquiring truth = remembering blessings

(If you would like a free copy of the Book of Mormon to learn more about this amazing promise, click HERE)

The scriptures are so vital to us that Heavenly Father has gone to great lengths throughout history to make them available to us.  He inspired prophets and faithful saints through countless generations to preserve their history and experiences.  He sent Nephi back to get the plates to preserve the record of their fathers.  He made sure that faithful men kept the records of the Nephites safe so that they would not be destroyed.  He blessed Joseph Smith on numerous occasions to avoid men who were intent on destroying the gold plates.  The scriptures are a record of those who have gone before us that help us to remember the blessings that have come before us, AND the blessings that we might have for ourselves!  We should spend valuable time to search the scriptures to find these marvelous insights that inspire us to do better, to become closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.  To remember.

remembering blessings = scripture study

To find THEIR answers in the scriptures

In the front of each of my Scripture Journals is the following quote:

”Last year a church member sent me a suggestion that someone prepare a book containing all General Authority interpretations of all verses in the scriptures.  I replied that I thought this was not a good idea….  What we are seeking to accomplish… is not to magnify the standing of the prophets but to elevate the spirituality of our rank and file members.  Like Moses, we declare, ‘would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!’  (Numbers 11:29).  We encourage everyone to study the scriptures prayerfully and seek personal revelation to know the meaning for themselves.”  (Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “Scripture Reading and Revelation”, BYU Studies Academy Meeting, January 29, 1993)

"To elevate the spirituality of our. . .members, we encourage everyone to study the scriptures prayerfully and seek personal revelation to know the meaning for themselves."

Study the scriptures prayerfully.

Seek personal revelation.

Know the meaning for ourselves.