restore to a former level or condition

 To Replenish.

The first commandment God gave to those creatures he created was to multiply and replenish the earth.

Has this commandment somehow ceased to be?

In the 1995 Proclamation to the World regarding the family it states "the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children...[and] we declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force".

God's word has not ceased to be.

What does The Family: A Proclamation to the World also say?

1. Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God.
2. The family is central to the Creator’s plan.
3. All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God...each has a divine nature and destiny.
4. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.
5. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave.
6. God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force.
7. The sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife.
8. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.
9. Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children.
10. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.
11. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan.
12. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.
13. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities.
14. By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families.
15. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.
16. Individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.
17. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.

There are some within the church who claim that this proclamation somehow no longer applies and I am left dumbfounded by and disappointed in many who continue to trample upon this document and the words of God.

In 1995, the things happening today weren't even in the forefront of anyone's mind except prophets, seers and revelators. Now in 2020, a culmination year, we see people thinking they can choose their gender. People think marriage is no longer a sacred institution between a man and woman.

What did it say is the result of our trampling upon the sacred institution of marriage, gender, and family? The calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets ie the judgments of God.

Satan, the great deceiver and ever the petulant child, continues to try and frustrate the plan of God. His is an eternal anger and jealousy that will never cease. He sought to destroy our agency in the pre existence and he hasn't stopped. Agency is much more than the right to choose. It is our eternal individual power. The power to act and not be acted upon. We can be tempted sure but that does not take away our agency. It is still within our power to act.

Anyway, I digress a little.

When I saw the ad above, I was saddened, frustrated but not surprised. It makes sense, if we remember who is behind it. He whispers in people's ears that human beings are a plague upon the Earth. They do not understand that the Earth was created solely for the purpose of serving as a home away from home for the children of God to dwell in our temporal existence. If that plan is frustrated, the Earth has no purpose.

The unrest in the streets, the unrest in the Earth are both the results of wickedness running unchecked.

We reap what we sow.

Our saving grace can only be found upon the "teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ", in exercising "the principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion and work...".

Searching for Moroni

About 600 years before Christ a man named Lehi, a descendent of Joseph through Manasseh, lived in Jerusalem. He preached among the Jews that Jerusalem would be destroyed if they would not repent but the people turned against him and threatened his life. He was warned by God to leave Jerusalem and He would lead him and his family to a chosen land. Lehi's family consisted of his wife and his sons Laman, Lemuel, Sam and Nephi and they were commanded to take records with them as well as another family on their journey. They journeyed in the wilderness until they came to a large body of water and from there traveled across the ocean and landed at what is believed to be around Central America. After the death of their parents, Laman and Lemuel rebelled against Nephi, along with some members of the other family and sought his life. Nephi was warned by the Lord to leave and he did so taking the records and all who would follow him away. This started a long feud between brothers and their descendants. They are known as Nephites and Lamanites.

Fast forward to about 73 B.C. a group who dissented from the Nephites and aligned themselves with the Lamanites, proceeded to stir up the Lamanites to go to battle against the Nephites.

It is of note that those who dissented from the Nephites ALWAYS stirred the Lamanites up to go to war using the Lamanites' long standing, yet baseless, feud to enact their vengeance for their own perceived wrongs. The goal of these dissenting groups was always about usurping power.

During this particular time of war (there were many) a young man named Moroni was chosen to be the Chief Captain over the Nephite armies. Not much is known about him prior to his commission but we do know that he was made Captain at the age of twenty-five. He had a family or at least we know of a son that was later made chief captain when his father retired.

There were those who wanted to destroy the free government and establish a king over the people and had succeeded in dividing them. Upon hearing about these dissensions, he rent his coat (cloak) and made a standard for the people, a symbol to rally them to action which he titled The Title of Liberty. He wrote upon it these words:

Alma 46

12...In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children...

He hoisted it upon a pole, put on his armor, prayed to the Lord and then went forth throughout the land-

19...waving the rent part of his garment in the air, that all might see the writing which he had written upon the rent part, and crying with a loud voice, saying:
20 Behold, whosoever will maintain this title upon the land, let them come forth in the strength of the Lord, and enter into a covenant that they will maintain their rights, and their religion, that the Lord God may bless them.
28 And...he went forth...and gathered together all the people who were desirous to maintain their liberty...

Moroni also knew the biggest threat to the Nephites existence and their freedom didn't come from the Lamanites but from within.

Alma 50
21...for it has been their quarrelings and their contentions, yea, their murderings, and their plunderings, their idolatry, their whoredoms, and their abominations, which were among themselves, which brought upon them their wars and their destructions.

Alma 53
9 And thus because of iniquity amongst themselves, yea, because of dissensions and intrigue among themselves they were placed in the most dangerous circumstances.

It was no doubt taxing to Captain Moroni who was having to not only defend the land from being overtaken by the Lamanites but also having to put down rebellions within. He tried to stamp those out swiftly. He knew that united they stand, divided they fall.

Of one particular account it is written:

2 for behold, there were a part of the people who desired that a few particular points of the law should be altered.
5 [they] were called king-men, for they were desirous that the law should be altered in a manner to overthrow the free government and to establish a king over the land.
6 And those who were desirous that...[there] should remain [a] chief judge over the land took upon them the name of freemen; and thus was the division among them, for the freemen had sworn or covenanted to maintain their rights and the privileges of their religion by a free government.
13 And it came to pass that when the men who were called king-men had heard that the Lamanites were coming down to battle against them, they were glad in their hearts; and they refused to take up arms...to defend their country.
17 And it came to pass that Moroni commanded that his army should go against those king-men, to pull down their pride and their nobility and level them with the earth, or they should take up arms and support the cause of liberty.
21 ... Moroni put an end to those king-men...he put an end to the stubbornness and the pride of those people...

About 10 years later, the people had grown more wicked and the wars more vicious that it caused, not only Moroni, but all the captains to wonder after the great wickedness that was causing such strife among the Nephites and that threatened to defeat them.

Moroni was also angry with the government, believing that the government was indifferent to their plight as they were not receiving men for their army nor provisions. He did not know that those same king-men had risen up again and in his frustrations wrote to the chief judge in boldness telling the Chief Judge:

29 ...except ye do bestir yourselves in the defence of your country and your little ones, the sword of justice doth hang over you...
30 ...except ye do administer unto our relief, behold, I come unto you...and smite you with the sword, insomuch that ye can have no more power to impede the progress of this people in the cause of our freedom.

The Chief Judge (Pahoran) wrote back to Moroni, informing him that there had been an insurrection and they succeeded in over throwing him. He wrote:

5 And behold, they have driven me out before them, and I have fled...with as many men as it were possible that I could get.
8 They have got possession of...the city...they have appointed a king over them, and he hath written unto the king of the Lamanites, in the which he hath joined an alliance with him...
9 ...I...do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I...do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free.
14 ...let us resist evil, and whatsoever evil we cannot resist with our words, yea, such as rebellions and dissensions, let us resist them with our swords, that we may retain our freedom, that we may rejoice in the great privilege of our church, and in the cause of our Redeemer and our God.
17 Gather together whatsoever force ye can upon your march hither, and we will go speedily against those dissenters, in the strength of our God according to the faith which is in us.

Moroni responded immediately raising the standard of liberty wherever he went, gathering as many men to go and take back the city and reestablish the government and:
Alma 62

9...and those king-men, whosoever would not take up arms in the defence of their country, but would fight against it, were put to death.
10 And thus it became expedient that this law should be strictly observed for the safety of their country; yea, and whosoever was found denying their freedom was speedily executed according to the law.

Eventually after many years of war, bloodshed, rebellions and usurpations, peace was finally established. The great Captain Moroni retired handing command over to his son and lived the rest of days in peace. His days were not long, however, as he died around the age of 43, 18 years after he first took command, approximately 15 of which were spent in war. His cause was a cause for freedom, liberty and justice. He loved God, the people, the land and he valued freedom.

Mormon, who abridged the majority of the Nephite records, was born over 400 years after the legendary events that made Captain Moroni such a prolific historical figure. I have to assume that Captain Moroni was Mormon's favorite too, after all he named his own son after him. 

Mormon writes (Alma Chp 43): 

11 And Moroni was a strong and a mighty man; he was a man of a perfect understanding; yea, a man that did not delight in bloodshed; a man whose soul did joy in the liberty and the freedom of his country, and his brethren from bondage and slavery;
12 Yea, a man whose heart did swell with thanksgiving to his God, for the many privileges and blessings which he bestowed upon his people; a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.
13 Yea, and he was a man who was firm in the faith of Christ, and he had sworn with an oath to defend his people, his rights, and his country, and his religion, even to the loss of his blood.
17 Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

Can you not see why he is one of my favorites?

Moroni knew that those who dissented could not be allowed to continue their work. They would, if left unchecked, bring about the complete destruction of the people.

He knew:

Alma 46

9 ...the great wickedness one very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men.

Who:

10...was a man of cunning device and a man of many flattering words, that he led away the hearts of many people to do wickedly; yea, and to seek to destroy the church of God, and to destroy the foundation of liberty...

And:

8 how quick the children of men do forget the Lord their God, yea, how quick to do iniquity, and to be led away by the evil one.

2 Nephi 28

20 For behold, at that day shall [the devil] rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.

It said multiple times throughout the Book of Mormon that the land is a promised land, a choice land and that all who find it will be brought by the hand of the Lord. That it would be a land of liberty where no King would reign and they would never be brought into captivity and if they were it was because of iniquity and if they would begin to rebel against God and fail to remember him and keep his commandments, then the judgments of God will come upon them.

So much is written that I can't write it all. I suggest you read the Book of Mormon.

What I will say is that Nephi saw the eventual destruction of his descendants and that the Lamanites would remain and become a mighty people but because of their unbelief a new nation was brought to them by the hand of the Lord, the Gentiles. They would build a nation upon the land and through them the judgments of God would come upon the Lamanites and they would be scattered and smitten. He saw, that this nation of Gentiles would be favored of the Lord and through them they would bring the Lamanites back into the fold of God after they've been humbled and they would come to know God.

That land they are speaking of is our continent. That group of gentiles were able to establish the country in which we live now. They fought for their religious freedom, they fought for their liberty from their "mother gentiles" and they too raised a standard of liberty. A symbol that men have bled and died for. When we recite the pledge of allegiance we aren't pledging to a piece of fabric. It is a symbol of our country and we pledge allegiance to God, to country, to liberty, to our families, to fighting against those who wish to tear down.

We are promised the wonderful blessings of safety and protection, of freedom and liberty so long as we continue to follow the Lord and his commandments.

Have we kept our promises?

If you haven't noticed, we have been destroying the very foundations of our nation for quite some time.

We have become more divided by those who have used cunning and flattering words to lead us astray, making us believe that they also fight for liberty, freedom and justice. They don't.

I repeat the words that Pahoran used:

14 ...let us resist evil, and whatsoever evil we cannot resist with our words, yea, such as rebellions and dissensions, let us resist them with our swords, that we may retain our freedom, that we may rejoice in the great privilege of our church, and in the cause of our Redeemer and our God.

The Book of Mormon is written for us in our day, to keep us from making the same mistakes so why are we? Why haven't we learned?

Through the turmoil of today I am left wondering where is our Moroni? If the righteous do nothing, if we allow our voices to be silenced, we deserve whatever judgments come upon us.

I plead with you to see the truth, to look beyond the cunning words.

2nd Nephi 1

13 O that ye would awake; awake from a deep sleep, yea, even from the sleep of hell, and shake off the awful chains by which ye are bound, which are the chains which bind the children of men, that they are carried away captive down to the eternal gulf of misery and woe.

In the words of a latter-day Prophet, "time is running out".
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/04/46nelson?lang=eng

Previously in 2020

I am in the process of deleting my Facebook but I don't want to lose the more important, poignant things I posted. I have decided my best course of action is to keep it here.

4/26/2020

"To endure to the end, we need to be eager to please God and worship Him with fervor and passion. This means that we maintain faith in Jesus Christ by praying, studying the scriptures, partaking of the sacrament each week, and having the Holy Ghost as our constant companion. We need to actively help and serve others and share the gospel with them. We need to be perfectly upright and honest in all things, never compromising our covenants with God or our commitments to men, regardless of circumstances. In our homes we need to talk of, rejoice in, and preach of Christ so that our children—and we ourselves—will desire to apply the Atonement in our lives. We must identify temptations that easily beset us and put them out of reach—way out of reach. Finally, we need to frequently biopsy our mightily changed hearts and reverse any signs of early rejection.

Please consider the state of your changed heart. Do you detect any rejection setting in as a result of the tendency of the natural man to become casual? If so, find a place where you too can kneel. Remember, more than mortal years on this earth are at stake. Do not risk forfeiting the fruits of the ultimate operation: eternal salvation and exaltation."  Dale G. Renlund

"The 'merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah' can help us triumph over the self-centered and selfish tendencies of the natural man and become more selfless, benevolent, and saintly...

We are imperfect human beings striving to live in mortality according to Heavenly Father’s perfect plan of eternal progression. The requirements of His plan are glorious, merciful, and rigorous. We may at times be filled with determination and at other times feel totally inadequate. We may wonder if we spiritually can ever fulfill the commandment to stand spotless before Him at the last day." David A. Bednar

Previously in 2019

02/24/2019

Sunday 11 years ago on Feb 3, 2008 I sat in our church meeting and said one last prayer for my oldest sister. I prayed for her comfort. I prayed for her release. I prayed that God would take her, that he would end her suffering and that she would know that we would be ok. I had spent the previous 6 months holding on as tight as I could. Praying for a miracle. This last prayer marked when I accepted that no miracle would be hers and that she was not meant to stay. I prayed that I could let her go. Little did I know or perhaps a part of me did, that at the time I said this prayer she was quietly slipping from this life to the next. On the day I arrived in Alabama the last week I was there to help take care of her, I held her hand and received the impression that this would be the last time. I didn't want to believe it but the feeling was undeniable and it prompted me to ask my mom later that week "how do you know when to say good bye". She replied, "you don't say goodbye. You say see you later because that's what it is". So the day came for me to head back to Georgia. I sat with her, held her hand, told her embarrassing stories which made her laugh but time is never on our side and before I knew it, it was time for me to leave. So, holding back the sobs that threatened to escape me I thanked her. I thanked her for being a great big sister and then said the last words I would ever say to her, "I love you and I'll see you later".

06/28/2019

"...the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty. 'If ye love me, keep my commandments'...So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do...We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before...

I testify from the bottom of my heart, with the intensity of my soul, to all who can hear my voice that those apostolic keys have been restored to the earth, and they are found in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To those who have not yet joined with us in this great final cause of Christ, we say, “Please come.” To those who were once with us but have retreated...The call is to come back, to stay true, to love God, and to lend a hand. I include in that call to fixed faithfulness every returned missionary who ever stood in a baptismal font and with arm to the square said, 'Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ.' That commission was to have changed your convert forever, but it was surely supposed to have changed you forever as well.

...the voice of Christ comes ringing down through the halls of time, asking each one of us while there is time, 'Do you love me?' And for every one of us, I answer with my honor and my soul, 'Yea, Lord, we do love thee.' And having set our 'hand to the plough,' we will never look back until this work is finished and love of God and neighbor rules the world." Elder Jeffrey R. Holland October 2012 General Conference

07/15/2019

"Even if we’ve been a conscious, deliberate sinner or have repeatedly faced failure and disappointment, the moment we decide to try again, the Atonement of Christ can help us. And we need to remember that it is not the Holy Ghost that tells us we’re so far gone that we might as well give up...
Just as God rejoices when we persevere, He is disappointed if we do not recognize that others are trying too...
We will then recognize that regardless of perceived differences, all of us are in need of the same infinite Atonement...
My invitation to all of us is to evaluate our lives, repent, and keep on trying. If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners; if we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters; and if we don’t allow others to try, we’re just latter-day hypocrites. As we try, persevere, and help others to do the same, we are true Latter-day Saints. As we change, we will find that God indeed cares a lot more about who we are and about who we are becoming than about who we once were."

07/16/2019

"...there are some who...stand at the waters of baptism but do not enter. They wait at the threshold of testimony but cannot bring themselves to acknowledge the truth. Instead of taking small steps of faith on the path of discipleship, they want some dramatic event to compel them to believe...

They remain waiting for the Christ to be given to them...to remove once and for all their doubts and fears.

The truth is, those who diligently seek to learn of Christ eventually will come to know Him. They will personally receive a divine portrait of the Master, although it most often comes in the form of a puzzle—one piece at a time. Each individual piece may not be easily recognizable by itself; it may not be clear how it relates to the whole. Each piece helps us to see the big picture a little more clearly. Eventually, after enough pieces have been put together, we recognize the grand beauty of it all. Then, looking back on our experience, we see that the Savior had indeed come to be with us—not all at once but quietly, gently, almost unnoticed...

Often He speaks to us in ways that we can hear only with our heart. To better hear His voice, it would be wise to turn down the volume control of the worldly noise in our lives. If we ignore or block out the promptings of the Spirit for whatever reason, they become less noticeable until we cannot hear them at all. Let us learn to hearken to the promptings of the Spirit and then be eager to heed them...

Selfless acts of service and consecration refine our spirits, remove the scales from our spiritual eyes, and open the windows of heaven. By becoming the answer to someone’s prayer, we often find the answer to our own...

He...speaks to all who come to Him with a sincere heart and real intent.

Do not doubt.

...let us not wait too long on our road to Damascus. Instead, let us courageously move forward in faith, hope, and charity..."

Waiting on the Road to Damascus by
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

07/19/2019

"...treasure up wisdom in your bosoms, lest the wickedness of men...shall speak in your ears with a voice louder than that which shall shake the earth..."

08/26/2019

This sums up the point of the plan of salvation and why we are here better than anything I've ever read.

"The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.

A parable illustrates this understanding. A wealthy father knew that if he were to bestow his wealth upon a child who had not yet developed the needed wisdom and stature, the inheritance would probably be wasted. The father said to his child:

'All that I have I desire to give you—not only my wealth, but also my position and standing among men. That which I have I can easily give you, but that which I am you must obtain for yourself. You will qualify for your inheritance by learning what I have learned and by living as I have lived. I will give you the laws and principles by which I have acquired my wisdom and stature. Follow my example, mastering as I have mastered, and you will become as I am, and all that I have will be yours.'

This parable parallels the pattern of heaven. The gospel of Jesus Christ promises the incomparable inheritance of eternal life, the fulness of the Father, and reveals the laws and principles by which it can be obtained." The Challenge to Become, Dallin H. Oaks,of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Previously in 2017

05/30/2017

For the last few months I have gone through what probably was depression. I've been through these moods before but I became more aware of it this time around and I wanted to search for the reason and also find the solution. I would say that I was more aware of it this time around because of Mary Kay. I know that sounds weird but I was forced to really evaluate what I wanted and why I wasn't getting it. It helped me put me under the microscope.

Throughout my life I have done several different things and would be "happy" for awhile but I would always get bored with it or it stopped making me happy and I would stop doing it and move on to something else.

Through these few months I have been forced to self reflect and why I do what I do. Many things I have done to fill a hole. A hole left by what I would describe as my biggest failure, which is, not being able to have kids. Now, I understand it isn't a "failure", the logical side of my brain knows it isn't but the emotional side feels this way. Infertility is a heartache and an emotion that you can't understand unless you're living it or lived it. There is a feeling that you are broken and/or forgotten. It is especially apparent to someone like me who, for the whole of her life, knew her purpose was to be a mother. My self worth and my purpose were wrapped into this. It was my reason for being, so for many years, I would wait. "I'll do this or this until my real reason for being is fulfilled".

This is the hardest for me to let go of.

So for the last month I have been concentrating on 3 things, my mental, physical and spiritual health. It is a work in progress but I know I need to stop waiting cause that's just another term for wasting time.

---I want to add that this is NOT a woe is me post or the reason why I was depressed. My depression was a natural end to a pattern that I wittingly or unwittingly set for myself through out my life which is why I would go through bouts of depression and I was awakened to the necessity that I needed to change and those 3 things are my way of doing so---

07/26/2017

I may not be a mother in the physically giving birth way but I have helped raise 4 kids these last 9 years and have, in my mind, a pretty good grasp of what kind of mother I will be. A perfectly imperfect one. I was thinking of all the judgments spoken or unspoken toward parents today. It honestly is appalling that people call CPS for a child playing alone outside in their own yard to whenever something bad happens jump on the crucify the parents bandwagon without first knowing all the facts. I wouldn't consider myself a helicopter or lawnmower person. I simply use common sense. I once took all 4 kids to the zoo and we stopped and ate lunch. The youngest was still in a stroller but able to walk but I kept her in the stroller for the most part. After the kids finished I instructed them to go ahead and throw away their trash while I tended to the youngest. They did so and then stood by the fence where the play ground area was which was right behind us. They stood that way staring longingly until I was finished. There was a lady with a newborn behind me at another table with her back to the playground so she didn't see where the other 3 had gone. I stood up, cleaned up the left over trash and of course clean the youngest and I hear "where are your other kids?" I simply say "behind you" and she responds "Oh, I didn't see them" and added "I didn't mean to sound like I was accusing or something". I wasn't sure how to respond so I just said "thank you, I understand and we should all look out for each other, right" she replies "well, I don't know about that". Really? So why the h e double hockey sticks did you open your mouth to begin with lady? Another time I took them to a restaurant, my first ever doing so by myself. It was alright once we got settled but there was a couple behind us with only one child. When they saw me with them they said "wow, you're so brave with 4 we can barely handle the one" and proceeded to help me unasked with everything. Yes, it was very nice and I did appreciate it but it wasn't needed. I don't believe they were judging necessarily but I did think to myself, "do they think I am incapable" and "do I look as though I'm struggling". What is it about having more than 1 that cause people to think that someone isn't capable of handling it or shouldn't have more than 1 or 2? If you can't handle more than your 1 or 2, it doesn't mean everyone should be relegated to the same number of kids. Anyone with more than 1 or 2 kids out there think they are judged for the number of kids they have?

Previously in 2016

4/24/2016

In the vision of the tree of life Lehi sees several groups of people. One group finds their way to the rod of iron and begins their journey towards the tree but when a mist of darkness begins to hinder their way they are lost because they let go. Another group finds their way through the mist and partake of the fruit but become ashamed immediately and after wandered away and were also lost. Then it speaks of a group that find their way and strive continuously to hold to the rod of iron and when they reached the tree, "they fell and partook of the fruit". I never noticed the word fell before and it caught my eye as I studied. They were so weary that they fell, so tired they could not stand but they stayed the course and endured to the end. May we too despite the hardships we face hold to the rod as tightly as they did.

https://www.ldsliving.com/Elder-Holland-Shares-the-Powerful-Rebuke-He-Received-While-with-His-Dying-Father-on-Christmas-Eve/s/87225?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=ctr

9/4/2016

As I sat in sacrament meeting today listening to all the testimonies, I thought to myself "the brighter the testimony, the hotter the fire". We are such imperfect beings and will fall short again and again. What makes you different and stronger is that you get up, dust yourself off and get right back in the fire. The refiner's fire. Through this process you learn more and more, little by little, until you come out as refined as the Lord would have you be. The saying be careful what you pray for is so true. If you ask for patience, how would you know what patience is if you aren't put into a situation in which to exercise it? Has anyone prayed that their day would go well and then proceed to have the worst day ever? If we go through life expecting things to be easy or that somehow because you have faith your life will be a bed of roses with no thorns or weeds, you will never progress. When the storms of life come you will baulk. You will stumble. You will toss your hands up in defiance and cry out are you not there? How could you let this happen? Or worst yet, I hate you. We are not perfect but through our faith can be made perfect through Christ but how do we expect perfection to come? It will not be wrapped up in an unscuffed box with a pretty little bow on your doorstep one day. It will look more like a box sent through the post office 5 days late because it got caught in the conveyor belt. The way is straight and narrow but few there be that find it. There's a post I did about several groups who tried to find their way to the tree of life and the first groups lost their way but the last held firm, firm through all adversity ignoring all who mocked them, to finally fall down and partake of the fruit of the tree. We live in such hard times. Times where we must choose the harder right over the easier wrong. It's hard, I understand. The lines have been so blurred and our hearts and minds confused. I say stand. Stand up! Stand firm! Hold to the truth! Hold onto to what you know. If you've fallen, get up! His hand is still there. His love is there. Let Him be your teacher, have faith and trust in the process. You can do it, you can make it.

9/22/2016

I have been through all the emotions of one who has not been blessed to carry a child. I've cried many tears, been bitter, angry, feeling broken, incomplete and forgotten. Then I finally do get pregnant and I have to make the heart breaking but necessary decision to end it. Despite that, however, I am truly in a good place now. I haven't been bitter or angry in many years and I certainly wasn't when we had to terminate the pregnancy. I was just sad. I want to be honest and say that although coming from a good place, sympathy is not wanted, guilt for having children is certainly not wanted, stepping on eggshells isn't wanted, advice on how to get pregnant isn't wanted (I know how it works) and suggesting adoption isn't wanted. I know we can but we haven't reached that point nor exhausted all options yet. What is wanted? A small prayer for us, that as we embark next year on truly exhausting those options that it will result in a child or children for us and know that even if it doesn't that we'll be ok. I am blessed. I know that God is aware of me, my pregnancy, albeit short, confirmed that to me and I know I certainly have not been forgotten. In the meantime, while I wait on the special one or ones that are being made for me, I have the wonderful opportunity to love 4 beautiful children and treat them as though they were my own and to feel even but for a moment that I am a mother in some small way and we have beautiful nieces and nephews that we love from a far. I know there are those who do keep us in their prayers and it's appreciated, they will certainly be needed in the coming years. I probably won't post that much about it but I saw this blog entry and it touched me and I had to share.

https://barrentobeautiful.com/2016/09/21/why-god-took-so-long-to-give-me-a-baby/

Previously in 2015

1/14/2015

So I was sitting at the Dr's office with my friend and this guy comes in. I smiled at him, he says "Hi how are you" I of course say "fine". He does a quick, what he thought was sly, ring check and proceeds to the window. The nurse had just stepped away for a moment and I told him that she'd be back shortly. He says "thank you" and then holds his hand out for me to shake it and says "You're beautiful by the way, your husband is a lucky man." I proceed to stammer a quick "thank you" while he proceeds to ask "how long have you been married" but still taken aback from his boldness I almost forgot to answer. "Ten years" I reply to which he says "Lucky man, he's a lucky man. You tell him that alright".

2/6/2015

I don't care if you ask me what I am. I don't care if you ask me if I have kids. I don't care if you ask me how many siblings I have. In short, I have several ethnicities running through my veins and I am proud to share that because that is who and what I am. I have trouble getting pregnant. I really want children and lost a baby last year. I have 2 sisters but I lost one 7 years ago. If you would like to inquire more please feel free to ask away. Yes the last 2 were hard to deal with but I am stronger because of those experiences and if by sharing that with someone can one day help them I wouldn't want someone thinking they can't ask me because oh it's too sensitive a subject. People want to know you and you are the sum of those experiences, if it's something you don't want to share, simply say I can't share that right now, it's too close yet but one day maybe I will and know that one day you can if you wish but it isn't something to be offended about. We throw that word around too freely.

Previously in 2014

2/3/2014

Grief is a funny thing. It can shatter your heart then turn around and strengthen you if you let it. It is the constant thought in the back of your mind. The awareness that your heart isn't whole. In the beginning you go about the motions of life because you have to and with time things get better and pain is replaced with hope. Some choose to remain in that place of pain thinking that that is the only way to remember or that somehow you deserve that pain but that just isn't true. Yes, there will always be times when you realize how much you miss what was taken and in a brief moment you grieve again, but you don't have to remain there and you shouldn't. It is cankerous to your spirit. Remember that everything has its opposite, with great sorrow there must be great happiness and it can and will follow. The key is hope, it is faith, it is knowing that it will be made right no matter what it is. God will make it right. Don't hate him for the things you feel he's taken or the things you feel he hasn't done. He has made you the promise that you will be made whole. I know that I will experience more sorrow in my life and I dread that day but I also know and have the promise that everything will be alright. "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

5/30/2014
I tend to dam up my emotions until it's too much and I have no other choice but to cry. Sometimes it's all we can do. The month of May has been particularly hard for me. I've shed my tears. I've put it in its place and I'm moving forward. I do believe everything happens for a reason and there are moments in our lives that we don't and won't understand but as I've said time and time again, no matter what, there's always hope. I'm grateful for the gospel, I'm grateful for my Savior and for the atonement that encompasses so much more than suffering for our sins. He knows what true heartache and pain feel like, physical and emotional and even He wept. The one who created all things, who can see all, wept. Believe in Him, have faith and hope that all will be made right. He can never forget us, we are imprinted in the palms of his hands.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=zt0BKDOe3x0

far away from other places, buildings, or people; an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous

Isolation and Fear

We have been under a shelter-in-place/self quarantine for the last 3 going on 4 weeks and until the end of April. I have a feeling, however, that this will be extended.

I haven't necessarily felt the need to post anything spiritually profound but I do feel the need to post something.

For the last few days I have been feeling very sluggish. I procrastinate getting out of bed. I procrastinate, knowing I have more painting to do and I feel generally unmotivated to do anything.

I am not what you would call an outgoing person. I am pretty much an introvert in all the ways one can be. I am a stay at home type of person. So in the beginning, this directive didn't bother me at all. 

I could get my kitchen done without worrying about anything I had to do outside of my home. We weren't having to go to church so I didn't have to prepare a lesson so I felt in a way, free. I had no other obligations except those I placed upon myself.

I love doing sacrament at home and I am beginning to feel like I could do church like this forever but I know that's not the case. I know that we need that interaction with our brothers and sisters to help strengthen each other and really church is the most social I am.

I don't fear this virus but as the time in isolation begins to lengthen and more and more of our freedoms are being etched away, what I really fear is that our freedoms will not be restored every whit whole after this passes.

We have been following this directive and I do believe there is a time and place for something like this. What if, though, what if they have to implement something more drastic? What is to stop them, meaning those in power, knowing they can easily control people, from keeping that power OR only restoring a few freedoms?

When I was in cosmetology school we had a few guest speakers from time to time. One guest speaker was someone from Africa an adult now was kidnapped as a child by a rebel militant group and forced to be a soldier. This group, I believe were hiding out in the Congo, had the African people living in fear, not knowing when their villages were going to be attacked. When I asked him how many were a part of this "army" the answer astounded me. I can't remember the exact number but it was small. Small in comparison to the many people they were able to attack. 

How was this accomplished? Fear.

We've begun watching the new Star Trek series Picard. One of my favorite lines from Picard is this:

"Fear is an incompetent teacher". That it is.

There is so much misinformation out there being regurgitated all over social media and even the regular media concerning this virus. 

The measures we are to take haven't changed since this all started:

Clean your hands often
Avoid close contact
Stay home if you’re sick
Cover coughs and sneezes
Wear a facemask if you are sick
Clean and disinfect surfaces

Somehow, however, this has translated to stay at home, don't go anywhere, hoard anything and everything, people unable to pay their bills because they can't work, etc.

Why? Fear.

be aware of; know of the existence of

People are going through so many different emotions with what is happening right now. The whole world has been stopped, turned on its collective head, held hostage by fear.

What makes a person hopeful in times like these?

Why is it that with all the turmoil around us that the call to hear the Lord, the call to be still and know that He is God, is running parallel to this chaos?

President Nelson's latest video made it to the trending page of YouTube and in reading the comments I found the majority of people, many of whom were not members of the same faith, taking comfort in his words but I think they missed a fundamental call from the Lord. "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise."

Did you hear it?

Along with those that took comfort in President Nelson's words, were others who mocked, asked why doesn't he just pray this virus away, religion is what caused this (🤦), why would God allow thousands to die, etc.

See a previous blog post titled Deliverance for my answer to those type of people.

I also saw another comment in that same video that said "Hope is not a substitute for planning".

I responded, "Of course it isn't a replacement for planning. As members we have been told for decades to be prepared for emergencies. Have a 3 month emergency supply of food storage plus a year supply of long term food supply. Have our emergency essentials kits ready and up to date. This message is to help with our spiritual well being which is just as important in times of uncertainty as our physical. It helps us to remember that although things may be in a state of turmoil, we can find certainty in our faith in Christ and if we are prepared in all things (both physically and spiritually) we shall not fear."

I do worry, however, for those that refuse to hear.

I believe this and many of the other tragedies befalling us all around the world is a call for us to remember the Lord, a call to repentance. I know we will have a moment of peace after all of this is over but sooner than later, when we get complacent again, the wickedness of the world will increase and no more chances will be given. Then will all the promises of the Lord be fulfilled and the truth laid out for all to see  and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ.

A written or verbal request inviting someone to go somewhere or to do something

Rare as it is, Heavenly Father has appeared or His voice has been heard. In the scriptures where God the Father and Jesus Christ have appeared together He has always started first with, other than greeting the witness by name, "this is my beloved Son, hear Him."

He first testifies of who Jesus is and then as any loving Father would pleads with the listener, His other child(ren), to hear.

To hear is to perceive or become aware of; to gain knowledge of and from; to listen to with attention.

"Have you ever stopped to ask, “Why?” Why is our Heavenly Father so insistent—and consistent—in His plea that we should hear His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ?

 Jesus answered this question Himself. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6; emphasis added).

Our Father loves us and yearns for each one of us to choose to return to His holy presence. He pleads with us to listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed and appointed as our Mediator, Savior, and Redeemer." 

Russell M. Nelson
President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I sometimes feel we can start just going through the motions of "belief". We begin to draw near to Him with our lips but our hearts and minds are far from Him. I'm sure this happens in other denominations as well.

We are asked to put off the natural man to be one in purpose and mission with Christ and Heavenly Father. How can we do that if we are so caught up in the ways of the world?

Heavenly Father stated what his mission was from the very beginning, "to bring to pass the immortality and Eternal life of man."

This is no secret. It has been the cause of all believers or at least should be that we have the same mission.

Why then is it so hard to listen and obey?

Why then is it so hard to spread the gospel?

Peter was told by Jesus, "when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."

When thou art converted.

"What is this process of conversion that each son and daughter of God must experience if they are to help others return back into His presence?

The first seeds of conversion begin with an awareness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and a desire to know the truth...

...conversion happens over a period of time as study, prayer, experience, and faith will help us to grow in our testimony and conversion.

We come out of the world into the kingdom of God. In the conversion process, we experience repentance, which brings about humility and a broken heart and contrite spirit, preparing us for baptism, remission of sins, and receiving the Holy Ghost.

Knowing the truth and gaining a testimony strengthen us to stay on the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life. As testimony grows, we become more and more converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we follow Him, we commit ourselves to serve Him by serving others.

We whose conversion is sufficient must reach out to those who wander. As we do, we will find great joy in gathering the Lord’s sheep.

Like Peter, many are converted and leave the things of this world to follow the Lord.

Like Peter, when we are called to be fishers of Father’s children, do we go “a fishing” (John 21:3) and forget to feed His lambs and sheep? Like Peter, when those around us are suffering or feeling fearful and need our fellowship and help, do we sleep at the garden gate? (see Matt. 26:36–46).

Brothers and sisters, do we really understand the teachings of the Savior, “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren”? (Luke 22:32). Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep. Feeding the lambs could well be missionary labors working with newly baptized members, who must be nurtured and given caring warmth and fellowship in the family of Saints. Feeding the sheep could well refer to the mature members of the Church, some active and some less active, who need to be cared for and brought back to the flock.

Help me reach a friend in darkness;

Help me guide him through the night.

Help me show thy path to glory

By the Spirit’s holy light. …

Help me find thy lambs who wander;

Help me bring them to thy keep.

Teach me, Lord, to be a shepherd;

Father, help me feed thy sheep."

Robert D. Hales
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

 "Who hath ears, let him hear."

I have no doubt that if we all heard the voice of God the Father we would recognize it. Why do we have a hard time recognizing it when His words are spoken through another?

The Lord has stated "whether by mine own voice or the voice of my servants it is the same." If there is anyone I trust to be that voice it is His prophets and apostles.

However, we too are His servants, His voice, His hands and we have the responsibility to reach out and spread the gospel. It is no wonder that the majority of the House of Israel that has been gathered at this moment is Ephraim. Ephraim has a charge to bring the gospel to all.

"Ephraim was given the birthright in Israel (1 Chr. 5:1–2; Jer. 31:9). In the last days their privilege and responsibility is to bear the priesthood, take the message of the restored gospel to the world, and raise an ensign to gather scattered Israel (Isa. 11:12–13; 2 Ne. 21:12–13)."

I am not a great missionary. I have ignored the spirit at times telling me to strike up a conversation with someone. I've royally screwed up when I do listen knowing the exact moment when I've lost the "listener"and it causes apprehension just to think about praying for a missionary experience. I fear. I fear rejection, lack of understanding, inability to make sense or give the listener meat before milk.

I have a strong testimony of the Savior. I can pinpoint every point in my life where little by little it brought me to a full knowledge that He is there, that He listens, that He answers prayers, that I am not forgotten.

I envy the freshly converted. So full of the brightness of hope and fire of the Gospel.

So much more I lack.

May we follow Christ's example, may we follow the Prophets and Apostles and work toward a more solid conversion. May we all be filled with a brightness of hope and Charity for all to be able to lovingly and sincerely invite all to hear Him.

Can we be what we believe?

Deliverance

We had a special musical number in church following a great talk about how sometimes we feel as though we are drowning but through our faith we can stay afloat. The musical number was a special arrangement of Master The Tempest Is Raging. It was just beautiful and matched so well with the talks.

It is one of my favorite hymns and its words are ones I know my own heart has sung a time or two. I love the dark harsher melody when the storm rages and the soul cries out "Lord, help me" and then the sweet melody of relief and peace that follow.

I hate the question "if there was a God, why does he let bad things happen" or "...he wouldn't let bad things happen", as though the question and statement is verifiable proof that He does not exist.

I hate it, not because there is no answer, but because it is impossible to convey those reasons if one has not felt the peace and deliverance of the spirit during and after times of pain, struggle, or sorrow.

It is erroneous to think that because you believe in God it means you're safe from experiencing the harsh realities of life.

Life can be hard. Life without knowing God is even harder.

One of the purposes of life is to be happy.

"Men are that they might have joy" 2 Ne 2 vs 25

How would one know true joy without the deepest sorrow? Love without hate? Right without wrong?

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so...righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." 2 Ne 2 vs 11

Having faith provides us with a brightness of hope and sharpens our focus on the light ahead so that we do not drown in the darkness that threatens to consume us when those bad times inevitably come.

How I wish we sang this more.

"Master, the tempest is raging!
The billows are tossing high!
The sky is o’ershadowed with blackness.
No shelter or help is nigh.
Carest thou not that we perish?
How canst thou lie asleep
When each moment so madly is threat’ning
A grave in the angry deep?

Master, with anguish of spirit
I bow in my grief today.
The depths of my sad heart are troubled.
Oh, waken and save, I pray!
Torrents of sin and of anguish
Sweep o’er my sinking soul,
And I perish! I perish! dear Master.
Oh, hasten and take control!

The winds and the waves shall obey thy will:
Peace, be still.
Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea
Or demons or men or whatever it be,
No waters can swallow the ship where lies
The Master of ocean and earth and skies.

They all shall sweetly obey thy will:

Peace, be still; peace, be still.
They all shall sweetly obey thy will:
Peace, peace, be still.

Master, the terror is over.
The elements sweetly rest.
Earth’s sun in the calm lake is mirrored,
And heaven’s within my breast.
Linger, O blessed Redeemer!
Leave me alone no more,
And with joy I shall make the blest harbor
And rest on the blissful shore."
Text: Mary Ann Baker, ca. 1874