Because I Have Been Given Much

I love to see the temple. 
I’m going there someday 
To feel the Holy Spirit, 
To listen and to pray. 
For the temple is a house of God, 
A place of love and beauty. 
I’ll prepare myself while I am young; 
This is my sacred duty. 

I love to see the temple. 
I’ll go inside someday. 
I’ll cov’nant with my Father; 
I’ll promise to obey. 
For the temple is a holy place 
Where we are sealed together. 
As a child of God, I’ve learned this truth: 
A fam’ly is forever.

God is so awesome. He really knows the desires of our hearts. So well in fact, he sometimes answers they prayers we’ve neglected to say.

There was a stake Relief Society conference last weekend. There were talks and some videos and activities and crafts and then there was a (delicious) luncheon. I went by myself and was pretty much on my own for most of it (not that anyone was unfriendly) since I’m so new and I was the only YSA who went. 

But during lunch I just happened to end up at a table full of converts. We had some good conversation. (I really, really love being able to discuss the gospel with people, trading insights and experiences.) One of the ladies had just joined the church this year and commented that she wished that she’d found the gospel a lot earlier, like I did, so she could have “done things right.” I can see where she’s coming from. I mean, of course I wish I’d gotten to go to girls’ camp and I’d love to have my family sealed in the temple. BUT I firmly believe that when and how we come into the gospel is an important part of Heavenly Father’s plan for us. I’ve been thinking about that a lot this week.

If I’d been raised in the church I would never have ended up where I am. I wouldn’t have had nearly the same experiences and I wouldn’t have a lot of the same perspective or opinions that I do. I would be a very different person and I like who I am! I wouldn’t have gone to IU (where I did find the gospel), I wouldn’t have met Ben, I would probably still be majoring in the wrong thing as a junior somewhere like Penn State or BYU.

If I’d met missionaries only a couple of months before I actually started learning about the church, there is no way I would have listened to what they had to share. There were so many factors that prepared me to hear the gospel exactly when I did, from the way my friendship with the few church members I knew was progressing to some horrible events that lead me to finally getting out of a bad relationship. (He would not have let me investigate the church. it was that kind of relationship and he was that kind of person.) But even that relationship played a huge role in me being in the right place at the right time, which is why I don’t regret it. And if I Ben hadn’t shared the gospel when he did, who knows where I would have ended up! Things in my life got messy after I joined the church so I promise it wouldn’t have been good.

I have a very firm testimony of this gospel which includes the why, the how, and the when. I’m sure those who are born and raised LDS are so blessed for a specific reason. Those of us who have converted have taken a much different path, but I’m sure it was just what Heavenly Father intended for us. And for those who have yet to have such an opportunity I know Heavenly Father has beautiful plans also.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

madithemormon:

You say “the scriptures” instead of “the bible” and people are confused

Faith

Now Faith, in the sense in which I am here using the word, is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods. For moods will change, whatever view your reason takes. I know that by experience. Now that I am a Christian I have moods in which the whole thing looks very improbable: but when I was an atheist I had moods in which Christianity looked terribly probable. This rebellion of moods against your true self is going to come anyway. That is why faith is such a necessary virtue: unless you teach your moods “where they get off,” you can never be either a sound Christian or even a sound atheist, but just a creature dithering to and fro, with its beliefs really dependent on the weather and the state of its digestion. Consequently one must train the habit of Faith.

Mere Christianity 

Helaman 6:22
And it came to pass that they did have their signs, yea, their secret signs, and their secret words; and this that they might distinguish a brother who had entered into the covenant, that whatsoever wickedness his brother should do he should not be injured by his brother, nor by those who did belong to his band, who had taken this covenant. 

(referencing the Gadianton robbers)

Dangit. I ran out of pass-along cards and I haven’t been able to get more. I should have asked the missionaries for some today.

Oh, and today I signed up for a ward temple trip that’s happening next month. It’s an endowment trip so I won’t get to actually do anything. I’m at the point where I don’t even care. I’ll just sit outside and read my scriptures. It’s worth the travel time, it’s worth missing work. I just need to be there. 

I’ve been experimenting with my use of technology on the Sabbath. The past couple of Sundays I haven’t used the internet at all. The last night I let my phone die and I didn’t charge it all day.
I found that giving up the internet has been good. I can still catch up on tumblr and other spiritual things later on and I’m not distracted by mindless browsing. I’m spending more time doing productive things like reading the scriptures, journaling, etc. 
Giving up the phone, however was less good. Sure, I’m tempted to check facebook on my phone while I’m at church but I generally have the willpower to stay focused on why I’m there. All day I found myself wanting to use my phone for things that were definitely okay for the Sabbath (like looking up a conference talk during Relief Society) than for distracting things. I’ll keep it with me on Sundays for now on. 

Since I moved I’ve started a journal for taking notes during church. I’ve found that I’m more attentive, less tempted to play with my phone or do other inappropriate things, and I get more out of the talks and lessons. It’s a habit I’d recommend. 

Another thing I’ve recently discovered is that singing some hymns or other uplifting things before church serves a a great warm-up. It puts me in a good mindset to go to church and I can hit the high notes in the hymns much more easily.