Love is spelled T-I-M-E

What a week!  The other day in my institute class, we were having a discussion about how to find time to read the scriptures.  I get it, it can be REALLY hard sometimes!  Life can be stressful and busy sometimes and we feel like we don't have a spare second let alone a spare half hour.  However, there is definitely somewhere in the 24 hours we are given every day to study the scriptures.  If someone made a goal to study the scriptures for a half of an hour everyday, that would only be a small part of the day, really 1/48th of the day! Not bad eh? When you think of it like that it doesn't seem too hard.  Heavenly Father   wants to teach us, and those teachings come through reading, and more importantly studying His words.

"When we want to speak to God, we pray.  

When we want God to speak to us, we study and ponder the scriptures"

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, in the October 2010 General Conference said, "In family relationships, love is really spelled t-i-m-e".  I have always loved this quote!  I know that I feel loved when someone takes time out of their busy day to spend time with me, serving me, or even simply listening to me.  Our Heavenly Father is no different.  We can show how much we love Him by giving our time to listen to Him.  He wants to communicate with us so badly, but He will wait until we ask, and search for answers.  I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and I know that He loves all of His children.  I know that I can ask Him for help and guidance any time in my life anytime!

Shall be Scripture

My institute class this semester is titled, "Scripture Study: The power of the word",  and I have absolutely loved every minute in that classroom!!! There are so many incredible insights and tools that we have.  In the first couple of days, we tried to answer the question: "What is scripture?" At first, everyone thought... DUH, the four standard works! The Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, and the Bible!  But when our teacher brought up things like General Conference,  the Strength of Youth Pamphlet, etc... we came up with a new definition of "scripture": Anything that comes from the Lord or from one of His prophets!! Sounds good enough right?  That's what we thought anyway... Then Brother Simms showed us a scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants 68:3-4:

3. And this is the example unto them, that they shall 

speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost.

4.  And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon 

by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the 

will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall 

be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the 

Lord and the power of God unto salvation.

What does this mean you may ask??  It means, any words that the Holy Ghost has influence on is scripture.  It means that blessings from my dad are scripture.  It means that personal promptings that I receive are scripture.  It means that if a missionary is teaching a discussion, what he or she says, is SCRIPTURE!!! exciting huh??? I thought so :)

Becometh as a Child... a Child of God!

This last week has been insane, and packed full of pretty rough trials and beautiful blessings. First off, last Friday was Sarah's, my adorable little sister's, eighth birthday.  The next day was her baptism.  She is the last of the six kids in our family to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and we are SO proud of her.  At her baptism, our older brother Kyle gave a talk about the power of the Holy Ghost, and how He can be our best friend and mentor in this life.  I know that to be true.  The Holy Ghost will always be there to offer comfort when we need it.  But I also know that He will not fight for our attention.  If we are in a place or situation where He is not comfortable, He will leave until we invite Him back.  I was so happy and proud to see Sarah receive that beautiful gift of having the power of the Holy Ghost be with her everywhere that she goes.

The next day, Sunday, was my nephew Adam's baby blessing, and I gained a testimony that day that Heavenly Father truly cares about and loves His children to no end.  I know that my Heavenly Father loves that little boy.  Between Adam and Sarah this weekend, I understood better the commandment to become like children in Mosiah 3:19:

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been since the fall of Adam,

and he will be forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy

Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh as a saint though the 

atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek,

humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the

Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

I have a newfound love for this scripture, and because of this, I have made myself a few goals for this next week:

1. Put off the natural man.  In a trying situation, have the courage to say "Get out of here Satan! No one likes you anyway!!" :)

2. Be submissive.  In other words, OBEY, even if I don't quite know the reasons why.

3. Be meek. Always treat others as if they are having a bad day.  An remember that everyone is going through their own trials.

4.  Be humble.  Be willing to admit that I am wrong and willing to accept someone else's ideas above my own.

5.  Be patient.  I have five siblings... three of younger than me... This will totally work! :)

6.  Full of Love.  See everyone around me as a son or daughter of a loving Heavenly Father and sincerely try to love them in that same way.  (The worth of souls is great in the sight of God.)

7.  Willing to submit to my Father in Heaven.  He has a plan.  A plan that is a LOT better than whatever I could come up with.  I'm going to completely put my life into His hands.

If you are reading this, whoever you are, I want to challenge you to meet these goals along with me, or create your own!  I promise that as you put forth the effort to draw closer to Heavenly Father, He will draw closer to you.