Preparedness

This week I listened to some of the conference talks that I had missed. One theme that struck me and then was reinforced to me this weekend at our ward camp out is the theme of preparedness. Right now I sit in my apartment, munching on food (which is plentiful), in comfortable clothes, where the temperature is easily adjusted and there is water and electricity. I am in good health, I have a great job that I enjoy, I have a wonderful husband and my family is doing great. However, I know that trials are inevitable. I have learned through the wise counsel of our prophets that we should prepare for trials by physically having the things that are necessary. They have recommended that we have 72 hour kits and food storage. I have been motivated by this counsel and I am working on getting myself prepared temporally. While I know this is important I was touched by a second principle. The idea that spoke to me was the importance of SPIRITUAL PREPAREDNESS. Elder Ballard discussed the lessons learned from the scriptures. In the scriptures we see a pattern of people who are blessed by Heavenly Father and because the have all they need they stop looking to the Lord for help and become prideful and start to sin and eventually they are "compelled" to be humble. I have seen this in my own life by my scripture study habits. When I am having a hard time in my life I do a better job of staying up on scripture study than when everything is going perfect. One of the way I can be spiritually prepared for hard times is to keep up on my scripture reading and my relationship with my Heavenly Father. I am going to work hard at preparing myself for hard times, by learning how to feel the comfort and peace of the Holy Ghost. By getting the habits of pondering scriptures and likening them to myself, I will be more prepared for trials. I am grateful for the apostles and prophets of our day who have reminded me and warned me to prepare for trials.

Easter

This morning the sun came streaming in our window and woke me up. The bright beauty of the sun is how I imagined the first Easter day was. I have been thinking about how important Easter is to me all day and how I could express my testimony on this blog. I think the time I felt the atonement touch my heart most was when I went to the temple before I got married. I was there for the first time and realized that the only reason I was able to be in such a pure in holy place was because of repentance. I wish I could describe this feeling I had of sitting there in the beautiful white surroundings and have the warmth of forgiveness wash over me. I had the sweet spirit remind me that because of Jesus Christ I could come to the temple. There I was able to worship and come closer to Heavenly Father and I could be sealed to me wonderful husband for time and all eternity. The atonement gives us the chance to have a peace in our hearts. It gives us the opportunity to be clean of our sins. I am so grateful for that peace and knowledge that Christ's sacrifice was for me individually.

The organzation

Beyond just the truthfulness of the gospel, I think the organization of the church is pretty incredible. It is amazing that is runs on the sacrifice and service of the members of the church. Nobody is paid we are just asked to volunteer. Callings are based on prayer and inspiration. I have had different callings. At times I have had callings that I didn't know if I could handle during school or with other obligations, but each time I accept a calling Heavenly Father provides a way for me to accomplish all that I need to do. I also have learned to love different groups of people through different callings. When I was a freshman at BYU I was called to be a FHE group leader and I really came to love each of the people that met together in our group. I still think about them and wonder how they are doing. As I think about the various callings I have had throughout my life the faces of those that I learned to love pop into my head. I could go through and talk about each calling and things I learned from each group of people, but I'll just say that I think the organzation of the church is divinely inspired. It provides us with opportunities to share in the lives of others and in a slight way see how Heavenly Father is concerned about our wellbeing and show us how to be more concerned with the welfare and potential of others.

Article of Faith #12

We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.

In college I took BYU's american heritage course. I loved it (I know that I am in the minority on that one). We talked about morality and how we need laws. Laws exist because there are things that are morally right and wrong. We need to support the law, because without them we can lose some of our sense of moral justice.

Article of Faith #11

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

I think this one is pretty straightforward, but I think that it is a good reminder that there are people and points in history where this wasn't so straightforward. I love that it says privilege. It is a privilege to worship God the way we feel is right. I am grateful for that blessing and gift I have to live in a time and in a country where the only thing the prevents me from worshipping the way I should/want to is myself. It really makes me want to take advantage of the gift more and make sure I don't take my scriptures or church attendance for granted.

Paradox

I went to an enrichment meeting yesterday where a we had an interesting speaker talk about paradoxes in our church. One that I thought was really interesting is that we believe that we are the only true church on the earth, but we also believe that we have a lot in common with other religions and we want people to know that we are just like them in many of our beliefs.

I think both of these things are correct. There are pieces of truth in all religions. When the church was restored to the earth through Joseph Smith it pulled the pieces of truth back in to one whole package that included the priesthood authority. This is why you can feel the Spirit when talking about Jesus Christ or our Heavenly Father, no matter who you are speaking with. I remember once visiting a friend of mine. We went to her church and I was sitting in the congregation and had an experience where the still small voice of the Spirit gave me an answer to my prayer. I knew that what the preacher was talking about was true. While I knew that there was truth in his sermon, I also knew that some things were missing and it wasn't complete. I know that with the priesthood authority and the restoration of all things in the gospel (including ongoing prophetic revelation) I am a member of the true church on the earth today and yet many of the things I believe are taught everyday from pulpits of other religions.

Article of Faith #10

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisaical glory.

To be able to write on this one I had to do more research about the 10 tribes. I didn't know why the 10 tribes were important. What I learned that applies to me is this:

1)Heavenly Father made a covenant with Abraham that his descendants would be given the gospel and the chance to be exalted. When Heavenly Father makes a covenant, he will fulfil it.

2)I was really struck by the love that Heavenly Father has for his children. That is why he wants to gather us. To me, when the scriptures talked about the gathering of Israel, it means the gathering of all His children. We all have the opportunity to be part of Israel and to be gathered if we accept the gospel. Accepting the gospel is not just being baptised either. It is accepting it everyday in the way we choose to live.

3)In order to help people realize their place in the Kingdom of Heaven, I need to share the gospel with them.