Elaine Dalton gave a general conference talk about virtue. The thing that struck me about her talk was it was not just a virtue, but a RETURN to virtue. When I look around the world today I see many sad examples of people lacking virtue. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I want to be known as somebody who is virtuous. Sister Dalton say, “Virtue begins in the heart and the mind.” We really have to desire to be virtuous in order for our hearts to be set on it, but I believe if we try to live our lives with virtue or “a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards” we can be a huge force for good in this world.

Also, as a coincidence I opened my fortune cookie and it said, "Your virtues are a priceless treasure." I would have to agree.

Faith

Today I am teaching the kids ages 8-12 about faith. One of the suggestions in the manual is to tell some stories from the scriptures about somebody who showed faith. One of the stories it recommended was about the 2000 stripling warriors. I love this story. If you haven't read it in a while, I recommend it. These young men were born into families of faith. Their fathers had covenanted not to go to war and use weapons ever again and their mothers had taught them to have faith. When their fathers were in a position requiring that they might break their covenant, these young men offered to go to war so their fathers wouldn't have to fight. They went forth with courage and faith and fought with strength.

If that isn't an example of faithful families I don't know what is.

Article of Faith #13 Part 2 Honest and True

The thirteenth article of faith say "We believe in being honest, true..."

Whenever I think of being honest and true, I think of integrity. There are many quotations in the scriptures about honesty/being true/integrity, but anytime I think of that character trait I associate it my Grandpa Schmidt. My whole life, anytime someone would talk about integrity, my parents would tell me about how much integrity my Grandpa had. A couple years ago, my dad wrote me a letter of advice. I treasure this letter and the important things my dad said in it. This is what he writes about integrity:

"One of my favorite words in the English language is integrity. I like it because it is more than honesty. It is like honesty on steroids. It means that you are honest when it doesn't matter to anyone and no one but you knows the difference. It means that you have enough self-respect that you will do what is right because it is right. Your grandfather was a lot like that and I have always known that I could count on Henry Schmidt's moral compass if mine was in a magnetic field or not sending a clear signal. It is better to give a little more to the other guy than it to be off balance on your own side....An example of this was when dad was bailing hay in Wyoming during the depression. He had contracted with a man to bail his hay and then haul it to Salt Lake and sell it. As I remember the story, dad was to bail and haul the hay to Salt Lake and they would split the money in half. The man really needed his share of money fast so dad gave it to him in advance. Dad couldn't r really afford to do this but the man was pretty desperate. When dad got to Salt Lake with the hay the price had gone up considerably. Because the deal had been made in advance, dad had every right to keep the added money , but my pop split the profit right down the middle and shared the gain rather than keep it for himself. It probably would not have mattered if dad kept the gain and the other fellow would never have known the difference. What does matter is dad did the right thing. Never let anything get in the way of your integrity."

There was a day when I was in a clinical rotation and I was writing a note in the chart and I went to write down my finding on the abdominal exam. I realized I had forgotten to do it, but I knew it was normal because the patient told me they were feeling great and hadn't noticed any problems. I was about to write down that the abdominal exam was normal (I had seen my preceptor do the same thing many times before). Then I started thinking about my Grandpa Schmidt and the meaning of integrity. I knew that by writing that the abdominal exam was normal I was certifying that I had done it, even though I hadn't. I realized that losing my integrity was not worth the few minutes it would take me to walk down the hall and actually DO the abdominal exam. It only took me a few minutes, and it was normal (as I had expected it would be), but I new in my heart that I had done the right thing. That to me is what it means to be honest and true. I believe in being honest and true.

13th Article of Faith ;Part 1-Benevolence

I love the 13th Article of Faith. It has always been a favorite to me because of all the important things that are discussed in it. SO rather than doing one post about it, I have decided to do it in parts over time.

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Benevolence is such an all encompassing word. As I am reading these scriptures I am learning what it means to be benevolent. It is being kind and treating others nicely. It is “doing good continually” (Alma 41:14) and constantly looking for ways to help others. It is being merciful (Josh 2:12) and giving somebody and second chance when they are down on their luck or have made a wrong choice. It is imparting of your substance to the poor (James 1:27) and not keeping all your money and time for yourself and selfish pursuits. It is being concerned about the welfare of another person’s soul(Enos 1:9) and sharing the gospel. It is forgiving (Luke 23:34) and realizing that if Christ and forgive everyone on this earth and atone for our sins then we must also forgive our fellow men. As a member of the church I believe in being benevolent (which gives me a lot to work on.)

Ask and ye shall receive

Matthew 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Yesterday, I went to the temple. The temple is the house of the Lord where faithful members of the church (at a mature age) can come worship. As I was sitting in the temple I was hoping to feel the Holy Ghost give me some kind of prompting or inspiration. But nothing was happening. I kept praying that the spirit would come to me and I was just about at the end of the session and I still couldn't feel anything. I was getting frustrated and not understanding why it wasn't coming. Then all of a sudden I felt the Holy Ghost come to me. I felt warm and peaceful inside. It was such a wonderful feeling. A feeling that can only happen when you are learning truth or experiencing the tender mercies of the Lord. There wasn't any kind of specific prompting or inspiration that came with this sweet whispering of the Holy Ghost. It was simply a loving comfort. I learned that Heavenly Father DOES hear the pleadings of our hearts and answer our prayer. Also, that the Holy Ghost is truly the comforter and I am grateful for that gift.

Direction in Life

Can you imagine drifting through life without thinking it had a purpose? Trying to imagine my life without Heavenly Father in it is difficult. It would be bleak and so pointless. Thankfully, I know that there is a Heavenly Father. I was thinking a lot about the way knowing this changes my life. By knowing that there is a Father in Heaven it then leads to the question what does that Heavenly Father want for me?? He wants us to have his greatest gift, which is eternal life. “If you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” Knowing that, gives me a whole new goal and purpose. Eternal life. That is what I want, eternal life, the greatest gift from God. The next logical thing to look at is what do I need to do to obtain this gift. “press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, … [we] shall have eternal life.” In this scripture it says keep the commandments, which requires that we KNOW the commandments and endure to the end. I think enduring to the end has a lot to do with keep that goal constantly in mind. Elder Nelson sums this up in his talk when he said, “Brothers and sisters, our busy lives force us to focus on things we do from day to day. But the development of character comes only as we focus on who we really are. To establish and accomplish those greater goals, we do need heavenly help.”

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.