Standing Alone

It is ironic that as members of the Church, sometimes we are the most lost and confused people.  When trials arise it is easy to let Satan get us down by making us feel like we are 1 person against the world.  In preparing for my lesson in Sunday School tomorrow I came across a few things that might be able to help us combat that feeling of loneliness.

I was reading in Alma 23-24 about the Anti-Nephi Lehies and how they stood up for what they believed even though the Lamanites were coming to kill them.  The were truly converted to the gospel and so they knew they had to defend their beliefs even if that meant dying to avoid what they had promised not to do.  In our lives we often find that we have to defend our faith to others.  Hopefully you do a better job of that than I do.  I do not deny my beliefs, but sometimes I walk small until the threat has passed.  I guess it is because I am scared to stand up and be alone.

President Thomas S. Monson has two excellent talks that deal with this issue.  I quote first from a talk called "May You Have Courage" from the April 2009 Relief Society session of General Conference:

"As I contemplate all that you face in the world today, one word comes to my mind.  It describes an attribute needed by all of us but one which you - at this time of your life and in this world - will need particularly.  That attribute is courage."

"My final plea tonight is that you have the courage to stand firm for truth and righteousness.  Because the trend in society today is away from the values and principles the Lord has given us, you will almost certainly be called upon to defend that which you believe.  Unless the roots of your testimony are firmly planted, it will be difficult for you to withstand the ridicule of those who challenge your faith.  When firmly planted, your testimony of the gospel, of the Savior, and of our Heavenly Father will influence all that you do throughout your life.  The adversary would like nothing better than for you to allow derisive comments and criticism of the Church to cause you to question and doubt.  Your testimony, when constantly nourished, will keep you safe."

 These comments from President Monson helped me realized how I can get some of that courage.  The stronger my testimony, the more courage I will have.  President Monson also tells a story in the October 2011 Priesthood session of General Conference in a talk called "Dare to Stand Alone" that helped me realize that even when we think we are alone, we really aren't.  I would paraphrase it, but for you ladies who may not have had the chance to hear it, I have quoted it:

"Navy boot camp was not an easy experience for me, nor for anyone who endured it.  For the first three weeks I was convinced my life was in jeopardy.  The navy wasn't trying to train me; it was trying to kill me.

I shall ever remember when Sunday rolled around after the first week.  We received welcome news from the chief petty officer.  Standing at attention on the drill ground in a brisk California breeze, we heard his command: 'Today everybody goes to church - everybody, that is, except for me.  I am going to relax!'  Then he shouted, 'All of you Catholics, you meet in Camp Decatur - and don't come back until three o'clock.  Forward, march!'  A rather sizeable contingent moved out.  Then he barked out his next command: 'Those of you who are Jewish, you meet in Camp Henry - and don't come back until three o'clock.  Forward, march!'  A somewhat smaller contingent marched out.  Then he said, 'The rest of you Protestants, you meet in the theaters at Camp Farragut - and don't come back until three o'clock.  Forward, march!'

Instantly there flashed through my mind the though, 'Monson, you are not a Catholic; you are not a Jew; you are not a Protestant.  You are a Mormon, so you just stand here!'  I can assure you that I felt completely alone.  Courageous and determined, yes - but alone.

And then I heard the sweetest words I ever heard that chief petty officer utter.  He looked in my direction and asked, 'And just what do you guys call yourselves?'  Until that very moment I had not realized that anyone was standing beside me or behind me on the drill ground.  Almost in unison, each of us replied, 'Mormons!'  It is difficult to describe the joy that filled my heart as I turned around and saw a handful of other sailors."

 I am reminded of an experience I had when I was probably about 14 years old in church.  We were having a combined lesson and a great leader of mine named Donny Helvey was teaching it.  At one point he asked if any of us had the courage to stand up for Christ.  He challenged the crowd to prove their devotion to Christ right then and there.  I remember feeling chills.  I knew that I believed in Christ and had a testimony, but my stomach shrunk and I couldn't make myself do anything but sit there and look at everyone else awkwardly.  It felt like forever, but in reality it was only seconds before a young man named Jake Hyer stood straight up and bore a short, devoted testimony of Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.  The Spirit was so strong at that moment and lingered throughout the rest of the lesson.  It made me think really hard about myself.  If I could not even get up in Church, a safe place, and proclaim my love for the Savior and the gospel, how would I be able to do it as a missionary or to my friends or my future children?  Since then, I have found a lot of strength in the truth that President Monson later pointed in his 2011 "Dare to Stand Alone" talk:

"May we ever be courageous and prepared to stand for what we believe, and if we must stand alone in the process, may we do so courageously, strengthened by the knowledge that in reality we are never alone when we stand with our Father in Heaven."

One of my favorite quotes of all time is from President Holland's April 2009 General Conference talk called "None Were With Him" and it applies here:

". . . because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so."

 I hope that we can all find strength in one another and not be ashamed of what should be the uncontesably most important thing in our lives.  I am never alone; neither are you.

The River Sidon

I was reading in my scriptures today in the first part of Alma.  Not even five years had passed since the death of King Mosiah and already a man had risen up to fight against the establishment of the judges.  Amlici was so desperate to defeat the Nephites that he made deals with the Lamanites.  These two huge armies clashed multiple times, leaving tens of thousands dead on both sides.  In Alma 3:3 it says the following:

"And now as many of the Lamanites and the Amlicites who had been slain upon the bank of the river Sidon were cast into the waters of Sidon; and behold their bones are in the depths of the sea, and they are many."

I can only imagine how many bodies were put into the water.  Eventually, the Nephites succeed in driving the opposing armies out of the land of Zarahemla.  The following year, the great loss of people, flocks, and fields caused the people to remember the Lord and there was a massive number of people wishing to be baptized into the church.  In Alma 4:4 is says this:

"And they began to establish the church more fully; yea, and many were baptized in the waters of Sidon and were joined to the church of God; yea, they were baptized by the hand of Alma, who had been consecrated the high priest over the people of the church, by the hand of his father Alma."

My first thought when I read this was "Ew, gross.  I would not want to be baptized in that river."  My next though, little better, was "The memory of what happened in that river would taint my baptism if I were to be baptized there.  It is an unholy place."  I stopped reading for a moment and considered this and that is when the spirit decided to speak to me.  He told me that it doesn't matter what has happened in the past, Christ has the power to take anything and change it to serve him as he sees fit.  Of course, I am no longer talking about the river, I am speaking of us.  The Atonement has the changing power to reverse anything in our lives that keeps us from reaching our potential.  I am talking about sin, but I am also talking about using our talents improperly or not using them at all, distractions we all have, and other things that hinder us in our journey for eternal life.  If those Nephites had dwelt on the wars of the previous year and focused on the negative aspects, they never would have come closer to God as they did.

It is our responsibility to come to Christ, his responsibility to change us, and then together we can make forward progress.

Poor in Spirit

Today in Sunday School we were reading Mosiah 4 where King Benjamin is speaking to the people about the Atonement of Christ.  At one point he talks about the way we should treat the poor around us.  We did not discuss this in class, but in my own mind I had a few tangents that I would like to share.

Starting in verse 16 of chapter 4 King Benjamin begins talking about the way we should treat the poor.  Frankly, he asks us to be free with what we have and not hold back anything.  King Benjamin was talking about the physical care of these people, but I began to think of the spiritually poor people that are around us every day.  Sometimes I am the one who is spiritually poor.

Verse 16 ". . . ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish."  It is one thing to perish physically, but Christ has overcome that and given it to us as an automatic gift for choosing to come to Earth.  To die spiritually is something much harder to recover from.

We need to share the spirit that we have with others around us all the time.  I thought of the analogy of filling buckets.  Whenever we interact with others, we should be building them up and letting the love of God into their lives, not taking spirituality out of their buckets by driving the spirit out of their lives.  If we aren't doing this, they may drift farther and farther away from God.  I also thought of something I learned back in my Seminary days.  Our testimonies are candles.  When we share our testimony with others we light their candle but by lighting their candle we did not diminish ours in any way.  It is the same with the spirit.  When we share the spirit, that doesn't mean that we personally have any less of it.  In fact, our candles burn brighter than before. 

I can be the person who makes another person's day better.  I know that some days I am the one who needs my bucket filled, but if I spend my time filling the buckets of others I believe that I will turn around and realize that somebody has been filling mine.

Come Follow Me

This afternoon in Priesthood Russ Ellsworth gave the closing prayer.  He began by expressing to the Lord how grateful we all were that we had the opportunity to attend Priesthood today.  I hardly heard anything else that was said in the prayer because of the effect that opening had on me.  Those simple words are spoken around me all the time but in my whole life I have never felt more grateful for attending Priesthood than I did today and expressing that to the Lord was enough to make me lose my concentration for the rest of the prayer.  Sometimes in Priesthood the Spirit teaches the lesson and sometimes it is the teacher who teaches.  A big thank you to Clint who let the Spirit teach today.

We read a talk by Elder Bruce R. McConkie entitled The Purifying Power of Gethsamane.  It reminded me a lot of my favorite talk by Elder Holland called None Were with Him from the April 2009 conference.  Both talks are essentially each apostle's personal testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ.  The power and eloquence with which Elder McConkie delivered his testimony of the Savior was stunning.  To see the talk given would probably be even more amazing and I certainly intend to watch it.  Elder McConkie's passion and love for Jesus Christ is clear and moving.  Toward the end of his talk he mentions that even though we can not quite comprehend the scope of the atonement and of Christ's love for us, one day we will.  Elder McConkie echoed my thoughts when he said the following:

In Eden we will see all things created in a paradisiacal state—without death, without procreation, without probationary experiences.  We will come to know that such a creation, now unknown to man, was the only way to provide for the Fall.  We will then see Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman, step down from their state of immortal and paradisiacal glory to become the first mortal flesh on earth.  Mortality, including as it does procreation and death, will enter the world. And because of transgression, a probationary estate of trial and testing will begin.

Then in Gethsemane we will see the Son of God ransom man from the temporal and spiritual death that came to us because of the Fall.  And finally, before an empty tomb, we will come to know that Christ our Lord has burst the bands of death and stands forever triumphant over the grave.

I firmly believe that one day I will have the chance to become intimately familiar with Jesus Christ and know him better than I ever have by watching and perhaps feeling some of what He went through in his mortal lifetime.  My love for Christ and my understanding of His love for me will be amplified beyond my current comprehension by this and I eagerly await it.  But I know, as Elder McConkie said, that "I shall not know any better then than I know now that He is God’s Almighty Son, that He is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through His atoning blood and in no other way."

I know my Savior.  I know His voice.  I know His touch.  I know what He did for me.  I know He lives and I know that I can live because of Him.  I want nothing more than to follow Him in everything he does.  The words Come Follow Me went through my mind at the end of the talk and I wished we could have sung them because they are exact descriptions of what I was feeling.  Read those words and feel His love and with it a desire to change whatever you have to about your life and follow Him.  I bear my own witness of Christ in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

By Small And Simple Things

In Alma 37:6 we are told that ". . . by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."  Today in Institute I realized that we all need to "save" ourselves every day by doing the small and simple things.  By going to Institute today I saved myself.  Part of the lesson in Institute today was about teachers and teaching by the spirit.  It was brought up that we are a teaching church in that each and every one of our members is expected to teach and edify one another.  We are all expected to bear our simple testimonies to each other and in fact that is the best way to learn; simply.  I was reading in my journal the other day and came across an entry dated August 1, 2010.  I wrote about a new deacon named Braxton who bore his testimony that day about the awe and gratefulness that he had for the priesthood.  I still remember the impact it had on me.  His simple testimony was the most powerful part of my day and possibly the most powerful part of my week.  I hope that we all take the time to do the simple things in life that will lift us up to a higher standard.  The Lord's standard.

Helpers

Yesterday in church one of the speakers mentioned that the Lord needs helpers.  The Lord needs determined, dedicated saints who are just willing to meet the day to day needs of the church.  He needs saints who will go to the temple every week, do their home teaching and visiting teaching, clean the church, pass the sacrament, teach the lesson, and any other assignment that might come up.  My father taught me how to be a helper but I haven't always appreciated it.  Sometimes I don't mind if I am the only one putting up chairs or taking out the garbage but I think this little line in that talk yesterday really comforted me in doing what I am supposed to.  I am thankful for having so many opportunities to serve and for the ability to take them.

Come Unto Jesus

Last night, I dreamed about the Savior. I can't remember the images of the dream very well, but I just remember thinking about how Christ heals so many people in the scriptures. People come unto him, seek his words, live his teachings, and then are filled with his love and joy. In my dream I came to the realization that the Savior can help me. He can heal my wounded soul just as he did to all those people in the scriptures.

Tonight the Relief Society sisters gathered in the church to hear Todd McCabe and April Moriarty perform songs of Christ, and I was really touched. The spirit filled the entire chapel. I attached one of their songs below so you could get a gist of their music. They played an arrangement of the hymn Come Unto Jesus (#117), and while they played, I read the words to this song. The third verse was exactly what I needed.

Come unto Jesus; He’ll surely hear you,
If you in meekness plead for his love.
Oh, know you not that angels are near you
From brightest mansions above?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has ever felt like no one will listen to you or that no one understands what you're going through. This brought me hope. My Savior understands, and if I plead for his love, I will be able to feel his peace, comfort, and understanding. I know that Jesus Christ is our ultimate healer.

In D&C 39:1-2 it reads, "Hearken and listen to the voice of him who is from all eternity to all eternity, the Great I Am, even Jesus Christ— The light and the life of the world; a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not;" (Also see D&C 45:7) As I've personalized this scripture, it has become a lot more meaningful to me. Jesus Christ is my light. Jesus Christ is my life. I hope that these thoughts will help you as they have helped me, and I say them in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Oh, How Lovely Was The Morning

Yesterday in Sacrament Meeting the ward choir sung the hymn Oh, How Lovely Was The Morning.  Each verse was sung by two or three people in the choir with a different language for each half of the verse.  They started with Spanish, the second language I couldn't determine exactly but it sounded Dutch, the third was French, then German, and they finished up with English.  The spirit was very strong and it made me think of how the church is in all corners of the world.  For me, music is very important and it touches me much stronger than other things do.  This reminded me of how powerful it can be when somebody bears their testimony or prays in a different language except this, to me, was stronger than any of those.

Thank you to the ward choir for their wonderful display. 

I'm Going To See the Temple, I'm Going There Some Day

I'm going to see the temple, I'm going there some day....for me that some day was Tuesday. I was blessed very greatly with the best family and friends I could ever have asked for, no I would say even better. The temple is such an amazing place. The spirit there is amazing, the ordinances are so beautiful. I recommend all who are worthy to go, to go. I felt like a totally new person. What an amazing feeling that is. People may tell you it's scary and freaky. But to me once I was doing the work it was so normal like I had been doing it for years. Yes it was totally different then I had expected, but the work is powerful and sacred.

I am still in awe about how amazing it is. The temple is truly the house of God.

One Small Act

Tonight I had the opportunity to talk to a friend who I don't get to visit with very often. As we visited, she shared with me some of her life experiences. While she was talking, I realized how what we do or don't do can truly affect someone more than we'll ever realize. We're all here on this earth at this time together for a reason. It's so we can help each other... so why do we treat each other poorly? This conversation was a wake up call to me. One phone call, one hug, or even one smile could make all the difference. It's the little things that count, and starting today, I am resolving to work a little harder to treat those around me a lot better. Each person deserves to be treated with the love, kindness, and respect of a child of God. I hope you'll join with me in the goal to treat those around us with more love, kindness, and respect.

Priesthood Ordination

Yesterday one of my best friends received the Melchizedek Priesthood and I was asked to stand in the circle.  It was probably the most spiritual experience I have had since my own ordination.  The spirit was so strong.  As my hand was on his head I was listening to the words his father spoke and thought about the man they were being said about.  I have had the lucky opportunity to be very close to this friend for the past few years and I have personally seen the growth and strength that his father was talking about.  I know that Trevor is going to be a fantastic missionary and a faithful priesthood holder.  He has been such an example to me in my life and has taught me so many lessons.

Cease to Sleep Longer Then is Needful!

Today my thoughts have been directed to D&C 88: 123-126 "See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires. Cease to be idle; cease to be unclean; cease to find fault one with another; cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to they bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated. And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace. Pray always, that ye may not faint, until I come. Behold and lo, I will come quickly, and receive you unto myself. Amen"

Specifically the part about the "...cease to sleep longer then is needful; retire to they bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds my be invigorated..." I know that I have been treating my body very poorly specifically with my sleeping. But I know that when I do sleep properly I have so much more energy, I am much happier.

By keeping God's commandments I know that our bodies and our souls, which combined to make our spirit, can be much better taken care of. While we will eventually receive perfect bodies, that is not the case now. So we must keep our bodies as close to that as possible.

Please keep this in mind while you are eating and when you stay out late, think of the consequences that it could have on your body in the long run.

Heather

Acceptance

Just shortly after my divorce I was having a very hard time in my life. When my home teacher came over and was talking with my family, I decided it was time to look into coming unto Christ again in my life. I texted one of my friends and asked him to help me to learn the gospel a little bit better. When he responded with a resounding yes, I felt a sudden warmth spread over me, from my heart out to all of my body, that I could only describe as an incredible love and utter acceptance. This is something I believe you can only feel through Christ.Through this instance in my life, I gained a testimony of the entire Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints. Prior to my divorce I was very weak in the church I didn't believe it was true, I wanted little to do with it, all because of the members. Now I have found my own two feet and stand much stronger in the gospel with a firm testimony of Christ's atonement, the power of the priesthood, and the restoration of the gospel. I have an amazing friend to thank for that! Here is a little something that came out of that time.
 

Found

Before I was weak, Now I am strong.

Before I was naive, Now I have grown,

I was alone, I was scared.

But now, Now I am never alone,

I am always comforted;

Because I, I have found God.

I hope with all of my heart that this can touch all of you as much as it has me. To help get through the times when you feel like you can never do it right, you'll never be good enough. Know that to Christ, you can do it right, and you will always be good enough. 

With all the love in my heart.

Have Faith, Love Often

Heather Taylor

The Mountain

This is a poem I wrote one day after church.  My bishop's wife had been talking to the youth and expressing how amazed she was at the things we accomplish with our faith.  She said that she has seen us move mountains.  That got me thinking about mountain-moving.  It is quite an undertaking and - at least for me - quite a long process.  That is when these lines popped into my head and I just decided to write them down.  If you hate it just keep it to yourself because I know I was not made to write poetry.

The Mountain

Two men abreast

Walked life's long road,

Each with stories

Like the other had told.

They spoke of hills

And also of vales,

Both triumph and misery

Cluttered their tales.

But no tale could compare

To the one still to be,

A mountain enormous

Afar off they could see.

At the foot of the mount stood they nervously.

"I'm a righteous man,"

Said the first man irate.

"I've toiled already

To reach Heaven's Gate.

Yet if God requires,

Then with faith I will move

This mountain enormous,

My goodness to prove."

So he sat himself down

And closed both his eyes

To use his faith

Till he'd reached his prize.

To stand with God and rise.

"My faith is not whole,"

Said the second man then.

"I've lived too much

In the world of men.

But this mountain enormous

My God giveth me

And only by crossing

Can I hope to be free."

So he picked up his feet

And started to climb.

He banished all thoughts

Of fear from his mind.

Conscious only of his waning time.

The sleet and the snow

Piled up in his way,

But the man would not stop

Until night followed day.

He was harried and worn,

But his light still shone bright.

A prayer in his heart

Kept him warm through the night.

When dawn lit the sky

The man saw he was done.

At the end of the path

Stood the Savior, the Son.

He got to his feet and started to run.

"I'm sorry, my Lord,"

The man said between tears.

He suddenly knew 

All his failures and fears.

"My faith can not be

Like the other man's was.

I could never move mountains

The way that he does."

Without a sound

The man let himself fall.

The Lord knew him well.

The Lord knows all.

In silence he began to crawl.

"Where do you go?"

Said the Lord to the man.

"I know your heart's good,

For when you saw me you ran.

And as to the mountain

Which you claim you've not moved,

Was it not once before you

And now stands removed?"

The man looked and saw

That the Savior spoke true.

He had done what he'd thought

He never could do.

"Thy faith hath seen thee through."

The Worth of Souls

In D&C 18:10 it reads, "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God."
One of the first times I realized how great the worth of souls is was one year I was at girls' camp. We had a "faith walk" that our leaders had set up for all of us. Let me paint a picture. About 150 girls along with church leaders sat quietly in an outside theatre as reverent church music played from a small battery-powered stereo on stage. Stage left of the theatre was the path of the walk which was just a little dirt trail woven between trees and other stuff you find in the wilderness. If I remember correctly, along the path were scenes of Joseph Smith Jr.'s life experiences. Since there were so many people, only small groups could go through the walk at a time. I had the privelege of being one of the people to choose randomly who got to go on the walk and who stayed. What would happen was I would go to a bench and point to who would go next, and they would silently walk down to stage left and wait for someone else to take them along the path. I hope this makes sense. As I stood there on the stage looking up at all these beautiful young women and their leaders and bishops, I was filled with an incredible spirit. I realized how special each one of those girls was and still is in their Heavenly Father's eyes. I remember thinking, "How can I choose one over the other when they're each so special in their own way?" Fortunately each girl did get to go on the walk so it wasn't like I really did have a big choice to make. I am just so grateful for this experience that I had so many years ago. I know that we are each children of God and that we each have a divine purpose here on earth. I know that Heavenly Father loves us so much, and I'm sure He doesn't like it when we pick on ourselves and others. I know that as we strive to see ourselves and others through the eyes of our Father in Heaven, we will be a lot happier and a lot more capable of loving ourselves and others. I believe also that as we strive to see the worth of each person, our desire to share the gospel with others will increase. Whenever I say something mean about myself, I think about my mother's words. "Mean thoughts do not come from your Heavenly Father." So just remember - positive self-talk and positive others-talk is the way to go, for the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.

Moroni 10

So last night I was inspired to read Moroni chapter 10 as part of my scripture study. Here are some of the things that stuck out the most to me in that Chapter (20-22). "Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must be charity. And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God; neither can ye be saved in the kingdom of God if ye have not faith; neither can ye if ye have no hope. And if ye have no hope ye must needs be in despair; and despair cometh because of iniquity." Many of you probably don't know me, and for those of you who do, you don't know all of my past. But this scripture verse is very true. There was a point in my life I felt there was no hope, but as I have grown closer to God and Christ I have learned that there is always hope, if you are willing to but believe in Christ and allow his atonement to bless your life and save you from the iniquities that all man kind commits.
We could all learn from Christ's example to use Charity in our daily lives and that through Charity we grow ever more closer to God the Father and Jesus Christ. Also like the scripture says through Charity you can be saved and return to the kingdom of God. I believe Faith is also very important because in Faith all things can be done. I have learned a lot about having and employing faith in the last little while. It was amazing to me how directly having the Gospel in my life has made me much more happy (or should I say destroying my despair in all things?). Because I now have faith that Christ will be there for me, and each and everyone of us, in our daily lives. I also know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is the savior of all man kind that he made an atonement for our iniquities. And that through him all man kind, even those since the time of Adam may be saved and return to the kingdom of God.
Now on to Hope. I used to believe that hope was a silly principle that I had no time for. But now looking back at my life I realized that this scripture hits it spot on. When I felt there was no hope in life I was in a great deal of despair, I would not be able to place it at the time, but now looking back I know exactly what it was. Satan trying to push me down, while I was already on my knees. I didn't, at the time, rely on Christ. But now, Satan can no longer do that to me because I have faith in Christ and I will stand with him, and when I get knocked down I will pick myself back up again and look into the eyes of temptation and say "No. As long as I have Christ by my side, you have no place in my life."
I hope this is able to help some people to understand that Faith, Hope, Charity and Love are all very important in this life, as well as the next. They are all Christ like and should be striven for.

Temptation

Today I was pondering on temptation as I read my scriptures today.  In Putting on the Armor of God Stephen Cramer suggests that we ought not intentionally place ourselves in the path of temptation.  For instance, if we are trying to cut down on snacking, we should not open the fridge with absolutely no intention of eating anything just to see what's in there for later.  Life is hard enough without us multiplying Satan's opportunities for him.  Satan knows us well and he tempts us accordingly.  We already have more than we can handle alone.

I remember a story my mother once told me about a thought that popped into her head many years ago.  She said it was horrible and that she had never even considered something like that before.  She dismissed it immediately, but it really opened her eyes to the reality of the devil and his temptations.  Sometimes we can trick ourselves into thinking that our temptations are coming from ourselves, but perhaps we should remember who is manipulating us and putting those things in our heads to begin with.  When we recognize where those thoughts are coming from then perhaps we will have the strength and will to resist them.

The Acceptance of the World

Today I was reading Putting on the Armor of God, by Steven A. Cramer, and the author quoted President Kimball.  The chapter I was reading focused on immorality and covered each facet of immorality specifically.  Although this particular section was regarding homosexuality, I think the quote can be applied to any sin, sexual or not.  I have replaced the word homosexuality with the word it.

"If all the people in the world were to accept [it] . . . the practice would still be a deep, dark sin."  (Page 152 in Putting on the Armor of God, taken from page 79 of The Miracle of Forgiveness by President Spencer W. Kimball)

This really opened my eyes.  We have been told that our world is going to get progressively harder to live in and eventually it is going to become harder and harder to distinguish because what is wrong and what is right.  Even if in 20 years or 50 years the world completely accepts something that is contrary to God's commandments, it is still sin.  I like the idea that if even every single person on earth considered something to be right, it is STILL wrong if God does not approve of it.  This quote helped me to realize today that I need to base my morals and standards not on those of the world OR of anybody else around me.  I need to adopt the moral standards of God.

The Beginning

Hello everybody,

You all probably love hearing inspirational stories, songs, scriptures, and thoughts.  For some time now I have been thinking about how to create a place where people can post those things for people they know to see.  I have found that hearing uplifting comments or stories from people I personally know have more effect in my life than if I have never heard of that person before.  Fuzzystories.blogspot.com is meant to be a place where we can post thoughts, impressions, scriptures, stories, songs, and more in a forum with people we know with the intent to uplift and inspire one another.  I want to keep the posts positive and please no political comments or imposing of your view on the other members of this blog.  However, if your intent is to help out those of us who want to celebrate our spirituality with each other then you are more than welcome.  I hope to hear from each of you soon!

P.S.  In order to help with the archiving of the posts, please include labels regarding the main subject of your post and your name.  That way people will be able to read posts separated by subject or by author if they so desire.  Also, let's try to keep the overall look of the blog as uniform as possible and use the default font and size.  Photos and videos or music are quite welcome!

Thanks!