I learned a lesson during my life. I lesson I took to heart especially while I was raising my children...never pray for patience.  The Lord does have a sense of humor and loves to see how we will react to situations while we strive for patience.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been working on having patience with myself and have found that, while I have had success in some areas, circumstances have stretched my capabilities to the limit at times.

Reading in Alma about the wars and contentions between the Nephites and Lamanites for so many years I think that Moroni has a lot to teach about patience. And we have the example of what happens when he loses his patience.

When planning his strategies he was always so careful to assess the situation. To send spies to see where the enemy was located and their strengths. He would determine what would work best to win the battle and to rely on the inspiration of the Lord to guide him. He never rushed in and put his men at risk when he didn't have to.

He also would take the time to fortify his cities and towns. To build up protection and strengthen the weak spots.

So you may be asking what have I learned from Moroni? I have learned to pay attention. To know the enemy. What is Satan doing in my life to hinder me. What is my strategy to overcome temptations that will come my way. What are my weaknesses and how can I shore them up.  I have learned that I  need to fortify my home against the influences of the world.

Moroni established the title of Liberty and was valiant  in defending his people from the Lamanites and the evil of the world.  I need to follow his example and defend my home and family.I need to shore up my home against the power of Satan and his followers. Sign in to bookmark pages, high

Freedom of Speech

As I was studying Korihor I was struck by the fact that he was able to preach his viewpoint and no one could stop him. Several times it is mentioned that, even though they wanted to, they could not arrest him for speaking his beliefs even though they were not true, correct or in agreement with the teachings of the prophets. 

7 Now there was no law against a man’s belief; for it was strictly contrary to the commands of God that there should be a law which should bring men on to unequal grounds.

 8 For thus saith the scripture: Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.                                                                               
9 Now if a man desired to serve God, it was his privilege; or rather, if he believed in God it was his privilege to serve him; but if he did not believe in him there was no law to punish him.                                                                       
10 But if he murdered he was punished unto death; and if he robbed he was also punished; and if he stole he was also punished; and if he committed adultery he was also punished; yea, for all this wickedness they were punished.                     11 For there was a law that men should be judged according to their crimes. Nevertheless, there was no law against a man’s belief; therefore, a man was punished only for the crimes which he had done; therefore all men were on equal grounds. Alma 30:7-11

Freedom of speech was not something thought of by the founding fathers. It is an eternal privilege. It goes along with our freedom to choose whom we will serve. 

As I look around the world we live in I see that this freedom has come under attack. Unless you agree with the "popular" viewpoints you are shouted down and, in some cases, harmed for what you believe. What is ironic to me is that they use this very same freedom to deny others the same right. 

It is going to be interesting to see how this freedom is abused as time goes by. 

My other thought on Korihor is that he was never punished for speaking out. He was never put in prison nor did he have to answer to the legal system of the time. His judgement came from God when he pushed it just a little to far.  Alma lays it all out for him...either repent and stop or you will be struck dumb by the power of God. Still Korihor persists, "I do not deny the existence of God, but I do not believe that there is a God...except ye show me a sign, I will not believe."   God follows through and strikes him dumb. Then he is quick to say...Oh I'm sorry and please remove this curse. But God knew his heart and that he had not truly repented. He got what he wanted, a sign. 

Do we sometimes look for signs as proof that our Heavenly Father is there and listening? When going through trail do we ask for it to be lifted with the provision that we will then know, for a surety, that God loves us?  We may not be hardhearted to the extent Korihor was but we also need to be aware of the little and not so little ways we are influenced by the power of Lucifer. 

Since it is the first of the year my mind has turned to goals. Not resolutions...those are wishes! But real life, what have I accomplished, goals. The week I spent on goal setting in the Pathway program has gotten me thinking of those things that are important to me and what I want to do with my time this year.

As I look back I realize that up to 2015 I was rather aimless. I had stitching projects I wanted to finish and the never ending household chores to do. But I did not have a direction. I did start out 2015 deciding to set daily goals and that worked well for about a month then interest waned and I quit. This has been my pattern. I no longer want to be that person. I have learned how to set goals and how to achieve them. I have the notes to prove it!

But it comes down to the question...what do I want to accomplish this year? The first is easy...finish Pathway. I need to do better at committing time each day and not waiting until the last minute. I will  schedule my days. I have to, there is no other way I can do the things I need to. I may have to give up facebook games! OH NO!!!!

 I need to find a way to keep the house clean. Dave and I have to find the time to work together to declutter.  Epiphany! Family Home Evening. Wow...that just might work! OK one thing down.

So my goal is to set a schedule. To decide my priorities and set up my day so I can get the most important things done.

My biggest goal is to start and end each day with prayer. I have not been doing this lately and can feel the lack of the spirit in my life.

So I now have three big goals to set and work on. I think that will do for now. I will keep this blog updated if I remember! 

This week I have studied about Alma, is son Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah. The main focus that I followed was the power of repentance. That no matter how far you are from the influence of the Savior. No matter how deep you are in sin you can find your way back to His Love and be accepted back into his fold.

I have not committed any grievous sin. I have never been far from the influence of my Savior. My sins are of taking what I have for granted. Of expecting Him to take care of all my problems without any effort on my part.

I still struggle with this but I am learning to humble myself and turn to Him when I have done all that I can do.

This post is about prayer. Prayer is something I have struggled with my whole life. Daily prayer has never been something I have done on a regular basis. I set out with the best of intentions to say morning and evening prayers and it just doesn't happen. I don't know why.

Now I want to make one thing very clear. I could not live my life without  prayer. I have had to many life lessons that have taught me the power of prayer and that my Heavenly Father is there for me whenever I have needed him. I can testify that every time I have reached out to Him he has been there and answered my prayer. In my patriarchal blessing I am told to have a prayer in my heart always. I can honestly say I have learned to do that. If I did not have that communication every day I would not have survived the last couple of years.

Reading about Enos teaches us so much about prayer and how important it is to talk with our Father. Imagine how Enos felt to hear the words that his sins were forgiven. To know that because of his faith the records of his people would be preserved. The comfort he must have felt from those words. We can also have that comfort in our trials. We can have the sweet confirmation that all will be well.

I have started to talk with Him as I would if I were talking to my earthly father. My fears, my concerns, my gratitude. This has brought me closer to Him and I feel that He is my Father and I can talk to Him about anything. 

I share this testimony with you. Our Father in Heaven loves us and knows us. He wants to bless us but we must reach out to him in prayer. 

I learned a lot about Satan this week. As you read 2 Nephi 28-29 you see our day and the power he has over the world. The moral decay of our world is very pronounced and he is has dominion. The one aspect of Satan that I had never considered was that he thinks he can win. That if he can get more people to commit sin the sheer numbers will give him victory and he will be become God and have all the glory. In a talk by Elder William J. Critchlow, Jr., Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, in 1967 he brings up the wide held belief that Satan does what he does because he wants all to be miserable like himself but that it is more than that. This concept opened my eyes to a wider perspective and made Satan more real to me.

After spending time on the bad I then immersed myself in the good. To be taught again about the baptism of Jesus. To understand that even though He was perfect He was obedient to His father and set the example for us to follow. How even He needed the gift of the Holy Ghost to sustain Him and that my Father gives me this same gift. How amazing is that!

Chapters 31-33 of 2 Nephi are so powerful. I pulled out my actual paper scriptures and found that I had marked several scriptures that touched my spirit.

20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

 21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.

 9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

It is so plain and simple. Our Father loves us. This is His plan. If we follow it as best we can and endure we will have eternal life with him.