I must confess that I have put off writing my blog for this assignment. We are to post what we have learned and share that with others. What I have learned this week is that my Heavenly Father loves me and that Jesus Christ died for me. I have always known this and have a strong testimony and a knowledge but this week I really needed to have reminder. 

As part of our Gathering our teacher had a student read from 3 Nephi when the Savior came to visit the righteous in the Americas after his resurrection. What made it amazing was that she had us close our eyes and picture us being a part of that visitation. Each one of us had tears in our eyes when Mike finished reading. I felt that I was there and touched the wounds in his hands and in his side. It renewed my spirit and brought home the fact that Jesus Christ is MY Savior. 

One of my favorite hymns is "I Stand All Amazed". The second verse always hits home to me. "I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine, to rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine." I always feel that is me, and I am so grateful that He made that sacrifice so that I can return to my heavenly home, if I make the right decisions. 

I am grateful for the Pathway program that is helping me to stay grounded in the gospel and also helping me to be able to study the scriptures and learn what I need to learn. 

What I have been thinking about the last couple of weeks is where do I stand as a daughter of God. I have been reading in Helaman in the Book of Mormon how in just a few years the people would go from being righteous to contentious. From praising God to saying there is no God. How do I not follow their example.
Growing up I never considered myself a spiritual person. I loved the Lord and I knew the Church was true, but I never had the burning desire to put a lot of effort into studying the scriptures or even spending a lot of time in prayer. So how did I remain faithful when other members of my family did not?
This is question I ask myself all the time. I still don't know all the answers but I do know that life has taught me hard lessons and not once did I turn from the Lord or His teachings. It is just not my nature.
I read about the those that turn from the Lord in the scriptures, especially in Helaman, and feel that they had been compelled to be humble and it just didn't change who they were at the core.  They acknowledged Christ, they did what they were asked to do and the Lord felt they were sincere enough to bless them. But it did not take long for them to become prideful and turn away once again. I wrote once before about Laman and Lemuel and how when faced with adversity they had not sunk their spiritual roots deep and when adversity came they were quick to contention and rebellion. I see the same things with the people of Helaman's time. There were some that did take the gospel to heart. That went through a change of heart and were a righteous people. They were the minority. The better part of the people had not sunk their roots deep and were quick to return to their previous lives.
So how deep are my roots? I am hopeful that they are very deep but I also know that I must do more to become closer to my Heavenly Father and His Son. As I study the scriptures I am gaining a better understanding of the gospel. As I read conference talks I gain a better understanding of what the Lord wants me to know today. As I pray more I gain the spirit to guide me through my day and help me to overcome the obstacles I face.
I am learning to work each day at becoming a better daughter of God.

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.