As a graduate student working two jobs, and doing side hustles like nobody's business, it sometimes is hard to keep this in mind. It helps to plan ahead, doing the little things like packing lunch the night before, planning my outfit, and even planning my breakfast in advance so the morning goes smoothly enough that I can sit and spend some time with my scriptures and kneeling in prayer before heading out the door.

Can You Hear It?

Be still, and know that I am God.

 Psalm 46:10 

     As some of you know, this is a subject I feel  very passionately about. I think that in today's world people have a hard time being still, and quiet, so they can really listen. Listen to others, listen to themselves, and most importantly to listen to God. 

    Elijah in the Old Testament tells us: 

...and behold the word of the Lord came to him.... And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. 

And, behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind: 

and after the wind and earthquake,; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: 

And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 

1 Kings 19: 9, 11-12

     So we learn from Elijah, that there's a lot of noise out in the world, but the Lord isn't in any of them. The Lord is a still small voice. Dare I say that when you take time to listen to all the voices around you, not only is it hard to hear the voice of the Lord, it's often really difficult to hear your own voice too. 

  Nephi, in the Book of Mormon,  tells us that even if we have great spiritual experiences in the past, if we allow ourselves to, we can drown out the voice of the Lord in our lives: 

...Ye have seen an angels, and he spake unto you; yea,ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken to you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling,that ye could not feel his words. 

1 Nephi 17: 45

   So what can we do to make sure we aren't getting to the point where we are past feeling? How do we ensure that we are able to hear that still small voice in our lives? 

     

      You need to be quiet. You need to tell everything and everyone else in your life to be quiet, just for awhile so you can listen. This means turning off the computer, tv, cell phone, mp3 player, and (IMO) anything considered 'technology' these days. Find a quiet spot in your home, or near work, or wherever you can go (sometimes I take a walk without the iPod and the phone on airplane mode). Start small, 5 minutes a day or an hour on the weekends. And quiet everything that may distract you and meditate, or read the scriptures, or write in your journal. 

      You will never hear the Lord's voice if you do not give Him opportunity to be heard. Sometimes it may take awhile for you to start hearing the voice of the Lord. Especially if you are used to loud commercials, loud blaring music, the chime of a text message, etc.  For some of you who already take time to have daily prayer and scripture study, this will be an easy transition, just add a few minutes to that time to be still and listen. 

      Which brings me to my final point, and one I'm bit cautious about sharing. Every Sunday you are given the opportunity to unplug, be still, and listen to the voice of the Lord. It's called church. The Lord blesses you with all of the abundance you have, the least you can do is give Him the time it takes to attend your church meetings.

        Leave the phone in the car, turn off the wifi on you iPad or Kindle. Better yet bring actual hard copies of the scriptures with you to eliminate the 'I need to have it with me because my scriptures are on it' excuse. Yes, excuse. I know people who say that and then spend all of sacrament meeting checking email, Facebook, and making dinner plans via text. 

     Those things can wait. The Lord cannot. 

     

P.S. I found these guys on Facebook, if you are the type that taking a public pledge is a goal keeping strategy that works for you: Tech Timeout

A Little Better Day by Day

Do not expect to become perfect all at once. If you do, you will be disappointed. Be better today than you were yesterday, and be better tomorrow than you are today. 

We cannot become perfect at once, but we can be a little better day by day. 

-Lorenzo Snow

I've been having one of those months, you know what they are like. And I found this among my piles of papers that I'm trying to get through during this process of moving and organizing. It was something that I really needed at this time in my life. We can't change yesterday, but we can change today. We can do one little thing better, and slowly we will move toward that person that we want to be, and the person that God wants us to be. 

(I usually try to give credit on where I get these from, but pinterest linked this to some weird iTunes app... if you know where this originally came from let me know so I can give them credit!)

 

Brought to you via Design Divas on Etsy. They've got lots of other great LDS vinyl wall quotes for Young Women, Family, and just for fun!

Credit to Kikicomin on Etsy

Advent of Sorts: Week Three

For Week One go [here]
For Week Two go [here]

WEEK THREE: Book of Mormon:
 This week, as with last week, I will quote a full scripture, and then give you a couple to look up for yourself.

For those of you who didn't know, I am a Mormon. As a Mormon, I believe that the Lord loves us as much as he loved people in Biblical times, and so God gives us a prophet today. The first prophet in modern times was Joseph Smith, and part of his mission as Prophet, was to translate a record kept by the peoples of the Americas chronicling their prophecies and revelations, similar to the Bible.

The scriptures this week come from the Book of Mormon, and give us further testimony of Christ and His divine mission on earth. (If you'd like to learn more about Mormons and their beliefs, there's a handy little button in the sidebar that says "I'm a Mormon" Click it!)


1 Nephi 11: 13, 18-21 ...And I beheld the city of Nazareth; and in the city of Nazareth I beheld a virgin, and she was exceedingly fair and white....And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh. And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she was carried away in teh Spirit fo the space of a time the angel spake unto me saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms. And the angel said unto me: Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!

He Did Bring Glad Tidings to My Soul by Walter Rane (It's Samuel the Lamanite, right before he goes to prophecy to the Nephites by climbing up the wall of their city, and preaching from up there. They tried to shoot him with arrows but couldn't hit him. It's a great story all around.)

Helaman 14:2-7 (Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy one of my favorites) here's a highlight from this one: And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have behld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.
 
3 Nephi 1: 13-15 (The Nephites the night before Christ's birth, the fulfillment of Samuel's prophecy)

Advent of Sorts: Week Two

Here is week two of the modified Advent. For week one go  [here]
WEEK TWO: New Testament

Matthew 1:20- 21  ...Behold an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

Blessed Art Thou Among Women by Walter Rane

Luke 1: 5-13 and 39-43
       This is a large chunk of scripture, and frankly I didn't want to type it all up. You should go look it up it's pretty dang good. 
For those of you who won't go look it up, here's the synopsis. Zacharias and Elizabeth are old, and childless. They are blessed with a baby, John  who later becomes John the Baptist who prepares the way for the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill His earthly mission. (In the process Zacharias gets struck dumb, after he says his wife is old, as a sign that it will all really happen.) When Mary visits them, Elizabeth says her baby leapt in her womb because it recognized Mary's baby in her womb.

Advent of Sorts: Week One

I had heard about a year ago about doing Advent. Someone in one of my discussion groups on Ravelry posted the scriptures they use for their Christmas Advent. While I liked the concept, I decided I'd like to tweak it a bit for, well, me. I think it fits a bit better this way. (However, I feel the full Advent they published is pretty good, for Easter, since it ends with the Resurrection, so stay tuned.)

For the next 3 Sundays, I will post scriptures of the modified Advent. Then on Christmas Eve I will post the final ones, and a special Christmas post will follow to end it all with a bang! (At least that's the plan ;) )

WEEK ONE: Old Testament

Isaiah 7:14  Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 

President Tanner and President Faust Agree

“Always remember that you can go much further on respect than on popularity.”

N. Eldon Tanner

"No Greater Honor: The Woman's Role"

 

As quoted by James E. Faust in

"The Virtues of Righteous Daughters of God"

Sunday Spiritual Thought: Doing Great Things

Sunday Spiritual Thought: President Kimball on Procrastination

"One of the most serious human defects in all ages is procrastination, an unwillingness to accept personal responsibilities now. Men came to earth consciously to obtain their schooling, their training and development, and to perfect themselves, but many have allowed themselves to be diverted and have become merely "hewers of wood and drawers of water," addicts to mental and spiritual indolence and to the pursuit of worldly power.

Walter Rane's painting of the Parable of the 10 Virgins

"There are even many members of the Church who are lax and careless and who continually procrastinate. They live the gospel casually but not devoutly. They have complied with some requirements but are not valiant. They do no major crime but merely fail to do the things required- things like paying tithing, living the Word of Wisdom, having family prayers, fasting, attending meetings, serving. Perhaps they do not consider such omissions to be sins, yet they were the kinds of things of which the five foolish virgins of Jesus' parable were probably guilty. The ten virgins belonged to the kingdom and had every right to the blessings- except that five were not valiant and were not ready when the great day came. They were unprepared through not living all the commandments. They were bitterly disappointed at being shut out from the marriage- as likewise their modern counterparts will be."

Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, 7-8.