Priesthood

I just want to start off by bearing my testimony on the power of the priesthood. I know it is real and I am so grateful it has been restored on the earth again. When you have grown up in home without it, and then experience the blessings that come from the priesthood, it really makes you feel like your missing something.Learning and memorizing in my Mission prep class was that the priesthood is the power and authority to act in the name of God. That is something that my teacher never wanted us to forget and I dont think I ever will. That statement is engraved in my memory.

In my patriarchal blessings it tells me of the important calls that will come by bearers of the holy priesthood. This has helped me look at my callings in a different way and knowing that they are directly from Heavenly father and part of his plan for me. Knowing that allows me to really take my callings seriously and discover the reasons why the Lord put me in this place at this time. The calling may be to benefit me but it also is fun to think about the other people you are serving while fulfilling your calling. When the spirit is guiding you and you know that the priesthood is backing you up it is fun to see the good that you can do!

Also what the priesthood means to me is the fact that I cannot be a holder of the priesthood but I can still enjoy the blessings of it. I know that Heavenly Father is a just God and would not create any power or authority that is not just. And while many find it offensive that only men can be holders, I find it a blessing that I can still participate in the blessings of it.

The Garden

T H E G A R D E N

Come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses...

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FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:
1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH:
1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness

PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:
1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another

NO GARDEN IS WITHOUT TURNIPS:
1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another

TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME:
1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends

WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH LOVE. THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

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Story of the Toll Booth

A man was driving through a toll booth and when he pulled up he took out more money and told the lady that he wanted to pay for the car behind him as well. He moved on and continued on his journey. The next guy pulled up and the lady told him that the guy in front of him had already paid his toll for him. The man was astonished and said fine, I want to pay for the guy behind me. The lady in the booth was astonished at the kindness of these people. All she ever hears are people complaining that they have to pay a stupid toll. For the next 30 cars each person paid for the car behind them. The lady in the toll booth kept a tally and in total it was 32 cars. We dont know if it got late and cars stopped coming through or maybe her shift ended but the kindness of all of those people changes her attitude that day.

Becoming the Pure in Heart

My quotes come from a talk given by Spencer W. Kimball in 1978 called Becoming the Pure in Heart.

http://lds.org/generalconference/1978/04/becomingthepureinheart?lang=eng&query=redemption+zion

“This day will come; it is our destiny to help bring it about! Doesn’t it motivate you to lengthen your stride and quicken your pace as you do your part in the great sanctifying work of the kingdom? It does me. It causes me to rejoice over the many opportunities for service and sacrifice afforded me and my family as we seek to do our part in establishing Zion.”

The Lord in D&C is trying to teach what Zion means and that the people in Missouri need to keep that pure heart even in their trials and tribulations. The saints were establishing Zion there as we must strive to establish Zion wherever we are. We can do that through service to others and sacrifice like President Kimball talks about. It gives it even greater meaning and importance if you do it individually and as a family.

“This state of affairs stands in marked contrast to the Zion the Lord seeks to establish through his covenant people. Zion can be built up only among those who are the pure in heart, not a people torn by covetousness or greed, but a pure and selfless people. Not a people who are pure in appearance, rather a people who are pure in heart. Zion is to be in the world and not of the world, not dulled by a sense of carnal security, nor paralyzed by materialism. No, Zion is not things of the lower, but of the higher order, things that exalt the mind and sanctify the heart.”

I love this definition of a zion people. These are qualities that everyone should have as we all strive to be more Christlike. That is what we are ultimately striving for, to be pure in heart or perfecting ourselves to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. We need to always be thinking of others and not get caught up in worldly things. We always need to be striving higher and higher to look up and reach upward towards our Father.

Zion is “every man seeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God.” (D&C 82:19.) As I understand these matters, Zion can be established only by those who are pure in heart, and who labor for Zion, for “the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion; for if they labor for money they shall perish.” (2 Ne. 26:31.)

I know that it is not easy to be pure in heart and we may be always striving to build up Zion and we get closer and closer but life happens and our natural men come out and we mess up again and again. Sometimes it feels like we are taking one step forward and two steps back. But I have faith that through Christ and with his help and strength in our lives we can progress and become better people and build up Zion no matter where we are.

We are Chastened out of Love

The scripture that my entry is focusing on today is Doctrine and Covenants section 93 verse 1, “ Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I ^alove I also chasten that their sins may be ^bforgiven, for with the ^cchastisement I prepare a way for their ^ddeliverance in all things out of ^etemptation, and I have loved you—“

I wanted to pick this activity mainly because of the very end, “I have loved you’. There are many instances that the Lord shows and says how much he loves us and I love those scriptures because even if at times I can’t feel my Saviors love, I am still reminded that He loves me and always will.

In D&C 105:6 it says, ‘And my people must needs be chastened until they learn obedience, if it must needs be, by the things which they suffer.’ We have been given our agency as we came down to this earth but when we dedicate our lives to Christ and becoming perfect, the Lord is there to help us stay on that path. He must chastise us in order to get his point across that what we are doing is not right or not good for our eternal welfare.

Elder Christofferson in in April 2011 General Conference says, “Our Heavenly Father is a God of high expectations. His expectations for us are expressed by His Son, Jesus Christ, in these words: “I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (3 Nephi 12:48). He knows what is required, and so, to make our transformation possible, He provides His commandments and covenants, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and most important, the Atonement and Resurrection of His Beloved Son. I would like to speak of one particular attitude and practice we need to adopt if we are to meet our Heavenly Father’s high expectations. It is this: willingly to accept and even seek correction. Correction is vital if we would conform our lives “unto a perfect man, [that is,] unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). Paul said of divine correction or chastening, “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6). Though it is often difficult to endure, truly we ought to rejoice that God considers us worth the time and trouble to correct.”

I think what Elder Christofferson is saying here sums up what the Lord is trying to constantly tell us. We must be important to our Father in Heaven if he takes the time to correct us each and every day.I know that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to correct me and let me know when I am not doing things that are aligned with his gospel. I know that through this last conference the spirit spoke to me how strongly my Heavenly Father loves me and he is there for me always and forever.

Why are we here to learn?

For class we were instructed this week to read D&C 86-88. I love reading the Doctrine and Covenants and getting to talk with my roommate about it most nights. She is a recent convert to the church and has read through the Book of Mormon but not the D&C yet. From me talking to her about it and telling her how much I love it, I got her started reading it as well! Even though she is starting at the beginning we still both talk about the sections we read and what we got out of it. I particularly picked these questions to answer because I know how important it is to learn and to teach others. I love how the Lord reveals it to Joseph Smith to include why learning is so important, and not just spiritual things but secular as well.

Carefully review verses 77-80 and 118-119 and answer at least three of the following questions:

• What do these verses teach us about education; what are we commanded to learn?

We are to learn in heaven, earth, under the earth, things that have been, things which must come, things at home and abroad, wars, and knowledge of countries and kingdoms. In the student manual it gave interpretations of all of these things, astronomy, mineralogy, geology, history, prophecies, domestic and foreign policies, physical and political geography and languages. This is a very wide variety of things that we are to learn. If we learn and even become experts in one or several of these things it will then be up to us to teach others about what we know.

• Why do you think learning and education is important to the Lord; isn't faith enough?

I don’t believe that faith is enough. We need to learn all we can in all areas both of heaven and of earth. He says in verse 80 “that we may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you.” I don’t think the just means our callings in the church but our callings in life. We must always be prepared to accept the callings we receive in the church and know that Heavenly Father is giving us those callings for a reason, even if we don’t know it yet. Also the lives we lead and the people we become are what I think is our callings in life. Heavenly Father knows who we are going to choose to become. We need more than faith to become who we are. We need to study and learn each and every day, not always in a classroom setting as most people picture, but in our daily

• Once we have learned something, what is our obligation to others? Why do you think the Lord feels that way?

It is our obligation to pass on our knowledge and teach it to others. While we are here on this earth we are expected to gain as much knowledge as we can because that is what we will be able to take with us when we move on into the next life. It has been my plan for a long time to become a teacher. For the last 4 years of college I have been gaining a variety of knowledge so that I can teach any child from birth to eighth grade in regular education or special education. My classes and teachers have been pounding the knowledge into my head so that when I need it someday I will be able to say that I learned that already and will be able to pull from prior knowledge and teach those things. Even though I don’t plan on going on a mission and spreading the truthfulness, I feel it is my obligation to become the best teacher I can and help those who are disabled and so many don’t want to try and teach them, but I really do.

Called to Serve

Whoever we may be male or female, we are all called to serve on the earth. Elder Asay’s talk focuses on the male members and being worthy priesthood holders and the blessings that come from fulfilling that call. A story he related is this…

The son of a very wealthy man was called to serve a full-time mission. He entered the mission field and began his work. At first things went well; however, as he met rejections and as other challenges of finding and teaching surfaced, the young man’s faith wavered.

Mission associates gave encouragement, but it did not seem to help. One day the young man announced to the mission president that he was abandoning his call; he was returning home. The mission president did all within his power to dissuade the missionary. It was to no avail.

When word of the missionary’s decision reached the father, he obtained permission to visit his son in the mission field. In one of many tense conversations, the father said, “My son, I have lived for the day when you would serve a full-time mission. I did so because I love you and I love God. And I know that there is no work more essential than that of teaching truth to the peoples of the world.”

Somewhat sobered by his father’s words, the son meekly replied, “Dad, I didn’t realize that a mission meant so much to you.”

“It means everything to me,” the father declared. Then he added with some emotion, “All my life I have worked and saved with one person in mind: you. And my one goal has been to provide you a decent inheritance.”

“But Dad,” the son interjected, “the work is difficult and I don’t enjoy …”The father didn’t allow him to finish his sentence. Instead he asked, “How can I trust my businesses to your care if you cannot prove yourself by serving the Lord for two short years?”There was an awkward pause as the son pondered the father’s question and studied his anxious countenance. Then with measured words, the father promised, “My son, my only heir, if you will be faithful in this calling and prove yourself worthy in every respect, all that I possess will be yours.” Noticeably touched by these earnest pleadings, the son rose to his feet, embraced his father, and sobbed, “I will stay.”

The son did stay in the mission field; he did serve faithfully from that day forward. And yes, in due time, he received from his father the promised inheritance, even all that his father had to share.

What really made me stop and think….

…the story of the son on a mission and his father coming to talk to him. His son knew he was successful and had worked hard in his life and as soon as his father told him that if he served a full honorary mission he would give him everything. Can you imagine getting everything your earthy father has!

Our Heavenly Father has told us that from the beginning. If we lived faithfully and led a good life then we can receive all that he has. In this story it might have meant that the son got a lot of money or a big house or a lot of other worldly things. But if you think about it in context of Heavenly Father, he is giving us eternal life the greatest gift of all. We are taught not to get caught up in the things of the world for they cannot go with us when we leave this earth. We can take with us the things that we learned and the service that we rendered as well as actions towards others and other non material things.

Sometimes to remember that great blessing is not easy as I go about my day to day activities but what I need to concentrate on doing is leading a life and serving an honorary mission here on earth and my Father will give me everything! In order to reach that I need to make sure that I am living that kind of life and that I am setting that example to others around me.

Where I come from there is not a high population of LDS members, and most don’t want to talk about church, but like the saying goes ‘actions speak louder than words’. Even if I don’t talk to them about the church they need to be able to see the way I live my life and how happy I am because of it. I have had people comment on how much I smile and how happy I am, it is due to a knowledge I have of this life and for the most part what I am supposed to be doing to return to my Father in Heaven!

Other inspiring meassages from D&C 84:

36 For he that receiveth my servants ^areceiveth me;

37 And he that ^areceiveth me receiveth my Father;

38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s ^akingdom; therefore ^ball that my Father hath shall be given unto him.

83 For your ^aFather, who is in heaven, ^bknoweth that you have need of all these things.

What do they mean to you?

you can find the full talk by Brother Asay at:
http://lds.org/ensign/1985/11/the-oath-and-covenant-of-the-priesthood?lang=eng