Relief society Feb 23, 2014

Are you looking back or looking forward? 

Lots wife - genesis 19:17, 26. Knowing they should have their primary residence in Zion but wanting to keep their summer cottage in Babylon. Do you doubt Gods plan and commandments for you? Don't be so focused on your past that you can't move forward.

Apostle Paul- Philippians 3:13-14 (7-14).  You've got to let go, keep moving forward, and put your faith in God. When you're mowing the lawn, do you look behind you at the work you've done, or ahead at the work you'll be able to accomplish. Faith is always pointed towards the future. Just glance behind. Leave the ashes. You're not growing if you're looking backwards. Faith is an active forward thing building on the past. Sometimes you just have to trust The Lord instead of our own understanding. Faith is an action word. Faith as the assurance of things unseen which are true. Faith as the evidence of things not seen. Step into the darkness with assurance and hope. Assurance, action and evidence back each other up. Inter related and circle upward. Face forward to an uncertain future with assurance that God will lead you, taking that faith onto action, ending up with evidence. Compare to science - hypothesis, experiment, conclusion. Spiral effect. Faith leads to Christ. Faith without works is dead. Be doers of the work and not hearers only. Faith is the principle of action. D&C 58:20.

Faith is exercising our agency. God knows when you are ready for the trial. Trust him. Learn to draw upon The Lord, and he will guide you. Let us all have a strong common goal of building the kingdom of God and bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of men. Be an example, serve, visit teach, home teach, fulfill your callings, missionary work, be a friend, etc.

Stake conference Feb 2014

Sis Massey- why do you think simple acts of service have the power to bring us closer to heaven? We are keeping our baptismal covenants, and coming closer to God! Simple service can make someone's day! What simple acts if service or kindness have people done for you that just made your day? What about things you gave fine for others that just made their day? What can you do to help? Share, give, smile, listen, help, etc! Be upright, just, and merciful. Cultivate a quality of charity. WWJD! We are all children of God, so we are all brothers and sisters! Just like a big brother would look after his little sister, we should look after everyone as if we were their big brother. Act towards everyone as a big brother to his younger sister! Visit teach! God may choose you to be an instrument in his hands to help another one of his children. Then maybe one day he'll have someone else be an instrument to help you. Serving brings happiness in our lives because its keeping  us selfless like Jesus. When you're helping you're happy. Take it from being inward and project it outward! We are held accountable for all our choices. Defy the natural man and become more like God. James 2:10. 1  nephi  21:10.  Isaiah 53:4-5Repentance means to change for good. You'll find your way to the scriptures for the future. From our mistakes we receive feedback - we learn from our mistakes. Turn yourself around and go the right way. Be humble enough to learn new tricks. What direction are you going in? Let the spirit guide you. The spirit gives you hints. The Holy Ghost is your gps. We my miss a lot of turns, but it always recalculates. Eventually if we get way off the road, it will yell you to just get to this one spot, then it will guide you from there. Stop talking, stop coming up with excuses, etc... Zip it and listen. Listen to what the spirit has to say. You'll get the sense. He'll warn you in times of danger. He'll tell you which way to go. He'll help us know what we should do. He can also being you peace. Build in your hearts the love of Christ. He is not a punishing God. May the peace of Christ be with you. Everyone feels and recognizes the spirit differently. Deut. 4:29 God hears our prayers as we seek him. D&c 93:1. Mormon 9:9. 2 nephi26:13. Psalms 2:7. Be aware and willing and ready to engage.

Sacrament meeting

Bro amatangelo- Moroni said through the Holy Ghost we can learn the wisdom of all things. 'Reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom' talked on tithing. How one young student didn't have enough money to pay for both tithing and college tuition. She decided to pay her tithing. Then later that week someone came up to her and ended up telling her they would pay for all her college tuition. God blesses us when we follow the commandments. 

Bro. Louis- fsoy-D&C 78:19 may ensign 'thanks be to God' our spirits control our bodies, not the other way around. We are judged spiritually. Our responsibility once we receive and have the gospel is to share it.  It's the spirit that teaches, it doesn't matter what we say. (But yet it does) how many no's can you get? It is your choice to accept God and the Holy Ghost in your life! The most important duty is to preach the gospel! All members pray for a baptism or a friend to come to church or take the lessons. 

Bro. Simpson- D&C 107:1-4 ( how we got the name for the Melchizedek priesthood) Aaronic priesthood -lesser priesthood and outward appearance. Helps you learn how to become more mature, etc to help you prepare for the more higher and spiritual priesthood. Aaronic - physical. Melchizedek - spiritual. Order of authority:Christ -> prophet -> 1st presidency   -> 12 apostles -> quorum  and are of 70s -> stake president (oversees 8 wards) -> bishops -> ward-> Melchizedek priesthood (give blessings with the laying on of hands, can marry others, can serve a mission, can become one of the order in authority listed above, ) -> Aaronic priesthood ( pass n bless the sacrament, baptize, teach, collect fast offerings, help church members live the commandments (home teachers) prepare bread n water for sacrament service, baptize, etc. layers of this priesthood are: deacon, teacher,the priest. Bishop presides over the priests,as well as the ward) )

Institute - with Christ in our lives

Feb 11, 2014What council would you give a future child how to deal with mortality in just 4 sentences?Even in the hardest times, turn to God and he'll always be there. Don't let the natural man overtake what you know is right. Be patient, have courage, and believe in yourself. Keep the words of God refreshed in your mind daily. Alma 36:1-3 trust God, keep the commandments. You will then be blessed with knowing where you stand, self confidence, aka temporally and spiritually. It's the whole key that will unlock anything else.  12-15 we are held accountable if we spiritually murder someone else.  Recognize your sin. You might feel worthless, dirty, low, empty, and wish you never existed. 17-18 Christ's atonement has been given to us to help us gain some hope and become a better person. Remember what you've done do you don't do it, but recognize that God forgives you. Don't dwell on it. You can teach others. Even in your darkest times, and you've lost the spirit of Christ, right when you're about to completely give up, the spirit will remind you that the atonement is still there for you to use. It's ok to cry. Get on your knees and pray. God is waiting for you to turn to him. He will help you. Remember - hope. There's always a choice. We do fall, we do fail, we we can always try again! Starts out bitter, then after you've turned to God after your trials, revelation comes. 12-15 = bitter, nasty17-18= the hinge, revelation of truth, what to do / your next step. Confess. It takes a lot of integrity to right your wrong. The bishop will NEVER look down on you. The adversary is trying to stop you from partaking of the atonement. Now not everything ends up seeing the bishop. But when in doubt, see the bishop. You'll sleep better. 19-21 the atonement will work as soon as you let it. The pain can go away immediately. Your joy will be as strong as your pain if not more. FORGIVE YOURSELF!!!! You are your own worst enemy. Don't call God a liar. That his atonement isn't great enough for you. You cannot hide your crimes from God. Learn from your mistakes. Become a better person. Alma 42:4,13-23. (Watch video) 29.  May it trouble you no more. Turn to the Keys who have the ability to help us. Only worry about the things you haven't repented of yet. 

Institute - it's all a seed

Exact obedience brings long term blessings and happiness. Alma 31:15-16 humility that leads to repentance. 22 - faith leading to action. God desires YOU to have a testimony. God wants you to know all things. He wants you to have your own knowledge. 23, 24 - have the desire to know. Need to Have the word of God = have the spirit of Christ in your life. Repetition is important to keep it fresh and alive. Keep the testimony of the basics. What's basics have increased throughout the years?  EVERYONE is invited to have a testimony.  27- experiment. Act. Test your own faith. Faith is a principle of action. Seek learning/understanding/testimony by faith/action/experience. Have the hope to start your journey. You can ALWAYS strengthen your testimony no matter how much you know. Faith is not a perfect knowledge but a hope for things unseen. Faith as the assurance of things unseen which are true. Faith as the evidence of things not seen. Step into the darkness with assurance and hope. Assurance, action and evidence back each other up. Inter related and circle upward. Face forward to an uncertain future with assurance that God will lead you, taking that faith onto action, ending up with evidence. Compare to science - hypothesis, experiment, conclusion. Spiral effect. Faith leads to Christ. Faith without works is dead. Be doers of the work and not hearers only. Faith is the principle of action. D&C 58:20. Faith is exercising our agency. Certain principles of man change, when the principles of Christ are perfect and never changing. You can have a perfect knowledge of the gospel / the principles of Christ, when you can't have a perfect knowledge of the principles of men. Alma 32 : 26-28 faith is conditional. 29-32 you're not going to plant an apple seed and out grows an orange tree. The seed will be consistent in what it's genetics are. Start out small then continue to grow. Just start out reading one verse a day. I dare you to just try to read at least just one scripture, one verse a day. You will see the blessings and will start reading / wanting more. What goes around comes around. Wickedness NEVER was happiness. There is no middle ground. Each different testimony is its own seed. Testimony of modesty, that's a seed. Tithing, that's a seed. Etc. we have many seeds to take care of. Take one seed at a time. SwellingEnlargesEnlightensDelicious - you love it and want more. If this testimony has ended up with this seed, it is a good seed. Alma 32:33-34 God commanded us to be perfect. It's a process we can become perfect in one thing. Seed by seed step. God wants us to become like him. 35-36 will only start your full experience. Your perfect knowledge is not the end of your growth. 37- 40 the tree of life. Everlasting growth. Christ and HF don't stop their growth. They might have a perfect knowledge, but they continue to tend the works. If you don't continue to act, it will weaken. Once it's first rooted, it's always there. You might cut it down, but you can rebuild it. (Compare to planting sugar canes). You're not told to read the scriptures once. You continuously read it, for you learn something different each time. 41-43 Alma 32:43 READ!!! VERY IMPORTANT!! Don't let Satan's doubts get to you. Ask yourself what you know right now. Recognize whet you don't now yet and strive to learn. God may not want you to learn that subject right then. He might have you learn that in maybe five years. That's where patience comes in. What does God want you to know right now? What's important for you right now? Look at the basics. Figure out what you know. You can't your car, if you don't know what parts need to be fixed. Listen to the spirit, then act upon your answer. Your answer will come. Be patient. Don't listen to the doubt. Hasten your efforts once you gain the perfect knowledge.