Happy Easter!





The Man in White

Based on 3 Nephi 11

Mother, who is this Man in white?

He seems to have the sun inside him

And radiates its warmth and light...

He is the Son of God, my child,

It is his majesty you feel, his pure love for us.

Mother, do you hear him call us?

He asks us to come to him—

Hurry, hurry-- let us get closer to the dais...

His call is not to hurry, child, but to come

He will wait for us, never fear.

Mother, look, his hands are scarred!

Who dared wound God’s Almighty Son?

Why is he thus marred?

The scars are emblems of his gift for us,

He offers us power to become as he is...

Mother, did you feel his love

As we felt the imprint of the wounds?

Truly he is the Son of God above!

Yes, my child, he is our King—

Let us sit at his feet, as he bids, and listen to his words.

--Jessica Coupé

Capture General Conference--Template Idea

I love forms and plans and they change frequently.  Here’s one I’m experimenting with to apply the ‘eating forward’ concept to General Conference...

A paper form hopefully will provide the 'cup to hold the living water...rather than attempting to hold all the key concepts in our minds. 

Create a seven-cell table with the following headings: author, title, key concept, plan to implement, back-up plan, weekly report, weekly evaluation.

What do we do with this table?  Here's a case study using last conference:

Author:

Members of the First Presidency speak many times during conference...so for them a qualifier can be put in brackets such as...opening, closing, priesthood, relief society or young women’s...

Monson, Thomas S. (Opening)

Title: As We Meet Together Again

Key Concept (The Holy Ghost Impressed to You):

“If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer in this conference, you will find it.” (Henry B. Eyring, Oct 2010 General Conference).

 ‘Continue faithful in attending the temples’

Plan to implement:

Make time to attend Ward Temple Trips

Back-up Plan:

Many options means a larger chance of ‘success’

Read up on covenants ordinances; cultivate a temple-atmosphere in home; cultivate the Holy Ghost; send ancestors to general temple file...

Weekly (or Monthly) Report:

When performance is measured, performance improves.  When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates.” Thomas S. Monson (Preach my Gospel, page 150)

Week 1: Planned to submit Henry Brewer/Catherine Munk family to general temple file. Already in nfs and done.

Week 2: Re-read Elder Christofferson’s “The Power of Covenants”

Week 3: Planned to find home for things in Kitchen Junk Drawer.  More things ended up being added to kitchen junk drawer.

Week 4: Attended Ward Temple Trip

Weekly or Monthly Evaluation:

These questions came from “The Ultimate Diet Log” by Suszanne Schlosberg and Cynthia Sass:

•    What went well, and why?
•    What didn’t go well?  What got in my way? 
•    What is the most important insight I gained about myself this week?
•    What do I plan to do differently next week?

Where to Find the Time?

In theory it is great to be this detailed about applying gospel principles—but where do we find the time to do this recording and reporting and evaluating? 

The same place we find the time to do the cleaning, grocery shopping, budgeting, etc...it is a necessity we make time for...

The 'Eating Forward' Concept and General Conference

“Eating Forward will change your life!!!” Sandi Richard’s website proclaims. 

What is ‘Eating Forward’?

“Eating Forward,” Sandi explains, “means knowing what you are going to have for dinner - at the beginning of the day.”

This is such a (apparently) revolutionary concept she has written a whole set of books devoted to the subject.

The benefits of implementing her “simple step by step proven system” are enticing and include...

·       Dramatically reduce your stress...

·       Improve health and pocketbook...

·       Improve your entire family’s dinner experience...

Are there spiritual parallels?  Why, yes...we have “feast upon the words of Christ...” and the Lord’s statement that he is the “bread of life,” and “living water...” his blessing that those who “hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled with the Holy Ghost...”

But what does this have to do with General Conference?

Conference has been compared to a spiritual feast.  But guess what?  The teachings we receive at Conference time are not a one-meal deal.  Rather they are like the magic food pouch of Lloyd Alexander’s Gurgi.  Providing an unceasing amount of food when necessity requires.  Unlike Gurgi’s pouch which produced food without effort we have to work the Conference talks to get the nourishment...kinda like milking a goat...

‘Eating Forward’ in a General Conference context means knowing how we  are going to apply a gospel principle at the beginning of the day, before we meet the crisis...

Is it possible?  Will doing so reduce our stress and increase our health, wealth and that of our families?

In the Lord’s words, “If any man will do [the Father’s] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

And as Alma interpreted it: experiment!

Next up: A plan to help us apply the 'Eating Forward' concept to Conference

God Sends Ten Thousand Truths: Reflections on Capturing Them

Reflections in preparation for General Conference this Saturday and Sunday...

“There are joys which long to be ours,” Henry Ward Beecher told his congregation over one hundred years ago.  “God sends ten thousand truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing a while upon the roof and then fly away.”

Satan, as the Father of lies, loves to close our minds to those truths. 

He offers telestial treasures which--like junk food--are a fast, easy, appealing and addictive alternative to actually making and partaking of a nutritious meal.  But in choosing the telestial alternatives we lose the eternal truths that are sent to give us joy.

Sometimes the meaning of phrases heard in a gospel context may become (seemingly) hackneyed and meaningless.  One such time-worn phrase is “word of God.”  We listen to General Conference to hear and (hopefully) apply the “word of God.”

What does that phrase mean?

Word of God = Heavenly Father says

(‘Heavenly Father’ has the potential to be another hackneyed phrase, unfortunately.  Suffice to say ‘heavenly’ does not refer to a care-bear land of clouds and caring located loftily above us, but to the attributes of God.  Like the ‘ghost’ part of the Holy Spirit’s title, it is part misnomer, part gospel short-hand, a left-over of KJV translation. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines ‘heavenly’ as supremely excellent or celestial, again referring to divine attributes..)

Wrench myself back from that interesting tangent...

·       Why should we listen to Heavenly Father and follow his counsel as given in General Conference?

·       What tools has he provided that (like vitamins) gives us added energy, power and strength to live his word?  

·       How does Satan (the Adversary) keep us from learning and following Heavenly Father’s loving counsel?

I turn to last Conference to find out.  Here’s a summary of key concepts:

Satan keeps us from listening to Heavenly Father by magnifying:

·       Noise

·       Distractions

·       Emphasises differences between people

·       Information over-load

·       Addictions (limiting of choices)

·       Pride

(Hey--and since he is the Father of lies does that mean instead of harps his angels play lyres?)

Word of God (What Heavenly Father tells us) is...

·       Beautiful

·       Simple

·       Elegant

The Word potentially gives our lives

·       Meaning

·       Purpose

·       Hope

Why ‘potentially’? 

Just like a loaf of new-baked bread has the ‘potential’ to be delicious and nourishing, it won’t be unless we reach out and eat a piece.  Same with gospel truths.  They might smell of heaven, warm and sweet and beautiful...but unless we consciously partake we will miss out on their benefits.

To Store and re-store the Word requires...

·       Obedience

·       Conscious choice and effort

·       Purity

·       Trust

·       Work

·       Caring for our physical needs

·       Integrity

·       Sharing the Word with others

·       Quiet Time with God in sacred spaces, learning of Him through scriptures and listening to him through prayer

·       Investing time in strengthening vital relationships with God, Family, Fellow Men and Ourselves.

·       Inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives and acting on His promptings...

Virtues that empower us to live God’s Word:

·       Faith

·       Repentance

·       Gratitude

·       Humility

·       Charity

·       Knowledge of our history

·       Service (Home/Visiting Teaching, Teaching/Participating in lessons)

Next up: Applying the 'Eating Forward' Concept to General Conference

Tips & Tricks to Make New Year's Resolutions Stick!

“Many people fail in life,” Elbert Hubbard says, “not for lack of ability or brains or even courage, but simply because they have never organised their energies around a goal."

The resolutions we make as the New Year dawns usually involve resolves to improve our lifestyle—whether that means losing weight, gaining a job, going back to school or improving a relationship.

Breaking New Year’s resolutions is almost proverbial.

Here are some tips and tricks from making and keeping them!

Examine Where You Have Been

What have you accomplished this last year?  What do you wish you had accomplished but didn’t?  Often the year passes month by month and we don’t see the larger picture.  Take time to record how you used your time, opportunity and energy.  What did you do with or for your faith, fitness, finances, family?  How did you spend your leisure time?  How healthy is your spiritual, financial, social, emotional and family life?  Could you improve in any of those areas?

By taking time to review the past year you allow yourself to gain perspective on where you have been and insight into where you want to go.

Decide on some goals to accomplish this year

What end result do you want to have accomplished in the above mentioned areas by the end of the year?  It could be to work daily exercise into your lifestyle or to earn more money.  Whatever it is write it down. 

“In order to do something new,” M.J. Ryan explains, “you will have to get clear on why you are willing to expend all that energy.”

Writing down goals helps us clarify them in our minds.

But beware how you phrase the goal!

“Trying consciously to remove a negative mental image or habit,” M.J. Ryan says, “actually reinforces it.  That’s because if you give yourself a command such as ‘Don’t think of donuts,” there’s actually a part of the brain that is trying to obey by constantly scanning (“Are you thinking about donuts now?  How about now?”), which of course results in you constantly thinking about everything you’ve vowed not to. 

“But if you create a positive image of what you want to go toward, that’s what the brain begins scanning for instead.”

Plan How to Accomplish Your Goal

Here’s the part where most goals fizzle away into oblivion.  Application.  That’s because what many people think of as a ‘goal’ is actually a wish.  A desire without an action plan. 

Here are some links to help you turn your wish into a goal.

HelpGuide.org contains a wealth of articles to help you improve the quality of your life.  Articles outline simple steps to accomplish your big objectives.  Subjects include family life, healthy living, mental and emotional health.

Smart Goal Defined: This article defines what the elements of a S.M.A.R.T goal contain.

This Year I Will...: How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True by M.J. Ryan (book)

The Success Principles by Jack Canfield (book)

Get out of your Way!

“By pretending to be someone who has mastered the habit you want to acquire,” M.J. Ryan tells us, “you get out of your way, and accomplish it.”

Summary

 “We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand…and melting like a snowflake.  Let us use it before it’s too late.” –Marie Beynon

Exploring 'Happily Ever After'

“Sandwiched between…“once upon a time”, Dieter F. Uchtdorf tells us, “and “happily ever after,”…all [have] to experience great adversity.”

OK…so we’ve experienced it…and we’re walking through it.  We’ve established heartwood...captured our vision...moved forward with faith, walked step by step and now we are coming through adversity.

So… “Give us the wages of going on,” we echo Tennyson’s plea. 

Our hero of the swamp—Wilford Woodruff—could have echoed it as well as he walked those last three days through knee-high muddy water making for Memphis.

Where’s our ‘happily ever after’?

Life has been compared to a three-act play.  We are hurled into life in the middle of the second act when the conflict takes place.  The play’s author has given us a script of sorts…and surrounded us with other actors from whom we can get clues to our part in the play.

“Remember this!” Boyd K. Packer admonitions us, “The line “And they all lived happily ever after” is never written into the second act. That Line belongs in the third act when the mysteries are solved and everything is put right…”

So for now…as in the middle of every good fairy tale…we face the conflict with the same skill-set that Wilford Woodruff took to his challenges—heartwood, vision, faith, prayer, and step-by-step diligence. 

For now we rejoice in the journey.

And, eventually, when the third act dawns, so will our ‘happily ever after.’

Coping Strategies in Adversity

“If life seems too hard for the time being,” Horatio Dresser said, “take it on trust with the simplicity of a child.”

Ezra Taft Benson’s 12 Ways to beat Depression, Discouragement, Despair and Despondency:

• Repentance 
• Prayer 
• Service 
• Work 
• Health 
• Reading 
• Blessing 
• Fasting 
• Friends 
• Music 
• Endurance 
• Goals

Further Reading

“Do Not Despair” Ezra Taft Benson

“As a Child” Henry B. Eyring