Back at it. Trying to decide whether it's easier to type with one hand, or the baby in the crook of my arm ...
While at the MTC we one of the elder's in our district joked about going home and Sis. King decided we needed to watch a talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland entitled, "Don't You Dare Go Home!"
***Elder Jeffery R. Holland: Don't You Dare Go Home
A. Don't miss a day, don't miss an hour
B. Don't live with regret
C. Serve for all 18/24 months
D. Every good blessing I have, is because I have gone on a mission
E. Savor, embrace and cherish every minute of it - it will never come again
F. Enhance, magnify, glorify and underscore yourself
G. Plan now for the stories you will tell your children
H. We can't guarantee heroic results, but every one can pledge heroic effort
I. We do our missionaries a great disservice if we expect anything less than their best, we can't expect more than your best effort
J. Obey mission rules, obedience is the first law of missionary work
K. Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21 - the promise is in the obedience
L. Be bigger and better and bolder than you've ever been
M. Don't miss the chance to gain these blessings
N. It is His work and His glory done His way
O. It is the hardest work I've ever done
P. ADVICE
1. Teach the atonement of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world
2. We want them to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repent, then be baptized for the remission of sins
3. Do not take the simple doctrine for granted - We should talk more about the basic saving ordinances
4. Why isn't it easier to get baptisms? - missions have to be hard
- salvation is not a cheap experience - it wasn't meant to be easy
- If I'm going to be his missionary, how dare I ask not to get close to the anguish he felt
- Be disciples of him who did atone
- Christ's only imperfections are the one's he choose to keep, the wounds in his hands, feet and side
Q. Serve suffering (allowing) the will of the Lord from the beginning.
***June 7, 2004 JOURNAL: The Temple
I'm so glad we got to go tot he temple this morning. I felt so much better. I really missed not being able to go the the temple for the past two weeks. I'm grateful that Greg took me along with him to the temple for that month leading up leaving for the MTC. I've come to be entirely grateful for the temple. A great work goes on in the temple and I felt such a calming peace. It is truly the house of God. Overall it was a very, very good morning.
GOOD: went to the temple, did laundry
COMPANION: understanding, caring
GOALS: 4th discussion simple summary, work harder, have fun, teach 3rd discussion, lights out at 10:30pm
11 March 2013
Two months later and here I am again.
For historical purposes:
At the end of January we celebrated Alessandra's birthday. We had a great time with our family at Shakey's Pizza. It was, of course, Minnie Mouse themed. We hoped she felt special and especially loved for her birthday.
At the beginning of February, on the evening of the 5th, Itasca was born. We love him. More will be shared about his birth story and first month of life in coming blogs.
Yesterday was a great day to be at church. We were under flash flood advisory and it seemed like Heavenly Father wanted us to work to get to the goodness. Brother Patrick and Sister Lori Soma spoke in sacrament meeting on the topic of repentance. Sister Soma a shared personal story about how she stole a piece of candy and her older brother made her apology and paid her debt to the store owner. She was five-years-old when she first, truly learned the principle of repentance and about the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Lloyd shared a talk in primary about Jesus Christ is my Saviour. He talked about Enos' wrestle with the Lord. How Christ's atonement allowed for Enos' forgiveness of sins. And because Christ's atonement covered Enos' repentance, we can repent and be forgiven as well.
Nake'u and I were able to catch part of the Sunday School lesson after Lloyd's talk. We learned that the core of pride is enmity. Separating yourself from God, from those around you, from your family. etc. We are constantly reminded of the need for humility because we don't all tend toward humility. Our need for money and "worldly stuff" becomes pride when our focus changes from serving others, to uplifting ourselves in the eyes of others. Daily and constant prayer can help to keep our focus on God and humility and away from pride.
In Relief Society Sister Ilona Kaonohi taught "The Grand Destiny of the Faithful" from the Teachings of the Prophet Lorenzo Snow. She shared about how her son Jared is training and competing in track and field. In order to qualify for states in shot put he needs to throw the ball 45 feet. However, he keeps landing short of the 40 foot mark. She constantly tells Jared that he is doing all he can to train, focus and get proper form. That he needs to keep competing without giving up and the time will come when he will be able to throw the ball far enough. Sister Kaonohi also shared a Mormon Message by Elder Holland, "Good Things to Come." I liked that Elder Holland reflected on advice he would give to his younger self: "Don't you quit.... You keep trying. ... Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don't come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. It will be alright in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come." Sister Kaonohi encouraged us to read scriptures daily, because the scriptures will nourish our souls with the hope we need to get from day to day, until that great day when the work is finished and the Lord stands with open arms to greet his good and faithful servants.
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