Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Sometimes things work out different

The Uchdorf's pre-apostleship:

***6/9/04 NOTES: Devotional
     1. Sister Uchtdorf
          A. Ephesians 2:19 - Fellow citizens with the Saints and house of Israel
          B. Sacrifices bring blessings
          C. The biggest sacrifice we can make is to give up everything to the Lord.

     2. Brother Uchdorf
          A. Serve the Lord with all your heart, might, mind and strength.
               1) Serve the way you promised to.
               2) This is our opportunity to give it our all everyday
          B. You are here to find, teach, baptize, and confirm.  To help those young members become strong, faithful members
               1) You need to influence them for good, to keep the commandments after they are baptized so they never fall away.
               2)Prepare them to go to the temple - focus on the temple early - all roads lead to the temple
               3) We need to be missionaries with a purpose.
               4) They need to be taught by missionaries with strong testimonies and the desire to teach by the spirit
          C.  Teach and bear testimony espeically of things not found in other churches
               1) Modern revelation - The prophet Joseph Smith
               2) Book of Mormon - a second witness
               3) The God head - three separate beings with one purpose
               4) The Plan of Salvation
               5) The Word of Wisdom
               6) Temple work - through revelation 
          D. You have to obtain, believe, love, live the doctrine
               1) Study, ponder and have questions, so you can find the answers to those questions
               2) Make it yours by believing it and living it
               3) Let these words sink deep into your heart, so you can teach it from your heart
               4) Depend on motivation and focus to study
               5) The message of the restoration is a true and valid foundation
               6) You need to have the powers of heaven to teach - obedience and personal worthiness requisite
               7) Be alert, exercise, shower and pray before study
          E. Our purpose is to teach the message of the restored gospel in such a way that both the missionary and the investigator are led by the spirit.
               1) If you want to teach from the heart, you must have something in your heart
               2) If you want to teach with conviction, you must have conviction
               3) If you want to teach with testimony, you must have a testimony
               4) Don't overestimate the power of your eloquence and attractiveness!
          F. Follow the guidance of the spirit they need to hear the simple gospel truths

*** 6/8/04 PERSONAL STUDY: Alma 17-18
          A. Characteristics of a Missionary
               1.  waxed strong in the knowledge of truth
               2.  sound understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ
               3.  obtained the word of Christ
               4.  given to much prayer and fasting
               5.  have the spirit of prophecy, the spirit of revelation
               6.  they taught with the power and authority of God
          B. Alma the Younger and the sons of Mosiah did suffer - God tells them to be patient and they will be blessed
          C. Ammon
               1.  The flocks were scattered and Ammon recovered them (like missionary work)
               2. slinging stones? smiting arms? bring it on! whoo-hoo

*** June 8, 2004 JOURNAL: TUESDAY
          Well I didn't accomplish much of any goals.  It's way past 10:30 pm.  Sister Morris and Sister Sitake (different district, same branch) leave tomorrow morning, so we were saying our goodbyes.  Hard to think that will be us in a week.
          Tonight we did a spotlight on Christ - so good, such strong testimonies.  I'm so grateful for my district, they're the best.

13 March 2013
I had most of this typed out yesterday and never got to posting it.  Grrr!  It was one of those days where I had my day too, well mapped out.  One thing went wrong and my day went from what I considered a fully successful day to: if you walked into my house you'd wondered if I did anything at all.

So I had planned on sharing yesterday, and am doing so today, about how I started reading the Relief Society "Daughters in My Kingdom" book on Sunday.  I know we received it last year (or maybe earlier o.O) but I never made it past the first chapter.  I decided that since I attend Relief Society now it would be a good idea to know the history of Relief Society. In chapter 2, Joseph Smith is quoted from section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants.  While Joseph Smith is counseling specific families, it is good counsel for me too: "First set in order thy house. ..."  A light bulb clicked on in my head when I read that.  So I set goals for myself to reach this week starting with Monday and cleaning the first floor.  Which I did fairly well.  It wasn't deep cleaning by any means, but the floors were clear of clutter and swept, the table was clean and most of the dishes were done.  Yesterday was my day to focus on laundry.  That plan went bust as I discovered a tiny hole in the drain hose of our washer.  My yesterday's plans crashed and burned and are still unrecognizable.  To add insult to injury we need a specific type of drain hose replacement for our washing machine.  So, while we are figuring out the logistics of replacing the drain hose we will temporarily mend the drain hose with plumbers tape.

Was my yesterday successful?  I'm not sure.  If I think about things that affect my "Celestial Worthiness" the cleanliness of my house plays a lesser role to the time I spent coloring with Pwopwo, walking Lloyd to school, rocking Itasca to sleep, talking on the phone with Nakeu and having dinner (at Denny's because I didn't even get to cooking dinner) with my family.  Lesser even to the time spent reading church materials and Sunday lessons.  Would it have been nice to be a step closer to getting our house in order?  Yes, definitely.   But that must be what today is for. ...  Unless God has another adventure in store for me ;)

As soon as this is posted today, it's time to put my shoulders to the wheel and push along in setting our house in order.

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