Scripture Study

So whenever I hear people scoff the Old Testament, Isaiah, Revelation, Jacob 5 or other scripture that may not be as easy to just sit down and read I have the desire to go into a bit of a monologue.
Now I take no credit as I learned the following from Master teachers but I find it helpful.
-Stay away from the "scriptures for dummies" books.
You are an agent with agency to act and receive revelation. Grow up. Learning what someone found insightful is great, but if you don't pay the price then you can't have it.
-Understand why. The scriptures were written for a purpose. The sooner you find out why the writer is writing (they usually say in their writings) the easier it is to follow along their thought pattern. Calling people to repent, prophesy, teach, etc.
-Principle based learning. Nephi tells us that the Old Testament was written so that we can see how God deals with a people and what happens when they obey/disobey and how constant He is, etc. when you forget about specific, isolated instances and try to find principles for application then you will love it more.
-Use modern revelation. The prophets are really insightful about what other prophets have said (I have this app scripture citation index that shows when talks by GA's mention certain scriptures) it helps to put it in context to "modern world life" if you are struggling with that. This includes the church produced Institute manuals, JST, Bible Dictionary, etc.
- The main reason is to testify of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament prepared some for the Coming of Christ and some it did not. Some were blinded to the spiritual manifestation of Christ throughout the writings (some of which we do not have) in the bible. The purpose of all scripture is to reprove, correct, teach, and inspire faith in and testify of Jesus Christ.
I love to read the scriptures.
I hope you enjoy your next journey whether through 1 Nephi, Alma, Isaiah, Genesis, or wherever your study will take you.

St. Valentines Day

Commonly known as Singles Awareness Day. I was with a friend and some friends in their apartment and saw it was decorated for Valentines day. I did not understand why it was decorated so early, but as it was very well done I did not mention anything. Later that night the inevitable happened. Someone mentioned the decor. The comment was quickly made about singles awareness day, being SAD, etc. I again said nothing.
It really just strikes me as odd.
It is a day that celebrates love.
Now granted that it is over commercialized, and negatively affected much the same way I feel Christmas has been.
But still
It is a day that celebrates love.
"God is love." "A man cannot say that he loves God and hates his brother. For God is love."
Now my point.
Christmas is over commercialized yet we find a way to center on Christ. Even people who aren't devout Christians celebrate the time of giving, and peace and joy and being happy. I don't get why it is so much harder to do during Valentines.
A day set aside to show love for others.
It is not singles awareness day.
Singles awareness day happens to be everyday. I mean really. Everyday when I see couples kissing, holding hands, cuddling, being awkward in public. That is singles awarenessness.
That is why as a single I make a conscious decision to enjoy Valentines and send flowers or notes to people who I think it will make happy. It is simply another day, but specifically set aside to care for and express love to people who need it.
We should celebrate it all year long ( just like Christmas) and make it a happy time of year.
Then make sure that we love others and show them during them year.

Words not Spoken

So life is all over the map as per usual and I love it.
I had a great experience today and thought I would share it here after I finished it in full in my Journal.
Recently I hit a high mark in my discouragement.
I don't let it affect me as much as it might be healthy to, but after putting it off for so long it hit me in full today.
I just had one of those days.
So I put a smile on my face and went to the temple like my usual Saturday dictates. This Saturday though I got to go with some of my favorite friends in the whole world.
I laughed and we joked.
We reminisced.
I was still discouraged.
Cute new girl there.
Discouragement was not even phased.
Went into the temple and got ready.
Still discouraged.
Went into the chapel and was filled with the Spirit.
Now I appreciated this, but I still wanted to focus on being discouraged.
I had to figure out how to feel not discouraged.
The feeling persisted.
Then I realized that God was making me an offer.
I could let Him take this this time.
For some reason, that I am marking down to tender mercy, God offered to intervene for me.
I had not told anyone, no one said anything.
It was a testimony that God really does hear the words not spoken in our hearts. He cares for us dearly. He does not want us to "go it" alone. He wants us to willingly come to Him and ask for the help we need.
I no longer felt discouraged.
It was a fabulous day!

Sense of the Sacred

So from an etymological standpoint I derived the following definition of the phrase.

To find ones way toward a feeling of binding protection. In the enclosure of which binding protection we perceive Holiness.

Now those are a bunch of words that in very specific terms expound a very simple phrase. It is a story that is contained in a few words.

Sitting in a family home evening uninterested and non-attentive. Then suddenly everything shifts and reaches a slow motion state. I remember the Spirit intervasing and energizing me. Then leaving. I became aware. I began to develop a sense of the sacred.

On a mission. I prayed to Heavenly Father that he would let me lie down in the snow, in the freezing weather, and let me die. I was told no. I was loved and needed. I began to develop a sense of the sacred.

I was in a college class and discouraged. Felt alone and forsaken. I walked into institute and met happy people. I went to class and was born testimony of the love of God. I began to develop a sense of the sacred.

I started working in the temple. I was tutored by some of the oldest, wisest people I have ever known. I sat at the feet of men who have a sense of the sacred. I understood. I was developing a sense of the sacred.

I meet people everyday who show the attributes of the Savior and I strive to emulate their examples. They have begun to develop a sense of the sacred.

It is more than respect. Although it is that. It is more than anything individually exclusive. It is about covenants and growth and a relationship that spans time and eternity. The deeper we understand that and the farther along that road we travel, we feel a constant connection to the will of God.

It changes everything that we say and do. What we think and our priorities. A Sense of the Sacred changes everything else about us because we become different. We become Holy.

This is still a developing idea like most things spiritual. So I might be either adding parts or updating as I think about it more.

Texas

 So I am definitely feeling a little bit lonely out here in Big Sky Country. It is all so new and so different. It may be a good thing if it gets me back blogging though. I find certain aspects of it therapeutic so I am going to give it a try for a bit anyway.
My new singles ward made me feel a little bit less lonely because there is someone in it that could Jared Honda's long lost little brother. His name is Robbie. He is a blessing from God. They also have Ping Pong which is one of the loves of my life.
I also love the people here. My first day here I saw this shirt in the airport.

 As my friends will attest I do not have the greatest eyesight and can tend to have a hard time focusing (I use the excuse that it is time to get new glasses, which I have still conveniently/inconveniently still neglected to get) so they would not be surprised to hear that I did not see the scripture citation underneath it and in a quick pass thought that the cross was the "Red Cross" symbol. That is until he turned around and the back read, "His name was Jesus."
It gave me a lot to think about that day.
I may not wear a shirt that professes his name, but do others see that my understanding that changes how I act?
The words also bothered me a little bit. Okay, word.
Was
His name IS Jesus.
He may have sufferED for my sins, but the fact is that He still lives and because he lives I have someone that understands me and my trials intimately.
I love the faith that the people here are ready to show and hope that I can learn a lot from them as I am here for a short stay. I wish you all a very happy week! From Texas with Love.

Magic

So you know the magic words,
Please and Thank you.
I have always wondered at the incredible meaning behind thank you.
It covers from Letting someone go ahead of you to a hug on a rotten day
Thank you I'd like to say.

Birthdays

I have always wondered why they were soooooo important.

Finding Christmas

I think it is interesting after finding that "Christmas is over," and talking to people Christmas Day how many people were unable to find Christmas this year.
It make me wonder how Christmas eludes them.
Then there are people, "expert gift givers and receivers," who seem to have no trouble.
They realize that the timing of December 25th has nothing to do with Christmas, the location does not have to by an open fire, and the activity of choice not roasting chestnuts.
They realize what the muppets taught us long ago.
"It is…the season of the heart, A special time of caring, The ways of love made clear. It is…the season of the spirit, The message if we hear it, Is make it last all year.
Because wherever you find love it feels like Christmas."
I hope that along with the resolve to "make Christmas better next year," is the resolve to learn today how to keep it with you all year long.
That way, come December, the Master Giver of Gifts is not someone that we "set out toward Bethlehem" to find, (That is why Christmas eludes them. He is not there)but instead, is someone with whom we have spent Christmas all year long.
Christmas will simply become a natural extension of who we have become, and you will not feel like "Christmas is only special after Thanksgiving."
The reason that it is special at all is because there are those who observe it all year long. There are those who "with the Holy Spirit as their guide" give gifts to many throughout the year out of love and compassion.
There are those who emulate the Savior and "go about doing good" as He did His whole life.
I submit that if you and I want to become more like the Savior that we need more practice at being "expert gift givers and receivers" all throughout the year.
Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

For unto you is born this day in the city if David a Savior which is Christ the Lord.

geeky

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Seriously?

So just about anybody who knows me will tel you that I don't take myself seriously.
I like being lighthearted
I think that too many people walk around with heavy hearts
They think, "I am not angry, bitter, pessimistic, etc. I am just being realistic."
Time for a reality check then
Lighthearted people are realistic, they just choose to not put heavy things in their heart.
I used to put them on my shoulders or in my "backpack" and then I realized that that was no place for them either. Life is too hard to pack heavy things.
That is partly what Christmas is about.
Letting go of heavy, hard, needless things, and helping others to do the same.
Scrooges crime was not that he carried bricks around in his backpack
It was that he loaded bricks into others.
Elder Holland says, "When a battered, weary swimmer tries valiantly to get back to shore, after having fought strong winds and rough waves which he should never have challenged in the first place, those of us who might have had better judgment, or perhaps just better luck, ought not to row out to his side, beat him with our oars, and shove his head back underwater. That's not what boats were made for. But some of us do that to each other."
I am not saying that is what all grumpy people do, but I is easier to do on days when we choose to not be lighthearted
I hope that in emptying out our heavy things we find that our heart now has room for Christ this season.
Merry Christmas!

One week and counting

So I love Christmas!
It is a great time of year
Something that president Uchtdorf said is still bothering me though.
"Looking back, I think my fear that I had ruined Christmas came from an incomplete understanding of what Christmas really is. And I’ve noticed that it’s not only four-year-olds who have this misunderstanding."
What is Christmas really then?
It is in smiling, being grateful, focusing on family, serving, giving, happiness...
I think it is a good sized list.
I also think that with such a good sized list it would be easier to implement all year long and not only at Christmas time.
I wish you all a merry Christmas as you find what Christmas means to you.

Car crashes

So I had a busy day and got everything done and after a party I am driving home and nearly died.
Death is interesting
We spend our whole lives trying not to die
I wonder why?
Death is really pretty wonderful, I think
It was unnerving for a little bit, but then I realized that I was going to die.
I relaxed and contemplated life and some other really stupid questions I have always had
Then I ended up not dying
But I am happy to now have new things to think about.
I am going to stop doing things to not die and start doing everything in order to live.
It is going to get interesting

Christmas Tree Joy

I have always loved laying under the tree and...you name it.
I think that most activities are naturally enhanced while doing them under a Christmas tree.
So, while I don't exactly fit under the Christmas tree anymore I still find myself underneath it as much as possible as often as possible doing whatever I love to do, because it simply makes it that much better.
Little me was obviously a genius and I am glad to have learned over Christmas' past that I need to take more lessons from little me.
Merry Christmas!

Smells

They are so wonderful
They inspire me

I am soooooo tired

Not in that way but I just realized today something about yesterday.
I was shopping all afternoon yesterday and even though it wasn't actual shopping I had lots of fun talked to a couple of people and saw a couple of others that I knew. It was a great Saturday!
Then I got in my car to go home and a very strange tiredness washed over me.
I got to thinking and could not think why I'd be tired all the sudden.
Then I thought of someone. Then I thought a weird thought, "You should let that person know how much you appreciate their modesty."
I did as much then drove home.
Then today at church we were talking about indulgences and judgement and thoughts, words and actions and I realized why I was so tired.
I had been subconsciously fighting all day.
I was not physically drained, I was mentally and emotionally drained from pornography.
Pornography is so pervasive that I don't actually recall a single instance that stands out. However, after shopping for an afternoon I got in the car and texted a friend, "Thank you for being modest."
Only later did I realize that it was so exhaustive to go out and be in the toxic that I could only find refuge in a friend, the temple, a day at church and the Spirit.

Waiting for Christmas

So I love Christmas
Which is funny, because most people with a Christmas birthday don't like it
But then again my birthday is officially moved to July or whenever in more recent years.
I think that has helped me to like Christmas more.
I just love the music, the lights, the smells and the smiles.
I love what it does to me and I love seeing what it does to others.
Waiting and watching Christmas happen.
It has little to do with the actual day
It has everything to do with what the day reminds us of all season long.
Only Jesus Christ could do for people what "Christmas" supposedly does.
Change them.

Yeah, today was better than expected.

I love when you have a day, it starts out like any old grand day.
Then things just go wonderfully.
Not that there is one specific thing that stands out in the day.
It almost seems like that day is like a dream, but more wonderful.
I love traffic jams

Just Friends Pt. 2

"Just" friends
I was writing with one of my friends and in the coarse of writing wrote "just your friend."
She quickly corrected that with crossing out the just
In light of that movie, I think that worst thing is, like so many other things, the things that are not said.
It implies that no guy would ever be friends with a girl if he was not romantically interested.
Wow. That is terrible.
I have friends that are girls, and not only that I take good care of them like I do my sisters.
There is just no romance from one side or the other.
Friend is possibly the greatest compliment ever.
It has now been taken out of context, dragged through the mire of the English language and then twisted and reconfigured to mean something much less.

Just friends

http://youtu.be/T_lh5fR4DMA
So I imagine that you have either: heard, seen, shared, or otherwise come in contact with this video.
I disagree from lots of experience.
Guys and girls can be friends.
1. They both have to want nothing more than friendship
2. They have to respect the boundaries of friendship
3. They have to be honest with the other person.
I think that simply being friends with those you find attractive and not being willing to date and explore the possibility of love would be one of the worst decision that you could ever make. Ruining the friendship because it doesn't pan out and one or the other wants to be "just friends" is right above that though.
I would rather be friends with smart, funny, amazing people than not.
Period.

My Life is Average

I really like that site.
But it is actually not what I'll be covering.
The correct statement is, "My life is an average of the 5 people I spend the most time with."
I won't cover extensions but food for thought; what does that say about our 5 movies, books, tv shows, songs, Internet sites, etc.
But I thought about it and you always hear things like, "You've been spending too much time around/doing..."
It is true.
You develop mannerisms, vernacular, inside jokes, lots of different things that make you naturally blend in with the people you hang around.
You don't become carbon copies of any one person but a mixture of the five.
It was easy for me because outside of work the five people were my family.
My brother passes his knowledge to me through sharing
My sister and I finish sentences for each other and could jinx each other all day every day.
My sister is brilliant
My dad is ingenious and red-yellow
My mom is blue-white which keeps me alive.

What do you want for Christmas?

A question that lots of people consider at this time of year.

A question that a very good friend asked me. 

A question that I never have a good answer for.

Do you remember me?  I sat upon your knee I wrote to you with childhood fantasies. Well, I'm all grown-up now. Can you still help somehow? I'm not a child, but my start still can dream. So here's my lifelong wish, My grown-up Christmas list, Not for myself, but for a world in need. No more lives torn apart, That wars would never start, And time would heal all hearts. Every man would have a friend, That right would always win, And love would never end. This is my grown-up Christmas list.
I love that song, but that is probably a better answer than I ever give.

The answer usually goes like, "Oh nothing, if I want something then I probably already have it."

Even though I don't have everything that I have ever wanted I also try to be rational most times, and correspond my wants with needs. If there are other times that they do not match up I still objectively weigh the options and then make a purchase.

I can probably count on one hand the number of gifts that mean the most to me (as far as material with intrinsic value).

They are a random assortment, but I look at each one and each represents a sacrifice and a person knowing me better than I know myself.

Each one has value that cannot be measured.

Each one represents someone that I love.

Gifts are simply an outer presentation of an inner feeling.

A feeling to give to others the greatest gift.

Realizing that is what we have received, 2000 years ago, and wise men seek Him still.

Mansions

Apparently mansions are not everything they're cracked up to be.
President Monson talked about mansions and heavenly treasures and one thing when he finds his hovel near the end sticks in my mind, "You didn't expect to get paid twice for it, did you?"
We don't get paid twice for anything.
I guess you just need to decide where you stand.

Temple Square

Sorry it's late but yesterday went to Temple Square to see the lights again.
It was grand as always
It did just what I expected as well
It got me in the Christmas spirit
That was all I really needed it to do
I now feel fully vested in Christmas.

Feel ings

I don't know how it happens
It just kind of happens
I wake up and have a choice
This week I decided to see what it was like to be different
I went through each day living for the weekend.
The week passed in a blur
I could not remember what I had done specifically each day other than some highlighted facts, but could not really remember what day they happened on
I have decided that living for each day is much better
Living for the weekend requires the weekend just to recuperate and go back and do it again.
No thanks
I live each day as if it were my last
I don't know why the other seemed like such a good idea in high school.
Oh I renember, I was stupid.

Sanity

I think that it is overrated.

Pet Peeve Numer 8

So not a lot irritates me and I have shrunken the list down significantly, but there are still a few things that boil me in unpleasant ways.

Number 8 is people who are not willing to stick up for Peter.

The apostle Peter

Maybe you've heard of him.

Man of incredible faith, second person to walk on the water by faith, healer, teacher, resurrected being who helped restore the Priesthood to the Earth....

The list goes on

So why people cannot deal with a few things in his life that they deem "sketchy."

"Why is it so hard to stand behind someone who always stood behind the Lord.

Peter was full of faith. He never faltered. From the day he forsook his nets and boats, his feet never turned away. Even in his moment of denial, he was a near to his Lord as he could be. Let him who would be critical of this apostle put himself in the same place—among the bitterest enemies, persecutors, and assassins—with a growing knowledge of the futility of defending his Lord, whose hour had come. He who had forgiven his crucifiers [see JST Luke 23:34c footnote] also forgave Peter who had denied him."

-President Spencer W. Kimball

I am proud to have him in my Priesthood line of Authority as a great man and Champion of the cause of Truth.

He is my brother and friend.

 The rest of the talk is really good too. This is just the last piece.

Historians of a different sort

You are so close to history you don't even realize it.

The Price is Right

So I have wondered recently what is the price of a smile for someone in pain?
It is easy to smile when life is happy, but what does I take to smile even in a good amount of pain if not out right agony.
Very few people can
The price is just too great
But I truly admire those that are willing to pay it.
They know that the price is right
Thank you

The thing about icebergs is...

You can only see the top 10% and the other 90% is below the water.
I seriously need to have the power to read minds for about one month and sort out everything that I can and then try it on my own from there. It would be like training wheels for a bike (that changes every mechanism every time you turn a corner).
Okay, so I know it wouldn't help, but I can dream. All I know is that guys and girls need to find a better way to have relationship communication or we are both going to be in trouble.

Saturday that never was

Today didn't feel like Saturday,
it felt like no day.
It was awesome!
No day when you have nothing that has to be done
No day when time melds in your hand
No day when you get to focus on the most acutely important items in your life
No days are my favorite
They mean visiting people that I love, not having a schedule and rewinding the clock of life even if just for a day

Black Friday

So Black Friday is supposed to rbe the biggest holiday shopping day of the year, I mean the biggest nation wide brawl of the year.

Experience

I find that experience is great because it gives a blueprint for anyone willing to dissect it.
Everything that you throw up falls down means that you should move out of the downward trajectory of the item you threw upward.
Likewise when we have good experiences we can break down why they were food and try to replicate them or at least provide a good environment to recreate it.
We like how thanksgiving feels so maybe we should, spend time with family, focus on being thankful, eat lots of good food, whatever you do to make it great.
I hope that you learn to rein experience as your slave rather than quake under it as master.

Funny thing to be thankful for

So I enjoy thinking/talking with myself a lot. It is usually a very rewarding experience, in an introspective way. Today I was thinking and talking to myself and as often happens my mind started to spin and then I was left with a logical conundrum. I thought about it for a minute and laughed at myself.
I am thankful that I do not take myself too seriously.
Many people worry and fret about imaginations they make with no loop holes, fearing they are in fact the way things really are.
I am thankful that long ago I learned that I can laugh at myself, not worry about the small stuff and still be happy and enjoy life.
If you can't laugh at yourself then you are taking yourself too seriously.
Find a funny moment to be thankful for.

Thank Full Heart

I love Thanksgiving for lots of reasons and pie is not among the least nor dark turkey meat or Mom's rolls, but even higher than those is the general feeling of people being grateful.
I find myself more grateful as well.
Grateful for small things like a text message conversation with an awesome friend, or meeting up with a friend unexpectedly, or just having a great day for no reason.
Whatever your reason for loving the season remember to be grateful!