30 September 2013

Ask a Stupid Question Day...

Who knew such a thing existed?! I come across many strange 'days' and have wonder about them and where they come from...so I looked up a little about this, there is no major website for it, and, of course, there is a wikipedia page for it, all sources I could find stated that it was started in the 1980's by some school teachers to encourage kids to ask more questions at school. It is officially on September 28, or whatever happens to be the last day of school in the month of September! This year that is today, September 30.
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So...

What is the most stupid question you have ever asked?

What is the most stupid question someone has asked you?

What do you think about this 'holiday'?

Just a few of my thoughts on this 'day'...watsit2u?

29 September 2013

Peace - Spiritual peace vs Worldly peace

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! Today our sacrament speakers were people that we highly admire and happen to be our neighbors, too! Guess I should clarify that comment, most wards in this Church are organized by neighborhoods, so most all the members are neighbors. We attend the local signing Branch, so our boundaries are more outspread and include several towns, so not all the members live close to each other. This family actually attends the hearing ward where we live, but are also involved with and friends with many people in our Branch, thus they were asked to speak! Anyway, on to my thoughts, which I will share backwards...instead of starting with the first speaker! Their topic was peace...

The father: He shared some stories, starting with a boy scout camp near a lake. They had to go up to the camp on a Saturday instead of waiting until Monday when the camp was supposed to start. On Sunday morning, the leaders woke the boys to attend church, much to their dismay. They had to walk about 20 minutes to where they were going to have the services. Much to their surprise, they were at the nearby lake and had one of the most spectacular views of this lake. The water was still as could be and they were awestruck by the view as the meeting quickly turned into a testimony meeting. This meeting ended with a leader throwing a rock into the lake, creating nonstop ripples, taking away the stillness. This shocked the boys, but they learned many lessons with this entire experience.

The mother: She talked about her family reading the New Testament as a family and how great it is to be reading about the life of Jesus Christ. She talked about many things we can do to help bring peace in our lives. She spoke a lot about taking action and several things we could do, including scripture study! One of the best lines from her talk is "Heavenly Father knows our plan from beginning to end." She talked about his desire to help us, if we pray. She also asked us to think about how the Gospel has influenced us, how has it influenced you? She pointed out that scriptures will bring us peace. Then challenged us to serve each other in our homes, which also creates peace.

The teenage son: He introduced the topic of peace and talked about there being more than one type of peace. Then he shared the experience of a recent youth conference in his ward. It was a three day event. The first day, they walked 22 miles from the Draper Utah Temple to the Salt Lake Utah Temple. The second day, they did baptisms for the dead at the Logan Utah Temple, Brigham City Utah Temple and Salt Lake Utah Temple. The third day they spent at Seven Peaks, including playing laser tag. He pointed out that the first two days brought spiritual peace and the third day was about worldly peace. His conclusion was that you could get worldly peace fairly easy by doing things but that you had to focus and work for spiritual peace by making specific choices. 

The son had the quote of the day, which I share in the following pic, that also includes the three main things they spoke about to bring spiritual peace! Even though this lake is in California, I highly doubt it is the perfect lake the father spoke about, but he talked about the mirror effect, so I felt this would do!


I guess that sums it all up pretty well...watsit2u?

28 September 2013

LDS General Relief Society Meeting 2013

Just thought I'd take a moment to share my notes and thoughts on this inspired session in preparation for General Conference next week!

Sister Linda K Burton, President in Relief SocietyGeneral Presidency:  Covenant keeping…means choosing to bind ourselves to our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ.  It is committing to follow the Savior; it is trusting him and desiring to show Him our gratitude.  Why make and keep Covenants? 1 – Covenant keeping strengthens, empowers and protects.  “Oh sisters, we all have burdens to bear and burdens to share.” An invitation to bear one another’s burdens is an invitation to keep our covenants. 2 – keeping covenants is essential for true happiness.  “Covenant keepers are commandment keepers” 3 – keeping our covenants demonstrates our love for the Savior and our Father in Heaven.  Joseph Fielding Smith: Covenant keeping is one way to show our love…   Evaluate how much we love the Savior, how well do we keep our covenants?

Sister Carole MStephens, 1st counselor in Relief Society General Presidency:  10 year old Porter is an awesome example! Maria is also a great example or enduring to the end of helping others! (Woah, I started typing that just before Sister Stephens actually said the words!!) A great reminder of how I used to be so much better at my Visiting Teaching responsibilities and the promptings I’ve been receiving recently to go back to some of the things I used to do for my sisters! “As I shared these experiences with you, did you see yourself in the work of salvation? Take a moment to think of another daughter of God who needs encouragement to get back on the path or needs a little help to stay on the path. Ask your Father in Heaven about her. She is his daughter, he knows her name. He also knows you and he will tell you what she needs. Be patient and continue in faith and prayer on her behalf, and act on the promptings you receive. As you act on these promptings, the Spirit will confirm that your offering is acceptable to the Lord.”

Sister Linda SReeves, 2nd counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency:  I love the story about the young man saying the sacrament prayer so carefully, especially since it was his first! I have a lot of stories where the young man has to start over or repeat the prayer. I often go to these young men and reassure them that someone in that room was not ready for the sacrament to begin. And have even had the experience of being that someone! I thank them for doing a great job! “Sisters, I testify of the strength and power of prayer as we express our deepest pains and desires to our Heavenly Father and the answers received as we feast upon the scriptures and the words of the living prophets.” “My dear sisters, the Lord allows us to be tried and tested, sometimes to our maximum capacity. We have seen the lives of loved ones and maybe our own figuratively burned to the ground and have wondered why a loving Heavenly Father would allow such things to happen. But he doesn’t leave us in the ashes; he stands with open arms, eagerly inviting us to come to him. He is building our lives in magnificent temples where his spirit can dwell eternally.” D&C 58: 3-4 “Sisters, I testify that the Lord has a plan for each of our lives, nothing that happens is a shock or a surprise to him. He is all knowing and all loving. He is eager to comfort us and ease our pain, as we rely on the power of the atonement and honor our covenants.”  “We bind the Lord to keep his promises when we keep our covenants and exercise our faith. Come to the Temple, dear sisters, and claim your blessings.” “We sometimes, as women, have a tendency to be critical of ourselves. During these times, we need to seek the spirit and ask Is this what the Lords wants me to think of myself, or is Satan trying to beat me down? Remember the nature of our Heavenly Father, whose love is perfect and infinite. He wants to build us up, not tear us down.”
https://twitter.com/ldsconf/status/384128809714208768
 President Thomas S Monson, President of TheChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: “Full House” after looking over the congregation. “My dear sisters, the spirit we feel this evening is a reflection of your strength, your devotion and your goodness. To quote the Master, “Ye are the salt of the earth, the light of the world.” “I miss her more than words can express” (right after almost getting choked up talking about his departed wife) “There are many of you who have aging parents who require the loving care only you can give.” “There will be times when you will walk a path strewn with thorns and marked by struggle. There may be times when you feel detached-even isolated-from the giver of every good gift. You worry that you walk alone. Fear replaces faith. When you find yourself in such circumstances, I plead with you to remember prayer.” Peace is that which we seek, that for which we yearn. We were not placed on this earth to walk alone. What an amazing source of power of strength and of comfort is available to each of us. He who knows us better than we know ourselves, he who sees the larger picture and knows the end from the beginning has assured us that he will be there for us to provide help. If we but ask. We have the promise, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good.” (scripture?) “Allied with prayer in helping us cope in our often difficult world is scripture study. The words of truth and inspiration found in our four standard works are prized possessions to me. I never tire of reading them. I’m lifted spiritually. “My Dear Sisters, your Heavenly Father loves you, each of you, that love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account, it is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you deserve love. It is simply always there.”


Sister Ana de Agostini (closing prayer): “We ask thee Father to help us with greater understanding of our mission on this earth as daughters in these latter days”
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Did you watch it? There were so many thoughts expressed that really apply to things going on in my personal life and I already feel renewed and refreshed, I can't imagine what next week's General Conference sessions have in store for me and all of us....watsit2u?