How to Have Courage to Do What is Right

During our forum yesterday, the speaker told a really important insight. He said that not choosing the right is basically not having the courage to choose the right. He asked how we can increase in courage. What makes some people flee while others fight? There was a large study done of soldiers to see what made the difference between people who stayed through battles and others who fled. They checked everything from where they grew up to if they were raised by both parents to if they played sports. They found one thing that separated the two. Those who had courage were those who had clear goals before them and wrote them down. Now, you may know how I feel about the word "goal." It has a negative connotation for me of choosing random measurable tasks and (normally) failing at them or abandoning them within a week. So. I'm going to cross out goal and write purposes. Because I do have purposes. And that word alone makes it seem a lot more meaningful. OKAY. NOW THEN.

My purposes, the things that will help me do right in hard situations, are:

-To always remain a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

-To be valiant, not casual, in my covenants so that my family and I can live in the celestial kingdom.

-To be worthy of and equally-yoked with a valiant son of God.

-To have a rock-solid testimony for my children, and for my life--past and present--to be an example that they can model their lives after.

P.S. I keep having this thought and I need to do something about it: Elder Bednar gave one of the most powerful promises I have ever heard. He said, "As you respond in faith to this invitation [to do family history]...your testimony of and conversion to the Savior will become deep and abiding. And I promise you will be protected against the intensifying influence of the adversary. As you participate in and love this holy work, you will be safeguarded in your youth and throughout your lives." Folks, this is why I do family history. I need those blessings. We all do. So. I'm going to do something about it, because what I'm doing now isn't sufficing.

Valiant Spirits

Just a new thought that was sparked from Elder Pearson's talk: there are no casual disciples in the celestial kingdom. The souls there feel comfortable being surrounded by men like Abraham, who was willing to sacrifice anything for the Lord. Valiant spirits are in the celestial kingdom. I need to be that valiant spirit. I really believe that the starting point, no matter where you are, is prayer. A prayer that says "Heavenly Father, right now, I really don't want to do what's right. Please help me to overcome that." is a prayer that gets answered. It's like reaching out to a rope so Heavenly Father can help pull you in. All that is required for a prayer to be heard and answered is sincerity. Tell Heavenly Father exactly where you are and ask for help. There is no counsel more oft-repeated in the scriptures than "ask and ye shall receive." He means it.

"Stay by the Tree"

Man, Conference was so good! One idea my bishop gave me is to listen to one talk several times in a row, so that you can catch different things you might otherwise miss. I think it's better to hone in on one talk you need than to try to lightly cover all of them. My favorite talk is by Elder Kevin W. Pearson, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy. My favorite talk last Conference was by Elder Jorg Klebingat, and Elder Pearson's talk reminded me of it. They are both really bold, practical, have six suggestions, and they even both served as mission presidents! There were a ton of powerful one-liners from Elder Pearson, and I'm going to mention some of the thoughts that were most powerful to me.

-"Shortly before President Heber J. Grant passed away, one of the Brethren visited his home. Before he left, President Grant prayed, 'O God, bless me that I shall not lose my testimony and keep faithful to the end!' After nearly 27 years as President of the Church, this was his fervent prayer. His example is a striking reminder that no one, at any age, is immune from Satan’s influence." - A good reminder to me that it's not over til it's over, and that we always need to be praying for the ability to stay strong. If the president of the Church needs to pray for it, I definitely need to.

-"Let me be clear: to 'hang in there' is not a principle of the gospel." - I love how bold this statement is. The statement after it expounds on it: "Enduring to the end means constantly coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him." - Coming unto Christ an active pursuit, while enduring sometimes has the connotation of waiting. Everyone endures, just by the passing of time. But will we endure it well? Will we fulfill the purpose of our lives, to become like God, or are we just trying to wait it out?

-"If enduring to the end is essential to eternal life, why do we struggle to be faithful? We struggle when we are caught between competing priorities." - I've realized these last few weeks that scripture study and prayer are never really an "urgent" matter to the natural man. Sure, homework is urgent because of the deadlines. Eating is urgent for obvious reasons. But there are no earthly-imposed deadlines for spiritual strengthening, which is why I think it can be so easy for them to get pushed aside. These things may not even seem urgent to those who are slipping away. Thus, we have to make it a priority - our first priority - to strengthen ourselves.

- "Casual obedience and lukewarm commitment weaken faith." - Such a good thought, because we would normally think that casual and lukewarm mean neutral, not negative. But here he's saying that it does weaken faith. We cannot be neutral in the gospel. Heavenly Father does not want His children to be casual in the battle around us!

-"Obedience builds faith in Christ." - I once read a quote that said something along the lines of "where there is no obedience, there is no faith." I really liked that, because obedience is something you can actively measure.

-"Search the Book of Mormon and the words of the living prophets every day, every day, every day! It’s the key to spiritual survival and avoiding deception. Without it, we are spiritually lost." - I love practical applications. This is a practical thing I can do with huge blessings promised.

-"Only the Savior has 'the words of eternal life.' Everything else is just words."

-"Apostasy is the reverse of conversion." - For me, this means that if I'm not moving into a greater concentration of conversion, I'm moving on the continuum down towards apostasy. If we're not progressing, we're regressing.

-"If you lose the Spirit, you are lost." - How bold is that! How true is that! How important is that to always remember! Not to say that being lost means that you could never be found again, but that you have let go of the iron rod. Holding on to the iron rod is more than studying the scriptures. It's living those words. And it includes words of Christ personal to you - personal revelation. We need to follow those commandments as well.

-"Once we enter into covenants with God, there is no going back. Giving in, giving up, and giving out are not options." - Covenants are the most serious promises we will ever make. I need a greater understanding of covenants.

-"In the kingdom of God, there is a standard of excellence for exaltation. It requires valiant discipleship!" - This makes me think of the standard of excellence on my mission. They were goals for us to aim for, and our mission president always promised us that where the Lord commands, the Lord provides.

-"If you are struggling, confused, or spiritually lost, I urge you to do the one thing I know will get you back on track. Begin again to prayerfully study the Book of Mormon and live its teachings every day, every day, every day!" - Again, a very practical application with a very powerful promise. I feel like he is throwing a rope that people can immediately grab on to!

-"Our daily discipleship will determine our eternal destiny. "

Okay, so I basically just quoted the entire talk, but can you blame me? So powerful! I have had the word "valiant" on my mind a lot lately. I want to be valiant, not casual. This talk was so good for me.

Discipleship

Another very good, precise talk by Elder Maxwell. I need to look up more of his talks, they are so insightful! Part of this is from: Neal A. Maxwell, “The Pathway of Discipleship,” Ensign, Sep 1998,  7, from a talk given at a Church Educational System fireside at BYU on 4 January 1998.

"...the taking of Jesus’ yoke upon us constitutes serious discipleship. There is no greater calling, no greater challenge, and no greater source of joy—both proximate joy and ultimate joy—than that which is found in the process of discipleship. This process brings its own joys and reassurances. We must not, however, expect the world to understand or to value our discipleship; they will not. In a way, they may admire us from afar, but they will be puzzled about the priorities resulting from our devotion.
Shouldering the yoke of discipleship greatly enhances both our adoration and knowledge of Jesus, because then we experience, firsthand, through our parallel but smaller-scaled experiences, a small but instructive portion of what the Savior experienced. In this precious process, the more we do what Jesus did—allow our wills to be 'swallowed up in the will of the Father'—the more we will learn of Jesus (Mosiah 15:7). This emulation directly enhances our adoration of Jesus."

"[W]hile knowledge is clearly very important, standing alone it cannot save us. I worry sometimes that we get so busy discussing the doctrines in various Church classes that talking about them almost becomes a substitute for applying them. One cannot improve upon the sobering words of King Benjamin, who said, 'Now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them' (Mosiah 4:10). Such is still the test. Deeds, not words—and becoming, not describing—are dominant in true discipleship...So it is that discipleship requires all of us to translate doctrines, covenants, ordinances, and teachings into improved personal behavior."

"Any serious disciple yearns to go home to Heavenly Father and to be welcomed there by Jesus. But the Prophet Joseph Smith declared we cannot go where They are unless we become more like Them in the principles and attributes and character They possess (see Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 216)."

"Yes, Jesus is the generous Lord of the expansive universe, but He is also Lord of the narrow path!"
"The ravines on both sides of that narrow path are deep and dangerous. Moreover, until put off, the shifting, heavy, unsettling burden of the natural man tilts us and sways us. It is dangerous."

"A vital, personal question for each of us, therefore, is, Are we steadily becoming what gospel doctrines are designed to help us become? Or are we merely rich inheritors of an immense treasure trove of truth but poor investors in the process of personal development so essential to discipleship?"

"What is it that we are to deny ourselves? The ascendancy of any appetites or actions which produce not only the seven deadly sins but all the others. Happily, self-denial, when we practice it, brings great relief. It represents emancipation from all the “morning after” feelings, whether caused by adultery or gluttony. Being concerned with tomorrow, true disciples are very careful about today! Self denial also includes not letting our hearts become too set on any trivial or worldly thing. Then we can learn the great lessons about the relationship of righteousness to the powers and the joys of heaven. The fundamental fact is that if we do not deny ourselves, we are diverted. Even if not wholly consumed with the things of the world, we are still diverted sufficiently to make serious discipleship impossible."

"the natural man...is so very selfish in so many ordinary ways"

"[T]he lingering question should not be, How many imperfections do I have? but rather, Is my discipleship sufficiently serious that I am working patiently and steadily to overcome my weaknesses, perhaps even changing some of them into strengths?"

"Given all you and I yet lack in our spiritual symmetry and character formation, no wonder God must use so intensively the little time available to develop each of us in this brief second estate."

"God is very serious about the joy of His children! Why should we be surprised?"

"One of the dangers we face in discipleship is drifting. This can occur when we become 'wearied and faint in [our] minds,' to use Paul’s phrase (Heb. 12:3). This is one of the tragedies of failing to be serious disciples; not that we become necessarily wicked, but rather that those who drift merely exist and are not truly alive in Christ."

"I have found that the Lord gives more instructions than explanations." [when it comes to promptings]

"The road of discipleship … requires sturdy, all-weather souls who are constant in every season of life and who are not easily stalled or thrown off course."

"So it is in the process of discipleship. There are more meaningful moments than we use profitably ... President Brigham Young taught, 'There is not a single condition of life … [and] not one hour’s experience but what it is beneficial to all those who make it their study, and aim to improve upon the experience they gain' (in Journal of Discourses, 9:292). I hope we realize that. We may fritter away our time, but life is always drenched with more opportunities for discipleship than we use. Therefore, all the minutes and hours and moments can be, at least incrementally, defining moments." [reminds me of Preach My Gospel, chapter 6, about how become like Christ one decision at a time]

"We must look carefully, therefore, not only at life’s large defining moments but also at the seemingly small moments. Even small acts and brief conversations count, if only incrementally, in the constant shaping of souls, in the strategic swirl of people and principles and tactical situations. What will we bring to all of those moments small and large? Will we do what we can to make our presence count as a needed constant in such fleeting moments, even in micro ways? Do you and I not sometimes say appreciatively of individuals who have helped us, 'They were there when we needed them'? Will we reciprocate?"

"If we are thus determined, then we are emulating yet another quality of our Lord, of whom we read, 'And there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it' (Abr. 3:17). True disciples are meek but very determined."

"[C]ertain taste buds of our souls may have been burned over by sin, and our Father desires that we regenerate these by repentance. Our Heavenly Father also desires the development of what are presently the many other neglected taste buds of our souls. These, when they are really developed, will bring even greater happiness and true joy."

"Wickedness is not the only mortal failure. Yes, the avoidance of wickedness remains ever important, but the sins of omission also represent a haunting failure. How often, may I ask you, do we speak about the need for repentance concerning our sins of omission? Or how often do we make personal confessions of them to God?"

"Promptings for us to do good come from the Holy Ghost. These promptings nudge us further along the straight and narrow path of discipleship. The natural man doesn’t automatically think of doing good. It isn’t natural."

"It is sadly true, as we all know, that many on this planet hunger for bread, but many also hunger deeply to experience the reassuring eloquence of example. This represents a desperate need which is incumbent upon us to provide as part of our discipleship."

"We can be of so much service to others in many 'thou shalt' ways. Of course, the problem is that rendering such service takes time and we are all so busy ... The 'thou shalts' are so convenient to put off. Who will notice the procrastination anyway? After all, we are not robbing a bank."

"In each of life’s situations, large or small, if you and I will bring fixed principles and strive to be more like Jesus, including his generosity, then we will be living abundantly and not just existing."

"Not shrinking is more important than surviving, and Jesus is our exemplar."

"[I] plead that each of us might not deflect these [promptings from the Spirit] but might receive them as indicators of how much more we could do if we were more serious disciples".

This is one of the most powerful talks I have ever read.

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." -James 1:27

This is a really good article. I believe it's from Elder Neal A. Maxwell, posted on ldsliving.com? I took some quotes from it...and by some quotes I mean basically the whole article because it was so good. :)

"The noblest aim in life is to strive to live to make other lives better and happier." 

"In the first two great commandments we are adjured to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. How very difficult these duties are when people become selfish. The more they become self-centered, the more their interest in God wanes; if some think of Him at all, it is only in an attitude of 'What has He done for me lately?'"

"Serving others is one of the best ways to nourish our testimonies..."

"[Giving service] is somewhat like flicking a light switch from "off" to "on"—lighting up a room so that we see more clearly (or for the first time) all the possibilities for service that we simply did not see in the darkness of devotion to self." (realize that there are infinite number of ways to do service - for each person you see, there is a way to serve them) 

"Giving genuine companionship to the malnourished mortals who have known so little love and so few friends is as vital as food for the starving. So often what people need so much is to be sheltered from the storms of life in the sanctuary of belonging."

"We should balance our service between those who give us immediate response and gracious appreciation and those who are grumpy—so grumpy they almost dare us to love them."

"...selfish people are forever taking their own temperature, asking themselves, 'Am I happy?'"

"We lose ourselves in righteous service and in wise and good causes through a thousand deeds rather than one single spectacular act." 

"Think for a moment how different it would be if people took on that physical appearance which would reflect distinctly how well they are doing spiritually. How would some of today's so-called beautiful people really look?"

"Let us, therefore, define service to others as including genuine listening—a listening that is more than just being patient until it is our turn to speak; rather, a listening that includes real response, not simply nodding absorption. Let us think of service not only as giving, but also as receiving righteously. Parenthetically, one of the many reasons some of today's children have not learned to give is that some parents do not know how to receive. Let our service, at times, include a willingness to hold back in conversation when what we would have said has already been said—and perhaps better. To contribute, not money, but time and space, so that another can expand is to reflect a quiet nobility. There are so many times when to forgo is to make way for another."

"We can serve by enduring well, for our steadiness will steady others who are otherwise on the verge of giving up."

"We can serve by giving deserved, specific praise."

"The righteous and serving will feel when others are 'past feeling.' They will love when the love of others has waxed cold. They will have also been different enough to have made a real difference in the world. They will know inner peace when fear envelops others. They will go on serving while others are lost in raging selfishness. Service softens, not hardens, our hearts. The gospel gentles us and tames us—it does not make us more wild. Service keeps indolence at bay. Pure love keeps us from all manner of lasciviousness. Service keeps us from forgetting the Lord our God, because being among and serving our brothers and sisters reminds us that Father is ever there and is pleased when we serve, for while the recipients of our service are our neighbors, they are His children."

"At several points the scriptures speak of bearing one another's burdens that they may be light. (Mosiah 18:8; Galatians 6:2.) Paul clearly connects this form of service with the keeping of the second commandment. (Galatians 5:13- 14.) The lessening of the load of another comes, in part, from our very expression of genuine concern transmitted to the burdened. Empathy expressed can do much to lift the heart of another. Objectively, in fact, the burden (the loss of health, a loved one) may remain, but the capacity to cope and to carry on is increased by our administering the adrenalin of affection."

"...carried within each soul born on this planet is the Light of Christ, which can illumine the landscape of life, even if the carrier does not understand that light within. (D&C 93:2.)"

"Jesus loved people enough to teach them specific things. He did not merely live among people as so many of us do, for co-existence is not real brotherhood. Teaching is a significant form of service, just as is witnessing to one's neighbor."

"Just as He has told us to do, He found and fulfilled Himself by losing himself in the service of others. But we must lose our life for His sake—not just any cause. There are those carefully masqueraded versions of service to others that are really ego exercises coated with a thin layer of public interest."

#healthyliving #hashtag

Alright, I'm kind of proud of something, so I'm going to shout it from the cyber rooftops: I made the healthiest shake of my life this morning. Go on, ask me what was in it. :D

Vanilla coconut almond milk, ice, ground flaxseed, a banana, strawberries, apple, grapes, a handful of leafy greens, mango, avocado, ginger, and the tears of Grandmother Willow (don't worry, tears of joy). #micronutrients #keepitup #alldayeveryday #hashtagsdontworkonblogs #hashtag

Spiritual Pollution

“In a recent conference, Elder Boyd K. Packer said, ‘As we test the moral environment, we find the pollution index is spiraling upward’ (in Conference Report, Apr. 1992, p. 91; or Ensign, May 1992, 66). The Apostle Paul foresaw ‘that in the last days perilous times shall come’ (2 Timothy 3:1). And speaking of the last days, the prophet Moroni declared, ‘Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth’ (Mormon 8:31). “Sadly, the effects of this great pollution are perhaps most evident in the mass media, films, television, and popular music. Of this, Senator Robert D. Byrd said, ‘If we in this nation continue to sow the images of murder, violence, drug abuse, . . . perversion, [and] pornography . . . before the eyes of millions of children, year after year and day after day, we should not be surprised if the foundations of our society rot away as if from leprosy’ (in Michael Medved, Hollywood vs. America [New York: Harper Perennial, 1992], p. 194). “. . . In most areas of the mass media there seems to be a declaration of war against almost everything the majority treasures most: the family, religion, and patriotism. Marriage is degraded, while premarital and extramarital relations are encouraged and glamorized. Profanity and the foulest of vulgar gutter language bombard the ears of all who listen. . . . Human life itself is trivialized by the constant barrage of violence and killings” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1993, 12; or Ensign, Nov. 1993, 11)." (Book of Mormon Institute Manual)

I completely agree with this! I know that what we watch and listen to does have an effect on us and can change us. I know that we have to really seek after virtuous things. They can be hard to find. But I also believe that there is no shortage of good media. Even as the adversary is increasing the amount and intensity of spiritual pollution, Heavenly Father is increasing the amount and intensity of beautiful things. And we have time on our side - we can reach back into time and find media that is wholesome. I LOVE the Andy Griffith Show for that self-same reason. Even in our media today, there are soul-striking songs yet to be found and books that can expand my mind. (As for movies...I've basically decided that it's not worth it to go to the theaters anymore, because it has basically all become junk food or toxic.) I am sure that things will continue to slide downhill, and when my children start to choose for themselves the media they'll watch, I want them to have a testimony of the power of media for good or ill, and to have grown up with a strong foundation of virtuous things. Again, I bring up John Bytheway's marinade analogy - saying that you're not affected by what you surround yourself with is like saying a piece of chicken is not affected by the marinade it's surrounded by. Luckily, we get to choose our marinade. We do not, however, get to choose to not be affected by it. I hope to make my home a refuge from the storm, full of good books and music and conversations, a place where people can be uplifted and strengthened.