Becoming like Jesus Christ - Obedience, the First Law of Heaven

My Dear Sisters,

Today, I would like to begin a series of posts that will help us to learn how to become more Christ like. If we can become more like Him, who was perfect, then we can be strengthened in faith and endurance. We will have the promised blessings that come only through obedience to that law. Each month we can learn a new attribute and work to apply it in our lives so that we can be on a path to becoming Christ like.

"When we obtain any blessings from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."
D&C 130:21

First, we must learn what we are to obey. What are the laws of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? We will learn that through scripture study. However; we all know some laws already like the 10 Commandments so we could start there. Choose a commandment and start applying it to your life.

More than likely you are not murderers so choose one you are having problems with, like lying. Most people have issues of lying so this could be a place to start learning how to become obedient to that commandment. When you fall short in this law don't give up but remember the Atonement of Jesus Christ and and pray for forgiveness then continue working on it. It won't happen over night and you will be tested from time to time but work hard to overcome the weakness and live a more perfect life.

"As we walk in obedience to the principles and commandments of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we enjoy a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenants with us. Those blessings provide the resources we need to act rather than simply be acted upon as we go through life...obedience gives us greater control over our lives, greater capacity to come and go, to work and create."
Elder D. Todd Christofferson




By following the laws of the Gospel and commandments we have promised blessings in our lives. As Elder Christofferson said, as we are obedient we will always have blessings and guidance in our lives.  Wow, that is good to know. I can testify that it is true. I have experienced continued blessings in my life so many times. And now I know that it is because of my persistence in trying to be obedient.

Let me share one example with you. I am from the East, but I had an opportunity to live in the West. I love the West. It is where I belong, or so I thought, well it's where my heart is. Anyway, for a few years I kept feeling like I should consider moving back East to Florida but I would always resist and stayed there. One year I finally asked myself why I wanted to stay so badly and I realized that I loved my life there. I wanted to live the rest of my life there, I was so happy.

But that year I felt very strongly that I should move my family back East. I prayed a lot and struggled a lot with the decision to move back. My heart was broken and cried as I left the home and my life that I came to know and love. But I began to focus on my new life. I wasn't a pleasant person to be around for a little while because I was not happy to be back. But I knew I was being obedient to the prompting I received so I tried to find some happiness in being there. That year we were welcomed back with 4 hurricanes, I left Florida after experiencing Andrew in South Florida, so needless to say, I was very unhappy.



I began to pray about my life and why I was there. I chose to follow the prompting and as I began to live my life there I came to see several reasons why we needed to be there. One reason is my children really didn't know their family well because we only visited every other year. So this gave them the experience of cousins, grandparents, etc. They have come to love those people they call family.

Another reason has to do with my bio-dad. I never got to have a real good relationship with him because he remarried and had a new family. But after I moved back we had a small falling out because I never went to see him, and he lived about 45 mins away from me but I drove 4 hours to see his grandmother, his mom. So he was mad at me but I felt like he could come see me too.

After a few months I got a message that he was in the hospital and it wasn't good. I vowed at that time that I would go see him as often as I could and I was blessed with another year and a half with him before he passed away. I was also blessed with the peace in knowing I had done my part in the relationship. I couldn't have done that living far away.

There are so many other reasons why it was good for us to be in Florida at this time of our lives. I have prayed recently about moving back west again, and I received an answer that I should wait another 3 years. I don't know why but I believe that if I am obedient I will be blessed with the knowledge and peace of mind that I need to make these changes again. I will be blessed in ways I can't see at this time. I know and trust Him with my life.

I will never forget that obedience is the first law of Heaven. If Jesus is my example then I have to make obedience my priority forever. I pray you will seek to perfect yourself in this area in becoming more like Jesus.

All my love

Enough! Are you Spiritually Prepared?

My Dear Sisters,

I have so enjoyed all the spiritual messages we have been given today in General Conference. I always pray ahead of time that I will be in the right spirit in order to hear the messages from our Heavenly Father. I fear some do not prepare for General Conference as they should.

We are counseled to fast and pray for answers to our problems and challenges in life; to receive messages that the Lord would have us know during our conference. But how can you be spiritually prepared if all you are doing is looking for the negative. You are missing out on some good things because you are not spiritually prepared.

For those of you who are not members of my faith, every 6 months we have a General Conference where all the members of the church go to a church building or watch on TV, our church leadership as they speak and uplift us with good messages about how we can become better people by following after the example of Jesus Christ. They suggest ways we can do this and how we can strengthen ours families and others. We do this within 5 meetings in 2 days. I always walk away from the conference uplifted and inspired to change my ways to become more like Jesus.

I would say to all those who are complaining about things they don't like in the church, you need to stand back and be honest with yourself. Ask, "Why am I in this church?" If you do not sustain the leadership then you do not sustain God. If you have a problem with the choices made in this church, by our leadership, then you need to take it up with God! These are men of God and I will testify to this because I have received witness of these men at different times in my life.

This is Christ's church!!! He will have it ran on His terms, and not ours. I fear some sisters believe in the leadership but do not want to say anything for fear of offending someone else. But remember we all have a voice and we should stand up for what we believe in, too. If all those who question the leaders can say what ever they want then why can't we? It is time for us to stand up for truth and righteousness. There is man's ways, and then there is Gods ways, and they often times do not fall in line with each other. The question is who's way do you stand for? Once you figure this out then stand up for those ways.

This is the time that was predicted that men's hearts would fail them and we can see this happening. If you have a testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ then now is the time to renew that testimony through some of the counsel we received today. Hold to the Iron Rod, get back into reading and studying the scriptures and you will see what God wants you to see, what he wants you to do.

Sisters, I love you and I know God loves you. And, you have every right to voice your concerns about things that bother you but there is a wrong way and a right way. Be sure you know what God's plan is before you take a fight to the leaders of His church.

We are living in a time where there are no more gray areas. We are either on the right side or the wrong, we need to be sure we know which is which. I pray for you every day to make the right choices in the right ways. Turn your hearts to God and know what He would have you do, be spiritually prepared to receive the answers God would have you receive. You will then be able to sustain your choices.

All my love

Stand as Light to the World

Dear Sisters,

Wow, what a mess this world is becoming. This wonderful country that we live in is supposed to be a place of righteousness and protection, but our own country is so filled with evil and hatred. My blog today is for you, as righteous women, to take a stand for God; become that beacon of Light for all to see. The world needs us now more than ever.

So many souls are lost and don't know where to go for help. As God's beacon we can illuminate the way back to God. As Christian women we shouldn't be fighting against one another saying who's religion is right or wrong, but we should take the good part of all of us and reach out to the poor of spirit, or those who are struggling with life or, those who are blind to the ways of God.

We have been blessed with much good in our lives and now we are to take that good and share it with others. Most will not want to see God's ways, and will turn away from us but even one soul in need can make a difference in the joy of our hearts and the glory of God.

I was reading the other day in the scriptures about what God's whole purpose is for us. It says, "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (Moses 1:39)" That means His whole purpose is to help us gain eternal life, to live forever in joy with Him. That is awesome! It woke me up as I realized that God's plan is all about me, and everyone else, but it's all about me!!!

So, if that is God's plan, and I am in a good place right now, then aren't I supposed to take the blessings that God has given me and share them with others? And as I do, I realize that I am helping to build His kingdom by bringing souls unto Christ. What a concept, my goals in life changed at that moment of understanding.

So where do we begin? Look at this world, our own countries and towns. Instead of loving people we are learning to hate and kill them. What's wrong with that picture? It's not Gods way, it's Satan's way. He is laughing at us as we are destroying our brothers and sisters. Where is the peace on earth, goodwill to all men? Well, it has to start with us.

Righteous women we can no longer stand on the fence, it's time to choose a side and take a stand. We can all join together to fight against the evil one. So we start by committing ourselves to God and his plan, not mans. We have to say that we are willing to be instruments in His hands, then go and do.

There are a lot of battles going on over family, marriage bonds, and issues of race. There are issues of immigration, and child protection. There are so many places to take a stand and fight. The battle for God is not necessarily a physical one but a battle of the mind , heart, and soul. There are homeless people in our country, and those in abusive situation. There are those lost to alcohol and drugs. There are so many who are lost and can not find their way. They need us now.

We don't have to preach at them, but love them by helping them. Words are probably not going to make a difference with most people but our actions will. If we will stop and help our neighbor, or a person standing in line at the store, or volunteer to help at a hospital - we will see a big difference in the way people feel about the world around them; we can give them hope. And that is what we all need, hope mingled with faith will bring souls to the right place.

Never give up on a person, keep being a friend. Don't put yourself in a dangerous position but help where you can. Pray for guidance and listen for the answer, it will come. God loves you and will bless your life as you bless those for good.

There is a story where a man was walking on the beach and saw someone pick up a starfish and throw it back into the ocean, The man remarked that this person couldn't possible save all the starfish that washed up on the shore. The person smiled and said no, maybe not, and bent down picked up a starfish then threw it in the sea, and said but I just saved that one.

We won't be able to lead everyone back to God but maybe we can help with this one, or that one. All we have to do is try, and God will do the rest. Let's fix what we can, or at least stand firm in God's plan. He needs us to do our part now, before it's too late. Never give up, keep fighting for what we know is right and pleasing to God. We may find it exhausting but that's why we are here; to
continue the fight until our Savior returns.

All my love

First Pray, Then Listen, and Don't Forget to Act

My Dear Sisters,

Last month I talked briefly about praying to our Heavenly Father. He loves us and wants to hear from us each and every day. But prayer is a part of a two way communication, speaking and listening. Many people don't think our Father speaks to us but He does, all the time.

Can you imagine calling your parents and doing all the talking? Would your parents not speak back? Of course they would and so does Heavenly Father. However, we have to learn how to listen and recognize his voice and promptings, then act upon what we learn. I would like to share with you how to recognize His messages to you.



Our Heavenly Father talks to us in different ways. I have had the blessing of hearing a still small voice. I have heard it in dreams as I woke up in the mornings. I have heard it quiet places. I have heard it as I pondered my questions. It was always amazing to me to feel that love and know He has answered me.

Sometimes we feel a peaceful feeling when He answers us. As we toil over an issue in our lives we are told to research our choices and make a decision, then take it to Him in prayer. If we feel peace and good about our decision then he is manifesting it is a correct one. Sometimes we may feel a burning around our heart. But if we feel absolutely nothing or are still confused or unsettled then we need to rethink our choice.

Sometimes our answers come when we are reading something, or a thought comes to our mind. I am learning to recognize the constant companion I have in the Holy Ghost helping to understand what my Father would have me know. I can't count the times I have made a decision about something not knowing why and found later that I was lead by the Spirit. I was so happy to see that I listened to Him.

Sometimes He answers our prayers through others as they come to our aid or say something that triggers an answer to our prayers. I have stood before a congregation and bore my testimony only to find that it was the answer to a question that someone was searching for. Or vice-versa, for me, I have heard people say things that was exactly what I needed to hear.



There are so many ways that He answers us and let's us know He is listening and cares about our worries. But with that in mind how is it then that the world is in so much trouble. Our Father has given us all the tools we need to live happy and successful here in this earth. He continues to be there for us and help us, as we need, on our journey. He has given us the Holy Spirit to always be with us. He hears us and loves us so much.

I can never deny knowing He is there because He has protected me from danger. He has blessed me with the things I need in life because of obedience. He has held me in times of great sorrow and loss. He has  given me courage to walk away from things that are not good for me. He has blessed me with opportunities to see the beauty of nature. He has blessed me with joy in witnessing a new life and the passing of an old one.



I could go on and on because I have been blessed to see those things that bring the greatest joy simply by being obedient, and keeping a good communication open with Him through constant prayers as well as putting myself in a place to recognize His communication to me. I feel so loved; how can I not be happy?

But I will say there are times that I fall and have to be reminded that He is there helping me. And for that I am truly grateful. I can do anything with the knowledge that He loves me and each one of us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. So all you have to do is talk to Him and then listen for His answers because He is always there.



Once you receive your answer or are prompted to do something then act upon it. Don't doubt just go and do. Everything always works out even if you don't know how to make it happen. I loved my life in Utah and wanted to live there for the rest of my life but I kept feeling the prompting to move back to Florida where most of my family were. Finally, after a couple of years of struggling with leaving my life there, I found the courage to move my family where the Lord would have us be.

I have been back for 11 years now and have found many reasons as to why we needed to be here. If I had not acted upon what I was told by my Father above, I would have missed very important blessings and direction for my life, and that of my families. It was the right thing to do and I love Him for leading me back to Florida, even though I still want to live out west.

Also, never forget to thank Him for those blessings and answers. It is easy to find the answers and forget to thank the One who sent them. Gratitude is the key to more of what we need.

Until next month, I pray God's blessing on you as you turn your heart to Him and start that journey with Jesus as your Savior and example.

All my love!!!

p.s. Next blog post will be Sept. 6th. See you then!

Hasten the Work of Salvation

We have been commanded to hasten the work. What is the work; to progress the cause of God. Moses 1:39 says that His work and His glory is us! So how do we help in that? We build the Kingdom, which is to strengthen one another and to help people find Christ.

When we think about that we pretty much think of missionary work and helping in that area but it also means to help those who have passed on. We do this through family history work. We are running out of time and now is the time to get this work done.

I have just recently been called by our Stake at church to be a Family History Director, there are two of us. The other one focuses on the Family History Center, and I focus on getting people into the Family History Center to do their work.

I love this calling because I love this work. But I have come to realize that with that love and helping other to get busy in it, I have not done as much in mine as I should have by now. Genealogy has been a part of life for over 30 years. But I am still just barely getting it organized.And that is the key, getting organized. There are many ways to keep your records but you have to choose one or it can be time consuming just trying to...well organize.

Some ways to organize your records are by keeping a hard copy in binders, or filing cabinets. But what if you have a fire, flood, or storm that destroys those records? Keeping a soft copy is good, too.
You can store it on a SD card, a CD, or just on the computer in organized files, and even on an external hard drive.

But what if your computer gets fried or stolen? What if you lose those SD cards or CD's? The way modern technology keeps changing, those SD cards might not be able to be used in the near future.

Hmmm, what else can you do to save your records? I think one of the safest ways is to record this information on websites that specialize in family trees. This is one way people learn about their ancestors is by sharing information on the websites. Ancestry.com would be a great place a to share that info but it has a price attached. It's worth it if you use it a lot, but if you do it only once in a while, well it may not be advised.

Ancestry.com

Familysearch.org is an excellent place to store your information, its free!!!

Familysearch.org

They believe that we are all one big family and if we all submit our trees then we can see how we are related to one another. I thought that was pretty cool. There was a team of 150 people who submitted as many names in their tree as possible and they found that 148 of them were related within 9 generation, that is way cool.

Your ancestors are calling you, it's time to answer and find them. Time is short and technology has made easier than ever. Hasten the Work now!!!

How Can We Have Charity?

Mosiah 2:17
"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn ^awisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the ^bservice of your ^cfellow beings ye are only in the service of your God."

The key to charity is serving one another. There are so many ways to serve our brothers and sisters. There are charitable organizations that need volunteers. This is something that is needed all year long.

Forbes - Top 200 Charitable Organizations

There are things we can do for the elderly, or orphans, or the sick. There are things we can do for the lonely, or handicapped, or the poor of heart. There are so many things we can do if we just look around for opportunities and ask God for help.

If you want charity in your life you have to ask God to help you attain this attribute of Christ. When we live righteous lives and focus on God good things happen and we are given that gift.

Last year my youngest son started thinking of ways that he can serve. He wasn't sure what he should do so he took his question to God in prayer, asking Him what God would have him do. The very next day he received an answer in General Conference when the Prophet announced that the age to become a missionary was dropped to 18 years old. He knew this was his answer and has now been preparing for that act of service.

18 Year old missionary announcement

The missionaries call him quite often to go out on visits with them. He is really enjoying and loving what he is doing. He has begun his journey in gaining this attribute of Jesus Christ by understanding charity.

"Christlike attributes are gifts from God. They come as you use your agency righteously. Ask your Heavenly Father to bless you with these attributes; you cannot develop them without His help. With a desire to please God, recognize your weaknesses and be willing and anxious to improve." 
Preach my Gospel Manual

We as righteous women can do the same, all we have to do is ask God what He would have us do and the answer will come. If you don't receive an answer right away, then open your eyes and heart to see what good needs to be done, and act upon it, then you will see the Light of Christ shine through your example a hope and faith for everyone you serve. You will have the gift of charity.

What Does Charity Mean to Jesus?

1 Corinthians 13

I always thought of charity as showing love to people by giving to organizations that helped people, then I started reading the scriptures and found charity to show love for people by helping them in many ways and praying for them. But then when I began to really study the scriptures I found that charity is really something a lot more than showing love and helping where I could.

I love Paul and the things he taught. Reading this scripture has taught me what charity really means.

He says that charity is everything. He says that if you do everything you are supposed to do but you don't have charity then you are nothing. I thought about that for a moment, how do you do all the right things but not have charity?

I know that there were times when I would do things because I knew I was supposed to but I didn't really want to do it; like when I was learning about tithing. I wanted to take the money and use it on something else but I knew I was supposed to pay 10% of my increase. I had to learn that the blessings don't come if you do it with the wrong attitude. I knew if I paid an honest tithe and did it with a loving attitude that I was showing my love for my Father in this commandment. So this part of the scripture did make more sense to me; give it with my heart.

But charity means more than just loving through obedience; some of these were real eye openers to me.

Charity is long suffering: That means we are to be patient with others and with God, as long as it takes. We should forgive time and time again, for as long as it takes. We should continue to help people for as long as it takes. These things are not always easy but if we do this we will know charity in our hearts.

Charity envieth not: This means we are to be happy with what we have and not want what others have. There were times in my life that I wished I was blessed with certain things in my life, mostly material things, but then I realized that even though some people had materials things I had spiritual blessings which others did not, and spiritual blessings last longer than material ones. I found that I was happy with my blessings. It seemed that the more material things they had the more they wanted, they were never happy or satisfied.

Charity never vaunteth itself, was not puffed up: This means we don't go around bragging and feeling mightier than the people we serve. When we serve we have to do it with God in mind, that we are doing these things to help but not make anyone feel less of themselves for receiving. Christians are often accused of being mightier than, if we have charity in our hearts we will disprove that theory by helping people to realize that we act upon these things because we want to be more like our Savior, we want to do it because we love them. Jesus was not prideful in service to others.

Seeketh not her own: We are not to pick and choose who we give service and love to, we should be doing this every day as we go through our lives. If we see a need we help, we don't say well today I am going to do one act of service to help someone. We should be saying I will do what the Holy Spirit prompts me to do and serve where I am needed today.

Charity bearth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, and endueth all things: We should testify that we are followers of Jesus Christ and try to do as He did, we should testify of the truth we hold in our hearts, we should help others to hope for good things to happen, and we should help others to hold on and continue fighting the battle against evil. When we do these things, and help
others to to these things, we are showing true charity in our hearts. We are showing that we have the true love of Christ.

As righteous women we should seek for good things in our lives and find love in  our hearts for all people for they are our brothers and sisters, children of God. They are not more or less than we are. They are strong in some areas of life that we are not and we are strong in some areas of life that they are not, we can serve each other with the strengths we are blessed with: this is charity.

Paul concludes that charity never faileth, and that we should have faith, hope and charity, but the most important of all is charity.

With Faith and Hope Comes Charity

Moroni 7:47
"But ^acharity is the pure ^blove of Christ, and it endureth ^cforever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."

What is Charity? The scriptures say it is the pure love of Christ. We can find so much information in the scriptures regarding charity, as we are diligent in our study of that topic.

The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord thy God with all our hearts, soul and mind. So lets think about that. We are to love Him with all our hearts. How do we love with all our hearts?

Have you ever looked at someone and your emotion just overwhelms you because you can feel the love for that person? For instance, looking at your new born child. Man, the love that pours out of your heart for that baby, you would do everything in your power to protect and provide for the child. I think that is an example of the love we should feel for God. 

That is how we love with all our heart. We have to open our hearts and pray for that love to come in. I remember once a long time ago, that I prayed for love in my heart for all people. Shortly thereafter, I saw a homeless person walking down the street and I began to cry for that person, I prayed for that person and asked how I could help that person. That was a start to how I could love with all my heart.

What is a soul and how do I love with all my soul? The scriptures say that a soul is your body and spirit combined (Abraham 5:7). We can show love with our souls by being obedient to the commandments of God. We show Him that we love Him when we are obedient. Didn't we as children want to please our parents so we would do as we were asked. The same with our Father, we show we love Him by pleasing Him in our daily actions.

How do we love Him with all our mind? This has to do with our thoughts. He needs to be foremost in our daily thoughts. When we put Him first we tend to see where there are needs in this world and find ways to act upon them. We are more aware of the direction our lives should be going. 

By doing these things, opening our hearts, being obedient, and making God our most important thoughts daily, we are beginning to understand and be able to show love to our Heavenly Father. Once we do this we will also be able to obey the second greatest commandment which is to love our neighbor as ourselves. 

We will be showing that we possess the Christ attribute of Charity. By serving God and helping our brother, we will know the pure love of Christ and as the scripture says whosoever is found with charity in the last days will be blessed and received by our Father in heaven. This is a attribute that we can take with us when we die and will find it to be a great treasure of joy.

Do You Have Patience to Wait for Hope

Romans 8:24-25
"For we are saved by ^ahope: but hope that is ^bseen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."

My oldest grandson is at the age when he wants to know if it's time yet. For example, he is going to Sea World this month, he wants to know if it's time yet. He wants to know how many days until Thanksgiving, and Christmas, etc. 

My daughter made a chain for Halloween, you know the one like the Christmas countdown chain. This helped him to know when it was time for Halloween. It save my daughter from a lot of days of him asking how many more days until Halloween. But, he learned to have hope that when that chain got to the end that it would be time, like promised.

I thought of this story when I read this scripture about having hope but are we patient enough to wait for it?

Hope requires patience, the Lord does things on His time. If we are patient we will receive the answer to a prayer, or gain knowledge of His ways, or receive blessings.  He does this to teach us more about having faith and hope. He teaches us to be patient and wait for the promised blessings. 

We can find strength in hope, we can strengthen others through hope. We can change the world with hope. With hope comes faith and charity, which is love. Hope is a powerful word that we need to use in our lives to become more like Jesus Christ. He taught us to have hope because He knows the good that can come from it. 

As righteous women we can shine the light of hope for all to see. We can be an example of being positive and having patience that good things will come our way as we move toward the Light daily and guide others to do the same. We can have hope in a troubled world, waiting patiently for the return of our Savior to rescue us from the evil that seems to get stronger each day. Hope will see us through, we just need to endure to the end, we were made to do this.

What Are Our Blessings If We Have Faith?

John 14:6
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the ^away, the ^btruth, and the life: no man ^ccometh unto the Father, but by me."

All Christians know that Jesus is the Savior of the world and that He is the only way back to Heaven. We all know that His example is perfect and that we should follow it to become as perfect as we can be. And all Christians know that we will be blessed as we do the things we are commanded to do. Why do we do this, not knowing for sure that we all of it is real?

The key would is faith with hope right behind it. We have faith that as we start each day and commit to being obedient that our faith will lead us through the day successfully. We know that we will be greatly blessed as we do so. 

If we are obedient, and proceed with faith each day, we will receive the promised blessings. My youngest daughter learned a lesson in faith through prayer when she was 15 years old. I believe this was the beginning of her testimony of faith.

She had an enlarged spleen causing her to be sick which required surgery to remove it. She went through months of testing first to find an underlying cause. They never did find any reason at that time. So they went ahead and took out her spleen.

She was moved to her room after the surgery, they gave her pain meds to help her rest and recover. Shortly after she was settled in she started having breathing issues and a code was called over the intercom to take care of her emergency. 

After the trauma was over and she was breathing fine, the nurse told me that they had to  reverse her pain medicine which meant that she was going to feel the pain real bad. I sat beside her as the that reversing medicine started to work. The pain was so intense that she was climbing backwards up the head of her bed.

I grabbed her hand and had her focus on me a moment and I asked if she wanted a prayer, she did. The moment we began to pray I could feel her start to relax. By the time we were done, she had calmed down and went to sleep. But if you ask her about a time she knew her prayers were answered that is her first story. She knew that day that she was never alone, and that all she had to do was pray and she would feel the peace that she needed.

It is through our Savior Jesus Christ that we can know of peace and blessings in our lives. he loves us and we are to love him by turning our hearts to Him and testifying of His atoning sacrifice. There is no other way to return to heaven and have eternal life without Jesus. He is the only way!!!

What Can We Do with Faith?

Hebrews 11 (Click the link to read the scripture)

Do you know that "faith" is a powerful tool? It's by faith that we can work miracles; by faith we can do a lot of good things; by faith we can endure to the end." It is by faith that we can live our lives to become like that of Jesus'.

Hebrews 11 tells us that by faith men can subdue kingdoms, wrought righteousness (do good), and work miracles. I believe if we asked anyone they would all have a story to tell about faith. Many would be alike but there would be some that would just blow your mind away. We can learn from others by sharing these stories of faith. Here are couple of webpages with great stories.

Guidepost Stories of Faith

The Ensign - LDS monthly magazine

Jesus Inspiring Stories


Through faith we can do so much good. If you are trying to be like Jesus faith is a crucial tool. So we need to focus on being more like Him and do a lot of good. Where can we learn that? We can learn how to be like Jesus by reading the scriptures and doing as He did.

3 Nephi 27:21-22

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my ^agospel; and ye know the things that ye must ^bdo in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

Share your story with others; you never know who's life you can change or how many lives you can touch.

Becoming Like Jesus Christ through Faith

I have been thinking a lot about how I can become more like my Savior, Jesus Christ. So, I began by studying the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Then a young man at church gave a talk about the attributes of Christ from the "Preach my Gospel" missionary manual. I gave that a look and found some real good stuff that I believe will help me become more like Jesus. I want to share those things with you. This week I will share scriptures about faith,which is the first thing we need to have to become more like Jesus.

Moroni 7:33
"And Christ hath said: ^aIf ye will have ^bfaith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is ^cexpedient in me."

We shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in Him meaning whatever He needs us to do for the benefit of His kingdom here on earth. We can help that kingdom to grow if we do what He asks of us. What does He ask of us?

One thing is He gives all of us individual talents that we can use to build His kingdom. My example is that I like to write and He has given me a talent in writing and a creative mind to do so. I have chosen to use it to write these blog posts to hopefully help someone have a better understanding of His ways or draw closer to Him.

I have chosen to use it to write books that will help people have a better understanding of the scriptures; I am just beginning that project. This is what I have chosen to do with my talent in writing. I may not be the best writer in the world but at least I am trying.

But, I have had a fear of writing publicly because I was afraid of rejection. I, like many others throw away those talents because of fear in rejection by the world, but God gave us these talents and we have to do our part and at least try, then, have the faith that if it is for a good thing then He will bless our work and put it into the hands of those who need it most.

It is through my faith in God that I have the power to do my part. He has asked me to not waste my talents, or hide them, but to use them for good (see Matthew 25:14-30). So I give my best and He fills in the rest. I can do that.

And when I do good for others, man, how I feel good within myself. This is how we can do the things we are asked of by our Savior, to live our lives like Him. This is how we can become more like Him. Faith is really not so hard once we understand it and it is a powerful tool in His plan.

All Shall be Judged from the Book of Life

Revelations 20:12-13

"And I saw the ^adead, small and great, ^bstand before God; and the ^cbooks were opened: and another book was opened, which is the ^dbook of life: and the dead were ^ejudged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their ^fworks.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and ^adeath and^bhell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

These scriptures tell us that all of us will be judged from the Book of Life. Our eternal future will be according to the things written there. What will be found in that book?

The book will contain our works. Not what we do for a living but what we do with the life that is given to us. How much good do you do in the world? How do you handle life's trials?

See, Jesus came and payed the price for our sins, all we have to do is repent of the things we do wrong and promise to never do them again, and don't do them again. Because Jesus already paid the ultimate price then we can be forgiven when we make wrong choices and stay on track. The scriptures tell us he remembers them no more.

What comes next is what is in the book, obedience. We need to be obedient to the commandments which are given to us by God. Part of that obedience is to love our brother (everyone) and do good things for them.  There are so many good charitable organizations in the world, so there are many opportunities to to be helpful. Those are things that could be written in the book.

When  you see a need to be helpful and produce good and you do them, those are things that could be written in the book. Taking care of one another and our planet, including the inhabitants that reside on them are good things we could find in the book. All things will be brought to our remembrance on judgement day.

What about the bad stuff, will they be found in the book? Good question, I think they will be only if we do not repent of those things. 

As righteous women we need to repent of the bad choices and put them behind us, God will. Then we need to get out there and do what ever good we can do to help build the Kingdom of God and help our brother along the path of life. We can all climb the ladder together and work to be saints of God. These are the things we want to find in the Book of Life. These are the things that will be our rewards in Heaven.

Can we Understand God's Ways?

Isaiah 55:8-9

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

I have no faith in politics yet they consume my life some days. I don't believe in political parties; they have too many selfish ways. Politicians tend to get so caught up in staying up with the what the party stands for rather than what is good for the people.

Some people have questions religious beliefs because they can't understand why things have to be a certain way. We shouldn't question God's way so much because He is able to see the whole picture and we can not. We have to trust in Him and His wisdom. He has a plan and we nay never be able to understand it all.

One example of this is self reliance. Many politicians think the best way to help people is to give hand outs to the poor. But what does that do for them in the long run? It makes them more needy and not able to do for themselves.

When Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden God did not hand them everything; He expected them to work and learn how to do for themselves. That plan is still in place, God expects us to continue to work and learn how to take care of ourselves and our families.

We may not be able to see His plan in this but we must know that it is for our happiness and growth. He will always know more than us but as we study and ponder the things in our lives we will find wisdom and begin to see His ways better.

Self reliance is good; it helps to create responsible and loving citizens. We all feel good when we know we have done good things. We are happy when we know we have taken care of our own needs. And we feel successful when we know we can help others. 

I remember many times in my life when I received help from people, I felt loved. But the greatest feelings was when it was my turn and I was able to help others. 

Righteous women need to be about God's work, we don't have to understand everything we just have to do something to help ourselves and our families and eventually others. We need to focus on God's plan and then we will see a good world.