Are you happy or unhappy?

Book of Mormon-- Mormon 9:14

 14 And then cometh the judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be unhappy still.

     While in College I remember going to a fireside where Elder Oaks (an Apostle of Jesus Christ) and his wife were speaking.  I actually don't really remember much from Elder Oak's talk but I do remember his wife's talk pretty well.  She spoke a lot about her single days.  She is actually Elder Oaks second wife and his first wife had passed away.  She was single for most of her life and didn't get married until she was kind of old.  
     She spoke about how sometimes she would let herself get down about being single, thinking that if she was married she would feel less lonely and much happier.  Something that was very interesting to me is when she talked about a Priesthood blessing she received counseling her that if she was unhappy now then she would be unhappy while married and if she felt lonely now then she would feel lonely married, and that she needed to find happiness and fulfillment in her life now.   Isn't that interesting?
     Well I have noticed this to be true.  I am just as happy or unhappy as I was before I got married.  I am not trying to say marriage hasn't elevated my life because it has and I have grown stronger as a person but honestly getting married is not a "happily ever after" kind of thing.  If you can't learn to be happy in the circumstance you are in, then you won't be happy if the situation changes either.  So enjoy the moment!!  I am trying to learn to do this as well. It's harder said then done.
     I suppose people think death will fix everything, well from this scripture that is just not true.  Unrighteous people will still seek after sin.  Unhappy people will still be unhappy.  The feelings of addiction will remain also.  So seek after good things now.
    To read Elder Oaks and his wife Kristen Oak's talks from that night you can here.

  And speaking of happy, check out this cute little happy guy:)

Love,
     Becky joy

It Does Matter

Book of Mormon -  Mormon 8:31

 31 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.


     In Mormon chapter 8, found in the Book of Mormon, Moroni is the last Nephite left after the Lamanites came and destroyed all the Nephites (the Lord would have saved the Nephites and helped them but it was at a time when the Nephites were very wicked and did not turn to God for help.  He wants to help us but if we are wicked then we separate ourselves from Him.
     Moroni was one of the very few righteous Nephites though and he took the records made by the Prophets (aka--Book of Mormon), added some writings, and then he hid the records in the ground to be preserved until the Lord declared it time for the records to be found and used.  Many years later, a man named Joseph Smith the very first Prophet in these Latter Days found the record, after Moroni (now passed away and now an Angel of God) appeared to him and told him where to find the records.  
     Through revelation and visions Joseph Smith restored Jesus Christ's church back to the earth, translated (with the urim and thummim) the records, and published them to what is now known as The Book of Mormon.  
      Sorry long explanation but really it is rather short compared to the whole story but I just felt good about sharing details.  
     Part of the writings that Moroni added to the Book of Mormon talk about what the world will be like when the Book of Mormon comes to the earth (which is now).  You can read the whole chapter to see the rest but what I wanted to focus on was verse 31 where it says, "there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day."
     It is true, a lot of people are saying things like that.  Such as Gay marriage is OK or sex is OK before marriage, or pornography is OK, and things like that.  I have heard before that God isn't up there (heaven) looking down on anything and it is wrong when people think He is.  
    SO NOT TRUE!  Even if God didn't send His judgements to sin (but He does, because He can see the destruction that not only sin causes on the sinner but also the people surrounding the sinner), I can tell you one good reason why IT DOES MATTER to live as the Savior and to follow His Prophets.  Because it causes pain.  These things rob happiness.  Heavenly Father doesn't just set commandments because He is trying to make us miserable, it is because He is trying to save us from falling into misery, addiction, divorce, murder, ... etc.  He is trying to keep us from the grasp of Satan.  He loves us.  He loves me.  I have experienced pain from someone else making wrong decisions and it almost destroyed my family.  That is Satan's goal, to destroy families.  
      It does matter.
Love, 
     Becky joy
     

Sustaining The Prophet; Book of Mormon; 1 Nephi 2:12-16

     Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints means that I sustain President Thomas S. Monson.   He is the Prophet called by God for these Latter Days just as Moses was a Prophet in his day.  

     The other day while getting my hair-cut from a friend of mine who is also a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, asked me what I thought if all the sudden the Church asked us to do something strange (I am omitting further details and just calling the request strange).  I just replied with, "I hope that doesn't happen, that would be hard."

    Then she said, "but what if President Thomas S. Monson said he was told by God to bring this strange request into the church, what would you do?"

     I answered, "I would do it but it would be hard."

     Now I really hope that this strange thing never happens but because I know the Prophet Thomas S. Monson is Jesus Christ's true Prophet, I would know it was right.   I love it how Nephi in 1 Nephi chapter 2 responds to the strange request he was given:

1 Nephi 2:12-16

 12 And thus Laman and Lemuel, being the eldest, did murmur against their father. And they did murmur because they knew notthe dealings of that God who had created them.

 13 Neither did they believe that Jerusalem, that great city, could be destroyed according to the words of the prophets. And they were like unto the Jews who were at Jerusalem, who sought to take away the life of my father.

 14 And it came to pass that my father did speak unto them in thevalley of Lemuel, with power, being filled with the Spirit, until their frames did shake before him. And he did confound them, that they durst not utter against him; wherefore, they did as he commanded them.

 15 And my father dwelt in a tent.

 16 And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.

     Laman and Lemuel when asked to move to the wilderness by their father (aka Prophet of God) they complained and didn't want to.  As Nephi explained, it was because they never knew their God who created them.  They just thought it was strange and silly and that was that.

     Nephi also had a hard time with the strange request to leave his home and move to the wilderness but he responded differently.  Instead of complaining he prayed to be able to know for himself and by the spirit he was comforted and knew he that his father (aka- the Prophet) was right.  

     This is a really good way to approach this situation.  If the Prophet ever asked something strange and possibly to a lot of people he already does, then ask God yourself.  Get down on your knees and ask.  Then the Lord will you know that it is not strange anymore and peace will flood through you.  I know this is true, I have felt it for myself.

Love,

     Becky joy

BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE ; Book of Mormon--1 Nephi 2:24.

 24 And if it so be that they rebel against me, they shall be a scourge unto thy seed, to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.

    Last night I read this chapter and this scripture has never really stuck out to me before now.  Here Lehi is talking to his younger son Nephi, telling him because of his obedience to God that he will always be more powerful than his older brothers.  Then he tells Nephi here in this verse up above that if his brothers rebel than their posterity will be a trial for Nephi's posterity.  Which does end up happening, but what really sticks out to me is when Lehi goes on to say that this will help Nephi's seed remember God.  
     All trials are blessings in disguise.  This is something that has been hard for me to realize sometimes (especially while caught right in the middle of a trial).  Last night while I was laying in bed I was thinking about this, and all my trials have brought me to remember my God and turn to Him and I have grown stronger with His help.  

      Just for fun I decided to change my look.  I wanted some layers and also decided to go with bangs.  The craziest thing I did was get my eye brows waxed!  I have never done that before.  I am happy how everything turned out.  

Here is my Before.  It is kind of hard to see with my 2 little kiddies on me but who can pass up these cute faces.  I love them

After

       Either way though, I feel beautiful.

Love,
    Becky joy

Family Home Evening- Our Thankful Tree

     Every Monday we hold Family Home Evening in our home centered around our Church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  We sing a hymn, pray together, have a lesson, activity/game, and then usually a treat to end with (except right now we are not eating sweets so we didn't have a treat at the end).  

     Tonight for the lesson we talked about being thankful with Thanksgiving coming up and everything.  My husband Weston shared the scripture  1 Nephi Chapter 2 verse 7:  "And it came to pass that he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God."  

   This scripture is talking about the Prophet Lehi from the Book of Nephi found in the Book of Mormon.    The Prophet had a vision that the city he was living in was going to be destroyed because of the wickedness and that he needed to leave his home and take his family into the Wilderness.  So they did.  They left everything except for a few supplies they needed and that they could carry so they could survive.  THEY LEFT THE COMFORT OF HOME!!  

     While living in the Wilderness, Lehi build an altar and saw God in his life and remembered to thank him.  This just amazes me.  It is important to recognize God's hand in all things and also to remember to thank him whether we are living comfortably or going through a hard time.  God is there in each step of our lives and I have recognized this myself in my own life as I look back.  

    For the activity we made a thankful tree.  We let Sage (our 3 year old) put all the leaves on the tree.  I showed her how to do the first one and then she did the rest.  After we got our kids to bed, Weston and I were sitting on the couch talking and he told me how he thought it was so cute how Sage put each leaf on exactly the way I did the first one.  I hadn't realized that (all I noticed was our tree didn't look so much like a tree because of how uniform the leaves were).  After he pointed that out tears filled my eyes and I realized how cute and special that was.  I am so thankful for that little girl and my sweet family.  

Love,

Becky joy