And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did.

Nephi's words when the Lord commanded him to do something, " And it came to pass that the Lord commanded me, wherefore I did..."

     Here Nephi, had no idea for the reason the Lord asked him to do it, but out of his love for God, he just did, and now I am reading the words daily.  For those of you who don't know, the first record got lost after it was translated, and so Joseph Smith had to use these words prepared by Nephi, as the scriptures for the restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Without Nephi's obedience to Heavenly Father, we would not have had scriptures to read!!!

      I want to try and be a better person as well.  More obedient. I think not knowing the reason for things can often be a reason to not do the things the Lord asks, but perhaps, and when I say perhaps, I mean obviously, it is not!

God is in the details.

Sometimes after my scripture study, I didn't quite get the spiritual experience I so desire, and so I will read or listen to a conference talk.  Tonight I decided to read Elder Rasband's talk entiteld "By Divine Design".
   

Tonight I was craving a peaceful spirit and right now in my scripture study, I am in Ether, in the chapters where everyone is murdering each other, so I decided to read Elder Rasband's talk from #ldsconf.

This quote really stood out to me, when he is talking about God's involvement in our lives:

"But allow Him to make more of you than you can make of yourself on your own. Treasure His involvement. Sometimes we consider changes in our plans as missteps on our journey. Think of them more as first steps to being “on the Lord’s errand.”

Okay, I am a BIG believer to the words "changes in our plans" because seriously, my life never goes the way I see it. And most the time I fight the change, but I love how Elder Rasband counsels to allow God to make more of us, than we can make of ourselves.

If my life went according to my plan, I wouldn't grow much. LIfe would be easy. But each time, my plans change, while it is hard, I become stronger for it, I gain new skills, I meet humility and a deeper love for others.

It is a compliment, that my Heavenly Father has "changed my plans" because He is seeing me for what I can be more so than I am seeing it myself. I love this. God is good.

Ether 13 The words of a Prophet

In this chapter, the people were given a Prophet to watch over them and to teach them how to be safe, what a blessing!!  Yet, they rejected him and chased him out of the land and in return they met wars, contention, bloodshed...much unhappiness. 

     It always amazes me how people become when they don't follow Christ.  Like seriously...they become murderers.  Isn't that so sad?  You get so much hate inside of you that you want to kill someone.  The very first person who strayed and followed Satan murdered his own brother (Cain and Able).  It's just weird and sad.

      I see this very much in the world in this very day.  Almost every. single. day. now there is a shooting on the news, most likely kids being killed in their schools.  It is so sad and I really do not understand this at all.  All I can say is that the trend in the scriptures, is that when people rebel, they become murderers.  It is just so so so sad.  

     On the other hand, people who follow the Savior and his Prophets get excited when faced with an opportunity to serve.  They have a Zion like peace about them that attracts people to them.  Their happiness is bright.

     This is the kind of person I want to be  I want to be like my Savior.  I want to follow the Prophet and I am so very thankful that the Lord still provides one today.    

The Lord Looketh on the Heart Moses chapters 6 and 7

What amazes me in these chapters, is that Enoch was so surprised someone actually found favor in him.  I imagine this was because of the way the people in the world act towards someone who is different, in his case, problems with his speech. 
     But the Lord saw past that.  The Lord knew that Enoch's heart was good, and in fact so good, that he chose Enoch to be a leader which led to a community of Zion like people who were so good that nothing could destroy them.  I just think that is so amazing.  What an amazing example that I want to follow. 

Unwearyingness

Helaman 10

4 Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.

5 And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will.

Right before I sat down to read my scriptures, I started looking at my primary lesson feeling pretty annoyed that I once again was called into primary and that it definitely wasn't a calling from the Lord because why would He want me to do it when I had no desire or really patience with children and then I sit down to read these scriptures and feel humbled by Nephi's example of unwearyingness with his assignments.  

Part of the reason why is because I love the way the Lord favors Him and looks at Him as so special and gives Nephi any desire he has in the world knowing that their desires will match.  I love this and since I have read this passage I have been praying today that I can be more like Nephi even in my primary calling.  <3

Love, Becky joy

When the Battle is Over.

Alma 50

1 And now it came to pass that Moroni did not stop making preparations for war, or to defend his people against the Lamanites; for he caused that his armies should commence in the commencement of the twentieth year of the reign of the judges, that they should commence in digging up heaps of earth round about all the cities, throughout all the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

       Even once the battle or trial seems over, do not stop preparing!!  For me I pray really hard when I am in trials, my prayers are more passionate, my scripture study is better, my fasting is more meaningful, and then if things are well then everything becomes more of a checklist thing.  My armor weakens.  I CANNOT AFFORD WEAK ARMOR ANYMORE!!  Satan is too good, and my trials are so so hard.

23 But behold there never was a happier time among the people of Nephi, since the days of Nephi, than in the days of Moroni, yea, even at this time, in the twenty and first year of the reign of the judges.

    This scripture stuck out to me.  I am sure I am not alone as a parent, but I really wish I was a better one.  Perhaps reading my scriptures in a more meaningful way will help me.  I sure hope so.  I felt frustrated a couple years ago because I was listening to conference talks daily and reading my scriptures, praying for help...but I still was a horrible horrible parent.  My patience was very slim.  I guess I felt forsaken and alone in my parenting.  I just want to be a good parent!!!  I want the gifts of the spirit that are promised to people who work to live close to Heavenly Father.

Prepared.

Alma 49: 8

8 But behold, to their uttermost astonishment, they were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known among the children of Lehi. Now they were prepared for the Lamanites, to battle after the manner of the instructions of Moroni.

   In this last conference a couple weeks ago, President Henry B. Eyring's General Conference talk stood out to me when he explained how he followed the Prophet's counsel from the prior General Conference to study the Book of Mormon every single day.  Elder Eyring of course hadn't missed a day of reading for over 50 YEARS, but instead of deciding that counsel wasn't for him and dismissing himself, he took the counsel to heart and not only continued his daily scripture study, but added to it, by studying his scriptures more deeply. 
   That hit me hard and then it hit me even harder when he explained the blessings he received from doing this especially when he said he had been given an extra ability to hear "the Spirit more distinctly".
     Can I just say how I was given the same exact counsel in a priesthood blessing with the same exact blessing promised to me only days before?!  I felt like that talk was made for me, like God had been watching over me.  
    Anyway, it has been on my mind, yes I am working on not just going through the motions of scripture reading, but also working on studying harder because I need that promise so much in my life!!!
      Just thought I would share for anyone else who needs this just as much as I did/do.

     While reading this chapter, it hit me, that while I was reading my scriptures daily, it was more going through the motions and when trials came, I felt abandoned from God.  I couldn't hear Him, I couldn't feel Him, I felt like He was angry at me for being a horrible Mother to my sweet children.  I am realizing, I WAS NOT PREPARED for my trials.  And while I was prepared enough to not lose my testimony, my testimony weakened instead of strengthened and I am still trying to get where I once was.  I am working on reading my scriptures more fully and studying them and praying harder.  I need to be prepared for what's next.  My spirit can't afford another hit without maximum preparation!!!

Love, Becky joy