Changing Lanes on Life's Highway

Do you ever have one of these days?  As i was driving home from work today a woman in an SUV kept weaving in and out of lanes, often at the last moment trying to keep getting ahead, but every stoplight found her right back in the same spot..in front of me. 

I don't know why she was driving crazy, we all do it sometimes, but it made stop and think, how often do we live our lives like that: choosing anxiousness. We spend our days zigging and zagging around, either "trying to tackle" or even "avoid" our , problems and thoughts. Only to find ourselves right back where we started. And,in the end we don't solve our problems or avoid them.

 Note to self: Every day is a new chance to choose peace and calm, clarity and decisiveness over anxiety and doubt. 

Don't just keep spinning your wheels!

The Sound Of My Grandma's Voice...

Sound memories may be one of the deepest in your heart!

A few years ago, when my oldest son was leaving home to live in Taiwan for 2 years as a Missionary, my parents came to visit. They brought with them an old vhs tape they had made when my oldest son, Joshua was a few months old. in the video, it was a backyard cookout at my parents home in Idaho.

 My grandmother was there, although you couldn't see her in the video. My grandmother had since passed away and at the time I was watching that video had been gone for quite a few years. At some point in the video all of a sudden I could hear my grandmothers voice talking in the background... At that very moment, the familiarity of her voice was instantaneous to my heart My heart hurt from missing her in that moment.. Oh, Oh, how I missed that voice!!!!! I loved how I had not forgotten the sound of her voice

. I loved how our relationship carries on even as one of us has past onto the other side of Heaven.

 I still feel her presence in my life, it is a real and active,continuing relationship. I have read somewhere that what may surprise us the most when we get to the other side is how familiar our Heavenly Father's face will be to us, and how we will remember the sound of his voice. Oh, how I believe that! 

The Restoration of the Gospel: A Wonderous Flood of Light

A Wonderous Flood of Light

The  Restoration of the Gospel

If we traveled at 25, 000 miles per hour it would take us 100,000 years to reach the nearest star outside of our solar system.  And there are one hundred billion such stars organized into our galaxy.  Individual stars are so distant from each other that light itself takes several years to get from one star to the next.  Light takes only 8 minutes to get to us from our sun.  To travel clear across the galaxy, light would require more than 100,000 years.  

That is pretty interesting but I bet you are wondering what that has to do with my topic of the restoration, huh?  Well, I will tell you… in a minute.

First, Let me talk about another light. 

 At the birth of our savior, who once identified Himself as the “bright and morning star” (Rev. 22:16), a new star appeared in the heavens (see Matt. 2:2; 3 Ne. 1:21). Shining brightly over Bethlehem, that star had been placed in orbit far in advance of the foretold event in order that its light could coincide in time and place with His blessed birth.  If it takes years for light from one star to reach the nearest star to it, how much careful organization do you think it took for the Savior who created the Earth and organized our very galaxy, to make sure that this  New star would  have it’s bright and wonderous flood of light reach Bethlehem  precisely on the very night he was born?

Literally, At the arrival of Him who is called “the light of the world” (John 8:12), darkness was banished as a sign of His holy birth (see 3 Ne. 1:15, 19).

Of course more than just the physical flood of light , the birth and ministry of Jesus Christ, also gave us a wonderous flood of spiritual light as well. 

The Savior taught us how to love and serve one another. Jesus spent his life serving others.  Jesus loved others with all his heart, even those who had sinned, he had great compassion. He taught them to repent and be baptized. 

The Savior organized His church.  He  chose and ordained 12 apostles to help testify of him.  They received His authority to act in His name and do the works they had seen him do.  He redeemed us from our sins, and saved us from both physical and spiritual death.



Now, Let’s fast forward  1800 years.  We have another Wonderous Flood of Light. 

As a young boy in 1820, Joseph Smith wanted to know which church was true. As he searched the Bible for help, he read that he should ask of God. Acting on this counsel, Joseph went into the woods near his home and prayed. Suddenly, a light shone above him and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. When Joseph asked which church he should join, the Savior told him to join none of the churches then in existence because they were teaching incorrect doctrines. Through this experience and many others that followed, the Lord chose Joseph to be His prophet and to restore the gospel of Jesus Christ and His Church to the earth.

Once again, the darkness was banished. Light and truth were restored on the earth.  A few of the blessings we have in place today is the knowledge that:

1)      Our Heavenly Father is a real being with a body of flesh and bones, so is Jesus Christ and that the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit.

2)      We existed in premortal life as spirit children of God

3)      The priesthood or authority to act in Christs’ name is necessary to administer the ordnances of the gospel.

4)      We will be punished for our own sins and not for Adam’s transgression

5)      There are 3 kingdoms of glory in the heavens and through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, people will be rewarded according to their actions on earth and the desires of their hearts. 

6)      Family relationships can be eternal through the sealing power of the priesthood

President Faust tells us:

We receive light from the Lord.

This can happen to us when we study the scriptures and “our eyes [are] opened and our understandings [are] enlightened” (D&C 76:12). Daily scripture study turns on the light of our spiritual perception and opens our understandings to further knowledge. I try to read from the scriptures at the close of the day. It brings a remarkable peace. I sleep better by doing this.     

We receive spiritual light when we attend sacrament meeting. Partaking of the sacrament and the inspiration of the worship service weekly charges our spiritual batteries.

We receive spiritual light when we respond to calls. Serving in a calling in the Church blesses us more than it blesses others.     

We receive spiritual light when we pay our tithing, as the windows of heaven can then open up

We receive spiritual light when we sing the hymns. Singing the hymns strengthens us and brings us together spiritually.     UAdd a Note 

We receive spiritual light when we pray. As a young teenager, the Prophet Joseph Smith read, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally”     UAdd a Note 

I commend to you his account of the First Vision, which followed as he determined that he would seek wisdom from God. He wrote, “When the light rested upon me I saw …” What did he see? He saw the Father and the Son. As the vision ended, he said, “When the light had departed, I had no strength”      UAdd a Note 

Obviously, we do not expect a heavenly visitation, but we are entitled to increased spiritual and intellectual enlightenment if we first seek “the kingdom of God, and his righteousness”

Ok, Time for another story.  I would like to share with you a story of a woman living on the seacoast of Ireland at the turn of the last century. This woman was quite wealthy but also very frugal. Her neighbors were surprised when she was among the first in her area to have electricity installed in her home. Several weeks after having the power installed, a man from the electric company visited her to see how things were working. She assured him that everything was working well.

“I’m wondering if you can explain something to me,” he said. “Your meter shows scarcely any usage. Are you using your power?”

“Certainly,” she answered. “Each evening when the sun sets, I turn on my lights just long enough to light my candles; then I turn them off.”2

This story helps me ponder the following question:  “To what degree am I being true to the abundance of light and knowledge made available to me through the gospel of Jesus Christ?” Specifically I ask myself, “Am I continually walking by the ‘flood of light’ made available through the restoration of the gospel by the Prophet Joseph Smith, or is the path on which I am walking lighted in ‘some other way’”

 D&C Chapter 50 we read:

19And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?     

 20If it be some other way it is not of God.     UAdd a Note 

23And that which doth not ^aedify is not of God, and is ^bdarkness.     UAdd a Note 

 24That which is of God is ^alight; and he that ^breceiveth ^clight, and ^dcontinueth in God, receiveth more ^elight; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.     UAdd a Note 

 25And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the ^atruth, that you may chase darkness from among you;

The gospel is  the glad tidings of great joy,  is the true guide to mankind; he restored the full gospel that we may have all the tools, and light necessary to chase away the darkness that befalls us.
I bear my testimony that if we will endeavor to light our lives more fully  by the light of the True Gospel, We will feel more peace and joy in our lives. We will be more mindful of serving our fellowman, and of following the Saviors example to do our part to spread the good news of the gospel.