I've Been a Nurse

Sorry I haven't posted in quite a while. My husband had surgery and I have been a nurse for the past little bit while trying to keep the rest of our home life from getting totally chaotic. Trying is the key word here. :) I should be back up and posting here pretty soon.

Create a Profile, Be a Missionary

The Church is changing mormon.org and there will be some new features. They are urging members to "create your missionary profile—an exciting new way to share the gospel". They were hoping to be up to 1,000 profiles by the end of May and I am not sure if they made it or not but I am sure they would love more people to join in.

Here is what the site has to say about this new feature:

"Mormons come from diverse backgrounds and experiences who all share a deep commitment to Jesus Christ and to each other. The new Mormon.org is designed for visitors to learn more about members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each profile is a collection of stories and testimonies from Mormons. Participation is optional, but you must be a member of the Church to create a profile. The profiles will be made public this summer when the new site will launch. English-only profiles will be available this year; other languages will follow after."

Check it out and creat your profile. I am excited to see the final product when it comes out.

The Sacrifices Made For Scriptures

A few nights ago for scripture study we talked about Moroni and how far and long he wandered to stay away from the Lamanites and protect the plates. I hadn’t realized that it was probably thousands of miles. My husband ended by saying and we have the scriptures right by our beds, we need to read them.

Then on Sunday morning I watched this video of the great sacrifices that Joseph Smith and other early saints went through to translate and make available the Book of Mormon. I love Elder Hollands words about how they would not have done what they did if this book wasn't true. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I am grateful for the sacrfices made so that I can have access to its words.

Then I thought of others like Nephi who also risked their lives to obtain the word of God and I felt blessed and grateful to all of these wonderful men for their faith and their diligence in bringing the word of God to me. I think I often take for granted all that has gone on before so that I can have access to the scriptures right in my own home, right next to my own bed, always at my fingertips whenever I chose to pick them up. I need to be more faithful and diligent in my personal scripture journey because if I don’t I will be risking my own spiritual life and there is no reason why I or any of us should do this when our scriptures lie right by our beds (or on our bookshelves).

And when I shared all of these thoughts with my husband he reminded me of these great words from Elder Christofferson:

On October 6, in the year 1536, a pitiful figure was led from a dungeon in Vilvorde Castle near Brussels, Belgium. For nearly a year and a half, the man had suffered isolation in a dark, damp cell. Now outside the castle wall, the prisoner was fastened to a post. He had time to utter aloud his final prayer, “Lord! open the king of England’s eyes,” and then he was strangled. Immediately, his body was burned at the stake. Who was this man, and what was the offense for which both political and ecclesiastical authorities had condemned him? His name was William Tyndale, and his crime was to have translated and published the Bible in English.

William Tyndale was not the first, nor the last, of those who in many countries and languages have sacrificed, even to the point of death, to bring the word of God out of obscurity. We owe them all a great debt of gratitude. We owe perhaps an even greater debt to those who faithfully recorded and preserved the word through the ages, often with painstaking labor and sacrifice—Moses, Isaiah, Abraham, John, Paul, Nephi, Mormon, Joseph Smith, and many others. What did they know about the importance of scriptures that we also need to know?

In Tyndale’s day, scriptural ignorance abounded because people lacked access to the Bible, especially in a language they could understand. Today the Bible and other scripture are readily at hand, yet there is a growing scriptural illiteracy because people will not open the books. Consequently they have forgotten things their grandparents knew.

I suppose that never in history has a people been blessed with such a quantity of holy writ. And not only that, but every man, woman, and child may possess and study his or her own personal copy of these sacred texts, most in his or her own language. How incredible such a thing would have seemed to the people of William Tyndale’s day and to the Saints of earlier dispensations! Surely with this blessing the Lord is telling us that our need for constant recourse to the scriptures is greater than in any previous time. May we feast continuously on the words of Christ that will tell us all things we should do (see 2 Nephi 32:3).

The Many Kinds of Voices in the World

"Paul said, “There are … so many kinds of voices in the world” (1 Cor. 14:10) that compete with the voice of the Spirit. Such is the situation in the world. The Spirit’s voice is ever present, but it is calm. Said Isaiah, “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever” (Isa. 32:17).

The adversary tries to smother this voice with a multitude of loud, persistent, persuasive, and appealing voices: murmuring voices that conjure up perceived injustices, whining voices that abhor challenge and work, seductive voices offering sensual enticements, soothing voices that lull us into carnal security, intellectual voices that profess sophistication and superiority, proud voices that urge us to rely on the arm of the flesh, flattering voices that puff us up with pride, cynical voices that destroy hope, entertaining voices that promote pleasure seeking, commercial voices that tempt us to “spend money for that which is of no worth” and our “labor for that which cannot satisfy” (2 Ne. 9:51), and delirious voices that spawn the desire for a “high.” James E. Faust, “The Voice of the Spirit,” Liahona, Sep 1995, 17

My husband shared this quote in his talk last Sunday and it really stuck out to me. I think I can definitely do better at ignoring the many voices that try to sneak their evil ideas into my head.

How do you keep the voice of the Spirit stronger than the other voices in your life?

Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op

I know I can use a little help at eating better. I tend to gravitate toward sugary or salty foods when I want a snack when I know I really should grab an apple or some carrots instead and I know that I am not the only one who falls into this category. We talked about the Word of Wisdom on Sunday and it made me think that I can definitely do better at taking better care of my body. Well, this wonderful program may just help as long as you are ready for a whole lot of produce. We've tried it a few times and it was almost too much for our little family but we may try it again sometime but we will probably wait until after our own garden stops producing this summer.

So this is what it is - you pay $15 to get a ton of fruits and vegies, typically 6 kinds of each and a bunch of them. Each time they vary. One week you might get things like potatoes, carrots, grapes, and bananas and then the next time around you might get asparagus, corn, cherries, and limes (plus more of course). You pay on their site and then you have to come pick it up at a certain time, typically at a park or something like that. If you don't come on time or at all they will give your basket to a local fire station. You also have to bring your own container to carry your things home. It will fill up an entire laundry basket of fruits and vegies!

There are a ton of locations in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Texas (one), Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. I hope some of you get a chance to try it! Yum-Yum!

Anyway, if any of you are interested you can check the site out HERE.

Here are some other examples of what you might get: