Why read the book of Mormon?

I would like you to do a little visualization with me. Everyone has their own set of talents and perks. You may be very athletic, artistic or musically inclined. Maybe you are a good speaker. Maybe you have dabbled in the realm of medical or natural healing, maybe you're good with plants, or people. Maybe you're incredibly skilled with directions (I am NOT...so I respect that skill). Maybe you read well...or are skilled in the area of engineering. Think about what skill you have. What talent? If you are having a hard time thinking of anything, consider a unique virtue or attribute you have. Once you have thought of your skill, virtue or other gift...maybe even a spiritual gift you have, I want you to imagine now that you are presented with a situation where you have been asked to use your skill to help a large group of people and, for whatever reason, you are the only one with this skill. Maybe others have the same skill, but not to the level of yours or there's is missing your unique perspective and attributes that couple with your skill or gift. You commit to helping this large group of people with your particular skill. You begin assisting them. Maybe you're on a stage presenting, or performing...maybe in a meeting room...maybe you're outside somewhere, on a farm....in the mountains...in a church building...in your home...wherever it is...imagine you are standing in front of this large group of people, Instructing or assisting in whatever way your skill or gift would benefit them best.

Right in the pinnacle of your instruction or assisting, something happens...Suddenly you feel an intense, sharp pain in your chest area... and before you know it...darkness. Now, remove yourself from your situation, still in your visualization. You have just collapsed. You can see your own body, on the floor or ground. What is your audience doing? What's going on? You can see that you are unconscious. Some in your audience seem to believe at first that this is a hoax, but others quickly realize you are in dire need. A firefighter from the group of people you were assisting or instructing runs over to where you are and begins performing CPR. Other's quickly call 911. Soon emergency care is there. You have just experienced a cardiac arrest.  Medics arrive. They realize you have no pulse, no heart beat, no blood pressure, no breath. You have experienced sudden death Caridac Arrest.

If this had really happened to you, ask yourself, was there anything that could have been done to prevent it? Maybe you could have eaten healthier or exercised more. Maybe you failed to attend to regular medical check-ups. Bottom line, though...regardless of what you did or didn't do...This was still an unexpected, unplanned, Cardiac arrest. You could not have prepared for this and had no signs previous to indicate this would happen.

Okay. visualization is over.
Today, I was in church, and our instructor shared that President Monson, in our last General Conference, defined that it was "Critical" for us to be reading the book of Mormon Every day! I asked myself, why is it so critical? Then it hit me. We are in a Medical emergency, EVERY day!! Our life around us is a Spiritual emergency. We are not waiting for one to come and hit us like a cardiac arrest, we are already in one! Prophets have been talking about our day for years, and our Prophets and leaders today share of the calamities that we are now experiencing.

Still, though, why is it important to read the Book of Mormon? How does reading a book save me in a spiritual emergency?

I want you to ask yourself? Could reading the book of Mormon really have that far of an impact? Could it really be the tool that saves me from death?

The scenario I had you visualize above was based on a true scenario. Actress Tracey Conway experienced a sudden death Cardiac arrest in 1995 While performing on stage! It is described that she was found dead, lifeless. It wasn't until several quick procedures and 6 electric shocks to the heart that she was finally brought back to life. Conway, in summarizing her experience, expressed:
"I lost my only brother to a heart attack and it might possibly be because he lived in another state where they couldn't give him the kind of emergency care he needed, when he needed it...Every time a Medic...unit passes me on the street I say 'God bless you.' If it hadn't been for them, I would be dead.

I testify that Christ lives! He is your advocate! Your friend! And he has provided the Book of Mormon as a gift to you, to keep you in spiritually safe grounds,...or to keep you spiritually resuscitated with each spiritual attack of every day. My challenge for you is to follow the words of our living prophet and begin reading today! It will provide for you the break in the wind, the stilling of the storm and the clarity you need for each day. This I know.

(conway's death experience):
http://www.empowher.com/heart-disease/content/audio-herstory-tracey-conway-shares-her-%E2%80%9Cdrop-dead-gorgeous%E2%80%9D-heart-disease-story?page=0,3

http://www.mediconefoundation.org/news-events/life-stories/#section8

10 Truth's about Mothers! (A Mother's Day Tribute).

It's almost midnight and I'm still trying to figure out what to write. Nothing seems to feel right. But I won't sleep until I find something to share. So, I'm going to be really authentic and maybe a little boring. I'm going to share a cut and dry message straight from the Heart.

I can think of more mothers than I can count on my 10 fingers who have been a shining example to me of what motherhood really means. I can think of countless people whom I'd like to call and wish a happy mother's day. But, here I am, haven't called you, because...well... I just didn't know where to start. It's a totally lame excuse, I know. So here I am writing instead. Up in the wee hours of the night...about to give myself a rough night's sleep...since, for me, the later it is when I hit that pillow...the harder it is for me to actually fall asleep.

But, I want you mothers to know just how much you mean to me. And I want you who are wondering if motherhood really makes a difference or if anyone really gives a darn about the roles mothers play, to know how I feel. I've thought a lot about motherhood. As a mother myself, I may still be in my infancy, but with 4 kids behind my back and a lot of thought and prayer on the subject, here is what I do know:

1-You do not have to actually bear children to be a mother.  Some of the most far-impacting mothers have never had a single child of their own...technically speaking.

2-Just because you bear children doesn't necessarily mean you're a mother, though law and society would say otherwise.

3-Motherhood is not a title, its not a job, it's a way of life.

4- Motherhood at it's finest, takes a great deal more than any 1 mother can offer. It takes fathers, brothers, sisters neighbors and neighborhoods, communities and government leaders, and I don't want to forget, the ministering of Angels, working together to accomplish the divine errand of each mother.

5-There is nothing more difficult than the Job of a mother.

6-There is nothing more rewarding than being a mother.

7-Mothers Are NOT perfect nor do they have to be nor will they be in this life. Mothers are far from perfect. It's only their willingness to accept the call, with all of its difficulties, that enables them to carry the mantle of motherhood and the divine help that accompanies such.

8-Mothers are spiritual beings.

9- Mothers have a great capacity to love. As they strive to do their best to love and nurture, their capacity to love is enhanced by enabling powers beyond their own.

10-Motherhood is important, perhaps the most important calling a being could have on this earth.

Happy mothers day!

Thank you to all the mothers around the world who have given their life...or rather, made their life through that of being a Mother!

from,

Me.

Does the phrase "Repent" seem scary?

I've been alive long enough to know that there's a pretty large handful of people that find the call to repent as quite offensive, harsh, and outright disrespectful. Maybe the phrase has been used in quite a demeaning way. Maybe someone felt judged, ridiculed or misunderstood when the phrase was used.  Whatever the reason, I'm here to tell you that, whether or not the Call to repentance has ever seemed scary or harsh to you, there's a much more beautiful side that Might change your perspective of the word "Repent" forever.

I'm a busy mom, and in my free time-which happens to be either when I'm using the restroom or at 9:30 p.m. when my kids are finally in bed (an hour and a half past their bed time)- I may be found writing here. But you'll have to excuse many of my posts, which may be a lot less structured and professional than I'd like. 

Okay, now that I've completely polluted this post with side notes about restroom breaks and what not, I'll get back to the subject. 

So what does repentance mean? 

In Websters Dictionary we can read that Repent means either to:

1- Turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life, to feel regret or contrition or simply to change one's mind

Great. So, from this I may gather that to repent is to feel bad about something, maybe something I thought, I did, or whatever, and then to change that thought or action. 

Let's pick this definition apart a little though, shall we? 

First I want to ask. What is Sin? 

Just for fun, lets change things up. I'm going to look at Bible dictionary's opinion and Leave Webster out for a minute. And...I guess I changed my mind. Looks like there's not a direct definition for sin in the B.D. Scratch that. You can do a google search "LDS Definition of Sin" or search Websters for sin. 

But, I have some particular thoughts I'd like to share. 

Sin, in it's context can also come across as something quite demeaning, harsh and uncrhist-like to some. If you're not in that category, great, keep reading though. 

In the Scriptures, I once read of Christ describing His church. He expresses it as one body. And explains that there are many parts to this body. Each part, leg, arm, and I'd say: even the freckles on your nose are equally important. We can think of ourselves as that body. Then he goes on to explain why we would not want to remove any part of that body (1 Cor 1:12-24).  I'd like to share a unique perspective on this scripture. It is that when we remove our part from our body, as I see it, we are, in essence, going against our own self. Imagine, for example, you are an arm, and you decide to remove yourself (your arm) from the rest of your body. It's just not natural. No one in their right mind would do this.

For some time now, I have seen sin in this way. We are all spiritual beings who once lived with Heavenly Father and Knew Christ as our elder brother. We came to this earth, and kind of forgot who we were, but that doesn't mean we're not royal heirs to God's kingdom just because we forget. Our spirits know who we are. When we sin, we go against our very nature. We can try to act as if having our arm cut off from the rest of the body it belongs to is natural, freeing, and makes us happier, keeps us from being restricted, etc, etc, but it really just isn't natural. In the end, our spiritual selves will not be able to remain alive, we will have cut off the circulation, the lifeblood, to our spiritual well being, and will have lost sight of the essence of who we are. 

When we repent, we are simply saying, oh wow, I can see that the actions or thoughts I have are not bringing me true happiness, I can see that they are causing a deep internal conflict within me, I can see that these actions don't represent who I truly am. I don't want to carry on this way, it hurts. I want this deep wound, this broken limb to be mended. Sorry to be gruesome here.  This is a terrible analogy but bear with me. Hopefully you are getting the point I am trying to make. So, we recognize this sin...which is really just a spiritual wound. Then we seek for spiritual healing.

That is where repentance comes in.

So next time you are reading scriptures and see "Repent ye repent.." think of this strange analogy. A call to repent is not a reprimand to the wicked, rather, it is a loving beckoning- for those who have placed spiritual wounds upon themselves and others- to call upon the master healer so those gaping wounds can be mended.

If you wonder if you need to repent, let me tell you, the answer is most likely yes. I know, shocking right? We all "sin" or cause pain in our lives. Some are just cuts, bruises or scrapes, others are gaping wounds, broken bones or undiagnosed diseases. We don't necessarily intend to create these wounds. Often times we are just doing our best but maybe we haven't yet learned how to use a hammer correctly. Maybe we're so busy, so run-down or so invested in our lifestyle, we haven't even realized there's a growing infection within us. Whether we see it or not, eventually, that infection will get bad enough that we will have to face the reality of it. At that point, we are left with two choices: to continue suffering the pain of sin, or to seek assistance from the only true healer of our spirits, Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

He knows us best, and He knows how to help us to be happiest. He can help us to re-connect, deeply, to the person we truly are. If you ever feel depressed, dark, or unhappy, turn to the Savior. Maybe there's a spiritual wound you didn't recognize that just needs to be healed. He will help you to heal that wound. Maybe the wound isn't a wound of sin. Maybe there are painful scars, or wounds that others have inflicted upon you. Or maybe life's natural disasters have caused some injuries in your life that have nothing to do with your actions or anyone else's. Maybe the air in your environment is toxic and is affecting your spiritual health in some way. Whatever it is, turn to Christ, and He will help you to know what you need for your spiritual healing and well-being.

May your journey be one ever and always leading toward greater hope and happiness.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to share in the comments below.

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