2 Nephi 4-- Becoming a Miracle

2 Nephi 4 is one of my favorite chapters about Nephi. Because in that chapter, it really seems like Nephi just opens up his soul and pours his heart out on the "paper" (it was plates of metal back then).
In chapter 3, his father Lehi dies. Soon after that his brothers and brothers-in-law plan to kill Nephi, his family, and his other supporters. His brothers are planning this!!
That is Nephi's life when chapter 4 begins. He just lost his dad, they're in a strange land, and his own brothers want him dead.
When the chapter starts Nephi cries unto God. But not about his trials. He begs God to take away his sins and his weaknesses. That's one thing I love about Nephi; when he is in a tough situation he's not afraid to tough it out.

One of my favorite quotes is this... "Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your power. Pray for power equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle." (~Phillips Brooks)

Then Nephi says "19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh."

After he's asked for forgiveness, God gives it to him. The rest of the chapter is a beautiful prayer of praise to God.
Nephi spends three verses lamenting his sins very sincerely, but then he spends fifteen verses praising the source of his redemption.

Then comes chapter 5, verse 2: But behold, (my brothers') anger did increase against me, insomuch that they did seek to take away my life.

Nothing changed! His dad was still dead, he was still in a new country, and his brothers were still trying to kill him!

But now he had peace. He had God on his side, and he knew it. He'd received forgiveness and felt God's love. And God had given him the strength to continue on.

Nick Vujicic is another inspirational man. Here is one of his messages:

Temptation Killers

My family discovered Hank Smith last year. He's a youth speaker and seminary teacher. A lot of his talks are on CDs (10 of which we own :)). On his CD "5 Temptation Killers" he talks about how to fight Satan.
Temptation killer #3 is the scriptures.
He tells the story of Jesus fasting on the mountain. Satan comes and tries to tempt Jesus. Every time Jesus comes back with a scripture.
The challenge then was for us to come up with our own "Temptation Killing Scriptures."


These are a few I've found:
2 Nephi 4:28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

Alma 11:23 O thou child of hell, why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?

Alma 12: 6 And behold I say unto you all that this was a snare of the adversary, which he has laid to catch this people, that he might bring you into subjection unto him, that he might encircle you about with his chains, that he might chain you down to everlasting destruction, according to the power of his captivity.

(Now from the Bible :))

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. (Also my brother's favorite scripture)

What are some of your temptation killing scriptures?

Grace Series Part 6: Like Tuning a Violin

I was tuning my violin the other day, when I ran out of fine tuner. In case you're unfamiliar with how to tune a violin, there is a fine tuner and a tuning peg. The fine tuners are what you'll usually use, they refine the note until it's perfect. If it's really out of tune you'll use your tuning peg.

So I had turned my fine tuner to the lowest it could go. I knew what to do, I'd done it before. You bring your string out of tune by twisting the fine tuner until it's about half way and then you use your tuning pegs to bring it back to the relative area.
As I did that, I realized that this is what God is doing to us. We are so close to getting something great or becoming something wonderful, and then suddenly it seems everything is going wrong or all of Satan's forces are attacking us.

It's like the arrow analogy:

The Importance of a Family

So a couple weeks ago, I experienced my most embarrassing moment (no, I'm not going to post it :)). It was pretty bad, but through it I was able to see how important my family was in this way: When I told my mom she was embarrassed with me; when I told my brother he laughed at me; and when I told my dad he shrugged it off because he said it was no big deal. 

While it may seem like my mom's response was the one that normal people hope for, when my brother laughed at me it made me able to laugh at myself. And when my dad shrugged it off it showed me that just because I was embarrassed doesn't mean that the people who witnessed me were embarrassed. But I did need my mom's empathy, because that helped me feel like I wasn't a fool to feel embarrassed. 

I don't think there is any way that just one person could have done all of that for me within the 15 minutes that it did with the three of them. Also, there is no way I would have told any one besides my family about what happened (not even my best friends). I may have been up all night with embarrassment without my family.

And that's just a small experience. What about when tragedy strikes? When a loved one dies, or when your future seems to fall apart? Who should you be able to fall back on? Your family.

So please appreciate your family today. Pres. Thomas S Monson shared an thought he had while in a cemetery: 

 ... I noticed ...a small stone in which was inscribed a name and this poignant verse: “A light from our household is gone; a voice we loved is stilled. A place is vacant in our hearts that never can be filled.”
Don’t wait until that light from your household is gone; don’t wait until that voice you know is stilled before you say, “I love you, Mother; I love you, Father.” Now is the time to think and the time to thank. I trust you will do both. You have a heritage; honor it.

Your Eyes

I've been learning a lot recently about the eyes and what messages I'm sending people with my eye contact.

There's a phrase that says "The eye is the window to the soul." I thought that that was pretty cheesy and overrated, until one exercise.

We were paired together with the person we were sitting by. I was sitting by my friend's friend, a beautiful woman and mother.
Our challenge was to sit across from each other and one of us would gaze into the other's eyes. After thirty seconds, we would start to say everything (positive) that came to our minds about that person. It was an unforgettable, exhilarating experience. I felt like I caught a glimpse of the mother's pre-mortal experience with her Heavenly Mother. I saw a growing green in my mind, like healing and nurturing. As I was sharing these things with her, there was an amazing connection between us.

I was struck again with the knowledge that everyone is a child of God, and they all have a divine potential and mission. I know that if I looked into your eyes-- whether I know you or not-- I would see an amazing destiny and power. It's something that God has given to all of us.

A Time and a Season

This fun song is based off of a section of the Bible: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

I feel like I've been in one of those "times" of my life. Usually I feel a great drive to study and to improve myself academically, or to study the scriptures hardcore. But for the past few months I've felt at peace with just crocheting, listening to talks or cds, and playing with my family. At first I balked, and tried to get a lot of studying done; but that always left me burned out and unfulfilled after only a couple hours. 

As I was looking for a picture to describe how I felt, I was looking for doves, because to me, they symbolize peace. But even pictures of doves in flight felt like they were too active to describe my "time." So I picked this one, of one dove nurturing the other

I have done a few self discovering exercises, and have learned things about myself and my purpose. I've been able to focus on getting ready for college and my LDS mission. 

It's been really strange, as I said. I'm not used to this slow of a pace. But I think it's a good thing. I'm about to spend 18 months on go go go mode and in uncomfortable situations, so right now it feels like Heavenly Father is giving me a little restful period. "A time to gather strength."