My Three Wishes

Like most adults, the day had come when I felt incapacitated by my to-do list. I had homework, housework, a puppy to manage, and a husband to bond with and I didn't know where to start. I ended up breaking down in the shower, and as I talked to myself, I came up with my three wishes. They weren't general helps, like more patience or more time; I wanted someone to walk Zoe, to make dinner, and to wash the mountain of dishes. Everything else, I felt I could manage. If Zoe wasn't jumping on me, I could study better. If the mountain of dishes wasn't judging me, I could clean the rest of the apartment in peace, etc. If only someone could come and magically grant my wishes. 

My wishes were granted, but it wasn't magic. I messaged my husband, letting him know that I couldn't make dinner, so he could decide if he wanted to get something or make something. He came home and cooked! Wish number one. I found an assignment that involved watching a documentary and watched that as I washed the dishes. Wish number two. The next day, I decided that it was important to take time for Zoe, so I took her on a walk. Wish number three! When I realized that I had granted my own wishes (with help from my husband), it was so empowering. I had managed to grant not only those wishes but finish my other responsibilities as well. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, by Phillip Brooks:
“Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle."

In Numbers 14, Moses and the children of Israel finally have the Promised Land within their reach. But then the spies that Moses sent to scout for the fruits of the land come back with bad news--the land is already populated by giant, strong men. The spies and many of the people lose faith in the power of God and despair. "Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!" (vs. 2). How incredible that these people, having seen all they have seen of God's power, would give up on Him. The Lord says, "how long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewed among them?" (vs. 11) Joshua and Caleb try to reassure them and reanimate their faith: "The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land..." (vs. 7-9)

Sometimes life is overwhelming. Our Promised Land might look beautiful, but it requires faith and work to get there. Are we willing to trust in the Lord? Are we willing to look past the challenges and into the beauty that we're fighting for?

There is a second part to the story from Numbers 14. After being told that they wouldn't be able to enter the Promised Land, a group of people decided not to wait. They decided to go in their own strength to take the land. Moses warned them that they were going against the word of God and wouldn't have Him with them. But they went anyway and were killed.  

At the time when I made my three wishes, I was preparing for a book discussion on "The Tao of Pooh," which discusses Taoism and finding peace according to Winnie the Pooh. One of my favorite parts tells a fable of a river that is so wild and fast and full of rocks, that anyone who entered the river died. But one day, a boy saw an old man in the water, bobbing up and down. The boy called for help, but the old man emerged unscathed. When asked how he did it, the old man replied that he had learned long ago to go with the flow of the river, to submit to its superior power. 

We might become impatient as we are working towards our blessings. At those times, we should remember to seek the will of God. He has the power to help us, but we need to trust in His plan and His timing. 

The Anti-Nephi-Lehies

One of the most inspiring stories in the Book of Mormon is the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies--also known as the people of Ammon.
These people were Lamanites who had separated themselves from the other Lamanites because they had been converted and now believed in God. The other Lamanites were angry with the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. They probably felt betrayed and confused by the change in their friends and former brothers-in-arms. The Lamanites prepared to go to war against the Anti-Nephi-Lehies.
When the Anti-Nephi-Lehies heard about the preparations, they were naturally scared. The king and the prophet counseled together and with God to decide what to do. They felt inspired that they should not fight against the Lamanites.
In fact, they gathered together all of the people and challenged them to make a covenant with God: that they would never raise a weapon against anyone ever again. As a symbol of that covenant, every single person took their weapons and threw them into a pit, burying them where they couldn't be reached.
When the Lamanites were ready, they came and attacked the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. As they'd agreed, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies didn't fight back. Instead they knelt down and prayed to Heavenly Father.

22 And thus without meeting any resistance, they did slay (1,005) of them; and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their God.
23 Now when the Lamanites saw that their brethren would not flee from the sword, neither would they turn aside to the right hand or to the left, but that they would lie down and perish, and praised God even in the very act of perishing under the sword—
24 Now when the Lamanites saw this they did forbearfrom slaying them; and there were many whose hearts hadswollen in them for those of their brethren who had fallen under the sword, for they repented of the things which they had done.
25 And it came to pass that they threw down their weapons of war, and they would not take them again, for they were stung for the murders which they had committed; and they came down even as their brethren, relying upon the mercies of those whose arms were lifted to slay them.
26 And it came to pass that the people of God were joined that day by more than the number who had been slain; and those who had been slain were righteous people, therefore we have no reason to doubt but what they were saved. (Alma 24)

 When I read through this story last, I had a few cool thoughts I'd like to share.
I wondered why, when Heavenly Father had saved so many people who placed their trust in Him, He chose not to save the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. Then I remembered that only a generation after these people came the 2,000 Stripling Warriors (read that story here). These young men were protected by the mighty power of God... and maybe by 1,005 angels as well.
The example of faith that their uncles, fathers, mothers, sisters, aunts, grandparents, cousins, and many others who died for their covenants must have also been a powerful force for the young men.

Finally, I thought of the question in "The War Room" (amazing movie, you should watch it). "Do I just let him walk all over me?"
The Anti-Nephi-Lehies not only were walked over, they were killed.

For a man to lay down his all, his character and reputation, his honor, and applause, his good name among men, his houses, his lands, his brothers and sisters, his wife and children, and even his own life also—counting all things but filth and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ—requires more than mere belief or supposition that he is doing the will of God; but actual knowledge, realizing that, when those sufferings are ended, he will enter into eternal rest, and be a partaker of the glory of God.   ~Joseph Smith

Although many of the Anti-Nephi-Lehies were killed, many more people were converted. And through the scriptures we can know that those who were killed were taken up to heaven.

This story has come to mean much more to me. To me it is now a story of how a large group of people, unified in faith, can find new life through conversion and through the resurrection.

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."

Overwhelmed?

Oh my goodness. Talk about divine help. I just finished a long, exhausting day. Got onto my email, and what did I find? A list of more things to do :S.

Also in my email, I found this quote:

"My dear brothers and sisters, there will be days and nights when you feel overwhelmed, when your hearts are heavy and your heads hang down. Then, please remember, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, is the Head of this Church. It is His gospel. He wants you to succeed. He gave His life for just this purpose. He is the Son of the living God. And He will help you.” —President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The very presence of the quote in my inbox was a manifestation of His awareness of me.
I'm so grateful for the Holy Spirit and inspired leaders who are able to send us comfort and guidance.

Charity

And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and enviethnot, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easilyprovoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. (Moroni 7:46)

To truly understand charity, I'd like to look at each of the aspects mentioned in the scripture.

And charity suffereth long, ...

...and is kind, ...

...and envieth not, ...

(sorry for all of the videos, but they are such a great way to teach and to illustrate a point)

...and is not puffed up, ...
https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/32506/32506_000_057_08-thecycle.pdf
--This is a cycle noted not only in the Book of Mormon, but in other histories as well. How does charity fit into the cycle? Where would you put it? How could we end the cycle in our lives? Does it take charity?

...seeketh not her own, ...

(I just love these Thai videos)

...is not easily provoked, ...
Janie's 70 times 7

... Slowly Janie stood. OK, she thought. I’ll forgive him seventy times seven. But then he’s really going to get it! She went to her bedroom and sat down at her desk. On a piece of scratch paper, she multiplied seventy times seven. “Four hundred and ninety times!” she exclaimed, dismayed. She opened a notebook and wrote “Number of times I’ve forgiven Jimmy” on the top of the first page. Underneath, she made two slashes. “That’s two,” she said aloud. “Only four hundred and eighty-eight to go.” ...

...thinketh no evil, ...
Why would having charity require you to "think no evil"? Can you steal and have perfect charity? Can you lust and have perfect charity? 
Can you allow unclean thoughts that involve God or others into your mind and have charity? Are any thoughts unclean that don't include impure thoughts of God or others?

...and rejoiceth not in iniquity ...
"Love the sinner, not the sin." I've found that to be a very important, but a very difficult maxim.

...but rejoiceth in the truth, ...

God the Eternal Father did not give that first great commandment because He needs us to love Him. ...No, God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God!For what we love determines what we seek.What we seek determines what we think and do.What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become.

-Pres. Uchtdorf

...beareth all things, ...


...believeth all things, ...
Faith, Hope, and Charity. You see them together a lot. Can you really have one without the other? It makes sense that in order to have charity, you need to have hope and faith. When you can believe in the eternal identity of others, and the amazing potential they possess it becomes so much easier to love them.

...hopeth all things, ...
Loved Back into Activity (activity=attending church and fulfilling callings)
Along with this story, I think of the story of Alma the Younger (see Mosiah 27, or this article)

...endureth all things.

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; 

but the greatest of these is CHARITY.

Worth Waiting For...

Pres. Uchtdorf also talked about this in his talk "Continuing in Patience":

In the 1960s, a professor at Stanford University began a modest experiment testing the willpower of four-year-old children. He placed before them a large marshmallow and then told them they could eat it right away or, if they waited for 15 minutes, they could have two marshmallows.

He then left the children alone and watched what happened behind a two-way mirror. Some of the children ate the marshmallow immediately; some could wait only a few minutes before giving in to temptation. Only 30 percent were able to wait.

It was a mildly interesting experiment, and the professor moved on to other areas of research, for, in his own words, “there are only so many things you can do with kids trying not to eat marshmallows.” But as time went on, he kept track of the children and began to notice an interesting correlation: the children who could not wait struggled later in life and had more behavioral problems, while those who waited tended to be more positive and better motivated, have higher grades and incomes, and have healthier relationships.

What started as a simple experiment with children and marshmallows became a landmark study suggesting that the ability to wait—to be patient—was a key character trait that might predict later success in life.

Patience can be seen as the mother of all virtues. If you don't have the patience to listen, how can you be teachable? If you don't have patience, how can you develope charity or faith? If you don't have patience, how can you maintain your chastity?
Impatience can also be the mother of all vices. Impatience leads to anger, pride, and insecurity.

Pres. Monson said: Oh, precious youth, please give life a chance. Apply the virtue of patience.

Here is one of my favorite poems:

 Slow Dance

Have you ever watched kids on a merry-go-round,
or listened to rain slapping the ground?
Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight,
or gazed at the sun fading into the night?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.

Do you run through each day on the fly,
when you ask "How are you?", do you hear the reply?
When the day is done, do you lie in your bed,
with the next hundred chores running through your head?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.

Ever told your child, we'll do it tomorrow,
and in your haste, not see his sorrow?
Ever lost touch, let a friendship die,
'cause you never had time to call and say hi?
You better slow down, don't dance so fast,
Time is short, the music won't last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere,
you miss half the fun of getting there.
When you worry and hurry through your day,
it's like an unopened gift thrown away.
Life isn't a race, so take it slower,
Hear the music before your song is over