by small and simple things.

Some people call them "tender mercies." But sometimes I feel like they're even smaller than that.

I don't know the science behind it or how it is done, but I do know that God is acutely aware of me individually. The thought to me is incredible. That he knows what I feel and what I need. He knows where to put me and where to put other people at the right time and the right place.

Aside from having a special experience of being in the right place at the right time to help someone find something they had lost, or saying something that someone needed to hear, I have been the recipient of small "chance" meetings, conversations and experiences.

God knows that sometimes I just need a little reassuring. He does that through people I run into or things I see or hear. The causality of existence is very interesting to me; how one thing sets in motion other things and how something might not have happened had the other small thing never happened; dominos I guess.

Just wanted to say that I'm grateful for the tiny things. For the ripples of tiny stones.



Also. This. Posted it last week, but in case you haven't seen it yet:

i do not know all things.

In Words of Mormon in the Book of Mormon, Mormon is talking about why he has compiled the different books the way he has and what he hopes will come of all his work.

He then says, "I do this for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me. And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will" (v. 7, emphasis added).

I think often times we can't see the end from the beginning; we don't know where our decisions will lead, but if we listen to the whispering of the Spirit we can be tools in God's hands and do our part in a chain of events that accomplishes his will. We can also have the confidence that we'll be where we need to be when we need to be there. And as always, that the future is bright and that God has something in mind for us.

Mormon didn't know the full impact that his work would have, but he felt like he was following the Holy Spirit and he knew that that was God's will, and that was all he wanted to do.

engraving.

In Jacob 4 of the Book of Mormon, Jacob writes these words: "(I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words on plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates must remain . . . "

Reading this brought two points to my mind.

1. If it was so difficult to engrave onto these plates (and I think he means time consuming more than anything) then you can assume that anything that we have in the Book of Mormon is probably of great value. Someone didn't just throw it in there to fill space. It would take a lot of time and effort to engrave words on these metal plates, so anything that we have in the Book of Mormon is there for a reason.

2. What would I take the time to engrave? What would I deem worthy of intense labor and time? Council to my future children? Life lessons? Testimony?

Jacob continues, "but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us . . . that they may know that we knew of Christ and had a hope of his glory."

truth.

Something I loved from President Uchtdorf's recent devotional:

Truth is independent of belief; just because everyone believes something doesn't make it true and just because no one believes something doesn't make it not true. Truth is true regardless of who believes it.

the priesthood.

In a priesthood blessing the priesthood is the divine authority to act as a conduit and mouthpiece of God, through the Holy Spirit; to declare the blessings, councils and comforts the Lord desires that person to hear.

It is interesting that priesthood holders cannot bless themselves; the priesthood is to be used to serve and bless others.

Yet, by serving others we bless ourselves. Giving a blessing and exercising the priesthood provides a new closeness to the Spirit, an increase in testimony and provides strength as well as blessings to both the giver and the receiver.

christmas.

Christmas is this week.

Enjoy:









Christ the Savior is born.

pattern for revelation.

I know I talk about revelation and getting answers fairly often, but as I read D&C 138 today I thought about the first time I read this section and was struck by the extremely important and profound answer that came from Joseph F. Smith following this pattern for revelation.

He starts out talking about how he was pondering the scriptures and reflecting on the sacrifice and atonement of Jesus Christ to redeem the world.

While pondering and reflecting his mind was drawn back to scriptures he had previously read.

Then he opened the Bible and read those sections in 1 Peter (3:18-20, 4:6).

As he continued to ponder those words the eyes of his understanding were opened.

He then received a vision of Christ's visit to the just dead in the Spirit World for the three days between his crucifixion and resurrection. Pretty important and heavy stuff. And it all came from pondering and opening the scriptures.

Love me some scriptures.

bountiful.

I read this passage today and it struck me:

1 Nephi 17:3-5

3. And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.

4. And we did sojourn for the space of many years, yea, even eight years in the wilderness.

5. And we did come to the land which we called Bountiful, because of its much fruit and also wild honey; and all these things were prepared of the Lord that we might not perish.

It was a nice reminder that when God asks us to do something or has a specific plan for us that he gives us help.

Nephi and his family were in the wilderness for eight years. That is so long. That is longer than any difficult thing I've ever had to deal with. But God had commanded them to leave Jerusalem, so he didn't  leave them on their own. He provided for them while they were righteous and called them to repentance when they weren't.

Then came the payoff/blessings: the land Bountiful. All prepared by the Lord so they wouldn't die.

Just a thought. 

step by step.

I've been reading Doctrine and Covenants and this morning there were a few phrases that caught my attention:

D&C 52:4 "And inasumuch as they are faithful unto me, it shall be made known unto them what they shall do;"

D&C 53:6 ". . . these are the first ordinances which you shall receive; and the residue shall be made known in a time to come . . . "

D&C 54:10 ". . . be patient in tribulation until I come; and, behold, I come quickly."

D&C 55:6 "The residue shall be made known hereafter, even as I will."

These revelations basically came to Joseph Smith because someone wanted to know what God wanted them to be doing, so they asked Joseph for help.

Joseph went to the Lord and then received council and gave it to them. In almost all of these revelations the Lord said, do this much and then when the time is right, I'll let you know the next step.

It was interesting to me, because I feel that for most of us, this is how we receive revelation. It's usually enough light to see through the immediate darkness, but our entire journey usually isn't illuminated all at once. We go through step by step, trusting God and he takes us from place to place until we are where we're supposed to be (as well as having been everywhere we were supposed to be).

He gives us a little bit of light, we exercise our faith and follow it, and then when we're there, or the time is right, we get the next set of instructions.

i know the end from the beginning.

"For I am the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven; the earth is my footstool; I stretch my hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be my chariot; I say to the mountains—Depart hence—and behold, they are taken away by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly.

My name is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee."

-Abraham 2:7-8

It's nice to know that God and Christ are all powerful and that they are on our side. They understand the grand scheme and will have a hand in our lives.

It's comforting.

blessings in disguise.

Having your battery die in Salt Lake with three friends in your car is hardly a blessing.

Having a friend with jumper cables be parked just down the street is a blessing.

Having your battery die the day before pay day so you don't have to wait a week to buy a new one and be carless is a blessing.

Having people who are willing to let you borrow multimeters and jump your car to get a reading on your alternator is a blessing.

Having to buy only a battery and not an alternator is a blessing.



Bad and inconvenient things happen. But I know God is acutely aware of our needs. And when we seek to do what he asks of us, he can more fully bless us.

the brother of jared and the temple.

Many months ago a friend shared a deep insight into Ether 3 from the Book of Mormon and the parallels between the Brother of Jared's experience of seeing Christ and our temple experience.

I read that chapter this morning and was struck by a few more things, which I'd like to share.

So the Lord has commanded the Brother of Jared (BoJ) to build a bunch of ships so that they can cross the ocean and land in the Americas. However, these boats are completely dark inside. BoJ asks the Lord to spare them from traveling in complete darkness. The Lord asks, "Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?" (Ether 2:25).

BoJ goes to mount Shelem. No idea where that is, but it's interesting that we call temples the Mount of the Lord. It is on this mountain that BoJ has the sacred experience of seeing Christ. So first parallel: a mountain as a temple.

Then he moltens 16 (2 for each boat) clear stones from a rock. BoJ came to the Lord with his own solution and he went through a great amount of effort and preparation. For me when I go to the temple, my best experiences are when I've come to a conclusion through study and I have done actual preparation. It is then that I get answers, things are confirmed or I'm redirected and things become clearer. Second parallel: preparation.

He asks the Lord to illuminate these rocks. Basically he's asking for greater light. In the temple we go there to 1. preform saving ordinances for ourselves and then for those that have passed on and 2. to receive greater light and knowledge; to get answers. Third: increased light (and knowledge).

Christ illuminates these stones and because of BoJ's faith he actually see's Christ's finger touching the stones. BoJ is pretty freaked out because he had no idea that God and Christ had physical forms. Christ explains that he has seen his spiritual body (Christ had not come to fulfill his earthly mission yet). But the veil between heaven and earth is parted and the BoJ is shown basically everything. We pass through a veil before entering the Celestial room in the temple. It is a room that is symbolic of being in presence of God. It is there that I usually get the answers that I'm looking for. I open the scriptures and am lead to answers. Fourth: passing through a veil to receive knowledge.

Lastly (for now) we learn about the plan of salvation, the fall and the nature of God in Ether 3. The purpose of temples and the Atonement of Jesus Christ is to redeem us from the effects of the fall of Adam and Eve: death and sin. Christ even says to BoJ "Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you." Fifth: learning how we can become saved, what our relationship with God and Christ is, and understanding God's plan.

The temple is great. Seriously.

the light of revelation.

I often find myself wanting an immediate answer or set of directions from God. I want revelation to be a light switch that flips on and suddenly everything is clear.

I've had "ah ha" moments that feel like that, when a sudden realization occurs and things come into focus. However, I think for most of us and in most cases the revelation is something more gradual.

When the sun rises the sky steadily lightens until the sun appears and everything is increasingly illuminated; it's gradual and the change is basically imperceptible.

Another parallel that a General Authority made a few conferences ago was about some gold prospectors.  A new prospector was working alongside a successful prospector. Most people had given up on the area and moved on or given up all together. The new prospector became frustrated that he wasn't finding nuggets. He asked the successful, seasoned prospector where he was finding all his gold. He revealed that he was gradually filling his bag with small flakes that were in the stream's water. His bag had become full with thousands and thousands of flakes as opposed to nuggets.

Our answers and revelations are similar. We get pieces gradually and sometimes we're even surprised to find our bag full of gold. We realize that the light of day is making things clear.

Anyway. Just something I was thinking about recently.

future blessings.

Do not let past experiences prevent you from receiving future blessings.

job.

This is something that a friend shared with me while I was on my mission and it was brought to my memory yesterday during church.

Job is a classic example of trials and suffering. And faithfulness to God. 

But I want to talk about how Job is an example of God's promise of eternal families:

This is what Job has before everything is taken away from him:

7,000 sheep

3,000 camels

500 yoke of oxen

500 she asses

7 sons and 3 daughters (10 kids)

He then loses every single one of those things. His kids are killed when a house collapses and fire and other things consume his flocks.

For the next 40 chapters Job stays faithful to the Lord while even his closest friends counsel him to curse the Lord.

Then in chapter 42:10 it says, "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave job twice as much as he had before." (emphasis added).

It then numbers what the Lord gives him after he's proven faithful:

14,000 sheep

6,000 camels

1,000 yoke of oxen

1,000 she asses

7 sons and 3 daughters (10 kids)

You don't have to be a genius at math to see that 10x2 does not equal 10. If the Lord said he was going to bless him with twice as much as he had before, and he only has 10 more kids . . . something appears to be wrong. The math checks out on all the other things.

The only logical explanation is this; Job's first 10 children + his second 10 children = 20, or double what he had before. Ergo . . . his first 10 kids are still his. Even after death. They are an eternal family. After this life, he has 20 kids. The Lord fulfilled his promise to Job and we can see that families are eternal.

Thank you Spencer Hadley for showing me this years ago.