Purity

Seek to become pure through the atonement.  Sexual impurity, whether self abuse or with a partner other than your spouse, is addictive and prevents the Spirit from directing your thinking in the ways of truth.  It is like disconnecting the rudder of your ship in the middle of the ocean.  You become lost and are at the mercy of conflicting currents and the winds of varying doctrines and appetites.

When you get in that situation, Satan will do whatever he can to destroy you, both spiritually and physically, unless he can use you to destroy others' spirituality first.  Fortunately, if you sincerely seek for repentance, the Savior can help you back and protect you.

Do not put off repentance however, for the Adversary will make it harder and more confusing the longer you wait.  Repent every day of impure thoughts, words, or actions, acknowledging your weakness to our Father in Heaven.  He knows already, but becoming humble and truthful before Him gives strength to conquer the enemy of your soul.  Humility allows him to teach and empower you.  His grace is sufficient, or in other words, more powerful than the sin or the devil's chains.  But remember that if you procrastinate the day of your repentance, it becomes increasingly difficult.  And who knows when the night of death will close the door back to Him?

Heavenly Father is more kind, helpful, truthful, and dependable than anyone on earth.  I want to come back to Him more than to any person on earth.  He knows me and loves me more.  How terrible it would be to not be able to come back to Him, especially with all He has done for me.  Let us all humbly, patiently, with perseverance seek to purify ourselves, through the atonement, that we may become like His Son, our Savior, that He might exalt us into His presence forever together!

Expect Miracles!

You should expect miracles, because He is expecting miracles from you!  Miracles pertaining to the changing of hearts.  These are the greatest miracles of all, those that bless lives and lift souls!  Of course don't expect Him to cover for your laziness, however He does make-up the difference, when asked, for your weaknesses, even spiritual frailties.

He cannot be deceived or used or manipulated.  Instead become His friend by listening to what He has and does say, whether through the scriptures, his prophets today, or by the spirit to you in prayer.  Trust Him and be trustworthy yourself.  Be humble and admit all weaknesses and errors to Him.  Then trust in His counsel through His servants.  He will help you in your weakness, if you seek to follow Him wholly.

The Gift of the Holy Ghost

Once when a reporter asked Joseph Smith what was the biggest difference between our church and the other churches, he said that it was the gift of the Holy Ghost.  We have it, and they don't.  I sometimes think that we don't realize how important this gift is, that we are supposed to receive when we are confirmed a member of the Church.  Of course we've all heard that it is up to us to receive it by how we live, but let's put this in another light.  If you were required to walk through a mine field and asked if you would like to use a mine detector, how would you respond?  If you had to drive in the mountains through the night and asked if you would like your headlights, how would you respond?  I'm sure you could go on with other examples.

I know how I felt when I was first in the legislature.  I felt like I was walking through a swamp full of bogs, crocodiles, and quicksand that were hidden.  If I said or did something a little wrong, not knowingly, I could be trapped, caught, sucked under, or eaten.  At that time I prayed harder than I had before, and I worked harder than I had before to study scriptures, pray, and do what I needed to, in order to be able to be guided through it.

That threat seemed imminent and real, as would my previous examples.  When nothing seems really "big" in our lives, or our lives seems dull, we may think it doesn't matter.  We may get lazy or just busy and not pay attention to having our radar working.  Those are dangerous times, just like when the soldiers got tired of nothing happening and got careless and then the enemy came.  Choices about how we spend our time, words we say, recreation, training, and professional direction have big consequences, and the wrong choices can seem to be the right ones frequently too.

We need to stay vigilant with the nourishing of our spirits, feeding them and exercising them.  I look back on seemingly little decisions, choices, paths that I took, that just seemed like one of many that would lead to the same place, and found out later that it had a big impact on the course and destination of my life.  Of course we should not become paralyzed with every decision and end up doing nothing, because we are afraid that the wrong decision will ruin our life.  IF we are trying to nourish our spirits, get closer to Father in Heaven - come to really know Him, if we are serving and repenting - instead of thinking we don't need to, the Holy Ghost will guide us away from holes, bogs, quicksand, mines, cliffs in life and onto paths that are firm, that lead upward.

The Savior actually has the power and the knowledge and the concern for you personally to make you like Him over time, if you only will follow Him, obey Him, and seek to be like Him.  That means remembering Him, regularly, daily, hourly as we learn to be like Him.  Of course that is what we truly want, because He is so much happier and able to do good than we are.  Of course that is what we should want!

We ought to think of that during the sacrament as well as about His suffering, because the prayer says that we should remember Him, so that we may have His spirit to be with us.  That sets us apart from the world.  That way we don't end up driving through the night (this world is covered with darkness now) without headlights or walking through a mine field without a detector.

Afflictions and Disease

Afflictions and disease are sometimes necessary tools or vehicles to bring our attitudes to the point at which we can learn.  Sometimes we have to suffer long enough, make us desperate enough, that we will accept and live the truth.  I have suffered much tooth decay, because I could not get myself to accept the need for flossing regularly.  I have suffered illness and discomfort of body until I learned to eat better or drink more, or many other things that I seem unable or unwilling to accept or adhere to until I had suffered a long time.  Many of these are reoccurring, because I forget.  Many of the things we don’t like here on earth are necessary for us to get our attitudes to the place they need to be.

Family's are Forever

The priesthood lesson #4 Strengthening and Preserving the Family had a quote on p. 77-78 that reads, “Is it possible to imagine a greater source of sorrow than to be left in the eternal world without claim on father or mother or children?”  I thought about how our kids and parents have missed us in China this year.  And then I thought, “What if I could never see my Heavenly Parents – ever again - just because I wasn’t faithful.”  What agony would that bring once our memories of our pre-mortal family life are restored?!

We need to nourish the relationship we once had, through conversations with Him and study to come to know God once again.  He sure has been kind to me here in China!

Another statement, p. 79, was, “Do you spend as much time making your family and home successful as you do in pursuing social and professional success?”  I thought about how wonderful my family is and also my past efforts that sometimes were not sufficient, yet I realized that we do not have to be perfect at it.  We do have to be consistent and continuing, ever pressing forward, despite our lapses and weaknesses.

We don’t need lots of money to strengthen our families.  We need effort and thought.

Marriage

It is in the interest of government to make sure the family stays together while the children are being raised, and indeed afterward as well.  That is why governments have been involved, so that once married, they would stay married instead of just dropping the kids and leaving.  Governments did not allow for no-fault divorces until just lately, because they didn’t want abandoned children.  In fact it was easier to divorce when only the Church was running things here in Utah, than after the government took over!

Once contraceptives and the urban lifestyle made children optional, the “New Morality” took over, promoting the possibility of other options.  As immorality increased between genders, it also began to increase within the genders.  This is then what is putting pressure on governments to relax the definition of marriage.  The people are becoming immoral in increasing numbers.

I believe that as homosexual relations are given the favors given to marriage, family tax breaks and other benefits will be reduced, and other legislation and business policies passed, that will make raising a family increasingly difficult, financially and otherwise.  That will make polygamy more attractive as the only possibility, because it will be easier financially and less men will be available to be a real father, leaving many women who want family unable to do so without polygamy.

Getting Back Home

I was thinking about the council Timpa received that helped her return following being kidnapped in my mother’s unpublished book By Their Wits, and also about the importance of doing Family History.  If we tie yesterday to today, we will be more able to tie the future to the present, which will make it more likely to keep us from getting lost, allowing us to make it back to the home we came from.