Lessons Learned...Applied

Ok, I may start EVERY blog with this phrase: Wow, it's been a long time!;o)

I have recently been very uplifted by so many talks and lessons, I wanted to share what I have learned.

Last week was Ward Conference and our Stake President talked about the importance of "ministering" to each other. A smile, a touch, a kind word are all ways we can minister to each other (without even breaking a sweat!;o). The other speaker (our bishop) spoke about the importance of preparing ourselves. Not in the traditional, temporal sense, but in the spiritual sense. He said it's important to prepare ourselves to pray, read scriptures, attend our church meetings, partake of the sacrament, and attend the temple. I was inspired by his words, so I have thought about it over the last couple weeks and I have attempted to be more prepared. Listening to or singing a hymn can prepare me to pray. Thinking about WHAT I should pray for or about will also prepare me to converse with my Father. Praying can prepare me to read and ponder the scriptures. Praying can prepare me to feel the Spirit in my church meetings. Etc. Etc.

So, this past week I had the experience of NOT feeling prepared to pray. My Man was out of town, so things were a little hectic, trying to get out of the house by 7:30. It was TIME to pray before leaving for school, but my children were arguing and fighting (over which were better, strawberries or bananas, of all things, and then over whether the light should be off or on while we pray), I definitely did not feel the Spirit of the Lord, and I did not feel prepared to pray, I yelled at them that we were not prepared to pray, so we were just going to get in the car. Once we were in the car, I had Buttercup get out the Afterglow cassette tape and put it on. As we listened to that beautiful music, and the messages in the lyrics, I finally felt ready to pray, so I turned it off and told my kids I thought we were ready (as we drove down the road). Buttercup prayed and I felt much better. I hope they did, too.
I have also been "experimenting" on the word, and I have been praying before reading in the Book of Mormon. I have been amazed at the insights and Spirit I have felt as I have read. In the past there have been many times (maybe even most of the time) that I have read the scriptures and have (I am embarrassed to admit) almost been bored by them. Not recently. I have prayed and then opened to any random spot, and I have been so uplifted and inspired by how applicable those ancient words are to me and to our modern times. We are so blessed to have them. I hope to show my appreciation to my Heavenly Father for them, by reading them (feasting upon them)more regularly.
Friday morning I had the opportunity to take my girls to the Draper Temple open house. It was a wonderful experience. I am not certain that Sunshine really understood. At first she thought she was going to get to go inside the Salt Lake Temple and when she found out it was a different temple, she said she didn't want to go. But, when we left the temple and were on the shuttle bus headed back to our car, I started to sing, "I Love to See the Temple," and she lit up and started to sing with me. Buttercup loved it and can't wait to turn 12 so she can get a recommend and go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. It was a nice day, and the Spirit we felt was wonderful.

Today's Testimony meeting was wonderful. The Spirit was definitely there. Sister Fayles talked about her resolve to stop murmuring about the early time of our meetings so she can be on time to them...thinking about the Saviour being there and her need to get there and spend every moment she can worshiping Him. Wow! What a wonderful way to look at things.

Gospel Doctrine was about personal revelation. I think that we sometimes look at revelation as a BIG thing, and don't consider the little things we are taught by the Spirit...the increased testimony that comes from an answered prayer, or a scripture that touches our hearts...as revelation. We are blessed to have a loving Heavenly Father who knows what we need and the best way to give it to us. We may want things spelled out to us, but he knows we will learn more if we study it out and make our own decisions and then ask him for confirmation that our choices will lead us to Him. He also understands (and I think this was reconfirmed to me, a little more obviously) that we will gain confidence in ourselves as we heed the little promptings that come, even if we aren't sure they are really from Him...when they work then we KNOW! When I do the things that come to my mind after I have prayed, and they work, then I know that I can receive personal revelation!

The lesson in Relief Society was about prayer, and just kind of linked all the rest together. It is so wonderful to see how perfectly the gospel links together to form a perfect chain. When we connect all the links in our lives, we are eternally bound to Him.

I want to join every link in the chain so I can be with Him forever!