Easter Sunday

Sunday school

Priesthood - what is it? The authority of God to act through men on earth.

If a man says things or does things in God's name without the authority, then it is done in vain, and thereby breaking a commandment.

21 ¶Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Yesterday, a man who was going to baptize had to bring his line of authority.

Delegation is allowed because of agency and priesthood.

It is like an apprenticeship for men who intend to become as God is.

God's house is a house of order, and so he leaves one person in charge. And the way he does this, is with the priesthood power. Only one has all of the keys.

No longer about staying perfect, as much it is to be like Christ, about practicing and being a little bit better not all or nothing. A comparison was given of playing piano. It is not if you make a mistake you lost it. Carnagie hall or quit.

20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

You can feel the difference of being in a home where there is a priesthood.

Story of saving a life with the power of God. After his blessing. He said, "Daddy it works."

An OR doctor said I cannot understand it, but I want to have a blessing given before I operate. Cause it looks like I did something.

RELIEF SOCIETY

Story of Handel determining never to compose again. But his first sight of "Comfort ye" it felt like a blur, the whole composed in 24 days.

"I am sorry if I only entertained. I aimed to make man better" but Handel was aquainted  with failure. He was about 52 when he gave up and decided to not even try anymore, then he ended up writing the "Messiah",

But, makes me wonder if it is true that he wasn't successful because Mozart associated with him, and Mozart was wildly popular.

Do not give up because you are not able to live comfortably in Heaven yet, wanting to makes such a big difference.

Help others, anyway we can.

It is good to organize little helps through a large group and we get to see what great accomplishments are possible.

Womens conference

First song was Each Life that Touches Ours for Good.

Choir represents 50 different nationalities.

No matter how terrible your path seems, you can be sure the Lord will be there to give aide, AS NEEDED.

It was awesome to see/hear a choir lovingly sing, with a beautifully played violin. I think it spoke much more than any words could. It reminded me of another situation. Love is the only eord that comes to mind.

Life is purposed for us to learn to focus on others. Or loose yourself in service to others. That is what love is. And it is our attributes as a child of God.

"Throw away the mirror and use the windows." With Mirrors we see and focus on ourself...example of trying to communicate to others with a mirror before our face, opposed to a window... example of how to love one another.

How can you be the Lord's hands? Teach that pattern to children when they are young.

Love necklaces example.

Remind others that the Lord loves them. It can change hearts.

As a mother you are serving God.

We will feel the Lord's love for a person if we serve them.

Women are needed to stand up and do what is in our nature to do in helping the salvation of men, empowered by temple covenants.

We need a place to belong, we can make room for others, this is love.

Giving birth is not the only way to love others.

Eve was a mother before she had children.

It takes an effort, but is the most important think we can learn and do in this life.

"Nuture you children that they may make the world a better place."

Stop and consider what great thing are you able to do?

Serve those who need relief as if they were our very own children.

Women are needed who know how to use faith to accomplish things.

Serve refugees if you can, as you should, only do not be unwise and run harder than is needful.

Entertain outsiders, because it maybe the savior, why not? Even if you know it isn't help.

What you have done is very good, now, go home and do what you can to help your neighbor.

What if their story was my story.

Administer acording to their wants.... interesting.

Regarding  memories or things that will ingluence your commitment. Of those, love and the Holy Ghost has touched you and it is a prayer that we hold dear and retain those feelings.

If you think of anyone, pray to know more.

Even the youngest girlwould gave felt the invitation to go and serve and love the Savior.

The Lord will provide. He promises to be with you and will provide helpers as you need them. Like he did in the conference.

If then

If I am going to play the blame game than I blame my testimony on Tal Bachman. Huh? You mean Joseph Smith, right? Easy to confuse the two. Hah! No, really I solidly believe the things the church teaches because my prayers were NOT answered.

As a teen, I typically fell in love with a pop star. Then, I was crushed when the one I was following went what I thought was astray. My husband who did not like my Tal Bachman obsession decided to free me to go persue him. Now, I was really heart broken, plus, Tal was happily married to the perfect woman anyway, with a large family, so rather than pray for my own family, who was in ruins, I decided to pray for his.

I found out that the couple was divorcing. I felt soooooo terrible, was this somehow my fault for secretly being in love with him. I really wasn't being secretive at all cause my exhusband told me I got what I wanted, it was open season now. Urrrgh! Not funny. I wanted this family to be together and I still do although there is no way to let them know how concerned I was. I did try. Ultimately, I decided to get remarried as soon as possible, so ideas of me stalking Tal would fade away and rebuilding a family of my own could consume me.

But, I still was constantly reminded of my role in trying to help him as he had help me, right? Honestly, to that point I was faking being moved to goodness by his insights. But, I struggled and left the church for a while and it taught me how badly I needed it, actually needed it. So, I determined to tell God all about my plans to pray with as much intensity as any living person could, not for myself, but for that perfect family who needed to be together, right?

The gospel was a simple if then to me. If I prayed sincerely I would be heard and answered.  The entire gospel is predicated on that principle, seek then find. I would ask, as he needed my help, so I did, but it was not enough, and a pal said that he was where he was because of temple blessings.

That's  it!!

I just lacked faith enough to work t g e kind of miracle needed, so I could get others to pray for him, and surely one would have the needed faith, like Alma when he prayed for his son!

I did not know what to expect, but figured that God always thanks people. So, I was giving my all to help save this patriarch so that his family might know what they deserved to know including a happiness in this life. Meanwhile, my life started to fall apart.

Every parent learns to recognize early warning signs, but my talent is to become oblivious to increasing amounts of catastrophe. I did realize that mothing was going to happen for all of my efforts, so I instead turned my focus inward and while I was studying I realized that my prayer was heard if it was not answered it was because no one was listening, but then came the best part! I had been thinking it and knowing by deduction and reasoning is rediculous, so instead I listed to how I felt, and I knew that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was truly revealed from God and that even though my attempts to if then things into knowledge, likely my life was not long enough.

Even if everything I knew failed, what I know by way of testimony will remsin constant and sure. Because I know this, I will continue to pray for him, but wether or not my miracle ever comes does not matter, it was in feeling like I was needed, sorta like a fireman or hero fit to rescue someone, I owe anything I can muster to a non-stop effort to help him gind the peace every man needs, unfortunately we do not realize we need it unless we loose it. Like we learned in English Lit. about a bird in a cage doesn't feel caged because they never knew freedom in the first place.

J'ai du travaille,o hay much trabajo. So much has been neglected so that I can jot this down.

Brain dump

Critters survived the winter without electric blankets.

Daddy long legs trust you. And a woman tried to see how many bugs you can get on you, her mother was,not impressed.

Ressurection Lilly, they pop up out of nothing seemingly around Easter.

God made us many different foods to choose our nutrition, he could have just made one thing, like mana that would provide us all we need.

All of the things that have been done for us even though we are nothing because he loves us.

**Humility is not focusing on the frailities and nothingness of man, but the great granduer of God...see hymn 86.

Share your toys, not your germs.

In college, a teacher thought I was making up a part about Jesus sweating drops of blood. Because, I could only find it in the book of Mormon. And my class mates could not believe that because his clothes would have been very soiled if he bled at every pore.

I remember what Elder Packer taught about how only a sacrifice could be made from one able to make one, hence Jesus Christ needed to be perfect to allow the rest of us needed him as a savior so that we could repent.

Moslems and the Koran can actually provide alot of good but they do not believe in a Savior.

If we are alive we can repay debts(pay it forward) but we can never repay our Savior.

Jesus is a literal son of God.

Can have the whole Gospel but to not know Christ, you will not grow. But, as you draw closer to the Lord, you will bloom! It is not going to be right or wrong, but going to be a matter of being Christlike.

Prayed to know what lesson, and God has a lesson that he wants to be read.

The Lord has a plan that might not be what you want, but it will surely work better. That always happens when we struggle with a thinh, like Joseph Smith.

Imagine a 14 yr old boy you know and if he yold you that God appeared to you.

How do you know the church is true?
You have to know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet.

A prayer was answered through a dream or vision. Where she knew what part of what Joseph faced, in her dream she called out and realized how she needed God. Where much is given much is required. If that is true, then he needed it, and when she testified, and many of us present knew it was true.

Joseph Smith told of things he knew not believed or hoped.

Joseph Smith is so much like the Savior in that they came from a very humble begining.

When missionaries tell that Joseph saw God, there is an incredible feeling, and others present agree they have felt similarly.

Main function of prophet is not to forsee, but to expound.

"Men need to be transfigured to see things and some claim to see things that others do not. So see glimpses, opposed to one who us ordained to be a seer. As an ordained minister we can see like others, but few are called and expected to report.A revelation makes known something unknown or which has been previously known by man and taken from his memory."

Joseph was a revealing conduit. He has not only endured things. But, he did it well.

Class notes

Book of Mormon even though it is a compilation, only things included were for us. Evidence it was written for us.

Alma 7 has a checklist to see how you are doing, keep in mind that none of us will deserve eternal life, being better than others does not work at all (like grading on a curve.)

Salt Palace a talk on pornography saturday.

When we place God first, then everything else will fall into place.

It is not as important to know what we do, but know why we do what we do.

We seek like minded friends, ones with similar goals. That is like righteous  literature or uplifting music.

Some suppose humility is thinking less of ourselves. It is really thinking more about others. Some think it is about hurting yourself. Note:remember Paul Bettany in some movie.

Annointing and sealing the sick. It is easier to seal because you do not have to know what to say.

A man believes that he will survive otherwise deadly illness because he has children that need his help.

God will always help us to do what we need to,and love ourselves. Bottom line, God Loves all of us.

Salvation is available to all. There is supposed to have been black preisthood members in the earlier church.

Joseph Smith, for a fact denied no man the priesthood.

There were laws forbidding interracial marriage.

1850 Utah formed.

Blacks were denied preisthood as a protection. Color of skin not cause of denying it, but only those with African lineage.

A bishop who had a wife who was aftrican descent, so his son was denied priesthood.

Problems in Brazil. In 1978, Spencer W. Kimball. Official declaration 2.

A guy no longer had faith but knew the church was true. So regardless of percieved racial persecution.

Book by Brent Topp "What's on the Other Side"

Portions of truths were accepted and given to others like Mohammed, etc. Necessary to allow all to have the opportunity to know the gospel.

He mentioned something that felt so universally regarded, and it makes me think that might be what was so desirable about Tal Bachman's "If You Sleep"

Bodies are also made of matter, it is finer

Body sort of hold us back in terms of mortal things.

Near death experience shared by those who had been blind and never had seen a thing.

I miss being with someone  who loves me more than they loved themselves.
Ignore

Those who claimed communication after shedding the body talk about music and it's significance.

It is harder to change without a body for some reason.

D&C 88

Death is like going Home.

Family History work on Steroids.

Spirits are like adults in appearance.

If we really love God then we will serve others.

Brain dump

Even the things we regard at the time as annoying will eventually seem to pass.

As a little child my fondest memory is the times I ran around as a little child, may not seem fond at the time, especially if it involved being forced to sit for hours or being spanked, but they will be the most dear.

God loves everyone so much, it is hard to feel that way about a guy with tatooes on his face, but he is loved as much as the queen of England.

There are Angels literally among you.

Spirit of Elijah is the same Holy Ghost.

Think about what you would do to make sure your children were not lost.  You can help others. Reunite their families.

Heavenly father has a plan for others as much as he does for us. And sometimes we are forced into a difficult situation for us, but if we chose the right we will bless everyone the way he wants.

Out hunting geese... we were not allowed to shoot Canadians.

No matter what you struggle with the Lord is just waiting to bless you, example of paying tithing when you have many bills. Then, somehow things will work out to allow you to do the one commandment that Is hard for you.

Although testimony is very simple, it runs very deep.

The Book of Mormon broadens our understanding of the Doctrine of the gospel.

In the book of Mormon shows us the pattern to prepare for the second comming of Christ.

Lds.org scriptures, study helps, one is guide to scripturbes, nice condensed version of what you need to k now and then another is Adjustments.

Scriptures.byu.edu tells all things that have been said about a given scripture.

"RUN TO THE SCRIPTURES" when we need help.

Study your scriptures until you feel like Nephi when he claimed that he hungered to read...

Be an example and a light, it is a commandment.

Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Your language is a mark of your intelligence

Ephesians 4:1
Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearer)

God sees us daily but we only see his help through others.

I asked my kids what faith even was, everybody talks about it. It is a hope.
But more than hope. Donuts cannot be recreated just by hope, cause I really REALLY hope for doughnuts.

Purity is important, too.

We get our light from Christ, and it is important to share it with others. At times the one we share with will share with us, when we need it. Like Liz Brewer who when a boy asked her out, she said no. I asked why not. He was such a good catch for her. She told me matter-of-factly that he could not take her to the temple!  Admittedly, she had been baptized,  but I figured it was just peer pressure. I did not think much of it. Apparently she had, and was an example to me how being an example to others can come full circle.