Challenge #25—Oh How Lovely Was the Morning

One of the things that sets the LDS Church apart from everyone else, is the fact that we believe that God can still speak to men TODAY!  Most Churches believe that God once spoke to men, but is now silent.  That is something that has always confused me…why would God love those people more than us now?  And the most prominent visit He has made in the latter days, was on a spring morning in 1820 to a 14 year old boy named Joseph Smith.

How did you gain your testimony of Joseph Smith?

This is such an important thing to document!  For a lot of people, it was the key turning point to gaining their testimonies. 

Record your testimony of the First Vision by writing it down, typing it, scrapbooking it, or even doing a video or audio recording of you relating the experience(s).

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What Natalie wrote:

During the summer between my 8th and 9th grade years, I was working on my Young Women Personal Progress.  One of the goals was to read the Book of Mormon.  I had never read the Book of Mormon cover to cover before.  As I began reading the Book of Mormon, I read the Introduction, "We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord’s kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah."

I remember reading all day and into the night.  I couldn't put it down!  As I read the Book of Mormon, I came to love the stories of King Lamoni, Ammon, Nephi, and Enos.  As I was finishing my goal, I read Moroni's promise, found in Moroni 10:

Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.  And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

As I prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true, I also prayed to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God.  I received a testimony that day that it was true.

I remember as a missionary, sharing the Joseph Smith experience with each of the people I had the opportunity to teach.  Each time as I recounted the First Vision, the spirit bore witness to my heart again and again. 

"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun which descended gradually until it fell upon me.

When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son.  Hear Him!"

Last summer I had the opportunity to visit the Sacred Grove.  I happened to be there the day the Mormon Tabernacle Choir visited.  I will never forget the spirit I felt as they sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer." 

It has been some 18 years since I first gained my testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  This testimony still burns within me. 

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What I did:

I made a page in my testimony book (a scrapbook where I’ve been documenting how I gained certain parts of my testimony).  Here’s a look for how I gained my testimony of Joseph Smith. (I hope you can read it—click on it to make it bigger if you can’t.)

That was the left page, and this is the right page.  I spent a day on Temple Square one day taking pictures of things that I could write my testimony about, and got a picture of this statue of Joseph Smith.

A few years ago, when I was a Relief Society teacher, I was looking online for some inspiration on a lesson I was teaching about Joseph Smith.  I came across this video which is absolutely stunning.  (Sorry, it won’t let me embed it.) You NEED to watch it just before you record your testimony.  I feel the Spirit so strongly burn in my heart each time I see it, that this is true!  I am truly grateful for Joseph Smith and I know that he is a prophet of God!

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Now I challenge you to record your testimony of Joseph Smith, and how you gained that testimony!

Challenge #24—Clean Again

Since we are all human, we all make mistakes.  Sometimes they are small mistakes, easy to fix.  Other times, they are bigger mistakes and much harder to fix.  Whatever the case may be, we can learn from what we did and become better.  This week’s challenge is:

How did you come to really learn about the repentance process?

You can recount just one time (something big or small) or record a few times.  Focus on what you learned, and how the repentance affected your future actions. 

Since this is a pretty delicate topic, you don’t need to spill your transgressions—just give enough details to help your readers.  Or if you prefer, write the details down in a super private place that no one will find until after you’re gone.

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What Natalie did:

There was a time in my life that was really hard for me.  It took me a long time to admit that I had done something wrong.  The guilt ate at me again and again, before I was ready to do something about it.  I remember the day when I finally got the courage to take care of the situation.  Repenting was not easy.  As soon as it was taken care of, peace overcame me.  A huge burden was lifted off my shoulders.

When we repent of our sins, we are forgiven and the Lord remembers them no more.   "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  (Isaiah 1:18).
The atonement of Jesus Christ affords us the opportunity to repent and to be forgiven.  As we apply the atonement in our lives, we become more like the Savior.  The atonement is a gift to each one of our Heavenly Father's children. 

Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, "Repentance is a divine gift, and there should be a smile on our faces when we speak of it. It points us to freedom, confidence, and peace. Rather than interrupting the celebration, the gift of repentance is the cause for true celebration."

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What I did:

(I just wrote my story down in a Word document and will print it off as well as make a digital copy of it.)

It’s amazing how something that seems so small can feel so big.  I felt like the “Princess and the Pea”—a little pea so covered up by piles of mattresses that I thought I would not feel it anymore.  But the truth was, that I could still feel it.

It was a harmless lie I told a group of friends.  Or so I thought it was harmless.  I was having a bad day, and it made me feel “cooler” and better about myself.  I felt a twinge of guilt at the time, thinking that it was no big deal—it didn’t harm anyone, so really, it wasn’t a problem.  I never really saw those friends anymore, and we were all scattered about, didn’t have contact information, etc. so it didn’t matter.  I buried the pea under mattress upon mattress of excuses, to try and hide that twinge of guilt…for over 10 years. But somehow, no matter how many mattresses I used, that little tiny pea could still be felt, and I swear it even got bigger.

Finally I connected with my friends through Facebook (so no more excuses in that area), but I was still too prideful to apologize to my friends and properly repent.  I still threw another mattress upon the pile—it didn’t really matter, they didn’t know I had lied, it didn’t affect anything, there was no reason to even bring it up. 

One day as I was studying my scriptures, the Spirit hit me so hard that I needed to repent of ALL my sins.  Big and small.  It was always easier for me to repent of the bigger sins, because it was pretty obvious that I needed to repent.  But this little “pea” (and others) also needed to be extracted. 

I finally mustered up the courage to write a message to my three friends.  I only heard back from one of them, but it didn’t matter that the other two didn’t respond.  I had done my part and felt that the chains of bondage, the “pea”, was gone!  Finally I could feel free of the little (nagging) twinge of guilt, that had really been a large ever-present burden.  In my pride, I had told myself that it was smaller than it really was.  But the chains indicated otherwise.

I learned from that experience that it doesn’t matter how big or small our sins are.  Sins are sins, and they keep us from fully experiencing the happiness we would otherwise feel.  Of course, being human I sin pretty much everyday, but since that experience, I’ve come to realize that I need pull my “peas” out on a daily basis to truly feel the happiness that my Heavenly Father wants me to feel.  And to have the blessings of the Holy Ghost as my constant companion.

I have also come to more fully appreciate the atonement of Christ.  He suffered for ALL sins—the big ones and the small ones.  I now think more about how my sins affected Him.  It helps me feel even more grateful that Heavenly Father allowed His only perfect son suffer so much in my behalf.

I love this quote by Elder Neil Anderson:  “We must become converted to daily repentance. President Benson taught that many of our troubles sprout from pride, which he defined as a selfish pitting of our will against God’s (see Ensign, May 1989, 4–7). We repent as we follow the Savior’s example in doing ‘not as I will, but as thou wilt’ (Matt. 26:39). As we gain sufficient faith and trust to meekly surrender ourselves to the Lord’s way, we are repenting.” (There are also a ton more awesome repentance quotes found here.)

I am indeed grateful for the gift of repentance, and I know that it is a gift we should not waste.

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Now I challenge you to record how you learned about the repentance process!

Challenge #8—Search, Ponder and Pray

This week’s challenge is kind of a continuation of last week’s, but only a little more broad.  

The Challenge:  How do you study your scriptures?  

You can write down how you do it, do a video walk-through tour of your marking system, take pictures, make a scrapbook layout of it, or even set goals to do a better job of daily scripture study!

It seems like this last General Conference had a lot of messages about the scriptures.  I loved this talk by Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles found here.

One of my favorite quotes from this talk was:

“Pondering a scripture…gives great direction to life. The scriptures can form a foundation of support. They can provide an incredibly large resource of willing friends who can help us. A memorized scripture becomes an enduring friend that is not weakened with the passage of time.
Pondering a passage of scripture can be a key to unlock revelation and the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Scriptures can calm an agitated soul, giving peace, hope, and a restoration of confidence in one’s ability to overcome the challenges of life. They have potent power to heal emotional challenges when there is faith in the Savior. They can accelerate physical healing.”
 
I love to study my scriptures!  I had the opportunity to serve as a full time missionary, and one thing that I learned was that scripture study is important, and the more you do it, the more you hunger and thirst to study more!  As missionaries, we had personal study for one hour each day!  We studied the Book of Mormon for 1/2 an hour, and then studied any other scriptures (Bible, Pearl of Great Price or Doctrine and Covenants) or specific books (Jesus the Christ, The Articles of Faith, etc.) for 1/2 an hour.  It came to me, almost as shock, that every morning I looked forward to studying.  I hungered and thirsted for the knowledge I could find in the holy words.  

Right now in my life, as a mom, I don’t really have time to study for one whole uninterrupted hour, and some days I’m lucky if I get in 3 verses.  But I do make a point to read my scriptures everyday.  It does take sacrifice—or so it seems some days.  But the truth of it is that on the days when I study my scriptures and put God first in my life, those days just seem to fall into place.  Whenever I’m having a bad day, I think back to my morning and most of the time I realize that I didn’t study my scriptures that morning.  It truly is the “rock” to my day!

There are a few things that I do to help me study.  First of all, I start with a prayer.  This opens the doors to receive personal revelation!  Next, I have a very detailed marking system in my scriptures.  (I took a whole Institute class on this!)  This system has really helped me visualize the scriptures and it helps me find certain topics with ease.  Also, it really helps me study and feast on the scriptures rather than just read them.  When people look at my scriptures they wonder why it’s so colorful.  This is what they look like:

Also, I love to keep a scripture journal.  A special place where I can record the things I learn.  I don’t write in it every session, just when something really powerful hits me.  Another thing that helps me, is to study with the LDS Institute manuals that go with the what I'm studying.  There are so many insights in them that help me understand so much more!

There is an awesome article in this months’ Ensign about studying your scriptures, and here is a link to many more talks and lessons from the Church website.  If you would like to share how you study your scriptures, leave a comment or a link to your post!

I am so grateful for the scriptures!  I know they are the word of God, and that by reading, studying, and pondering upon the teachings found therein, we can come closer to Christ!

Now, I challenge you to record about how you study your scriptures!

If you want to read on, I'll explain how I mark my scriptures!

I use colors in the regular verses by subjects. Some colors I chose because I associate that color with that topic, others were just random. 

Red = Repentance and Atonement

Orange = Wickedness, wicked acts, pride 

Yellow = Christ speaking, Sabbath Day, and in a small rectangle, I use it to mark parables in the Bible (bottom right picture)

Light Green = Righteousness, righteous acts

Dark Green = Mercy, grace

Light Blue = Faith, baptism

Dark Blue = Missionary work, obedience

Purple = Godhead (anything that states the natures of any member of the Godhead)

Hot Pink = Testimonies of the writers

Dark Pink = Lover, service, charity

Brown = Prayer, fasting, church attendance

In the footnotes I highlight in the color, then circle or color the letter up in the verse.  This way, as I'm reading, I know there is an important footnote to read.  (These are mostly in the Bible) I use the colors as such:

Greek  New Testament translation (GR) = Green 

Joseph Smith Translation (JST) = Red

Hebrew Old Testament translation (Heb) = Blue

i.e. = Pink

OR = Orange

Random extra helpful notes (see...) = Light green

I make lists with small red triangles.  For example, in D&C 11:17-18, I have a small triangle in front of [keep my commandments], [hold your peace], [appeal unto my Spirit], [cleave unto me].  This comes in handy whenever you want to focus on parts that make up a whole.  

I write any notes or related scriptures in the margins in black.  (Sometimes I draw small pictures as well!) I often write at the top about something major that is going on, to find stories easily.  ("Nephi builds a ship", "King Benjamin teaches his people", "Christ visits the people on the American continent", etc.) 

I also write basic questions that the scripture answer.  I write these questions in pink.  For example, in 3 Nephi 9 (pg. 425), I wrote: "Why did Christ come to Earth? vs. 17-22".  This has helped me easily find answers and give answers to others should they have those questions.

My favorite marking tools are the Gelly Roll pens by Sakura for colors.  Down side is, it's permanent and if you mess up, it's always there. Up side is they are skinny, acid-free and come in many colors. Colored pencils also work, and they can be erased if you buy the right kind.  Down side is you have to sharpen a lot to keep the point little enough.  I do use both, especially when I have more than one topic per color, then I'll use pencil for one, pen for the other.  For the black writing pen, I use Sakura Pigma Micron or the Zig Millennium in a .01.  Both are very fine and acid-free.  

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask! I hope that helps!