Awake, My Soul!

While watching Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk, Place No More For The Enemy of My Soul, several thoughts came to mind and I desired to share them.

- The first thing that struck me was how much Elder Holland loves his Savior and the people of this church. This message in particular, shows his passion and love. He is pleading with us to make good choices. He refers to unwanted thoughts as "rascals," which I loved.

- I was struck by how much power righteous children of Heavenly Father have, especially when living worthy of having the Holy Ghost. On a daily basis, I do not think of myself as powerful. I go through my life, day by day, and accomplish the tasks set before me, but rarely do I think of myself as a powerful woman. Imagine superman walking through the world as Clark Kent, having a desire to save others but not knowing his real potential. I was reminded that as children of a loving Heavenly Father, we have endowed powers. If worthy, we can have the Holy Ghost with us always and spread light and life where we trod. When we feel insignificant, it is Satan using the tools at his disposal to chip away at the greatness of our inheritance. We are more than we think we are. If I can remember that, every decision of my day will be better.

- The final thing that hit me is that I need to make sure that each place I am needs to be a place He could be. If the Spirit cannot dwell in my home or be with me throughout my day, I should change how I live. As I listened to Elder Holland, I found myself evaluating the media of my day. Do the shows I watch or music I listen to invite the Spirit?

How grateful I am for a loving Heavenly Father who loves me and wants me to return home to Him. I love the leaders of the Church and appreciate the sacrifice they make to spread the Gospel. I pray to live the life my Father would have me live.

“Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.” (2 Ne. 4:28)

Response to Adversity, cont.

Still thinking how we are supposed to respond to trials and tribulations. I was re-reading the talk that inspired this blog and felt impressed to share the last little bit of it (for the full talk, click here).

"What does the Lord expect of us with respect to our challenges? He expects us to do all we can do. He does the rest. Nephi said, "For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

Stephanie Nielson's Adversity Response

As a follow up to the adversity post, I was thinking again about Stephanie Nielson. I think of her often when I think of adversity. She is the sister who was in a plane crash with her husband and a flight instructor when the plane crashed. The instructor was killed and she and her husband were burned severely. Stephanie was burned on 80% of her body and has had all sorts of surgeries since then. I am amazed as I read her blog and hear how she handles her trials and struggles...her but if not moments. (Click here to watch the video she taped with the Church to share her story.)

Angels Round About You To Bear You Up

 "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."