Fools Mock

The Book of Mormon is very clear about Heavenly Father's opinion of those who mock others: "Fools mock, but they shall mourn."

We do a lot of teasing around my house, but 99% of the time it makes me feel closer to others rather than hurting and dividing us. So I started wondering tonight, what is the difference between mocking and teasing?

Here's what my husband and I came up with...

1 - Teasing chooses the subject carefully. You never tease about sensitive issues (i.e. people's looks, their family, their sincere beliefs). You only tease about inconsequential things. Mocking usually cuts straight to the heart of a person.

2 - It can only be considered teasing when you have good feelings for the person, and those feelings are show in your smile and demeanor. Bad feelings are shine through like ketchup on a white dress... there's no hiding them! So never try to tease someone you're not thrilled with, the truth will be evident to everyone.

3 - There must be some show of humility for it to be considered teasing. If you can make fun of yourself in the same breath it is much harder for someone to take offense. If you laugh often at your own foibles, people will not see your teasing as an attack.

4 - Some people simply cannot stand teasing. If someone responds poorly to an attempt to tease it MUST be followed with a show of humility and a sincere expression of friendship. Then you just have to remember that person is off limits for teasing.

To wrap this up, teasing can be a great tool for making friends and creating closeness. But far to many people mock and ridicule others and call it "teasing". They are motivated by pulling someone else down in order to elevate themselves. They may laugh and say just kidding, but their true intent shines through in their comments.

I hope I never mock anyone for any reason. My stomach literally sinks at the thought of making another child of God miserable. It's so easy to do. Sometimes words seem so harmless. But I want to commit right now to never speak ill of others again, no matter how I feel about them. If I have a problem with someone, I will discuss it with the Lord and pray to be filled with charity. After all, the most unlovable people need love most.

Courage

Our Stake President said something at girls camp this week that struck me. He said, "Courage is not something we are born with, it's not something anyone else can give us. It is something we decide to have."

There are many Christlike virtues that Heavenly Father will help us with. We are told to pray for faith, pray to be filled with charity, and pray to be made clean. These kinds of things we cannot attain on our own, we are too imperfect, too fallen to get where we need to be. We need divine intervention.

I always thought of most virtues that way: you do the best you can and Jesus Christ makes up the difference, carrying you the rest of the way. But during this talk I realized that courage is different. Courage is the true test of this life. We may be right on track with the intentions of our hearts, but without courage to act on our beliefs, it means nothing. President Evans said we have to choose to act in the face of fear again and again and again to become courageous people.

Courage is the true test of this life. It is one of the only things left solely up to us and our agency. We cannot be given courage, it is something we must practice, the muscles of our character. We only need to respond to one question, will my beliefs translate into change?

Free to Choose

In 2 Nephi chapter 2 it talks about our freedom to choose, our agency. This one principle caused the division of God's children in the premortal world. It made children turn away from their eternal father, and forced him to cast them out. Why is agency so important?

Here's my take on it: Agency is the ONLY way we can grow. It is the vehicle of progression. For example, pretend you are driving down a street and you see President Monson on the street corner. He hands you a strength of youth pamphlet and says, "don't turn left up ahead." He doesn't give you all the reasons why but as you approach that turn what do you do? You have your car, you have your agency. You can do whatever you choose.

That street has it's own set of temptations and consequences, a whole life lesson only learned through experience. My theory is that the spirits who need the lesson will turn left, and the ones who don't need it, will listen to the Prophet and continue down the road. Can the wanderer find their way back? Of course. But what kind of scars and consequences will they carry? Those who wander have many hard lessons to learn. Those who don't, have a much nicer ride.

So What will you choose?

Give Place for Faith

Today in Sunday School we read parts of Alma 32. It's the faith chapter: what faith is, how you can get it and strengthen it. The part that struck me today are two words... Give Place.

Alma tells us in verse 27, "even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you even until you believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."

I wondered to myself, what does it mean to "give place" for a portion of the word of God? Make room? Throw some other stuff away? Obviously we need to fit it in somewhere if we ever want to discover anything spiritually. What can you get rid of in your life to give place for the word of God?

Recognizing the Spirit

The Book of Mormon and modern day prophets promise us that the Holy Ghost will tell us "the truth of all things" or "things as they really are." I belive that most people live far beneath their privileges when it comes to this promise. In other words, we could be enjoying the fruits of the Spirit much more than we do now.

I think Satan has been extremely successful in his lie that we are alone. When tough questions come or difficult situations most people turn inward, falsly believing that they must face it or resolve it alone.

The truth is, we have more power on our side than we dare to imagine.

Not only do we have our loved ones and local church leaders on our side, as children of an Almighty God we have access to his eternal wisdom and love.

I have been struggling with a question in my heart for the past few weeks and yesterday I attended the temple. I opened my heart to Spirit and was filled with that familiar, overwhelming love. I have felt that love fill me countless times before, but it never fails to take my breath away. With the love came several insights and promises about the question in my heart.

I was not struck by lightning. I was not tapped on the shoulder. It was the still small voice. It sounded like my voice in my head, but it was the feeling that came along with the voice that makes me know it was from my Heavenly Father. The feeling is beautifully described in Helaman 5:30:

"And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of great tumultuous noise, but behold it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul."

The Book of Mormon and all it's teachings are true.

Always Rejoice

The Book of Mormon is full of recipes.

The recipe for repentance, the recipe for revelation,
the recipe for conversion to Jesus Christ.

Each recipe is vital to our success in becoming who we are meant to become.

Today however, I want to focus on a certain recipe found in Mosiah 4 that teaches us how we can "ALWAYS REJOICE". That sounds pretty great, but seems impossible. In my experience, if we fail to achieve a promise given in the Book of Mormon it is because we have stopped following the recipe.

This particular recipe requires some prep work (found in Mosiah 4:9-10).

It is simple to say, difficult to do:

1) Believe in God, that he exists and created all things, has all wisdom and all power.

2) Recognize that we can't understand everything that He understands.

3) Repent and forsake, or leave behind, your sins. Humbly ask God to forgive you.

Quite the prep work, wouldn't you agree? I think at some point in our lives most of us have done a version of this prep work. We were blessed with a realization of our own nothingness before God and plead for forgiveness of our sins and weaknesses. If our pleading was sincere, we felt the love of God and His spirit of peace fill our souls. If it has been a while, the prep work probably needs to be repeated.

Once the prep work is done the recipe to always rejoice is pretty simple. It is found in the middle of verse 11:

"(1)Remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and (2)humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, (3) calling on the name of the Lord daily, and (4) standing steadfastly in the faith."

Then comes the promise in verse 12: "If ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins."

I defy anyone to sincerely act upon this recipe and not see the promise fulfilled.

The Book of Mormon is true.

Charity Never Faileth

So I've been thinking a lot after my lesson on sunday about "no contention" and our personal "prosper in the land". I want to talk a little more about what Heavenly Father expects of us as far as our feelings toward other people go.

When I say "no contention", that doesn't mean we just go with the flow. Sometimes we have to stand up for what we know to be right. Think of Captain Moroni (the heart throb of the Book of Mormon, Alma 48). He said that there are certain things worth defending: Family, Fellow Men, Personal Rights, Country, and Religion. He was willing to "fight" for what was right.

Wait a minute... I thought we weren't supposed to fight!? There is a difference between fighting for righteousness and the spirit of contention. The spirit of contention is of the devil. Hate is of the devil. So how do you fight for good without hating the sinner?

Look up Alma 48:20-24. Key phrases to look for - "they were compelled RELUCTANTLY to contend with their brethren" and "they were sorry to take up arms againd the Lamanites, because they did not delight in the shedding of blood." Moroni would have preferred to baptize every Lamanite and call him his brother than to go to war against them. But the Lamanites had their agency. They could not be forced to choose the right. And when their choices started affecting Moroni's people, Moroni had no choice but to stand up for what he believed. He never hated the Lamanites.

Man that would be hard! To stand up to someone who has negatively affected you without feeling bitter towards them! So what's the secret ingredient to make it possible? Charity. The pure love of Christ. Loving even the people we must take a stand against. Therin lies the only true peace we will find in this world. (See Moroni 7:45-48)

4th Nephi

Wow, so I've been reading 4th Nephi and the thing that really caught my attention this time was the turning point in the story. Here's this society that has been visited by Jesus Christ himself. He came and taught them the gospel and established His church, complete with 12 apostles and ongoing revelation. They were living in this nearly perfect society where there was no contention (What? They had marriages and families and organized religion with no contention???), the blind and lame were healed, and the 3 Diciples who were actually ordained by Jesus Christ himself ministered among them. For the first time in the Book of Mormon, the gospel is actually lived by everyone and the people are happy. Sounds like a fairy tale right? It would be, if it weren't for one big problem...

Mormon first describes their downfall saying they became excedingly rich. But they had been rich for years due to their integrity and industry. So how did their riches become toxic? It seems to me that the changing ingredient is selfishness. Mormon writes that their riches lead them to wearing expensive clothes to elevate themselves above others and "building up churches unto themselves".

You know what that sounds like to me? It sounds like they said, "I don't like this particular aspect of the church, I think I'll make my own church where that is not included." Hmmmm. Does that sound familiar to anyone? I'll be a Mormon, except for this one principle. I'm a Mormon, but some old guy in Salt Lake is not going to tell me how to dress or when to date... I'm a Mormon, but I'm not going to be a home teacher, Im far too busy... I'm a Mormon, but who needs to listen to conference anyway? They always talk about the same things...

I always thought riches were the downfall of the Book of Mormon's golden years. But I believe that it was because Satan succeeded in getting the people to focus inward instead of outward. Their priority became themselves instead of God and their neighbors. Don't get me wrong, we are supposed to love ourselves. But the great commandment says, Love GOD, then love your NEIGHBOR, then YOURSELF. That order of priority is the only way to truly live the gospel.

Nooooo!

I don't want to go to the 5th ward!! Whyyy?
The Young Women's president started to call us already!
It won't be the same!
And I still have Brittany's sleeping bag! She moved!
So many problems! And I need people to help me solve them! Guess I can't go to the other ward now :D

Finding Joy in the Journey

For everyone who doesn't know, my family and I are moving to Arizona on August 1st. I was very excited and very upset when I heard the news. As I was sitting in bed last night, I burst out crying. I was really upset to be moving away from the great ward, and my amazing friends and leaders, so I knelt down and said a prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to please help me to find Joy in the Journey, which is what we talked about all of Youth Confernce. After my prayer, I was able to calm down, and fall asleep. Now, I think I'm ok about moving. I'm still pretty sad, but now I know that I'll be alright.

I'm very greatful for the gift of prayer. I am thankful for my great ward. Thank you for all that you do for me! I love you guys!

Brittany Roberts :]

Love is all you need :)

1 Nephi 21:16 - Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

I read that a few nights ago on a particular night that I felt slightly forgotten by the Lord. But I know that when we feel that way, it is always we who forget our Savior, not the other way around.

Anyone who reads this, I challenge you to pray tonight to feel God's love. It doesn't matter if you're in good times or bad, you need to remember how precious you are. It will make all the difference in the world. He will do anything within the bounds of His great plan to make you feel His love.

I love you all, thanks for being in my life!

2 Nephi 13:13

"The Lord standeth up to plead, and standeth to judge the people."

I liked this scripture because it tells us that the Lord will give us due justice according to our sins, and at the same time he will pour his unfathomable love upon us to plead for us, as our mediators. That gives me and anyone else hope in hard times; as long as we are trying our best to follow Christ and are repenting when we do something wrong, we can look forward to living in exaltation.

A friend told me the other day that life was pointless. It made me really sad that she would say that when we have so much ahead of us. So much happiness. As long as we keep our faith in Christ and his gospel strong, we can live happily in this life and the next. ^_^
--Jette

1 Nephi 17:3

Tonight my mom and I were reading the Book of Mormon and this scripture really reminded me of what we learned in church today. I thought I'd share.

"And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness."

This one also reminded me of the lesson. 1 Nephi 17:13

"And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led."

That was a great lesson that I will remember forever

Nephi's Example

As I have been reading the past week I kept thinking about the example Nephi has set of showing faith. When Lehi recounts his vision of the tree of life Nephi was "desirous also that I might see." He knew that the Lord could show him all the things his father saw through the power of the Holy Ghost. As Nephi pondered the words his father spoke he was taken to a high mountian and asked by a spirit what was his desire? He told the spirit he wanted to see the things that his father Lehi had seen and that he believed the words spoken by his father. The spirit told him to look and Nephi was able to see all that his father saw.

I am so impressed by Nephi! When he wanted to learn more and was seeking to understand the words of his father he did what Heavenly Father has asked us to do study, ponder,and ask. Nephi showed his faith by doing. Because Nephi follow the counsel of Heavenly Father he was able to recieve the answers to his questions.

After Nephi is shown the vision he returns to his tent and finds his brothers fighting. He asks his brothers why they are arguing? They tell him that they are fighting because they do not understand the words that there father had spoken. Nephi asks them if they had prayed or asked the Lord? They replied,"We have not; for the Lord maketh no such things known unto us."

Nephi took the time to ask and know for himself that the words spoken by Lehi were true and was able to see for himself the vision. His brothers never took the time to ask and they did not understand the words spoken by Lehi.

As I read this I was reminded how important it is to study the scriptures and current conference talks. To follow the example shown by Nephi to study and ponder the word of God and then pray and ask for the Holy Ghost to confirm to me that what I am reading is true. Then I can know for myself that what is said is the will of Heavenly Father.

Great and Spacious Building

Hi y'all! So I read the story of Lehi's vision of the tree of life a few days ago and I've been thinking about it ever since. Mostly about the great and spacious building with the beautiful and happy people in it. I have been thinking back to all the times in my life when people have laughed at my religion or mocked my standards.

Like this one time some friends were having a discussion on facebook about gay marriage. A few non-member friends chimed in with some cutting criticism of the church and how "intolerant" we are. After that comment nobody posted anything on the subject for a couple days . Finally, I felt like I had to say something in defense of our prophet and God's teachings, no matter how much I'd probably be ridiculed. So I wrote a few paragraphs explaining why I believe in what the church teaches and my understanding of freedom. My non-member friends never responded.

Lesson learned: don't be bullied or intimidated into hiding or being ashamed of your beliefs. The happiness in the great and spacious building is hollow and short-lived. The joy found at the tree is so exquisite, not even Lehi could really describe it. Which happiness are you seeking?

1 Nephi 3:7

When I was reading last night, this scripture really stood out to me. It talks about how sometimes, Heavenly Father will ask us to do something that may seem impossible, but when he tells you to do it, it means he's already got the whole task mapped out for you. My dad said once that the Lord wouldn't ask you to do something that he wouldn't do.

1 Nephi 3:7 reads:

"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commanded them."

-Brittany R :]

Our Goal

Just a reminder, we are challenging all our young women to read two pages of the Book of Mormon every single day (your leaders will be doing it with you). The more consistent you are the more the Lord will speak to you through those pages. It starts tonight! Sunday, April, 26th in first Nephi. Please post your thoughts and feelings about what you read, or if something just hits you that you really like.

Thanks for taking on this challenge. I speak for all your leaders when I say our responsibility to help you gain testimonies weighs heavy on our minds. Please come to us with any concerns or roadblocks you run into. We are always here to help! We love you girls so much!!!

(P.S. you need to follow the link I emailed to you and make a google account with your same old email address - if you don't have one already. Once you do that you just go to the blog's website and click on "Sign In" in the top right corner. Then you click on "New Post" at the top right to start leaving entries like Jette's. Thanks!)

I just wanted to say...

Mormon 7:7 is one of my favorite scriptures because it motivates me to be better and try my best in all I do so I can have that kind of happiness-- the one that has no end! Ahh, that'd be nice to have someday :)

"And he hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, whereby he that is found guitless before him at the judgement day hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end."

--Jette

Welcome to the Lovely Ladies of Jordan Willows 1st Ward!!

I'm so glad you decided to visit the "Desire to Believe" blog. Just the fact that you're reading this proves that something inside you wants to believe. Alma 32 tells us that this desire is a great start to an unbelievable journey.

Your mission is to let that desire work in you by experimenting upon the words that Heavenly Father prepared for you and your life. As you begin your study I want you to remember what you are holding when you take the Book of Mormon in your hands. (Go ahead, pick them up now and then keep reading...) This book is the most tangible evidence that God loves you. As you thoughtfully and prayerfully read the words contained in this book, His all-powerful love will begin to wrap around your heart until you cannot deny His devotion to you any longer.

Ladies, I want you to know the most tender feelings of my heart... Nothing has changed my life more, brought me more joy, or taught me so much as the Book of Mormon. Once you begin the "experiment" you will never be the same. You may not receive earth-shattering revelation every time you open the Book of Mormon, but if you stay consistent, God will speak to you through those pages. Test it out. Try it. See.

This blog is your outlet for any thoughts, questions, or feelings you may have as you take this journey through the scriptures.