Music and a funeral

i went to my wife's aunts funeral this last weekend. She was not a member of the church but the funeral service was very beautiful. the spirit was felt very strongly and i believe it was due in large part to the music that was played during the program. it was very soft and gentle and the lyrics were uplifting and comforting. music is powerful

Ensign

Reading the Ensign has been a great way to prepare for conference. I had never really done it before but you hear about people who say that they read a conference talk everyday up till conference and it really helped them be spiritually and mentally prepared. ive been trying to be as diligent as possible and ive noticed a difference.

Book of Mormon

i have realized that the greatest media source i rely on the most is the Book of Mormon. I rely on it more than any other thing in regards to direction, my mood, a pick me up, clarification and understanding, feeling peace and the spirit, getting through hard days, finding ways to help those around me and those i love, a boost of determination, and the list goes on. Thank you God for the Book of Mormon.

Sunday Music

I love how Listening to sunday music totally changes the feeling and makes Sunday what it should be. My wife and i have tried hard to do this lately and we have noticed how it really helps sunday feel speical and different from any other day of the week.

managing time

Jacob 5
read these verses with this symbolism in mind and it will blow your mind how powerful this lesson is taught of how to manage your time

tree: you (your life)
branches: how you use your time
fruit: who and what you become
roots: spirit

Jacob 5: 11, 18, 36, 47-48, 66

atonement

Christ has "paid in full" the debt and therefore can do what he wants with it. He can require all the way from 100% interest to absolutely nothing at all and absorb the loss himself. It is a very minimal condition he requires in comparison to the price he himself paid. Those conditions are obedience to the principles and ordinances of the gospel. What mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?! 

How to view others

The other day at work i was taught by my boss from the scriptures how to view others the right way, meaning the way God would want us to view each other. He read and quoted multiple scriptures of the lord stating HE is gathering Israel and He is doing it at a rate more rapidly than possibly at any other time in the history of the world. My boss further explained that the lord is "tapping people on the shoulder" long before the missionaries ever knock their door or long before we as members invite them to church or give them a Book of Mormon. We would do well to remember that. We have a role in the gathering of Israel but ultimately HE, the Lord, is gathering his people on a very personal and intimate level. Remember that the lord is tapping the shoulder of all those around you. some choose to listen and pay attention to the tap. others dont. But the way we should see others should be in light of the fact God is very aware of everyone.

Be good at what you are

I read the quote the other day "whatever thou are, act well thy part"

I feel like all throughout college it has been an identity crisis for me because i have bounced back and forth between a handful of majors. I still do not know what i am going to end up doing for a career but i take comfort in knowing that i can be consistent in other areas of my life. I can live what i know to be true and that has always brought peace and happiness. Whatever thou art act well thy part.

The Creation

I was reading in Moses 4 about the creation of this world and all of God's beautiful creations. I was taught a specific perspective that i had never had before regarding this account in the scriptures. Moses had just beheld the creation of all things. He saw the chaos that existed with unorganized matter before the foundation of the world. then he sees how God organizes in sublime beauty, majesty and perfection the eternal matter of the universe into mountains and rivers and valleys and streams; all these beautify things we see in nature. after God shows this pattern to Moses he then invites him to come and make covenants with him. The cool principle here that i had never seen is this:

we have lives full of chaos. in school, in work, at home, facing the future, the world around us, etc. is in many ways full of chaos. however, God shows us through the creation account in the scriptures that he can take the chaos in our lives and can create order and peace and beauty. He shows us this so that we can then trust him. Once we see that we can trust him he then asks us to make covenants with him.



beautiful principle

I read this quote the other day and it has opened up significantly my perspective on the purpose of this life and how i can influence others for good

There is one responsibility which no man can evade; that responsibility is his personal influence. Man’s unconscious influence is the silent, subtle radiation of personality the effect of his words and his actions on others. This radiation is tremendous.Every moment of life man is changing, to a degree, the life of the whole world. Every man has an atmosphere which is affecting every other man. He cannot escape for one moment from this radiation of his character, this constant weakening or strengthening of others. Man cannot evade the responsibility by merely saying it is an unconscious influence.Man can select the qualities he would permit to be radiated. He can cultivate sweetness, calmness, trust, generosity, truth, justice, loyalty, nobility, and make them vitally active in his character. And by these qualities he will constantly affect the world. This radiation, to which I refer, comes from what a person really is, not from what he pretends to be. Every man by his mere living is radiating either sympathy, sorrow, morbidness, cynicism, or happiness and hope or any one of a hundred other qualities.Life is a state of radiation and absorption. To exist is to radiate, to exist is to be the recipient of radiation.

David O. McKay 

uplifting media can do wonders

I am taking 3 religion classes this semester and quite honestly i consider it a huge blessing. I find myself using most of my time outside of class working on homework for these religion classes. It is great! I am reading some sort of church article, book, magazine or other form of media for at least 5 hours a day (standard deviation 1.5 hrs haha). this semester i have noticed that i am not aimlessly wasting my time watching or using media that has no good, pure intention. i feel more productive, i feel happier and i feel that my mind is a lot clearer at the end of the day.

Destiny of Man

"If men do not comprehend the character of God they do not comprehend themselves" - Joseph Smith Jr

"to know what God is is to know what man is and what he can become. The loss of this knowledge goes far to explain the present plight of humanity. Man, like water, cannot rise higher than his beginnings. If an ever increasing number of men and women are choosing to wallow in the mire of carnality we must not forget that they are taught that the human race was spawned in the mire. We have little desire to reach for the stars if we do not believe we came from the stars."

- Rodney Turner 

Mulan-

My wife and I the other day sat down to watch some TV after a long day. After brushing through the channels for a little while we found the Disney move "Mulan" and decided to watch it. I could tell my wife was loving the movie especially at the end when Mulan simply dominates the remaining Huns and saves China. With movies like Mulan I can just see my wife cheering inside "power to the women" repeatedly. 

Me being a man, watching the underlying message all throughout the movie, I was rather amused by how certain scenes would go to great lengths to emphasize and reiterate the message that women are powerful, women can do anything men can do, women deserve to be respected and treated fairly, the list goes on. 

 

Again, this is my perception of the movie because I am a guy. But the portrayal of men, especially those who were in the imperial army was silly. They were clowns and bafoons and by no means portrayed what a typical male soldier would be in an imperial army. As portrayed in this meme above the men are ridiculous. I just wonder what a little boy watching Mulan is gathering about the stereotypes of men and women. 

I am honestly not sexist, this was just an observation I noticed while watching the movie :)