How slow the forming-
How hard some blows-
But I, the stone, much come to know
In my own person, my own soul,
Thy Will, Thy purpose here below.
O Master, now I plead to Thee,
Cut off my roughness, form my face,
Refine my feelings, make of me
A fit reflection of Thy grace.
Yea, haste the day when I may kneel
Before Thee and great Elohim.
Accept, peaceful in Thy home,
At last like Thee each grain of stone.
By: J. Devn Cornish
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
My Life is But a Weaving
Here's a poem I really like:
"My Life is But a Weaving"
My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me
I do not choose the colors
He worketh steadily.
Oftimes he weaveth sorrow
And I in foolish pride
Forget he sees the upper
And I the underside.
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
Not till the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
- Author Unknown
"My Life is But a Weaving"
My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me
I do not choose the colors
He worketh steadily.
Oftimes he weaveth sorrow
And I in foolish pride
Forget he sees the upper
And I the underside.
The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
Not till the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.
- Author Unknown
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
After much tribulation....
I came across a scripture while studying the topic of adversity. Act 14:22 "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God."
Life is full of trials. It's full of pains, sickness, heartache...etc. All these things are for our experience and personal growth. When we endure through our hardships and try to make the best of our situation, we recieve great rewards from our loving Heavenly Father. Ultimately the reward for our endurance is eternal life in the kingdom of God and the experiences we have in this life (good and bad) prepare us for our eternal reward.
My companion like to uses an analogy to describe our journey on the path to eternal life. In the scriptures we read about the strait and narrow way that leads to eternal life and the broad and wide way that leads to destruction. (Matt 7:13-14)
The broad way is the easy way. It's like a nice paved highway where you can do what you want with no apparent worries. You just scoot on by.
The strait and narrow way is more difficult. It's rough and rocky. You have to climb and crawl and jump. You get tired, but you keep pushing forward because you know that something better is waiting for you.
Those two path lead to a giant gate. It's the gate that leads to the kingdom of God. The gate is BIG and HEAVY and in order to get in you have to be able to push it open. You have to be strong enough. If you took the easy way down the broad and wide path, you won't have the strength to push open the gate. But if you took the strait and narrow way where you had to climb, and crawl, and jump, you will have built up the necessary strength. The difficulty you experienced prepared you for opening the gate. Now you can enter into the kingdom of God and be free from all your troubles.
There are times when we don't fully understand the purpose of our trials. But if we remember that God is aware of us and that he loves us we can be assured that he will not leave us comfortless. He is always there for us.
D&C 58:3-4 ~"Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Happiness
We were talking to a man on his doorstep. We talked to him about how much happiness one can find in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He sort of chuckled and asked, "What is happiness?" Well...it's....when you're happy...right? I started to think about it more. What is happiness? When I tell people how much peace and joy the gospel brings, do I know what I'm talking about? I've never really thought about it before. All I knew was that before I started living faithful to the gospel, I didn't feel right. I didn't know what it was until I started to be faithful to the Lord. I feel different now. I feel happy. But what makes me happy? What makes my happiness different than anybody else's happiness? Here are my thoughts:
First let's think about what happiness could be. It could be a number of things. Playing sports, playing with a puppy, eating chocolate pie, watching a really good movie, reading a really good book, being with close friends, having a fast car, a nice house, nice shoes. But eventually these things will come to an end. The game will stop, the puppy becomes a dog...etc. All these things bring temporary happiness. It's not lasting. The happiness referred to in the scriptures is eternal.
In Alma 41, we read a little about happiness and how to acheive it it this life and in the next. At the time of the resurrection our bodies and our spirits will be restored to it's proper and perfect frame. After resurrection come the judgement, where we will be judged according to our works and desires.
3 And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.
First let's think about what happiness could be. It could be a number of things. Playing sports, playing with a puppy, eating chocolate pie, watching a really good movie, reading a really good book, being with close friends, having a fast car, a nice house, nice shoes. But eventually these things will come to an end. The game will stop, the puppy becomes a dog...etc. All these things bring temporary happiness. It's not lasting. The happiness referred to in the scriptures is eternal.
In Alma 41, we read a little about happiness and how to acheive it it this life and in the next. At the time of the resurrection our bodies and our spirits will be restored to it's proper and perfect frame. After resurrection come the judgement, where we will be judged according to our works and desires.
3 And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.
4 And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—
5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.
Our ultimate happiness will come when we live faithful to the gospel and inherit a place in the kingdom of our Heavenly Father. The reason we are here on earth is to become like our Father in Heaven and return to Him. Heavenly Fathers plan for all of us it "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39)
Since Heavenly Father loves us so much, he doesn't only want us to have happiness in the eternities, he wants us to be happy while living in this mortal life.
2 Nephi 2:25~ "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."
Life is tough though. How can one possibly find happiness when life is just so hard?! That's why I love the gospel. Because it's shows us that through faith and obedience that we can find true and lasting happiness. We read all over the scriptures that it's by keeping the commandments that we are blessed.
Mosiah 2:41~ "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."
Being obedient, following Christ, trusting in God brings so much comfort to the soul. It brings happiness. When we think that we can do what we want and ignore what God expects of us, we become slaves to sin and we slip into the grasp of the devil. There is no happiness to be found in disobedience. Though Satan would have you believe otherwise. The scriptures make it clear "wickdness never was happiness (Alma 41:10).
The only way we will find greater peace and happiness is through following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. He came to show us the way to eternal life. He came to show us how we can be happy. But, like everything else in life, we have our choice. We can choose to be happy or we can choose to be miserable. We can choose to obey or choose to disobey. We are all given the light of Christ which helps us discern good from evil. The more we choose good, the closer we are to God and the happier we are. We know what we need to do to find happiness we just have to do it. Jesus said to His Apostles, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." (John 13:17)
Since Heavenly Father loves us so much, he doesn't only want us to have happiness in the eternities, he wants us to be happy while living in this mortal life.
2 Nephi 2:25~ "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy."
Life is tough though. How can one possibly find happiness when life is just so hard?! That's why I love the gospel. Because it's shows us that through faith and obedience that we can find true and lasting happiness. We read all over the scriptures that it's by keeping the commandments that we are blessed.
Mosiah 2:41~ "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."
Being obedient, following Christ, trusting in God brings so much comfort to the soul. It brings happiness. When we think that we can do what we want and ignore what God expects of us, we become slaves to sin and we slip into the grasp of the devil. There is no happiness to be found in disobedience. Though Satan would have you believe otherwise. The scriptures make it clear "wickdness never was happiness (Alma 41:10).
The only way we will find greater peace and happiness is through following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. He came to show us the way to eternal life. He came to show us how we can be happy. But, like everything else in life, we have our choice. We can choose to be happy or we can choose to be miserable. We can choose to obey or choose to disobey. We are all given the light of Christ which helps us discern good from evil. The more we choose good, the closer we are to God and the happier we are. We know what we need to do to find happiness we just have to do it. Jesus said to His Apostles, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." (John 13:17)
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
There's No Place Like Home
In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy leaves her home and finds herself in a strange new land. All she wants to do is return home, to where her family is. To find her way back home she has to go to the Emerald City and talk to the Wizard of Oz. To get to the Emerald City she had to follow the yellow brick rad. Along her way, she met some challenges and made some new friends. She met he Scarecrow who desperately wanted a brain. She met Tin-Man who yearned for a heart. And who could forget the Cowardly Lion who just wanted some courage? With her new friends by her side and a firm hope that she would be able to find her way back home, she endured all of the trials and barriers along the way and eventually found her way back home.
We are all like Dorothy in a way. We have left our home in heaven and are now in a strange new place. Our ultimate goal is to return back home to our Father in Heaven where we can be with our families forever. To get back home we must follow "the path which leads to eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:18) Our life experience is a tough one. We encounter many obstacles and bumps in the road. We've been promised by our loving Heavenly Father that if we endure this life well, we will receive eternal life and happiness. What do we need to do to endure and stay on the path to eternal life? Well, we need to be living the gospel faithfully. We need to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized by one holding the priesthood authority, and recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost by one holding the priesthood authorty. But there are other attributes we need to learn along the way to help make our long journey home more bearable.
All over the scriptures we're councelled to have faith, hope, and charity.
Ether 12:28 ~Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.
Alma 7:24 ~And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.
1 Corinthians 13:13 ~ And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three...
Faith, Hope, Charity, and developing our knowledge of life and of the gospel will help us as we continue on the path back to our heavenly home.
The first one that Dorothy met on the yellow brick road was the Scarecrow who was in search of a brain. When we came into this life, we began to develop knowledge and we continue to grow in our knowledge every day. We're always being taught and we're always learning. In the Bible dictionary under "knowledge" it reads, " One of the attributes of God. Knowledge of divine and spiritual things is absolutely essential for one’s salvation; hence the gospel is to be taught to every soul. “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?”(Romans 10:14). Heavenly Father wans us to always be learning and the knowledge we obtain in this life will go with us into the next life.
Next, Dorothy met Tin Man who longed for a heart. One of the most important attribute to develop in this life is Charity. Charity is "the pure love of Christ" (Moroni 7:47)
Ether 12:34~And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.
We learn more about charity in 1 Corinthians 13. If you don't have charity you are nothing. It doesn't matter how much knowledge you have, how talented you are, or how giving you are, if your don't have charity, you don't benefit. Bible Dictionary says this, "Charity~ The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds of benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive." We don't give charity, we have charity and it's that charity motivates us to act.
As Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man continued on their journey, they met up with the Cowardly Lion who was looking for some courage. In the Old Testament there are several scriptures that instruct us to "be strong and of good courage." (Joshua 1:6, Ezra 10:4, Psalms 27:14...) The scripture I really liked was Ezra 10:4~ "be of good courage, and do it." There's no need to fear in taking action. 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Courage is the opposite of fear. and fear is the opposite of faith. So, to have courage is to have faith. With faith, especially in Jesus Christ, we can accomplish many great things.
During her time in the land of Oz, Dorothy maintained her hope that she would find her way back home. Just like Dorothy, we too need to he hopeful that we will be able to make it through this life and return home to our Father in Heaven. The scriptures say a lot about hope.
Ether 12:4~ "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world..."
Moroni 7:41~And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.
We are all on our own Wizrd of Oz journey. Life is a probationary state where come to be tried and tested. If we didn't have faith, hope,charity and knowledge, enduring this earthy experience would be a lot harder that it need to be. We are promised in 2 Nephi 31:20~ "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ (courage/faith), having a perfect brightness of HOPE, and a love of God and of all men (charity). Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ(knowledge), and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."
What more can I say? There's no place like home!
We are all like Dorothy in a way. We have left our home in heaven and are now in a strange new place. Our ultimate goal is to return back home to our Father in Heaven where we can be with our families forever. To get back home we must follow "the path which leads to eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:18) Our life experience is a tough one. We encounter many obstacles and bumps in the road. We've been promised by our loving Heavenly Father that if we endure this life well, we will receive eternal life and happiness. What do we need to do to endure and stay on the path to eternal life? Well, we need to be living the gospel faithfully. We need to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized by one holding the priesthood authority, and recieve the gift of the Holy Ghost by one holding the priesthood authorty. But there are other attributes we need to learn along the way to help make our long journey home more bearable.
All over the scriptures we're councelled to have faith, hope, and charity.
Ether 12:28 ~Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.
Alma 7:24 ~And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.
1 Corinthians 13:13 ~ And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three...
Faith, Hope, Charity, and developing our knowledge of life and of the gospel will help us as we continue on the path back to our heavenly home.
The first one that Dorothy met on the yellow brick road was the Scarecrow who was in search of a brain. When we came into this life, we began to develop knowledge and we continue to grow in our knowledge every day. We're always being taught and we're always learning. In the Bible dictionary under "knowledge" it reads, " One of the attributes of God. Knowledge of divine and spiritual things is absolutely essential for one’s salvation; hence the gospel is to be taught to every soul. “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?”(Romans 10:14). Heavenly Father wans us to always be learning and the knowledge we obtain in this life will go with us into the next life.
Next, Dorothy met Tin Man who longed for a heart. One of the most important attribute to develop in this life is Charity. Charity is "the pure love of Christ" (Moroni 7:47)
Ether 12:34~And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.
We learn more about charity in 1 Corinthians 13. If you don't have charity you are nothing. It doesn't matter how much knowledge you have, how talented you are, or how giving you are, if your don't have charity, you don't benefit. Bible Dictionary says this, "Charity~ The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ. It is never used to denote alms or deeds of benevolence, although it may be a prompting motive." We don't give charity, we have charity and it's that charity motivates us to act.
As Dorothy, Scarecrow, and Tin Man continued on their journey, they met up with the Cowardly Lion who was looking for some courage. In the Old Testament there are several scriptures that instruct us to "be strong and of good courage." (Joshua 1:6, Ezra 10:4, Psalms 27:14...) The scripture I really liked was Ezra 10:4~ "be of good courage, and do it." There's no need to fear in taking action. 2 Timothy 1:7 says "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." Courage is the opposite of fear. and fear is the opposite of faith. So, to have courage is to have faith. With faith, especially in Jesus Christ, we can accomplish many great things.
During her time in the land of Oz, Dorothy maintained her hope that she would find her way back home. Just like Dorothy, we too need to he hopeful that we will be able to make it through this life and return home to our Father in Heaven. The scriptures say a lot about hope.
Ether 12:4~ "Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world..."
Moroni 7:41~And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.
We are all on our own Wizrd of Oz journey. Life is a probationary state where come to be tried and tested. If we didn't have faith, hope,charity and knowledge, enduring this earthy experience would be a lot harder that it need to be. We are promised in 2 Nephi 31:20~ "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ (courage/faith), having a perfect brightness of HOPE, and a love of God and of all men (charity). Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ(knowledge), and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life."
What more can I say? There's no place like home!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Hello!
Hello there! Well, I'm attempting this blog thing for the first time in my life, so this whole experience should be interesting for everyone. Something I've learned on while being on a mission is that I get to do a lot of things I never thought I'd do before. But this should be good. I'm going to begin this post by explaining who I am and why I'm here. I'm a daughter of God and I'm here because he sent me to learn and grow. Haha! Just kidding, I didn't mean it in that way, although that is true, we are all children of God and we are all here because our life in mortality is part of His great plan of happiness. But I won't get into that just yet.
My name is Sister LaJeunesse. I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Part of my assignment as a missionary is to use the internet as a source of teaching the message of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because our Heavenly Father loves us so much, he's provided many ways for all of us, His children, to receive the fulness of the everlasting gospel, the internet is one of those tools.
Being a missionary for Christ's church has meant everything to me. I love that I have the oppotunity to be around my brothers and sisters and help them find the true happiness the gospel brings. The gospel brings so much light and hope in a world of darkness and despair. I know that as we center our lives around Christ and His teachings, we will feel our Savior's love and mercy more in our lives and we will be given added strength to overcome the trials of life. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. It's set up exactly as Christ had established when He was on the earth. I know He head the church today and reveals His truths to a living prophet. I know the Book of Mormon to be true. I know it has the power to change the life of a willing heart. I know God lives and He loves us. He wants the best for us, I honestly and truely believe this. The more we can come to accept His will for us, the happier we will be in life. And that's what God wants for us, to be happy. "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25
My name is Sister LaJeunesse. I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Part of my assignment as a missionary is to use the internet as a source of teaching the message of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Because our Heavenly Father loves us so much, he's provided many ways for all of us, His children, to receive the fulness of the everlasting gospel, the internet is one of those tools.
Being a missionary for Christ's church has meant everything to me. I love that I have the oppotunity to be around my brothers and sisters and help them find the true happiness the gospel brings. The gospel brings so much light and hope in a world of darkness and despair. I know that as we center our lives around Christ and His teachings, we will feel our Savior's love and mercy more in our lives and we will be given added strength to overcome the trials of life. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. It's set up exactly as Christ had established when He was on the earth. I know He head the church today and reveals His truths to a living prophet. I know the Book of Mormon to be true. I know it has the power to change the life of a willing heart. I know God lives and He loves us. He wants the best for us, I honestly and truely believe this. The more we can come to accept His will for us, the happier we will be in life. And that's what God wants for us, to be happy. "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25
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