Strengthening A Testimony

  16  And thus a mercy can satisfy the demands of b justice , and encircles them in the arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to the whole law of the demands of c justice ; therefore only unto him that has faith unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal d plan of e redemption . The key phrase in this scripture that I love is "in the arms of safety."  I have been given the path to feel safe in Jesus Christ's arms. I am very grateful for the physical safety I enjoy every day, but I am also grateful for the spiritual safety I can enjoy when I follow Jesus Christ. When I'm following his footsteps as best as i can, I feel that safety. It is a gift that He has given me and everyone. Of course, it isn't easy and it requires faith in the atonement and Jesus Christ, but the joy you can feel doing it is worth it.

Scriptures are like packets of light that illuminate our minds and give place to guidance and inspiration from on high. I like how Elder Scott put it. I believe that with all my heart. I have received a lot of guidance from scriptures. There have been many times when I have read something and I know that it is exactly what I needed to hear. It either answered a question I had or it gave me a comfort I needed at that moment.

"When men begin to live by faith they begin to draw near to God; and when faith is perfected, they are like him; and because he is saved, they are saved also; for they will be in the same situation he is in, because they have come to him; and when he appears they shall be like him, for they will see him as he is."

Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and His role as the Savior and Redeemer? My answer to that question is:  Yes I do have a testimony of these things. I have a very strong testimony of them. The Savior gave us this wonderful gift that we can enjoy when we have faith and repent for our sins. I have been so blessed to go to my Heavenly Father and seek forgiveness for my sins. I have felt the warming and loving feeling of knowing that He has forgiven me. Many times I go to Him and say, “I know I am stupid because I’m constantly making either new or the same mistakes.” Then I think of how much I don’t deserve such love and forgiveness when I’m always doing it. But the biggest blessing that I’ve figured out is that He loves us so much that he wants to forgive us. He wants nothing more than for us to go to Him and ask for forgiveness and try our hardest to do better. I had a little better understanding of that after I became a mother. My kids can frustrate me so muc...

I haven't written anything on here for so long. I read my last post and realized how horribly written it was so I changed it a little. It is at the end of another Sunday. I wish I could say that Sundays were my favorite day of the week but I can't. In fact they are probably the hardest days to get through. Maybe it's because I never go to bed early on Saturday nights and I wake up tired and have to rush to get to church. Maybe it's because I have to wrestle with 3 children during Sacrament meeting and I never get a thing out of any of the talks.  I do have to say that Sunday evening walks are my favorite. It is the best time of the day when the sun is going down and the weather is cooling. I hate being inside during that time, unless the weather is horrible. We talk about anything and I always end up holding flowers that all kids have picked for me. The kids get the last of their energy out and then it's bed time! It is amazing how children can be so incredibly ...

I thought I'd write down some of my thoughts from last night. I was really lucky to go and see Elder Bednar speak. He didn't prepare a talk, he just opened it up for questions. One of the questions was something like, "How can we apply the atonement more fully in our lives?" I was excited to hear his response when he mentioned my favorite scripture, Mosiah 3:19. He said that the natural man is selfish and wants whatever he desires right then and no later. It is hard to overcome the natural man. In fact we cannot do it on our own. We need the Saviors help to "become a saint" by applying the atonement to our lives. The atonement doesn't only deal with forgiveness for our sins. It gives strengthening power. Elder Bednar also went to Mosiah 24: 13-15. In verse 13 it mentions the covenants we make and the covenants that the Lord makes. The promises Heavenly Father has made to us when we do our part are so wonderful. I'm sure if I could remember those pr...

I have been looking at war in a different way lately. This quote from Spencer W. Kimball struck me when I heard it today and I wanted to share it here ( June 1976 First Presidency Message ): "In spite of our delight in defining ourselves as modern, and our tendency to think we possess a sophistication that no people in the past ever had—in spite of these things, we are, on the whole, an idolatrous people—a condition most repugnant to the Lord. "We are a warlike people, easily distracted from our assignment of preparing for the coming of the Lord. When enemies rise up, we commit vast resources to the fabrication of gods of stone and steel—ships, planes, missiles, fortifications—and depend on them for protection and deliverance. When threatened, we become antienemy instead of pro-kingdom of God; we train a man in the art of war and call him a patriot, thus, in the manner of Satan’s counterfeit of true patriotism, perverting the Savior’s teaching: "'Lov...