Christmas

i have been doing a lot of thinking about Christ's birth. I have most of my nativities out and have decided not to do too much other decorating. I want to focus on Jesus Christ. I will put up my tree and I think that will be it. I want to spend the month feasting on the scriptures and doing some sort of service. We are in a new ward so to speak. It is still called Myton 2nd but most of the people in the ward come from the old Myton 1st ward. While I know a lot of the people in the ward there are also a lot of people I don't know. I think I will start some sort of secret Santa thing that can be passed around the ward. Oh maybe instead of calling it Secret Santa I should call it Secret Savior. I could write some of my favorite scriptures and make some treats to pass on to members of the ward and ask them to pass on their favorite scripture and a treat. NOW I need to get busy. Yea I think this will be great!

"to always remember Him"

While I will not go into detail... this past week I have been doing something good but I have been doing it for the wrong reason. I have been doing this good thing because someone had been displeased with me. Now there is nothing wrong with trying to please others but I have not found satisfaction in the thing I am doing. I have gone through a long list feelings that have included sorrow and even anger. But no real satisfaction or gratitude or joy.

Today in sacrament as I listened to the sacrament prayer I realized my mistake. I still want to do the good thing that I have been doing but I need to be doing it in order "to always remember Him." I need to be doing this thing for my Savior not for my friend. I need to please my Savior, not my friend. So this week I will continue to do those things I need to be doing, those things that I want to be doing, but I will be doing them in order to "always remember Him." Then, I will find the joy in doing. I can actually stop worrying about rather or not I am pleasing my friend. I can stop worrying about rather or not I am meeting my friends standards. I know that my Savior will accept my efforts because He knows what is in my heart. I feel my Savior's love.

BYU Women's Conference: Sandra Rogers

Sandra Rogers is well-articulated and knowledgeable in expressing how covenants and peace go hand in hand and their relationship to our time in the midst of wars and within our individual lives and circumstances. She also illustrates the plan of salvation and the war in heaven and how we play a part in these by the consequences of the choices we individually made and will make. She emphasizes the Light of the Savior in our lives and that we must arise and let that light shine forth from our own lives to reflect the love and knowledge we have of the Lord, the peace those and the covenants we make bring to us, and the difference that can be made in the lives of others as we share that light.

Learning and Re-learning

I have been studying about sacrifice. I have learned and re-learned so much from Genesis 22:1-14. Those are 14 of the most fantastic verses ever written.

In verse 1 God temps or from the Hebrew text he "tests or proves" Abraham and Abraham is ready to answer.

Then in verse 2 comes the most difficult trial anyone could be asked to face. Abraham is commanded to sacrifice his "only" son Issac. (My bet is he didn't tell Sarah what the Lord had asked him to do.) God will sacrifice His "Only Begotten Son." Abraham leaves Beersheba and goes about 50 miles north to Moriah where the Lord has told him to go. Why does the Lord ask a man that is more than 100 years old to travel 50 miles? Why Moriah? 2 Chr. 3:1 tells us that is where Solomon built the temple of the Lord.

Verse 3 says he saddles his donkey, cuts the wood and heads out with his son Isaac. The donkey and the wood are important. Who gets to ride the donkey? Does Abraham? Does Isaac? Who rides a donkey into the city of Jerusalem on the final week of his life? Is it by chance there is a parallel here? No, the Lord does not do anything by chance.

Verse 4 & 5 say on the third day Abraham sees the place afar off and asks the young men to stay there with the donkey while he and his son go on ahead to the place to worship.

Then in verse 6 Abraham takes the wood they have carried with them and lays it on his son. So Isaac carries the wood. This tells me he was not a young child. He is a man that is strong enough to carry enough wood for a sacrifice. He carries the wood to his place of sacrifice. Christ carried his wooden cross to his place of sacrifice also.

Isaac is beginning to wonder about this sacrifice. He asks his father. Dad you have the fire, I have the wood, where is the burnt offering?

Verse 8 Abraham tells Isaac. "My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering." This is a prophetic statement. God, the Father, will provide his only begotten Son as the lamb for a burnt offering.

Then in verses 9 - 12 Abraham builds the altar and binds his son and lays him on the alter. He takes his knife to slay him and the angel of the Lord stops him. At this point we know that Isaac knows what is going on but we learn something important about Isaac. He willingly allows his father to bind him and willingly lays on the alter with a knife over him. He is willing to do what his Father has commanded. Christ willingly gives himself as a sacrifice. He willingly lays on the alter and gave his life for us. Abraham sees the last great sacrifice from our Father in Heavens perspective.

Verses 13-14. Abraham sees a ram caught in the thicket and they offer him for a burnt offering. Abraham called the name of the place "Jehovah-jireh" which means "in this mount, Jehovah shall be provided."

Note of interest. When a lamb was sacrificed it was always sacrificed on the north side of the alter. Just north of the temple mount is a hill known as Golgotha.

Abraham was obedient to God's commands in offering up his son Isaac... "which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son." (Jacob 4:5)

I Wasn't There for the Weeds

"A story shared by our beloved associate, Elder Henry B. Eyring, illustrates this principle of commitment still further. This story is about his father, the great scientist Henry Eyring, who served on the Bonneville Stake high council. He was responsible for the welfare farm, which included a field of onions that needed to be weeded. At that time, he was nearly 80 and suffering from painful bone cancer. He assigned himself to do weeding even though the pain was so great that he pulled himself along on his stomach with his elbows. The pain was too great for him to kneel. Yet he smiled, laughed, and talked happily with the others who were there that day weeding that field of onions. I now quote what Elder Eyring said of this incident:

" 'After all the work was finished and the onions were all weeded, someone [said to] him, "Henry, good heavens! You didn't pull those weeds, did you? Those weeds were sprayed two days ago, and they were going to die anyway."

" 'Dad just roared. He thought that was the funniest thing. He thought it was a great joke on himself. He had worked through the day in the wrong weeds. They had been sprayed and would have died anyway.

" '. . . I [asked] him, "Dad how could you make a joke out of that?" . . .

" 'He said something to me that I will never forget. . . . He said, "Hal, I wasn't there for the weeds." ' "

Here is an important question for each of us to ask ourselves. If he was not there for the weeds, what was Brother Eyring there for? He was there to learn about Brother Eyring. What was Brother Eyring willing to give to the Lord?

Sacrifice allows us to learn something about ourselves—what we are willing to offer to the Lord through our obedience.

The Lord Loves the One

Joe and I went to the temple Saturday evening. As I entered the chapel I thought wow we must be really early. I was the only patron there. When Joe came in I asked if we were early.

Joe: No, it is about time for the session to start.

Me: With just the two of us do you think they well cancel the session?

Joe: I think we are about to be asked to be the witness couple.

And so we were asked. I couldn't help but wonder who we were going to be witnesses for. Just then another couple came into the chapel. Then a couple of single women came in. With the help of some temple workers we ended up with a total of 4 men and 6 women in our session. While I felt sad that there were so few there, I also felt grateful that the Lord recognized my need to be in the temple and allowed the session to continue. I was spiritually fed. I needed the calming affects of the temple. I felt completely at peace. I needed that confirmation that the Lord cares about each one of us individually. I am grateful for his love.