Prayer

I want to work on improving my prayers.  I was thinking of Jared and the brother of Jared.  His family had been promised a choice land, free from bondage and captivity.  All they had to do was serve God.  They came to a place by the sea and stayed there for 4 years.  Then the Lord came and talked to the brother of Jared for three hours and chewed him out for not remembering to "Call upon the name of the Lord." 

I have been kind of wondering about that.  Somehow I keep thinking that the brother of Jared was praying but not with the feeling that he had been praying with when his family thought their language was going to be confounded.  I was thinking about my own prayers.  When there is something that I have a deep feeling about I notice my prayers are deeper, more heart felt.  Then other times my prayers are superficial.  I'm just saying words with no feeling.  I am wondering if the brother of Jared forgetting to use feeling?

Elder Richard G. Scott says, "A key to improved prayer is to learn to ask the right questions.  Consider changing from asking for the things you want to honestly seeking what He wants for you.  Then as you learn His will, pray that you will be led to have the strength to fulfill it."  ("Using the Supernal gift of Prayer," Ensign, May 2007.)

Now I am thinking I need to honestly learn what the Lord wants for me instead of what I want for me.  D&C 19:23 says:  "Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me."  I need to ask in EVERY prayer what the Lord wants for me.

Where God's Full Presence Shines

A couple of weeks ago our 19th grandchild was born. He is beautiful. I have always thought that the veil between heaven and earth is very thin for babies. I have often thought that my babies were looking around the room at someone I could not see. I feel as if the reason babies cannot talk is so they will not tell us too much about heaven.

So, I was holding baby Jacob and talking with his mom about how thin the veil between heaven and earth might be. We were wondering if family that has passed on would be able to visit with him. I even asked Jacob if he could see his grandparents. All of a sudden Jacob smiled. Oh I know everyone says it is gas. I don't believe it for a moment. I have always thought that when a newborn baby smiles he is thinking of heaven. When he cries, he is thinking of birth. I thought, you know I think the veil is a lot thinner that even I think.

Then today I went with my husband to the nursing home to help with sacrament meeting. We helped gather those that wanted to go to church. Then I led the singing. We were singing the sacrament hymn "How Great the Wisdom and the Love." On the second verse it says:

"His precious blood he freely spilt;
His life he freely gave,
A sinless sacrifice for guilt,
A dying world to save."

As I looked up I saw a dying world in front of me. Tears sprang to my eyes. When we sang the 4th verse, I felt God's presence grow stronger in the room.

"He marked the path and led the way,
And every point defines
To light and life and endless day
Where God's full presence shines."

I couldn't help but wonder how endless some of their days feel, and yet God's full presence was there in that room, with people who's lives are so difficult.

So I have decided that the veil is thin for a newborn baby. It is also thin for those who are nearing the end of their lives. I felt God's full presence shine. What a wonderful day.

How to Strengthen Husband & Wife Relationships

During stake conference President Staker quoted Elder Callister and gave us a list of 7 ways to strengthen husband/wife relationships. For some reason lists always make me perk up and listen.

1. Adopt an unyielding commitment to make it work.
I like the work "unyielding." It seems that too many people go into marriage thinking what they will do when marriage doesn't work instead of what will I do to make it work.

2. Adopt an "Is it I?" principle.
At the last supper, Jesus told the twelve apostles that one was about to betray him. "...They were exceeding sorrowful, and began everyone of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?" (Matt. 26:22) President Staker said when you have problems in your marriage you ask yourself "Is it I?" and the answer is always "YES!" It reminds me of a song I sing to my kids at school.

"I'm gonna tell, I'm gonna tell.
I'm gonna holler and I'm gonna yell.
I'll get you in trouble for everything you do.
I'm gonna tell on you.
....I won't tell teacher what I did to you,
I'm just gonna tell on you.

Notice the apostles were not looking around to see who they could blame for betraying Christ. Or who they thought might be the one to betray their lord and savior. They were looking within their own souls to see what they needed to fix. They were looking so hard within that they didn't even notice who was looking guilty.

Is it I? YES

3. Make your spouses happy. Make sure they are successful.
Don't spend your time trying to make your spouse guess what you want. President Staker said his mother told his wife that if she wanted flowers for her birthday etc. to go buy them and than thank him for the beautiful flowers. She will be happy with the flowers and he will be happy because she got what she wanted. I am not sure you would not have to go to that extreme but really if you want something tell your spouse what it is.

4. Stay out of Debt!
What more needs to be said than that? Debt binds you down and we must be free.

5. Speak in soft and kind voices and words.
The words spoken in the home are the most important. Some of the wittiest things ever thought should be left unsaid.

6. Make parenting a joint adventure.
Don't leave everything to your spouse. Take turns. Work together. Play together.

7. Pray together.
How can you stay angry at someone you are praying with and for?

Eternal Marriage has become a concept of time rather than a quality of life. It should be a quality of life because you wish to spend time together.

1 Nephi

I have been doing a lot of thinking about Nephi and his brothers. Nephi and Sam looked at the glass half full. Laman and Lemuel looked at the empty half of the glass. I think I would rather be an optimist than a pessimist. I would rather see the full side of things. There are going to be trials in our lives so we might as well decide now that we are going to endure it well and put a smile on our faces. We might as well look for those little blessings that come into our lives each day and enjoy them while we can. I have a lot to be thankful for. I would rather find joy! I will choose to be happy.