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Bit-O-Honey

1/27/2019

It It It was first week of classes at the University of Utah so the student union building was filled with booths soliciting students: sororities, fraternities, clubs of all kinds, extra-curricular groups, etc…. Initially Grace went there hunting Panda Express but, turned off by the long, LONG line, she decided to explore.    Seeing a Bit-O-Honey candy at a table, she was sucked in.

“May I have a piece of candy?” she inquired.   After saying yes, the lady at the booth asked Grace’s name and then asked Grace what her understanding of grace was.   Turns out it was a table sponsored by an evangelical church. Grace shared her understanding of the concept of grace and invited the table’s sponsor to do the same.   In a spirit of harmony, Grace testified that both of them worshiped the same God, a statement with which the lady disagreed. Kindly but firmly Grace declared that she had read the Bible AND the Book of Mormon and she KNEW they both taught the same gospel, revealed by the same God.

“Have you read the Book of Mormon?” she asked her new friend.

“No,” the friend responded, “but I probably should….”

“Would you like a copy?” Grace asked.    At the lady’s affirmative response, Grace took a Book of Mormon from her backpack and gifted it.      As a bonus, in the copy of the Book of Mormon that she gave them were written the testimonies of Bishop and Natalie Ropelato.

It was a sweet experience. One could say a bit of honey…..

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Watchman on the Tower

1/20/2019

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In the Old Testament, the Lord is sometimes compared to a fortress or citadel tower of refuge (see Psalm 18:2; 61:3; Proverbs 18:10; 2 Samuel 22:3), and prophets are sometimes compared to watchmen (see Isaiah 62:6; Jeremiah 6:17; Ezekiel 3:17; 33:7; Hosea 9:8; Micah 7:4).

“I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me” (Ezekiel 3:17; see also Ezekiel 33:1–7).
Through the centuries, prophets have fulfilled their duty when they have warned people of the dangers before them. The Lord’s Apostles are duty bound to watch, warn, and reach out to help those seeking answers to life’s questions.”      (https://www.lds.org/ensign/2016/04/watchmen-on-the-tower?lang=eng)

We were in the temple baptistry Wednesday night. It was Miles’ and Aiden’s first time in the temple as Priests. Having been ordained to the office of Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood they could both perform baptisms and act as witnesses.   Miles baptized Emma in her aunt’s name, an aunt who died at 16 without ever receiving Christ’s gospel. He also baptized most of the girls, 24 baptisms in all. And he had a really, really good experience.

I am so grateful for modern prophets and the accompanying modern revelation.   I see physical manifestation of President Nelson’s spiritual teachings. He said “The adversary is increasing his attack on faith and on families at an exponential rate. To survive spiritually, we need counter-strategies and proactive plans." (Opening remarks, General Conference, October 2018)

President Nelson’s announcements that changed the age young people enter the Young Men’s and Young Women’s programs and allowed priests to perform baptisms for the dead in the temple are divinely inspired counter-strategies and proactive plans.   I see the youth being tied more tightly to Christ, I see them having powerful spiritual experiences at increasingly younger ages. I see them erecting protective walls of righteousness around themselves as they are given opportunities to grow spiritually.    I see earnest, little eleven year olds feeling the Spirit in the temple, their spiritual responsiveness manifest in their reverent demeanor. I see macho fifteen year olds humbly practicing baptismal procedures and solemnly performing them. I see youth coming unto Christ.

My mother’s heart filled with gratitude as I watched my Miles perform baptisms.   I am grateful to a have son who so sincerely uses his priesthood. I am so grateful that my son has the opportunity to sincerely use his priesthood.   I am so grateful to have a Savior who loves me and my son and all of God’s children, a Savior who, because He loves us so deeply, wants us to survive spiritually in this increasingly dangerous world. And, at this moment, I am profoundly grateful for a modern prophet, Russell M. Nelson (President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), who, as a “watchman on the tower” warns us of the adversary’s attacks and shares with us Christ’s counter-strategies and proactive plans.

President Russell M. Nelson, Prophet, Seer and Revelator

Watchtower (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Watchman%27s_room.JPG)

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Rock Climbing and the Purpose of Life

1/13/2019

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Rock climbing is not the purpose of life---Sorry Talyn and Sam!!--but it has certainly helped me understand the purpose of life.   Allow me to explain…..

The purpose of rock climbing is to experience the top.   It is not merely to get to the top--a short ride in a helicopter could deliver a person to the peak--but, through experience, to become the type of climber capable of reaching the peak.    The victory comes with the successful execution of the process.

Rock climbing is meaningful only because gravity exists. Repeat. If it were not for gravity, rock climbing would be pointless. And the only way to truly learn how to rock climb is to climb rocks. And making mistakes while rock climbing is inevitable---that’s why one wears a safety harness and hooks into ropes. And rock climbing is totally worth it because the view from the top, achieved through experience, is exquisite.

In our pre-Earth lives, we were fledgling rock climbers and God, our Heavenly Father, was at the top of the figurative mountain, enjoying the exquisite view. Like all good fathers, He wanted to share with us His joy. And, being a wise father, He knew we had to experience the journey to enjoy the view. As fledgling rock climbers we’d had pre-rock climbing lessons and conditioning and had progressed as far as we could without climbing the actual cliff.   It was time to scale the cliff. To do that, we had to come to Earth and experience mortality.

Just as rock climbing is meaningless without gravity, mortality is meaningless without the possibility of failure. The Fall, that is leaving God’s presence and becoming carnal and sensual, made failure possible and made mortality meaningful.

Mortality is meaningful because we can fail.   We can fail because we have choices and because it is possible to make bad choices.   Without the ability to make bad choices, mortality would be meaningless just as rock climbing would be pointless without gravity. .

The ability to choose is critical to progress in life just as it is in rock climbing.   Without choice progress is not possible. And choice is not possible without appealing options from which to choose.   For example, if I hate sweets, doughnuts do not tempt me therefore resisting them does not develop my character. There must be a hook for the choices to be valid. Being carnal and sensual is the hook we mortals have that make our choices valid and that give us the experience we need to progress. If we did not have carnal, sensual appetites, we could not learn to control them.   If we were not tempted to be selfish, we could never learn to truly love. Just as gravity is necessary to make rock climbing meaningful, having worldly appetites and passions make our choices meaningful. And, in both cases, making good choices leads to success.

Let’s review the analogy and take it a few steps further……

Gravity makes rock climbing meaningful The only way to learn to climb rocks is to climb them. Mistakes are inevitable while rock climbing and, because of gravity, mistakes can be fatal.   However, mistakes do not have to be fatal because rock climbers have safety ropes.

Opposition and carnality make mortality meaningful. The only way to get to where God is, is to go through mortality. Mistakes are inevitable while in mortality and, because God honors our choices, mortal mistakes can be eternally fatal   However mistakes made in mortality are not necessarily fatal because of Christ’s atonement. He is our safety net.

Just as in rock climbing people make stupid decisions, so do we in mortality. Just as in rock climbing, ropes protect climbers--if they choose to use them--so do covenants and commandments protect us--if we choose to use them. In rock climbing, not using ropes can have serious, permanent consequences. In life, mistakes can have serious and permanent consequences if we choose to ignore Christ.   His commandments and covenants are our safety net. If we fall, He will catch us--if we let Him. His atonement intervenes with gravity, so to speak. He does not eliminate gravity--it certainly still exists--but He comes between us and gravity, protecting us from its consequences.

Replace the word “gravity” with the word “justice”. Christ steps between us and justice--that is He extends mercy--when we turn to Him, when we accept His safety net.   What does accepting His safety net look like? Repentance, faith and trust, baptism, enduring to the end in following Him.

Christ is able to be our safety net because He paid the price for our sins and mistakes. And, as an extra bonus, He also experienced all the yuckiness associated with our “climb”---sickness, fatigue, discouragement, despair, betrayal, loneliness--so He knows perfectly, and empathetically, how to comfort and support us in our quest.

And it is the quest that makes the whole thing meaningful, in climbing and in life.   We are on a quest to become like our Father in Heaven. He is on the top of the cliff and He wants us to join Him. He loves us completely and thoroughly as only a God can. And, because He loves us so all-encompassingly, He wants us to have all that He has, to be able to do all that He does, to see and experience all that He experiences.   And, He knows that in order to do all that, to have all that, to BE all that, we must learn to climb the cliff.

The quest is get to the top of the cliff. It is gravity that makes the quest meaningful. And it is the ropes that make the quest possible.

The quest is to be like God. It is justice that makes the quest meaningful. And it is Christ that makes the quest possible.

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Sleep

1/6/2019

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They say you don't appreciate things until you lose them. I am really learning to appreciate a good night's sleep. Post surgery it was my knee that kept me awake. Finding a comfortable sleeping position when one knee does not straighten or bend without considerable pain is tricky. This past week a head cold has replaced knee pain as the sleep thief. No matter how much Nighttime NyQuil I take, my head seems to fill the moment I lay in on the pillow. Sleep has been very elusive. In a previous life (pre-December 10, 2018) I was mostly asleep at 9:30 p.m., no matter where I was or what I was doing. And I was completely asleep within 30 seconds of becoming horizontal, no matter what. Asleep. Gone. Period. Last night I was still wide awake at 3:00 a.m. YIKES! It is a nasty cold. Lance was down for 7 days and Miles missed 2 days of school.

Actually the cold is nasty and nice. Nasty in all the awful cold ways---stuffed sinuses, hacking cough, raw throat, aching joints, splitting headache---and nice in that it brought angels to our door. Sweet Sandy Sue delivered vitamin C and antioxidants in the form of oranges and blueberries (BLUEBERRIES!!) and then insisted on bringing dinner Wednesday. Thursday my parents brought us lunch from Great Harvest. Friday night Mom and Dad showed up with dinner again and while she was serving me, Mom said, "I have already decided what I am bringing you for dinner tomorrow." Today she asked if she could bring us dinner Monday and/or Tuesday. If it weren't for the nastiness of the cold, having a cold would be great.

May angels come to your door, may colds avoid your house, and may you enjoy a great night's sleep!

Teresa

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Bit-O-Honey

Watchman on the Tower

Rock Climbing and the Purpose of Life

Sleep

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