TREASURING the Scriptures

Treasuring the Word of God

"Saving the Book of Commandments." A Summary Story
In July 1833, people in Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, were angry with the Mormons and wanted them to leave. A mob broke into William W. Phelp's print shop and threw his printing press and printed pages out the window. The pages contained revelations given to the Prophet Joseph Smith that were to be bound into a book called the Book of Commandments. Two girls, Mary Elizabeth Rollins and her sister Caroline, were hiding nearby and decided to save as many pages as possible. They ran out, fill their arms with papers, and hid in a cornfield. The mob tried to find the girls but failed. The pages the girls saved and others were later used to make up copies of the Book of Commandments. Today the contents of this book are part of the Doctrine and Covenants.

My Thoughts:
This Church History story is quite a touching story, and independent of the story itself, it teaches other great principles, one of which to me is: What do you treasure in this life? What truly is important to you that if your home were on fire, besides family, what else would you save or have a great need to save.

I am reminded of a New Testament scripture in Matt 6:19-21 which reads: " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal; For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

What value do we place upon the word of God? Does His word have place in our hearts where a difference can be made in how we live and what we do? or Do we have hard hearts and the things of this world matter far more than the Living Water of the scriptures and where there is no place in us where there is room to plant this word?

There is much to think about with this picture. Maybe you could give some thought by taking a few moments each day to ponder and think upon what is of value to you most. You may find that over the years, your values may have changed, you heart may have become more hardened or more soft. Take some reflective time to ponder what you personally do truly treasure. You may find that a shift in your own value system has taken place, whether for the worse or for the better.

The pressures of this world and the values of man and society in general may have caused us to be something we would rather not be. Take time to reflect and ponder upon such valueable questions and see if that won't make a difference in your own life in helping you to determine truly what is of most value to you.

May I suggest that the Word of the Lord planted deeply in our hearts can and will take root and make a difference in how we are able to be who we want to be and live how we want to live, IF we choose to make room for these precious words.

My Christmas Thoughts

The Nativity
The Reason for the Season

My Thoughts: I love Christmas and every time the seasons begins, I always want to have the Christmas Spirit. I love the Savior who is the Light of the World. All good in the world comes because of the example he was. I am so grateful for GOOD!

I have a hard time getting and keeping that Christmas Spirit every year. Last year my sister in law sent me a book called: "A Christmas Treasury for Latter-day Saint Families" by Lloyd and Karmel Newell

I began that season by reading from the book and before long the Christmas feeling and Spirit seemed to be with me. I read a short story daily for nearly the entire holiday and what a difference it made for me in the season. I have so loved the feeling that it brought to me and into my heart. There is a "Reason for the Season."

So again this year I did the same thing. I have so loved it. I will share with you some short sayings that may make a difference for you in enjoying the holiday season as you maybe would like to.

Gratitude: No matter which holiday we're observing, gratitude can enrich every aspect of every celebration. We're happy when we're grateful.

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. Aesop

Simplicity: Sometimes our efforts to make Christmas "the most wonderful time of the year" have the reverse effect of making us feel stressed and overwhelmed. Learning to eliminate holiday hassle can begin with small changes like shopping early, shopping less, not over scheduling, trying to pause and relax, and saving time for expressions of love. Look back to pioneer Christmases reminds us how simple, yet satisfying, festivities can be.

Simplicity: We just need to simplify and remember what we are celebrating. Marjorie Hinckley

Compassion: One of the miracles of Christmas is that compassion pervades our hearts and homes more fully. We think of others more often, we do for others more readily. Imagine what could happen if this compassionate spirit were in our hearts always.

Compassion: As we open our hearts to others, kindness and compassion freely flow. George Albert Smith

Pres. Thomas S. Monson: "Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas Spirit. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than things. To catch the real meaning of the "spirit of Chrstmas," we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the "Spirit of Christ."

Time for a MORMON-AD

My Thoughts:
This particular MormonAd is one of my favorites. The picture is so telling of how life is. We have to be careful or we can be hurt; hurt is so many ways. The world is a hard place and sometimes it can be very overwhelming to try and handle our lives. If I walk the straight and narrow path, meaning keeping my life, my actions, and my thoughts in harmony with what the Savior would do and say, I can be safe in this world. It takes effort and a true desire to want that though, but the Savior is there if we reach out. The path back to God is straight, but how to get their is strait, meaning we can weave all over the board and still be heading straight. We just have to be like a ship coming into the strait, he has to maneuver very carefully every turn he makes so as to stay on course and eventually he will be docked. Such is the case for each one of us. We carefully maneuver our lives, through the smallest of actions, thoughts and deeds and eventually we will be docked where we want to be. Life with God!

LDS Church Magazines

I would now like to introduce to you the LDS Church Magazines. The church has the Ensign and the Liahona, which is international and which both are for adults. The next magazine is The New Era, which is geared towards the youth 12-18 years. The last is The Friend, which is geared for children. I have had these magazines in my home for years. I currently do not have the Friend as I no longer have children living at home. The magazine that I would like to spotlight in the next post is the"The New Era," aside from all the wonderful articles and a well layed out magazine, the page I love the most is "The New Era Poster." That is what it is called now, but from years past, it was called the MormonAd. I choose to keep calling it that. I have collected these MormonAds since the beginning of time, it seems like. I hope you will enjoy the MormonAd's that I scrapbook. It highlights a different AD that has been placed in the New Era magazine. I will share with you alot of my thoughts about each one in particular as I post them. I do hope that you can enjoy the truths of what they say and maybe it will make a difference in your life. These are good things to think about. You can subscribe to any or all of these magazines at http://lds.org.

God Speaks to man TODAY! pt. 1

God Speaks to man TODAY! pt. 2

SOIL vs SOUL~

CLICK here to enlarge

MY THOUGHTS:
I have been through so many trials and adversities in my life; some have been so very difficult and seem like they will never end. My insides have truly felt like this turned up soil, nothing feels right UNTIL I get through the trial. When I have passed through the trial, I then have noticed that my increase, not only to myself but to others is truly there. I feel more valuable to mankind because of what I have gone through and hopefully have been able to help make a difference in someone else's life. Oh the VALUE of trials!

WE BELIEVE: Fourth & Fifth Articles of Faith

CLICK images to enlarge

The fourth and fifth articles refer to our belief in the first principles of the gospel. They are faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance. We also learn that the first ordinances of the gospel are baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. These ordinances are bestowed by men “called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those” who have the authority to administer them (A of F 5).

We believe that from the very beginning the Lord established a plan for His children on earth. He would, in times and seasons, have the priesthood on earth to bless mankind with the authority to perform the sacred ordinances that would prove man’s obedience to His will. There were tests to be conducted as we progressed in each step towards achieving God’s greatest gift, the gift of life eternal. Fundamental, then, is having faith in His plan, in His law, to be clean and holy and to repent of our sins, and to partake of the sacred ordinance of baptism required for admission into His celestial kingdom. And after baptism to be given the great gift, that Comforter, to abide with us, to lead and guide and direct us as we progress through mortality—all of these done under the authority given to mankind from God. Each man who officiates can trace that authority directly back to the Lord Himself, who bestowed that right on mankind. by Elder L. Tom Perry

My Thoughts:
Christ's Church, as organized by himself, has outlined the way we are to live and how to be. He established that we must first have Faith in Him and then repent, because of that faith; he then said that with that repentance be baptized by immersion and then receive the Holy Ghost. All this was to be done by someone who had the authority given to him from God in order to do God's work in God's Church. Not just anyone could do it, he MUST have the authority to do so. These principles, faith and repentance and these ordinances, baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost, has been established as the pattern we must follow to put us on the path back to God.

To me there is so much comfort in knowing what I must do. There is no confusion in the matter and that I so much appreciate. It is very clear and concise, no questions at all. It all begins with a Belief or Faith in the One who is mighty to save, our Savior Jesus Christ!

LDS Gems!

We'd better want the consequences
of what we want!
(Ensign, November 1995, p. 23.)
Elder Neal A. Maxwell

My Thoughts:
Many people think that they can do anything in this world without having to pay a consequence for their choice. Consequences can be good as well as not so good. When you pick up one end of the stick, you also pick up the other. It might be a good idea to think all the way through to the end of the choice we are considering to make. If we like it, then go for it, if we don't, we may want to make a different choice. Thus, "we'd better want the consequences of what we want!"

WATCHEMEN on the tower: Our living Prophet and Apostles

Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Living Prophet, Seer and Revelator

Home and Family

"Perhaps most significant of all classrooms is the classroom of the home. It is in the home that we form our attitudes, our deeply held beliefs. It is in the home that hope is fostered or destroyed. Our homes are the laboratories of our lives. What we do there determines the course of our lives when we leave home. Dr. Stuart E. Rosenberg wrote in his book The Road to Confidence, 'Despite all new inventions and modern designs, fads and fetishes, no one has yet invented, or will ever invent, a satisfying substitute for one's own family.' "

WE BELIEVE: Third Article of Faith

CLICK to enlarge

The second and third articles announce our belief in the Atonement of our Lord and Savior, that through Him all mankind will be blessed with immortality [to live forever without ever having to die again along with having our body and spirit reunited, never to be separated again]. They state that we have the responsibility for accepting Him as our Savior, and we will only be responsible for our “own sins and not for Adam’s transgression.” Elder L. Tom Perry

MY THOUGHTS: I believe in the power of the Atonement which enables us to rise from the dead, reunited with our bodies and spirits, along with the possibility to live with God. This last part is conditioned upon our repentance and obedience to the Lord's gospel, ordinances and commandments that He established on the earth today; not by man's. Since the Savior paid the price, He has the right to establish the conditions and the 3rd Article of Faith clearly establishes the conditions, which, if followed, will enable us to be able to return one day and live with our Father in Heaven. The Atonement to me is truly Love and Mercy in action. "For God so loved the world [so much] that he gave His only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16. That scripture says it all to me. God loves me, the Savior loves me and if I believe and do what is required by accepting Christ and His gospel, I can return to live with God. This is so comforting to me. I just need to do the work.

Mormon Tabernacle Choir: I Believe in Christ

Words written by Bruce R. McConkie

Jesus Christ as told by Bruce R. McConkie--part 1

This was the last talk Elder McConkie gave as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was on the 6 Apr 1985. He passed away June 1985.

Jesus Christ as told by Bruce R. McConkie--part 2

Jesus Christ as told by Bruce R. McConkie--part 3

My Thoughts:
I heard this talk originally when Elder McConkie gave it in 1985. I have never forgotten it either. What he said penetrated my soul and shall never be removed. There is nothing anyone could say to me that could erase the feelings and knowledge that penetrated my soul when he spoke.

Have you ever not known and yet know? Well such was the case with me. When he spoke, my soul KNEW that he KNEW. I will always know that there is a Savior and Redeemer of World. At times when I have been down and have wondered, this soul penetrating experience that I felt in 1985 comes back to me and renews my faith and hope. That is the effect the Spirit has on one. Spirit speaks to Spirit and that cannot be easily removed. I KNOW my Savior Lives. I KNOW that He died to save me and everyone else in this world! Of this I know to be true with all my heart.

STORIES: Lessons Learned

3 Towels and .25 cent Newspaper

In 1955, after my freshman year of college, I spent the summer working at the newly opened Jackson Lake Lodge, located in Moran, Wyoming. My mode of transportation was a 14-year-old 1941 Hudson automobile that should have received its burial 10 years earlier. Among the car’s other identifying traits, the floorboards had rusted so badly that, if not for a piece of plywood, I could have literally dragged my feet on the highway. The positive is that unlike most 14-year-old cars in this time period, it used no oil—lots of water in the radiator, but no oil. I could never figure out where the water went and why the oil continually got thinner and thinner and clearer and clearer.

In preparation for the 185-mile (298-km) drive home at the end of the summer, I took the car to the only mechanic in Moran. After a quick analysis, the mechanic explained that the engine block was cracked and was leaking water into the oil. That explained the water and oil mystery. I wondered if I could get the water to leak into the gas tank; I would get better gasoline mileage.

Now the confession: after the miracle of arriving home, my father came out and happily greeted me. After a hug and a few pleasantries, he looked into the backseat of the car and saw three Jackson Lake Lodge towels—the kind you cannot buy. With a disappointed look he merely said, “I expected more of you.” I hadn’t thought that what I had done was all that wrong. To me these towels were but a symbol of a full summer’s work at a luxury hotel, a rite of passage. Nevertheless, by taking them I felt I had lost the trust and confidence of my father, and I was devastated.

The following weekend I adjusted the plywood floorboard in my car, filled the radiator with water, and began the 370-mile (595-km) round trip back to Jackson Lake Lodge to return three towels. My father never asked why I was returning to the lodge, and I never explained. It just didn’t need to be said. This was an expensive and painful lesson on honesty that has stayed with me throughout my life.

Sadly, some of the greatest missing values in today’s world are honesty and integrity. In the past few years an increasing number of business leaders have been exposed for dishonesty and other forms of bad behavior. As a result, tens of thousands of loyal, long-term employees have lost their livelihoods and pensions. For some this has resulted in loss of homes, change of education and other life plans. We read and hear of widespread cheating in our schools, with more concern about receiving a grade or degree than learning and preparation. We hear of students who have cheated their way through medical school and are now performing complicated procedures on their patients. The elderly and others are victims of scam artists, often resulting in the loss of homes or life savings. Always this dishonesty and lack of integrity are based on greed, arrogance, and disrespect.

Story by Bishop Richard C. Edgley, 1st Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric

Scripture Thought:
“Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight”
(Proverbs 12:22.)

My Thoughts:
There are values which have been in this world from the very creation. These are values which if honored help us to become a better person and one which, if honored, pleases God. What pleases God, should please us. Having morals and values which have been tried and tested and proven over the eons of times is what our lives should reflect. Trying to incorporate values when maybe it has not been role modeled in our lives can be a very difficult thing to do. But I know that when we do, we are a happier person. This happiness is what we all should seek for and that comes when we please God. There is a calm and peaceful feeling to one's soul as his life is in harmony with what God wants us to be. What He wants us to be is Happy and to have morals and values.

Like Bishop Edgley said, sometimes in order to learn the lessons of life which are extremely important to learn can be very painful and expensive. But in the end, if we have learned the value, we are the better for it. This lesson on honesty and integrity truly shows the value that was so strong in his home that was taught.

I believe that what is important to parents is often what becomes important to us, whether they have values or not, it oftentimes shows up in our own lives somehow.

The BREAD of LIFE

WE BELIEVE: Second Article of Faith

CLICK on image to enlarge

God has paid us the ultimate compliment: He holds us responsible and respects us as free, rational beings. He has given us this freedom through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The concepts of individual freedom and personal responsibility are at the very center of the Atonement. As Lehi [a prophet in the Book of Mormon] noted, the sacrifice of the Messiah removed from us the consequences of the Fall of Adam, which bound our bodies to death and our spirits to hell. Being redeemed from the Fall, we are “free forever, knowing good from evil; to act … and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day. … Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man” (2 Ne. 2:26–27). In the words of the second article of faith, “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.”
By: Elder Robert S. Wood, March 2002 Ensign

My Thoughts:
To be free and to have choice is a great freedom we have and it is God-given. Because someone made the choice to partake of the fruit of the tree, Adam, we his posterity, are NOT responsible for that choice. The Atonement of Christ took care of that. The thing that we must remember though is that we ARE responsible for our own choices. I have so appreciated the fact that I don't have to bear the responsibility of the choices of another, only for my own and through the atonement of Christ, I can repent and be forgiven for those choices I have made. I don't have to repent or be reponsible for something that I did not do, namely Adam's choice.

WATCHMEN on the Tower: Our Living Prophet & Apostles

How fragile life, how certain death. We do not know when we will be required to leave this mortal existence. And so I ask, "What are we doing with today?"

President Thomas S. Monson, prophet, seer, and revelator

Keeping Scripture Study Alive

Scripture study can be a hard thing to do regularly and understanding what is being said as well. I have made it a habit to study. Studying daily over the years has helped me to understand the scriptures better than when I first began. As I live the kind of life that our Savior has asked us to do, I qualify for an even greater understanding through the promptings of the Spirit, for which I would be lost without.

The Church admonishes us to read daily from our scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon.

I have thoroughly loved reading the scriptures
over the years. In addition to the Bible, we also have the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. I read daily from any of the above books and record those things that the Lord is trying to each me. I so love immersing myself into the scriptures. At the bottom of our scriptures there are footnotes that helps me to understand more of what I am reading and it cross references all the other books.

I found this quote by President Kimball, one of our past prophets who has since passed away. I have experienced what he has said and know that it is true. Immersing is the answer!

Our church uses the King James version of the Bible.

CLICK on image to enlarge

August Visiting Teaching Message

I have finished the Visiting Teaching message for August. Do hope that you enjoy it. It speaks for itself. If you would like to have the complete article, as this is only an excerpt of it, you can find it online at LDS.org>gospel library>Magazines>Ensign

CLICK on image to view in a larger format

WE BELIEVE: First Article of Faith

I am now doing a series on the 13 Articles of Faith of our Church. These 13 Articles of Faith will tell you just what we believe in in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. These 13 Articles of Faith will be known as the "WE BELIEVE" Series. More will follow until all 13 have been made published here and spoken about.


The first article anchors our belief in God, our Eternal Father, in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. How grateful we are for a knowledge of Supreme Beings that rule and govern this world. Our belief does not come from the speculations of men about the existence and nature of God, but from firsthand experience from the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. His experience clarified for mankind the existence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Thus to the world came the vision that three personages comprise this great presiding council of the universe and have revealed themselves to mankind as three separate beings, physically distinct from each other as demonstrated by the accepted records of their divine dealings with mankind. Elder L. Tom Perry

My Thoughts:
GOD: I have been taught and many of you may have been as well to pray to God. Everytime that I kneel down to pray, I could not imagine trying to pray to a being that cannot be comprehended, that does not have a body, parts, or passions. Who and what would I be praying to? An object? Because of my understanding of this beautiful Article of Faith and my own testimony that there are 3 separate Beings that govern the universes and galaxies as innumerable as they may be, that when I pray to God, my Father, I know that He is there and that he listens and answers my prayers.

JESUS CHRIST: Christ has asked us to follow Him and try to be as much like Him as possible. He knew that we would make mistakes, He also knew that some of us would simply do wrong and bad things by choice. Through His atonement the wonderful blessing that has come to mankind has been the fact that mercy was granted to us by giving up the opportunity to repent of those things that we have done that have been wrong and a universal resurrection for all mankind, which is freely given.

I have come to know that through the process of repenting that my guilt was swept away. Something that can only come through our Savior's atonement. Not having to live with guilt is such a wonderful thing and one can experience that through proper repentance and taking advantage of the Savior's mercy at this time.

HOLY GHOST: The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit. Through Him we can feel comforted, receive guidance in daily living, be taught by Him to our hearts as we have an open heart and learn and know truth. When one is baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, following baptism, one receives the Gift of the Holy Ghost. We are admonished to listen to this "still small voice" which can only be heard as we live righteously. When we do wrong, He withdraws his spirit from us and we are left along. Having him help to guide our lives is probably one of the best friends one can have!

We are admonished to take the spirit to be our guide for our lives. This I have tried to do. I am the happiest when I have listened to the Spirit.

Stories: Lessons Learned

"A matter of a few degrees"
Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

In 1979 a large passenger jet with 257 people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight coordinates by a mere two degrees. This error placed the aircraft 28 miles (45 km) to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. As they approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither had made this particular flight before, and they had no way of knowing that the incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m).

As the pilots flew onward, the white of the snow and ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds above, making it appear as though they were flying over flat ground. By the time the instruments sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward them, it was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board.

It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor error--a matter of only a few degrees.

Moral of the story: Through years of serving the Lord and in countless interviews, I have learned that the difference between happiness and misery in individuals, in marriages, and families often comes down to an error of only a few degrees.

My Thoughts: What I have learned over the years myself about stories and lessons learned, is that oftentimes if one will learn from the lessons of another many times heart ache and adversity can and may be avoided. But I do recognize that some people simply have to experience for themselves in order to learn!

Visiting Teaching

Once a month we as sisters in the Church visit teach 2-4 other sisters. We go to their homes, see how they are doing, help and serve them in anyway that we can and we also leave a message. This usually takes anywhere from 15 min. to 30 min tops. It is a way to get out of my home and help and visit others.

Once a month the Church has a Visiting Teaching message. This is the message that we give to the sisters that we are assigned to. I do alot of scrapbooking and each month I scrapbook a portion of the message to highlight. Here is that portion for July's message.
The title of the message for the month is at the top.

CLICK on image to enlarge and read

The Sacred Grove

My beliefs in my religion, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" began here, "The Sacred Grove."

The caption under the picture reads:
"What happened here changed the world. Let it change your life."

I would really like to have a discussion from people who are truly searching for something in their life. I am not looking for argument at all. I simply want to share what I know and if it can apply to you, then you can partake of it as well. It HAS changed my life and I am a happy contented person because of it.

CLICK on image to enlarge