More Lessons from Jacob Chapter 5

26 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto the servant: Pluck off the branches that have not brought forth good fruit, and cast them into the fire.
 
27 But behold, the servant said unto him: Let us prune it, and dig about it, and nourish it a little longer, that perhaps it may bring forth good fruit unto thee, that thou canst lay it up against the season.

If ever, or whenever I may encounter those whose desires or qualities may not be conducive to progression in any righteous form, the lesson for me is this: wait a little longer. Nourish with spirituality  positivity, faith, hope, a little more. Ensure you don't leave until you have done what you can to help then feel God's love.

35 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: The tree profiteth me nothing, and the roots thereof profit me nothing so long as it shall bring forth evil fruit.

36 Nevertheless, I know that the roots are good, and for mine own purpose I have preserved them; and because of their much strength they have hitherto brought forth, from the wild branches, good fruit.

Don't judge people purely by their fruits. Sure, "by their fruits, ye shall know them" but you can never predict their potential in perfect perspective.

I propose that, like unto the lord of the vineyard and his servants, we are to keep nourishing roots, even unseen roots (this is the role that faith plays here) that can bring forth future joy!

47 But what could I have done more in my vineyard? Have I slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it, and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard, and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has corrupted my vineyard?

Can I say similarly of the things in my control in life? Have I not slackened my hand? Have I diligently given my all?

What's Important?

Words of David A Bednar, answering a father and husband's question:

In the midst of all that hustle and bustle, we make time for what really matters. All of us have said “well I just don’t have time” and that’s not true. Each of us has all the time that there is. 

And so if we say “well I didn’t have time to read the scriptures and study or to have family prayer,” it’s not true. We just didn’t think it was important. Something else was more important. So, in terms of making sure that we – in the midst of all the hectic activity – can return to the appropriate focus, we just need to put Him first. And that’s in our hearts, it’s not just in our head, in our hearts. And some of the things that are nice but not necessary will kind of fall away to make sure we have the time to really feast upon His words, and to feel His words in the scriptures. That’s different from just reading, and even studying. To really talk with our Father. So, we all know the Sunday School answers about scripture study and prayer, but they’re right. They’re accurate. 

I don’t care how hectic or how busy we are. There’s sufficient time to be able to have that experience in the scriptures and in prayer every day. And if we’re not, I think there are lots of excuses. But the ultimate reason is, “we don’t think it’s that important.”

Quality Baptisms

President Boyd K Packer gave a speech to the BYU community on the topic of Self Reliance.

Though, one of his experiences emphasised to me a particularly important principle we are to remember when performing missionary work on behalf of the Lord.

Here are his words.

If you’re in need, it is quite in order for you to turn first to your family, and then to the Church. Because of the probability that some may join the Church for the material security they think they will find here, missionaries are counseled not to emphasize the Church welfare program in their proselyting. I met an investigator once in New Hampshire who was joining the Church for just that reason. He told me how impressed he was with the welfare program and how much he wanted that security. I told him, “Yes, by all means, if you know about the welfare program, join the Church for that reason. We need all of the help we can get, and you shall be called upon continually to contribute to the welfare of others.” His enthusiasm for baptism faded immediately.

(Self Reliance, Boyd K Packer)

President Packer desired that this curious investigator of the true church join The Church for reasons of truth and righteousness.

And so, needless to say, President Packer was content that the spirit of giving and service was communicated to this individual. Yet of course, not content that this man did not allow this Spirit to inspire and change him for the better.

Reflections on Valentine's Day and True Love

A wise and educated friend asked me this question:

"So what have you learned about true love?"

I had never before thought to place my recent experiences into organized thoughts or compiled writings. Yet, my experiences are never to be forgotten.

She gave me ample time for silence and ponderation, as I reflected on said experiences. One could paint a picture of myself as Mister Thinker sitting in a comfortable chair.

I verbally expressed my thoughts and feelings in dot-point form, with silences filled with pondering between each point:

• The giving and receiving of love varies between God, family, a girlfriend, etc.

• True Love embraces the whole person for who he or she is - flaws, strengths and all.

• Love looks for and aims toward nourishing the potential of the other.

• Love involves being vulnerable to whatever the relationship brings.

• Love is empathizing.

• Love is the sharing of experiences, emotions, thoughts, fears, joys, and more, together.

• Loving involves forgiveness in advance.

• Love fosters wisdom and bridles passions.

• Love lasts forever, including times of dark unknowns and lots of questions.

• Love seeks the happiness of the other and finds happiness in theirs.

• Love seeks to support the other in the achievement of the other's goals and dreams.

• Love grows as it is given away.

• Love understands and knows the Achilles' Heal of their loved one, and seeks to protect it.

• Love keeps watching for times when the loved one's Plimsoll Mark is sinking below or approaching the water. They seek to correctly gauge when their beloved is becoming pressured, uncomfortable, stressed, or otherwise.

• Love is the sharing of oneself totally. It is the holding on to each other and jumping into the pool together, not the dipping of feet in the water. It is the sharing of dreams, goals, wishes, fears, concerns, anxieties, loves, joys, passions – all that they are.
• Love is filled with communication throigh words, affection, shared experience, discussion, understanding, empathy, kindness.

This is not all I believe, and it is not all that I will know and learn in life - I look forward to learning more and more about love.

May we all discover the magic and marvel of true love from God, from family, from relationships, and from ourselves.

Four Simple Daily Habits

Sister Dalton requested that the young adults do “four things, 100 percent, every day” as part of the “strict training rules” required to finish life’s race:

• Pray morning and night
• Read the Book of Mormon for at least five minutes
• Obey strictly the commandments and standards in For the Strength of Youth, and 
• Smile—P.R.O.S.

Sounds simple enough for me.

https://www.lds.org/church/news/speaker-gives-four-training-rules-for-young-adults-life-race?lang=eng

How to Live

 “Live your lives so that when you need a blessing from Heavenly Father, you can receive it out of your righteousness, not His mercy.”

- Elder Gordon B Hinckley

Quote of the Day - An Eternity of Time

“Jesus had not finished his work when his body was slain, neither did he finish it after his resurrection from the dead; although he had accomplished the purpose for which he then came to the earth, he had not fulfilled all his work. And when will he? Not until he has redeemed and saved every son and daughter of our father Adam that have been or ever will be born upon this earth to the end of time, except the sons of perdition. That is his mission. We will not finish our work until we have saved ourselves, and then not until we shall have saved all depending upon us; for we are to become saviors upon Mount Zion, as well as Christ. We are called to this mission.”

The Brilliant morning of Forgiveness, Boyd K Packer, 1995 October General Conference

Every Soul...

A friend I recently made had posted this video on Facebook - I love it!



In your day to day business, have you ever counted how many people you walk past, or see each day?

It amazes me to think that my fellow students at university are the very souls I stood beside, arm in arm, against Satan in the war that began in Heaven.

Now, having passed through the veil of forgetfulness, us members pass hundreds of souls in our lives.

It takes a missionary spirit, a vision of the Father's Plan, and great love for us to know how to reach out to the people we meet each day. They need the gospel just as much as we do. They fought for agency and potential exaltation in the Pre-earth life as we did. They will one day stand accountable for their lives as we all will.

Let's be prayerful about how we interact with those around us.

Slashing Tyres?

I have often pondered this saying:

I laughed in agreement when I read this quote. I believe many of you will agree with it.

If I were to be a little critical of this quote, other than pointing out the misspelling of tyres, I might say it this way:

"Getting angry at others because of a setback is like slashing your other three tyres because you got a flat."

"Throwing the plant away because it won't give fruit in a week is like slashing your other three tyres because you got a flat."

"You got a flat tyre... did you forget that God has a storage of infinite spare tyres?"

Of course, with whatever decisions we are to make, we are to follow the guidance of the Spirit, the words of the prophets, the counsel of our leaders and be making our own observant and hypothesising judgments along the way.


Now, do the scriptures teach this same principle, that we should not add to our own problems by slashing tyres? It's like the man who said "Oh, I burnt my hand on the stove! I might as well burn my other hand."

"And Samuel said unto the people, fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart" (1 Samuel 12:20).

This shows that though wickedness may disqualify someone from entering the Lord's house or partaking of His sacrament, no one is so unworthy that they are not allowed serve God. With regard to callings, wicked behaviour may place the calling in question due to influencing the Lord's people the wrong way, but never am I so unworthy before God that I cannot donate to the poor, feed the hungry, attend to the needy and liberate captives.

Moral of the story: don't always throw broken things away.