For selling and undigested discord often belches forth bitter words when in the venom of intimate conversation with a present friend hatred at its rawest is breathed out upon an absent enemy.
She never said anything to either about the other save what would help to reconcile them.
We refrain from exciting or increasing wrath among men by evil speaking, but that we study to extinguish wrath by kind speaking.
Is it really possible for people to desire to be alone? Or is it more to be away from someone? Or is it that when you are told in an explaination that they just wanted to be alone, they are just trying to justify their own malicious actions, by saying it was an inocent desire versus the abhorrent deed they actually did. When someone truly desires to be alone they don't burn and damn everyone on their way there! How insightful is the Savior's actions when he desired to be alone after learning that His beloved friend John had been murdered. He shaught a far off place, time to speak with His Father, and maybe more; but a crowd pressed Him. He as the Savior could have walked away, anyone could have walked away, but He didn't He saw their need for Him and had commpasion on them.
These are the types of friends i want and maybe i've been looking in the wrong place for them. I'm the type of person that really dosnt get "tired" of being with or around people, I love to be around them and share experiences and to be a shoulder to lean on in times of need, I'm always constant in these regards I never change, but I think I expect this of others as well. Or at least the notion of desire and attempt, or gratitude. But these are often missed and not found. I hope I never fall into the category of hypocrite in this regard for I know what it feels like to be on the losing side.
There are many times in my life that constant things seem to get in the way of new things. For example i visit family on Sundays at 5 and leave my roommates. Almost every time i go my roommates have some grand party and end up home after my dinner alone. I think to myself is this 5oClock thing working. So i don't go one week and i get shafted! Then i realize why i love my cousins so much--they are constant, they love me for who i am and constantly share how much they love me and are glad that i come! Dose anyone know how nice it is to feel needed and loved, desired and wanted!? They never changes they are always there and always will be, they are the people i need to show my last measure of devotion and my first for that matter.
Be constant, be true, be a true friend and even when ones life is horrible take time on your way to solitude to comfort those compel you along the way. Then when it's time for you to be comforted the greater blessing will be yours. There will also be those there to pick you up when you fall for they will be the ones you have helped when they were down. And if at all else the Savior will see and reward thee openly and will pick you up personally when your down. For Blessed are the Merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
So back to the whole, looking in the wrong place, i know that we are never alone because the Savior paid such a heavy price so completely alone. I know that when we feel utterly alone it's because we have forgotten to listen to His voice and that as we pray we are granted peace, our winds and storm cease.
Like the blind healed with clay, a day that was ruff became a day that was just as great! I was granted a new view of my world, a view in which included the power of the Savior and His loving kindness and grace.
It's interest how one can think a random person in a computer lab is a complete load mouth and wish they would just leave, only then to get to know them and find out that they are really cool!
I had this experience this week someone that i have seen for two years in the lab i now his name and his friendship.
Jason -- CS235 & CS236
Just took time to meet with a student in the hall and share a little council about the classes he was taking in the cs program.
Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
While walking to school on yesterday, a class mate from my Shakespeare class recognized me and walked over to say hi. He was headed to the library and i was headed to the JFSB our paths were similar but different. In light of this project i followed him and went with him twain. While we walked we talked about school and how he wants to become a principle of a High School some day and how his wife teaches also. He stated that if there kids were not smart, it would be a bad thing, this really made me laugh!
We also talked about how weird it was for me to be talking two in depth English classes while studying computer science. It was just fun to have a friend and to walk with him, when usually i would not have.
Also last night i spent most of the night hanging out with my roommates, being a poor sport at Settlers of Katan if that is even how you spell it...lol, i'm not so good at losing--even when it's the first time i have ever played!! LOL But this experience was a lot of fun, my roommates even had to pull the be a good sport talk, yeah it was that bad!! No, it was just fun to waste time with friends. We're all tied together and hooked to the same line, share the burdon together, the view and the climb, then one will share the view.
Matt16: 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon thisarock I will build my bchurch; and the gates of chell shall notdprevail against it.
I loved the simple truth that the gospel and specifically the church of Jesus Christ is built on the foundation of Revelation. The greatest truth to me and most often the most looked over is my ability to talk directly to my Heavenly Father. But talking to God however is not as grand as the ability to hear His voice in return. The miracle of revelation, of the power and gift of the Holy Ghost and of Sacred Houses of Prayer.
I had been having a really hard time, school and all of its demands have be become taskmasters with burdens and requests to hard to bear. In addition to school the world has also made it claim on my debt and requires it due, as i have been scheduled for interviews for work and dreams. In all of this i can assure anyone i have felt like the dust of the earth! How horrifying it is to realize my dreams are in the hands of other men!
Then in this moment of shear despair and gloom, prayers were answer with pleas to go to the temple and hear the voice of the Lord there! I did go despite all hell, the line in which i waited seemed like it would take an eternity and yet as i sat in sorrowing prayer, in the storm of the century, peace was given, revelation received and council was given! As i have continued the week those feeling i remember and professors have been scheduled for students that don't attend and i get there spot, just when needed, home evening lessons were given with the words that i needed to hear, and a kind word given in a moment of despair . God hears and ANSWERS prayers of this i know. I pray that i will ever be mindful of this true doctrine and principle and that i will be for fervent and sincere in my prayers, may God bless you, In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
In this story there are a few characters:
The Good Samaritan
A Certain Man
Thieves
A Priest
A Levite
The Inn Keeper
The Beast
There are a host of applications for these different roles and for any given moment in our lives ones life, one could play any one of them. One could be the Priest or the Levite looking on the man only as one passes the other side. One would be going through life not looking for others to help or up lift or waving only at moments to serve as they pass one by. One could be the Inn Keeper; one would house the man, tend to him and watch over him till all is well or the Samaritan comes back. One would be taking every opportunity to fellowship those brought to the church, or to be a friend to one introduced. One would watch over and care for those put into your command. One would do faithfully one's home teaching and visit those in one stewardship. One could be the Beast and carry those found to a safe place. One would be a missionary. Or the most striking one could be a Thief plundering along the way...
This is the one that truly caught my ear today. There have been so many times in my life that i have striven to make new friends, ones that are deep and last. While creating these friends i have often times been left behind...while walking to church, when they create parties with their old friends, or even just walking to campus. In these moments life sucks!! So i had an interesting experience...while walking to school today i waited for my roommates. We set out together but while traversing the extensive parking lot across from the Wilk my roommates set out in a different direction, they were quickly lost in the sea of cars. For some reason in that moment every past fear of mine came to chilling life, the horrors of the past seemed destined to darken my sky, grip my throat and leave me utterly empty and alone. I'd been left again. It seemed fate had dealt my untimely hand.
It was then i had desired to be the robber, it fight back with all i had. I felt that i had been robbed and left by the wayside. I felt that since i had been robbed, hurt that i would do the same to them. If this was life it would be better to be on the Thief's end. Why strive to make friends, why say kind words, why waste your time with others when they will only rob it from you and leave one with nothing in return.
Thankfully however that is not were this story ends, in that moment of pain i heard a voice, a familiar voice, one warm and kind...It called my name and petitioned "wait up". No words brought greater joy to me than these, this day... When i felt stripped and by the way side, he stopped for me this day...
For me it was something big, for me it was a tender mercy, to others it might have been a joke. But to me it was a big deal!
My roommate could very easily have just when his way wondering why i had speed off and even he himself felt scorned but instead he cared by the wayside.
I pray that i may never in though, word, or exempt play the role of the robber. Even when i feel that i have been the first wronged. Spend less time as the robber, the priest, and the Levite.
It was really fun today! Two girls that i have met through the semester said hi as i entered class today in New Testament. This is one of the first times that my brief encounters have turned into subsequent conversations.
Katie and I talked about the fun plans that we had over the weekend and for future weekends as well as how she loved her hicks of Timp.
It just cool to walk into a class in which you formerly knew no one and now have a couple that say hi when they see you. Life is Good!
Even if you cannot always see that silver lining on your clouds, God can, for He is the very source of the light you seek. He does love you, and He knows your fears. He hears your prayers. He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed.
No, it is not without a recognition of life’s tempests but fully and directly because of them that I testify of God’s love and the Savior’s power to calm the storm. Always remember in that biblical story that He was out there on the water also, that He faced the worst of it right along with the newest and youngest and most fearful. Only one who has fought against those ominous waves is justified in telling us—as well as the sea—to “be still.” 8 Only one who has taken the full brunt of such adversity could ever be justified in telling us in such times to “be of good cheer.” 9 Such counsel is not a jaunty pep talk about the power of positive thinking, though positive thinking is much needed in the world. No, Christ knows better than all others that the trials of life can be very deep and we are not shallow people if we struggle with them. But even as the Lord avoids sugary rhetoric, He rebukes faithlessness and He deplores pessimism. He expects us to believe!
Because Christ’s eyes were unfailingly fixed on the future, He could endure all that was required of Him, suffer as no man can suffer except it be “unto death,” 11 as King Benjamin said, look upon the wreckage of individual lives and the promises of ancient Israel lying in ruins around Him and still say then and now, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 12 How could He do this? How could He believe it? Because He knows that for the faithful, things will be made right soon enough. He is a King; He speaks for the crown; He knows what can be promised. He knows that “the Lord … will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. … For the needy shall not alway[s] be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.” 13 He knows that “the Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” He knows that “the Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.”
Yet in my mind’s eye, for just an instant, I thought perhaps I saw on that side road an old car with a devoted young wife and two little children making the best of a bad situation there. Just ahead of them I imagined that I saw a young fellow walking toward Kanarraville, with plenty of distance still ahead of him. His shoulders seemed to be slumping a little, the weight of a young father’s fear evident in his pace. In the scriptural phrase his hands did seem to “hang down.” 15 In that imaginary instant, I couldn’t help calling out to him: “Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it—30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.”
I testify that God lives, that He is our Eternal Father, that He loves each of us with a love divine. I testify that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son in the flesh and, having triumphed in this world, is an heir of eternity, a joint-heir with God, and now stands on the right hand of His Father. I testify that this is Their true Church and that They sustain us in our hour of need—and always will, even if we cannot recognize that intervention. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come. Of that I personally attest. I thank my Father in Heaven for His goodness past, present, and future, and I do so in the name of His Beloved Son and most generous high priest, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
“Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people. … Stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
–President Gordon B. Hinckley
1 And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was ain the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he apreached the word unto them.
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was aborne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be aforgiven thee.
We know what happens next... this man thus speak blasphemies? ...Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk?
I love this idea...how oft we tend to look at this story and say to ourselves, the miracle is coming... and hold our breaths till the Master speaks His words...I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house.
However, i loved the idea, "Guys the miracle has already happened, did you miss it!?" What is the real miracle?
Thy sins be forgiven thee.
The wonderful Miracle of forgiveness! I have messed up, i have fallen short, i have hurt other people, we all have, not one is perfect. Yet here were i stand i would hold the full judgement of law, the full punishment against those who trespass me, for they have done me wrong, but He take me, a sinner, wrong, unprofitable, and broken -- and make me clean, justifies, concentrates, and makes whole. --Hear the words my son thy sins be forgiven thee, thy faith hath made thee whole. I truly know not how this miracle is done! His love and kindness pass all my understanding, and if i could not have the testimony of the scriptures and the spirit i could never believe it. But He Lives, the spirit whispers so! And His power to heal and cleanse is real and in effect today if we will but ask and exercise faith in His word--follow His Gospel. What peace it brings to know there is a way back, and that there will always be a way back. Truly He does carry us! How this knowledge increases my love for the Savior and His Atonement and how it gives me strength to do better, be better, and serve Him. May we ever follow His way, take His yoke upon us, and keep His commandments is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Met Forest! During the priesthood session of conference i went for a little adventure, you see all of my roommates had left to their respective families and it was just me in the house. Being in Provo for priesthood for the first time is a little different, for some reason all the other session are easy to get to, one is either home, with friends, or at the bishop's, but when it comes to priesthood it is only certain chapels and no one talks about it. Go figure! So what did i do, i pick the closes chapel i knew and gave it a shot! Well it worked, but once there i had a decision to make take the back row by myself or look for a seat up front, i choose up front thanks once again to this project and the idea of being social. That is when i met Forest, awesome man! He is in the ROTC here and working hard by the looks of him. We talked just the five minutes before conference started--the subject facial hair--men really don't like to shave...lol.. It was good felt like i made a new friend though brief.
For selling and undigested discord often belches forth bitter words when in the venom of intimate conversation with a present friend hatred at its rawest is breathed out upon an absent enemy.
Also last night i spent most of the night hanging out with my roommates, being a poor sport at Settlers of Katan if that is even how you spell it...lol, i'm not so good at losing--even when it's the first time i have ever played!! LOL But this experience was a lot of fun, my roommates even had to pull the be a good sport talk, yeah it was that bad!! No, it was just fun to waste time with friends. We're all tied together and hooked to the same line, share the burdon together, the view and the climb, then one will share the view.
I had been having a really hard time, school and all of its demands have be become taskmasters with burdens and requests to hard to bear. In addition to school the world has also made it claim on my debt and requires it due, as i have been scheduled for interviews for work and dreams. In all of this i can assure anyone i have felt like the dust of the earth! How horrifying it is to realize my dreams are in the hands of other men!
Then in this moment of shear despair and gloom, prayers were answer with pleas to go to the temple and hear the voice of the Lord there! I did go despite all hell, the line in which i waited seemed like it would take an eternity and yet as i sat in sorrowing prayer, in the storm of the century, peace was given, revelation received and council was given! As i have continued the week those feeling i remember and professors have been scheduled for students that don't attend and i get there spot, just when needed, home evening lessons were given with the words that i needed to hear, and a kind word given in a moment of despair . God hears and ANSWERS prayers of this i know. I pray that i will ever be mindful of this true doctrine and principle and that i will be for fervent and sincere in my prayers, may God bless you, In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
During the priesthood session of conference i went for a little adventure, you see all of my roommates had left to their respective families and it was just me in the house. Being in Provo for priesthood for the first time is a little different, for some reason all the other session are easy to get to, one is either home, with friends, or at the bishop's, but when it comes to priesthood it is only certain chapels and no one talks about it. Go figure! So what did i do, i pick the closes chapel i knew and gave it a shot! Well it worked, but once there i had a decision to make take the back row by myself or look for a seat up front, i choose up front thanks once again to this project and the idea of being social. That is when i met Forest, awesome man! He is in the ROTC here and working hard by the looks of him. We talked just the five minutes before conference started--the subject facial hair--men really don't like to shave...lol.. It was good felt like i made a new friend though brief.
