2 Nephi 10-13

Quote "I can visualize an army of righteous youth prepared and worthy to attend the temple. I can see families sealed together for eternity. I can see youth who understand what it means to be 'saviours...on mount Zion.' I can see youth whose hearts are turned to their fathers. And I can envision youth growing up in such a way that they will come forth from the temples filled with strength to resist worldly pressures. I can see a generation of youth who will 'stand...in holy places, and be not moved.'"

~ Sister Elaine S. Dalton

Question "Why do you think Isaiah compares the temple to a mountain?

I have to base this with the fact that Isaiah is very difficult to understand, since he speaks in apocolyptic form. I need to get me a copy of "Isaiah for Dummies"....at least I think I've seen that before. I can understand small parts, then it will go on to talk about things, I truly don't understand. This is why I am so grateful to have the Book of Mormon. As much as I love the Bible, if it was all we had, it would be much more difficult to understand the truth!

2 Nephi 8-9

Quote "Keeping everything in balance can be a real problem...Often the lack of clear direction and goals can waste away our time and energy and contribute to imbalance in our lives...Our main goal should be to seek "immortality and eternal life." With this as our goal, why not eliminate from our lives the things that clamor for and consume our thoughts, feelings, and energies without contributing to our reaching that goal?"

~ Elder M. Russell Ballard

Question "How do you spend your time, money and energy?"

How do I spend my time, money and energy???? Well, let's just say that I won't be lifted up to join the city of Enoch any time soon. :) I definitely have struggled keeping everything in "balance" as the quote above says.

Time wise, I could be a lot more efficient, and a lot more conscience of my spiritual goals....have a waaayyyys to go with the time thing....but at least I can admit I have a problem...and that is the first step! :)

Money? Well, I have been fortunate enough to have had enough financial troubles, that even though a part of me will always want to have nicer things, and more things, the majority of me has learned enough lessons, and realized that those things DO NOT bring the most happiness. I'm sure I still have plenty to learn, but I feel pretty good about trying not to just spend on frivolous things. Maybe when I have more money, this will be harder, however, I hope that I'm strong enough that "worldly purchases" won't be such a huge dilemma.

Energy....hmmm....definitly lacking in this one! I am so tired most of the time, so I have to really try to spend my energy doing the most important things on my list....I sort of grew up this way. My family calls this "crisis management". Or in other words "the squeaky wheel gets the oil". When I have 100 things on my to-do list and enough energy to do 5 of them, I have to prioritize. Sometimes, this leaves important things lacking, but hey, all we can do is try our best, right?

2 Nephi 4-7

Quote "No father, no son, no mother, no daughter should get so busy that he or she does not have time to study the scriptures and the words of modern prophets. None of us should get so busy that we crowd out contemplation and praying."

~ President Spencer W. Kimball

Question "What is it that brings a person to love the scriptures?

For me, the answer is the Spirit. I feel the Spirit when I read my scriptures, and I love to feel the Spirit, so naturally, I want to read them more. I think also, when you read them, and you see similarities of things you might be going through or feeling, and it gives you comfort to know that there is somewhere you can go to help give you answers, or that you are not alone in your own trials. I also have to say that when I read certain stories, for instance, about Captain Moroni, and the 2,000 stripling warriors, I just love them so much, and I love the stories about them. Learning to love and appreciate the prophets, and what they went through, makes me love the scriptures even more!

PS ~ I found this quote ironic, since yesterday was Easter Sunday, and I was too busy to blog this yesterday. hahaha....that's why I'm doing this to learn to be better! (I guess I have a loooonnng way to go)

2 Nephi 2-3

Quote "Happiness is the object and design of our existence; and will be the end thereof, if we pursue the path that leads to it; and this path is virtue, uprightness, faithfulness, holiness, and keeping all the commandments of God."

~ Joseph Smith

Question "What brings you true happiness?"

Joseph Smith already said it best in the above quote. The only "real" happiness comes from the Lord, and in keeping His commandments.

I think that it is hard for people in this world to feel real happiness, and only catch glimpses of it throughout their lives. There are many who battle depression, and those that are physically, spiritually, and emotionally suffering.....can they be "happy"? I'm not sure if complete "true" happiness exists on this earth, or if there are just moments where we feel it.....but I know with all my heart, that after this life, we will know "true" happiness. Just the thought of seeing my Savior, face to face, to see & feel how much He loves me, it makes me happy just thinking of throwing my arms around Him, and thanking Him for all He has done for me.

To those that are suffering at the hands of others I would quote Lehi "...And behold, in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren. Nevertheless....thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for they gain."

Because of the gift of free agency, I've always compared happiness and misery to a balance. The more suffering and misery you encounter, the greater joy and happiness you can feel. Just like Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden before they partook of the forbidden fruit didn't know how wonderful it was, until they were thrown out into the dreary world. Through our ability to overcome sorrow and pain, also comes the ability to feel greater joy and appreciation for the blessings around us. I don't know if everyone feels like that or not, but in my family growing up, we suffered many things, and I have learned to enjoy that which is good in any situation, because of those things.

I try to be a happy person every day, some days I am more successful than others. But it gives me comfort to know through the hard times, that my Heavenly Father WANTS me to be HAPPY!

1 Nephi 22 - 2 Nephi 1

Quote "If Satan could but capture our minds, he would have won the battle and the war. He can only do this if we let him. If we refuse to walk with him, he will have no power over us, for God gave us our free agency and Satan cannot take it away. So what I am suggesting is that we refuse to even walk on the same street with Satan. In other words, not only should we avoid evil, we should avoid the very appearance of evil."

~Bishop Victor L. Brown

Question "How can Satan be bound in his efforts to influence you?"

I would love to say that living righteously is the way to bind Satan in his influence over me....but from my experience, the more I try to do what's right, and keep the commandments, Satan tries even harder to influence me. If I were righteous enough I suppose, maybe it wouldn't even be an issue, but unfortunately, I've never reached that point. I will say, however, that keeping the commandments offer us more protection from Satan, so even though he may be trying to influence us, we are better prepared to defeat him. So, keeping the commandments is really the only way to keep Satan from influencing our every action.

Today's reading made me sad. For the state of our great Nation is in peril. In 2 Nephi 1:10 Lehi says "But behold, when the time cometh that they shall dwindle in unbelief, after they have received so great blessings from the hand of the Lord - having a knowledge of the creation of the earth, and all men, knowing the great and marvelous works of the Lord from the creation of the world; having power given them to do all things by faith; having all the commandments from the beginning, and having been brought by his infinite goodness into this precious land of promise - behold, I say, if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God, behold, the judgements of him that is just shall rest upon them. " I know that there are a lot of really good Christian people in our country, but not all of them are speaking up. And the few that are not Christians are seemingly getting their way on way too many issues....and it's going to keep getting worse if all of us don't stand together and say "Enough!" I am so saddened that my children have to grow up in a world where "evil is called good, and good is called evil". I hope and pray that those of us that are out there, will use our influence upon our children to teach them to walk uprightly before the Lord, and that they will be able to bind Satan from influencing them through their utter righteousness!

Typical Day for 2

Naughty Boy

(BTW why is "dumping" buckets so much fun for a kid?)

Aww, good boy! I hep you mamma! My methsss all ceaned up!

1 Nephi 19-21

Quote "May I commend you faithful Saints who are striving to flood the earth and your lives with the Book of Mormon. Not only must we move forward in a monumental manner more copies of the Book of Mormon, but we must move boldly forward into our own lives and throughout the earth more of its marvelous messages. This sacred volume was written for us - for our day. Its scriptures are to be likened unto ourselves."

~President Ezra Taft Benson

Question "How do the things you read in the scriptures relate to your life?

I have to admit that today I am sick, and can barely focus on the things I read. It took me a long time to read today. I will simply say the answer to the question, which is for me, that everything in the Book of Mormon relates to today. The same things are happening today, that happened in times of old. Maybe the exact circumstances are different, but the problems are pretty much the same. So, it is a guide and a comfort to have the scriptures as a tool to navigate our way through this swirling soup of darkness that we has us constantly surrounded.

P.S. If this doesn't turn out to make sense, it is because my head weighs 100 lbs right now, and thinking is really really hard.