Unit 2 Choice 2

City	What They Did That Pleased the Lord	How They Needed to Repent	Promised Blessings
Ephesus (2:1-7)	Work,patience,can’t bear those that are evil.	Left their first love – the Lord	Eat fruit of tree of life which dwells in God’s paradise.
Smyrna (2:8-11)	Work, tribulation, suffering poverty		Crown of life
​Pergamos (2:12-17)	Have not denied their faith	Following some false doctrine	Give white stone with a new name.
Thyatira (2:18-29)	Works, charity, service, faith, patience	Allowing Jezebel to preach false doctrine. Adultery	No additional burdens, power over nations and morning star.
Sardis (3:1-6)	Not defiled garments	Works are not perfect Hold fast and repent	Not blot out name in book of life. Confess his name before Heavenly Father.
Philadelphia (3:7-13)	Kept His word and did not deny Christ.	Repent of being liars	Keep from hour of temptation.  Pillar in the temple He will write His new name upon them.
Laodicea (3:14-22)		Not hot nor cold. Bragging of their riches.	Sit with Him on His throne. He will come to them and sup with them.

All of the counsel give to these saints can be applied to me today.  I really like that John tells them that the Lord knows their works and their struggles.  He knows the good that they are doing as well.  He tells them the specific things that need to be repented of as well.  The one that I could stand to work on is to hold fast.  The world can have such a pull on me but not in big things.  It is those little things that I need to hold fast on.  Being diligent in studying the scriptures and in FHE that I need to work on.

The two blessings that I really liked was where he talked about walking with you dressed in white because of your worthiness.  Imagine walking in the temple of the Lord with the Lord!  What a wonderful blessing for following His counsel.

D&C 14: 7 And, if you ^akeep my commandments and ^bendure to the end you shall have ^ceternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

D$C 63: 20  ^aendureth in faith and doeth my ^bwill ^cinheritance upon the earth when the day of transfiguration shall come;

These two scriptures tell us that if we overcome the challenges of this life we can have the best of the best gifts of God.  We can receive an inheritance that is worth more than any amount of money.

1 John

Unit 1 Choice 4

1 John 1:1-4

From these verses we learn that John has a desire for everyone to know what he knows.  He wants to share the gospel with others so that their joy may be full.  We should all have this same motivation to share the gospel with everyone that we know.

The following are additional scriptures that help us understand:

1 John 1:8-10 - in order to have fellowship with the Lord, we have to be clean.  These verses tell us that if we say we have not sinned, that we are lying and cannot be clean.  If we confess our sins and repent, He will forgive us and completely cleanse us.

1 John 2:3-6 - There are people in the world who say they are followers of Jesus Christ, yet they don't keep his commandments.  John teaches us that if we are truly His followers, we will keep the commandments and follow His ways.  When we do this we are also showing our love for Him.

1 John 2:9-11 - John teaches us about loving other people and uses light to teach that message.  If we do not care for others, it is as if we are in the darkness and can't find our way.  If we do help others we will be walking in the light and can see where we are going.  The true source of all light is Jesus Christ and so when we walk in the light we are walking in His ways.

1 John 3:11-19 - John compares lack of compassion for others to murder in these verses.  Most of us probably would not murder someone but if we do not have charity and help others it is as if we are murdering.  The Savior was willing to die for us and we need to be willing to lay down our lives for our brothers.  We won't actually have to die for them but we could offer them things much easier to give.

1 John 1:15-17 - We need to be sure that we do not love the things of the world more than the Lord.  The things of the world will be gone but the Lord is everlasting and so are His ways.  We need to remember that and not lust after the things of the world.

1 John 2: 20-21, 27 - They use the word "unction" in this verse and that means an anointing.   John is teaching that the people have repented, been baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost.  He teaches that they can be taught by the Holy Ghost and that the Holy Ghost teaches them truth.

1 John 3: 4-6 - These verses teach us about sin and that the Savior suffered for our sins.  He went through so much so that we could repent.  So when we sin, we need to use the Atonement and repent of those sins.

One of these principles that I want to be better at is the one in 1 John 2:3-6.  I want to be better at aligning my actions with the Lord's example. There is nothing really big that I need to change but there are a lot of small things that I need to improve on.

Unit 1 Choice 3

This week I studied the words of Hebrews 13.  There are some great lessons there for me.

How we should treat strangers and those in bonds-
We should be kind to strangers but we might be entertaining angels.  We should treat those we don't know and those in bonds with more than just politeness.  We should try to put ourselves in their shoes and empathize with them.

How is marriage looked on-
Marriage is an honorable thing.  Even thought in the world marriage is considered disposable and unnecessary, the Lord does not see it this way.

What warnings are given about covetousness
We should not covet.  This is interesting because it refers to being covetous in conversation.  We should not wish we have what someone else has.  We should be grateful for all that we already have.  Such a great lesson to replace covet with gratitude!

What is the same yesterday, today and forever
The Lord is the same from the beginning and never ending.  We can count on Him to be steadfast and never waver.  His ways are sure and we can always count on them.  This puts me on solid footing if I follow Him.

How are we sanctified
We are sanctified through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Each Sunday as we worthily partake of the sacrament we can be cleansed again and be pure.

How do we respond to those who rule over us
Obey them for they watch for your souls. I think of this with our prophet and the words that he has for us.  He loves us and is watching over our souls.   I love this scripture and will use it in relation to visiting teaching as well.  

Who did Paul ask the people to pray for
He asks the people to pray for the prophet and apostles.  What a humble man to ask for this.


Anyone who would argue any of these points should refer to verse 8.  The Lord is the same always!  His ways to not get out-dated or old fashioned.  They are solid and enduring.

Turn Your Hearts

This week we studied 1 Peter 3:18-19, 1 Peter 4:6, D&C 138:18-20, 27, 57-59

I don't know how other religions interpret it when Peter tells us that Christ went and preached to the spirits in prison but it seems pretty clear to me.  We learn from other scriptures that Christ taught those that were righteous while on earth and that he did not go in to prison.  D&C 138 says:

 18 While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their ^adeliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring ^bliberty to the ^ccaptives who had been faithful;

 19 And there he ^apreached to them the everlasting ^bgospel, the doctrine of the ^cresurrection and the redemption of mankind from the ^dfall, and from individual sins on conditions of ^erepentance.

These people were waiting and talking about the day that the chains would be released from them and they could hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and that day finally came.  This happened between the time of Christ's crucifixion and his resurrection.   The next verses tell us that Christ organized his forces to teach in spirit prison.

 30 But behold, from among the righteous, he ^aorganized his forces and appointed ^bmessengers, ^cclothed with power and authority, and ^dcommissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in ^edarkness, even to ^fall the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.

This makes me think that he set up missions just we have on earth.  I have no doubt that everything is being done in an organized fashion and people are being called to serve missions in spirit prison and receive their commission from Jesus Christ.

Then I read a talk by Henry B Eyring that was given in 2005 called "Hearts Bound Together".  He talks about how as a missionary you are so excited when someone accepts the truth and wants to be baptized.  When they accept that truth some of the waiting is over but then they have to wait for someone on earth to do the work.  I have always thought of the person who has converted and how their life changes but I hadn't really considered the missionary.  It must be so hard waiting for those you have worked so hard to help understand the gospel to have to wait to receive the full blessings of the gospel.  

They are both waiting for us to stop making excuses and get the work done and then get to the temple!!

James 1

Unit 2 Choice 1

James 1:5 is such a MAJOR scripture for everyone to know and understand.  I can ask the Lord any question and He can teach me.  It doesn't matter how small or large the question is, He is there for me.  James tells us that we need to ask in faith and adds "nothing wavering".  To me this needs that we need to go to the Lord knowing that He will answer us and also that we will listen to His answer.  We can't go their asking and already have the answer we want in our minds.

James 1:8 tells us that a double minded man is unstable and in the footnotes we are directed to 2 Kings 18:21.  This helps us to understand the scripture by using an analogy of a damaged reed used as a staff.  If we don't use something solid to lean on, it will not stand and will end up hurting us.   Mathew 6:24 ties in to this as well when it tells us that we cannot serve two masters.  We can only serve either God or Satan.

James 1:13-15 and 19-27 give us some direction on how we can live the gospel.  It starts off and tells us that the Lord is not the one that tempts us.  We are tempted by our lack of control of our own lusts.  And if we do not control those it will lead to sin and then spiritual death.  James also teaches us that we should be slow to anger and that an angry man is not a righteous man.  He also tells us that we need to remove our haughtiness and replace it with meekness.  We also need to do more than hear the words of Christ.  We need to be doers of His word.  In verse 26 we learn that our religion needs to not just be in our words but that we need to have a testimony in our hearts.  James calls this pure religion and when we have that we will have the desire to take care of those in need.

James 1:22 is the scripture where it talks of being doers of the word, not just hearers of the word.  This past few months as we have been working on our Women's Conference for 2015 we were talking about all the things we learned while listening to the Women's Broadcast in September.  It was all about temples and we thought we would make that our focus.  As we continued to talk we felt the Spirit guide us and that we didn't need to talk about temples but we needed to attend the temple.  For this conference we will be taking all the women of our stake to the temple.  It is a huge undertaking but we want to be doers of the word.

Bruce R McConkie talked about James and how the verse 1:5 led to the restoration of the gospel.  Also, anyone who has investigated the church has been in the same shoes as Joseph Smith and has asked as he did when inspired by the words of James.  This simple verse led to the heavens opening in modern times.

Philemon

This week my group had to study and discuss Philemon.  I love this book!!!  It is really the gospel in action.  Paul writes this letter on behalf of Onesimus, who is a servant.  This man has run away from his owner, Philemon and ends up being converted while he is gone.  Paul really loves Onesimus but recognizes that he needs to return to his owner and make things right.  So he sends this letter with Onesimus in hopes that Philemon will forgive him.

Paul tells Philemon (vs 15) that perhaps Onesimus left so that he could become converted.  Paul was trying to give Philemon a different perspective.  My favorite scripture is verse 18 where Paul says that "If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;"   Isn't this what Christ has done for us?  He has suffered so that we can put our sins on his account and he will pay for them.

One of the ways that I can apply this letter is in my role as Stake Relief President.  One of the underlying things you learn from this letter is how much love Paul has for the saints.  And then how much he wants them to forgive each other.  It made me think about the emails that I write.  What do they say about me?  This is something I want to work on.

Unit 2 Choice 5

Epistle to the Hebrews:

This is found in the Bible Dictionary on page 746.  I record this because I had no idea this was in the back of my 1981 bible!!  What a great learning tool.  This really helps to explain Hebrews and what Paul is trying to accomplish in his letters to the Jews.

There we find several things that he taught that Jesus is superior to.  First, the Law of Moses.  he had to keep teaching that the law of Moses was a forerunner to Christ, and had been fulfilled. The laws were so rigid and they had become used to strictly following the law of Moses but Paul needed them to let it go and learn the higher law.  In the Analysis of Hebrews we learn that Jesus is greater than the angles.  Jesus is greater that  Moses.  Jesus' word is superior and that Jesus is superior to the high priests of the law of Moses.

In Hebrews 1 Paul taught these three truths about the Savior.
1.  Jesus Christ "made the worlds" (vs 2)
2.  Jesus Christ as the "first-begotten into the world" (vs 6)
3.  Jesus Christ is the same and will not change.  (vs 12)


It is interesting that in the first part of this assignment, I wrote about the things that Jesus Christ is superior to.  Yet, he descended heaven to come down to earth.  Here are some of the reasons that He did that:
He needed to fulfill prophecy
He came to suffer and feel all our pains so he will know how to succor his people
He had to lose the bands of death and give us the priceless gift of resurrection.
He came to save each of us from our sins
He came to set many examples for us including the example of baptism
He came to experience life on earth so that when he judges us, he understands

How grateful I am that He did come to earth and do all that He did for me.  Without these things, earth would be a miserable experience.  With all these things there is hope and joy.

Issues with answers in Philippians

Petty Matters:

Some times members of the church get involved over matters that are insignificant.  They gossip, disagree, complain or argue over these things.  In Philippians we have some answers to help us understand the Lord's will.  Paul tells us that we should be like-minded, of one accord and of one mind.  That doesn't mean we always have to agree but it does mean that we need to cooperate, be kind and Christ-like with each other.  Sometimes we just need to take the high road and not do battle over insignificant things.

Joseph F Smith said; "Whatever creates a discord in the spirit and unity of the Saints is of evil origin. The Spirit of God never begets strife, nor does it set up and insist on distinctions among those who have been its recipients."
 (Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith, compiled by John A. Widtsoe [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1939], 115


Standing on the Testimony of my Parents:

Paul teaches in Philippians 2:12 that we need to individually work out our own salvation.  I only wish I could work out the salvation for each of my children but if that were the case, they would not learn and grow.  Just as the Father sent us to earth to reach our potential, parents have to allow their children to make choices, suffer consequences and work out their own salvation.  For a period of time a child can rely on their parent's testimony but there comes the time when they have to stand on their own testimony.  When they take those first steps, it might be shaky but they will get stronger every time they walk on their own.  
 In verse 13 we learn that God is doing a work within each of us and when we do our part too, great things can happen.  The Lord is ready and waiting to help us reach our potential as long as we are willing to our share of the work.  

Investigating the Church Without Family Support

There are many people who are interested in the church but stop their progress because their family is against it.  I have had this happen to a friend of mine.  He was very interested in the church because of the example of members that he knew.  He started learning about it and was so excited to become part of it.  Then his parents found out and they were not happy.  They did all they could to stop his learning and he, being a very respectful child, felt the pressure to stop meeting with the missionaries.  I hope that someday he will have the strength to move forward and trust in the Lord  In Philippians 4:13 it tells people in this situation that they can find the strength in the Lord to do the things they know are right.  And the way to get through a situation like this is to:  "Seek the Lord and his strength ... continually" (1 Chr. 16:11)

This Writing Assignment

^"aAngels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, ^bfeast upon the ^cwords of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will ^dtell you all things what ye should do"   2 Nephi 32:3

 This writing assignment and all the reading assignments give me the opportunity to feast on the words of Christ.  I love the last part of this scriptures because of the word "ALL".  The words of Christ can tell us what to do in all situations.  The Lord doesn't only deal in the spiritual things but also in temporal things as well.  We can find help from His words in the scriptures for any part of our lives.

Colossians 3:15-21

Unit 3 Choice 7

I am a musician and I love the hymns.  I love to memorize the words of the hymns because I know that those words are very powerful.  In Colossians 3:16 we learn the the singing of hymns is a way to learn.  The only qualification is that we sing with grace in our hearts.  There is no qualification that we sing beautifully or in tune.  One of my favorite hymns:

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.       
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me"
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

Music is the way that I express my testimony best.  It is so powerful and can really invite the spirit in to any event.
                                                
Colossians 3:18 tells us that wives should submit to your husbands.  I am sure that this is a very controversial scripture in the world today.  This is what Joseph F Smith said; "Let us begin by saying that a Latter-day Saint husband or father presides over his wife and family in much the same way a bishop, stake president, or elders quorum president presides over the specific group to which he is called. Each acts with counselors and seldom makes decisions without carefully consulting hose whom he calls to assist him."

This scripture has nothing to do with the husband being more important or powerful than the wife but everything to do with order in a home.  This order also is the way of the Lord and will help a family function better.

Verse 19 goes on to tell husbands to love their wives.  Elder Nelson said this: "Honor the special sisters in your lives, brethren. Express your love to your wife, to your mother, and to the sisters. Praise them for their forbearance with you even when you are not at your best. Thank the Lord for these sisters who-like our Heavenly Father-love us not only for what we are but for what we may become. Humbly I thank God for my mother, my sisters, my daughters, granddaughters, and for my special sweetheart, companion, and friend-my wife! ("Our Sacred Duty to Honor Women," Ensign, May 1999, 40)


                                             

It is Thanksgiving time and three words really caught my attention when I first read this assignment.  BE YE THANKFUL was found in verse 3.  I have so much to be thankful for and many blessings that I am not aware of that I need to be thankful for.  I am thankful for all that the Lord blesses me with and that includes that trials and hard parts of life too.  I recently watched the new Mormon message about the refiner's fire.  I had the opportunity to find out more about the family that shared their story in this message and they are truly incredible people.  The Lord is trying to refine us in to the best that we can be and sometimes that means trials for us.  We can get upset about our trials and not become who the Lord knows we can become, or we can let the Lord mold us through our trials and reach our divine potential.  I am thankful for His molding!

Romans 1:15-20

Unit 1 Choice 2

Romans 1:16 is such a special scripture to me.  I won't go in to why on this blog but just know that it is special.  That is why I choice this for one of my student choice assignments.  With this assignment I got to read more than just the most familiar scripture in chapter 1.  It is clear that Paul has a solid testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We learn the following about his testimony:

Paul wants to share the gospel with everything in him.
The gospel is the key to salvation to those that believe in it.
Those that believe need to live by faith.
He knows that our Heavenly Father is angry with those that know the truth and use it righteously
Each of us can see the beautiful creations that have been made for his through his priesthood and we have no excuse to not believe because it is before us every day.


When it comes to Romans 1:16 this is my favorite quote:

The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.  A power that can make of earth a heaven and of man a God.  (Robert Millet)

From these passages I know that I need to share my testimony as freely as Paul did.  If we live in faith and we know the truth we should have no problem sharing the truth.  The Lord has not hidden the truth from the world.  The power of his creations are something that we all see and enjoy ever day.  That is proof to us all of his power and majesty.  How can we deny who He is?

These are some of my favorite creations.....

    

How to deal with adversity.....by Paul and Timothy

Unit 2 Choice 2
How did Paul and Timothy avoid despair despite being troubled, perplexed, persecuted and cast down?? We find the answer in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 and 4:5-17.   Their example touched me and helped me to have a better perspective.  Paul says that they had suffered "light afflictions".  Those "light afflictions" were things like being beaten, stoned, shipwrecked and put in prison.  Wow - I don't consider any of those things light by any means!

Paul talked about the mercies of the Lord and that He comforted them in ALL tribulations.  And he comforted them so that they could comfort others.  To me this means that they can understand the suffering of others and by their experience can offer comfort to others who are struggling.  So your trials aren't just for you but to help others.  They talked about how they preach the gospel for Christ's sake and they carry the light of Christ in their hearts.  They remember the resurrection and the gift that was given by the  Savior and that helps them remember that life is eternal and these things are just for a short time.  In chapter 4 verse 11 they say that they are willing to die for His sake.  Another thing that helps them avoid despair while they are suffering is to remember that their afflictions are nothing compared to the Lord's eternal plan.  They are helping that come about and that is bigger than anything they would suffer.

You can tell that they truly understand and have a testimony of the Plan of Salvation.  They understand that this life is short and that what comes after this life is much more important.  They understand the sacrifice and suffering that Christ went through and the gift of the resurrection.

This ties in well with what Brigham Young said.  "Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your salvation."

Like I said......a whole new perspective.

Unit 1 Choice 5

1 Corinthians 10



Jesus Christ is referred to as "The Rock" in the scriptures.  Rocks are strong and solid.  If the wind blows hard rocks don't move.  When we build a house we build it on strong rocks.  Rocks make good, sturdy foundations to build on.   I think these properties apply very well to Christ and how can be in our lives.  He is solid and a great foundation to build on.  When the wind storms of the world are flying, His gospel does not move and sway with the wind.  We can count on it to be the same always.

In 1 Corinthians 10 Paul warned the saints about temptations they needed to avoid:
lust after evil
worship idols
spend their time eating and playing and not doing things that are eternal or matter
brake the law of chastity
tempt Christ
murmur


When I read through these verses looking for the things that Paul listed, all of these things could apply to the time that we live in.  So many people lust after people and things in this world.  There are also so many idols such as; money, cars, work, and many others.  They may not be a gold statue but there are many idols being worshiped on the earth at this time.  Many people in the world today spend their time worshiping those idols and they aren't doing things that really matter.  They are not adding to their treasure chest in Heaven.  The Law of Chastity is something that a good portion of the world has broken and they see nothing wrong with it.  There are those that do tempt Christ.  They know what they are doing is wrong, yet they want to see how far they can go or simply think that He will forgive any sin.  Murmuring is a form of ingratitude and I have been guilty of that sin.

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we are given a reassuring promise that tells us that we will only be given temptations that we can handle.  The Lord knows each of us and knows what we can handle.  That still doesn't mean that it will be easy to avoid those temptations but knowing that I have it within me to rise above the temptations is very reassuring.

Alma 13:28 adds to this verse in Corinthians when it tells me exactly what to do in order to stay strong against temptations.  I need to pray continually and keep watch.  This verse also tells me the kind of person that I need to be and the characteristics that will help me overcome.  I need to be humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and long suffering.

The Day of Pentacost

Unit 1 Choice 3

What is the Day of Pentacost?

It is a celebration and a feast of the first fruits or harvest.  It is held 50 days after the feast of the Passover.  It is also a festival of pilgrimage and so there are many people from many different nations and languages that attend.

What happened at the Day of Pentacost as recorded in Acts 2?

All 12 Apostles were gathered in one place at this time.  Everyone heard the sound of a mighty wind and so they gathered where the Apostles were.  The brethren prophesied and the Spirit was present and manifested in the form of cloven tongues like as a fire.  Those teaching spoke in tongues and all could understand them despite the fact that they all spoke different languages.  Peter taught about Jesus and about the scriptures.

Peter as Prophet

Peter was the President and Prophet of the church at this time and one of his roles is to be a special witness of Jesus Christ.  On this special day he fulfilled this role by teaching and testifying of Christ.  He also told people what they needed to do in order to live with Him again.

Gifts of the Spirit

The people were in tune with the Spirit and were taught by the Spirit.  The people also recognized the sound of the rushing wind as the Spirit.  The people were able to understand words that were not in their language.  The people had the desire to follow Christ.

How did the people respond to what happened?

After hearing the words spoken they simply said, "What shall we do?"

I have not studied about the Day of Pentacost since I was in Seminary and so it was interesting to read and study about this subject.  What a great demonstration of the gift of the Spirit that the Savior had given people.  Before he was crucified He told them that they would have this gift after He left the earth and this day was such a powerful way for them to know about this priceless gift.  Pure teaching went on and the Spirit must have been so strong that all felt and saw it's presence.  After all of that "drama" my favorite part of this story happens.  After seeing and hearing amazing, heavenly events the people simple asked what they needed to do.  And then Peter told them very specifically that they needed to repent and be baptized.  Three thousand souls were baptized that day!

Unit 2 Choice 6 - First Student Choice Assignment

1 Thess 3:12-13; 4:1-12; 5:1-22, 2 Thess 3:106; 11

Attributes that Paul counseled the members to improve on.

Increase love to one another
Keep His commandments
Keep the Law of Chastity
Be honest with your fellow man
Be holy
Love one another
Be self sufficient
Be diligent
Don't worry about the 2nd Coming, just keep watch
Put on the Armor of God
Listen to your leaders and love them for what they do for you
Take care of one another
Be patient with each other
Rejoice
Pray
Be grateful
Listen to the Spirit
Listen to the prophesies
Prove all things
Hold on to good things
Stay away from the appearance of evil
Pray for the leaders of the church
Stay away from those who might draw you away from the Lord
Don't gossip

I could really improve on all things on this list but I will choose the following:

Put on the Armor of God:  I think I do pretty well at putting on my armor everyday but I need to inspect my armor on a regular basis.  I need to spend more time in considering what I need to improve on and how I can be doing more to increase my spirituality.  One of the things that I will do is add a question to my daily journal; how is my armor today?

Hold on to good things:  We have some traditions in our family and just because it is a tradition does not mean that it is good.  Those things are so hard to get rid of!  One of them that really bugs me is watching football on Sunday.  I may have to disconnect the satellite but I really want to change this family tradition.

Pray for the leaders of the church:  I have never been a person who does this very often.  As I have served in a stake calling, it has become something that I know really helps me.  I can tell when I have the support and prayers of the sisters.  I want to include prayers for my local, stake and general church leadership on a regular basis.

1 Thes Chp 5

Paul was such an awesome missionary.  After he left an area, he continued to write and check on the members.  That is what you read in 1 Thessalonians.  I wanted to write about Chapter 5 because it relates to a conversation that I had recently with a nonmember friend of mine.  Paul was talking to the members about the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.  It is so interesting that people have been waiting for this event for so many years!!  Here are some of the things that stood out to me about what Paul said:

Christ will come as a thief in the night.  However, Paul tells them that they are not in the dark.
We shouldn't sleep, as others do, but keep watch.
Whether we are living or dead, we will be able to live with Christ again.
Comfort one another and teach one another.
BE AT PEACE

I also love when they give lists in the scriptures.  I am a list person and so I look for those lists.  Paul gives us a nice list of things that we should do and take note of the first thing he mentions:

REJOICE Evermore
Pray without ceasing
Be grateful
Don't quench the Spirit
Despise not the prophesies
Prove all things
Hold fast to good things
Abstain the appearance of evil

My friend and I were discussing how the world is not taking notice of the signs that the 2nd Coming is so close.  She is so excited for it to come and is truly rejoicing at seeing her Savior.  She is such an inspiration to me in how she knows and loves her Savior.