Do any of you have any topics that you would like to see videos/quotes about? Anything? Sometimes it takes me a while to decided what to write about, and it would be a ton easier to have a list of thing you want to hear about!
Comment below with your suggestions! (or Facebook me, or email me, or text me. I don't really care!)
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
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Man... I love Soft Sunday Sounds...
I should just post my favorite new songs at the beginning of each week... Oh wait... I pretty much already do! :)
It Passes All My Understanding - Cherie Call
Now you scroll through the lyrics... and pictures. :)
-----
I was sitting on a southbound plane,
I was buried in a magazine
When the man in the next seat over
Wanted to talk to me
He talked about the universe,
He talked about Saturn's rings
He said, "I might be an atheist,
Except for just one thing:
It passes all my understanding
How it all worked out just right,
The distance that we live from the sun,
The stars that shine at night.
We may prove that it was just an accident
But how did it begin?
It passes all my understanding"
I told him, "You are a scholar;
You know things that I don't know
But I believe a God in heaven
Made everything below
And I know we are his children;
I've known it since I was two
But when it comes to being struck with awe,
I'm just like you.
It passes all my understanding,
All the beauty we have here
From the majesty of the canyons
To a tiny baby's ear
And even when I can't believe it,
He still believes in me
It passes all my understanding"
We watched the sun set through the clouds
In a tiny little airplane window
With people sleeping all around
And I thought of how we just expect this world to be
And when the flight attendant passed me by
I threw away my magazine
It passes all my understanding,
That the Lord knows both our names
And that He made this world for everyone
That was sitting on that plane
And in spite of all of man's distractions
He offers us His peace
That passes all my understanding
-----
You know... we often see the parts of the world that aren't as pleasant... parts that people have abused so much that it's hard to look at... We hear about how we aren't taking care of the earth (which really is true), and how it is getting harder and harder to find beautiful things...
Well that last statement isn't true. It's not hard to find beautiful things.
You guys... what a beautiful world we live in!
Be grateful for it!
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Unfortunately, many people think that our missionaries are out to advertise our church... that we just want to increase our numbers. I hope that they come to realize that this is not so.
The people in this video... they have the light of Christ in their eyes. You can see it, and it is almost tangible.
The young people in this video - and missionaries all over the world - they have seen and experienced the pure happiness that the gospel brings... it doesn't make your life perfect, but it makes it meaningful, and it makes it easier to deal with everyday things.
The gospel gives you a new perspective and helps you know what you need to do to live with God again, to obtain eternal life.
We just want to spread that happiness. It changes lives. When you have experienced such joy and comfort from this gospel, it's hard to not shout it to the world... I know Christ lives! I know the Church is true! Sharing the gospel is a pleasure. You bless the people that you teach, and you find great joy in the process.
D&C 18:15 -And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
16 -And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
Not only do missionaries change people's lives for the better... they really do change their own. They change their own lives in a delightfully wonderful way.
Some missionaries are converts to the Church themselves, and just want to pay it forward.
Others were born into the Church, and can't imagine living life without the gospel... so they feel the need to share it.
All missionaries have one thing in common. They have the desire to serve their King.
And it creates a ripple effect...
Jeremiah 16:16Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.
To request a visit from the missionaries, or to learn what to expect when missionaries come to visit you, click here.
And never forget... every member a missionary.
Also... are you interested in a video about temples tomorrow?
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I've been writing this blog with the mind-set that it would be members of the church reading it... As I've gotten many page views from people all over the web, I decided that I want to do a basic introduction of the Book of Mormon and the missionaries...(missionaries tomorrow).
The following video is about a man whose life was changed forever because of this wonderful book. I'm sure that the lives of many others will also be changed because of him...
I looked up the talk given by Tad R. Callister at the last General Conference to find a quote, because I remembered he gave an awesome talk on the Book of Mormon in the Sunday morning session last October...
But there were too many good ones! It seriously took me forever to decide which words to quote on here... I did finally decided, but I would invite you to read the entire talk here.
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"But why is the Book of Mormon so essential if we already have the Bible to teach us about Jesus Christ? Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian churches in the world today when they obtain their doctrines from essentially the same Bible? It is because they interpret the Bible differently. If they interpreted it the same, they would be the same church. This is not a condition the Lord desires, for the Apostle Paul declared that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). To help bring this oneness about, the Lord established a divine law of witnesses. Paul taught, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1)."
"The Bible is one witness of Jesus Christ; the Book of Mormon is another. Why is this second witness so crucial? The following illustration may help: How many straight lines can you draw through a single point on a piece of paper? The answer is infinite. For a moment, suppose that single point represents the Bible and that hundreds of those straight lines drawn through that point represent different interpretations of the Bible and that each of those interpretations represents a different church."
"What happens, however, if on that piece of paper there is a second point representing the Book of Mormon? How many straight lines could you draw between these two reference points: the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Only one. Only one interpretation of Christ’s doctrines survives the testimony of these two witnesses."
This is my attempt to recreate the picture they showed... Don't laugh at it... I'm already feeling a little OCD about the top part! :)
-----
Okay...
Do we believe in The Bible? Obviously yes.
One of our Articles of Faith states
"We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God."
(AofF 8... to read the others, click here.)
So does that make us Christian? Absolutely. A Christian is anyone who believes in Jesus Christ, and that He is the redeemer of our sins. I don't know how anyone can argue that we are not Christians... our church is named after Christ!
Now... I am not a convert to the church. I was born into the gospel. I do have a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. I see miracles happen in our church every day. I know that this is the true gospel restored to the earth, because I feel the Spirit when I learn about the scriptures, and when I go to church.
I've had the opportunity to go to pretty much all of the Church history sites in the U.S. When I was in Palmyra, New York, which is where the First Vision occurred, I gained a deeper gratitude for this book, and for all that Joseph Smith sacrificed to give it to us.
When I was in Nauvoo, Illinois, one of the cities that the early saints settled, it was peaceful. It felt like taking a step back in time, and I gained a deeper gratitude there too. A gratitude to those early saints who gave all that they could to have the gospel.
I know that the Church is true, and that the Book of Mormon is true, because I have felt things. I just know it in my heart, and I could never deny it.
Please click here to learn about the Book of Mormon in greater depth. To request a free copy of this amazing book, please click here.
Moroni 10:4 -And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 - And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
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"It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible." -George Washington
"Do not let any one claim to be a true American if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics." -George Washington
"In regard to this great book, I have but to say, it is the best gift God has given to man. All the good Savior gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong. All things most desirable for man's welfare, here and hereafter, are to found portrayed in it."
-Abraham Lincoln
“I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about me, seemed insufficient for the day.”
-Abraham Lincoln
"Hold fast to the Bible as the sheet-anchor of your liberties; write its precepts in your hearts and practice them in your lives. To the influence of this book we are indebted for all the progress made in true civilization, and to this we must look as our guide in the future.Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people." -Ulysses S. Grant
"The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe—the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God...... Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty...... With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own."
-John F. Kennedy
"We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. -Ronald Reagan
"Without God, there is no virtue, because there's no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we're mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we're one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under. If I could just make a personal statement of my own -- in these 3 1/2 years I have understood and known better than ever before the words of Lincoln, when he said that he would be the greatest fool on this footstool called Earth if he ever thought that for one moment he could perform the duties of that office without help from One who is stronger than all. -Ronald Reagan
A
man had deprived himself of the best there is in the world who has deprived
himself of this, a knowledge of the Bible. When you have read the Bible, you
will know it is the Word of God, because you will have found it the key to your
heart, your own happiness and your own duty.
-Woodrow Wilson
2 Nephi 10
10 But behold, this land, said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land.
11 And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles.
12 And I will fortify this land against all other nations.
13 And he that fighteth against Zion shall perish, saith God.
14 For he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear my words.
NO MATTER WHAT YOUR PAST HAS BEEN, YOU
HAVE A SPOTLESS FUTURE.
This lesson helped me a lot with the following post...
D&C 58:42 - Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
Let's say that you commit a sin - any sin - and you feel bad and repent. Pretty straightforward right? If you honestly feel sorry, and you've done all that you can to repent... you are forgiven. It is promised in the scriptures.
But what happens when you can't forgive yourself?
Here's a good story that I found, told by Elder Sterling W. Sill... ---------- “Sometime ago I talked with a woman 53 years of age who had committed a moral transgression at age 18. She understood that her sin was very serious, but because she had repented a thousand times we can depend on the Lord’s promise that he had forgiven her. But she had never forgiven herself. Because she felt unclean and inferior, she withdrew from her friends, refused to marry, and became a kind of social and spiritual recluse. For 35 years she downgraded herself with bitter regrets and accusations. Her life of looking back upon her sin has turned her into something far below the wonderful person that God intended her to be. Her sin at age 18 was very serious. But for 35 years she has been adding to her sin by wasting the most valuable thing in the world, which is a splendid human life”
----------
This is sad, and happens to people too often. Maybe not in such a large way, but still... too often. Why is it that we can't let go? There are many different reasons... but if you have done all that you can... try to have faith and trust that everything will be okay.
D&C 88:33 - For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.
If you repent, God forgives you. Rejoice in that gift. This has been a pretty short post, but just a couple of quotes to end... and then a song... (For those of you who read my last post, this is NOT an entire post about a song. It just happened to contribute a lot to this message...)
“God’s forgiveness is often nullified because the sinner does not forgive himself. What good does it do for God to blot our evil from his mind, if we continue to let it dominate our thinking by rerunning it in our own?” - Sterling W. Sill
“Sometimes a guilt consciousness overpowers a person with such a heaviness that when a repentant one looks back and sees the ugliness, the loathsomeness of the transgression, he is almost overwhelmed and wonders, ‘Can the Lord ever forgive me? Can I ever forgive myself?’ But when one reaches the depths of despondency and feels the hopelessness of his position, and when he cries out to God for mercy in helplessness but in faith, there comes a still, small, but penetrating voice whispering to his soul, ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee’” - President Spencer W. Kimball
Okay. This may have been a very boring post, since very little of it has been my actual words, but I think that this is a really good topic that may not often be brought up. I just want you to know that it has been addressed, and you can click the link at the very top of this post if you are interested in more stories and quotes...
I think that forgiving yourself is a talent. If it is easy for you, that is great. I know that it isn't easy for me. The following song is not supposed to have anything to do with the gospel. It is by Rob Thomas... not exactly known as a gospel singer... :) The following song however, is very inspirational. I have had times in my own life when I've felt bad about decisions I've made. I'm not perfect, and I tend to be a little hard on myself sometimes.
When I listen to this song, it reminds me that I need to give myself a break. Sometimes I just need to let things go...
(I actually shared this same exact song in this post. Remember?)
Okay... you ready to hear it?
Little Wonders - Rob Thomas
Like I said, forgiving myself has been a huge problem for me in the past. I've known about and listened to this song for a long time, but on one occasion, when I was unnecessarily beating myself up about some things, I heard it again. I just soaked the words in, and they meant a lot to me this time. I realized that I just needed to move on. I just needed to put it behind me, because it didn't matter anymore.
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I know that I have been sharing tons of songs on here recently (Or maybe it just seems like it to me), but Soft Sunday Songs never disappoints. I found two more today.
Names by Cherie Call
He's been known throughout time by so many names,
Creator of Worlds and Ruler of All
And I do not disagree with the ones I have heard
Like The First and The Last, and Wonderful
Eternal and Endless, Provider and King,
And His Majesty
But when I think of the hundreds of prayers that I've prayed
There are so many more that I'd add to these, like
Mathematician, Concert Musician, Master Physician
and Listening Friend
Who knows all about cars, and my fragile heart
So the best name would still have to be
Heavenly Father
When I'm helping a friend He has sharpened my mind
When I've asked that my lips could say all the right things
He can part the Red Sea and still keep me from shaking
When I've prayed that my hands could hit all the right strings
He has always been there to handle the big things
But He can still find a way
To help me with tricky equations and dark twisty highways
And children with fevers
I know I can pray to the
Mathematician, Concert Musician, Master Physician
and Listening Friend
Who knows all about cars, and my fragile heart
So the best name would still have to be
Heavenly Father
And isn't it just what a father would do
Helping His children with all that He knew
And then using His wisdom to step back sometimes
On some of the answers we're just meant to find for ourselves
So we can be mathematicians, concert musicians,
Mothers, physicians, and listening friends
And we can learn about cars, and we can heal broken hearts
With the love that we've learned first hand
From a Heavenly Father
----------
We often think and talk about all of the big things that Christ has done - and can always do - for us. He can perform mighty miracles for everyday people if we exercise enough faith and trust in Him... Like the song says, "He has always been there to handle the big things."
What I like about the song is that it points out that He helps with all of the little things too. Whenever we need help with homework, parenting, cars, or when we just need to know what to say... He helps with those things too.
Always.
----------
Okay... on to number two.
Blessings by Laura Story (Probably a little bit more well-known... I've heard it before today...)
We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise
When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It's not our home
'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise
----------
Just something to remember... trials are blessings. NEVER forget that hard things now will give us perspective later.
My favorite line of this song...
"We know that pain reminds this heart That this is not, this is not our home."
Our home is with God. And if it takes hard things to get us back there... then so be it. This song also reminds me that I need to recognize small things as blessings. We are blessed everyday with tender mercies. When you try to focus on all of the positive things, it makes you a more optimistic person that will live happier. When you focus on the good, you forget about the bad.
Psalms 25:2 - O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.
Just trust in God always. I can promise you that everything will work out for your good if you just trust in God.
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Okay. I promise. The next post will not be about music.
P.S. If you missed how to use the new layout... click here.
P.P.S. Do you hate the new layout? I want to make it how I want it, but I don't want everything to be confusing and a hassle for you readers...
