it always will be true!

Happy Sunday!

I'm not really sure what I want to write about, so let's just see what happens, shall we?

Lovely picture of the Barton clan in Oregon.

Girl's Camp - Love these girls with all my soul!!

St. George temple

I have a good couple scriptures to share.

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Doctrine & Covenants 6

 22 Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.

 23 Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?

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It breaks my heart when I think about those who were strong in the gospel - served missions, etc. - and then fell away. It makes me so sad when they say 'I don't think I ever really believed it.' 

In times of doubt, remember back to the times when you knew. Think of the times when you felt the Spirit so strong. Did He not already give you a witness? This is why it's so important to keep written record and journals. 

It's true! It will always be true! 

I am making a decision right now to do better at journal writing. I have some amazing examples in my ward of girls who write in their journals all the time. I want to be one of those people! And my incentive can be to fill up the journal so I can buy another cute one! haha! 

My mom and I spent almost all day yesterday shopping for my trip to Fiji! I'm so excited and nervous! I am leaving a week from Tuesday! I will post lots of pictures when I return! (And I'll be sure to write in my journal a lot!) :) 

Have a wonderful Sabbath Day!

And a wonderful week!

Haley

out with the bad...

We had an especially good lesson in seminary today that inspired this post... :)

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So you might remember when Jesus rode back into Jerusalem and then found the temple filled with moneychangers... people selling merchandise and obviously not using the temple the way it was meant to be used.

This clearly upset the Savior... And the main reasons should be obvious. This was His Father's house.  And it was supposed to be a place of prayer and worship.

But it went deeper than that, I think.

Does this picture look familiar? It is Jesus as a boy teaching in the temple in Jerusalem.

He grew up with this temple... but the people have made it "a den of thieves."


There are a lot of reasons why this upset the Savior... and I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure this was the second time he had to cleanse the temple... you'd think they'd learn the first time.


Without further adieu...





Now... the Savior is not an easily angered person. He doesn't just get mad at people. He is loving and caring and sees everyone for what they can become.

So the fact that he was turning over tables should tell you something.


It reminds me of something that happened in our dear prophet Joseph Smith's life.

Click here to watch The Prophet of the Restoration movie... skip to 39:09 and watch until about 41:00.
(video also found in this post.)


Isn't that the coolest thing ever? That is one of my favorite parts of the Joseph Smith movie.

“On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:

“‘SILENCE, ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!’”

 “...Dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri."

-Parley P. Pratt


Ah. So good.

There came a point where Joseph Smith was simply unwilling to listen further.

Similarly, with the cleansing of the temple, the people were disgracing their Father... there was a point where the Savior was unwilling to let it go further.


(Someone in my seminary class mentioned that the Savior always knows how we feel, which is pretty common knowledge, but he added that maybe this experience is how the Savior knows what it feels like to be angry. Hmmm... an interesting thought...)



Okay. So how does this apply to YOU??

Our seminary teacher told us to do the following:





Take the original verses:

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Mark 11
15 - And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

16 - And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.

17 - And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

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...and replace temple or house with my heart.

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Mark 11

15 - And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the my heart, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the my heart, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;

16 - And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the my heart.

17 - And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My my heart shall be called of all nations the heart of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

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Note that in the above video the Savior didn't have to touch or push anyone out. They left as soon as he was present and told them to get out of there.



Now take a look at the verses we edited. If you find that your heart is filled with bad thoughts or desires, maybe instead of focusing all your time on trying to push them out, try inviting the Savior in.

The bad things will have to leave.

The same is true with your schedule and your actions. Replace the bad/unimportant things and habits with the good.




Because no unclean thing can dwell with God.


So draw nearer to Him and be perfected.



And never forget that He sees you for who you can become.


I think I will continue in the next post... maybe talk about the widow's mites?

I don't know. For now, happy Thursday. :)





P.S. I'm like 1 1/2 weeks short of ONE YEAR with this blog! yay!

If You Can, Visit Often.

 Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.




   
     Yes, they were away for 4 years...

     So... here's a thought... I know that most of you reading this blog are probably thirty minutes away - or less... from the nearest temple...
     Yet... it seems that so few of us visit the temple as often as we should. There are people all around the world that save for years just so that they can visit the temple once. We are building more and more temples around the world, so that is helping a lot of people, but there are still many members who drive for hours - or fly - to get to the nearest temple. 


Here's a similar story...

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Brother and Sister Vaha‘i Tonga of the Tongan Islands sacrificed in order to go to the temple. “It was not easy for a Tongan Saint to save enough money for such a journey. It took months of preparation and saving, but finally the money was gathered and plans were made.”

However, the mission president came to Brother Tonga and asked him to contribute toward a chapel to be built in his branch all the money he had saved to go to the temple. If he did not do this, it would be two more years before a chapel could be built there. Brother Tonga discussed the situation with his wife.

“It was difficult to give up their dream of seeing the new temple,” but the next day they gave the money to the mission president. “That night [Brother Tonga] … said [to his wife]: ‘Honey, the Lord has promised us through our leaders that if we keep his commandments he will prepare some way that we will be able to go to the dedication [of the New Zealand Temple]. We have cows, pigs, and some horses, besides furniture and mats. Let’s sell it all so that we may be able to receive the blessings of the dedication.’ ”

Brother Tonga and his wife tried to sell their livestock on Thursday and Friday, but no one would buy. Time was getting short. The following Monday the ship bound for New Zealand was to leave. Brother Tonga related:

“ ‘On Saturday morning three families came who needed some cows, pigs, and other things, and we received between $500 and $600 in about half an hour.’ ” They now had the money and would be able to go.

Brother Tonga and his wife were the first couple to be sealed in the New Zealand Temple. But the story does not end there. Brother Tonga said:

“ ‘When my wife and I were sealed to each other, something touched my heart. Our children were not with us, and tears came to my eyes. When we arrived home I promised our four children that if they would help, we could go to the temple together. I thought to myself, “How can you say, be a good boy or be a good girl, if I am not sealed to them in the temple?” I had the feeling that they were not mine.

“ ‘For two years we sacrificed almost everything. I divided my pay from school for each one of us, and we saved that. But we paid our tithing and fast offerings. We were left with 70¢ … a month for two years. We lived on what we could grow and gather. … My children could not buy candy or shoes or go to movies because they were saving to go to the temple. …  

“ ‘To save on transportation costs I also rode my bicycle to district meetings … seven miles away. … Most of our district meetings began at 6:00 a.m. so I had to leave home very early in the morning.

“ ‘When the deadline came for getting our money in, … the two oldest boys said they had about $235. After saving for two years the little one [who was five years old] had saved $65. I had saved almost $1,300 for my family.

“ ‘Through sacrifice we were able to take our family to New Zealand to be sealed in the temple. We had to do some extra things to accomplish our goals, but it was a great blessing to us.’ ”

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     Okay... I know that this post may not apply to everyone reading this, but if it applies to you, if you have a temple nearby, make it a goal to go more often.
     If you already go pretty often, that's great. Kudos to you, seriously... because it can be hard to find time to do it a lot...
     Just a little challenge to you... try to make time. It's so important, and hopefully you've seen that people all over the world sacrifice a lot just to go once...

Here's a quote that I liked... It's not exactly about visiting the temple, but I think that it shows the sacrifice that have always gone into these beautiful temples...

"No effort was spared [in the building of the original Nauvoo Temple]. No sacrifice was too great. Through . . . five years men chiseled stone and laid footings and foundation, walls and ornamentation. Hundreds went to the north, there to live for a time to cut lumber, vast quantities of it, and then bind it together to form rafts which were floated down the river to Nauvoo. Beautiful moldings were cut from that lumber. Pennies were gathered to buy nails. Unimaginable sacrifice was made to procure glass. They were building a temple to God, and it had to be the very best of which they were capable.

"In the midst of all of this activity, the Prophet and his brother Hyrum were killed in Carthage on the 27th of June 1844. . . .

"But Brigham Young, President of the Quorum of the Twelve, picked up the reins. Joseph had placed his authority upon the shoulders of the Apostles. Brigham determined to finish the temple, and the work went on. By day and by night they pursued their objective, notwithstanding all of the threats hurled against them by lawless mobs. In 1845 they knew they could not stay in the city they had built from the swamplands of the river. They knew they must leave. It became a time of feverish activity: first, to complete the temple, and secondly, to build wagons and gather supplies to move into the wilderness of the West."

Did one of my posts leave a lasting impression on you? I'd love to hear about it! Comment below! 

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