on a morning walk....

 The other morning I had an image come in to my mind. It looked like a "Y", in that there was one path that split in to two different directions. My thought was that thoughts come in to our mind on that first path. We may or may not have any control over these kinds of thoughts. They often just show up. But there is no sin until the choice point at the intersection of the path with the two diverging paths. The path to the left represents that path to follow Satan. It will be the path of least resistance. It will feel like you are on a boat and the current will just naturally take you down that path to the left. The thoughts will just continue to feed on each other and propel you down the swift, dark current of negative belief. The other path takes much more effort. It's as if you have to stop the boat and choose to step out of it. There is no current to easily take you down this path to the right. You have to work hard to find the thoughts of truth that will counter the o...

 A few days ago, Elder Anderson posted this on facebook page and  I was very impressed that what he was saying was very important and wanted to share my thoughts about it. (My thoughts will be in blue and I've highlighted key phrases in yellow.) "We are looking forward to  #GeneralConference  in just a few days. We look forward to being with you. It will be a time of great rejoicing and great revelation, and I p romise you that you will get answers you need as you prepare yourself for this important time . I invite you to prepare yourself for a marvelous general conference with the three suggestions in this video. I express my love and my great happiness at being with you soon." Think about what will cause you/us to rejoice? What "great revelation" will we receive as a church and individually? Answers you need will be conditioned on your preparation Do you understand that this is an "important time"? This will be a marvelous General Conference  Prep...

 The church just put the curriculum for Come Follow Me online. Since it seems to be a Liahona for each week, I was curious as to what might be coming next year. Here's the introduction to the first quarter of lessons and the summary statements for each week. See what you think? December 28–January 3 Doctrine and Covenants 1 “Hearken, O Ye People” In November 1831, the restored Church of Jesus Christ was just a year and a half old. Though growing, it was still an obscure group of believers living in a sparsely settled frontier, led by a prophet in his mid-twenties. But God considered these believers to be His servants and His messengers, and He wanted the revelations He had given them to be published to the world. Doctrine and Covenants section 1  is the Lord’s preface to the compilation of these revelations, and it clearly shows that even though the membership of the Church was small, there was nothing small about the message God wanted His Saints to sha...

The combined doctrine of God’s foreknowledge and of foreordination is one of the doctrinal roads least traveled by, yet these clearly underline how very long and how perfectly God has loved us and known us with our individual needs and capacities. Thank you very much, President Oaks; and thank you, sisters, for that lovely music. This is always a great experience for any of us to have. Often, when speaking to student leaders in higher education, I have used the analogy that—in a university—the faculty, staff, and administration are like the natives, and the students are like the tourists. In many ways, a recurring devotional speaker is more like one of the natives. Even so, I thank President Oaks for once again extending this precious privilege to me. You may conclude today, however, that I am becoming more like a tourist, since I shall try to cover two topics in order to make the most of these fleeting moments. Discipleship includes good citizenship ; and in this connection, if you ar...