Flooding the Earth and our Lives with the Book of Mormon--Chapter 10, Melissa

Great lesson on Sunday---"He can't be serious!!" thought Margo Merrill...when she first heard President Ezra Taft Benson's request that parents read the Book of Mormon with their children.  'My children are only six, five, and two years old.  I'll just be wasting my time and patience.'
Brother and Sister Merrill decided to try reading the Book of Mormon with their children anyway.  When they came to the story of Nephi and his broken bow, six-year-old Melissa became ill with pneumonia.
Melissa pleaded with her mother to let her go back to school even though she was sick, Margo said, She said that if she didn't go back, her friend, Pamela--who is a member of another church, wouldn't know what happened to Nephi.  Then Melissa sobbed and slumped into my arms.  I dried her tears and suggested she call Pamela on the phone and tell her what had happened to Nephi.

1. The Book of Mormon was written for us!!  I think we sometimes forget this!!  The Nephites never had the book---The Lamanites never had the book.  It was meant for us.  Mormon wrote near the end of the Nephite civilization.  Under the inspiration of God, who sees all things from the beginning, he abridged centuries of records, choosing the stories, speeches, and events that would be most helpful to us.
2. As we study the Book of Mormon daily, the power of the book will flow into our lives.  The spirit, as well as the body, is in need of constant nourishment.  Yesterday's meal is not enough to sustain today's needs.  So also an infrequent reading of the most correct of any book on earth, as Joseph Smith called, is not enough!!!
3. We must flood the earth and our lives with the Book of Mormon.  We each need to get our own testimony of the book through the Holy Ghost.  Then we need to share!!

President Benson's vision---
Of homes alerted, of classes alive, and of pulpits aflame with the spirit of the messages.  A vision of home teachers and visiting teachers, ward and branch officers, and stake and mission leaders counseling our people out of the most correct of any book on earth--the Book of Mormon.  A vision of artists putting into film, drama, literature, music, and paintings great themes and great characters from the Book of Mormon.  A vision of missionaries going into the mission field with hundreds of passages memorized from the Book of Mormon so that they might feed the needs of a spiritually famished world.  A vision of the whole Church getting nearer to God by abiding by the precepts of the Book of Mormon.

Our challenge from President Benson:  

To prayerfully consider steps that we can personally take to bring this new witness for Christ more fully into our own lives and into a world that so desperately needs it.

Melissa did a great job.  She bore a STRONG testimony of the Book of Mormon to all of us and expressed her love for the book.  Thanks again...and we missed you if you weren't with us!!!

On the Bright Side

For years we have heard that too much sun exposure can cause skin cancer, and Utah has the highest rate of melanoma in the nation.  It makes sense to get less sun exposure in order to prevent skin cancer.  The tricky part is figuring out how to protect yourself from harm while still enjoying the amazing outdoor lifestyle offered by southern Utah, with averages of up to 300 sunny days per year.  In less than an hour in the sun the damage starts.  So...what are we to do.  We need sunshine.  Spending too much time indoors means more eating than we need.  We need sun for mood-enhancing.  Serotonin comes from sun exposure through the eyes, which helps with heart, with sleep and with vitamin supply.  So...here are some recommendations.

Just for your information:
SPF--Sun Protection Factor
UV--Ultraviolet rays (invisible energy from the sun)
UVA--aging rays
UVB--burn
ing rays

SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB rays

SPF 30 blocks 97% of UVB rays

SPF 50 blocks 98% of UVB rays.  

NO SUNSCREEN PROTECTS 100%

Broad spectrum sunscreen protects against UVA & UVB rays

Water resistant--effective 40 minutes submerged in water

Water proof---effective 80 minutes submerged in water

SPF 30 or higher recommended for children under 6 years of age.

SLIP on a shirt, SLOP on sunscreen, SLAP on a hat, SEEK shade and SLIDE on some sunglasses!!

Before and After...

Have you ever wondered???

• What did I look like before I came to earth?
• What does it mean to be a child of God?
• What did we do in the premortal world?  Church meetings?  "Spirit seminary?
• Were there temptations and sin there?  What about faith or repentance?
• Where do I go when I die?  
• What will I look lie?
• Will I recognize family and friends in the spirit world?  Even if I never knew them on earth?
• Can those in the spirit world see me or communicate with me?
• What do we do in the spirit world?  Play harps and float on cloud?
• Can a person repent and change in the spirit world?

Stay tuned because we will be answering these puzzling questions in the near future!!!

The 8th of 8...

The Atonement is not just the best way but the only way...

Christ is not just one of several possible correct answers on a multiple choice exam.  He is the only correct answer.  In today's world, it is not popular or politically correct to speak of absolutes.  Some claim truth is relative and constructed by each person individually.  They don't  want to abandon sin and get comfortable with God.  Rather, they wish to abandon God and get comfortable with sin.  None of this changes Christ's reality and their absolute dependence on Him.As Latter-day Saints, we know Christ and His Atonement are the source of all spiritual blessings.  As King Benjamin taught, "There shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, 

only in and through the name of Christ." 

 Mosiah 3:17

8 things the Atonement is not...

The Atonement is not because we are good but because God and Christ are good.
         They love us not because we are always loveable, but because They are always loving.  Understanding this helps us feel Their love even when we don't see any reason to love ourselves.  "I'll never do it again," we say.  Then we do it.  "Now I really mean it.  I will never do it again."  And then we do it.  At such low moments, it is easy to become discouraged and lose help.  We have such a hard time forgiving ourselves that we mistakenly believe God and Christ must be feeling the same way.  We think each setback is devastating, but God and Christ simply recognize them as growing pains.
         Jesus suffered for our sins---plural.  That means multiple sins, but that also means multiple times we commit the same sin as we learn how to break bad habits once and for all.  "ever again" may be the ultimate goal, but in the meantime we can set more realistic milestones to reach along the way.  Each time we repent and start again, we are one step closer to our ultimate goal--usually much closer than we think.  The love of God and Jesus is perfect---offered consistently through our moments of great success or utter failure.  Although we often want to give up on ourselves, God and Jesus will never give up on us.  Their hearts simply cannot and will not let go.

Interesting facts about the Prophet Joseph Smith...

• The tricky medical operation performed on Joseph Smith's leg when he was a child would not be successfully repeated until nearly a century later..
• As assassin attempted to kill Joseph Smith when he was 14.  The shot was fired at the prophet in a gray twilight, missing its target and hitting a nearby cow instead...
• In 1826, the angel Moroni told Joseph that he could obtain the plates the following year if he brought "the right person" to the hill and that, when the time came, he would know who that person was.  The following year, Emma Hale Smith accompanied Joseph to the Hill Cumorah to retrieve the plates...
• On July 27, 1837, Joseph Smith was arrested--and released--on false charges six times in Kirtland, Ohio...

Thank you ladies!!

Thank you so much to those of you that came on Wednesday night.  I really needed help and we got a lot done in the short couple of hours we were there.  The reading packets look fabulous and the new mother's at Valley View Medical Center are going to love them.  Also we are donating $2.50 to buy onesies at the hospital too.  If you remember you can bring it to church on Sunday!!!  Thanks so much!!! AGAIN!!