~GOSPEL PRINCIPLES~WORK & PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

 ( A Tumblr post I wrote earlier this week- just re blogging it here)

This post  is a prelude to the Sunday school lesson that we will be having in Gospel Principles ( 2013 Aug 4) on work as an eternal principle. The reason why I write this now is I often try ( being that operate word) to read the lesson beforehand along with the scriptures listed in the lesson. I contemplate the meaning of each principle we learn. Last night ( or early this morning really lol) I began to read.. I wanted to take this principle and apply it to my daily life. 

So here goes: A brief overview

Heavenly Father and Christ are our examples of how working is indeed that eternal principle that I mentioned above. Heavenly Father created the Earth; Christ came to this world to do His Father’s work. 

In John 9:4 Christ said this-

" I must work the works of Him that sent me" 

( a excerpt from Gospel Principles manual Ch 27)

The lesson goes on to talk about Adam and Eve who also worked from the beginning. It is interesting to the see this. When I thought about it…what really came to mind is working the Earth, tilling the land and enjoying the Earth’s bounty. Without the many different  sources we would not exist. 

While it seems obvious that we must work in order to survive. We should do it filled with joy. Or at least try to ( there are days I would rather not work outside on the small farm I live on but…) If we remember that work is rewarding even when it well, sucks! We will continue on a path filled with positive transformations our ultimate goal is true conversion( true change). 

The lesson soon goes into Personal Responsibility and the family structure. The Individual responsibilities of each family member When I read this I loved this particular part and took a side note… 

" Couples should seek inspiration from the Lord and follow the counsel of the prophets when establishing individual responsibilities.  Creating a home where principles of the gospel are taught daily and where love and order abound is as important as providing basic necessities of food and clothing."

While it was more aimed at those with children. I had to make note for the couples without- which would be my husband and I currently. While we have no children we still need our daily soul food. We can teach each other the principles and be examples to each other. What I really mean by this also is lifting each other up. As a couple we are partners in our continuous spiritual growth as well as the mundane. 

Okay moving on! That was a mild tangent! 

Scripture time: Mosiah 2:17

"When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God"

When I think about work I tie it to service- this scripture is in the lesson and for very good reason. When we are struggling with our daily work- whatever it may be. We should remember this scripture. Even if you can only take care of your own at the moment this is still being in service. 

Okay now let’s get to the meat and the potatoes of my post..

For the rest of the week I will be pondering this:

" Why is it important to keep a balance of in life between work, recreation, and rest?"

reword this:

How can I actively seek to keep a balance in my life between work, recreation, and rest? 

So for the rest of the week I will concentrate on this. This lesson comes at a time where I really needed it. I struggle with depression, anxiety, and endometriosis. Some days are hard for me to keep a balance; but I have faith if I ponder this and work at this with the Lord’s help- that I will find a balance that works for me. I will post more on this as the week goes by and as I figure things out :) 

~Lexxy~

A Gospel Principle- The Sabbath Day

When I was younger before having my stent away from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I attended church every Sunday and thought for the most part I knew what it meant to keep this day holy. Turns out I was wrong! Even when I was in the exploratory  stage of my spirituality experiencing other paths I always held Sunday near and dear as the day of rest.

Now that I am going back to church  and attending Gospel Principles during Sunday school I am learning more than I ever did when I was a young perhaps stubborn teen ( yes very stubborn).  A real quick tidbit on Gospel Principles... it is the class for new members or investigators of the church. It covers the basics of the gospel. The foundation of our beliefs in the LDS church. Even when a lesson topic is familiar to me I am grateful for this invaluable class and what we learn each Sunday.

Returning to church is really starting all over. Being inactive as we call it often leaves a person forgetting some ( not all) of the gospel and so I made the decision to attend the class till I know I am ready to move forward to Gospel Doctrine. I figure a back story was needed before continuing on to the topic of the Sabbath day.

I love the first question in our church manuals. The first question is what is the Sabbath day? I was dumbfounded as I stared at this question! My mind went blank! I thought to myself this day is a day I am very familiar with but what is the day about? It is a day of rest. In the beginning the Sabbath day was the day that Heavenly Father rested from creating the earth. He had six time periods that he referred to as days in the bible and the seventh time period ( or day) he rested and blessed this day as a day of rest and worship. ( for scriptural reference see Genesis 2:2-3)

Along with this; the Savior's resurrection is  also commemorated. He arose on Sunday and thus the Sabbath is on Sunday. If you look up the Sabbath it was originally on Saturday and was changed to Sunday when Christ was risen. Which makes absolute sense to me. There are scriptures that also back this up Acts 20:7 and Corinthians 16:2.

Anyway, we covered the origins of the Sabbath day ( the history) and then moved on to the purpose. In the manual it states that the Sabbath day was made for our benefit. It is a day we can solely concentrate on directing our thoughts and actions toward the Lord. We can ponder spiritual matters, read our scriptures, visit friends and family, perform acts of charity ( as would Christ who healed people on the Sabbath day). We can discuss what we learned in Sunday school, invite a friend to attend church with us. Give away a Book of Mormon. It seems like the possibilities are endless.

Which leads me to a question I reworded so I could journal about it:

" What can I do to improve my efforts to keep the Sabbath day holy?"

I gave a list of things we can do on Sunday that keep it holy. Some people would argue that some of these are not in the spirit of the Sabbath. And well I will argue that point! Which I already did really! Like Christ healing... as a christian I seek to follow Christ and His example. So if the Savior healed and helped on the Sabbath, me doing the same would be perfectly okay.

In the LDS church we are asked to rest from our daily labors like work when we can, there are some jobs that call for us to work such as doctor or nurse. Keeping the Sabbath in your mind and heart throughout the day is a way of keeping it Sanctified, keeping it holy even with work. Luckily I get to rest from my labors. We don't do any work that we would do during the week save for feeding times for the animals. There are things that will always have to be done, but this is allowed. My grandma always said this though " Saturday is the day you get ready for Sunday" ( It is also a children's hymn song).

I am a strong believer in this. While farm chores like feeding the animals is something we have to do. We can prepare on Saturday to get things in order and then concentrate on the Sabbath more fully. in the manual it says we could ask ourselves these questions:

" Will it uplift and inspire me?"
" Does it show respect for the Lord?"
" Does it direct my thoughts to Him?"

Not once when I was growing up did I really do this! I was so used to Sunday and how we did things that I did not once remember to ask myself these questions. I want to write these on an index card so I can be aware. What can I do to uplift my soul on Sunday? Pray, attend church meetings.What can I read to inspire me? Church manuals and the scriptures, along with other church materials ( like the Ensign magazine) I can listen intently to the talks( Sacrament) and lessons ( Sunday school and Relief Society) for inspiration as well.

 I feel like these are the meats and potatoes of it all these simple questions. They cover a broad spectrum. I didn't answer each and every one, but I  am sure you get the idea ( smiles). These questions can help me draw closer to the Lord and feed my soul. I believe as I try to keep the Sabbath day holy that I will be blessed. In our lesson we are told that blessing both temporal and spiritual are ours. Sometimes we won't be aware of these blessings.

For me the biggest blessing of the Sabbath day is partaking of the Sacrament and renewing myself for the week. I can take that time during the administering the sacrament to remember the Atonement. To think about what Christ did for me. That right there is a blessing .

I know I haven't covered as much as I could on the Sabbath day. It's a little late but I want to start blogging about my faith and more about my life. I thought each Sunday I could go over what I learned in church. If you have questions comment and I will answer the best I can.

~Lexxy~

F.H.E ( update) & Date Night via Skype

I realized I failed to give the update on F.H.E/ Family Home Evening via Skype with the hubs. It went really well and we have a schedule in place of who is going to do what till May. It really helps to have things planned out for the both of us. So if you and your spouse are long distance for the current moment. Plan something over Skype! Trust me it will be lot's of fun! Every Friday ( well Friday here) we Skype and immediately start off with F.H.E. I think it sets the mood for our conversations.

There is more positive energy and conversation than negative. Which is is exactly what we need to grow closer together. Even with the distance between us. Anyway! So F.H.E has been a total success!
Now on to "Date Night" I decided that it would be fun to play a questions game over Skype. Being apart we tend to forget what things our significant other likes and dislikes. The first part of  our date was filled with questions like:

 " If there was anything that I would like to do for the weekend what would it be?"

Both have to answer questions like the one above. It gets you thinking and not only that you have to think like your spouse would! These types of questions help you to see where you might have been missing something or unaware. Or if you answer correctly- Awesome job!  We both did pretty well with that. Then it was questions like:

" Your ideal breakfast would be?" 

Now the questions are personal but it nice to see the variety in answers and learn more about each other. If you Google questions to ask your spouse ( or whatever you consider the relationship) you can find ideas for questions to ask. I loved doing this! the hubs and I both had a blast with this! It changed our usual conversation over Skype into something different and fun. Basically keeping things "spicy" *wink* tehehe. 

I am in the process of finding other Date Night activities we can do long distance. I hope this post helps some of you out there who may be in a long distance relationship. I will suggest this to our military spouses for sure! And on that note! I am off like a dirty shirt...

~Lexxy~

Lexxy Life bits- F.H.E via Skype!

It has been five weeks since Jimmy left and we have been trying to figure out different things to do via our Skype "dates". The latest is Family Home Evening.

F.H.E or Family Home Evening is a once a week event that LDS members hold as a time for learning about the gospel. It is a spiritual day that couples, families with children, and even single adults can do. Traditionally it is held on a Monday but since time zone differences and my hubs work we chose Friday evenings when we get to chat.

I really like the idea of doing this each week together since we cannot attend church together, etc. If you happen to be a military wife regardless of religion you can have something similar with your husband if you both have similar spiritual beliefs or practice the same religion. The possibilities are endless! And it helps to build up your relationship more and more during times when you are apart.

For us since we are latter day saints our F.H.E's will consist of learning things about prayer, scripture study, repentance, fasting, and the sacrament- to name a few things.

I'm still trying to figure how I will present our first F.H.E and will post about it later! It should be interesting! I am so grateful for technology right now. Getting to video chat with my hubs is really helping me stay positive.

When the love of your life leaves for deployment or like Jim, a year long hardship tour. You have a sadness to overcome and the first few months are not by any means fun. You have so many things to get used to. Sleeping alone, no physical contact, and you have to "switch" modes. When your husband is home you work together as a unit. While he is away you have to become independent and be able to work alone but always remembering him (or her).

This goes for any type of military wive/husband, fiance, or boyfriend/girlfriend. It is not easy, staying positive is key,  working through each day and of course staying busy- and in this case coming up with ideas to help keep the bonds of marriage strong.

I can't wait for our first spiritually oriented chat. I can't wait to see us grow even with the distance between us. So I leave you with these tidbits readers.

Lexxy