Parables Gift Exchange

In seminary we had a parables gift exchange. The only guidelines were that the gift couldn't be too expensive, less than $3 or something brought from home, and that they had to think of a parable to go along with what they brought.

We had a fun time opening the random stuff they brought.  4 kids forgot to bring something, so I was glad I had been prompted to bring extra presents.  I brought 3 and then randomly wrapped up a box of snacks that I had brought to share.  We had several presents wrapped in scratch paper from the library, but despite the minor hurdles, it went really well.

Hand sanitizer #1 - Jesus cleansed the lepers and some of them expressed their gratitude for what he did for them. When we clean our hands with the hand sanitizer, we should think of being grateful for all Jesus does for us.

Hand sanitizer #2 - Hand sanitizer cleans our hands and gets rid of the germs just like repentance cleans us from sin.

Pencil sharpener - When your pencil is dull, you sharpen it so you can draw pictures and use them to #lighttheworld.

Beanie hat - When you wear the hat, it protects your head from the cold and rain. When we have faith in Christ, he can protect us from the bad things in the world.

Penny - the penny is like the widow's mite and can remind us that every gift we give is important to the Lord

Unlit candle - the candle has the potential to make light, but there were no matches. If we want to light the world, we need the right tools.

Glasses cleaner - The glasses cleaner gets the dirt off your lenses so you can see, just like repentance can get rid of the effects of sin.

Soap - Sometimes people buy pretty soap and put it in the bathroom to look at. Sometimes they don't even unwrap it.  And it's useless that way.  The gospel sounds pretty great, but if we don't use it in our lives, it is pretty useless for us.

Mints - Mints make your breath nice like the gospel makes things better.  Alternate parable - mints make your breath smell good, but they don't take care of the problems in your mouth. For that, you need to brush your teeth. When there is sin in our lives, we need to take care of the actual problem, not just do things to cover it up.

Pocky sticks - The biscuit stick is pretty good by itself, but when you dip it in chocolate, it is really yummy. Our lives can be pretty good, but when we have the gospel they are even better. Also, we can share the gospel with others so their lives can be better too.

Orange - The peel of an orange is gross. You have to take it off so you can get to the good stuff inside. We have things in our lives that we need to get rid of so we can become better people.

Can of mandarin oranges - Mandarin oranges are really yummy, but not that nutritious on their own. But when you put them in a salad, you have all the ingredients together making it really good for you. If you take individual parts of the gospel, like baptism, or going to church on Sunday, they are not going to do enough for you on their own, but when you do all the stuff, you are blessed.

Sugar cubes - You put a sugar cube in something to make it sweet. Sometimes life is hard and when you turn to Jesus, he can help make it sweet for you.

Remote control - You use the remote control to make the projector work and it shows you lots of infomation. The gospel shows  us what is right and helps us know way to go.

Strategem

I have been reading about the wars between the Nephites and Lamanites in Alma.  There are various times that strategy comes into play.  Moroni and his captains use strategy repeatedly to conquer their enemies and retake cities that have been taken by their enemies.  Amalekiah uses strategy to try to become king of the Nephites and when that fails, he uses strategy to become king of the Lamanites.  Also, at various times, the Lamanites unsuccessfully uses strategy to try to conquer the Nephites.

It is interesting that Moroni feels it necessary to defend his use of strategem in defending his country.  He says that he only uses it because their enemies have attacked them.  He only uses it in a time of war to defend himself, never to vanquish an opponent.

How does all this use of strategy apply to our lives, specifically in the fight against the forces of evil that are attempting to conquer us at every turn?  Amalekiah's strategy worked against the wicked and the unaware, but did not work against the righteous.  When we are actively turning to our Heavenly Father and following His Son, we will be made aware of the strategies used against us and will be less likely to fall for them.  If by chance we do fall, we have the Lord as our strength to conquer again.  We can turn to Him and He will provide the guidance and strength we need to overcome our weaknesses and temptations.  And as far as using strategy ourselves, we should actively seek to find every advantage we can against our enemy.  Moroni dressed his men in armor, fortified the cities, used every bit of his military knowledge, asked the prophet for guidance, and thought creatively to outmaneuver his enemy.  We have so many tools available from the Lord to help and strengthen our army. We would be foolish not to use them all.

Pride and Humility

Alma 5:28 Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. 

Alma 7:23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and be submissive and gentle;

I read these 2 scriptures a few weeks ago as part of the assigned reading for Sunday School.  I noticed a difference in tone between the two chapters.  In the first, Alma was teaching the people of Zarahemla.  They had strayed away from their faith and were walking their own path.  In the second, he was teaching a people who were striving to be righteous.

For those who were wicked he reminded them of the Lord's blessings in the lives of their ancestors and told them to get rid of their pride.  For those who were righteous, he preached of Christ's coming and told them to be humble.  

I thought about this difference a lot and the fact that he didn't say be humble to the first group.  I had always thought of humility being the absence of pride, but maybe it is something more.

A few days before I read this, I was taught about the difference between those who will inherit the different degrees of glory.  Those in the telestial have disobeyed God.  Those in the terrestrial keep the "thou shalt not" commandments.  Those in the celestial have kept the "thou shalt" commandments.  So to inherit all God has, it isn't enough to just avoid doing bad things.  You need to do the righteous things he has asked you to do.

In the context of pride versus humility, I realized that avoiding pride is keeping a "thou shalt not" commandment.  Humility isn't just avoiding pride.  It is a "thou shalt" commandment.  It is actively submitting your will to the Lord. It is looking to Him for guidance rather than thinking you have it all figured out.  Pride is placing yourself above God.  Avoiding pride means you aren't putting yourself in opposition to God.  Humility is realizing that His ways are higher than your ways and asking Him to lead you.

Experimenting on the word

I taught a primary lesson last week about Alma 32-33 where Alma teaches the Zoramites about faith. I challenged the kids to pick something they wanted to have a better testimony of and to experiment on it. I asked them to write down what they wanted to learn about and something they would do to nourish the word.  I decided that I should do it too. So I have been praying about something all week. (Its something that I know, but something I need to believe and feel is true.) This morning as I asked for a testimony that it was true, I felt a swelling within my heart, just like Alma said. So Awesome!!  So then I prayed to know what I can do to nourish this good seed that is growing in my heart. I'm excited.

Lessons from weeding

I went outside and did some weeding in my yard yesterday.  We have two apple trees.  They both have a border around them, that theoretically is supposed to provide them a buffer from other plants so they get the water they need.  As a practical matter, when you don't put any sort of barrier down, and don't weed very often, they don't get any sort of buffer.

I finally decided to clear out the weeds around the trees and found something very interesting.  One tree had weeds of all sorts growing under it, clover, dandelion, tall ones, short ones, basically all the kinds of weeds that grow so prolifically here.  The other tree's circle was full of grass with very few weeds present.  Why the difference?  One tree is in a more shaded area where the grass grows lush and green.  The other tree is on the edge of where the sprinkler can water, in a very sunny patch. Because of this, there is very little grass and a lot of weeds.  Even though there are those barriers, the areas around the trees were invaded by the plants surrounding them.

I thought that there might be a gospel application in this. The things we surround ourselves with affect us, even if we don't intend for them to do so.  If we have friends, hobbies, entertainment, etc. that are not at the standards we want to live at, we are opening ourselves up to have weeds in our lives.

Wisdom and Order

I had a new insight into a scripture that I have thought a lot about over the years.

And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.
Mosiah 4:27 

When I first heard that scripture discussed in an adult lesson, the people, probably mostly the women, talked about how they needed to remember that they didn't have to do more than they were able to do, that we shouldn't put pressure on ourselves to do to much.  My general response to that was something like: I'm good on this scripture.  I don't try to push myself too hard.  I'm good at taking it easy and not taking on too much.

Then, in later years, I realized that I needed to focus on the second half of the scripture.  For some people, their challenge might be to not take on too much.  For me, my challenge is to not take on too little.  I need to be more diligent in my efforts in just about everything.

This last time I studied the scripture, I realized that the two halves of the scripture work best when taken together.  We don't have to run faster than we have strength, but we need to be diligent.  And as we are diligent, our strength increases.  Thus, the wisdom and order part of the scripture.  When we are wise about our efforts, and do things in the proper order, we are able to win the prize.

My realization for this was fueled by my efforts at exercising the last several months.  When I first started, I ran for 13 minutes at a pace to run a 15 minute mile.  I ran every weekday for months, increasing my speed by .1 mph as I was ready to do it.  Within 4 or 5 months, I was able to run a 10 minute mile and maintain that pace for 13 minutes.  And then a few weeks ago, I decided to push myself and see what I was really capable of.  I ran a mile in 8:45.  There is no way I could have run a mile at that speed 6 months ago, but through diligent effort, I was able to reach that level.  Thus we see that as we run as we have strength to do, and diligently strive to do better, the Lord blesses our efforts and our strength to do increases.

Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness

I was reading Enos this morning and noticed that he said his soul hungered.  In the scriptures, Christ says blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.  I then wondered if I felt that way.  I realized there are times when I do, but more often I don't.  I guess that could be good or bad.  If I just have no desire to fill my life with the things of God, then that is like only having an appetite for junk food.  But if I am constantly nourishing myself with the things of God, then I won't be hungry for them.  When I was pregnant with Matthew, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes.  I was put on a special diet to regulate my blood sugar.  The diet involved eating foods from certain categories at certain times of day.  I followed the diet pretty strictly, and for 3 months, I was not hungry.  I don't remember feeling a single hunger pang during that entire time.  My body was constantly being nourished by good food, so it never asked for more.  I think the gospel can be like that.  If we partake of Godly things regularly, we don't have to hunger for them because we are being filled on a regular basis.  I like that thought.

Guidance from above

I was reading a book called the Nightingale recently.  Near the beginning of the book, Vianne's (one of the main characters) house was invaded by a Nazi captain.  She lived in occupied France, so she had no say in the matter.  After months of him politely living in her home, he asked her to provide him a list of Jews, communists, Jehovah's witnesses, etc who taught at the same school as she did. She hesitated, but then after he reassured her that it was just for clerical purposes, she talked herself into giving him the list.  During this scene, I kept hoping that she would deny his request and stand up for her friends. 

In the next chapter, which takes place a few months later, all the people on her list were fired as teachers.  She was heartbroken and guilt-stricken.  As I was thinking about this, I felt confident that I wouldn't have made that choice because I knew what the Nazis eventually did.  It occurred to me that if she had known the end from the beginning, she would never have made that choice either.  This phrase struck a chord with me and I pondered it for a while.

There are many times in life that we would act differently if we only knew the end from the beginning.  If I had known that Kim would die soon, I would have called her and emailed her more to take advantage of those last few months with her.  If I had known that leaving the grill dirty would result in some seriously nasty mold a few months later, I would have cleaned it. 

There are other times when I have been prompted to make a better choice by someone who does know the end from the beginning.  When Matthew and Rachel were little, I was prompted to check  the kids' carseats to see if they were buckled to the car (something which I never did) and discovered the buckle on one had come undone.  Within 5 minutes, Robert had to swerve the car pretty violently in a way that would have thrown the car seat into the other car seat and probably injured both of the kids.  A year ago, when we were determined to move to Arizona, the Lord told us that we belong here in Washington.  We don't know why that is the right choice, but we trust that he who knows the end from the beginning does.

We are not left in this life to wander, guessing if what we are doing is right.  We have basic principles to follow and when a decision can't be made by looking to the scriptures and the commandments, we can pray to the Lord.  He knows the end from the beginning and will always lead us down the best path for us that will lead us safely home.