Knowledge is Power!
When I was a kid I remember thinking I could read the whole dictionary. I wanted to know all the words so that I could never be told “You don’t know what that word means.” I can confidently say I have never made it through the whole dictionary, but I still have that same drive to learn. It is just more focused and driven by different motivators. There are so many scriptures that talk about the importance of knowledge, there are also real-life examples from Joseph Smith to our living prophet Russel M Nelson. There are two things I want to focus on today that I believe help all anyone who is willing to use them.
The power of knowledge
The power of curiosity
The power of knowledge. In President Nelson’s 2015 conference address “A Plea to My Sisters” he talked about his failures and then later success as a heart surgeon mentioning the fact that he is the surgeon who pioneered open heart surgery. He shares the stories of some of the losses he had that made him want to give up and how his wife said “Are you finished crying? Then get dressed. Go back to the lab. Go to work! You need to learn more. If you quit now, others will have to painfully learn what you already know” (Nelson, par. 20.) Even with all of his knowledge the prophet suffered a great loss that made him want to quit. With the help of his first wife, he was able to press on, gain more knowledge, save many lives, and build great relationships with other countries such as China.
I have seen the power of knowledge in my life as well. Knowledge helps me not only in my career but also in the gospel. In fact my knowledge of the gospel is one of the biggest helps in my career. Because I know that my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love everyone I can see all my clients with value. I am blessed to get a small glimpse of how our Heavenly Father sees His children as He has asked me to care for them to care for their mental well-being.
The power of curiosity. Has anyone else ever had the thought that we would not have the truths that we have today if Joseph Smith had not been curious? He got curious, he searched the scriptures, and there found answers that lead him to praying in the sacred grove. Seeing hour Heavenly Father and Jesus Chirst which enabled him to bring about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith was able to provide us with the knowledge of the truth because he was curious. Be curious my friends! I have seen many blessing in my life from being curious. My curiosity is what drives my desire to learn
D&C 136:32 “Let him that is ignorant learn wisdom by humbling himself and calling upon the Lord his God, that his eyes may be opened that he may see, and his ears opened that he may hear;”
Source:
Nelson, Russell M. "A Plea to My Sisters." Ensign, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nov. 2015, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2015/11/sunday-morning-session/a-plea-to-my-sisters?lang=eng.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Doctrine and Covenants 136:32. Intellectual Reserve, 1981. ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
I Love You Because…
There is this beautiful song that Hilary Weeks sings that says “He loves me even while even when. He loves me anyway in spite of…” saying that Christ loves us even as we make mistakes. I want to add to this thought though. Recently I have been thinking a lot about the Millennium and when all our loved ones are whole. When I won’t have Anxiety anymore, because it will have been my time to be healed. I think of my loved ones and what healing might be like for them, so excited to meet the healed version of them, because if I can love the imperfect version of them as much as I do, man the healed version? I can’t imagine how amazing they will be.
With these thoughts came the idea that the Lord loves me because of and with my faults. He loves all of us with all of our faults. Think about it? Think about the atonement and all the pain our Savior went through. The Bible says “He bleed from every pore” He knew we would screw up and yet He still came. He still came to this earth, to suffer, bleed, and die for me, for you, for all of us. He loved me, knowing I would make mistakes. I caused him some of that pain; that idea hurts me, but I know I did. Guess what? He still loves me, and He still loves you.
What does this mean for me though? How do I apply this love more fully to myself? If the Lord can love me with all my mistakes and imperfections, how can I learn to love others this way? When I think of how I can do this, the first step in my brain always comes back to draw closer to Christ.
On my mission we used to teach people about spiritual CPR, or church, pray, read. Just like CPR helps keep a person alive, spiritual CPR helps keep our spirits alive. I would add to this though. I believe a huge part of spiritual wellness is the temple, the house of the Lord. Temples have been a big part of General Conference and other church devotionals, I will one day spend a whole post talking about my LOVE of temples. For now, I just want to share one thought from President Russell M. Nelson’s most recent conference talk in October 2024, “Regular worship in the temple will help us. In the house of the Lord, we focus on Jesus Christ. We learn of Him. We make covenants to follow him. We come to know Him…” I have seen the difference regular temple attendance makes in my life and the lives of those around me. I know that sometimes it feels impossible to go to the temple, but it isn’t. I promise, get yourself there. Walk through those doors, blessings will come, the hardest part is getting there.
I want to learn to love like Christ I know the little things are the place to start. I work very hard to have weekly temple attendance and believe that because of that I can see people the way Christ sees them. I’m not always perfect at it, sometimes people frustrate me, but I know the temple helps. Now I’m not perfect and while I keep up my weekly temple attendance I plan on working towards improving my scripture study. I look forward to the blessings I will see from that and I look forward to the great blessings we will all see from the temple!
Sources:
Nelson, Russell M. "The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again." General Conference, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Oct. 2024, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/57nelson.
The Holy Bible: King James Version. Thomas Nelson, 2002.
Weeks, Hilary. Even When. Say Love, Shadow Mountain Records, 2011.
Roundabout
When I first got my license, I thought it was so fun to drive around the roundabout multiple times. Sometimes, I would see how fast I could drive in a circle. It was like a game. In fact, I remember once, when my cousin was driving, we went around it so much that the car went up onto the edge of the roundabout. That is when we knew we had to exit.
As an adult I wish I could go back to those times. The easier times when playing in a roundabout meant making sure I did not crash or seeing how fast I could drive through it. As an adult, being in the roundabout is less of a real-life adventure and more of a metaphor for my feelings of having too many decisions. I have all these options and they are all good, I could do any of them. None of them are bad, but what is good? What is better? And what is best? Or are they all equal and I get to choose?
I don’t know the answer to any of those questions, but the other day I was talking to my friend Peggy about this and she said “Isn’t it better that we are in a roundabout with choices, then at a dead end? You know what, she was right. I would rather have choices then nothing. It turns out that my struggles is not the roundabout but the patience that is needed while I am in the roundabout.
Patience is a Christ-like attribute and in some ways it has been the hardest one for me to develop. For this reason I am on a journey, a journey to discover how I can become more patient and I want to take you with me. So far I have learned what I would call step 1. Drawing closer to Christ. In the coming weeks, we are going to dive deeper into what it means to draw closer to Christ and how I do it. I want to take y’all on this journey of discovering patience with me. I have no idea where it will take us, but I trust that it will be good.
So why am I doing this?
It all begins with an idea.
I am honestly not 100% sure why I am doing this. I have always wanted to and for some reason I have decided that now is the time. I was blessed to be born into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I believe it to be Christ's one true church today. With that being said, I believe that there is good to be found in all religions.
I guess that is why I started this, I want to share the good I have been taught. It has nothing to do with converting people, but with sharing simple things I know to be true. Sharing how my Savior has saved me, how He has helped and healed me. Most importantly, I hope to be be able to help each and every one of you feel the love that He and I both have for you.
I guess the point of this blog is to help you come to know the greatest love you will ever know. The love of our Savior Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven.
Also in case you are wondering what I look like, here is the only professions head shot I have ever had taken…. I think I look pretty smart.