Starting Over

To say I've had a full year would be an understatement. 

To say I've had a blessed year would also be an understatement. 

I got married, moved to Texas, graduated from college, and have had multiple jobs.

My body decided to act funny and I've been sick more times this year than probably I've been my entire life.

I am now finally beginning to adjust to all of life's newnesses. (probably not a word.)

Don't get me wrong, this year has been fantastic in so many ways, but it has been a different year. More different than I've ever experienced.

After Josh and I got married and things settled down he asked me more about my hobbies and what things I wanted to do with my spare time.

Hobbies? Spare time? What? I've been in school the past 5 years, 2 of those years were year round college and I honestly couldn't think of anything. I lived and breathed school for so long that I lost a little bit of myself.

Who am I ? (said in soft sobs) 

I have realized that it is time to start over. I'm changing all sorts of things about myself. Change can be different but also extremely exciting. I'm looking for things that give me passion and excite me about life.

In a way it's fun, because I'm reinventing myself and viewing life in a different way. I want to try new things but also take bits of my past self with me.

Different stages of life bring different changes and I've been in need of a personal change for so long. When you've been so focused on one thing for so long you can lose yourself, and I think I did. Change is necessary and now it's time to find myself again.

I'm so excited to get back into music and back into working out/meditation. Those are two passions I know I'll take with me. I'm finding inspiration all around me and I'm happy to do some self discovery.

I've also thought about writing down stories from my school life. My Mom always loved to tell everyone that I was a "late bloomer" (thanks Mom?) which is probably pretty accurate even though I'd like to think it's not. (it's definitely true) ...because of that I have some really funny and severely awkward stories that might be fun (read: embarrassing) to share.

College brought a lot of "firsts" for me and I could write a book on all my experiences which I just might do.

Just to give you insight, the first time I held hands was my 2nd semester of school. Yes that's true...and I'm sorry did I say hands? I meant held forearms.  I should definitely write this book...

Exploring life with a new guy by my side has been so fun. I've realized so many different things about myself and about him. I've seen how Heavenly Father prepared him especially for me, in ways I could have never seen before I married him. He knows how to comfort me in ways I didn't even know I needed. He's pretty great like that.

So here's to self-discovery and finding out who I am in my new roles in life. Here's to living life again post-college and discovering life's passions all over again. xoXoo  (kiss, hug, big kiss, hug, hug)

Keep Yourselves from False and Evil Things

Choice 5:2 “John Abide “in the Doctrine of Christ”

1. The false doctrine John warned against was to not believe those who proclaim that Christ taught in appearance only, and that He didn’t really suffer for the sins of man in the garden of Gethsemane but it only appeared that way and that He was never here in the flesh. The evil comes from the very source of Evil. If we were to believe that information as truth, then our whole understanding of eternal life would be shattered, because the resurrection of our bodies would be nonexistent. Our sins would not have been atoned for, therefore no way back to our Father in Heaven. John warned the people of “the many deceivers.”

2. John told us essentially to stay far away from those who preach falsely, and who wish to spread untruth. Don’t associate with them, and don’t allow them into your life.

 Choice 1: Jude. “Keep Yourselves in the Love of God.”

1. We can have mercy, love, and peace multiplied in our lives when we become sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ. (Jude 1:1) I believe we can earnestly contend for the faith, by living what we know to be true and always living the same way no matter who we are around. We have to proclaim what we believe wherever we are, and never allow ourselves to falter depending upon our situation.

2. -The doctrine referred to the “first estate” refers to our pre-mortal life before we came to earth. Those who kept their first estate by righteousness will receive eternal life, and those who followed satan left their first estate.

-I would explain this disputation as satan trying to gain power over anything he could. Moses has truths in it, even if it was not entered into the Bible.

-At the second coming the Savior will come with ten thousands of his Saints.

3.  We can avoid the evils that come with false teachers by staying on the right side. Glory will be Gods forever whether we choose to be on His side or not. We know who wins the battle in the end, and that is not up for negotiation. If we do what’s right, and live righteously; doing as our Savior would then we will be blessed with strength to avoid evils and stay away from false doctrines. 

Trials

Choice Three—New Testament Hebrews 13

*We should take care of strangers, as we never know who we could be helping. We are to remember those who are in bonds, those who suffer, and those who face adversity.

*Marriage is looked upon as being honourable as long as we are worthy in it.

*We are to be content with what we have, for “he hath said, will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” We should not fear what man can do, but know that God stands at our side.

*Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

*We are sanctified through our Savior.

*We obey those who are over us, and are obedient. They watch over us and will report of us.

*Paul asked them to pray for the Apostles.

I chose this topic, because these are topics that we all needs remembrance and reminding of. I placed this on my blog: alexiesunset.blogspot.com

Choice Four—The Trial of our Faith is more Precious Than Gold

                It is by the trial of our faith that we can gain our salvation. We go through trials and struggles in our life that are for a purpose and for a reason. I saw an image the other day of several pictures. The first one was several people pulling a large cross, and one of the people pulling the cross said, “Lord this is too hard, I’m going to cut this cross to make it smaller.” The man continued to do this until his cross was small and easy to carry. The man walked among others who had large crosses that were hard to carry.

                Now as they all continued to carry their crosses they all came across a huge dip in the road. The rest of people took their large crosses and used them as bridges to get across the large dip in their road. The man who had cut his cross down could not pass. The purpose of this was to show that the cross we bear is for a reason, and only God knows why we bear the cross or bear the trials we do, but they are for a reason. Life is hard and we face trials, but by our faith we will gain salvation in that which we didn’t always understand, but had faith in the purpose and intent of our Father in Heaven.

I chose this talk, because I always love to hear about how we can overcome our different trials. I posted this on my blog: alexiesunset.blogspot.com 

Our Savior

Choice 1

*I feel as if we are being told to get over the small petty things, and humble ourselves. We are supposed to be of one mind and one heart. We are not to dis-ban and turn against one another. The Gospel is about unity and love. We are to lift one another up higher than we could do on our own. I love that thought.

* It’s true that in order to gain your own testimony you have to gradually take yourself off of your parents’ testimony and strength. It takes a lot of action to find your testimony, and I really do believe you have to do it, knowing that it will take work on your part.

*I think that in Philippians 4:13, it describes the solution to this difficult decision. Through Christ we can do all things, even things more difficult then we alone can bear. Christ knows our situations and he knows our hearts. We must do the right thing, and continue to have faith that those we love will have softened hearts.

*This writing is an example of 2 Nephi 32:3, because we will always face difficult decisions and difficult circumstances in our lives. The scriptures will literally answer all questions we face about decisions we need to make, or will bring us the peace we are seeking. “The words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” If we read our scriptures, then I know we will be blessed with answers.

Choice 5: Hebrews 1-2. Jesus Christ is greater than Angels.

*Christ is superior to the Angels. It says in the Bible Dictionary under “Analysis of Hebrews” that, “…He has a more excellent name, inheritance, and higher calling. They are servants; He is the Son. If the word of Angels is important, how much more earnest heed we ought to give to the things spoken by the Lord.”

*Hebrews 1; 3 great truths Paul wrote about the Savior:

1. He is better than the angels, because “He has obtained a more excellent name than they” (Hebrews 1:4)

2. Christ is a sceptre of righteousness. (Hebrews 1:8)

3. Christ loved righteousness more than iniquity; therefore was blessed by God above all others.

*Christ tasted death, so that He would know what man would one day suffer. “For in that he himself suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). Christ came to earth to experience immortality so that He would know what the children of God would face. He did it for us, so that He could more perfectly understand us and comfort us. We can find grace in time of need, through our Savior who so died for us.

“Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness t unto him this day by going into the water of baptism.  Book of Mormon, (Alma 7:15)

"Now I say unto you that ye must repent, and be born again; for the Spirit saith if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore come and be baptized unto repentance, that ye may be washed from your sins, that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, who is mighty to save and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. (Alma 7:14)

Our Savior tells us not to be afraid to repent, because if we don't, His death will have been in vain. 

Grace is what saves us through our Savior

Good Works

“But glory, honour, and peace to every man that worketh good…”

“But the doers of the law shall be justified…”

Faith and Grace

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith…”

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace…”

“And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own now dead…”

*Paul chose Abraham as a model of faith because he had so much of it! He believed in what he knew, and he did not doubt even considering the circumstances. He could not see how he would be the father of many nations, but he knew it would happen regardless of the situation in which he was in.

*Adam’s fall affected each of us, because Adam died that we would become. He suffered death by sin and that made him know good from evil and that is how we now live our lives with that knowledge.

* We understand Grace, faith, and good works to be the things that will bring us Salvation through Christ. After we do all we can it is Grace that saves us. Grace means a divine means of help, and we receive that help through our Savior by His Infinite Atonement. Without faith and good works we are not trying to be doers of the word, and without it are unbelieving. 

Look up bible dictionary reference of "Grace" and let it sink it. 

www.lds.org    www.mormon.org

Baptism and who do we serve?

*Before baptism can occur we must sin no more. We must proclaim that sin is dead and we should take upon us Christ’s name.

*Events from Christ’s life are symbolized in baptism by His death. He was buried in the grave in death, but arose again in resurrection. He faced death, but came up and was new again and would never again face death but a newness of everlasting life.

*Baptism could not be done by sprinkling, because you must engulf yourself in the death of sins and come up again whole and renewed having your whole body cleansed.

*We can maintain a newness of life by allowing sin to be dead in our lives. Allowing ourselves to yield righteousness in Christ and commit ourselves and our actions to Him.

·         After studying Romans 6:14-23, I have learned that you serve which master you follow. If you sin you serve the master of sin, if you live righteously you serve the Master of righteousness. With sin you are rewarded death, and with righteousness you are rewarded eternal life. You reap what you sow, and your actions tell which master you serve. The true source of freedom is through the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It is through His sacrifice that we can repent of our sins and become clean again. It is by His example that we know whom to follow. His way is the right way, and it is ONLY through Him that we can return again to face our God and Heavenly Father as clean children. 

Be An Example of Good

Choice 4

In the Gospel Paul was a missionary, there to spread the word of the Lord. He adapted himself to empathize with all people. He lived by example; therefore brought others to Him. By bringing himself to understand others and be what they were he helped meet them at their level, without ever letting his standards below what they should be. I believe an influential tool that Paul used was seeing others and meeting with them in likeness. He would have had to be a very nonjudgmental person to get to know and meet with so many others. 

Hating the Sin and not the Sinner

Avoiding Sin

1 Corinthians 5:7-13, Matthew 5:29-30

1. The word fornication did not mean then what it does now. The word fornication means now to for two unmarried people to have intercourse. The term then, meant any extramarital intercourse between two people. I feel as if the moral condition back then mirrors a lot of the moral condition of our day. People give way to their desires and do what feels good to them. We have prostitution as they did then and we also have people who have affairs or relationships outside of marriage.

2. Paul suggested that you “put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” To not allow yourself to trifle with sin. The verses in Matthew apply because we are not to hate the sinner but to hate the sin. We should cast away the sin and not the person. If we know we are doing something wrong then we can repent and change, and cast away that sin. 

The Resurrection: When Christ will return to earth.

Choice 7: 1 Thessalonians 4. The Resurrection.

1. The Saints who are alive will meet with Christ.

2. Those that are on the earth and in their graves shall also be caught up to meet with the Lord. Those also who have yet to hear the Gospel.

3. They will be caught up to the pillar of heaven.

4. The righteous Saints will participate in the second coming by missionary work for those who have not heard the Gospel.

5. Those who have no yet heard about the Gospel and who would be willing to accept it will be resurrected at the second coming.

6. The JST translations help the clarify that those who are alive and righteous at the coming of the Lord will not stand in the way of the righteous who are in their graves who will also be resurrected.

7. Those who are under condemnation will not survive the second coming.

8. They will be resurrected after the reign of the millennium. 

Acts 19, 20

Choice 4-Acts 19-1-12; 20:7-12

Paul laid his hands upon the people and conferred the Holy Ghost upon them, conferred gift of tongues and prophesied, cast out evil Spirits by the Priesthood power, broke bread, and preached unto the disciples.

1. Paul confirmed them members by the laying on of hands and conferred upon them the gift of the Holy Ghost.

2. This shows that only by the right authority are they given the fullness of the Gospel, and that they must be baptized by the proper authority to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to always be with them.

3.  He did it by the laying on of hands through the Priesthood power.

4. It says the broke bread “the first day of the week…” It says that Paul called upon his disciples after the uproar had stopped. 

New Testament Pt. 2

The Book of Acts 1-10, chapters summarized.

1. Peter seems as if He is teaching and preaching to the people a lot and is showing them miracles performed.

*Christ is spoken about much, how He is the Prophet and how through Him salvation comes.

*The Apostles perform miracles as Jesus would have and they keep His legacy alive through their actions.

*The Gospel begins to form on the earth as the people are given new gifts and understandings.

*The Apostles worked hard to establish the church and to establish a meaning and understanding of Christ of His resurrection.

2.  Acts 2: Peter testifies of Jesus’ resurrection and tells the people how to gain salvation. Peter also speaks of the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 3: Peter along with John heals a lame man. He preaches repentance, speaks about the restoration of the Gospel, and identifies Christ as the Prophet whom Moses spoke about.

Acts 4: Peter is arrested and is brought before a council. He testifies that through Christ salvation comes. The Sadducees try to silence Peter and John, but the Saints rejoice in the testimony of Christ.

Acts 5: Peter is delivered from prison by an Angel. He testifies of Christ.

Acts 8: Peter along with John come to Samaria to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands.

Acts 9: Peter heals and raises the dead.

Acts 10: Peter is commanded to take the Gospel to the Gentiles in a dream.

Acts 12: Peter is freed from prison by an angel.