The Lord's Prayer

A couple weeks ago  my Book of Mormon teacher gave us this assignment:

"During these next two weeks I would like you to pray four times with the Lord’s Prayer in mind.  While each of us could profit from all of his prayer steps, I believe that two aspects will impact our patterns above the rest. The first of these is time spent in prayer.  I would like to encourage you to try and lengthen your prayers from our normal 1-3 minutes to even 15 or 20 minutes.  However, do not time your prayers or the whole experiment will quickly become mechanical.  A second emphasis might be to pray vocally, even though I am not requiring it. 

Perhaps the best indication of internalizing this pattern for prayer will come if you are able to pray in the spirit.  This is not something, however, that can be forced (see John 3:8).  Nonetheless, it can be facilitated by listening in prayer and by avoiding your standard prayer list.  Personally, I can’t adequately describe for you the joy this level of prayer brings.  I encourage you to give it your best."

Our teacher then asked us to write about our experience. (PS I LOVE LOVE LOVE my teacher! He is such an adorably dorky old man and I love his stories. And plus, he's just an all around super nice guy. He saw my roommates and I at the Creamery the other night and purposely ran into us and teased us gahhhh I just. love. him.)

We're currently studying Third Nephi in class. This assignment prompt came from when we were reading 3 Nephi 13-14. This is when Jesus Christ came and visited the native peoples in the Americas after his death and resurrection. He is teaching the Nephites the Lord's prayer, or in other words, how to pray to the Lord in a way that will bring the Spirit and allow you to fully communicate with Him. I encourage you to read this chapter, especially verses 5-9. I will include with my writings the overlying principle taught by Jesus and then I will include how I applied them to my own prayers.

Verse 6. "Enter into a closet"  and 
Verse 7 "No vain repetitions.
During these past two weeks, I have prayed four times with the Lord’s prayer in mind. Each time, I knelt down in the private of my room to say my prayers. (Well, my roommate did walk in on me a couple times but she had the good sense to leave;) It very peaceful to be alone. Usually when I say my nightly prayers, my roommate is already in bed and it never feels personal because she’s there with me. Each time I prayed, I also spoke aloud. I found that it was easier to collect my thoughts when I did this and I was never repetitious or used any of the common prayer phrases we hear every day. This definitely helped me to feel the Holy Spirit and I felt as if I was truly talking to my Heavenly Father. I knew He could hear me and I was able to express my feelings and concerns with Him better than I have ever been able to before. 

Verse 10. "Thy will be done."
I also made an effort to do what we talked about in class and express to the Lord that I would accept His will before I asked for anything. For example, I prayed for help in figuring out what to study in school and I had a career path in mind, but I told Him that if there was a certain path that He wanted me to take, I would do His will. Then, I expressed that I was looking at Pre-Nursing and I desired his guidance for if this was a right career for me. I found that by doing this, my will was able to line up with the Father’s will, and thereby I prayed for things that Heavenly Father wanted and needed me to pray for. 

Forgive Us.
Next, I tried to remember to ask for forgiveness of my sins. I have never been good at telling Heavenly Father about the things I have done wrong throughout the day. I have always asked for forgiveness for the big things but never for the little slip-ups. However, I really made an effort this time and I’ve felt the Spirit these last two weeks more than I have had in a long time. I now know that forgiveness is absolutely necessary, daily, to have true happiness and to have the Spirit’s presence with you always. 

Verse 8. He knows our needs. 
*We often mistake asking for things as the purpose of prayer, we think our wants are our needs, we should ask Heavenly Father for what to pray for and who to pray for*
When I pray I also often focus on myself. But for these four prayers, I tried to express my gratitude more and at least focus on others. Then, I would pray for myself and the things that I thought I needed. I found each time I prayed, the list of my concerns about myself got smaller and smaller. I no longer felt the need to pray about myself. Instead I focused on others who really needed comfort or on all the things in my life that I feel grateful for. This has made me realize how much easier life seems to get sometimes if we think about serving others first and about all the amazing blessings we have.

I have loved this experience of focusing more on the Lord’s prayer. I feel so much closer to Heavenly Father. I hope to be able to say more prayers like this. I know that if I do, I will be blessed to feel the Spirit more and to have my eyes be opened to the will of the Father. I know He loves me and wants to bless me. I love Him too and I’m grateful for prayer and the ability to communicate with my loving and merciful Father.

Obedience.

I personally think that obedience is the most important Christlike attribute (well besides faith--you need to have faith to practice obedience). Only through obedience can we return to live with Heavenly Father. As Preach My Gospel says, "obedience is the first law of heaven."  

I also think that obedience proves how merciful and loving Heavenly Father is. My roommate and I were discussing how it seems like missionaries have SO many rules. Some of them even seem ridiculous. BUT I think that missionaries are given so many rules in order to allow missionaries to receive as many blessings as possible. God loves us and He wants to bless us. He wants us to listen and obey Him so that he can bless and help us for being so faithful. Missionaries especially need extra blessings so that they can find those who need the gospel most of all and so that they are able to bring as many people unto Christ as possible. Missionary work is hard! I hope to be completely obedient so that I can have the strength to work hard every day, the ability to have the Spirit with me at all times, and the compassion to serve and teach others. 

One of the greatest examples to me of obedience is of the Two-Thousand Stripling Warriors. My favorite verse of their story is found in Alma 57:21 which reads, "Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them." It doesn't say that the warriors followed "blindly," they had complete faith in Heavenly Father and knew that whatever happened to them was His will. I also like this scripture because it shows how important the role of a parent is. The stripling warriors had so much faith and chose to be obedient because they recognized the truth and wisdom of their mothers' teachings. The scriptures don't often single out how much impact mothers can have. They truly are amazing and are responsible for teaching their children valuable truths. I am grateful for my own parents, especially my mother for teaching me about the gospel and how to be obedient. As cheesy as it sounds, I would not even be close to the person I am today without them. I hope to make them proud as I serve a mission and continue to be obedient to Heavenly Father.

We discussed obedience in mission prep today and one thought that I really liked was how much obedience protects us. Elder L. Tom Perry once said, "The discipline contained in daily obedience and clean living and wholesome lives builds an armor around you of protection and safety from the temptations that beset you as you proceed through mortality." Heavenly Father gives us commandments not only because He loves us, but because commandments keep us safe and save us from heartache and pain. In high school my friends were amazed at how no one, not even adults, drank alcohol or did drugs. Some people might claim that our lives are "boring" and "lame" but lemme tell ya, getting drunk and hurting my body with drugs does not sound all that appealing to me. I am grateful for commandments and how they help me realize how important it is to keep my mind and body pure and clean. And plus we get blessings for doing it! Its a win-win! 

In my patriarchal blessing it says something along the lines of "do not be afraid to obey with exactness, for that is required."I love that. Sometimes I think I get afraid of being a goody-two-shoes and that I don't want to be too good. But that is an awful way to think. Nothing matters more than obeying Heavenly Father and keeping His commandments. I have a testimony that if we work hard to be the best we can be, we will be blessed and will be able to return to live with Heavenly Father again. I am grateful for this knowledge and I hope to be more obedient so that I will be blessed with the ability to bring others the truth on my mission.

Humility.

So you probably haven't noticed (I don't know why you would) but I skipped the Christlike attribute of Humility. I should have written this weeks ago but it has been such an incredibly humbling (duh) experience that I haven't felt able to share it until now. 

Humility is putting your trust in the Lord and having complete confidence that He knows you and will only require of you what you can handle. I have had many trials and sad events that have happened in the lives of people I love these past few weeks. They have all shown so much faith and I recognize their humility and willingness to submit themselves to the Lord and accept His will. It is humbling to me to see their examples during their trials. I know the Lord loves them and I see His hand in comforting them. I'd like to share a few of their stories.

The first story has to do with Heidi. I have mentioned her story before but about three weeks ago I was able to participate in a run her family put together in honor of her. It was all the way in California so Heidi's mom put together a van here in Provo to take my roommate and I, a bunch of Heidi's friends from California, and three of her siblings (and their husbands/fiancee) all the way to Rocklin. Then, she even arranged for my roommate and I to stay with her and her family (yes, all 11 of them) in the house of an old friend that we knew from Illinois. Now that was humbling enough. To have someone do so much for me, just so I could honor and show my love for a dear friend was amazing. We had as great of a weekend as we could have had in the situation, but I will always cherish that memory. It was incredible to see how Heidi's family had overcome the pain and sadness of losing a daughter and a sister and were able to be examples of faith, hope, and love to all that knew Heidi and even those who had never met her. Something that Heidi's mom said at the race really impacted me. Heidi died of a pulmonary embolism that had moved from her leg to her lungs. After the autopsy, it was discovered that Heidi had many blood clots. Her family was all tested and it turned out that blood clots ran in their family. Heidi's oldest sister, who was very pregnant at the time of Heidi's death, was found to have a blood clotting disorder. Now, blood clots are very dangerous, especially postpartum. Heidi's sister could have very possibly died giving birth to her daughter. Heidi's mom expressed her belief that Heidi was such a kind, caring, giving person, that she could see Heidi volunteering to sacrifice her life for her sister. If Heidi hadn't passed away at the time she had, the blood clotting disorder may not have been discovered until it was too late. I can't express how incredibly humbling this thought is. I knew Heidi and I agree with her mom completely. Heidi is an amazing, beautiful, person who will always be an example to me. Heidi's story makes me think about my own life and really puts into perspective what things truly matter. I love Heidi and will always be grateful for her faith and her humility.

This entire experience reminded me of another being's great sacrifice, whose example has also blessed me with humility--My Savior. Jesus Christ knows and has experienced all my trials that I have had and will have, he has experienced Heidi's families' sadness, and he has felt the pains and sufferings of all of God's children. ALL of them. It is truly indescribable what He has done for me and all of us. It's one of my life wishes to be able to fully comprehend the magnitude of this sacrifice. Jesus Christ truly understands what we have all gone through. It is so humbling to me to know that My Redeemer knows EXACTLY what I will go through and I can turn to Him for peace. He understands me and He is my advocate to the Father. There is nothing that I could ever do to repay Him for His sacrifice and love for me. Absolutley nothing. All I can do is be forever humble for His gift and not waste it by living the best life I can. 

As a missionary, I don't think its even possible to teach with the Spirit if you don't have humility. I'm going to Spain not because I feel like its my duty or because I want to be like "everybody else" who is going on a mission, or even because its something I just decided I wanted to do. I'm going because I know it is the Lord's will. He wants me to be his humble servant and that's who I'm going to be. I will teach His children and help them return to Him. I am humbled by the examples of the thousands of missionaries before me and their hard work to build the Lord's kingdom. I am humbled by the faith and hope and strength of Heidi's family. I am humbled by everyone I know and their endurance and faith through their trials. But most of all, I am humbled by my Savior. Words cannot describe my gratitude and love for Him. 


*Sidenote: I wanted to share more stories but frankly I'm exhausted and will just have to save their examples of faith for another time. Stay tuned! ;) *

Diligence

I tried to embody three scriptures as I learned about diligence this week. 

The first was Doctrine and Covenants 10:4-"Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end." Sometimes I think I have to be the "perfect" Mormon girl. But that thought process is destined for failure. Yes, I think that everyone's ultimate goal should be to be perfect, but if we expect not to make mistakes daily, the same one sometimes over and over and over again, we will get frustrated with ourselves pretty darn easily. I know I have. But if it there's one thing I have learned--it's not to give up. Now, I know how hokey that sounds, everyone says it. But that's really what life is about isn't it? Not to be perfect now but to work towards it. And if you give up, you have no chance of ever improving or being the person Heavenly Father wants you to be. I know I get discouraged sometimes after I continuously make the same mistake or I have a bad week where I'm super lazy or whatever but I keep trying. I know I don't have to work harder than I have strength--Heavenly Father doesn't want me to kill myself by keeping myself busy all day, every day with good things. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. He just wants me to be diligent and do the things I know I should do. I have a testimony that if you pray to Heavenly Father, He will help you make time for those important things, just as long as you do your part and put the effort in.

The next scripture is Doctrine and Covenants 127:4. "And again, verily thus saith the Lord: Let the work of my temple, and all the works which I have appointed unto you, be continued on and not cease; and let your diligence, and your perseverance, and patience, and your works be redoubled, and you shall in nowise lose your reward, saith the Lord of Hosts. And if they persecute you, so persecuted they the prophets and righteous men that were before you. For all this there is a reward in heaven." I was pretty ecstatic when I found this scripture because it specifically mentions the temple. Now, I haven't been as diligent as I should these past couple weeks. I was on a "spiritual high" you could say in preparation to get my mission call but after I got it, for whatever reason, I've been regressing a little. I'm working on it though and I'm improving every day. BUT the one thing I've been diligent at doing this year has been going to the temple every week. I either go by myself, with my roommate Brie, or on ward temple trips. No matter who I go with though, I blessed every time with time away from school and other stresses in my life, to read the scriptures and feel the Spirit. I'm so grateful that I have multiple temples so close to me, one that I can walk to in twenty minutes! It's so incredible! It's not a mistake I'm here in Provo. People talk about how plain and not really special the Provo temple is, but lemme tell ya, it's one of my favorites and will always have a special place in my heart. I have received so much spiritual strength and revelation there. I feel God's love there and I'm know that I wouldn't receive this blessings if I wasn't so diligent in this part of my life. It makes me wonder how many blessings I'm missing out on by not being so diligent in my prayers or my scripture reading, etc. It definitely makes me want to try harder!

Okay, I lied. The last point is not really a scripture, its a quote I found in my Preach My Gospel. "Diligence in missionary work is an expression of your love for the Lord and His work." This isn't only true for missionary work, diligence in your every day life applies too. For some reason, this quote really stood out to me. As I read it again, it seems kind of obvious now but I don't think I've ever thought of it that way. I only thought of diligence as something you do to improve yourself and receive blessings. But it's also a portrayal of how grateful you are for Heavenly Father's guiding hand in your life. It shows your gratitude and love for the Savior and His atonement. As a missionary, I want to be as diligent as I possibly can. I want to be so in tune with the Spirit that I can bring as many people to the gospel of Jesus Christ as I possibly can. My biggest fear is getting too tired of the work and not doing my best every day. I know that being a missionary is hard, I do. But I want to work hard every day and not be able to look back and regret not fulfilling my potential. That is why I am working now to be diligent. I plan on being the best missionary I can possibly be.