Elder Barfuss- Be Steadfast and Immoveable

Kristine Butler gave a short talk on how life is like a road trip. She talked about avoiding distractions. Often we must slow down, embrace it, and learn from it.

G. Andrew Barfuss was the main speaker. He spoke about being steadfast and immovable. He told a story about a water pipe that burst and caused thousands of dollars in damage just because the thrust block shifted 1/16th of an inch. (The thrust block is what keeps the pipe together where the pipe turns a corner.)
He spoke of the great sin of being casual. He said that we should make sure our mistakes are sincere and never casual. Casualness causes Heavenly Father much sorrow.

Faithfulness is consistency. He spoke of the club that most of us find ourselves members of: The Better-Offer Club. We agree to do something, but then change our minds as soon as another offer that is better comes up. Example: "Sure I will eat dinner at your house (unless I get invited to a party that night)." This causes us to break promises.

He talked about how, in the Book of Ether, the brother of Jared became casual and stopped asking the Lord where to go or what to do when they encountered the beautiful land of Nimrod. He got a severe chastisement from the Lord.

Three things we can do to become more steadfast and immovable:
1. We can discern between good things and distracting things by increasing the amount of light in our lives. When we find a bad habit, we should be willing to do anything necessary to stop. Don't be afraid to seek help from the Lord and Church leaders. 90% obedience still isn't pleasing to the Lord. Go for 100%.
2. Be willing to do things that are hard but worthwhile. God doesn't seek to make our lives easy, but enables us to do hard things. We can take pleasure in the accomplishing of hard tasks. D&C 88:32
3. Remember how the Lord blesses us. Don't forget what He does for us to succeed.

Happiness- A Choice

This week Elder Kevin Pearson spoke to us.

I enjoyed how vibrant this man was. He said a lot of good things and he spoke quickly, so I was only able to get a few of the things down. 

I enjoyed how he talked about the two best decisions he ever made. They were serving a mission and getting married. He explained that everything good in his life came from those two choices. I also have made those choices and I have to say my life has been better because of them.

So the main theme of Elder Pearson's remarks were about happiness. He said that people who are happy do better in life, get better jobs and positions, have happier marriages, etc. But in order to be happy we need to understand the doctrine of happiness. He explained that happiness is a principle, like we've been learning in class. We need to live according to the plan of happiness in order to be happy. We know this plan, but he asked if we live according to it daily? Are  we reading our scriptures, having meaningful prayer, and going to church faithfully? If not then we won't be happy.

Another good point that I enjoyed is that the thought process of: If I only had this... I'd be happy. He said that is delusional thinking. Happiness is a choice we make, and is not based on obtaining things. 

He gave us three principles to obtain true happiness. They are:

1. Decide to be happy. If you're not happy, change your attitude. 
2. Keep the commandments (be obedient)
3. Seek always to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost.

I really enjoyed this devotional and it has helped me realize that I need to work on choosing to be happy and being an agent to act, not letting outside forces influence my level of happiness.

Where Were You On 1-11-11 At 11:11?

Hello! First of all I want to thank you for coming to the blog and submitting your ideas. I hope that a good discussion will follow. I just wanted to say what a great way to start out the semester! This was an awesome devotional. Here are some of my thoughts:

President Richards:
There are many things that stood out to me and that I wrote down, but I'm only going to pick a few and hope that it is helpful to you all. I loved the questions that Pres. Richards asked during this devotional. He talked about the hymn I Am a Child of God and asked the question: Do you believe it? Have you seen His hand in your life today?
That is something I'd encourage all of us to think about on a daily basis. The quote about how it'd be nice if every time we thought about something wrong we'd get poked with a sharp stick to keep us on course. I'll be honest, I'd be hurting a lot. Hah. Anyways, I also liked how he focused on the Liahona, and how we have our own Liahonas in our lives today, such as : scriptures, prophets, and patriarchal blessings. Then he asked us the question: Which one should you "dust off" and use more this semester? I hope we'll all pick one, just one, and work on it.
Lastly he asked us three questions that we should be asking everyday, for every activity we do. They are:
What does this do for me?
What does this do to me?
How will I feel about myself?
I promise that as you ask these questions and honestly answer them, you'll have an increase in the Spirit and not be lead down dark paths. The Holy Ghost will help us "avoid wells without water." Remember that we become what we want to be by constantly being what we want to become. I hope you enjoyed the devotional as much as I did. :)