Pathway week 9

    This week one of the sections in the Book of Mormon we studied was the book of Enos.  In this short book, Enos shares an experience when he prayed to the Father.  First, he prayed for a remission of his sins.  Then he prayed for his fellow Nephites.  Finally he prayed for his enemies, the Lamanites.  There was a process, though, that Enos went through that increased his faith and prepared him to receive an answer to his prayer.  In the Institute of Religion Manual for the Book of Mormon, Elder Robert D. Hales is quoted when he outlines five steps Enos used for this process.
1- He heard gospel truths from his father (Enos 1:1).
2- The teachings were allowed to sink deep into his heart (Enos 1:3).
3- Enos was filled with a desire to know for himself the truth (Enos 1:4).
4- He obeyed the commandments of God.
5- He knelt and prayed mightily before the Lord (Enos 1:4).  In verse 2 Enos described it as his "wrestle which I had before God".
    I think what struck me the most from this is that there is a lot of things that go into true and honest prayer.  Joseph Smith is another great example.  He had a question.  But he didn't go straight to Heavenly Father with his question.  He prepared himself.  He prayed often.  He read the scriptures.  He pondered in his heart his desire to know.  Then he went to the Lord.
  My question I guess to myself would be, what do I need to change about my approach to prayer?  Do I ponder the things I have been taught?  I feel like I do.  Have those teachings sunk deep into my heart?  Yes.  Do I obey the commandments?  Yes.  Do I still sin sometimes?  Yes.  Do I kneel and pray mightily?  Not all of the time.  That is where I can improve.  Enos was brave enough and honest enough with himself to wrestle before the Lord, to pray mightily.  True prayer will be work sometimes. It might be painful emotionally sometimes.  However, when we are kneeling in prayer, that is when we need to be the most honest and sincere.  That is our time for confession and repentance; for forgiveness to start.  At the end we should feel relieved and maybe a bit worn out.  Will that happen all the time?  No.  But for me I know it should happen more than it does.
   In an excerpt from Elder Bender's talk, "Pray Always" he talks about how morning and evening prayer are linked.  They are a continuation of each other.  I don't treat my prayers like that.  I have fallen out of the habit of praying daily.  I read my scriptures and have family prayer, but I am missing that key ingredient of daily personal prayer.  As I work on being more patient, I need that daily communication with my Father in Heaven.  That is my goal for this next week.  I will have morning and evening prayer and keep them linked.

Pathway Program week 5

   This has been such an amazing experience!  I love that I can be immersed in the gospel every day.  The things I am learning will not only help me in my spiritual life, but will help me in my temporal life. I love being able to share the things I learn and get excited about with Whitney and also with 3 of my sisters in-law who are doing the program as well!
    This week we have been reading 2 Nephi 9-16.
    2 Nephi 9:34 talks about lying.  "Wo unto the liar for he shall be thrust down to hell." Pretty intense right?  I don't consider myself a liar.  I try to be honest with people without hurting feelings.  In the Institute Manual, President James E. Faust is quoted as saying, "There are different shades of truth telling.  When we tell little white lies, we become progressively color-blind.  It is better to remain silent than to mislead.  The degree to which each of us tells the whole truth and nothing but the truth depends on our conscience..." (General Conference, October 1996).  I had never thought it quite that way.  What constitutes a "little white lie"?  Does that include sparing someone's feeling by telling them the brutal truth?  How can I be better at being completely truthful and kind at the same time?  Can I be truly honest in all my dealings?  This is something I want to ponder and practice for the next couple of weeks.  Please feel free to share any thoughts or ideas!