The Spirit of God

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation.” 2 Nephi 22:2

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (New King James Version)

Looking at these two verses, it amazes me at how similar they are, and how similar the effect is on my heart. Proverbs 3:5-6 are my favorite verses in the Bible, and reading that verse from The Book of Mormon immediately reminded me of that scripture from the Bible. I’m a few chapters away from finishing 2 Nephi for this 40 day Book of Mormon challenge, where instead of giving up something for Lent, a group of us are reading straight through The Book of Mormon. I had a bit of a head start, but I haven’t been very consistent with my reading either so I’m sure I’ll end up following the schedule eventually J

The connections that I’m noticing are slowly building my testimony of the truthfulness of this book. I can feel it in my spirit, when it brings to mind things that I’ve never noticed or considered before. Connecting passages with American history, or church history. The teachings that are prominent in 2 Nephi. What Nephi and Jacob write about Christ, His teachings, and how all of us can receive eternal life ( I almost wrote achieve, but we can’t achieve eternal life; we can only receive it as it is a gift from God)… It’s amazing, that’s really all I can say about it J

Finding my way to God

Originally written August 3, 2014

Yesterday I went to the Ogden Temple open house. I wanted to go because I've never been inside a temple, and I also wanted to see if going inside would help give me insight on whether being LDS was the right choice for me. While walking through the temple, I had various thoughts about the different rooms I was seeing (mainly on the decoration), but two thoughts were more prominent: 1) I want to get married here (as in the temple, not a specific one); and 2) the hymn "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing" was playing in my head the whole time. I didn't feel confused about whether I should be LDS or not. Maybe that's God's way of saying that I should?  Also, I wasn't sad or depressed that I was there by myself. I wanted to focus on being in the temple and having that experience, and that's what I did.

There's a blog that I follow on Tumblr called Spiritual Inspiration, and lately parts of a few of their posts have really spoken to me:

"Many people expect the voice of God to boom like a loudspeaker, but scripture tells us that He speaks in a still, small voice. To us, it seems like an impression inside."

"Scripture says, "Seek first." That indicates that we should take time for God at the start of the day. Don't give Him your leftover time. Make Him a part of your normal routine. Make Him your first priority. Seek Him first, seek Him earnestly, and watch what He will do on your behalf."

"When a grain goes

through a tunnel and

it gets dark, you don't 

throw away the ticket

and jump off. You sit

still and trust the

engineer. Trust God

today no matter how

dark your situation.

God says, "You are

coming out!"

I know that I need to put God first in my life, and to trust that He has a plan for my life and that I need to stop trying to control it all the time (I mean, look where it's gotten me?). I know it's not something that will happen immediately, but if I stay consistent, I know that good things will happen.