Random Musings

For FHE this last week, one of my FHE brothers gave a spiritual thought that helped me out a lot. He read a simple scripture that I have heard hundreds of times in primary, but it suddenly took on a whole new meaning this time I heard it. It's 1 Nephi 17:50: "And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done." This got me thinking, can I do all things? My rationale was, I can do everything that the Lord wants me to do. I then thought, well what does the Lord want me to do? I haven't asked that question to the Lord in a good long while. I always have trouble remembering that I can ask the Lord for help, or how to do something, or what I should be doing with my life. I always figure I'm on my own and I have to figure out things for myself. Sometimes the Lord works like that, where he wants us to find our answer for ourselves and He can confirm our decision if we've made the right one, but I need to sincerely ask the Lord what I should be doing with my life and what goals I should be working to achieve. Then I thought, it would be nice if it was all written out for me a list of assignments that the Lord wants me to work on for the rest of my life. Then it hit me. I already have that. It's my Patriarchal blessing. That is a layout of advice and information that the Lord wants me to have in order to help me. This time when I read my Patriarchal blessing, I noticed the phrase (or a variation of) "you will know the things you should and should not do". This was exactly what I was looking for.

Another scripture that hit home recently was 1 Nephi 15:24: "And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction." This meant a lot to me because it made me realize the pure power you gain when you read the scriptures. Temptations will become weaker. Satan's attempts at deceiving you will fail. You will never perish. Those are some pretty big promises. I think that if I keep this in mind when I am debating whether to read my scriptures right before bed, I can think of this to help me remember that I need to read them. This also reminds me of a line in a movie that I watched recently. One woman says, "I think we should make room in this day for some prayers". Really, I should do that every day. I should allot time where I focus on speaking with the Lord on what He wants me to do, and the paths that I should and should not take.

In recent events, I dropped my CS 235 class and have not done much to replace it. I have realized that when I don't have a distinct schedule, I become significantly more lazy. This is bad for two reasons: 1. I get more unhealthy and 2. I become significantly less productive. I have been noticing I've been doing this to myself recently and I came upon this scripture in my studies tonight: D&C 58:27 which reads, "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness". This made me realize that I need to set reasonable, and worthy goals in order for me to become more productive, and show my gratitude for the wonderful life God has given me. I turned to my Patriarchal Blessing to find the things that I should and should not do. Here are the goals that I have come up with for this summer:

1. Be more fit. Reach weight goal of 130 pounds. 
2. Increase my intellect. Refresh my C++ skills to prepare for Fall semester. 
3. Strengthen my testimony. Read a Conference talk a day so that you can know what the Father and His Son would have me do. 
4. Be more responsible with my savings. Obtain a steady job that can help me regain my work ethic.