Personal Progress

Maysen has been working hard on earning her Personal Progress award. She has a goal to earn it by the time she is 14. She decided she wanted to have this goal when she learned that her cousin Jessica earned her Personal Progress award when she was 14. This January they made a few changes to the program. One of the changes is that the girls' moms can earn the award along with their daughters. Maysen is really excited about this. She got me my own book, and she gets to sign off my achievements. There are eight values in the program. Seven of the values have six experiences that need to be passed off (one of them has only four). They each have a value project that needs to be accomplished. The value project needs to take at least 10 hours to complete. The values are: Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity and Virtue.

Anyway, I have decided to start working on my virtue value project, which is to read the Book of Mormon. That will definitely take more then 10 hours! As I read, I am suppose to record my thoughts in a journal. Because I haven't written in my journal in about 13 years, I thought I would do that here. So, every once in awhile I will write about my personal progress . . . . it will be a little awkward for me to write it on a blog, but I will put more thought in it than I would if I knew I could just tuck it safely into my drawer.

I started the Book of Mormon today. I have read this book many times. We are reading it as a family right now. The goal is to have it read before Jorja gets baptized. We did this with both Maysen and Stockton. I love reading it with them, it's pretty funny to simplify the teachings. For example, the other day we were reading in the Book of Mosiah. We were talking about Mosiah 2: 33 "...(he) that remaineth and dieth in his sins, the same drinketh damnation to his own soul; for her receiveth for his wages an everlasting punishment...". We were explaining to the kids that the verse meant that just as a dam stops the flow of a river, damnation means that you will never be able to progress. We talked about how we lived with Heavenly Father in the pre-existence. When Heavenly Father presented his plan for us to go to earth and get a body, we sided with him. Satan and his followers did not, so their progression was stopped. They were not able to have the blessing of getting a body, and they never will. We have passed level one, and we are on level two. We talked about how everything on this earth grows into its parent. Heavenly Father wants the same for us. He wants us to become like him. But, if we are not faithful and endure to the end while we are on this earth, our progression will be stopped. I don't believe that 'hell' is living with the devil. I believe it is knowing what could have been and knowing I was capable of more, but I did not live to my potential . . . and as a result, I can't receive the blessings Heavenly Father wants to give me. I was trying to teach my children that the choices we make determine a lot in the eternities. The knowledge we gain in this life will help us in the next. We want to pass this level with our best effort and not just squeak by. I told them that they could always ask Heavenly Father for help, because he has already completed this level, knows what you are going to face in this life, and what you need to do to "level up". After I got through explaining all this, Stockton says, "Heavenly Father has the high score." I laughed and laughed. Stockton is SO funny! But he's right. I do believe Heavenly Father has the high score.

Anyway, I'm excited to start reading the Book of Mormon again. I haven't read it by myself for years, so this will be a good way to get me back in the habit of personal scripture study. It's exciting for me to think about the people that lived thousand of years ago. I have always loved these stories, I loved learning about them when I was little . . . my dad made the stories come alive. Especially when I didn't want to take a bath and he would say, "Okay, but if you don't the mean men from Babylon are going to come and get you." Scared me to death!

In other news, the Sister missionaries came over today and taught Justin the first discussion. I had never sat in on a first discussion before. They are Sister Bowlby (from Oregon) and Sister Mosimane (from South Africa). Sister Mosimane compared the Church to a beautiful mirror that was held up by 12 ribbons (the apostles) and a strong nail (Jesus Christ). When the apostles were killed, this mirror shattered into millions of pieces. The Church was not complete anymore as the keys had been taken from the earth. Many people would see the former pieces of the beautiful mirror and try to recreate it. They would grab onto one piece and form their church around that one belief. Such as baptism. While the intentions were good, they did not have the keys so they could have the complete gospel. The Church couldn't be restored by trying to piece together fragments of the truth. The Church needed to be restored. This restoration began when Heavenly Father and Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith in answer to his humble prayer. The keys to the gospel of Jesus Christ were later restored. Today President Monson holds the keys and has the authorization to use them as a prophet of God. I know with all my heart that Joseph Smith was an honest man. That he was a humble servant of the Lord. I know that he saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that God is a God of miracles and that he loves his children. I know he loves his children as much today as he did in ancient times. I know he is there when we need him. I know President Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. I love being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I love my life. I love my family. I am so very blessed.

Sorry for the super long post. Do not feel obligated to read my ramblings!