Wednesday, November 1, 2006

   Guess what?
3 Nephi 21: 4, 6-7, 9-10, 22
Verily, verily, I say unto you, when these things shall be made known unto them of the Father, and shall come forth of the Father, from them unto you;
For it is wisdom in the Father that they should be established in this land, and be set up as a free people by the power of the Father, that these things might come forth from them unto a remnant of your seed, that the covenant of the Father may be fulfilled which he hath covenanted with his people, O house of Israel;
[...]
For thus it behooveth the Father that it should come forth from the Gentiles, that he may show forth his power unto the Gentiles, for this cause that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that they may repent and come unto me and be baptized in my name and know of the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of Israel;
And when these things come to pass that thy seed shall begin to know these things—it shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the work of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of Israel.
[...]
For in that day, for my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them; and there shall be among them those who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it unto them.
But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they shall not hurt him, although he shall be amarred because of them. Yet I will heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the cunning of the devil.
[...]
But if they will repent and hearken unto my words, and harden not their hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall come in unto the covenant and be numbered among this the remnant of Jacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance;

3 Ne. 22: 4-8
Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more.
For thy maker, thy husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel—the God of the whole earth shall he be called.
For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.
For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee.
In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Equus: Baaaa, baba ba ba ba baaaam! Welcome to the birthday celebration! What birthday celebration, you may ask? Or rather, whose birthday? This is a special celebration, not in honor of any single individuals' birthday, but in honor of everybody's birthday. And most especially, to welcome the cyber mini unicorns to MyO and you all to their valley!

Xihuitl: In the farmhouse, we have refreshments, board games like chess and Outrage!, and movies like P&P and The Emperor's New Groove, plus select (and edited) anime and manga. Kurama #3 will be taking care of the guests who wish to hang out here for a while. For those who wish to visit the unicorns' home, please follow Emeraulde, Equus, and myself to their valley.

Equus: God be with you all. He and Jesus Christ love you!

Kakashi #8: If you have any trouble in the valley, please just let us know. There are a few things that need to be fixed, a couple paths that are still being cleared. They've provided detours until those are finished. Thank you for your patience.

PS--Feel free to add in the comments what you're doing. ^_^ G-rated, please!

God be with you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fact of the day: The large poodles actually were originally hunting dogs. The "poofy" hair cut left fur to protect their joints when they'd go into the water to retrieve the prey.

(from my hodgepodge of accumulated knowledge)

So let the power of love guide us in sharing the gospel with family members, friends, neighbors, business associates, and any other people we encounter as we go through life. Most everyone wants to enjoy peace and happiness. That is a natural human desire. People want to find answers to the problems they face. This is increasingly true in the world we now live in.
Professional advancement, increased income, bigger homes, or newer cars and recreational equipment do not bring lasting peace and happiness. Happiness comes from understanding God and knowing that He has a plan for our eternal joy and peace. Happiness comes from knowing and loving the Savior and living our lives in accordance with His teachings. Happiness comes from strong family and Church relationships based on gospel values.
Some members say, “I’m afraid to share the gospel because I might offend someone.” Experience has shown that people are not offended when the sharing is motivated by the spirit of love and concern. How could anyone be offended when we say something like this: “I love the way my church helps me” and then add whatever the Spirit directs. It’s when we appear only to be fulfilling an assignment and we fail to express real interest and love that we offend others. Don’t ever forget, brothers and sisters, that you and I have in our possession the very points of doctrine that will bring people to the Lord. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ has within it the power to bring deep and abiding happiness to the human soul—something that will be valued and cherished for the rest of time and for all eternity. We are not just trying to get people to join our Church; we are sharing with them the fulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. But as powerful as our message is, it cannot be imposed or forced upon people. It can only be shared—heart to heart, soul to soul, spirit to spirit—by being good neighbors and by caring and showing love. We need to be watchful for one another and reach out to one another. And as we do so, we will radiate the gospel in our own lives, and it will radiate to the people the blessings the gospel has to offer.
Let us follow the admonition of the Prophet Joseph Smith, “After all that has been said, [our] greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel” (History of the Church, 2:478).
~ M. Russell Ballard, “The Essential Role of Member Missionary Work”, Ensign, May 2003, 37
Comments (1)