I Have a Little Crush

So I have been continuing reading - and am on track. Today I am going to finish the book of Alma - and let me tell you - after reading this book of scripture I have a little crush. Alma the Younger - what a guy huh? He is amazing and is my new favorite prophet in the Book of Mormon. Most of the book of Alma is of his experiences preaching the gospel and changing the lives of those around him. His ultimate joy was in bringing others to the gospel. I can't say that bringing others to the gospel is my forte. I pretty much do nothing in that regard. I guess I just feel that the people who live around me here in Utah have been "fellowshiped" way too much and don't want me to bring my little experiences their way - but maybe this is not the case. I guess if I am just more open about sharing the gospel, that I will feel when I should share certain things.

Just this experience of reading the Book of Mormon brought one type experience my way just the other day. Let me share. So since Tara and I have been doing this project, I wrote her a little note on Facebook to indicate that I was behind. Well, I guess this sparked the interest of a mutual friend of ours who saw the post - she has never been a member, and we were always good friends in High School. I never really shared much with her in High School because I thought she was just sick of it. She would come with "the girls" to girls camp and Young Women's, but that was as far as it went. So anyway I was on Facebook again (a little too often actually) and she wrote me an IM asking what Tara and I were doing. At first I thought I should play it down and not make it sound like not a big deal, but then I realized I don't have to be ashamed of my religion and what I believe - especially not in what the Book of Mormon represents. So I told her flat out what we were doing. I don't really know how she took it, but we had a good conversation about what was going on in our lives and now she knows that this is an important part of my life. It probably won't result in any conversion, but at least I was willing to share.

Okay, so that may be a lame example, but I am happy with myself okay? So if you are reading this, take 2 things away from this post: 1) I have a crush on Alma, and 2) be willing to share the gospel and not be ashamed!

Spiritual Revitalization

So basically all of these posts have been about weight loss, dieting, and exercise - which I must say I am bombing at. I am just off the wagon for sure.

So I decided why not try to increase something in other areas of my life. I have taken on a challenge. Read the entire Book of Mormon during the month of June. My friend, Tara, posted that she was doing this, and I thought - Heck! I can do that! And I need to do it too. I have not been doing so well spiritually and it is showing. My poor 3 year old doesn't even know about personal prayers, family home evening, etc. and I know it is my fault because I am not on a spiritual "playing field." I have been relying only on myself and my husband to make things "right."

Yesterday I started the challenge and was intrigued by one scripture. 1 Nephi 2:16. "wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers." As I was reading about Lehi taking his family into the wilderness - I couldn't help but think that if it were me and my dad was making me leave all my friends and comforts, I would be a GIANT whiner. I would not be happy about it. And I guess I always thought that Nephi was so excited to go and so obedient from the get-go, but this makes me second guess that. I am sure he wasn't too thrilled about the idea, but instead of complain, he "cried unto the Lord" to soften his heart and help him understand. I know I need to do a lot of that. I need to not be so ill-minded about what the prophets and the scriptures tell me to do and just cry unto my Father in Heaven and ask him to soften my heart.

So there it is. I need to pray to be more excited about the things I should be obedient with. Hopefully I will find another gem of a scripture today as I read.