Seeds and the Book of Mormon

I wanted this to be a separate post from the last one.

Seeds are the strength of the Book of Mormon, whatever a person thinks about he will become. When a person reads the Book of Mormon he is forced to think about the things he is reading about. Therefore, a person reading the Book of Mormon can't help but take inventory of his life, or decide if he wants to live the kind of life the Book of Mormon espouses. Not only that, but he is forced to figure out if the man that the book preaches about, Jesus Christ, is the kind of man he would like to emulate.

So seeds are being nourished when a person reads the Book of Mormon. How could a person read Alma 5 and not ask himself some questions about how he is living his life? How can a person read about Ammon and King Lamoni and not ask himself if he would be willing to be a servant for others to help them come unto Christ? It is impossible not to--if we don't caste out the thought, and the seed, as we read.

I don't believe there is anything magical about the Book of Mormon. I don't think that its pages are laced with super natural powers that make us better as we read them, at least not for me. I just know, from personal experience, that when I read the book I am confronted with seeds that can make me better if I think about them and do something with them. To me, that is the strength of the Book of Mormon, it makes you take inventory of your life and puts incredibly good seeds in your heart.

And, at a later time, we can discuss how putting bad seeds in your heart, like watching inappropriate media can put horribly destructive seeds in your heart. But that is for a later time, I wanted to talk about a very good seed.

Seeds

I have been thinking about seeds lately. More and more I think that whatever a person really thinks about, he will become. I already knew this, and have heard many addresses about it, but I am thinking about how true it really is lately.

Whatever thought we let stay in our mind is what we will become. Pretty much, if we have any thought enter our head and we don't chase it out or dwell we become that thought. Likewise, if we have a good thought, and we don't dwell on it we will not become what that thought is.

A few instances for example: if a person has a thought to become better, to change their life, and the thought enters their head, they have a choice. Either they can make themselves think about it until they figure it out or they can have it escape their heads. For an example, let's say someone has the thought enter their head "I don't feel the Spirit when I do ______" This person has two options (maybe more, but you know what I mean). They can either think about that thought until they choose not to do that action again, or they can just brush it off. When people brush off promptings like that they are in trouble. But if they choose to do something about it, and they think about it until they realize that they need to change and commit to change, that is when they receive power to change. The seed of a thought, if nourished, can produce a mighty change.

Another example: I think this is very applicable to homosexuality. I spend a good deal of time with people that are very . . . seemingly backwoodsy. If anyone does something strange they say it is gay or something a "homo thing to do." It is rather ridiculous. But I think if a kid is growing up and he may be a little more feminine than others (or what we consider to be feminine) he is labeled as gay. I think this does damage because he will have people continually telling him that he is gay, thereby reinforcing a question that has possibly popped into his mind at many times. So, somewhat unknowingly, the boy or girl could have his or her peers reinforcing, and nourishing, a seed that they are trying to caste out of their life. The more we are told or think something the more we become that thing. It is the same if we call someone stupid all the time, we are actually nourishing a very devastating seed for someone else. I think many people believe themselves to be gay because they have been told that all their life, and they didn't just caste out that seed whenever someone says it to them. Or someone thinks they are stupid for similar reasons. Maybe their ability to reason around what people are saying didn't last long enough. Maybe they couldn't convince themselves with a good argument that they are not stupid, or gay (not that they are related) and so they just begin to believe it.

It also works the other way though. There are very good seeds to, as Alma 32 demonstrates. Their can be seeds of faith the develop into incredible faith and maybe even testimony. There is also seeds of encouragement. A mother telling her small child that he can accomplish anything will be her nourishing a seed that one day may grow inside him. It will be hard for a child to get out of his head what he hears continually. And, whatever we think in our hearts is what we will truly become. Someone cannot become great if they always are thinking they are mediocre. Likewise, someone cannot become truly wrong if they always immediately caste out any thought that would bring them down that path. It is impossible. You have to think of something to become that thing.

Pretty much, whatever you think about, you will become that thing. Our mind is incredibly powerful.

Laws of the Land

I haven't been writing very often lately. I apologize. It makes me feel bad when I see I had thirty hits in one day but nobody had a new post to read.

I don't want to forget about what I want to write about, but I also don't have the time to post it right now. So I am going to just start this thread and then come back and write it later.

The thread is going to be about obeying the laws of the land. As you would probably guess, I am not always in favor. I will explain myself though, lest you believe me to be a heretic (I am not, don't worry :)

Alright, so here is the blog:

I just don't think laws are to always be obeyed. I think they are to serve people, not the other way around.

Before people start quoting the Articles of Faith, which I agree with, I want to bring their attention to a few examples. It is clearly the belief of our people that the American Revolution was inspired by God. We broke the law and rebelled against the government of the time.

Also, there are times when people have broken the law in scripture also. Alma the Elder's people broke the laws of their captors when they were in servitude. The law was that they could not pray. So they just prayed in their hearts and not out loud--still breaking the law.

Another example can be the early polygamous leaders. They fled persecution from polygamy during the early days to avoid prosecution and persecution for something they did not believe to be wrong.

So we do believe in obeying the law, insomuch as the law does not go against anything we believe in. If it goes against something we believe in, like prayer, we do not obey.

I had this conversation at work the other day. One of my coworkers was saying that if you are required by your country to commit crimes you are not held accountable to God for those actions. I disagreed. In his example he said that if our government made a law that made it so we had to kill a certain group of people we would not be held accountable if we were part of their ranks and committed the crimes also. I adamantly disagreed. I think we would absolutely be held accountable.

The only purpose of the law is to create safety and order--that is it. I highly value these commodities that the law provide us. In fact, I obey the law in the vast majority of instances just to keep order and safety. But there are times that I do not obey the law. For instance, in Provo, Utah there is an overpass at the mouth of the Provo Canyon. I am always taking a left underneath that overpass. There is a light there that directs the traffic. If you are wanting to take a left to go West and the light is red and there are no cars you are required by law to wait it out. I just can't do that. If I am the first car there, and I KNOW that there are no cars coming and it would be IMPOSSIBLE for a car wreck to happen, I go. Kylee does not appreciate this. But I want the law to serve me, not the other way around.

I do believe in the article of faith. I believe that we are to obey the law, and I do, but there are some things that are ridiculous. I think the danger can be if we become presumptuous and think that we know situations that we really don't we can danger many people. I would have to be incredibly confidant that no cars could hit me, or I couldn't cause others to get hit, by running a light. It is a sticky subject, because we don't want to be run by the law but we also have to acknowledge that the law can help us with situations that we don't know much about. So I break the law very infrequently.

Pictures and Mother's Day and Another New Ward

So I can't post any pictures, it isn't letting me. It is incredibly annoying.

Also, holidays are strange for me. By and large, holidays were just another day at my house growing up. Christmas and our birthday were special, more special than normal days, but other holidays were not an ordeal at all. Kylee had an entirely different experience growing up and holidays are huge for her. It requires a conscious effort on my part to satisfy her need for a good holiday, because I don't really care about them at all.

I am thinking about getting a Canon Rebel XTI today. I am rather excited about it. I want to be able to take incredible pictures, and I think the Rebel can do just that. My mom has one and I loved using it. Hopefully it is worth the 689$ I am going to be spending for it and two lenses. We shall see.

We are in a new ward again. I like it. It is a married ward at BYU--our last one! I have really liked being in these wards, and I think for summer it will be great, but I am SO EXCITED to go to church outside of Utah. It is going to be great. Makayla had a post on her blog about going to church in London and it reminded me of how much I like authentic testimonies when people are not trying to portray an image (as much). It should be a great time. Also, that will be the end, hopefully, or transition wards. We will possibly be in our next ward for three years, so I won't have the feeling that we are just visitors there.

Death

There are many things I could write about, I haven't written in a very long time. I could write about how I graduated, how I love Spring and Summer and despise Winter, or many other things. But something else is on my mind.

This post is going to be rather personal, so bear with me and if you aren't interested in knowing my personal thoughts, don't continue reading.

I was writing in my journal tonight and there is a media browser on Macs that lets you drag and drop your photos into word processing documents. I saw a picture of my Dad in the media browser. It was a picture of him and my Mom dancing at my wedding reception. I haven't really looked at pictures of my Dad very often since he passed away in December because it always makes me cry. I can't explain it. It isn't just his passing or missing him that makes me do it. There is something else. When I look at pictures of my Father it just leaves me with so many questions.

After I saw this one picture of my Father I started looking for others. I saw a picture of my Dad holding my brother and me on his lap when I was about 7 and Alex was about 9. We are all smiling quite large. I imagine my Dad enjoyed that picture of his two boys. He probably would look at that picture with pride when it was developed. He probably imagined a time when we would be older, when he would be older, and how much he would enjoy those times. It is just interesting to think about. There was another picture of our family when Alex and me were both younger than probably six. I wonder what dreams my parents had, what they imagined life would turn out like? I wonder if they had any inclinations that Dad would pass away before he turned 60?

I just have such strange feelings about death. Before my Father passed away I would have readily said that death isn't a big deal, it is just moving on from one existence to another. I still believe that, I know that is the case. But there is a feeling in my that just makes me feel something more about it. There are feelings of hope, loneliness, joy, sadness--they run the gambit of emotions. I realize when I think about death how much more I need to learn. How much more wisdom I need to gather in life before I really understand this existence.

I think my Dad is around. He knows what is happening. I think he is where he would be most comfortable right now, wherever that may be. I also believe that I will see him again. And notwithstanding all these feelings there is still another feeling I can't quite put my finger on. The separation is strange. I can't put it into words.

All these thoughts just make me have one conclusion though--you just have to live the best you can. You must improve on life. That is all that matters, how much you touched the lives of others for good. I just want to be the best me I can be. That sounded like a bad Army commercial, but it is really what I think. I really hope I can give Kylee the husband and best friend that she deserves, I hope that I can give Mikelle and Jonah the best father they can get. I want to be incredibly close with them. I just want to help. I can do so much more to accomplish this.

Sorry, this was a random post. I really wrote this for me rather than for the readers. Get out of it, or disregard, what you will.

I will try to post a little more frequently now. I would be lying to say I didn't have the time recently, I just have done other things instead. But I have realized how therapeutic writing is.