We can feel Joy and Gratitude for the Goodness of God

I am on Mosiah 25 today. As recorded in Mosiah 25, as Limhi’s people and Alma’s people united with the people in Zarahemla, King Mosiah had their records read to all of the people.

How did Mosiah’s people feel after he read to them the records of Zeniff’s people and Alma’s people?

Mosiah’s people were ‘struck with wonder and amazement’, they were filled with exceedingly great joy, but at the same time they felt sorrow for the deaths of so many. They indeed recognized the ‘goodness of God’, they felt the need to ‘give thanks to God’ and they feel pain and anguish for the sins of others.

Reading the scriptures can bring us joy and gladness, they can also make us aware of the sorrow that comes from poor choices. This awareness can be a blessing because we are able to see the negative effects of sinful behaviour without personally committing sin.

Has your family kept any records you could read from? Maybe you could add to your records or start keeping your own.

My family do not kept any records. I started writing journal to keep a records of the growing ups of the children after few years that I gave birth. And it continues throughout the years till now. I do not write everyday but I hope and make it a goal that I will continue to write everyday even a little just to recap things happened in a day and try to recognised the hand of the Redeemer in my life daily.

What would you include that might help your family (including future generations) be “filled with exceedingly great joy” and learn about “the immediate goodness of God”? (Mosiah 25:8, 10).

I would write about my daily life because I do not know what would lies ahead of me: challenges, trials, or things which would make me grows. It is always a process or a journey to perfection.

I would include all the spiritual experiences that I have including the feelings that I have whenever I read the scriptures, general conference addresses, Church magazines, biographies of Church leaders and others, and family histories. Stories such as our family conversion story, temple sealing day and so on.

Why was it important for Limhi’s people to remember that the Lord had delivered them out of captivity?

It was important for Limhi’s people to remember that the Lord had delivered them out of captivity because that remind them of the goodness and power of God in their lives.

What has the Lord done for us that we should remember?

The Lord has done so much for us that our family should remember! Starting from our small little broken family, bring us back together again, lead us to His true Church, getting to know the restored gospel, baptized into His Church, we sealed as family for all time and eternity in the temple, and so much experiences that He allowed to happen in our life to strengthen us as individuals and as family.

All of those I would want my family and future generations be “filled with exceedingly great joy” and learn about “the immediate goodness of God” as those experiences strengthen my testimony and gave me a greater love for the Lord.

Breakfast by Annabelle

These 2 days Annabelle in charged of our morning breakfast. All these photos were taken during she was on work.

Here are some photographs of the breakfast she prepared for us whole family!

She improves her skills a lot from her first try on her new developed cooking skills.

I can avoid Spiritual Blindness by Focusing on the Savior

The prophet Jacob taught that the Jew’ spiritual blindness came from “looking beyond the mark” (Jacob 4:14). What is the Mark? What does it mean to look beyond the Mark?

Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926 – 2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught that in this verse, “the mark is Christ” in his talk, “Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King”.

To look beyond the Mark means that to centre our lives on anything other than the Savior and His gospel. If we center our lives on anything other than the Savior and His gospel, then we will become blind to the truth and we will stumble and fall spiritually.

According to Jacob 4:8-18, what can we do to focus on the Savior and avoid spiritual blindness?

We can focus on the Savior and avoid spiritual blindness by choosing to believe in Him and by worshipping the Father in His name. We can choose to search the words of the prophets. We can choose to take counsel from His hand. We can choose to be reconciled to God through the Atonement of Christ.

“Today there is a tendency among some of us to “look beyond the mark” rather than to maintain a testimony of gospel basics. We do this when we substitute the philosophies of men for gospel truths, engage in gospel extremism, seek heroic gestures at the expense of daily consecration, or elevate rules over doctrine. Avoiding these behaviors will help us avoid the theological blindness and stumbling that Jacob described.

Substituting the Philosophies of Men for Gospel Truths

Some in their spiritual immaturity attempt to appear sophisticated and intellectual. Instead of accepting revelation, they want to dissect it and add dimensions and variations of meaning that distort its beautiful truths.

We look beyond the mark when we refuse to accept simple gospel truths for what they are.

Gospel Extremism

Another sign of spiritual immaturity and sometimes apostasy is when one focuses on certain gospel principles or pursues “gospel hobbies” with excess zeal. Almost any virtue taken to excess can become a vice.

The Lord said regarding important doctrine, “Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me” (D&C 10:68) and “That which is more or less than this cometh of evil” (D&C 124:120).

We are looking beyond the mark when we elevate any one principle, no matter how worthwhile it may be, to a prominence that lessens our commitment to other equally important principles or when we take a position that is contrary to the teachings of the Brethren.

Heroic Gestures as a Substitute for Daily Consecration

Some members profess that they would commit themselves with enthusiasm if given some great calling, but they do not find home teaching or visiting teaching worthy of or sufficiently heroic for their sustained effort.

God uses us “not according to our works, but according to his own purpose” (2 Tim. 1:9). We are looking beyond the mark if our consecration is conditional or does not involve daily devotion.

Elevating Rules over Doctrine

Doctrine usually answers the question “why?” Principles usually answer the question “what?” Whenever we emphasize how to do something without reference to why we do it or what we do, we risk looking beyond the mark.

In many areas we are guided only by doctrines and principles rather than rules. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.” We are responsible to the Lord for how we respond in such situations.

Those who are committed to following rules without reference to doctrine and principle are particularly susceptible to looking beyond the mark. Equally dangerous are those who get mired in rules and are thus less willing to accept change resulting from continuous revelation.”

I found there is an article by Elder Quentin L. Cook, “Looking beyond the Mark” Ensign March 2003, is very useful and he had provided some guidelines to me to ‘not looking beyond the mark’.

I can be reconciled to God through the Atonement of Jesus Christ

I continue to read on Jacob 4 today. it contains words that Jacob was inspired to write for us that would read his records.

Jacob pleaded with his people to “be reconciled into [God] through the atonement of Christ” (Jacob 4:11). What do you think that means? Would it help to look up reconcile in a dictionary?

It is interesting to look up in the dictionary on the word “reconcile”. It stated as “to restore, to friendship or harmony”.

Another meaning of it is “to make consistent with another”. It indeed inspired me for the brand new meaning of “reconcile”!

It means we are brought into harmony with God through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And most importantly, it require consistent effort on my part!

Perhaps you can find words or phrases in this chapter that suggest to you how you can come unto Christ so that you can be reconciled to God.

I can come unto Christ by exercise faith Jesus Christ, repent of my sins, receive the ordinances of the gospel, and keep my covenants with Him, so that I can be reconciled to God.

What has God provided to point you to Christ? How are you using these things to draw closer to God?

God has provided commandments and covenants that I should always observe and keep; God has provided the Holy Ghost as my companion in whatever I do with the guidance from the Spirit; God has provided living prophets and apostles to lead us in this latter-days through counsels, warnings and admonitions; God has provided the Book of Mormon, the Holy Bible, Doctrines and Covenants and Pearls of Great Price and later-days revelations through His prophets and apostles. When I observe and obey to these things, and put into action to do it, I know that I can draw closer to God.

The Lord Delights in Chastity

I was reading Jacob chapter 2 and 3 today. Jacob taught about the dangers and consequences of the sins of pride and sexual immorality.

I do not know why, every time when it came to chastity, I would become more alert in reading and studying the related scriptures.

“For I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abominsation before me; thus saith the lord of Hosts.” ~ Jacob 2:28

When you read Jacob 2:32-35 and 3:10, look for ways immorality was affecting the Nephites as a people and as individuals. How are these ways similar to the consequences of immorality you see in today’s world?

“Behold, ye have done greater iniquities than the Lamanites, our brethren. Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbing of their hearts ascend up to God against you. And because of the strictness of the word of God, which cometh down against you, many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds. ~ Jacob 2:35

“Wherefore, ye shall remember your children, how that ye have grieved their hearts because of the example that ye have set before them; and also, remember that ye may, because of your filthiness, bring your children unto destruction, and their sins be heaped upon your heads at the last day.” ~ Jacob 3:10

My heart grieve as I read these 2 verses. May be it is because I have been through all these sufferings and pains before. It give me an insight that the consequences of immorality are the same at Jacob’s days (about 544 B.C.) and in today’s world. It is an eternal truth.

What do you find in Jacob’s words that could help you teach a loved one about the important of chastity?

The consequences of the immorality indeed hurts and affects one family deeply. It is just like a deep scare in the heart that you would feel pain and hurt, the feeling of being betrayed of your trust.

I know that my children are taught about the important of chastity through our own family experience, because they were all the time seeing, hearing and feeling how I have been through as a woman and themselves as children. They knows how pain and hurt it can be.

Sometimes on the other hand, I am worry if this had changed their perception towards marriage. One thing for sure, if they fall in love with someone, they would be very committed as what they had been through in the childhood.

How have you been blessed by your efforts to be chaste?

I have been blessed with guidance of the Spirit and the knowledge that see the Lord’s hand in my life even though sometimes I would have miss.

I think I have been blessed with the capacity to love and to forgive, even though I have been hurt many times. My capacity to be patience, perseverance have been stretched until the extend I do not realized it.

What do you find in Jacob 2:23-30 that helps you understand why the Lord has, in limitations, commanded His people to practice plural marriage? How does He feel about those who do so without His authorization?

Plural marriage is authorized only when the Lord commands it through His prophets. One reason is to raise up seed unto Lord or increase the number of children born in the gospel covenant.

The Lord delights in chastity, and sexual sin is an abomination before the Lord. The Lord condemned those who entering into specific plural marriages that He had not authorized. Unless the Lord commands otherwise, He has ordained marriage is to be between one man and one woman.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a single, undeviating standard of sexual morality: intimate relations are proper only between a man and a woman in the marriage relationship prescribed in God’s plan. Such relations are not merely a curiosity to be explored, an appetite to be satisfied, or a type of recreation or entertainment to be pursued selfishly. They are not a conquest to be achieved or simply an act to be performed. Rather, they are in mortality one of the ultimate expressions of our divine nature and potential and a way of strengthening emotional and spiritual bonds between husband and wife. We are agents blessed with moral agency and are defined by our divine heritage as children of God—and not by sexual behaviors, contemporary attitudes, or secular philosophies.”

We Believe in Being Chaste

Elder David A. Bednar

March 2013 General Conference

The Lord Wants Me to Magnify My Calling

Today for so long that I, finally sat down and reading Come, Follow Me – The Book of Mormon.

I am reading Jacob 1 and 2. It was the time when Nephi was old and dying, he had assigned his own younger brother Jacob to teach the word of God. To Jacob, teaching the word of God was more than an assignment from his brother – it was an “errand from the Lord,” so he laboured diligently to “magnify his office”.

President Gordon B. Hinckley  taught that we magnify our callings “as we serve with diligence, as we teach with faith and testimony, as we lift and strengthen and build convictions of righteousness in those whose lives we touch”.

Think about your own “[errands] from the Lord” as you read Jacob 1:6-8, 15-19 and 2:1-11. Why did Jacob serve so faithfully?

What does his example inspire you to do to magnify your Church callings and your responsibilities at home?

I am not sure this had been planned earlier by the Lord, that He would wants me to know that, I should… and I should magnify my calling, before I just given it up and told Branch President about my concerns.

When I saw these questions, I am stunned. It seems as I have give up and give in to the calling that the Lord given to me because of my own personal struggles and personal family matters.

I feel guilt as I do not measure up to the things the Lord wants me to do. May be the things can be better if I just rely and pray to Him and find a way to listen to Him. Most of the time I am thinking of my paths ahead are blurry and I am unable to connect to Him somehow. I should have pray and talk to Heavenly Father more.

Everything seems started to crumble in me after we came back from Kuching. The counsel that we had indeed gave me a huge punch on face. So was Alvin. That was why and how I got from him a lot lately.

Alvin did tell me to my face that I am not mature enough to be a mother and my mentality still stays where I was 20 over years ago, and that behaviour and mentality of mine would not be accepted by him and his family.

I was hurt and feel pain. For over this one year ever since I had accepted my calling as Relief Society President, I was wondering what the Lord wants me to learn in this calling? Or what are the things that He would wants me to learn faster, so that I can face the challenges in front of me in the later days?

I have been thinking a lot lately after came back from Kuching that I should have focus more on my own family. Most of the time, Alvin’s behaviour towards me easily distracts me emotionally. I feel as overwhelming of the work, home and calling.

I feel as I cannot concentrate and focus on to ministering the sisters, and it is not fair that I keep on holding on that position. That is why in the midst of the various kinds of thoughts I had, I talked to the Branch President finally on my decisions to be released.

Branch President did ask me to go back and pray about it. I did as what he asked me to. I feel the warmth in my heart. Eventually, every time when Alvin started to tell me off, the thoughts of to be released would rise again.

Finally, I went to Branch President again and told him what I think is the best for me.

Well…back to the questions: Why did Jacob serve so faithfully?

Jacob serves so faithfully even though his responsibility was difficult, because he cared about the people and he wanted to obey God’s commandments.

What does his example inspire you to do to magnify your Church callings and your responsibilities at home?

Last night we just had our Relief Society Presidency meeting through the WhatsApp video call. Both my beloved counsellors are so great and amazing! I feel as this would be the last meeting that we had…

And today I read the scripture and frankly I am kind of regret – why I should give in my calling every time Alvin had sounded me? If only I could have a clear mind and peace heart that seek for the divine help, and continue be like Jacob, I am sure that everything would be going great. Because as what Jacob said in the scripture, “But before ye seek for riches, seek ye for the kingdom of God. And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them;…”

But what I had done was done, and I have to continue in doing what my responsibilities at home but this time I will learn to rely to the Lord more in every decision I make.

“And so to everyone-- man or woman, girl or boy-- who has been called or who will yet be, I will give you my counsel.

First, you are called of God. The Lord knows you. He knows whom He would have serve in every position in his Church. He chose you. Your call has eternal consequences for others and for you. In the world to come, thousands may call your name blessed, even more than the people you serve here. They will be the ancestors and the descendants of those who chose eternal life because of something you said or did, or even what you were.

There will be times when you will feel overwhelmed. One of the ways you will be attacked is with a feeling that you are inadequate. But you have access to more than your natural capacities, and you do not work alone. The Lord will magnify what you say and what you do in the eyes of the people you serve. All He asks is that you give your best effort and your whole heart.

Do it cheerfully and with the prayer of faith. The Father and his beloved Son will send the Holy Ghost as your companion to guide you. Your efforts will be magnified in the lives of the people you serve, and you will know that you have seen the arm of God lifting those you serve for him. And lifting you.”

Rise to Your Call

Elder Henry B. Erying

October 2002 General Conference

Oyokodon 親子丼

Today is a Sunday, thinking of want to try this Japanese recipe as we normally see in the Japanese restaurant.

Oyokodon 親子丼

Ingredients:

• A - Bonito sauce, 2 tablespoons
• A - Mirin, 2 tablespoons
• A - Water, 100ml
• Onion, ½ pc
• Eggs, 2 eggs (beaten)
• Spring onions, 10g (cut to scallions)
• Chicken chop, 1 pc
• Steamed rice, 1 bowl

Preparation:

Actual Day

1. Mix [A] and prepare for later. Slightly cut the chicken chop to make it easier to cook.

2. Heat up the frying pan over medium-high heat. Place the chicken chop with skin facing down to slowly pan-fry the chicken oil out. Further pan-fry till the skin turn to golden brown, then only turn to the other side and fry till cook.

3. Use the chicken oil to stir-fry the onions, add in about 150ml of the mixture [A] into the pan. Till the onions turn to translucent, add in the chicken chop, add in 1 beaten egg, and top with the scallions. Continue to cook about 2 minutes, add in another 1 beaten egg before take out from pan.

4. Top on the rice and garnish with scallion and serve with a bowl of miso soup.

Initially I wanted to prepare one for Alvin too, but he told me that he can not promise that he would be back home having lunch with us. I was kind of disappointed that he would not be able to try on my cooking, but then I told to myself that it is ok.

This is my first attempt in trying make this Oyokodon, and children like it very much! Overall, I am pretty amazed of myself too ^^