Pearls & Perfection Pending

I get a newspaper delivered to my classroom twice each week so my kids can participate in current events if I so choose. I sat down and read the paper the other day after my kids left to take a breather and was reminded why I hate the news. In a four minute period, I dwelt on the fact that Luna (our ridiculous superintendent) has decided that computers are more valuable learning motivators that 800 teachers in our state (lots of hope for next year!), Obama feels that defending marriage between a man and a woman is unconstitutional and impossible to defend, and some crazy lunatic polygamous man is using 12-year old girls to satisfy his creepy sexual desires. Spending this short amount of time dwelling on my threatened employment and the wickedness of our country made me panic a little. While I like to think that I am an optimistic and faithful person, it is scary sometimes to face issues like these. What do I do if they decide to cut me next year? Or worse, what if they keep me, b...

Sister Beck is coming on Saturday to speak to our stake at the BYU-I center, so I thought I would start getting ready by reading some of the most recent Relief Society messages. I read a talk by Sister Silvia H. Allred called Steadfast & Immovable . I particularly appreciated these two quotes: "I know that each of us has a vital and essential role as a daughter of God. He has bestowed upon His daughters divine attributes for the purpose of forwarding His work. God has entrusted women with the sacred work of bearing and rearing children. No other work is more important. It is a holy calling. The noblest office for a woman is the sacred work of building eternal families , ideally in partnership with her husband." "We demonstrate our acceptance of Jesus Christ as our Savior when we place our faith in Him, repent of our sins, and receive the saving ordinances required to enter God’s presence. These saving ordinances are symbols of the covenants we make. The coven...

David is taking a Doctrine & Covenants class right now. He was given an assignment to respond to a hypothetical situation in which a home-teachee asks what Zion has to do with Jesus Christ or the gospel. What is all the talk about Zion and what does it mean for us? This is what I came up with to help him think about this topic: D&C 97:21 “Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion—THE PURE IN HEART; therefore, let Zion rejoice, while all the wicked shall mourn.” The most generally used definition of Zion is “the pure in heart,” among whom we all should desire to be counted. The idea of being numbered among the pure in heart is not exclusive to the notion of Zion itself. We see this motif repeated numerous times in the scriptures as Christ invites us to develop ourselves, to become perfected as He is (3 Nephi 27:27, Matthew 5:48) and to be numbered among His people (Matthew 25:33). Brigham Young taught that the purpose of building Zion...

Yesterday I taught a lesson on the sermon on the mount. Christ fulfills the Mosaic law, outlines the higher law of the gospel and sums it up by saying,"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." Or... "Basically, you just have to be perfect!" While that seems like a rather stiff commandment, I think it is supposed to be a source of inspiration rather than overwhelming impossibility. How can the command to be perfect motivate us rather than frustrate us? President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “I believe the Lord meant just what he said: that we should be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect. That will not come all at once, but line upon line, and precept upon precept, example upon example, and even then not as long as we live in this mortal life, for we will have to go even beyond the grave before we reach that perfection and shall be like God. “But here we lay the foundation. Here is where we are taught these simple trut...

I believe in divine guidance. I believe that I was led on the longest journey of my life thus far to David. I do not think anything happen merely by chance when we seek to follow the spirit. I was guided to go on a mission which gave me irreplaceable experiences and opportunities and helped me to create memories and relationships which will last forever. It was not coincidental that my favorite person from Spain came home and introduced me to David. Missions really do change your life! I believe that I was led to my current job that pushes me every day to be better, to be more patient and full of charity, to be creative and kind. It was amazing how everything just fell into place. When things are guided by God, they magically work out...and usually better than you expect! As I started making an enormous list of schools last year which I might apply to, I had a tiny feeling of excitement when I looked at the Henry's Fork Elementary website. A fleeting, passing moment. I remem...

The other week, we had some friends over for FHE . We talked about the significance of each piece of clothing in the whole armor of God. I liked these quotes that we discussed: The Whole Armor of God “It is time to give ourselves to the Master and allow Him to lead us into fruitful fields where we can enrich a world filled with darkness and misery. Each of us, no matter who we are, no matter where we serve, must arise and make the most of each opportunity that comes. We must follow the counsel given by the Lord and His servants and make our homes houses of prayer and havens of security and safety. We can and must deepen our faith by increasing our obedience and sacrifice. Sometimes it may seem difficult to rise above the world to that level of righteousness. But as we strive to “take unto [ourselves] the whole armor of God,” we will “be able to withstand in the evil day ( Smoot, Mary Ellen, “Rejoice, Daughters of Zion,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 94 ). And... How to Put on the Armor ...