Tag Archives: atonement

Good Friday

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Today is Good Friday, the day when the Christian world remembers the death of Jesus Christ. I remember as a small child watching the news one Good Friday and seeing throngs of people pushing their way thru the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem.  There were even people who had lashed themselves to crosses and who were hanging as a sign of devotion to their faith.  Understandably, it left me feeling very confused.   I asked my mother why did we call it “Good Friday” if Jesus was killed this day.  She said simply, “Because of all the “good” Jesus did for us today.”  As I’ve grown older I’ve been able to learn for myself of the “Good Jesus did for us today.”

Two words I came across this week in my Come Follow Me study that helped me think of the “Good” Jesus has done were ransom and remission.  In Matthew 26, we read about the Last Supper — it’s during this last night together, that Christ finished teaching the disciples about his work on the earth — that he is the Messiah. Christ institutes the ordinance of the sacrament. Continue reading →

Real Empowerment

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Alma 32.27Lately I’ve been trying to let things that usually bother me, not bother me. It’s hard work to not be offended, but as you go along with it, and practice it, it becomes easier. Not perfect, but easier.

Today I saw something, that didn’t necessarily “offend me,” but it bothered me to no end because it’s not a solution to anything. I saw the headline for the same story written several ways, here are some examples:

“F-bombs For Feminism: Potty Mouthed Princess Use Bad Word for Good Cause”

“Little Girls Unleash a Torrent of Profanity in ‘F-bombs for Feminism”

“F-bomb Princes video isn’t offensive – it’s exploitative” (Really? You don’t say!)

“Feminists make video with little girls, prove once and for all how insane they are”

I’m not going to link to any of the stories, if you want to find the video, it won’t be hard. This thing will be viral in the next day, I’m sure.

From what I’ve read, this video features little girls – like, little, 5 and 6 years old, by their appearance, swearing (over 25 uses of the “F-word”, by someone’s count), flipping the bird and talking about their bodies in crude ways. I would hope that no 5 or 6 year old understood what feminist empowerment was, but apparently some do now.

Oh people, people, people, I am shaking my head. As a mother I am upset. And as woman I am mad.

First, the world is already a crude and mean place. Why oh why, would any parent allow their kids to participate in such trash? Why? Unless they value their “cause” more than they value their daughters and their innocence. And those people, sadly, do exist. I think they made this video. Continue reading →

General Women’s Meeting: Covenants, Temples & Living the Gospel More Fully

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Can you stand one more post about General Women’s Meeting? Ok, here we go. I promise I’m not going to re-summarize the meeting; Meg and Rameumptom have already done that. But I wanted to share some thoughts had about the talks and my over all impressions.

First, there was a nice and very welcome international element to the meeting. The opening prayer was given by Sister Dorah Mkhabela from South Africa. Her prayer was heartfelt, sincere and full of love for the women of the Church. The Young Women’s Board, the members of which come from all over the world, were on the stand as well. I cannot wait until the Relief Society and Primary Boards also have international members as well. I was reminded that the Church is worldwide and as such, is working to include and incorporate different people, cultures, and needs into the organization.

I know the inner and outer critics of the Church are quick to jump on the Church because it seemingly does not respond to needs of its members in a timely manner, or that is seen as a North American church, which only caters to the needs of Wasatch Front Utah. But a thought occurred to me, this Lord’s Church – and it is an international Church. We have to get it right. When policies and changes are being made, there is a very careful process that occurs, which checks and double checks that things turn out right, or as right as possible. It has to be this way, we’re God’s children and He does not want us to make mistakes with His children. Perhaps we need to be more patient with the people and the process.

Provo Temple night

The second thing which impressed me was the principle of covenants, which are made individually, point us to the temple, which, in turn, points us to Christ. That is where our power is. To endow means to freely give, and when we go to the temple and participate there, we are endowed with God’s power. The Lord, our Father in Heaven, FREELY gives us His power. Think about that for a minute. I hope we each take some time to reflect on our endowment a bit more, and what it really is. Continue reading →

What next? How to move forward from the excommunication.

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Moroni 10. 32So, here we are, post Kate Kelly excommunication.

What next?

There are many people who are hurting, questioning, wondering what to do. I had a friend express concern about where to take her questions now? She did not know what constitutes safe or legitimate questioning, and she fears for her family and friends who are aligned with Kate Kelly’s group. Those are reasonable concerns, however, I don’t think anyone needs to fear, because Sister Kelly was not excommunicated for asking a question, despite the media narrative, and her own protestations to that effect. And when you think about it, our Church was founded on the fact that Joseph Smith had a question and went to the Lord in prayer and asked his question. Asking questions is a good thing. Honestly, I don’t think I have studied the Gospel this much and so intensively in many years, because of all of the questions out there. It’s been good for all of us, I think. We just need to make sure that we don’t get so wrapped up in our questions that we lose sight of our end goal of returning to our Heavenly Father.

So, my message to everyone, especially those who are hurting today, is this: Continue reading →