The Witness of the Holy Ghost

I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons. Each Sunday, I discuss some things related to my faith and what I believe. Regardless of your own beliefs, I hope this gives you a chance to get to know me and my religion a little better. For previous installments, click here.

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Articles of Faith 1:4)

Fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost

Have you ever had that feeling that you should call a certain friend, so you do and find out that they're having a really hard day and are so glad you called? Or experienced an overwhelming sense of peace about a decision you just made and you know it was the right one?

We believe that those are manifestations of the Spirit or Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead, a personage of spirit without flesh and bone.  Through manifestations of the Spirit we can know the truth of all things, be guided in our decisions, receive Heavenly comfort, and feel that we are on the correct path.

Those experiences are just the influence of the Holy Spirit and can be felt by anyone who honestly seeks truth. The Gift of the Holy Ghost is the right of His constant companionship and the reception of the fulness of His blessings, as long as we remain worthy. This gift is given by the laying of hands by those hold proper Priesthood authority, an ordinance usually immediately following baptism.

I know I have felt the presence of the Spirit in my life, confirming decisions and comforting me in times of trial. Sometimes, when I have a particularly good idea, I wonder if it was me that thought it on my own or the influence of the Spirit. But as long as it was good and in line with my beliefs, does it really matter? Other times, I know I didn't come up with it on my own, like a recent decision I came to about my job search, and I feel blessed to have a Heavenly Father who will communicate with me through the Holy Ghost.

How have you felt the influence of the Spirit in your life?

And I said hey what's going on

"What's up?"

Functional idiom or outdated nonsensical greeting?

Most of the time I go for the latter. If someone greets me with a question but really just mean "Hi" or "Hello" instead of actually asking me "What's up?" or "How's it going?", why not just say hi in the first place? It's shorter anyway and doesn't necessarily start a conversation you don't want to be a part of.

I even had this conversation recently, when a friend I was on my way to meet called me. Remember, HE called ME.

Me: Hello?
Friend: Hey. What's up?
Me: iiiiI'm on my way to meet you for dinner?

I was so confused. Turned out he was calling to give me the heads up that he might be late because of traffic. That's totally fine, but why not just jump right into that?

Then there's this:


And all variations of that commercial and everything it spawned in real life that resurfaces every now and again. It's done. Done, I say.

Now, I will permit instances like this:

Because it really is a cool sign.

Also, when it's really a question, that's okay too.

Me: Hey Mom!
Mom: Hi Panda! What's up?

But all other instances? I'm done with them, unless you have a good case why I should permit their existence?

To Fulfill The Law

I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons. Each Sunday, I discuss some things related to my faith and what I believe. Regardless of your own beliefs, I hope this gives you a chance to get to know me and my religion a little better. For previous installments, click here.

Third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins

To become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we must be baptized by immersion by one having Priesthood authority.  Baptism is symbolic of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as we are buried completely in the water and are brought back up again, clean and pure.

We believe that baptism washes us clean of our sins, just as we are washed clean in the blood of Christ. Of course, we won't remain perfect forever, which is why we have the blessing of repentance. 

Jesus Himself was baptized, as we read in Matthew 3:13-17:

13¶Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be ^abaptized of him.

 14But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

 15And Jesus answering said unto him, ^aSuffer it to be so now: for thus it ^bbecometh us to ^cfulfil all ^drighteousness. Then he suffered him.

 16And Jesus, when he was ^abaptized, went up ^bstraightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the ^cSpirit of God descending like a ^ddove, and lighting upon him:

 17And lo a ^avoice from heaven, saying, This is my ^bbeloved ^cSon, in whom I am well pleased.

We are to follow His example and show our commitment to Heavenly Father by our own baptism, converts and members from birth alike.

One thing particular to the LDS Church is that we don't baptize infants. We believe that Satan cannot tempt children, so they cannot sin and are therefore pure until they are old enough to be held accountable for their own actions. We believe that children reach the age of accountability at the age of 8, when they, at the very least, have a basic understanding of right and wrong. I was baptized, by my father, about a week after my own eighth birthday.

I wrote before about the baptismal covenants themselves - here. 

I am grateful for the blessings and promises of the baptismal ordinance, and the opportunity to be part of something eternal.

Movin' Right Along

Things that are not really working for me today:

• It's a school snow day, but not an admin snow day, so I had to skate to my car and come to work.
• As much as I enjoy my work, it's not the tropical respite of The Jungle in the Botanical Gardens, where I was just yesterday.
• I have a tiny hint of a cold, just enough to keep me on the edge of my seat about it.
• I have yet to talk to another human being in person, besides the coworker who just yelled to me that he was leaving.
• I'm poor.
• My garbage here at work hasn't been emptied in a week.

Things that ARE working for me today:

• Only three more days until the weekend.
• I do get to have dinner with the lovely JoBeth.
• I just had two Oreos.
• I created a bouncy new Pandora station, even if it still needs tweaking.
• I didn't fall on the ice.
• I got my car back from the shop on Saturday, so I had my nice ice scraper for this morning. No idea what I would have done if I were still in the rental.
• I'm wearing my favorite duster.
• Tea is good.
• My garbage just got emptied.
• I got to email with Sisterpants.
• I had a really great weekend, and it's still making me smile.

So you know what? All said - a good day.

Come, Let Us Anew

I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons. Each Sunday, I discuss some things related to my faith and what I believe. Regardless of your own beliefs, I hope this gives you a chance to get to know me and my religion a little better. For previous installments, click here.

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Articles of Faith 1:4)

Second, Repentance

To understand repentance, we first have to understand sin.

James 4:17 - Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

In other words, sin is willfully disobeying the commandments of God, and since none of us are perfect, we all commit sin, probably on a daily basis, by doing something we shouldn't (sins of comission) or not doing something we should (sins of omission).

We do believe that through the grace of God and the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we will be saved and be able to return to Their presence despite our imperfections, but we must first show our willingness to obey God's laws by following them as closely as we can. And when we mess up, we repent.

Repentance is more than just admitting we made a mistake and resolving to do better next time; the very root of the word (which is Greek in origin) "denotes a change of mind, i.e., a fresh view about God, about oneself, and about the world."

We believe there are 5 steps of repentance:

1. Sorrow for sin - acknowledge within ourselves that we have sinned
2. Confession - Disclosing to Heavenly Father, through prayer, what we have done
3. Abandonment of sin - Resolving to never repeat the sin
4. Restitution - Restoring, as best we can, any damages done
5. Righteous living - Filling our lives with righteousness and engaging in activities that bring us spiritual power

Repentance is an act of faith - acknowledging our belief in the Atonement and the redeeming power of Jesus Christ.  I am certainly not perfect and will be forever grateful for the opportunity I have to daily renew my commitment to follow my Heavenly Father.

Faith is knowing the sun will rise

I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons. Each Sunday, I discuss some things related to my faith and what I believe. Regardless of your own beliefs, I hope this gives you a chance to get to know me and my religion a little better. For previous installments, click here.

We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Articles of Faith 1:4)


First, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

What is faith?

The apostle Paul said, to the Hebrews: Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

My favorite definition is from the Book of Mormon prophet, Alma, who said: faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. (Alma 32:21)

Not to have a perfect knowledge of things

We're not expected to know every aspect of the Gospel, but learning of the principles and then acting on them with faith is how we come to know whether or not they are true.

Faith is like the wind. Or even love. We can't see it, but we can see its effects and power in our lives and know that it's there.  We can even harness its energy and use it to our benefit.

Also like love, it's more of a verb than a noun. It requires choice and action to be most effective.

I, for one, choose to believe.  I hope that I'm right, but even if I'm not, it's a good way to live.

Move, move (if you wanna)

My one and only official New Year's Goal/Resolution is this: 7,800 minutes of cardio exercise in 2011.

It doesn't matter if it's swimming, yoga, walking, jogging, rock climbing, dancing, or whatever. As long as it gets my heart pumping and my body moving, it counts! It breaks down to 30 minutes five times a week, which is the minimum recommendation anyway and totally doable.  This should lead to some other good things: lose weight, get healthier, move more, feel better, etc. There is a tracker at the bottom of this blog that will help us keep track of my progress!

Ideally, I'll be doing a lot of this exercise before work. I don't work until 9:30 AM anyway, so I have the time. I just have to get out of bed. There are a lot of perks to pre-work workouts - I feel better all day. It's done and I don't have to try to figure out when I'm going to eat if I want to work out and do whatever evening activity I have planned. I'll sleep better, both because I'm working out consistently and I'm going to bed at a decent hour if I want to get up to work out.

I started this morning. After a rough night of sleep (something about messing up my sleep schedule in December anyway and then screwing it up all over again this last weekend combined with the anxiety that comes with setting one's alarm 2 hours earlier than I usually get up), the alarm went off at 6:45 AM and I eventually got out of bed around 7:30. I was moving too slowly to get to the gym and back, so instead I took a two mile walk up and down my street. I was cold and tired, but I did it and I'm feeling good! Hooray!

Of course there are other goals and plans I have for this year, but they aren't official resolutions. For example, I WILL finish my non-fiction book challenge, find a new job, more diligently study the scriptures, and so on. I am also striving for better fiscal responsibility.

I also continuing my efforts to eat and drink healthier. I finally acquired a new giant water bottle, my fourth, since they keep dying on me.  I drank it all by 5 PM today, and I went to the little girl's room at least once an hour as a result.  Worth it.

Unfortunately, I may have done a bad food thing already today. I think I ate someone else's lunch. There isn't much in the freezer at work to begin with, and I stashed a couple of Lean Pockets in there this morning. (Not my favorite lunch food, but I didn't get a chance to make my usual lunch and they're better/cheaper than fast food.) I didn't even think about it when I grabbed a box out for lunch this afternoon. It was a mismatched pair, and I was pretty sure one was ham & cheese and one was pizza, which is at least similar to what I ended up eating, now that I think about it. I thought the one tasted more like turkey than ham & cheese, but you never know with frozen lunch foods anyway.

But then I refilled my water bottle to put in the freezer and as I opened it, I spotted the box I'd actually brought with me right where I now remember leaving it.

Oops.

I feel like such a jerk. Whose lunch did I eat?  Who else brings mismatched Lean Pockets?  Did someone find their lunch eaten (who was eating lunch after 1 PM, I don't know, since most people here take lunch around 11) and complain to their cubiclemates?

Without a clue, I left a note in the freezer.


It has occurred to me that it may just be mine anyway. I've been known to leave things in the fridge or freezer when my lunch plans change, and does anyone else I work with prefer to mismatch their Lean Pockets?  I guess we'll find out if anyone comes forward in the next few days!

Regardless, here's to a healthier and less-lunch stealing 2011!

Put your shoulder to the wheel

In case you don't already know, I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormons. Each Sunday, I'm going to discuss some things related to my faith and what I believe. Regardless of your own beliefs, I hope this gives you a chance to get to know me and my religion a little better. For previous installments, click here.

One unique thing about the Mormon church, especially compared to other mainstream religions, is that we have a lay ministry. What does that mean? It means that instead of professional priests or preachers, the Church is directed and run by its members. We all have regular day jobs and responsibilities and help direct the various operations of the ministry in addition.  My current bishop and stake president even have Wikipedia pages about their professional lives.

The various jobs in the church include teaching classes, giving talks, organizing meetings, chairing committees, coordinating music, or even being a steward over the entire congregation. These responsibilities are generally given by assignment from the leadership of the congregation, who we believe are inspired by God.

Being in the senior leadership of the church, such as the President of the Church and other general authorities, is equivalent to a full-time job and the men and women in those positions generally do not have other work.  However, they're usually older and have had retired from the original careers and have money to sustain their lives and church service, though the Church does help take care of them and their financial needs as needed, as I understand it.

There are also employees of the Church, but those jobs/careers are related to supporting the Church, not directing it. These include, but are not limited to, managing the Church's websites, teaching at the Church schools, developing curriculum for the Sunday School classes, etc.

But the ministry and the worship of the Church is directed by normal people just like me. My Church job right now is music director for my congregation, or ward.  In the past, I have served in such capacities as a pianist, choir director, Family Home Evening group leader, Emergency Preparedness co-chair, and class president. Our training comes "on the job" in addition to the talents we already have.

This sometimes mean that not everything runs perfectly, because we're all human, but I do feel that I get so much more out of my worship and membership in the church when I'm actively serving my fellow members. We serve each other. We teach each other. We learn from each other. We love each other.  Because of all that, we grow together, and for that, I am grateful.

Well still pretty good year

Places I've Spent At Least One Night in 2010 (see 2009, 2008 and 2006-2007)

Where I Live, VA
Alexandria, VA
Somewhere Over the Atlantic
Cairo, Egypt (exotic desert vacation!)
Arlington, VA
Tucson, AZ (more desert vacations!)
Somewhere Over the Big,  Square States in the Middle (red eye flights are lame)
Thurmond, MD (Super Stretch!)
Columbia, MD
Orem, UT (I love my family!)

2010 was, all things considered, a great year.  I've hated the question "So, what have you've been up to?" because it always felt like the the answer was "work, choir, looking for more work" and how boring is that?  But thinking back, I've had some really wonderful and not boring at all times! Is my life perfect and stress-free?  Not in the slightest, but it's still very, very good. I'm learning to be more comfortable in my own skin, building strong relationships, seeking continual self-improvement, magnifying my responsibilities, and learning to love whatever comes my way. Each year seems to get better than the last, so if that trend continues, 2011 is going to rock!

How was your 2010?