Helaman 5:12 Always Remember Him- even at 5:30pm

12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

I am still interested in the phrase "no power over you." Last night my daughter would not do her homework, my kids would not put their soccer clothes on when I asked, my three year old took a bunch of toys out of the playroom and brought them downstairs (which is not allowed in my house). OK- so it might not seem like a big deal, but when all of this is going on, as I am trying to make dinner in a timely manner, to get the kids fed prior to soccer practice, it made me so angry. In my life, I am not concerned right now about "his hail and his mighty storm." Nor am I concerned about "the gulf of misery and endless wo." I would like to have my kids be disobedient, have my family running late for where we are supposed to be going, (this happens a LOT) and still have the spirit with me. I want to be able to be calm and peaceful inside. I do not want to stop caring about homework, obedience, and showing up on time. I fundamentally think these things are very important. However, in the sacrament prayer, I learn that I can "always have his spirit to be with me." Last night, at 6:30pm, after I burned my hand on some sauce, and was thoroughly upset with my children- I did not.

Bruce R. McConkie explained that Satan had no power over Christ because He had "overcome the world." (How can I do that?)

In Ezra Taft Benson's book, "A Witness and a Warning"- chapter8- Come Unto Christ- he says:

Nephi said, the Lord "hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh." ( 2Nephi 4:21.) Those who are consumed in Christ "are made alive in Christ." ( 2Nephi 25:25.) They "suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ." (Alma 31:38.) They are "clasped in the arms of Jesus." (Mormon 5:11.) Nephi said, "I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul." (2 Nephi 33:6.) Lehi said, "I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love." (2 Nephi 1:15.)
58Let us read the Book of Mormon and be convinced that Jesus is the Christ. Let us continually reread the Book of Mormon so that we might more fully come to Christ, be committed to Him, centered in Him, and consumed in Him.
58We are meeting the adversary every day. The challenges of this era will rival any of the past, and these challenges will increase both spiritually and temporally. We must be close to Christ, we must daily take His name upon us, always remember Him, and keep His commandments.

President Benson said some of the same things that President Monson did, and that I studied earlier.

• Read the Book of Mormon
• Take his name upon me
• Be close to Christ
• Always remember him
• Keep his commandments

I am pretty good at thinking about these things at 5:30 am- but by 5:30 pm- not as good. I need to be more like the Muslims who pray five times a day. I am going to add two more prayers to my schedule: 3pm- before school pick up, and another at 5:30- right before my melt down. Hopefully this will be the trick!

3 Nephi 2, and Helaman 5:12 Remember Remember

3 Nephi 2:1 And it came to pass that thus passed away the ninety and fifth year also, and the people began to forget those sign and wonders which they had heard...

I got this far into the chapter, and it reminded me of Helaman 5:12, which begins, and now my sons, remember, remember...

I like reading old BYU devotional talks- this one caught my eye, as the title was "Remember, Remember."- the speaker, a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, DENNIS B. NEUENSCHWANDER. (makes me glad for my short last name).

I liked how he started his talk:

During my first year of graduate school, I had an evening class on Slavic culture. On one occasion, after a day of intense study, I was hurrying to class to take an exam. Information, dates, and events were swimming around in my head. The closer I got to the exam, the more confused I became. On the way I happened to see one of my professors and asked him to clarify what for him must have been a very obscure matter. He looked at me and asked in a tone I still remember, "Is it important?"
Over the years I have pondered his question. It has helped me to distinguish the important from the trivial, to remember the important things and to forget the things that have little consequence or that would, by forgetting them, bring a blessing.
Remembering important things is fundamental to both our temporal and spiritual well-being. Confusing what we should remember with what we can or ought to forget creates difficulties for us. Much trouble in life originates from forgetting what we should remember and remembering what we should forget. One of Nephi's experiences with Laman and Lemuel is an interesting example of this. Nephi told his brothers that they were "slow to remember the Lord" (1 Nephi 17:45). They had seen an angel, and he had spoken to them. Though no response is recorded, I suppose that Laman and Lemuel could have looked at each other and said, "Oh, yeah, we forgot."
Remembering the kindness of others while forgetting their offenses is spiritually much healthier than forgetting their kindness and remembering their offenses. We should keep in mind that even the Lord, who is capable of remembering everything, has promised that He will forget our sins if we repent.
It seems to me that living the gospel has as much to do with remembering important things as it does with knowing them in the first place. Interjection- by me- I like that last sentence- "living the gospel has as much to do with remembering important things as it does with knowing them in the first place." The word remember and its derivatives appear hundreds of times in the scriptures--certainly a lot to remember! This repetitious scriptural reminder to remember takes on added significance when we understand that in Hebrew the word remember has a much broader meaning than does the English connotation of "keeping something in mind." In the Hebrew context, "doing" is an essential part of the remembering process. Thus, "to remember" is "to do," whereas "forgetting" is "failing to do." Interjection by me again- isn't that an interesting perspective- that "to remember" is "to do", whereas "forgetting" is "failing to do". I'll bet that those Nephites that "began to forget those signs and wonders" first began to forget to study the scriptures and say their prayers, and go to church.

Today, I will try to harder to be a "rememberer."

Helaman 12 Humble Becasue of the Word

I am still in chapter 12- I am not a big fan of verse 3 :)

3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him. (there is that word "remember" again- I need to "always remember Him.")

Instead, I like Alma, chapter 32, Alma is teaching the Zoramites, who were cast out of their synagogue because of their poverty.

14 And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be humble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word?

To me, this verse (Alma 32:14)- is teaching me that I do not need to experience hardships to remember the Lord, I can be humbled through the Word of God rather than trials. This is what I want; this is what I am trying for.

Helaman 6:28-31 Always Remember Him

I am reading in Helaman 6 today, trying to keep up with Sunday School. Secret Combinations have started- - -

28 And also it is that same being who put it into the hearts of the people to build a tower sufficiently high that they might get to heaven. And it was that same being who led on the people who came from that tower into this land; who spread the works of darkness and abominations over all the face of the land, until he dragged the people down to an entire destruction, and to an everlasting hell.

29 Yea, it is that same being who put it into the heart of Gadianton to still carry on the work of darkness, and of secret murder; and he has brought it forth from the beginning of man even down to this time...

31 And now behold, he had got great hold upon the hearts of the Nephites; yea, insomuch that they had become exceedingly wicked; yea, the more part of them had turned out of the way of righteousness, and did trample under their feet the commandments of God, and did turn unto their own ways, and did build up unto themselves idols of their gold and their silver.

So- going with what what I was studying yesterday, if the word "hearts" is referring to "thoughts"- Then Satan is putting things in thier thoughts, and has great hold upon their thoughts. What I want, is I want the Lord to have "great hold upon my thoughts."

I did a search for "hold upon heart"- and all of the scriptures were talking about Satan- except for one- which was Alma the Younger talking about his experience after he saw the angel, was unconscious, and remembered what his father had taught:

Alma 36:17- 18 I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world. Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

Enos had an experience with his thoughts: 3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.

I am not looking for an "experience" so much as I want a peaceful state of mind. I want to be able to have my three year old having potty training accidnets, my six year old not doing her homeowork, my five year old putting real food and drinks in her playroom kitchen, my baby taking too short a nap, my husband never installing the baseboards, and I want to be happy and peaceful inside. I am sure this is possible.

Isn't this what the sacrament is supposed to help me with "always have his spirit to be with me"- THAT is what I need. There must be some part of the covenant that I am not keeping up, becasue I feel like I "sometimes have his spirit to be with me" so- here is the other half:

1. we witnessed that we were willing to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ,


2. that we would always remember Him,


3. and that we would keep His commandments.

My guess is that I am messing up on #2. I study early in the morning, like right now, and then go about my day, not always remmebering him. Funny how both Alma and Enos's examples involved "remembering."

My favorite hymn- my favorite version- this is from back when I was at BYU: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUhU0HgTq94&feature=related