Dear Family and Friends,
Another week marches along in this experience called life. This week was better than last week as it was yet another beautiful reminder of how much God loves me. I am continually amazed by the love I feel around me, particularly from my wonderful family.
This week I have continued to read about the family of Lehi as they journeyed into the wilderness. In 1 Nephi 2:9 Lehi names the river they come to Laman and says to Laman, "O that thou mightest be like unto this river, continually running into the fountain of all righteousness!" The word that really stuck out to me in this was into. When I've heard or read this line before and I've pictured the river, I always though the imagery to be one of the fountain of righteousness feeding the river that is "Laman." Looking now I see I was backwards, so I began to ponder why the river is running into the fountain of all righteousness and not out of. I believe it be illustrating how faithfulness is an active action, not a passive result. When we are faithful our example shows the light of Christ. We are in essence "feeding" the fountain of righteousness that is around us. We are not meant to just receive from the fountain, but to live in it and thus feed it. The things we do have an outward effect on our own life and on the lives of those around us. My hope is that we can all be a little better at not just taking from the fountain of righteousness, but do things to add to it!
Love to you All!
Katie/Katelyn
Monday, January 30, 2017
Monday, January 23, 2017
Power unto Deliverance
Dear Family and Friends,
Tender Mercies have become really important to me as of late, and maybe it's in part because of a new connection I found in the scripture related to them. In 1 Nephi 1:20 Nephi states, "but behold, I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." At this moment in my life what I learned that Tender Mercies are a manifestation of the Love of God in our life. A bit of an additional witness of the grace and atonement that is at work in our lives. Tender Mercies are over us and they will make us mighty even unto deliverance. Some days are so difficult that I want to hid away from the world and my responsibilities, but it's those Tender Mercies that give me enough strength to get up and go out the door. They carry me for just long enough to see another Tender Mercy and take another step forward. One step, one tender mercy, one day, one life, and one Savior to make everything possible. Life can be incredibly difficult, particularly when you get hit by multiple overwhelming things at once. But I am really coming to believe the words of Nephi, that Tender Mercies make us mighty even unto the power of deliverance.
This week has had a lot of up and downs, more than most weeks usually do. There have been times where I'll I've wanted to do was cry, and moments of amazement at the Tender Mercies of God. One really special Mercy came at the end of probably my hardest day. I was talking to my mom about how I really wanted orange juice, but I didn't want to go out in the snow to get some. I heard my roommate and her boyfriend come in so I went out to talk to them and ask if I could practice taking their vial signs for my nursing homework. They agreed to be "victims", so when I came back with my blood pressure cuff my roommate was getting orange juice from the fridge and asked if I wanted any. It was such a small thing but it felt so big to me that she would offer me the very thing not 10 minutes before I had been wishing for. God really does know and love us. He is aware of me individually, and every person individually. He is helping us, just look around and see the tender mercies in your life!
Love,
Katie
Tender Mercies have become really important to me as of late, and maybe it's in part because of a new connection I found in the scripture related to them. In 1 Nephi 1:20 Nephi states, "but behold, I Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." At this moment in my life what I learned that Tender Mercies are a manifestation of the Love of God in our life. A bit of an additional witness of the grace and atonement that is at work in our lives. Tender Mercies are over us and they will make us mighty even unto deliverance. Some days are so difficult that I want to hid away from the world and my responsibilities, but it's those Tender Mercies that give me enough strength to get up and go out the door. They carry me for just long enough to see another Tender Mercy and take another step forward. One step, one tender mercy, one day, one life, and one Savior to make everything possible. Life can be incredibly difficult, particularly when you get hit by multiple overwhelming things at once. But I am really coming to believe the words of Nephi, that Tender Mercies make us mighty even unto the power of deliverance.
This week has had a lot of up and downs, more than most weeks usually do. There have been times where I'll I've wanted to do was cry, and moments of amazement at the Tender Mercies of God. One really special Mercy came at the end of probably my hardest day. I was talking to my mom about how I really wanted orange juice, but I didn't want to go out in the snow to get some. I heard my roommate and her boyfriend come in so I went out to talk to them and ask if I could practice taking their vial signs for my nursing homework. They agreed to be "victims", so when I came back with my blood pressure cuff my roommate was getting orange juice from the fridge and asked if I wanted any. It was such a small thing but it felt so big to me that she would offer me the very thing not 10 minutes before I had been wishing for. God really does know and love us. He is aware of me individually, and every person individually. He is helping us, just look around and see the tender mercies in your life!
Love,
Katie
Monday, January 16, 2017
Equal and Opposite Opposition
Dear Family and Friends,
I'm back! (Well in a fashion). For my religion class this semester at BYU we get to make a post each week about something we have learned from the scriptures or in class. Since I've already got this wonderful blog I decided to continue to use it. I hope you enjoy hearing from me again and that I can say something that will help others also come closer to God!
This week in my religion class we were studying Moses 1 from the Pearl of Great price. In verses 19-20 Satan comes to Moses and becomes angry when Moses refuses to worship him. He becomes so angry that Moses sees the "bitterness of Hell". My professor shared a quote from Brigham Young, "God never bestows upon His people, or upon an individual, superior blessings without a severe trial to prove them, to prove that individual, or that people, to see whether they will keep their covenants with Him, and keep in remembrance what He has shown them. Then the greater the vision, the greater the display of the power of the enemy." It had never really occurred to me how great blessings/revelation often are juxtaposed with trail/temptation either before or after. It doesn’t change that sometimes those trials and temptations can be almost overwhelming, but it will help me to remember the reality of the blessing and revelation I receive. No matter how hard and challenging life is, or how tempting it would be to just give up and not try, we MUST continue on. One day and one step at a time!
I'm back! (Well in a fashion). For my religion class this semester at BYU we get to make a post each week about something we have learned from the scriptures or in class. Since I've already got this wonderful blog I decided to continue to use it. I hope you enjoy hearing from me again and that I can say something that will help others also come closer to God!
This week in my religion class we were studying Moses 1 from the Pearl of Great price. In verses 19-20 Satan comes to Moses and becomes angry when Moses refuses to worship him. He becomes so angry that Moses sees the "bitterness of Hell". My professor shared a quote from Brigham Young, "God never bestows upon His people, or upon an individual, superior blessings without a severe trial to prove them, to prove that individual, or that people, to see whether they will keep their covenants with Him, and keep in remembrance what He has shown them. Then the greater the vision, the greater the display of the power of the enemy." It had never really occurred to me how great blessings/revelation often are juxtaposed with trail/temptation either before or after. It doesn’t change that sometimes those trials and temptations can be almost overwhelming, but it will help me to remember the reality of the blessing and revelation I receive. No matter how hard and challenging life is, or how tempting it would be to just give up and not try, we MUST continue on. One day and one step at a time!
This thought was pretty meaningful to me because of the challenges related to changes in my own life. Adjusting to being "single" again and starting BYU's nursing program being large parts of those challenges. There has been a lot of up and down in the last month. However, it's a new year and so it's time to start again and believe in better days to come! I've been home a year and a half this month. The scary thing about that is that I feel like the past 18 months went a lot faster than the 18 months I spent in Kansas. Just like the 18 months on my mission I have grown a lot and become a better person. In many ways I feel like I've maintained the rapid growth rate I picked up on my mission. Sometimes that is exhausting, but I wouldn't change it for anything! I'm excited about the new opportunities before me, including the one to update this blog with the things I am learning.
Love to you All,
Katie/Katelyn/Sister Blood
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