Cheerfully do

This is one of those weeks. One of those weeks in the middle of the semester when exams, projects, presentations, and quizzes all combine in the perfect storm to make it necessary to burn the midnight oil while still trying to stay sane. Actually, I don't feel like I have any right to complain when I look at the load my sister is carrying. She's working the max number of hours at her job and going to school full-time (including four credits of Mandarin Chinese and four credits of Arabic!), along with other responsibilities. What impresses me most about her, though, is her constant enthusiasm and optimistic outlook. She seems to have an unending supply of these things, and her attitude is contagious.

In trying to think of a passage in the Doctrine & Covenants that fits this theme, this is the first verse that came to mind: D&C 123:17, which reads in part--"let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power." Once we do that, the scripture continues, "then we may stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." This must have been very powerful to those who heard it at the time as they had been suffering intense persecution and hardships, but I believe that, like much of scripture, this verse can be applied to us today. I may not be able to control when my professors schedule assignments, but I can do what lies in my power to prepare for them ahead of time, use my time wisely, pay attention in class, etc. If I do these things I have a much greater assurance that things will work out no matter what stresses I face at the moment. This give me hope!

PS: The plants Andy gave me on Valentine's Day are starting to grow! They might be loving this sunny weather as much as I am. :-)

Liberty Jail

Last week for my religion class we read Doctrine and Covenants sections 121, 122, and 123. These sections were written while the Prophet Joseph Smith was in Clay County, Missouri's Liberty Jail. We learned that these sections of the D&C were extracted from a rather lengthy letter that the Prophet Joseph Smith and his prison companions wrote to the church members and their families. In class we gathered into small groups of three and reviewed transcriptions of the letter and saw the sections of the letter that became these three sections of the D&C. By looking at the Bible we can see that it isn’t unusual for inspired letters to become scripture: for example, Paul’s epistles to the saints at Thessalonica.

This was an extraordinarily difficult time for the Prophet. Those five cold, dark months in “liberty” Jail during the winter of 1838-1839 changed him. He came out with more confidence and boldness.

Difficult times stretch us. We find inspiring words in D&C 122:5-7. They are kind of lengthy verses, all describing the Lord’s point: “If thou art called to pass through tribulation […] know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.” Verse 8 continues, “The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” These are words we should all remember when we face difficult things.

Words of Wisdom

I recently read Doctrine & Covenants 109 by assignment for my religion class, and I loved it. The last time I read that whole section must have been during my sophomore year of high school, when we studied the D&C during early-morning seminary. Section 109 is the dedicatory prayer for the temple in Kirtland, Ohio, dedicated March 27, 1836.

Here is part of one verse that I like (verse 7):

"Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom."

This semester I am taking a "Masterpieces of World Literature" class. It's the second class in a two-course series, and having never taken the first course in the series I have often felt a bit lost. But I think there are valuables things to learn from literature from all over the world, from all different times, places, and people. Currently we are reading Candide, by Voltaire. We're talking about the Enlightenment, and how that grew out of the Neoclassical period. A lot of times the widsom comes from learning what not to do and how not to act.

I like that the Lord had the Prophet Joseph include that in the dedicatory prayer. I think we can learn a lot of wisdom from all sorts of books!