Wednesday, August 27, 2008

I thought I would share this experience with everyone cause I know that we are all struggling with different things right now. I went to the temple today and had a strong impression that I should share some of the things that I have learned in this last week.

As you all know, Doug has been in Pittsburgh the last 4 weeks. It has been an extremely tough time for Logan and I. Especially for Logan. I have felt like I was all alone and that I wasn't being the kind of mom I wanted to be. I wasn't feeling peace at all and that really bothered me.

On Sunday we had a lesson about the natural man. It was very interesting because the lady teaching brought up some different things that really hit home for me. In my patriarchal blessing it tells me to avoid the natural man 3 different times. Apparently Heavenly Father knew that I would struggle with this.

When I was in college I thought that it meant that I shouldn't covet worldly things like shoes or clothes. This is a true statement but it also means other things too. Since I have pretty much been a single mom for the last month my patience for Logan has gone down drastically. I have felt very drained and in need of time apart from him. Logan has regressed with potty training and he is having a very hard time being away from Doug. Something that our teacher said really hit home for me. She said that the natural man can also be me not having patience or being short with someone or showing anger towards them. For me it was with Logan. I realized that I was letting the natural man take over and that I needed to push that away and allow the spirit to help me.

Since then things have been a little easier. I have asked Heavenly Father that he bless me with the patience necessary to raise Logan in an environment pleasing to the Lord. I have found that even though he still has accidents or yells at me or even hits me that I have a choice. Once I have realized that I can teach him with the spirit. By the way, this lesson didn't fix things permanently for me. We still struggle. It has just helped me to make a conscious decision about how I am going to react.

The 2nd thing I wanted to mention was something I read in Nephi 3. It was a fantastic chapter and I read some great things out of it!

Well, I was reading the scriptures the other night and had this feeling like I needed to start reading the book of mormon again. So I turned to chapter 1 and started reading. When I got to Chapter 3 I knew why I had that prompting. So, I just wanted to share a few things with everyone that stood out to me when I was reading chapter 3.

I have wondered over and over why certain things happen to certain people and also why those same things or a similar trial keep happening over and over. As I was reading chapter 3 it was talking about how Nephi and his brothers were commanded to go and get the plates from Laban. It was very interesting to me how many times they had to try before they got the plates. I have a tendency to assume that if Heavenly Father commands it that it will happen with ease. Turns out that i am wrong. He does make a promise to us though and that is if we will follow his commandments (no matter how many times we are required to try) he will provide a way. In chapter 3 Nephi talks about how he was able to get the plates. The Lord provided a way. It wasn't the way that you would think, but it was a way. Nephi was blessed so much for following the Lords commandments.

As for why things happen over and over I have learned that it is because WE are not learning the lesson that He wants us to learn. Once I submit to His will it seems that I learn a very important lesson.

So, the question that i asked myself after reading this was "Do I have the faith necessary to follow and endure the things that the Lord asks of me?"

I hope that everything is well with everyone! Love you tons!
Brandy

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