Press Forward

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:20)

Steadfastness in Christ:
In the topical guide, steadfastness is described as : Commitment; Dedication; Perseverance; Steadfastness; Walking with God.  We must be dedicated to Christ.  As we press forward we must always have Christ as our focus and in our hearts.

Perfect Brightness of Hope:


Sometimes in life, all that we have is that small bit of light.  That may be all that we have to hold on to but we must keep it in our sights and continue towards it.  It reminds me of a race that I did that was through some tunnels.  As I entered the tunnel, it was pitch black.  I'm afraid of the dark!!! As I was about to turn around, I looked ahead and saw a small piece of light.  It wasn't enough to light the tunnel, but if was enough for me to know where I was going.  I knew where my goal was.  I think sometimes in life, when we aren't surrounded by the light, we have to take hold of that small bit of light and work towards it.   It will eventually become brighter and fill us with light.

Love of God and all men:
" And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:30-31
As we serve and love others, our lives will be brighter and we will be happier.

Feasting upon the words of Christ:
Reading the scriptures is very important in learning about and being closer to Christ. President Kimball said,   “I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 135).
Endure to the End:
I love the example of enduring to the end told in this story by Elder Robert D. Hales, "In 1968 a marathon runner by the name of John Stephen Akhwari represented Tanzania in an international competition. “A little over an hour after [the winner] had crossed the finish line, John Stephen Akhwari … approached the stadium, the last man to complete the journey. [Though suffering from fatigue, leg cramps, dehydration, and disorientation,] a voice called from within to go on, and so he went on. Afterwards, it was written, ‘Today we have seen a young African runner who symbolizes the finest in human spirit, a performance that gives meaning to the wordcourage.’ For some, the only reward is a personal one. [There are no medals, only] the knowledge that they finished what they set out to do” (The Last African Runner, Olympiad Series, written, directed, and produced by Bud Greenspan, Cappy Productions, 1976, videocassette). When asked why he would complete a race he could never win, Akhwari replied, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; my country sent me to finish the race.”

He knew who he was—an athlete representing the country of Tanzania. He knew his purpose—to finish the race. He knew that he had to endure to the finish, so that he could honorably return home to Tanzania. Our mission in life is much the same. We were not sent by Father in Heaven just to be born. We were sent to endure and return to Him with honor.

If we do all these things as we press forward, we will obtain eternal life.  What a wonderful Blessing.

The Plan of Happiness

There is a plan of happiness.  One that leads to eternal happiness.  Imagine that, eternal happiness!!!! In studying this week in 2 Nephi 9, verse 13 stood out to me."O how great the plan of our God!" and in verse 28, "O that cunning plan of the evil one!"
The Atonement is essential to the Plan of Salvation.  President Faust said,
“Our salvation depends on believing in and accepting the Atonement. Such acceptance requires a continual effort to understand it more fully. The Atonement advances our mortal course of learning by making it possible for our natures to become perfect. …"
As I tried to understand the Atonement more fully this week, a few things stood out to me.
1.  The Atonement wasn't just about atoning for our sins.  He took upon Himself our afflictions, sorrows, griefs, illness, and infirmities.  He did this so He would know how to succor his people.  (Alma 7:12).  There is not anything we will go through that He hasn't already suffered.  At a time when I thought that no one could possibly understand my pain, I watched a video with Elder Holland.  He talked about how salvation isn't cheap.  "The road to salvation always goes through Gethsemane.  And it will always require a journey to the summit of Calvary. " He said if we are true disciples of Christ than how can we not be willing to do as He did and suffer as He did.  It is a comfort to know that my Savior has experienced all that I do so that he can comfort me.  How grateful indebted to Him I feel.



2.  We are not required to be perfect and we will not be in this life.  My husband talked quite a bit about dying and he wasn't afraid.  I always asked him how he could be so ready.  I surely did not feel ready to account for everything I have done.  I didn't know if I would ever be.  He just kind of shrugged and smiled.  I know that he didn't think of himself as perfect.  I was watching a Mormon Message by Elder Nelson.  He said, "Be patient with yourself.  Perfection comes not in this life but in the next life.  Don't demand of yourself things that are unreasonable but demand improvement.  The Lord will make the difference."  Through the atonement, we don't have to be perfect.

I am so grateful to know of this wonderful plan of happiness.  I know that my Savior loves me and I will be forever grateful for all that he did to atone for me.  I am blessed to have a body and blessed to have this spirit.  I look forward to the day when I die, and I will run into Neil's arms and rejoice that our marriage and family will continue on together through eternity.  This gives me daily motivation to try and improve and better myself each day.  To hopefully be worthy of this wonderful blessing and to be forgiven of those things that I do wrong.