Extending my banner

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Cut the Highs and Fill in the Lows




Getting concrete to lay flat can be a challenge, it sure was for me, many of my co workers, and foremans tried teaching me. It wasn't until the owner of the company taught me the simplicity of it, that I started getting it down. He said ' all you got to do is cut the Highs and Fill in the lows'. It is actually a pretty simple concept when you break it down like that.

I was walking yesterday and thought of the questions " Where did we come from?, why are we here? and Where are we going?  Some of us don't have the answers, but if that were the case for the whole world, then we would all be lost. I thought of the Term "cut the Highs and Fill in the Lows."

 Doing concrete construction work, you can get caught up in many ways to succeed in laying it flat, but it all goes back to the basics in the end.

The basics give us a foundation, the three questions that I thought about are the basics. They can all be answered through Faith in Jesus Christ, Sincere Prayer and Scripture study.

Here is the tricky part, it was for me as I was trying to learn from everyone, you have to "Hear". This means applying the basics to your life.

You can ask anyone that I worked with, I tried to make the concrete "pretty" before it was flat! I was always told 'it doesn't have to be pretty, it just has to be flat'.

"The Gospel is Beautifully Simple and Simply Beautiful".






You tell me If I "Heard" what the owner taught me.? 

Saturday 18 June 2011

"I know"


Everyone has heard the Term " I know" come from a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints who shares their Testimony.

Why do we say that?  I had a personal experience the other day, while trying to share my Testimony with a man, he stopped me and said " this sounds like something I have heard before".

So how do we really know that God loves us, or that Jesus Christ suffered and Died for our sins?

How do we know that the Bible is the word of God ?

How do we know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God?

How do we Know that God Exists ?

Brothers and Sisters, because we have Intelligence, our conscience and the Light of Christ.

 Do we really have to see or feel something to know it is there? If we did that would not be Faith. "Faith is not to have a perfect Knowledge of things, therefore if ye have Faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."

Our Knowledge comes from our experience, that is the beauty of life we came to gain experience!

I do know the Truth and I know it because God wants me to know it! It is my personal Conviction, my Testimony isn't bore to show someone how much I know, it is there to Invite others to taste of the Goodness of God through their personal Experience.  Experiences with the spirit follow naturally when a person is willing to experiment upon the word. This is how we come to feel the Gospel is True.

It is an Invitation to see if God will bless that individual like he has me. Our Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit, he lets us know the Truth, he invites us to ask God. The Holy Spirit and God work together to fulfill our Heavenly Fathers work and Glory!

Wednesday 15 June 2011

I Will...

I wasn't one much for Poems, this one means something to me more than ever.

As i was a teenager, I was forced into going to this re inactment of the pioneers who had crossed the plains of wyoming. All we could take with us for our 3 day trip was whatever we could fit in a 5 Gallon Bucket. I didn't want to go, I didn't have the right attitude and my Mom didn't help the situation at the time.( bless her heart) she wrote this poem on my bucket so I would remember the message.

I will do more than belong, I will Participate.
I will do more than believe, I will Practice.
I will do more than be fair, I will be kind.
I will do more than Forgive, I will Forget.
I will do more than teach , I will Inspire.
I will do more than Earn, I will Enrich.
I will do more than give, I will serve.
I will do more than live, I will grow.

I now appreciate the Poem and I know it is a great reminder for all of us!

Friday 10 June 2011

His Infinite Love and Mercy. I am a Mormon ( The Finale)

So How do I Find Forgiveness when I cross that Fence?

I make mistakes everyday, some bigger than others, I used to not recognize them or even worry about them, until I actually strived to know my Savior and Friend Jesus Christ.


First of all the Scripture is true John 17:7, "If any man will ado his bwill, he shall cknow of the doctrine."
I tried to run from my mistakes, our heavenly Father doesn't want us to do that, instead he wants us to come to him and acknowledge that we are broken.

It starts one day at a time, I started to find forgiveness day by day through sincere, consistent prayer and scripture study. It came because I gained a personal realization of who Jesus Christ is and why he is so important in my life!

And it continues to come as I serve the Lord and nourish my relationship I have with him. I know that I am Literally a Child of God, I know he cares about the little things in my life and I know that he wants me to be Happy.

Repentance is not a bad thing or a scary thing, It is true desire to give up worldly desires for spiritual desires that are a whole lot better! We don't recognize that, but he does and he is in control.

I can Always Find Forgiveness, when I cross the Fence.

Friday 3 June 2011

I am a Mormon (Choices, Part 2)

It is not Popular to do the right thing, I don't always make the best choices or do the right thing.

Why are we given Commandments in the First place ?

While Growing up I thought that I knew better than my Parents and peers, all of us go through this cycle of life. I know now that they were right all along. Even now we think that we know better than our Heavenly Father, I am guilty of this.

Luckily Our Loving Heavenly Father has given us the freedom of choice. I am grateful he has and I know he does so we can learn and grow.

There was a story that Elder Mervyn B. Arnold told. This best describes to me why God has given us Commandments. http://lds.org/general-conference/2010/10/what-have-you-done-with-my-name?lang=eng

I would like to Highlight a few of those points he talked about.

He explains that his wife, when she was 15 years old, felt there were too many rules and commandments, how could a teenager enjoy life with so many Restrictions?

One of her jobs on her family farm was to make sure the Cows grazing on the mountain pasture did not break through the fence and get into the wheat field. A cow grazing on growing wheat can bloat, causing suffocation and death. They had a cow that would always stick it's head through the fence. One day she had found the cow had broken through and eaten the wheat, she recognized that the cow was already bloated. She thought, 'You Stupid cow! That fence was there to protect you, yet you broke through it and you have eaten so much wheat that your life is in danger.'
    
"While we are free to choose for ourselves, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. When we make a choice, we will receive the consequences of that choice".

The fence in that story was a protection, for us the commandments are a protection. Obedience to the commandments will save us from physical and spiritual death.

The Commandments are not given to us to restrict us, but to bless us.

Everyone of us Must learn that the Grass is never greener on the other side of the fence, nor will it ever be.




How can I find Forgiveness when I cross the Fence ?