(Source)

Good Things To Come

(picture from Pinterest)

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

By Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.





My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.





He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.





The woods are lovely, dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

“May I share with you a formula that in my judgment will help you and help me to journey well through mortality... First, fill your mind with truth; second, fill your life with service; and third, fill your heart with love.”  ― Thomas S. Monson

Pushing Against The Rock

"There was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room was filled with light and the Savior appeared.  The Lord told him he had a work for him to do, and showed him a large rock, explaining that he was to push again that rock with all of his might.  This the man did, and for many days he toiled from sunup to sundown; his shoulder set squarely against the cold massive surface of the rock pushing with all his might.  Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain.

Seeing that the man was showing signs of discouragement, Satan decided to enter the picture--placing thoughts in the man's mind, such as 'Why kill yourself over this?  You're never going to move it.' or 'Boy, you've been at it a long time and you haven't even scratched the surface.' etc--giving the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was an unworthy servant because he wasn't moving the massive stone.

These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man and he started to ease up in his efforts.  'Why kill myself?'  he thought.  'I'll just put in my time, putting forth just the minimum of effort and that will be good enough.'  And that he did, or at least planned on doing until one day  he decided to take his troubles to the Lord.  'Lord,' he said, 'I have labored hard and long in your service, putting forth all my strength to do that which you have asked of me.  Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock half a millimeter.  What is wrong?  What am I failing?'

To this the Lord responded compassionately, 'My friend, when long ago I asked you to serve me and you accepted.  I told you to push against the rock with all your strength, and that you have done.  But never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it.  At least not by yourself.  Your task was to push and now you come to me, your strength spent, thinking that you have failed and ready to quit.  But is that really so?  Look at yourself.  Your arms are strong and muscled. your back sinewed and brown.  Your hands are calloused from constant pressure and your legs have become massive and hard.

Through opposition you have grown much and your ability now far surpasses that which you used to have.  Yet still, you haven't succeeded in moving the rock.  And you come to me now with a heavy heart and your strength spent. Your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in my wisdom.  And this you have done.  I, my friend, will move the rock."          Author Unknown

"I believe in Christ as I believe in the sun at noon day; not that I can see it, but by it I can see everything else."  C S Lewis

"Serious sin enters into our lives as we yield first to little temptations.  Seldom does one enter into deeper transgression without first yielding to lesser ones, which open the door to the greater. . .It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the devil to enter a door that is closed.  He seems to have no keys for locked doors.  But if a door is slightly ajar, he gets his toe in and soon this is followed by his foot, then by his leg and his whole body and his head, and finally he is in all the way.
This situation is reminiscent of the fable of the camel and his owner who were traveling across the desert sand dunes when a wind storm came up.  The traveler quickly set up his tent and moved in, closing the flaps to protect himself from the cutting, grinding sands of the raging storm.  The camel was of course left outside, and as the violent wind hurled the sand against his body and into his eyes and nostrils he found it unbearable and finally begged for entrance in to the tent.
'There is only room for myself,' said the traveler.
'But may I just get my nose in so I can breathe air not filled with sand?' asked the camel.
'Well, perhaps you can do that,' replied the traveler, and he opened the flap ever so little and the long nose of the camel entered.  How comfortable the camel was now!  But soon the camel became weary of the smarting sand on his eyes and ears, and he was tempted to ask again:
'The wind-driven sand is like a rasp on my head.  Could I put just my head in?'
'Again, the traveler rationalized that to acquiesce would do him no damamge, for the camel's head could occupy the space at the top of the tent which he himself was not using.  So the camel put his head inside and the beast was satisfied again--but for a short while only.
'Just the front quarters,' he begged, and again the traveler relented and soon the camel's front shoulders and legs were in the tent.  Finally by the same processes of pleading and of yielding, the camel's torso, his hind quarters and all were in the tent.   But now it was too crowded for the two, and the camel kicked the traveler out into the wind and storm.
Like the camel, Lucifer readily becomes the master when one succumbs to his initial blandishments.  Soon then the conscience is stilled completely, the evil power has full sway, and the door to salvation is closed until a thorough repentance open it again."                                        The Mirale of Forgiveness

Arise and Shine Forth

“Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations” (Doctrine and Covenants 115:5).

I love the 2012 mutual theme--it's awesome!!!!

STOP YELLING!!!! :) :)

Something I need to remind myself after having the kids home for 2 snow days in a row. :)

New Goal

I'm teaching the YW this Sunday so I've been working on my lesson all week.  I was going through an old thought book I put together when I was still in college and was reminiscing over some of my favorite thoughts.  And then I remembered this blog and how I've really neglected it this last year.  So I decided that I would make a goal to post a thought every morning.  Some days I'll take the time to expand on a thought and sometimes I'll just post a quick quote.  I have so many favorites I'd like to share so hopefully this will help me to do so without taking too much of my time.  (Though I'm wondering if anyone even comes to this blog any more since I have neglected it for so long!)