Amber - I like this week

 I am quite excited about this week.  I'm going to just do the exact same thing as last week but most of it should be free of travel so I plan on success.  I also don't feel so depressed as the week before last.  Also I'm embarking on a new part of my energy healing and I'm quite excited for that part.  Unfortunately I'm starting the week sick, I seem to have caught a cold somewhere and now it is a sore throat.  I'll work on it and take care of myself so it will go away.  Here is the goal list again.

1. 8:30 I say my repentance prayer.

2. I make a plan and prepare for the next day.

3. 10:00 I get off of all electronics.

4. 10:30 I go to bed.

5. I get up at 6 am and do my morning routine.

6. I add the rest of evening routine.

I am doing 1-5 right now and I'm going to add some alarm reaction practice because I practiced not reacting last week so it's only logical to reverse that.

Monday:

* I've been reading from the book of mormon but I realized recently that I haven't finished all of the talks from conference so I've started over and will finish them before next month's conference.  Today's thought is from Bishop Gerald Causse, "A Living witness of the Living Christ".  He gave a couple lists of all the things that the Savior has done for us.  One of those is a list of how to recognize when we experience the Savior's Atonement in our lives.  I liked the list so here it is below.

• You feel joy when your sins are forgiven.
• Your trials become lighter.
• Your heart is softened enough to allow forgiveness.
• Your capacity to love and serve is increased.
• You are becoming more like Christ.

There are more ways for sure but these are all things we experience but don't always notice.  Sometimes they are not that big but if you watch and look for them you will see them more often then you think.

• I woke up sick so I slept in for a couple hours again.
• I was 30 mins late on everything but I did say my prayer, plan for tomorrow, get off the electronics, and go to bed.

Tuesday:

* My thought today is from Elder Renlund's talk "Consider the Goodness and Greatness of God".  I'm back to the subject of remembering and expanding on the last thought I had about this.  Remembering what God has done for us not only helps us stay on the right path but Elder Renlund says that it can and should transform us.  Then he also gives a list of things remembering does for us.

• share more effectively
• have courage
• stronger resolve
• be filled with God's love
• be non-judgmental
• raise righteous children
• stay clean
• rejoice

I'd not thought of remembering in such depth before and would not have associated these blessings with such a small act.  These are all shortened but if you want details go read the talk.

• I'm still sick so I slept in again.  However my throat feels much better and the cold has moved more into my nose.  Hopefully this is a good sign, usually it works the other way round so I'll keep working it.
• I said my prayer 10 mins early!
• Unfortunately I started a thing at 8:30 and I ended up doing nothing else on my list and didn't get into bed until after 11 sometime.

Wednesday:

* I read a story in the talk by Elder Benjamin M.Z. Tai called "The Power of the Book of Mormon in Conversion".  The story was of a man who had tried to stop smoking in the past and had failed many times.  Once he learned of the gospel he tried again but with the help of God and was successful.  One part I really liked.  "as he focused more on the new habits he wished to develop, such as studying the Book of Mormon, he focused less on the habits he wanted to lose."  This is a powerful tool, if you keep thinking I need to change this habit then your focus is on the bad habit.  Since all the thought and energy is on the bad habit it grows.  Instead it is better to turn that thought and energy to what you want to happen.  Couple that with the enabling power of Christ and you will find success increases dramatically.

• I slept until 8 today.  Still feeling sick but it is pretty much out of my throat now, and I'm making some delicious soup.
• Soup was delicious and my body liked it.  However I didn't do my prayer and I didn't plan for tomorrow.  At 10 I got off of the computer and went straight to bed so that was good.  However I was also feeling worse.

Thursday:

* I loved this talk by Elder Stevenson "A Good Foundation Against the Time to Come".  I remember really liking it at conference time and I got a lot of good things in it.  I'll share my favorite quote because I love it.  Elder Stevenson shares a story of a woman who was always faithful and optimistic through years of cancer.  Someone asked her how she could still be faithful when surrounded by heartache.  She said it was the faith that got her through the heartache. "If I choose to not have faith then I choose to only walk in darkness.  Because without faith, darkness is all I have left."  Through her faith she has witnessed far more light than darkness.  She also pointed out that she wouldn't have witnessed all the light and the miracles if she had an easy life.  The dark things allowed for miracles and highlighted the light. 

• I slept in again because I woke up feeling worse than yesterday.  I'll have to be better tomorrow because I'm leaving for the funeral for grandma chamberlain.
• I didn't say my prayer again nor did I plan but I did get off at 10 and went straight to bed.

Friday:

* I also really loved this talk "Hosanna and Hallelujah-The Living Jesus Christ: The Heart of Restoration and Easter" by Elder Gong.  It is a super fantastic talk so go read it if you want some good feelies.  I'm just going to share a quick quote from it.  Elder Gong quotes President Nelson who talks about Christ's atonement and what he did for us.  He says that Christ "came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay."  First I like how he says it, it's a bit poetic sounding.  But beyond that I like that it emphasizes how much of a gift the Savior's atonement was.  We couldn't possibly have done it for ourselves and we can't possibly pay him back, but because he loved us that much he did it for every person there is.

• I'm still sick, alas I won't be able to go to the funeral.  I don't think I ought to spread it all around.  So I slept in again.
• I don't do good when I'm sick.  I didn't do any of my goals today.  Though I did only stay up for 30 mins past my bedtime.

Saturday:

* I read a talk by Laudy Ruth Kaouk "How the Priesthood Blesses Youth".  She speaks about how she has been blessed by the priesthood.  My favorite part was when she talked about how her patriarchal blessing helped her.  She said that her blessing helps her see beyond her earthly perspective.  I have noticed that in my own life.  I don't read it very often but when I do it does pull me back from my daily concerns and helps me refocus on the big picture/eternal perspective.

• I'm feeling some better today but I still needed sleep so I slept in.
• I did poorly today.  No goals met.

Sunday:

* I read a really neat talk by Jean B. Bingham called "United in Accomplishing God's Work".  I don't really recall this one from conference but I really like it.  It's all about men and women uniting.  I've always disliked the competition between men and women.  All my life I've seen this around me.  You see it a lot in the media and growing up it was everywhere.  We often played games girls against boys and I absolutely hated it, yet I never understood why I felt so strongly or why I disliked any talk or conversation about how different we are.  Now reading this talk I've realized there is a reason.  Men and women are supposed to be different but not to compete but to complement.  We combine our strengths and then can do more together.  However it is part of Satan's plan to divide us.  Sister Bingham says Satan's goal "has been to foster a power struggle rather than a celebration of the unique contributions of men and women".  Look at the world and see, it is working.  Everywhere we see divisions between people and it is destroying.  I think this is an important message in the world today.  Another interesting thing mentioned was that throughout history women have often been subservient to men.  Sister Bingham says that "Spiritual progress slowed to a trickle during those dark times; indeed, little spiritual light could penetrate minds and hearts steeped in traditions of dominance."  I immediately thought of India.  They are very steeped in these kind of traditions.  Especially for women but also with their caste system, and if you notice the church has made very little progress there.  The more we focus on how we work together and complement each other the more light we will receive.  Satan "knows that if he can damage the unity men and women feel, if can confuse us about our divine worth and covenant responsibilities, he will succeed in destroying families, which are the essential units of eternity."  Now I know why it bothers me and why it's important to focus on working together.

• I was up pretty late last night so I woke up pretty late as well.
• Failed again on all of my goals except that I was in bed about the correct time.

I always write my title of the blog post at the beginning of the week and I can say that I don't feel quite the same as I did.  I was looking forward to getting a lot of things cleaned and working on some new energy healing as well as some project stuff and just generally being home.  Well that didn't work out, I was sick most of the week, in fact really the whole week since I started feeling something last Sunday.  I guess it did allow me more time with Grandma and Grandpa but then I didn't get to go the the funeral.  Ah oh well I'm ok with that and since I'm feeling much better then I'm looking forward to next week.