Amber - Yay new week!

 Ok here it goes.  I am starting off very hopeful this week.  I've got great ideas that this will work out for the week.  I'm going to add some energy work on my failure to do the evening prayer because it is pretty important in my plans and seems like the next step to progress to the main goal.  Other than that I'm keeping the goals the same.  I do have plans to clean for Christmas.  There is a fair amount still dirty here and I hope this week to clean a couple more rooms to make it comfortable for people and easy to decorate come after Thanksgiving.  Grandma is also anxious to decorate and we had a joyous time putting up a few Thanksgiving decorations.  So here are the goals as usual.

1. Set intentions for the day, included in prayer.

2. Visualize the thing I'm working towards.

3. I exercise at some point in the day.

4. 8:30 I say my repentance prayer.

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

Monday:

* Good morning, I read Ether 6 for my thought today.  This is the chapter where the Jaredites travel across the ocean.  It took them almost an entire year.  During that whole time the wind did not cease to blow.  When the wind blows on the ocean it creates storms and huge waves and they were tossed around.  I don't know if they had harnesses or places to lock their stuff in but I do know they had a hole cut in the bottom and in the top.  This meant if they got flipped upside down they could still open the top hole for air.  They would have been thrown around in their little wooden caskets.  All their stuff would have scattered.  What the animals did I can't say.  How many of them died?  Everyone had to have been sick as some point and how many injuries would they have sustained?  How would you clean it up. And where would you go to the bathroom.  If they had a little toilet for in-between storms, what happened to it when they were flipped upside down? Hopefully no one was pregnant.  Also how did they stay warm with no fires, the ocean is not generally a warm place.  The point is that it would have been absolutely miserable and totally physically exhausting.  Not to mention the lack of sunlight and the feeling of powerlessness as well as not knowing when it would ever end would have all contributed to some intense emotions and serious depression.  I'm surprised they made it through alive.  They must have had some superior guardian angels round the clock.  So I am impressed that they spent the whole time praising the Lord and trusting in him instead of cursing God and wishing to die.  I feel like I would have gone crazy but that is not what happened.  They had faith that he would get them through it and when they made it through they praised him again.

• My intentions for the day are quite a list.  I want to clean the last two drawers in the kitchen, fix the broken chair, do all of the pick up list, color one dress, clean and fix my computer, and sew Chad's shirt together.
• I did a short visualization, not as good as I ought.
• No exercise today
• I was lucky in that I was walking around waiting for things to happen when my alarm went off so I got my prayer done and on time!
• I also planned for tomorrow though not prepared.
• I felt I had over planned on my intentions, I just wanted to get it all done.  So I did clean those two drawers (they are the tiny ones that fold down in front of the sink, meant for scrubbers and the like.  We've not been using them because they are disgusting but now they are shiny and clean.  After that I didn't get any other house cleaning done.  I was busy helping grandma oh and I also forgot to say that we had laundry to do.  On the plus side we went shopping and found a couple Christmas decor that we loved.
• The only other thing on my list that got done was cleaning and fixing my computer and that took my entire evening.  It really is amazing how long computer stuff can take.  Anyways I had backed everything up because I was fully prepared to not have a working computer when I was done.  So many things could have gone wrong.  I first had to open the thing entirely up exposing all of the hardware and electronics in order to clean the fan.  It's never been cleaned and should be occasionally but Asus has stupidly not given easy access for that so I had to take the whole top of the computer off and detach some wires and tapes.  Apparently I didn't damage anything or get dust in the wrong place and I must have put it back together correctly because it survived and turned on.  Then I had to update the bios which can occasionally result in a wipe if done incorrectly.  All went smoothly and my computer was just fine.  Then came the problem with my graphics card, it is a pain and without updating the bios you can't update the card.  For some reason this particular card had an issue that it would stop functioning if updated.  And then sometimes when updated it crashes the computer and some people said they had to do a clean install to get the computer to work again.  So when I did update it the computer crashed.  Oh great I thought and then when I started it again it tried to repair and it said it didn't work.  Fortunately it didn't matter because then I went to windows and I found it was working.  I thought it wasn't at first because the old settings menu was missing but then I did some research and testing and discovered that they did away with the menu.  In fact I found it to be working better than it has been in a long time!  You probably didn't want to know all of those details but I was so excited to finally fixed something that has been plaguing me for a couple years now and it is satisfying to be able to do it myself.

Tuesday:

* Come follow me says to compare your life to the Jaredite journey across the sea.  So here is a list of things I see.

• Glowing stones - The Holy Ghost, Scriptures and other words of the prophets, personal revelation like my patriarchal blessing, truths of the gospel
• Barges - Protection from the outside world.
• Winds - Trials, weaknesses, sickness, challenges we choose
• Water and Monsters - The world, sin, temptations

I also really liked the idea of the barges being something physical.  I feel a protection and support spiritually but my own personal barge could be my home, my room, and even my own body.  Choosing what you allow into those spaces can make a difference in whether you are protected from the outside or whether you let the water in.

• My intentions are really just to do what I didn't do yesterday.  Fix the chair, clean some of the pick up list (I took a look at it and realized there was too much there to do in one day), sew Chad's shirt, and color one dress.
• I didn't visualize today.
• I also didn't exercise or say my prayer or prepare for the next day.
• Actually I didn't actually set intentions today.  I made a list to do so but never actually set them, and I didn't get a single one done.  I did morning things and helped grandma and then the day was so warm that I felt I had to take advantage and spray some things off outside, so that was my cleaning for the day.  Then we were supposed to go to Fillmore to get some Christmas Tree permits and have lunch.  We did do that but then Grandpa wanted to go look at some deer up the canyon.  What should have only taken 2 1/2 hours ended up almost taking 5 hours.  There went my day and all my plans.  We got home just as it got dark and I was feeling sick so I didn't feel up to doing the other things on the list.

Wednesday:

* I read Ether 7 and will confess I didn't find it easy to get something out of it.  It is a history of how the kings fight with each other.  In the previous chapter the brother of Jared was disappointed that the people wanted a king, he said this will lead to captivity.  He was right, it was his grandson who started it.  In such a short time they were already fighting amongst each other.  However it was one person who started it.  At the end of the chapter it was a single person who brought peace.  As an individual we have power and can create peace or conflict around us.  So what we do and say matters, it makes a difference for far more than yourself.

• Today I decided to go smart and intend for less to happen.  I've been getting stressed and think I'll just plan a couple of things for sure with maybe a couple more for later.  Today I intend to call everyone to get a Christmas list, clean some of the pick up list, and color some dresses.  If I'm free I want to play Ark, play the piano, fix the chair, and sew Chad's shirt.
• I didn't visualize, I totally forgot today.
• I didn't exercise and I can feel the need for it, I just feel like I don't have time.
• Unfortunately I didn't do any of my other goals for the evening.
• As far as intentions it was not great.  I didn't do any cleaning other than the basics today.  I did learn that Chad and Cameron and maybe the kids will be here tomorrow so I had to focus on some things.  I started Chad's shirt and I colored one dress.  I will have to finish both of those tomorrow.

Thursday:

* Ether 8 is more of the same as yesterday.  I did notice while reading these two chapters and some of their references that the cause for these people to create secret oaths was a desire for worldly riches and power.  So the surest way to keep yourself out of this situation is to put spiritual desires first.  Focus on spiritual riches and then you can keep the worldly desires in their place.

• My intentions today are to finish sewing Chad's shirt, color three more dresses and cut them out, do the pick up list in the tv room, fold clothes with Grandma, and clean out the small stuff in her room.  We are replacing the carpet tomorrow so it must be done today.  Long list I know but I won't go shopping or make dinner so I think I can make it happen.
• I didn't visualize or exercise.
• I didn't do my evening goals either.
• I did finish sewing Chad's shirt and I colored and cut out those 4 paper dresses.  I did the laundry with Grandma and I cleaned most of the rest of the day.  I didn't do the pick up list but I did clean 3 boxes worth of stuff out of her closet for tomorrow.

Friday:

*Unfortunately I read but was so tired that I got up late and couldn't get a real scripture study in.  I was wanted all day long, both to keep grandma from bothering the carpet layers, to clean up messes, to help clear the room, and to watch Cameron's kids all day long.  So thus no thought today.

• I didn't set intentions or visualize.
• I didn't exercise
• I didn't do my evening goals

Saturday:

* Today I read Ether 9-10.  More fighting each other but I did like one thing.  When the people are humble and choose the right it is often because they remembered the great things that God had done for them and for their fathers.  This is key in my life to keep my life focused on the prize.  If I'm noticing my blessings, being grateful, and remembering what God had done by reading scriptures then I find it easy and enjoyable to focus on the gospel and less on the world.

• My intentions today are to mostly clean.  Put the rest of Grandma's stuff back, do part of the pick up list, fix the chair, play the piano, and fix Chad's shirt so I can do the finishing work.  Small list today but it will keep me busy with Grandma.
• I didn't visualize again and I didn't exercise.
• I also didn't do my evening goals today.
• I put all of Grandma's stuff and finished cleaning from Friday's activities.  I also did do that part of the pick up list plus a little extra.  No on the chair, piano, and the shirt.  I did however get a fair amount done on the Christmas list.  However at the end of the day I had computer troubles which took up my extra time.

Sunday:

* Mosiah 26:30 says "as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me."  This brings me great comfort and hope because no matter how many times I fail I get to repent and try again.  Someday whatever I struggle with will be conquered and become a strength but until then I can mess us as many times as I do and still have room to get better.  I also read a few other verses in the Book of Mormon and applied this above and while I'm sure I could find more, this is what I got.

• As often as I repent I will be forgiven Moroni 6:8
• As often as I repent I will be delivered Mosiah 29:20
• As often as I repent I will be encircled in the arms of safety Alma 34:16
• As often as I repent I will prosper Ether 7:26

• I didn't set intentions but I did make a nice plan for the day.
• I didn't visualize.
• I say my prayer
• I also planned and prepared for the next day
• I did about half of my plan, which is more than usual.

This week obviously didn't go as I had planned.  It was a bit of a surprise and a little bit of a failure as far as my goals went.  Will try again next week.