Glory to God

I love the example which we receive from Joseph whom was sold into Egypt about giving God the glory. 

When Joseph was in jail on false accusations and he told his prison mates that he could interpret dreams, he fronted this information by first letting them know that it was a gift from God. 

When Jospeh was brought to Pharaoh, he told him the same thing. 

Genesis 41

15 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is none that can interpret it: and I have heard say of thee, that thou canst understand a dream to interpret it.

16 And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

We live in a world and society where people are afraid to mention God at all, as if it might bring offense to someone and even further we sometimes tip toe around our faith if we think that it might shut people down to us. 

I know for myself I am often guilty of not thanking God enough for the blessings that He does give me and I dwell too much on what I am lacking; yet He has given me so many gifts and allowed me to be in important positions to be an influence for good. 

I hope that I can give my Father the glory as everything good no matter what it is, comes from Him. 

Moroni 7 

13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.

I know that as we give credit to Our Father in Heaven for the blessings and gifts that He gives us, we may not see the effect of our actions in this life, but we will be able to look at Him when we meet Him and feel happy that we blessed and gave Him all glory. 

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

All Things Work Together For Our Good

Brooke and Will, 

 When reading in Genesis 37 about Joseph who was sold into Egypt, I was reminded about how great of a lesson that we learn from this prophet. 

When Joseph was a child he had dreams, or revelations from the Lord about whom he would someday become. He dreamt that he would be a leader over his brothers and many.

Pondering this story I could see the way that Joseph being sold, being made a slave, and even being put in prison on false accusations, could have led him to give up on those promises, and wonder if his revelations were even real? But, Joseph did not lose faith, and he continued to live his life in a way that showed that he knew someday the promises given him would be fulfilled.

Joseph's trials and the way that he handled them is a lesson for us all. 

Brooke and Will, in your life you will sometimes question things that you see happen, or blessings not be fulfilled, and we can always look to this Joseph who was sold into Egypt and see the beautiful reminder that " All things will work together for the good, for those who love God. " ( Romans 8:28 ) 

If Joseph had not been sold into slavery by his brothers, he would not have been in the position to work in for Potipher, and if he had never worked for Potiphar, then he would have never been put into prison. If Joseph was never put in that prison he would not have been given revelation in regards to other prisoners dreams, whom would then not have taken this information of a man of inspiration to Pharoah, whom would then give Joseph the title of  Vizier, the second most powerful man in Egypt, and make all of Joseph's promised blessings be fulfilled.

We can know that Joseph never lost faith in the promises or revelations that he was given by the Lord because Joseph continued to work hard as a slave and to use the situation for good. 

In our lives, Our Heavenly Father will prove our revelations and promised blessings just as he did for Joseph who was righteous.

I hope that I can follow this example of Joseph and know that sometimes we must pass through one place, to get us to the place that we eventually need to be. Our Heavenly Father truly uses all things for our good. 

“This ability to turn everything into something good appears to be a godly characteristic. Our Heavenly Father always seems able to do this. Everything, no matter how dire, becomes a victory to the Lord. " - OT Institute Manual, Genesis 37

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Genesis 35 - The Temple

Brooke and Will,

I wanted to share some really neat things about Genesis 35.

This chapter builds on my testimony of the true pattern that our Heavenly Father works after.
Since the beginning of time Heavenly Father taught his children to build temples in order that we could have a place here on the earth, that was sacred, and holy; a place where He could teach us and make two-way covenants with us.

It is interesting that this chapter begins with Jacob having a vision of a ladder that reaches to Heaven, almost as if it is a premonition of the following direction given to Jacob of the Lord.

The Lord tells Jacob to go to Beth-el, which means " House of God ", and make an offering to Him.
( Genesis 35:1 -2 ).

Jacob tells his family that they have to be prepared to go to this place where he would make an offering to God, or in other words to the place Jacob would go to the temple.

To me, I see the true instruction that Joseph Smith was given in building temples by the Lord as well, and the fact that we must be prepared to enter into them by being worthy.

Jacob then tells his family to put away the " strange gods " they have among them. Meaning to go to this Holy place, you can not worship other Gods. ( Genesis 35:4 )

This reminds me of the way that we lay aside the things of the world as we prepare to enter the temple and as we strive to be worthy and hold a temple recommend. Truly the truth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shines through even stronger than common, in his chapter.

Then we see Jacob build this temple in Genesis 35:14, wherein this place Jacob also received a new name from the Lord which is " Israel ", and then gave a promise that " Israel " would be fruitful, and that nations and kings would be his.

Those nations and kings are now referred to as the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and even today, as part of those tribes, we have access to these same promises and blessings as we enter the temple and make and keep covenants with the Lord.


I feel it such a privilege to be past of this House of Israel. As a member of His church we are all part of " Israel " either by lineage or adoption into it.

I know that this pattern set forth by the Lord of building temples and all of the symbolism, and ordinances that happen there, are truly from our Father in Heaven. I know that the actions that we partake in there have actual Priesthood Power that is added to our lives each time that we attend the temple to help our brothers and sisters, and ourselves have communion with God in ordinances and covenants.

I can not wait to go to the temple with you my Brooke and William.

Love, Your Mother

Blessed For Your Sake

Brooke and Will,

I have failed to keep my book for your up of my scripture insights while I was in Statistics. You will see that my last post was in December, and I started my Statistics class in January through April.
It is the beginning of May, and although I did continue reading the Old Testament a bit, I did not get too far.

I will begin where I left off with my thoughts on how these scripture accounts can relate to us and the things that I feel to share with you in this book.

One statement made an impression on me as I read in the Old Testament, Genesis, chapter thirty.

Issac, Abraham's son, begat Jacob, whom was renamed " Israel" by the Lord, and Jacob married Leah, Rachel, Bilah, and Ziplah.

The Father of Leah and Rachel was Laban, and he was not fair to Jacob. Jacob served him faithfully despite the many times he was wronged by Laban.

As Jacob was working to do his best despite the circumstances, we learn in Genesis 30:27, that Laban's household was blessed by Jacob's presence there as Laban tells Jacob:

" I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake."

From this I am reminded that no matter what senerio or circumstance that we come into in our lives, we have the opportunity to bless other's lives, as the Lord will bless us as we seek to be the best servants to Him that we can be.

As I pondered upon this principle, I realized that even though Laban was recognizing that he was blessed with material blessings because of Jacob's presence in his household; likely, Laban was unaware of the even greater blessing that Jacob' had given him through raising his grandchildren, and serving  his daughters with Godly power, as one of Abraham's descendants and as a righteous man.

As we are aware that Lord blesses those around us if we are trying to be a righteous servants to God,We will recognize the great opportunity that we have to be witnesses of the happiness and blessings that come from being engaged in the work of the Lord.

Laban recognized that Jacob was loved and favored by the Lord.

 I hope that I can do a better job at doing those things that the Lord would look pleasantly upon, in order that other's testimonies would grow as Laban saw God's hand in Jacob's life.

It is a great thing to know that we can be a blessing to all those that we love. That makes me happy, and I believe that I am blessed because of you, Brooke and Will, as you are in my household, and you are my children.

I know that Heavenly Father gives me the motivation that I need in order to bless and protect you, that He loves. That is a great blessing to me. You both are such a strength to me.

I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.