Wednesday, November 23, 2011

General Conference Quotes: President Packer - Counsel to Youth

This quote just really stuck out to me, from President Packer's talk:

Dress modestly; talk reverently; listen to uplifting music. Avoid all immorality and personally degrading practices. Take hold of your life and order yourself to be valiant. Because we depend so much on you, you will be remarkably blessed. You are never far from the sight of your loving Heavenly Father.

Each sentence says so much, to me. If you read it fast, without thinking about it too hard, it doesn't mean much. Slow down, ponder, and let each word sink in and come alive. They're words I'm going to live by.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

About Me - My Amateur Attempts at ASL


I'm Aliandria


I love music.


I'm LDS (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)


I'm majoring in Music Therapy.

Who knows how much of this I actually did right... But it's a good try, right? I'm taking ASL next semseter, and just trying to get a little more practiced. =)

Monday, November 7, 2011

Chilled Lemonade

This morning was a really cool experience: I was happy! I read about doubt and faith, and was very comforted and reassured. Yesterday I allowed myself to get very stressed and discouraged about dating, but the scriptures and the Lord seemed to be telling me "Things will work out the way they're supposed to, just believe, be valiant, and be calm. And be happy."

And I was! The song that came to me after that was "Lemonade" by Chris Rice. I listened to it several times today, and it was officially today's theme song.

I now dedicate it to a friend, and currently one of my favorite people around. I'm really grateful for his example of happiness, genuine-ness, and kindness. =)

"I live life without pretending.
I'm a sucker for happy endings.
Thanks for the lemonade!"

And to top it all off, it was gently snowing this morning. =) Perfect.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Shepherds

Another post sharing my scripture reading thoughts. Here is a section of scripture that scares me to death:

Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
3 Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
4 The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
(Old Testament | Ezekiel 34:2–6‎)‎

Having been given a portion of stewardship and responsibility for the sisters in my ward, this section terrifies me a little. It's so easy to slip into feeding off of others, instead of helping them. Especially while going to school, and being told to focus more time on myself and my grades and my money and my needs. This section really makes me ask myself, am I strengthening my sisters? Helping them find healing? Binding up that which is broken? Bringing back again those that were driven away? Seeking those which are lost?

I'm not gonna put my answers up here, but let's just say I've been humbled. I haven't been completely failing, but I could do much much better. 

Awesome

I'm excited to get married, I really am. And having kids will be the greatest thing ever. But this picture resonated with me today. Like, it makes me really happy. Should it? I don't know. Hm, oh well. =)


Thursday, November 3, 2011

A Pleasant Voice

30 ¶ Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.
31 And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
(Old Testament | Ezekiel 33:30–32‎)‎

I was surprised to find this in the Old Testament. It really got me thinking. I worry that I frequently do this. I love hearing talks from church leaders. But do I love doing what the church leaders say? And even if I love doing it... do I ever actually do it? Do I treat spiritual instruction like entertainment or a concert?

President Uchtdorf spoke somewhat about this in the April 2011 General Conference, to the men. He said:

The words written in the scriptures and spoken in general conference are for us to "liken them unto [ourselves]," not for reading or hearing only. Too often we attend meetings and nod our heads; we might even smile knowingly and agree. We jot down some action points, and we may say to ourselves, "That is something I will do." But somewhere between the hearing, the writing of a reminder on our smartphone, and the actual doing, our "do it" switch gets rotated to the "later" position. Brethren, let's make sure to set our "do it" switch always to the "now" position!

Then I ask, how can I do it "now" if I'm in a meeting right now? I struggle to make the bridge in my mind, to understand how to do what he's saying I should do. Do I do it first thing when I get home? Or do I wait until it comes up in my life, a time when it would be relevant to do it? Should I have a mini-planning session after each meeting and schedule in on my calendar the things I've been asked to do, so that I remember, when it's a more relevant time, to do it? What about things like "love others"? It's harder to put that into a calendar than "Read more in depth in 2 Nephi 2 tomorrow."

(This is me just thinking out loud, and sharing it with the world. I'm trying to get myself thinking, but I'm also trying to help anyone who reads this to get thinking about it as well.)

Here's my plan. I'm going to take my "Daily Planning Session" each day more seriously. I have it scheduled on my calendar, every night at 10:00. Do I do it? Not very often. So, for things that I can't do immediately after a meeting, I will save them for my daily planning session, right before I go to bed, and review the things I wrote down to do, and put an event or reminder in my calendar, or make a cryptic note on my window. (I write on my windows. I bought some sweet window crayons, and I love them!) And then the next day, I'll review whether I actually did it, and make plans of how to improve.

In addition, if I don't want to follow something I heard in a meeting, I'll pray for the desire to do it. And pray for the strength and faith to do it anyway.

That's my current plan to solve this. Please share any ideas you might have as well, of how to switch your "do it" switch to the "now" position.