Two in one day!!

So here is another insight I gained from my New Testament class, I really like this one!

Choice 3: Romans 6. Baptism

1. Review Romans 6:1-13 and answer the following questions in writing:

a. What must be done with sin before baptism can occur?

i. We must repent and forsake of sin before baptism can occur.

b. What events from Christ’s life are symbolized in baptism?

i. His death and resurrection are symbolized in baptism.

c. Considering this symbolism, why couldn’t someone be baptized by sprinkling?

i. Because we must be immersed in the water, the reason we are laid down in the water and brought back up again is to symbolize that Christ laid down His life for us and was raised. The sprinkling can’t show that symbolism.

d. What do these verses teach us about how we can maintain the “newness of life”?

i. By keeping the commandments of God.

e. According to Mosiah 3:19, what part of us would ideally die at baptism?

i. The natural man. When we are baptized we are saying that we are putting aside our will for the will of God, so we are symbolizing that the natural man has died and we will live a more spiritual life.

2. Study Romans 6:14-23. Write a paragraph that describes how we know whose servant we are. Then write a statement identifying the true source of freedom.

We know whose servant we are when sin has no power over us, we live by grace. We are obedient to the commandments of God, and are free from sin. And by our fruits you can tell whose servant we are. It is so important to remember this concept, that by their fruits ye shall know them; the same will go for us. People can tell who we serve by the way we act.

The true source of freedom comes from living the commandments and having our will be the same as God’s will. He will always make sure we are free.

New Testament Class Week 3

Here is another spiritual insight for my New Testament class, Enjoy:

Romans 12-16 Live as Saints should Live

1. Review Romans 13:11 and look for what is “nearer”. Read Ezekiel 3:20; D&C 14:7; and explain in writing what we must continue doing to work out our salvation.

Our salvation is “nearer” than what we thought. I take this to be a warning that the second coming is nearer than we think, or that we shouldn’t procrastinate the day of our repentance. We must continue to be obedient and repent to work out our salvation. We mustn’t leave it to the last minute because we never know what may happen tomorrow. And as it says in the doctrine and covenants, if we keep the commandments, endure to the end we will have eternal life, and that is the best of all the gifts God can give us.

2. In Romans 12-13 Paul gave much counsel that leads to salvation. Read each of the following verses and list what Paul taught would help lead to salvation:

a. Romans 12:1

i. To present ourselves as a living sacrifice, such as service.

b. Romans 12:2

i. Conform my will to the will of God.

c. Romans 12:9

i. Abhor evil, and cleave unto righteousness.

d. Romans 12:13

i. Be charitable.

e. Romans 12:16

i. Be not prideful towards others.

f. Romans 12:21

i. Overcome evil with good.

g. Romans 13:1

i. Be subject to God’s powers.

h. Romans 13:3

i. Do good.

i. Romans 13:8

i. Love one another

j. Romans 13:9

i. Keep the commandments.

3. Review Romans 14:1-13; 15:1-3. Then write answers to the following questions:

a. What cautions did Paul give about judging?

i. That we shouldn’t judge, because in the manner that we judge others, we will be judged.

b. People may have different opinions and practices, but what is most important to remember?

i. I really liked the verses on people having differing opinions. It basically said live and let live, if someone doesn’t think the same way as you, just let it be. I find in my life and especially in my family, we want everyone to see the way we see and believe the way we believe, and sometimes it is best to just let things go. As long as it isn’t essential to our salvation, it is ok to have different opinions.

c. What additional insight comes from reading D&C 38:25-27?

i. I think it just means we need to be more united. It is ok to have differing opinions, as long as we are united in the gospel and can understand and love one another.

4. Review Romans 15:25-26, 31; 16:2, 15. Write the term Paul frequently used to refer to members of the Church in his day.

Paul refers to the members of the Church in his day as saints. This is really nice because we are now the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. So it is as if we are of the same church, nothing has changed in the two thousand years since it was established.

New Testament Class Week 2

Alright here is another post I have for my new testament class, this one is about the gifts of the spirit, hope you enjoy!!

As you study 1 Corinthians 12–14, respond in writing to the following items:

• What is taught about members in 1 Corinthians 12:13–22 and Doctrine and Covenants 84:109–10 that could help those who feel insignificant in their callings?

It is talking about how we all need to every member to function. It uses the body as an example, saying the eye can’t say to the ears that we don’t need them. Every little part of our body is needed to function, and that is the same as in the church and our callings. This last semester I had the opportunity to be the Relief Society president, and that really helped me understand the importance of the other callings. I had very strong impressions of who should be in what calling and even though they were callings I had always thought of as insignificant before I realized how very important they are.

• Of all the spiritual gifts spoken of by Paul, which spiritual gift did he identify as “more excellent”?

Well he spoke strongly about how without charity we are nothing. But he also spoke about if we are to desire any spiritual gift we should desire the gift of prophesy over tongues.

• Draw two columns. Label one “Charity is,” and the other “Charity is not.” As you read 1 Corinthians 13:1–8, 13, list phrases from the scriptures under the appropriate heading.

Charity is

*Suffers long

*kind

*Rejoices in truth

*Bears all things

*believeth all things

*hopes all things

*endures all things

*never fails

Charity is Not

*unseemly

*envies not

*vauneth not itself (brag)

*easily provoked

*puffed up

*Seek not her own

*think evil

*Rejoices not in iniquity

• Identify an attribute of charity that you feel a need to develop more fully. Develop a plan to increase in this area. What parts of Moroni 7:45–48 could be included in your plan?

I feel like I could improve on all the attributes of charity, but one I really want to improve on is not being easily provoked. I know it is something I could really work on. And something I love about those verses in Moroni 7 is he tells us to pray with all the energy of heart that we may be filled with this love. That is something I don’t really do all that often. In my prayers I a lot of times forget to pray for charity. Last week I said my goal is to meditate before I pray so I know what I want to say, well I will add this to my list of things to pray for in my meditation time.

• Summarize what is taught about speaking in tongues in 1 Corinthians 14 and the institute student manual commentary for 1 Corinthians 14:26–40, “What Are Some Things We Should Know in Relation to Speaking in Tongues?” (p. 297).

It is taught that it is to be used only when authorized, and that one should not speak in tongues unless someone is there to translate. The gift of tongues isn’t just speaking in gibberish, it is speaking in a language that can be interpreted. And that we shouldn’t try to show off that we can speak in tongues. The manual talks about how the gift of tongues is something the Devil can mimic. And so that is why we need to be extremely careful about how we approach it.

New Testament Class

So I'm taking an online class over my summer break. As part of my assignments in this class I will be posting from time to time some of my insights about certain topics. Today my assignment is this:

Choice 6: 1 Thessalonians 3–5; 2 Thessalonians 3:1–6, 11. Counsel for Members

1. Read 1 Thessalonians 3:12–13; 4:1–12; 5:1–22; 2 Thessalonians 3:1–6, 11. Then compile a list of attributes Paul counseled members to improve.
2. Select three attributes from your list and write plans of how you want to improve in each area.

So here are the attributes I compiled from my reading:

* Walk and please God
*Abstain from Fornication
*Be Sanctified
*Do not defraud your brother
*Be not unclean
*Have brotherly love
*Love one another (that means EVERYONE)
*Study
*Work with own hands
*Honesty
*Don't be ignorant
*Have hope
*Comfort one another
*Be sober
*put on breastplate of faith and love
*Helmet of the hope of salvation
*Warn the unruly
*Support the weak
*be patient of all men
*Rejoice evermore
*Pray without ceasing
*in everything give thanks
*quench not the Spirit
*Hold fast to that which is good
*Abstain from all appearance of evil
*Pray for the brethern
*love God
*withdraw from people who don't keep the commandments
*Don't be busy bodies, work with hands.


These are the three attributes I picked from the list to improve on in my life.

*Love one another (that means EVERYONE)
I need to work on loving everyone, I plan on doing this by improving my prayers, every time I pray I will ask God to help me feel charity, the pure love of Christ towards everyone I meet. If I feel like I'm having a hard time loving a person I will try to find ways to serve them and love them.
*Study
This is something I need to work on mostly in the area of scripture study. I have a hard time keeping a consistent scripture study routine going. I will use this class as a starting place to help me have a consistent scripture study, and I will set aside time every morning before I need to do anything else to study the scriptures so that I can start my day out nicely.
*Pray without ceasing
I am pretty consistent about having my morning and nightly prayers, but a lot of times they become repetitive, and I feel like I need to be better at having more sincere prayers. I will take some time before my morning and nightly prayers to ponder and meditate about what I want to say and thank my Heavenly Father for before I start my prayers, so that they are more heartfelt. I will also take some time in the morning to think about how I can keep a prayer in my heart throughout the day.

END OF SEMESTER!!!

Well the semester is winding down... it has seriously gone by so fast. Of course I feel like I say that at the end of every semester, but it is always true! I really have only one more week left of school, I have two major presentations and papers to turn in, and then I'm DONE!!! I'm doing one of the presentations and turning in the paper tomorrow, and then I turn in the next paper on Tuesday, and we do our presentation on Thursday! Once I have those in its just all a few little things I have to do and get done. Well and I also have my stats class, and like 5 tests I have to take this week for that class, but then I'm DONE!! So by Friday at 5pm I will be done with EVERYTHING!! I will just have to stay and go to a couple of classes next week, and go to work, but nothing to turn in or worry about! I'm so excited this semester is almost over, but the next week will be stressful getting everything done and turned in!

Here's to hoping this next week doesn't kill me!!

SUMMER!!

So I'm really enjoying the nice weather we have been having here in Rexburg the last little while! The only problem is I'm in class or at work all day, so I have no time to go and sit out! When I'm on campus and have a few minutes I like to go sit somewhere in the sun! The other day I was doing that and my neck got a little sun burnt, it didn't hurt or anything but it did make me happy to have gotten a little sun!

This semester has been about the busiest one I have ever had, I'm really looking forward to my break at home to be able to relax a little bit and just be home! I've really been missing Kentucky a lot lately, I think its because I really do love the humidity! My hair, skin, and nails love it too!! As busy as my semester has been, it has been a really good one too!! I have some of the best roommates I have ever had, we hardly ever see each other, but the times we do have together is a lot of fun! Every night we have roommate prayer, and it is probably one of my favorite times of the day! We all share three good things that happened to us in that day, it is a lot of fun, and takes a long time but we all have a good time laughing and sharing! Also I really love my job, it can be tedious and a bit annoying answering the same dumb questions all day long, but I work with great people that makes the time go by faster!! My classes although hard, are all pretty good! I have 3 fantastic teachers, and I'm learning a lot of great things! I've met a lot of great people this semester, through my classes and other activities I have been involved in, I'm just really happy with this semester, even though I got overly stressed a lot of the time. I guess it is better to be busy than not have anything to do at all!!

I have decided to try and graduate in December, I submitted my application for that a few weeks back and I'm just hoping that I get approved! If not well then I'm just here for one more semester, which isn't too big a deal I guess! I'm still not sure what I'm going to do after I graduate, I'm thinking of maybe moving home to Kentucky for a little bit and live with my family, and help as much as I can with my brother and his wife who are expecting a downs baby in November, I will probably stick around for a few months and depending on whether or not I get into BYU or grad school or not I will move back out west and go to school. I'm still working on the details of what I should do, but I feel like for right now I'm on the right path and if I'm supposed to do something different I will know that when I get there!!

Other than regular life stuff nothing else is really going on, I'm just trying to get through the next few weeks of stress then I should be home free, luckily only one of my classes is having a final, all the other classes are doing just projects and presentations, I can handle that just fine!

Welp that's enough of my boring life, I just felt like I should update since I haven't in a while!!

Too many decisions!!!

So this semester has been a very busy one!! It has been a good one, but I will be glad when its over!! So right now some of the decisions I'm faced with right now are about graduation. I originally thought I wouldn't be able to graduate until July 2012, but now I am faced with three options, graduate in July 2012, and take some really easy semesters, graduate in April and take two really intense semesters to do it, or slightly change my major (yet again!!) to University Studies and graduate in DECEMBER!!!!! It does seem very appealing to be able to graduate in December, I would be able to get a job somewhere, pay off some of my loans, maybe even save a bit, and have some time off before starting grad school. Honestly I have a hard time finding anything wrong with it, I just keep getting nervous about actually graduating from college, it is a big step. I have enjoyed my college years, I've had many big adventures, I've gone to Europe, Mexico, on a mission, back to Argentina, on many road trips, and I've met so many wonderful friends. The thought of leaving all of it is a bit scary!! Although I must admit it is very appealing to not have to live in Rexburg another winter, in fact if that is what I do it means I only ever had to spend one winter semester here in Rexburg! I do like winter, but not Rexburg winters.

So now if I chose to graduate in December that's when everything gets more complicated. I could move home to Kentucky and get a job, or really I could move to just about anywhere and get a job and just wait until I get into grad school to go back to college. Honestly, I'm having a hard time making a decision, I really like the idea of finishing school and not having to worry about homework and college for a little while before starting grad school, but then it scares me to have to get a real job and go out into the real world. Well if anyone reads this blog and has an opinion on the matter please let me know!!

For now I will just continue praying and thinking about what I should do!!