Week 42 Scripture Prompts...

Here are the prompts for this week.
Happy reading! 

I studied later today so didn't get today's up.  And it's late so I'm going to bed!  I'll be back to post soon!

Week 41 Printable Scripture Prompts

Well, I think I'll just have to take these a week at a time, then compress them all to a zip file later.
I need to bite off little bits at a time!

You can find the complete reading list above...

These are formatted to 4x6.  You could print as you go!

I did it... (5/9)

Well thank heavens for a new day and a new start!
The end of March and beginning of April were full of many activities, visitors and such.
Apparently it's taken me until May to get back on here!

I am thankful for...
A brand new day.  No matter how rough the day or night before was, things always look different in the morning, and I'm thankful for that.  Sometimes we just need to close our eyes and stop, sleep provides that!
Today I'm thankful to be feeling better, felt yuck last night, even threw up, today I feel shaky, but better.  I'm thankful for my health.

Study time...
I finished Alma!  Hooray!  I read the first three chapters of Helaman today.
Let me go back a little because after all of the wars and killing, at the end of Alma in ch. 62:27, 28.  The Nephites took the city Nephihah w/o any bloodshed.  And, the Lamanites that wanted to, the prisoners, were allowed to join the people of Ammon to become free people.  Mercy is what we talked about for FHE last week.  It makes you wonder where the hearts of the Lamanites were at.  Did they want to fight?  Were they just being loyal?  Were they afraid to die, so said they wanted to join? 
In v. 29 they now begin to toil the ground, learn to work and become productive, making a change in their lives. 
Struck, by the mercy to offer freedom to someone so intent on killing you.
Wonder about the hearts of the Lamanites.
See the pattern today of those who are willing to change.  Give them tools, help them take care of themselves, maybe they haven't had a knowledge to work with.

POTD
Starting new challenge w/ prompts.
5/7 - Love... can't tell you how much I love my gel nails, best thing EVer!

5/8 - No socks
Inspired to shoot my feet, running feet and dancer feet. I do wear socks running, totally converted to the minimalist shoe too.

5/9 - Work
Oh the housework that never ends! Making my bed...

Tuesday & Wednesday 3/20 & 21

Wednesday 3/21
Thankful for...
That reminder call from the Sister missionaries!  I forgot I signed up to feed them!  I had it written, but hadn't looked at the calendar. 

Study time...
Alma 50:12 - Moroni's armies did increase because ...the assurance of protection which his works did bring forth unto them.
He was a man of action and his righteous actions, his integrity is what people trusted.
First in v 26 there is a warm contention.  That warmth grows and now there is fighting and killing.  It amazes me that these people lived in such a way that you could go to battle and kill each other, then get captured or defeated and you could be restored to your land if you promised to keep peace.  That is pretty trusting right, because today people surely wouldn't be able to let it go!  I think it's forgiving to give these dissenters their land back.

Photo...
Bulbs are starting to bloom here.

Tuesday 3/20
Thankful for...
My good friend who just brings me a diet coke.  I had Tyce for a bit today.  Molly brought us drinks and we sat in the sun visiting.  Loooove the sun right now!

Study time...
Nothing!  Ah!  I can usually even get a verse in, but nothing today.

Photo...
Such a sweet thing to have O say, I want to 'nuggle' Garrision.

Monday 3/19

I am recommitting this week to this journal.  For all of it.  We had a RS activity Saturday morning and keeping a grateful journal is a good tool for me.  I have been continuous w/ my scripture study.  I'm down to a chapter a day although Friday I fit a few more in.  I haven't taken the time to write so I need to recommit.  I enjoy the writing, it makes my thoughts more in depth, plus I have a journal.  For the photos, I have slacked there, to only a few/ week.  Recommit!

Monday 3/19
Thankful for...
that run is over!  I pushed the boys in the stroller today and it was hard, always is a challenge getting used to it again!
Study time...
Alma 49 - Amalackiah seeks first take over the 'weakest' city Ammonihah.  He attacks in the weakest area.  Satan operates the same.  Knows our area of weakness.  Interestingly enough the city has been rebuilt... and fortified.  It not only has been restored, but has been strengthened enough that the Lamanites won't attack.  When we are restoring an area of weakness it is necessary to not only restore and rebuild, but fortify and increase strength so that area of life is no longer a weakness.

Photo...
This past weekend Matt put up the trampoline, or bumpline as E calls it.  They are all in heaven!

Tuesday 2/28

Tuesday
Thankful for...
Those leather couches!  E was vomiting today and I was so thankful to just wipe that off my couch!  I'm also VERY thankful he didn't barf on my rug!

Study time...
As I sat down to read this evening I said a quick prayer, my only one for this rushed day of mine.  It was quick, so I could 'prepare' for study.  Then I started reading this chapter about prayer!!!
Alma 33 - These people want to know how they start acquiring faith, then Alma gives this lengthy explanation on prayer.  How do we start acquiring faith?  Pray.  There is no need for a building to worship in, there is no need for fancy words, just sincerity, a genuine reaching to Him.
V11 says "thou didst hear me because of mine afflictions and my sincerity... I will cry unto thee in all mine afflictions, for in the is my joy...". 
Are afflictions nessesary for sincerity?  I think sometimes yes, they are.  Plus through affliction and prayer we see a literal lifting and change, evidence of our faith, it is literal, which makes a mark on our hearts.
Should we pray when we aren't afflicted?  Of course, but then we face humbling ourselves, which is not human nature, so our prayers can become stale.
So, the beauty of affliction and trial is they are another means by which we call to our Father for refuge through our Savior.  They give us opportunity to seek and find.

Photo...

Sunday 2/26, Monday 2/27

Monday 2/27
Thankful for...
I didn't have to take the kids to the studio.  So thankful M has been getting out of work!  It is so nice not having to load up all the kids and try to teach with them there!

Study time...
Alma 32 is all about faith and it's development.  Faith is different than belief, different than knowledge, although the three are certainly linked.  It takes time for faith to grow into a knowledge, and even after there is a knowledge, there still must be faith, otherwise the knowledge is useless, having no force in our lives.
v27 talks about having a desire.  If you have no faith to start with you can start with a desire to believe.  We all can start somewhere, but the heart must be willing.

Photo...
We came down this morning to have breakfast and G noticed these bird tracks.  We have bird feeders, thus many birds, but not many clear markings like this.  Trying to shoot more w/ my wide angle lately.

Sunday 2/26
Thankful for...
DQ turtle sunday.  Sometimes you just have to go for it!
Study time...
Alma 31 - difference between vain repetion in the people's prayers and that of Alma's sincere, heartfelt pleading with the Lord in his prayer.
Photo...
Working on head pieces for a dance number.  Did the Zebra today.

Wednesday 2/1
Thankful for...
ONE night this week we ate dinner as a family... meaning Matt made it home to be with us.  It was really nice!

Study time...
Alma 9 - All I could think about while reading this verse was how important it is to have the record.   It is amazing that each of us have access to the records of our fathers, at our finger tips.  If each of these cities had access to the records of their fathers would they be so quick to forget?  These people all over the place were relying on what their parents taught them, paired with the occasional visit from the priest or prophet.  Some cities had the church established, working and going, but after a while they each go through a period of forgetting and having to be brought back. 

Left to the devices of just being human, w/o God and some sort of tool to remember him with... man will forget.  That isn't even taking into account the works of Satan. 

It is prophesied there will not be another apostasy.  This is the last dispensation for one, but God's word is available for all that want it.  We can all hear the prophet speak, the apostles fly all over the world to preach and build the kingdom.  We all have so many ways to access the word of God.  There would be NO EXCUSE for us to forget!  It is all here at our finger tips. 

The scriptures and a living prophet are critical in a time when the world questions God. 

Photo...
Q makeup'd freckles on her today.  She left them on all evening.  She thought they were cute!  Doesn't matter what she does, she's cute!

Tuesday 1/31
Thankful for...
Seeing new things!  Molly and I went out to see Bonnie Lux's fine art gallery.  It was very cool!  I'm proud of her, I think she is an amazing artist.  I want to get some jewelry made and sell it there.  It is such a fun space!  I love that Molly gets me, that she said 'I can see the wheels spinning in your head'.  It's so nice to have someone that gets you!  So I guess I'm thankful for experiencing something new AND having such a great friend!

Study time...
Alma 7:11-13 - talking about the Savior here upon the earth, suffering affliction, temptation of every kind, death, ...suffering according to the flesh. 
So that he could succor his people according to their infirmities.

Succor /ˈsʌkər/ Show Spelled

1. help; relief; aid; assistance.

2. a person or thing that gives help, relief, aid, etc.

Origin:
1250–1300; (v.) Middle English sucuren < Old French suc ( c ) urre, socorre < Latin succurrere to go beneath, run to help, equivalent to suc- suc- + currere to run ( see current); (noun) Middle English soc ( o ) ur, back formation from sucurs (taken as plural) < Old French < Medieval Latin succursus, equivalent to Latin succur ( rere ) + -sus, var of -tus suffix of v. action

v14 - Interesting that normally the word faith is then followed by repentance, baptism, holy ghost etc.  In this verse baptism and repentance come first... that ye may have faith on the Lamb of God.

It definitely goes both ways.  You need to start with faith, but some of us don't have much, some of us are sort of going through the motions afraid to take that leap and believe, or have doubts, or have little inclings of faith.  As you take baby steps as a witnessthat ye may have faith on the Lamb of God.

Alma 8 - In verse 10 Alma is wrestling w/ the Lord in mighty prayer, he is feeling the spirit.  He wants so much to go and preach to these people.  Perhaps as he prayed he had faith that the Lord would hear him and that he'd have some success with his missionary work.  What happens?  He goes to Ammonihah and the people yell at him, spit on him and tell him no way!  We don't believe in your traditions, get lost!  So he leaves.  Maybe he was confused, thinking it would go so differently, after all the Lord was on his side right?  He'd prayed, not casually, but wrestling!  AND, he was a man of incredible faith.  Why didn't it happen?  Surely he felt the doubt and heartache we all feel when we pray for something and it doesn't happen.  Angels don't appear to us, but the same angel that initially appeared to him did again and told him to go back.  And he did speedily! 

Why?  Was it a test of his faith?  Was it a waste of time to leave and come back? Should he have pressed on and tried to get back into the city after he was thrown out?  Would he have gone back later on his own?  I think so, didn't seem like the type to give up.  Maybe it had something to do with the preparations on the other side.  Did Amulek need a little prep time to receive Alma?  Did the people need time to think about what had just happened?  We don't know, but the Lord does.  He can see all sides, knows all hearts, has his own timeline, that is why it is imperative that we seek him and listen to his call.  Never doubting the reason it didn't go as we thought it would, only ready to do his work when we are called.

Photo...
I made this mushu pork for the Chinese New Year party, super easy and now a keep for us!

Monday 1/30
Thankful for...
Today I was thankful that I could run and comfort O this morning when he woke up screaming 'MOM'!  He is my snuggle bug.  I love that boy and I love that he loves my affection.  I snuggled into bed next to him and held him.  Love that.

Study time...
Alma 5- Alma asks several times in this one verse if the people have retained in remembrance how the Lord freed their fathers, showed mercy to them, changed their hearts, and delivered them.
A couple of thoughts on this... I read yesterday a quote from David H Yarn about being born again.  The part that caught my attention was "...from the beginning of man's mortal existence the wicked on, the devil, has engaged in taking away 'light and truth."  He has done this through men, individually and collectively - individually through disobedience and collectively through the tradition of their fathers." 

It only takes one generation to completely change another, for good or bad.  Just a generation later Alma is trying to help these people remember that their fathers were changed, he had to do that because the whole people had collectively taken on the old traditions.

My other thought is the word remembrance.  President Kimball said, "When you look in the dictionary for the most important word, do you know what it is? It could be 'remember.' Because all of (us) have made covenants ... our greatest need is to remember. That is why everyone goes to sacrament meeting every Sabbath day — to take the sacrament and listen to the priests pray that
(we) 'may always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given (us).' ... 'Remember' is the word."

16-18- He keeps asking if the people can imagine themselves.  He is asking them to think, to ponder, to remember, possibly even to have a goal!  He is asking them to imagine themselves hearing the voice of the Lord, standing in front of Him on judgement day. 

When I was in gymnastics our coach would have us lay on the ground and imagine... imagine a perfect routine.  "See yourself do it perfectly".  She would say.  The mind is a powerful tool right?

Just two nights ago I felt my own spirit change.  I have been in a lull with running.  I've only been running a few times a week.  I've lost my motivation, my drive, my push to increase time and speed, to run well.  Gone!  It's now back!  Why?  A goal, a race!  Something I can imagine myself doing!  How does that change my spirit?  That goal, that race, wanting to finish it well motivates what I will do, the choices I will make for the next several months!  Having a goal, imagining the end, motivates the present and what we will do now, to affect the end result.  Imagine yourself...

21- Washed white.  Purified and clean, not perfect, clean.  No unclean thing can enter into His kingdom.  I will still forget about my pot of boiling water.  I will still need spell check!  I will still say the wrong thing at the wrong time.  It is impossible to be perfect, without mistake.  It isn't impossible to be clean, without blemish.  The Savior's atonement is the way we get that time and again as we seek it.

Photo...
Tonight went outside to take a photo... hadn't thought about it all day!  Need to get my tripod out, but had no intention of doing it tonight!

Sunday 1/29
Thankful for...
Snow!  I know it seems silly, but we've been waiting.  It looks so pretty outside!  And, it's nice to be cuddled inside with my family safe and warm.
AND, I'm thankful for some motivation!  Finally!

Study time...
Finished reading Alma 3&4. 
Studied a bit today about the sons of perdition, my interest piqued by our GD lesson today. 
Also our talk of the two separate entities that are present in this life sent me back to Sherri Dew's book for this quote.  She says "There is one thing the power of God and the power of Satan have in common: Neither can influence us unless we allow them to... the kind of power operating in our lives is entirely up to us."
Also talked/thought about the quote in back of my scriptures by Oaks.  Our lives aren't a sum of the things we've done, rather what we've become, and the gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become...  Thinking about how our doing determines what we are becoming.  Life isn't a sum of good and evil acts, but surely those acts have shaped the end result.  How do we get the results we want?  Change our actions so they support, reflect and shape in the better way.

Photo...
My desk really looks like this!  How many study items does one girl need?

Saturday 1/28
Thankful for...
Incentive to try a new recipe.  We went to the Shumway's annual Chinese New Year party.  There was a menu of things to choose from.  I complained at first, I don't cook Chinese, can't I just bring cupcakes?!!  BUT, I found an easy MuShu Pork recipe, tried it, and really like it!  It's a keeper.  So, it's good to stretch!

Study time...
Alma 1 uses the term 'costly apparrel' a number of times.  We see it throughout the BofM, and it is usually linked with pride, wealth and a fall of people who at some point had put God before the world.  The righteous who remained faithful were ...'neat and comely.'  They didn't wear the costly apparel. 
I've thought about this.  Why do we care what they were wearing?  We don't even know what the costly apparel consisted of, surely some version of Vera Wang right? 
Simply put the scriptures record people that start investing more energy and put higher priority on the things that decorate the outside of their bodies.
Do I think it is wrong to be fashionable... hello, it's me!  No way!  BUT, is there a line to watch for in the sand?  Of course.  As we put more emphasis on what the world is thinking of us it can become harmful.  What started as clothing now turns to other areas of physicality.  As we watch other women of the world receiving any type of recognition for their 'costly apparell', or tiny/no bits of apparel, it can affect us, if that is where our focus has mistakenly taken us.
For the righteous neat and comely suggest nice, well cared for, but not emphasized.  Clothing is just clothing, not something used to gain the attention of the world, something used to determine status, something used that creates huge debts for those with crazy habits or little self control!  Clothes are just that... clothes.  Focus remains intact.  Watch the line!  Make sure you can always see it in front of you.

Photo...
Made this today.

Friday 1/27
Thankful for...
A lunch date with girlfriends.  Don't know that I'd have gotten dressed otherwise!  I'd have stayed home to watch the snow fall.

Study time...
The strength and weakness of democracy.  Having a king is no good if your king is unrighteous, and it takes effort and war to dethrone a king.  But, it isn't a bad thing if your king is the Savior, which the scriptures state is how our government will be run when He comes again.  He will be the King of kings.  Democracy can be good because the majority of the people often seek for that which is good.  The warning given, though, is if the majority of the people then turn to iniquity, watch it!  God will then come with destruction!  Incentive for those of us who continually seek good to keep the check in balance!

Photo...
Little O thinks it's great to have a mohawk. I actually really like it on him!

Thursday 1/26
Thankful for...
Again, a run outside!  M went to work at 9 so I got a run in before he left.  I needed it!

Study time...
We talked about King David today.  Really enjoyed, as usual.
Noted again something Brother Simmons often says.  It isn't a sin to be tempted.  It is a sin to make the choice to give in.  When David walked out on Bathsheba he wasn't at fault, but he made a big leap to the other side by inviting the married woman over.  At that point he'd crossed the line, made the choice to sin, apparent clearly by his actions.
Also, this was a GREAT man.  Often we focus on this part of his life, well, and the part where he has Bathsheba's husband killed!  All prior to and after we see great character in him.  He surely lived a life, after he was called to repentance, suggesting remorse for his actions, which we never hear of him repeating.  I will be interested to see what the Lord has in store for him on the other side.  Meaning he was genuinely repentant, but still sinned two very grievous sins, which won't grant him the highest kingdom of glory.  Only the Lord knows. 
The Old Testament jumps characters and huge time periods.  I was looking through, reading the headings for info on David and there is ALOT recorded of him.  Again, this is an area where my study needs to increase, but I see that there is much to learn from him based on how much is recorded.

Photo:What is this lady bug doing alive right now?