Lorenzo Snow Lesson 21 (Loving God More Than you Love the World)

In the manual, Lorenzo Snow talks about the period of speculation that caused some of the most righteous saints, including many in the Quorum of the 12, to apostatize and leave the church.

In case you are like me and had no idea what in the heck speculation means,

It means investment in stocks, property, or other ventures in the hope of gain but with the risk of loss.

WHEN PEOPLE ALLOW WORLDINESS TO PERVADE THEIR MINDS AND HEARTS, THEY TURN THEIR BACKS ON ETERNAL PRINCIPLES

“That spirit of speculation rose out of the world, and swept over the hearts of the Saints like a mighty wave or rushing torrent, and many fell, and apostatized.”

Isn't this such great imagery?? Imagine how much damage an actual tsunami can cause...it literally destroys everything in its path. Now imagine a spiritual tsunami crashing down over the righteous. 

But that would never happen to us today right? Most of us don’t even invest in anything other than our usually sad and pitiful food storage.

QUESTION:

How are people today “swept over” by a wave of speculation?

In other words, what are the things today that we put before God?

• time spent on social media?
• sleeping?
• obsession with looks and image?
• present buying?

I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that we invest quite heavily into Christmas.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget what Christmas is really about and focus too much on presents.

I know that I LOVE to buy gifts. There's something so fun about getting someone exactly what they wanted and watching their face as they open your present. But sometimes, I focus way to much on this aspect of Christmas and I forget about WHY we celebrate the holiday. It certainly isn't about Santa Clause and the Christmas tree...even though that's certainly what it's becoming. 

“Some of [the Saints] began speculating; they forgot their religion, they forgot the principles that had been revealed to them, and many of them fell into the spirit of the times and were carried away with speculating. Difficulties arose. Envy and strife. And the Lord, being displeased with them, brought destruction into their midst.”

Can focusing so much on gift buying and shopping etc make us "forget our religion"? 

“As that spirit increased, disunion followed. Brethren and sisters began to slander and quarrel one with the other, because their interests were not in harmony.”

QUESTION:

How can we relate these two quotes to our own lives during this Christmas season?

WE HAVE COVENANTED TO SEPARATE OURSELVES FROM WORLDLINESS AND DEVOTE OURSELVES TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD

President Snow says,

“The god of the world is the gold and the silver. The world worships this god. It is all-powerful to them, though they might not be willing to acknowledge it.”

QUESTION:

Is this true today?

“We have got to love God more than we love the world, more than we love gold or silver, and love our neighbor as ourselves.

"If we, in our manner, habits and dealings, imitate the world, thereby identifying ourselves with the world, do you think that God will bestow upon us the blessings we desire to inherit? I tell you no, He will not!...We must build ourselves up in the righteousness of heaven and plant in our hearts the righteousness of God."

President Snow speaks of the spirit of speculation. The antidote to the spirit of speculation is the spirit of Christ. Instead of harboring and fueling the destructive spirit of speculation, we need to tenderly nurture the spirit of Christ in our hearts.

QUESTION:

How can we do this?

“An older boy and his young companion were walking along a road which led through a field. They saw an old coat and a badly worn pair of men’s shoes by the roadside, and in the distance they saw the owner working in the field.

“The younger boy suggested that they hide the shoes, conceal themselves, and watch the perplexity on the owner’s face when he returned.

“The older boy … thought that would not be so good. He said the owner must be a very poor man. So, after talking the matter over, at his suggestion, they concluded to try another experiment. Instead of hiding the shoes, they would put a silver dollar in each one and … see what the owner did when he discovered the money. So they did that.

“Pretty soon the man returned from the field, put on his coat, slipped one foot into a shoe, felt something hard, took it out and found a silver dollar. Wonder and surprise [shone] upon his face. He looked at the dollar again and again, turned around and could see nobody, then proceeded to put on the other shoe; when to his great surprise he found another dollar. His feelings overcame him. … He knelt down and offered aloud a prayer of thanksgiving, in which he spoke of his wife being sick and helpless and his children without bread. … He fervently thanked the Lord for this bounty from unknown hands and evoked the blessing of heaven upon those who gave him this needed help.

“The boys remained [hidden] until he had gone.” They had been touched by his prayer and felt something warm within their hearts. As they left to walk down the road, one said to the other, “Don’t you have a good feeling?”

Giving to others through our talents and sacrificing so that others can receive can help us to nurture the Spirit of Christ and become more like Him. 

WE FOLLOW THE SAVIOR’S EXAMPLE WHEN WE REFUSE TO TRADE THE GLORIES OF ETERNITY FOR THE RICHES OF THE WORLD

“I find in reflecting on life, that this world is short compared with eternity; that our intelligence, the divinity within us, has always existed, was never created, and will always exist through all eternity. In view of these facts, it becomes us as intelligent beings, to realize that this life closes in a few days, then comes the life which is eternal.”

I challenge us all this Christmas to tear our focus away from the gift buying and present wrapping and all the emphasis on Santa and instead take the time to give of your talents and your love to those around you, to share the love and spirit of Christ. Because when this life is over, none of those presents are going to mean anything. The gifts and ribbons and bows are all staying.

"Through [your] faithfulness [you] shall possess thrones, principalities and powers, [your] children becoming as numerous as the stars in the firmament or the sands on the sea shore."

This is the great gift that Heavenly Father has in stow for us, and it’s greater than anything we can receive from a shelf

to vaccinate or not to vaccinate...that is the question!

I recently did a little poll to find out what some people's opinions are on vaccinating their children. I've always felt understanding towards both sides of the argument.

Out of seven of the responses, only 1 person was against vaccinations. Here are some of the comments that people had:

"We vaccinate for a reason, so that extremely dangerous diseases don't threaten epidemics. Whooping cough is on the rise especially in places like southern California where it's trendy to not vaccinate and some speculate that this is the cause of the spike in cases both in adults and children."

"I think the risk of getting a deadly disease while not vaccinated is greater than having a negative reaction to the vaccination."

"The ingredients are toxic and there are horrible adverse reactions ( nothing new to many but sadly too often overlooked) , which do not merit being outeweighed by any supposed benefits. Our children are sicker than ever with the rise in vaccines and I'm not afraid of the diseases vaccines are said to prevent ( btw there are no studies that have been done to show their effectiveness or causation of a decline in preventable diseases, just correlation). I don't believe a healthy immune system is found through a needle."

On one hand, there are some pretty terrible diseases out there and we have an obligation to protect both our own children as well as others from contracting them.

On the other hand, there really is no way to show what the ultimate effects of vaccinations will be on our children.

But what if you're sitting on the fence? Or you just don't know very much about either side of the dilemma?

I pulled up a few good articles both for and against infant and child vaccinations.

PRO VACCINATION

1. Anti-Vaccination Movement Causes a Deadly Year in the U.S.

2. The Dangers of the Antivaccine Movement

3. How Vaccines Prevent Diseases

4. Anti Vaccine Body Count

ANTI VACCINATION

5. Mum stands by her decision not to vaccinate kids

6. Should Any Vaccines be Required for Children?

As I was doing this research, I actually discovered that there are quite a few more articles supporting vaccinations than discouraging them. Personally, I choose to vaccinate my daughter but I think it's important for each of us to actually ask our children's doctors to explain each vaccination they are receiving and to research and understand them. I chose not to have Savannah given the flu shot. I'm sure many people are going to look down on that decision, but I feel like it was the right one for us.

So what do you think? Comment and share your thoughts on infant and child vaccinations!

Baby Logic

Isn't it amazing the way our little people discover and explore the world? My husband makes fun of what he likes to call "Baby Logic."

For example, if a baby finds something, she looks at it and thinks, "hmmm..what is this? I think I'll put it in my mouth!" = baby logic

in case you were wondering, that's my grocery list

But isn't it kind of great? I mean, yeah, it's not like I enjoy finding a TACK in Savannah's mouth or am constantly on the lookout for paper, pencils, or ANYTHING left on the floor but c'mon....baby logic is pretty awesome.

They have such carefree lives! Don't you wish you could just spew on the floor and then play in it like it's a nice little rain puddle? Or make HUGE mess and not worry one bit. Or use your hands to shove food in your mouth?

Babies are amazing. Savannah specifically. Today I sat and watched her play for over an hour. Boring you say? Better things to do with my time, you suggest?

Well, have YOU ever watched a baby explore? It's pretty much the most entertaining thing on earth. You can literally observe the house get messier and messier...much like watching a flower slowly open in the sunlight. it's a pretty beautiful thing.

 she enjoys taking down a movie, staring at it's cover for a while, throws it aside, and then takes down the next one. this is a fun game to watch

and...my living room went from clean....to this. in an hour. and this isn't even showing the whole room. 

Despite the mess, I really enjoyed my day with my little sweetie pie. In those moments when I'm eating her tummy and she starts laughing in that freaking adorable way, I just feel so amazed that Heavenly Father sent her to ME. He trusts me with this little angel who is so innocent and full of love and that's pretty incredible. I mean, I have a hard enough time letting family members BABYSIT. I can't imagine sending my precious child away to be raised by someone who I just have to trust to make good decisions, and trust to raise her with morals and integrity, and trust to love her with all their hearts. 

So thank you Heavenly Father for the angel that you sent me.

I don't know if I'm the best parent I can be, and I don't think any of us can really KNOW that. we just have to trust in ourselves like God trusts in us. And maybe stop worrying so much about the messes and just give in to a little baby logic. 

Happy Thanksgiving

When did Thanksgiving become such a stressful occasion?? Oh wait, that's right...when we had a kid. Of course Savannah just couldn't wait until AFTER our thanksgiving trip to start getting those top teeth in. No, it was so much more fun to experience it during the holidays while we were out of town.

For a baby who is already clingy and a big momma's girl, the extra discomfort just made everything even better. Not to mention going from one big crowd to another while everyone talks and yells and makes it pretty much impossible for a little gal to take a nap. Yeah...we were up every two hours with the little miss the night before Thanksgiving.

Let's just say, we were very happy to get home last night and sleep in our own beds!

But! It was so great to be able to spend time with so much family! The food was DELICIOUS and Savannah really really really liked sampling everything. Her aunties were complaining that I stuff her with food but how can you say no to that little chubby face begging for another bite of pie??

What was really awesome was that I got to see 3 of my very best friends from the high school days! Miss Sarah Stephenson stopped by and I got caught up on her very fabulous life. Can you believe that girl is going to go off to L.A. or New York or somewhere else equally exciting after she graduates??

And Whitney and Jordan (cutest married couple ever, btw) got a little visit from us! We haven't seen them for over a year and they got to meet Savannah for the first time! It was so fun to be able to spend some time with them and just relax a little bit.

I definitely miss these people! As a parent, it's a lot harder to make friends so it's nice to be able to hang out with people who you've known for so so long.

Sorry I have no holiday pics to share but as the little lady gets older I'm so busy chasing her around I forget to snap her adorable moments! Speaking of chasing...it won't be too long before our big girl starts walking! Already 10 months old! I just can't believe it! The time really does go by so fast and they learn everything so quickly!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for my beautiful family. I'm grateful for wet slobbery kisses, for smiles, for amazing food. I'm grateful for all the love that we receive.

Mostly I'm grateful for Heavenly Father's presence in our lives. He is always there helping us along the way and sending gentle reminders that we are all special :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING...and please, be careful out there this black friday. try not to hurt anyone, and stay away from the old lady's with the big bags...they are the most dangerous.

Dance Parties and Answered Prayers

Today I'm thankful for dance parties. There's nothing like twirling your baby around the room as she laughs that adorable laugh and watching your husband let loose his hilariously weird moves.

And I'm grateful for the prayer that was answered for me today. Just a simple prayer that I could have the day with Bryce without him needing to work. Guess what...it started raining. His boss called to let him know that there would be no work today because of it. Heavenly Father knows exactly what we need and will even answer prayers that seem so ridiculous to other people.

Thank you Heavenly Father, thanks for the rain.

Who I want to be

Sometimes life changes can be really difficult to adjust to. I'm just beginning to recognize how much I've changed since I've become a mom, and not all of it is good. While I feel that I've made the right decision being a stay at home mom and devoting my time to Savannah, sitting at home all the time with each day a repetitive montage of housecleaning has been sucking me dry of a lot of passion and love for life.

A lot of us experience the "baby blues" but what I didn't realize is that sometimes it can last for quite a while, especially if you don't take the time to be your own person and to do things that you love rather than just focusing every bit of energy on being the perfect parent.

My friend Kaity sent me an email after I wrote her asking for some encouragement. She told me that

"God has different ways of helping us to become like him. In 5,000 years, no one will care that I learned it by going to Hong Kong, and you learned it by being a mom in Boise. Remember our life purpose, 3 Nephi 12:48. All that matters is progress. If you feel like sitting around and watching movies all day isn't helping you become more like God, then sit down and decide what will. Take time and write down WHO you want to be. This is so much more valuable than what you do. Then, decide how you will become that person. Make goals and set plans. This is one of the most valuable lessons I have learned as a missionary. Decide what you want. If you don't know, pray about it. Then make plans."

I want to take her advice and write down the attributes that I want to have and the type of person I want to be.

1. I want to be more patient with myself

• I think this comes with time. I honestly don't know how to learn to be patient with oneself, so I'm setting a goal to read in the scriptures for 10 minutes every day. I think the scriptures hold all of the answers we are looking for and can direct us to the path that we should take. 

2. I want to be active

• Getting out of the house is so difficult for me, not because I'm incapable of taking my daughter anywhere, but I've just been so lacking in motivation. So to start out, I'm going to sign up for a spinning class. I've always loved spinning and it makes me feel so great! 

3. I want to be more service oriented

• I'm going to make a goal to do something for someone else once a week. Whether that's making someone cookies or bringing them a meal or volunteering or whatever opportunities come up.

4. I want to become an awesome cook

• I'm going to cook something new every week, something that I've never made before.

5. I want to continue my college education

• I'm not sure how I'm going to accomplish this goal right now. It's kind of difficult to take classes when we can't afford to pay for both mine and Bryce's education at the same time and I'm not willing to leave Savannah. I think I'm going to start saving up in order to take one online class.

6. I want to become a better seamstress

• Maybe instead of watching shows in the evening I'll sew something!

7. I want to be the type of person who always has a smile

• I'm going to make an effort to acknowledge my blessings every day.

8. I want to write a children's book

• okay, so this is my secret desire. haha it's kind of been a dream of mine to write a children's book that has a powerful message. The most difficult thing about this is that children's books are usually focused heavily on the pictures and I don't have the artistic talent! But I'm going to keep working towards this goal because I think it would be a really fulfilling achievement. 

I know that I might not always meet my own expectations but I'm going to try to be the person who I want to be, which ultimately, is like Christ. I think the best thing I can do is just give Him all of my troubles and worries and trust that with His help, I can overcome.

Isn't it amazing that my friend is in Hong Kong, I haven't spoken to her in person for over 9 months, and she still has the ability to say exactly what I need to hear? I'm lucky to have her and so is China!

The Healthiest Child

Isn't it amazing how easy social media has made it to criticize others or force your opinion on anyone that can read?

I've noticed a growing trend: moms feel the need to defend every single little decision they make in regards to their own children. moms feel like the need to slap the hand of mothers who don't have the same views as them.

no, but really, my child is kind of better...probably due to her squishy cheeks and overall her whole self

On Facebook, on blogs, and even to my face.

I hear:

Don't vaccinate your child! Any good mother knows that...

Vaccinate! You are neglectful if you don't...

Start your baby on solids early, it's good for them!

Never give your baby solids before 6 months, or even later! you will damage them forever.

If you let your baby watch any T.V. they will be forever ruined.

feed your baby more....feed your baby less

really? do we really have to do this? who cares! her son likes the boob! I don't really need to see it or read about why "attachment parenting" is horrible. let her do her thing and I'll do mine. thank. you. very. much.

AHHHHHHHHH

You hear so many people's "opinions" that it becomes difficult to recognize what your own instincts are trying to tell you.

stop. just stop.

I'm realizing that whenever I ask for advice on Facebook, a lot of times I just get annoyed with the answers, and I begin doubting myself and my abilities as a mother. It's only when I stop, take a look at my child and think, "what does she need...what does SHE specifically need?" that I find the solution.

I'm not saying don't ever ask for advice, but ask someone who uses the same parenting methods or someone who is close to you who you can trust, like your mom or your sister. Ask a professional if you need to. Just don't ask a question on Facebook or social media unless you are okay with a bunch of people telling you what to do and hearing a lot of things that you really don't want to hear. I've definitely learned my lesson when it comes to this.

good thing they don't remember all the accidental head bonks 

Mothers: please stop forcing your own views down other people's throats. Just because you do something, or don't do something, doesn't mean it's right for everyone else or their children. If someone asks your opinion, sure, share it! But don't make them feel stupid or guilty. There's a difference between a suggestion and a command. There is a difference between a loving response filled with encouragement (the one thing we mommies need most!) and "I strongly suggest you do this or your baby will begin walking upside down and forever say naughty words in church" kind of answer. You DON'T have the be all end all answer to everything. And I say that to myself as well, just so ya know.

You know what, I couldn't care less if you vaccinate your baby. I vaccinate my child and I'm pretty sure she is going to be just fine. But awesome for you! you are a great mom.

I don't care if you give your baby solids at 4 months. Awesome for you! you are a great mom.

I'm sure the fact that your child never watches T.V. or plays video games will be a great benefit for them as they grow! Good for you! you are being an awesome mom.

You breastfeed? That's great! you are awesome

You don't breastfeed? Me neither! Sometimes breastfeeding just doesn't work out. you are awesome.

We are all trying to do our best. I'm trying my best. And I think that's enough. Don't let other people's opinions get you down. You do what you do best: be a mom.

And people, just mind your own business! We are all in the same boat...I mean, unless you miraculously know everything there is to know about child raising?

didn't think so. so keep it to yourself. 10 years down the road you might have a completely different opinion.

Whew! I feel better now.

Here's a picture of my baby to make you feel better too...I mean, isn't she precious? Just go ahead and let that smile brighten your day!