Good "Pointe"!

How many times in your life do you think you’ve heard the phrase:
“a broken heart and a contrite spirit”?

A LOT, right?

But what does it really mean?

That was a question that came up in institute a few weeks ago and so we turned to the dictionary... HERE…

…easy enough to understand, right?

OK – How about “broken heart”?

(You can’t find it in the dictionary)

But for all you dancers out there, I had a thought.

…A “POINTE” TO MAKE, REALLY…

(and if you don’t happen to be a dancer, you still can read it)

***ahem***

New pointe shoes are beautiful:
Smooth. Clean. Seemingly perfect.
But they are HORIBLE to dance in:
Extra slippery. And they give you terrible liines. (note exhibit A)

(exhibit A)...EW...

In order to get a nice line, you need to beat the shoes up a bit.

YOU HAVE TO BREAK THEM IN

You have to bend them and work them. They’ll get a little dirty. The satin on the platform starts to rub off and fray.
But your lines are SO MUCH BETTER! (note exhibit B)

(exhibit B)

The “broken” shoes are molded and willing to work with the wearer’s will.(alliteration not intended)

And so it is with us.

Our hearts represent our desires. Our motives. Our purposes.

And they are the “pointe shoes” worn by our Savior.

Once we’re beaten up a bit we make not think we “look” as good…
…but the results can reach perfection.

Let Him mold you. Let him shape you and break you in. Let him do this and your will will become his own.

Sharing Some Scriptorial Studyings...

So the other day I felt the need to write.

And when I started writing, I found myself writing about things that I'd been thinking about in the scriptural sense.

And it was good.

REALLY good.

...(and by good, I mean therapeutic)...

And I figured that if it did me such good, maybe some of my thoughts would serve as a positive reminder to someone else.

maybe.

And if not -- well -- you get an insight into my thinking.

(And I've got my thinking on hand for some future Sacrament Meeting talk☺)

SO... if you do choose to read... ENJOY!

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3rd Nephi is probably my favorite book in The Book of Mormon (9:14-22 and 11:7-17 are my favorite passages -- they seem to summarize the Gospel so well! Powerful stuff). The power that I feel each time I read of Christ's visit to the Americas is overwhelming. I've taken to comparing his sermon to the Nephites to the Sermon on the Mount, finding some of the more subtle differences. There is one slight difference that has had a real impact on me. Let me preface it with Moroni 10:32:


"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all you might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ, and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can nowise deny the power of God."


I think many people (such as myself) tend to look past the word "perfected". We forget it is a process and instead focus on the admonition given in 3N 12:48:


"Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in Heaven is perfect."


What a daunting task that seems! To be PERFECT just as our Father and Elder Brother are. Comparing it to the same verse (48) in Matthew 5, however, I found that slight difference:


"[Ye are therefore commanded to be perfect], even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect."

...([]=Joseph Smith Translation)...


Here, Christ does not include himself in the definition of perfection. For though he was the perfect example in all things, he was not yet in a perfected state... the Greek word for perfect also can mean complete, finished or fully developed... giving us insight to the fact that Christ could not call himself perfect as He still had work to complete. He had to be finished with his work on Earth and become fully developed spiritually through his sacrifice to be in that state of perfection.

We are here to be perfected... not to be perfect.

We too have to complete our own missions here on Earth and offer up our own sacrifice: a broken heart and a contrite spirit (3N 9:20). That's what I'm trying to focus on.

Another focus I'm trying to make in on my Divine Nature. In working with Young Womens-aged girls in Especially For Youth, you can probably imagine that I bring the Theme into play a lot.

...(One of my Co-Counselors had it memorized. We girls thought that was awesome of him)...


"We are daughter of our Heavenly Father who loves us, and we love Him. We will stand as witnesses of God in all thing, and in all times, and in all places, as we strive to live the Young Women's values, which are:
Faith
Divine Nature
Individual Worth
Knowledge
Choice and Accountability
Good Works
Integrity, and
Virtue
We believe as we come to accept and act upon these values we will be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the Temple, and enjoy the blessings of Exaltation.


As literal sons and daughters of God, we have inherited, through our Divine Nature, God-like attributes which we should be working to develop. Many of these qualities are there within the YW values.

One thing I've found myself focusing on is not only the value of virtue in the sense of being pure, but also in the way it is used in Luke 8 when rehearsing the story of the woman who had an issue of blood. Here when Christ spoke saying that he felt virtue leave him, the word meant power. To me, the YW's value is not only a reminder of the need to be clean, but also of the POWER which we carry over the adversary to say, as Moses did(1:13, 16):


"Who aren't thou? For behold, I am a [child] of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?...

...Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for God said unto me: Thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten."


Also as heirs, we are entitled to receive the same blessing given to our Elder brother. Romans 8:16-17 is one of my favorite scriptures reminding us of what lies for us in the world to come.

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♥ Man -- the Gospel is GOOD! ♥

Running through the last few months . . . .

OK

I'm lame.
I have updated my blog for almost 3 months.

3 MONTHS!!!

Do you realize what has transpired during this time?

***ALOT***

So here I am, and I'll do a quick swing through of life and maybe I'll be a little better at staying up-to-date :)


So let's start with the most important:



Isn't he an adorable boy? He is.
My first nephew -- Matthew Callan Turner (Callan)

Born August 4, 2009 -- 6lbs 4oz and 20in long.

I can't wait to get him in my hands! (they're in Seattle)


And there is also:


Jaden Bradley Cutler
My surrogate nephew! Another precious soul :)
(His mom is Camille - my "sister" who has been my best friend since Kindergarten - so I'm claiming him too!)

Born October 2, 2009 -- 8lbs 5oz and 20in long.

Again -- far away in Indiana. :(

I love babies! :)


So, what have I been doing other than getting excited about my sister-in-law and best friend bringing these beautiful little boys into the world?

Well, I bought this:

And I love it!
Silver 2009 Mazda3 Hatchback

It had 16 miles on it when I bought it.

Now it has almost 3000.
That's what happens when you drive about 50 miles a day!

Why am I driving 50 miles a day?

Because I work here:



Where I teach First Grade.

20 miles there + 20 miles back + other errands = approx. 50 miles/day

I had 28 students, but my . . . challenging . . . student is gone for the time being.
27 6/7 year olds are plenty though!

I love them.

They are exhausting, but I love them!

On Wednesday we went on a field trip to Wheelers Farm.

It was POURING rain.

We were SOAKED!

So we went back to the school early,
ate lunch in our classroom,
played musical chairs for a birthday game,
and watched:




Day well spent! :)

And now, I'm listening to conference (you can watch it here)and enjoying my long weekend.

Life is good :)

Bishop Turner

We got a new Stake Presidency about a month ago. I predicted correctly that my incredible institute teacher would be the new Stake President (I miss him in class!). What I didn't predict is that now-President Blair Morris would be taking our own Bishop Reed Merkley as a counselor.

But as soon as we knew that, I was pretty sure who the bishop would be!

I was right :)

Yesterday (July 12th), my Dad was set apart as the new Bishop in the Park Meadows Ward in the Centerville, UT Stake of Zion.

Love you, Daddy!