Happy Thanksgiving, Belnap Family!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Love to all,

The AR Belnap Family

A Christ-Centered Life...

In the Church we talk a lot about living a "Christ-centered life", but I've not had anyone define it so well as Elder Richard J. Maynes did in this last General Conference. He said:
"Living a Christ-centered life means we learn about Jesus Christ and His gospel and then we follow His example and keep His commandments with exactness." I love the succinct simplicity of that statement, yet the challenge it issues to us is monumental--"to follow His commandments with exactness." A lifelong pursuit, to be sure!

I was asked to fill in and teach in Elder's Quorum. I have found that this happens a lot and it has truly helped me grow in my ability to teach a decent lesson with minimal preparation.

However, as I began the process of selecting a topic for the lesson today I was lead to a talk about taking steps towards God and the fact that he will take steps towards us. In this particular talk the topic of keeping the Sabbath day holy was addressed.

As I began to recall the last General Conference I realized that this has become a very common theme. I also recalled a local stake meeting where the Stake President told us that all of the issues that were being addressed have been put on hold, and the main focus from the Prophet has become teaching about keeping the Sabbath day holy.

I thought back to the Family Proclamation and realized that this document came forth 20 years before it was needed. I think about the fact that keeping the Sabbath day holy is such a basic fundamental topic and yet many struggle with it.

My thinking is what is going to happen in the future that justifies the need to cause such laser like focus on such a simple topic.

Bath or Baptism?

We attended a new convert baptism today and Girlie leaned over and whispered to me, "hey mom, those guys are taking a bath with their shirts on!"

So adorable!!

Times They are a Changing

The longer I live, the more I see the things I thought would be constant have seemed to change!

• I would never be caught dead driving a mini van
• Sacrament meeting the the morning not at night
• 2 piece garments
• Blacks and the Priesthood
• Gay Marriage 
• A black President

And now this

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir goes to the dark side......What will go next?

What Will You "Ponderize" This Week?

 Mosiah 3:8 And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary.

This is my verse this week. Leave a comment here and tell me what yours is.

Will There Be New Apostles Called At Conference?

“People are wondering if there will be Apostles chosen at this conference,” Elder Nelson said in a conversation with the Church News on September 29. He said there probably will be announcements of new Apostles, “but that is a matter between the Lord and His prophet.”

“There have been conferences where a vacancy has not been filled,” he explained. “President Heber J. Grant had announced to the Twelve that ‘so and so’ would be called, but it didn’t happen. Members of the Twelve asked him when the conference was over why he didn’t fill the vacancy. He replied that the man he said would be called wasn’t ready yet.” -President Russell M. Nelson

President Nelson Speaks about Vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve (full article)

I found this article this morning and thought it was really interesting. It seems everyone is talking about meeting our new Apostles this Conference--a likely assumption. According to this article, it may or may not happen the way we expect.

Whether we meet our new leaders or not, I'm SO EXCITED for General Conference weekend! It's always such a blessing to me.

Andy's Birthday!

Andy finally hit the big 30 on Friday!

Happy birthday!

Convicted

When I hear the word convicted, plea bargins and prison sentences come to mind. However, now that I live in the south, listen exclusively to Christian music on the radio, and have watched several movies written and produced by people of faith, I have been introduced to other possible definitions of the word "conviction". The problem is that I still couldn't put my finger on what people meant when they said they were "convicted" or had that "conviction."

In Elder's Quorum today, the lesson was from chapter 12 in Teaching of the Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson. The first section of that lesson contained a quote from Joseph Smith when he appeared to Brigham Young that caught my attention. He said: 

"Tell the people to be humble and faithful, and be sure to keep the spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small still voice; it will teach you what to do and where to go; it will yield the fruits of the kingdom. Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction, so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them, their hearts will be ready to receive it." ...

So now, not only are people of other faiths talking about conviction or being convicted, but now Prophet of the Restoration was, too. I had to know what this was all about. I talked to Emily, and she found the perfect definition online.

"Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit where a person is able to see himself as God sees him: guilty, defiled, and totally unable to save himself (John 16:8).  Conviction functions differently for the Christian and non-christian. For the non-christian, conviction reveals sinfulness, guilt, and brings fear of God's righteous judgement. Whereas, conviction in the believer brings an awareness of sin and results in repentance, confession and cleansing. 

Theologically, conviction is produced by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8), the Gospel (Acts 2:37), conscience (Rom. 2:15), and the Law (James 2:9). Conviction of sin brings man to the cross and shows the need for forgiveness." (https://carm.org/dictionary-conviction)

This definition helped me to understand 1) what people were talking about, and 2) how I have been "convicted" in my own life. I know that it has been through the Spirit, and those put in my life by a loving Heavenly Father that have helped me to come this knowledge, and I am grateful to say that I am "convicted". Are you?

Wake up

This week was full of good news and positive changes for me and my family. Also full of good information. I learned that children will not wake up to a smoke alarm going off despite what their parents believe. This has been proven in study after study.

Children, at a younge age assume nothing bad can happen in their home so their fear sensors shut down in their sleep.

Are we at times like children? Does the warning bell of the Lords prophet sound and I am unable to wake up? Do I assume that nothing bad can happen while I am in God's service?

As we approach General Conference may we all take time to develop the desire and ability to hear and accept the messages God has prepared for us.

An only child

So Fi is glad she is still an only child. Girl just got an awesome present from her parents :) This thing is massive next to her.If I stand it up it goes to my shoulders. Fi is in heaven and can't stop giving it "huggies". I was even more proud when she gave her daddy a hug and said thank you all on her own since he was the one to get it for her and put it in the cart with her. It still amazes how quick a toddler can learn and how important consistency is when teaching her.

What do you know about God or the Savior?

Today was fifth Sunday and we had the obligatory meeting of all the ward members in the same class with instruction for the Bishop.  Today he asked us to fill in the following statement "I know God or the Savior are _______________ and I know that because (scripture, quote or personal story)"

For the next 50 minutes he called on class members to filling the blank, and we listened over and over the to the same reply just said differently "I know God loves me because he forgives me when I fail and sin"

Now you  all know how I hate Sunday school answers....

So here is my challenge;  Fill in the blank.... "I know God or Jesus is __________ because.... "

Some rule changes here though, no repeats.  And we need to share what we know about God and the Savior.

So here is my first one....

I know God is Truthful, because in 60 plus years he has never told me an untruth, not even to comfort me.           So I know his promise to help me return to him is solid, and will always be there for me no matter what I do or how much I fail.

 So you can add it to the comments but it would be better to edit this post....   and remember no repeats, so get your answer posted quickly before it is taken.....  And share what you know, the scripture say "to know him is to love him"

How will I change?

Our stake and I am assuming the whole church is focusing a lot on the Sabbath day. Making the Sabbath more holy and sacred. Our RS and EQ lessons yesterday were on the Sabbath and mainly President Nelson's conference talk called "The Sabbath is a Delight".

Jon went to a stake training sometime in July about Sunday's and how we can make our Sunday's better and more for the Lord...as they should be. So we have been working on it. It's hard with a 2 year old. Trying to teach her that Sunday is a special and different day. Trying to wean her from her "shows" on Sunday is tough. We are getting there, but it's a process lol.

Here are a few things we have learned:
- Be prepared. If we do not prepare on Friday or Saturday our Sundays tend to be "messy" and we are more quick to anger. Making sure I know what we are going to eat, what we will do with Fi before church to keep her busy and not want to watch TV and figuring out our clothes. Preparing our church bags is huge too.

-Attitude. We have learned to have a more positive attitude when it comes to keeping the sabbath day holy. To be grateful for this day of rest and time with family. It is hard since we have to be the example to Fi. We try to limit out phone and TV. We try to remember this from Pres. Nelsons' talk "Think of this: In paying tithing, we return one-tenth of our increase to the Lord. In keeping the Sabbath holy, we reserve one day in seven as His. So it is our privilege to consecrate both money and time to Him who lends us life each day"

-Change of HEART. We have learned that we need to have a change of heart and create a desire to keep our sabbath day holy. Pres. Nelson stated it perfectly "How do we hallow the Sabbath day? In my much younger years, I studied the work of others who had compiled lists of things to do and things not to do on the Sabbath. It wasn’t until later that I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father.¹² With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don’ts. When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, “What sign do I want to give to God?” That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear."

We don't need a list of do's and don'ts. Everybody has different circumstances. We all see keeping the Sabbath Sacred in different ways. What matters is whats in our heart and we do the best we can. 

What sign do we want to give God? We want Him to see we are trying the very best we can and we are doing it because we love Him and are grateful for this day of rest and rejuvenation for our spirit.

Sunday Thoughts

I consider it a blessing when I make it to Church these days.  My health has been so fragile and temperamental that I am a day by day attendee.  Our ward is very loving I am happy to say.  It is comforting and special to have ward members pray for me specifically and visit consistently.

I was able to assist in Primary today.  Our Primary President is very adaptive and realized that an additional meeting during the week for the Primary teachers is just too much and the young mothers just will not attend.  So the ward members stepped up and sat with the children during sharing time while the President held an in service meeting.  If they won't come to the mountain she will bring the mountain to them.  And she did!!

We had a return missionary speak and his report was humble yet powerful.  I was impressed and user happy I was there today.

I was invited to pop in to visit Primary ant old time and I think I'll take the offer.  The songs are fun to sing and the kids are happy to be there.

Happy Sabath to you all.  I hope everyone has a good week.

Lots of love,  Mom, Marsha, Motherman and Grandma

Family Secrets

There has always been a debate about what is private in families and what is shared with extended families and what is shared with extended family and friends.

Our family has another level of privacy that goes even further, “I will tell one child and not the other”  I can share something with my sister but not my brother," or just the old line “Don’t tell Mom and Dad.”

I have been wondering why we had so many layers, and I see many possibilities, here are just a few;  I’m so embarrassed.  So and so will just call me up and add their opinion.  I want to keep it close.  I don’t need help.   I don’t need another opinion.  I can handle this on my own.

They all work with our family, and many of them are earned.  But it makes me wonder why we are part of a family if we were intended to “Handle it on my own”

I really don’t think that does much to fill the reason for us to be here on earth working out our salvation.

I have often wondered as I hear prayers in church that ask the Lord to “Bless those that can’t be with us this week that they will be able to come next week.”  Or “Bless the sick and afflicted in the ward that they will be healed and comforted”

So do we really expect God to do that or do we honestly believe that we are God’s working hands and feet, and it is up to us to comfort, and heal, and invited, and befriend those we call friends and neighbors as we are directed by the spirit.  We all know it is our responsibility to be in the Lords service, but I worry that the prayers have become just familiar repetitions that sound good in a prayer.

To be a serious follower of the Savior we all know that we are to do, not just to ask or make suggestions.

So while I understand about the reasons we have family secrets that we share with some and not all I am also convinced that the prayers and hopes of all of us are more powerful than just some of us.

 I do know there are some of us that can be judgmental, way too willing to give unsolicited help that we don’t want, and at time’s just too willing to share thing we should not.

So what’s the solution? 

I can’t speak for anyone else but for me I pledge to all of you, from this time forward,  to morn with you when you morn, to worry with you when you worry, to comfort you when you are hurt or scared.  I promise to not offer solutions when they are not asked for, and I will make every effort to let you know that I love you unconditionally.  So for me just share and I will work at gaining your trust, because shared burdens are always lighter.

Dad

Blog Revival!!

I'm so excited to think that we may all again post on this blog as Jim originally hoped. I wanted to kick things off by sharing the Joseph F. Smith quote (previous post) that really inspired me. It's nothing new, but I LOVE what he says about not one in one hundred children going astray....so amazing!

Happy posting!! And thanks, Jim, for letting us revive your blog!!

Joseph F. Smith Quote....

“The home is what needs reforming. Try today, and tomorrow, to make a change in your home by praying twice a day with your family. … Ask a blessing upon every meal you eat. Spend ten minutes … reading a chapter from the words of the Lord in the [scriptures]. … Let love, peace, and the Spirit of the Lord, kindness, charity, sacrifice for others, abound in your families. Banish harsh words, … and let the Spirit of God take possession of your hearts. Teach to your children these things, in spirit and power. … Not one child in a hundred would go astray, if the home environment, example and training, were in harmony with … the gospel of Christ.”  -Joseph F. Smith