The War Chapters of the Book of Mormon and Their Relevance Today....

I stumbled across this talk today and wanted to share it. I've always struggled to get through the "war chapters" of the Book of Mormon, mostly because they are full of the terrible atrocities and complexities of war and I've always thought "why spend SO much time on this in a book of Scripture?" (I especially think this as we're reading aloud to our small children--such tough things to hear and understand for them!)

Well, today I have greater insight after reading this talk. I know that everyone is in the midst of busy lives right now and reading the family blog probably isn't paramount on your "to do" list, but I still wanted to share this talk as I found it so interesting and relevant.

Enjoy!

Peace Within

What makes you think we are trouble?

Watchman, Warn the Wicked....

A friend shared this talk with me today, and it is AMAZING! I have been reading various talks by President Ezra Taft Benson on Liberty and the Constitution for the last couple of days....he has many great ones, but I found this talk just full of "wow" power!! There are so many incredible insights, particularly his comparison of the downfall of the Roman Empire to our society "today"...well, he gave this talk in the 70's, so he must be "rolling in his grave" now over our nation's awful state!

I'd love to hear your comments/insights on the talk if you care to share.

Watchman, Warn the Wicked, President Benson

           I came across a letter that was written by Hugh B Brown, in 1947.  It was remarkable in the frank way that he counseled a friend who was having a "Chris of Faith" by relating some very personal insights.  It is long but I found it really fascinating and incredibly comforting.......

November 8, 1946

My dear—-:

I was really glad to get your letter of October 25, and I appreciate your confidence. The revelation of your mental and spiritual struggles does not come as a surprise, as I had felt for some time that the waters of your usually placid soul had become somewhat roiled and disturbed.

Would you be surprised if I should tell you that I, too, have had periods of perplexity, uncertainty, and doubt; that I, too, have known the darkness, fogginess, and chill of the valley which lies between illuminated peaks of faith and confidence, and that only the memory of the hilltops along the road over which I have come coupled with the somewhat misty vision of others still ahead has given me the courage to plod on when I was tempted to “chuck it all,” to wrap myself in the comfortless blanket of doubt and self-commiseration and just quit the field. Well I have had that experience. But this I can say positively, that each peak which I have climbed has seemed higher and more inspiring than the last, due at least in part, I think, to the dark background of the valley through which I came. Sharp contrasts are sometimes most revealing.

In view of the above admission, you will not expect an argument or a brief on faith in God and immortality. However, and I hope it may be so, a relating of some personal experiences and observations may give you a fellow-feeling and bring comfort, courage, hope, and faith, may renew in you the spirit of adventure, of zest for the quest of truth.

First, I have found that periods of doubt and skepticism, of negative reactions and disbelief have always been characterized by darkness, refrigeration of spirit, pettiness, cynicism, and general misery, even to a point of wishing for oblivion. Whereas, periods of faith, hope, and positive reactions have been times of buoyancy and cheerfulness filled with a desire to be and to become, to lift and encourage, and to point with confidence to something even more about to be. Here, life had cadence and lilt and zest and value, and I gloried in the thought that I could extend these benefits and joys and possibilities to my children.

From the selfish standpoint of personal satisfaction then, I have chosen to swim in the clear, cool stream of faith rather than wallow in the turbid, enervating, stagnant swamp of doubt and cynicism. In other words, faith pays dividends of joy as we go along.

I like Fosdick’s definition of faith: “Faith is vision to believe what as yet one cannot demonstrate and valor to act on the basis of that insight.”

At times I have had to take myself in hand and command my knees to bend, my head to bow, my spirit to become contrite. But of this I bear witness, that I have beheld more distant vistas when on my knees than when standing upright. Somehow the bending of the knee has seemed to open the shutters of the soul and to bring the lens of faith into focus.

Many more before you and I have wondered if praying were not merely a soliloquy and its only answer the echo of its sound. On the other hand, however, prayer has been a vital principle–the central faith of millions of noble men and women. The fact that it has been an age-long rapture certainly attests its value–it endures. It’s faithfully recurrent like the sunrise. It’s not a private vagary nor is it mere wishful thinking or rationalizations. I have come through my own experiences with the conviction that prayer is comradeship with God; indeed, I doubt if I could have endured some recent experiences if I had not had that refuge.

As to whether there is in fact a God, I shall not argue. But I, like you, have looked about me and seen the myriad evidence of plan and purpose and design and have chided myself for ever doubting the existence of the Designer.

I am told, and there seems to be ample evidence to support it, that matter is indestructible, that it is eternal. As a youth, if I had been told by my teacher in school that the desk on which I wrote was indestructible, and then when the schoolhouse burned had seen the mocking ashes where my desk had been, I doubtless would have lost faith in my teacher. Clearly, and before me, was the evidence of his folly. But later in High School and University, where in the laboratory, I learned how to catch and weigh the gases, oils, and ashes that resulted from burning wood and found that the process of burning had not in fact destroyed anything, I concluded that my youthful skepticism was but evidence of the narrow limits of my knowledge. From then on, humility bade me hesitate before questioning the truths which witnesses of research and observation had established. My questing soul still questions, but my questions had to do with ways and means of deciphering and getting at the truth and finding the relationship between observation and intuition, between knowledge and faith.

There are many things I cannot explain, there are many things I cannot understand, but of this one thing I am positively sure, that God does live, that death will not end my conscious existence. I cannot bring myself to believe that while my desk, mere inanimate matter as it is, is indestructible, that far more valuable, in fact the most valuable thing I know, human personality and love, is but transitory and temporary and must be destroyed and come to an end when I cease to react physically to my surroundings in this world.

The little logic I have mastered, what little knowledge I have gained forbids me to accept the hypothesis that individuality will entirely be wiped out.

Just why God does not move closer to me or enable me to come closer to him, that through my physical senses I may apprehend him, I do not know. But this I know, He has so tuned my spirit that I am sensitive to and respond when certain impulses emanate from Him.

I assume that if the unborn babe could speak, he would rebel at the prospect of birth; he would say, “I cannot live if you take me out of my present environment beneath my mother’s heart. My life is so definitely a part of her life that if you separate us I am sure I will die and cease to be.” And yet, that babe, when born, finds himself in an environment suited to his undeveloped organs and functions. He finds that someone has made provision for his coming, that there is water and food and air to satisfy his stomach and lungs which, though present, were not needed in his pre-natal state.

I wonder if when we die, we are in fact just born into another sphere. Personally, I am quite content to leave the outcome with the same good God who made provisions for my coming here, and personally I believe that I might have certain spiritual organs which will function fully only when I am born into an environment suited to them.

Well, this letter is already much too long. I promised at the beginning that I would not argue, and yet I fear that I have verged at least onto the edge of argument. I want you to know, my dear son and brother, that I am intensely interested in your future. I believe that the violent attacks that have been made on your faith, upon your reasoning powers, upon the hope you have held in the past were made as a test. I firmly believe that you have an unusual future, and that because of your possibilities, the Adversary, and I think there is an Adversary, is making a determined attack upon you. I know you too well to feel that you will give up and quit the field while that attack is on. I counsel you to assume the positive attitude in your talks to others, that you undertake to convince them of the reality of the things in which you have believed, that you search for evidence to support that faith, and I think you will be surprised to find that there is far more evidence in support of faith than can be marshalled to support the negative side.

I look forward to the time when we can visit again, and hope it may be possible to get together often, as I have appreciated your comradeship and association in the past. My love to your wife and baby and to you, and may God bless you to see through the fog and glimpse the sunshine.

Sincerely your friend and brother,

Hugh B. Brown

http://lds.net/blog/top-articles/never-seen-letter-doubt-hugh-b-brown/

New Princess for the Belnaps!

So we are having a girl..however I have to go in for another ultrasound since miss princess wasn't too cooperative in the last one.So we will let you know if it turns out to be a boy :)

I was a little disappointed when she said it was girl since I wanted a boy, I really wanted a boy. However, by the time we got home I was so excited! We are so excited to have another little princess. Fi will get a sister! We are also excited that we don't have to get any clothes..so having a girl will save us some money. I think I am more excited about Fi meeting her for the first time in the hospital though. She is going to be in heaven with a new baby in the house.

So since it's a schedule c-section, she will be arriving sometime between June 8th and the 10th.

An Enlightening Ensign Article...

I read this article from the January 2016 Ensign this morning and found it to be quite enlightening. Elder Pieper shares the three main purposes of mortality--none of which will be a surprise to you, of course--and how we can better fulfill these purposes. I especially liked it because I thought he masterfully exposed the lies and rationalizations used by the adversary and his minions to subtly or not-so-subtly distract us from these purposes or even keep us from them completely.

Elder Pieper said, "Let us avoid the illusions of the precepts of men and cling to the revealed realities given by God so that our journey through mortality may be rich, full and real."

The article allowed me to ponder how much we miss in our mortal experience when we're paralyzed by fear or swayed by false teachings and slip slowly and comfortably into sin, sometimes without even realizing it, because we aren't wholeheartedly pursuing our God-given purposes. It was also clear to me how we miss some of the greatest blessings of eternity this way.

I enjoyed the article so much that I'm going to now watch the devotional from which is was derived here.

Happy Sunday to you all!