Sunday School

This week I learned, or relearned:

• I shouldn't feel so sorry for myself. The pending move and undecided details (like where we are going or when we might be leaving) have really started to stress me out a little. I'm used to always having a plan... but its more than that. We have this baby that needs to be born in the fall, and I would l-o-v-e to be as settled as possible. In a conversation with my sister this week, I actually said the words "x task and x task are not going to happen before the baby is born, and I just need to get over that." I felt a little better after confirming that reality to myself. Then, today, we watched part of a video with the youth and it had a little segment about the Nativity. I thought of Mary, her uncomfortable journey, and the humble arrangements provided for the birth of her son. I really shouldn't feel so sorry for myself.
• Happiness and good behavior go hand in hand. Gracie has been so good this week. She has been the better-than-gold kind of good. She has also been so happy all week long. We haven't had many breakdowns, where I was getting used to at least one good one a day. Maybe its what she's eating, or how she's sleeping. Maybe she's just growing up too fast. What ever the cause may be, happiness and good behavior keep great company. Its hard to find one without the other. This is a good lesson for me to remember in my personal life.
• The power of scripture study. In the last interview I had with my mission President, he gave me some excellent council-- five pieces of excellent council to be exact. But the first two were these: 1. Continue a relationship of fervent prayer so that you can be speaking with the Lord 2. Continue a pattern of regular scripture study so that the Lord can be speaking with you. This mode of successful communication has been proven to me time and again. I take my thoughts to the Lord in prayer, and He responds through the scriptures I study. Every July to August, our ward has a Book of Mormon challenge where we all try to read the entire book. Our Bishop kicked the challenge off in church today. In the testimony meeting we had with the youth, I was so impressed to hear our kids share their testimonies about the Book of Mormon born of the experiences they've had reading the scriptures during this challenge over the last couple of years. We don't have to understand everything we are reading (though this does help--don't get me wrong). Even just an obedient pattern of reading the scriptures brings a Spirit and a power into our lives that we cannot get any other way.