Book of Mormon Timeline

I found this Book of Mormon timeline that I thought was interesting.  I found it on this blog:

Book of Mormon Story Timeline

· 2200 BC – The Jaredites ask God not to confound their language at the time of the Tower of Babel.
· The Brother of Jared sees God.
· The Jaredites build barges and travel to the Americas.
· A few generations later, the Daughter of Jared and Akish introduce secret combinations.
· The prophet Ether attempts to warn the Jaredites of their destruction, but they continue in wickedness.
· The Jaredites continue to war with each other.
· 600 BC – Lehi is warned in a vision to escape Jerusalem.
· Lehi’s family departs Jerusalem. Nephi and his brothers return for the brass plates. Zoram joins the group.
· Nephi and his brothers return for Ishmael’s family.
· Lehi dreams of the Tree of Life and the Liahona is discovered.
· Nephi breaks his bow.
· 591 BC – Nephi is commanded to build a ship.
· Lehi and Ishmael’s families journey to the Americas.
· Nephi makes 2 sets of plates.
· 588 BC – After years of war, Coriantumr is the last man of the Jaredites left alive. He wanders for 9 months until he meets the Mulekites.
· 587 BC – The Mulekites come from Jerusalem to the Americas, led by Mulek, a son of King Zedekiah.
· 570 BC – The Nephites and the Lamanites split into 2 groups.
· 544 BC – Jacob succeeds Nephi as prophet.
· Between 544 BC & 421 BC – Enos prays all day and night in the wilderness.
· 225 BC – The Nephites have become wicked, so Mosiah leads a group of righteous Nephites away into Zarahemla where they join with the Mulekites.
· 200 BC – Zeniff leads a group away from Zarahemla to reclaim the Nephite lands.
· 160 BC – King Noah rules the descendants of Zeniff’s group in wickedness (land of Nephi).
· 150 BC – Abinadi prophesies and is then killed (148 BC)(land of Nephi).
· 147 BC – Alma (the Elder) preaches, baptizes, and his group flees into the wilderness and settle in the land of Helam.
· 145 BC – Gideon seeks to slay King Noah, but the Lamanites invade (land of Nephi).
· Between 145 BC & 122 BC – King Noah commands the men to leave their families and flee into the wilderness. Those men are angry and kill King Noah. (land of Nephi)
· Limhi becomes King over this people (land of Nephi).
· The Lamanite daughters are abducted by Noah’s priests (land of Nephi).
· The Lamanites put Limhi’s people in bondage (land of Nephi).
· A group of Lamanites join with the priests of King Noah and subject Alma the Elder and his followers to bondage (land of Helam).
· Limhi sends a group of men out to look for Zarahemla. They can’t find it, but they find the 24 gold plates which contain a record of the Jaredites (land of Nephi).
· 124 BC – Back in Zarahemla, King Benjamin gives his speech from the tower.
· 121 BC – Ammon leaves Zarahemla to find out what became of Zeniff’s group, and finds King Limhi and his people.
· King Limhi and his people are converted by Ammon. He helps them escape from the Lamanites and return to Zarahemla.
· 120 BC – Alma the Elder and his group of followers escape and return to Zarahemla.
· Alma the Elder is made high priest in the land of Zarahemla.
· Probably between 100 BC & 92 BC – Alma the Younger and the 4 sons of Mosiah rebel. They are then converted by an angel in a vision.
· 92 BC – Alma the Younger becomes high priest in Zarahemla. The 4 sons of Mosiah leave to serve a mission to the Lamanites.
· Mosiah suggests that the people be ruled by elected judges instead of a king. Alma the Younger becomes chief judge.
· 91 BC – Nehor preaches false doctrine and slays Gideon.
· 90 BC – Amlici seeks to be king. When rejected, he forms the Amlicites and makes war on the Nephites.
· 90 BC – Ammon converts King Lamoni and his city in the land of Ishmael.
· 83 BC – Alma the Younger gives up the judgment seat to preach full time.
· 82 BC – Alma gets a mission companion – Amulek.
· 81 BC – They convert Zeezrom and are restrained from saving the righteous from death by fire.
· Between 90 BC & 77 BC – Aaron and his brethren are cast into prison while preaching to the Amalekites in the city of Middoni. They are freed by Ammon and Lamoni and then go to the land of Nephi to preach to Lamoni’s father, the king of all the Lamanites.
· Lamanites in 7 lands are converted and call themselves the Anti-Nephi-Lehites. The Nephites give them the land of Jershon to live. They bury their weapons and vow to never kill again.
· 74 BC – Korihor, the Anti-Christ, is struck dumb.
· Alma the Younger and Amulek lead a mission to reclaim the apostate Zoramites. The converts join the Anti-Nephi-Lehites in Jershon.
· 73 BC – Alma passes the record keeping to his son Helaman and commands him not to let the people know the secret combinations of the Jaredites.
· Nephite dissenters join the Lamanites and come against the Nephites to battle. Captain Moroni raises the Title of Liberty.
· 72 BC – Moroni fortifies Nephite cities. Pahoran takes the judgment seat. Teancum defeats Morianton and his dissenters.
· 67 BC – The Nephites have a civil war caused by king-men who want a king. Moroni compels the king-men to fight for the Nephites. Amalakiah and the Lamanites capture many Nephite cities. Teancum slays Amalakiah in his tent.
· 66 BC – Ammoron becomes head of Lamanites. Moroni, Lehi, and Teancum regain many Nephite cities.
· 64 BC – Helaman takes command of the 2,000 Stripling Warriors, the sons of the Anti-Nephi-Lehites.
· 63 BC – Moroni frees some Nephite prisoners of war by stealth.
· 62 BC – Moroni complains to Pahoran about lack of support and finds out the Nephites have been under attack from the king-men who joined the Lamanites.
· 61 BC – Moroni defends Pahoran and puts king-men to death. Teancum slays Ammoron and is, himself, slain.
· 55 BC & 54 BC – Hagoth takes a group of Nephites to explore by sea. On the second voyage, they are never heard of again.
· 52 BC – Kishkumen forms a gang and murders Pahoran the second on the judgment seat.
· 50 BC – Helaman the Second becomes chief judge. Gadianton becomes the leader of Kishkumen’s band and they flee into the wilderness.
· 39 BC – Nephi, Helaman’s son, fills the judgment seat, but the people are stirred up by dissenters, become prideful, and become weak.
· 30 BC – Nephi gives up the judgment seat to preach.
· Nephi and Lehi convert thousands.
· 27 BC – Righteous Lamanites preach to the wicked Nephites.
· Satan gives the secret oaths to Gadianton so he can form a secret combination.
· 22 BC – Gadianton robbers take over the Nephite government.
· 19 BC – Nephi is given the sealing powers and persuades the Lord to replace the war with a famine to call the people to repentance.
· 6 BC – Samuel the Lamanite preaches to the Nephites and arrows cannot hit him.
· AD 1 – The wicked plan to slay the righteous who believe the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite, but the sign of Christ’s birth is given that night.
· Ad 19 – The Nephite armies, led by Giddianhi, defeat the Gadianton robbers.
· AD 34 – Tempests, earthquakes, fires, and whirlwinds attest the death of Christ. Darkness covers the land for 3 days.
· Christ’s voice is heard in the darkness. He proclaims his divinity and invites men to come to Him.
· Christ shows himself to the Nephites in the land of Bountiful. He chooses 12 disciples, preaches, and heals the sick. He institutes the Sacrament and prays using words that cannot be written.
· Christ organizes His church, and the 3 Nephites are changed to remain on Earth until His Second Coming.
· 35 AD – All the Nephites and Lamanites are converted. They have all things common among them and live in peace for almost 200 years.
· 201 AD – Some among them begin to be lifted up in pride. They are divided into classes and begin to deny the true church.
· 231 AD – Those who are righteous are called Nephites. Those who reject the gospel are called Lamanites.
· 321 AD – When Mormon is 10 years old, Ammaron tells him of the plates and instructs him to retrieve them when he turns 24.
· 327 AD – At 16 years old, Mormon heads the Nephite army.
· 362 AD – The Nephite armies boast in their own strength, so Mormon refuses to lead them from that time forth.
· 364 AD – 375 AD – The Nephites are wicked and are swept off by the Lamanites.
· 379 AD – Mormon once again leads the Nephites in battle.
· 385 AD – The Lamanites destroy the Nephites at the final battle in the land of Cumorah. Hundreds of thousands are slain.
· Mormon hides the sacred records in the Hill Cumorah except for the plates of Mormon, which he gives to his son, Moroni.
· The Lamanites hunt down the remaining Nephites to exterminate them.
· 401 AD – Moroni wanders alone. He abridges the record of the Jaredites and finishes the plates.
· 421 AD – After finishing the record, he hides the plates again in the Hill Cumorah, knowing he will soon die.

My Top Ten Favorite New Testament scriptures

In honor of the upcoming Easter season, I would like to post my top ten favorite scriptures in the New Testament:

1. Matthew 7:20

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

2. Matthew 11:28-30

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

3. Mark 4: 39, 41

39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

4. Mark 9:23-24 23

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. 24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

5. Luke 1: 78-79

78 Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79 To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.

6. Luke 22:44

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly:...

7.  John 3: 16-17

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

8.  John 8: 7

...He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

9. Romans 8:38-39

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

10. Ephesians 4:29, 30, 32

29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.

Personal Accountability

Since I have been doing so much thinking and studying about choices as part of the Plan of Salvation, I wanted to delve a little more into the other part of choice that is listed as a Young Woman Value- choice and Accountability. In my search I found this talk by Elder Dean L. Larsen on the very subject.

Personal accountability is affected by all of these aspects of the plan for the eternal progress of the children of God. It is very important for us to understand that, without the condition of personal accountability, the plan of salvation could not operate successfully.

Perhaps it would be helpful to attempt a definition of accountability. I do not believe that the standard dictionary definition encompasses all that the Lord ascribes to this condition or quality in human beings. There is a difference between accountability and responsibility. Responsibility relates to a set of duties or expectations that may be placed upon us by others or by ourselves. Responsibility places one in a position to be accountable.

 

Accountability has to do with one’s exercising his own will in making decisions and following a course of conduct. It implies self-initiative and a measure of self-reliance. But it requires more than the ability to act for oneself. It must be guided by a knowledge of true principles. Accountability is heightened by the confirmation of the Holy Spirit as to what is right and wrong. In fact, to act in matters of great importance without this confirmation is to act unaccountably.          ~Elder Dean L. Larsen

Link to the whole Talk

Choices

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Drops of Awesome- worth a look!

 I have never done this before, but I read this and it really spoke to my heart, so I decided I would put the link to this on my own gospel thoughts blog.  I think she's onto something....


http://www.daringyoungmom.com/2012/12/19/drops-of-awesome/

This post has been in my heart and on my mind for over a year now. I’ve talked about it. I’ve prayed about it. I’ve taught about it. I was waiting for the right time to post about it and now feels like that time. It’s a post about a tiny little moment that completely changed the way I see myself and others. As I think about it and act on what I learned, I find that I am changed in significant ways every single day.

It was a sunny school morning and I was walking Magoo to the bus stop. I don’t often walk him to the school bus. He’s in second grade and pretty independent and I’m usually busy getting myself and his sisters ready. I’m semi-nocturnal and I sleep later than I should most mornings.

When it’s time for school, he says goodbye and heads up the hill to the bus.

As we got half way to the bus, Magoo reached out and grabbed my hand in an uninhibited way that I knew wouldn’t happen many more times. He’s seven now but growing and how many 12-year-old boys do you see still swinging hands happily with their mommies?

I squeezed his hand, felt the rare Seattle sun on my face, and told him I loved him. I was nearly perfectly happy.

Nearly.

Just at that moment, the thought came into my mind, That’s awesome that you’re walking him to the bus stop and putting on this “mother of the year” act today. What about yesterday and the day before that? You hardly ever walk him to the bus. He’s probably holding your hand because he’s so desperate for the love and attention you haven’t been showing him.

My bubble had burst. I am a crap mom, I thought, as I looked down into his smiling face.

Then another thought came. Kathryn. What is wrong with you? You are being an awesome mom in this moment. Your child is happy. You are loving him and caring for him. He’s well fed and dressed. You’re walking to the bus stop in the early morning and you’re already wearing a bra for heck’s sake. Do not rob yourself of this moment’s joy because of what you failed to do yesterday or what you fear you might not do tomorrow.

This started me thinking of all the times I do something good while beating myself up for all the times I haven’t been perfect.

You’re worshiping in the temple? Woopty freakin do! How long has it been since you came here last? When are you likely to come again? You’re not good at this. This is a fluke.

Wow. So you cleaned the kitchen today. Want a cookie? That dirty rag has been on the counter for a week and those dishes you so righteously cleaned are from breakfast three days ago. You are embarrassing.

That was really nice of you to offer to watch your friend’s kids while she had surgery. Remember last week when you knew your neighbor was suffering from depression and you drove right by with a wave because you did not want to get sucked into the drama? You don’t really care about people. Not all the time.

How destructive are these kinds of thoughts?

As I said goodbye to Magoo and started to walk back home, my mind started to shift.

Drops of Awesome! I thought. Every time you do something good, something kind, something productive, it’s a drop in your Bucket of Awesome. You don’t lose drops for every misstep. You can only build. You can only fill.

I walked Magoo to the bus. Drop of Awesome!

I fed him fruit with breakfast. Drop of Awesome!

I told him I loved him. Drop of Awesome!

I wore a bra and brushed my teeth before schlepping it up that hill. Two Fat Drops of Awesome!

All day long I chanted these words in my head. I picked up that tootsie roll wrapper off the front porch instead of stepping over it for the eleventy hundredth time. Drop of Awesome! I unloaded one dish from the dishwasher when I walked through the kitchen on my way to the bathroom. Drop of Awesome! I texted my sad neighbor to say I was thinking about her. Drop of Awesome! I had a critical thought about one of my kids and I brushed it away and replaced it with love. Drop of Awesome!

When I started thinking about my life in terms of adding these little Drops of Awesome for every tiny act of good, I found that I was doing more and more of them because it’s a lot more fun to do good when you’re rewarded with joy, rather than being guilted about every failure in your past.

By the end of the day, I had realized something important. If I was spending time with my kids, really listening to them with attention in the moment, then I was a good listener, regardless of the 50 other times I’d brushed them off or multi-tasked while they were talking over the past week. If I was engaged in sincere prayer with my Heavenly Father, really communing with him and seeking his will, then I was a person who engages in sincere prayer, regardless of how my prayers were (or weren’t) yesterday and the day before that and the day before that.

As I added up these Drops of Awesome, I found that in those moments I actually became the person I had always wanted to be.

Have you ever said any of these things: “Well, I guess I don’t work out anymore,” because you missed one workout? Or, “I always fight with my brother. Our relationship is broken.” What about, “I’m kind of a nag to my spouse.” Or “I gossip and I always end up hurting people I love.” “I can’t stop spending money. We will never get out of debt.” “My house is always a disaster.”

These things are lies, depending on the next decision you make, the next Drop of Awesome you put in your bucket. You may have done these things or have a hard time with them but they don’t define you and you can change this very instant. You may not think you can change permanently but you can change the next choice you make. And as you change that one next tiny choice, you may think, I got this one Drop of Awesome but I may never be able to get another one again.

And that’s okay.

You made the right choice once. And in that moment you were the person you want to be and that is a triumph. For one night, you were a person who went to bed early. One morning you woke up and the first words out of your mouth were positive so you were a morning person in that moment. Bam! Drop of Awesome.

You do not need to wait three months to be who you want to be. Pick up ten things right now and say, “Drops of Awesome! I am someone who takes care of my house. That is who I am. I have proof.”

In the end, it’s really about allowing yourself to feel joy and allowing yourself to be proud of the small victories of life. This builds momentum and you want more drops in your bucket and when you don’t get as many, you pick yourself up and say, “What can I do next?”

Now, there are a whole lot of religious implications to this because, as a Christian, I believe that you are not the only one adding these Drops of Awesome to your bucket. Christ commanded us to be perfect, but through His atonement, He is with us every step of the way.

As an object lesson when I was teaching this to the teenage girls at church, I gave them each a small dropper and I put a 2-quart bowl on the table. I told them that throughout the lesson they would get the chance to put drops in the bucket for every Drop of Awesome they could think of that they’d done. I promised them that we would fill the bowl to overflowing by the end of the lesson.

With about 5 minutes to go, we had barely begun to fill the bowl and the girls were looking around at each other nervously. The promised overflow did not look likely. Were they not awesome enough?

At that point, I pulled out a large pitcher labeled ATONEMENT and poured water into the glass bowl until it was spilling out all over the table and the towel the bowl was resting on. The class went silent.

When we are in a relationship with Christ, striving as God’s sons and daughters to do His will, He pours more into our buckets than we can ever hope to imagine. He can fill us to overflowing with peace, with joy, with perfection, with Awesome. And then what do we do if our bucket is overflowing like that? Where does the Awesome go then?

I pulled out an identical bowl, twice the size of the original. Our capacity for joy and light increases. And we just keep working, one tiny drop at a time. And we don’t compare today’s drops to yesterday’s or tomorrow’s. And we live and we love and we repent when we do wrong and we allow ourselves to be glorious, beautiful, and dare I say perfect in Christ, children of God.

I believe in a God who loves us and roots for us and cheers for every Drop of Awesome we can manage. Our victories are His victories and He wants us to feel joy. Not later, when we no longer make mistakes, but right now.

I’m gonna close this uber long post out with a scripture from the Book of Mormon. I know many of you do not share my faith but I think you’ll find truth in these words:

“Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.” (Alma 37:6)

Small and simple. Tiny drops. Go forth. Be Awesome.

Change...

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but we are not. Each day, ours is the challenge to access the power of the Atonement so that we can truly change, become more Christlike, and qualify for the gift of exaltation and live eternally with God, Jesus Christ, and our families.

Elder Russell M. Nelson, Thanks be to God, May 2012 Ensign

You know, I had never thought about change like this before.  There is a saying, There is nothing as constant as change.  There are only 2 things that don't change- God and truth.  Everything  and everyone else changes and is expected to.  God wants us to change and become more like Him.  When we finally become like Him in every way, then change is no longer necessary.   Another word that could be used interchangeably with the word "change" could be the word "learn".  God doesn't have anything left to learn. He knows everything. 

The important thing to keep in mind is that when we change, it should always be towards God and goodness and not the other way.  Change for change sake alone isn't good.  It is what we are moving toward.

Some of my thoughts on Being Thankful...

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, I was asked to speak in church.  Here are some of my thoughts from reflecting and pondering on gratitude:

In thinking about thankfulness and being grateful, I have noticed that Pres. Monson speaks to this topic often.  He has spoken more than once about Jesus and healing the ten lepers.  This is found in Luke17:

11 ¶And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

 12 And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were ^alepers, which stood afar off:

 13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the ^apriests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him ^athanks: and he was a Samaritan.

 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten ^acleansed? but where are the ^bnine?

 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

 19 And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

I have thought over the years a lot about why 9 of the men that Jesus healed would not have thanked Him.

I usually come to the conclusion that they were just so caught up in the moment and overwhelmed with the joy and preparation of going to show themselves to the priest to be pronounced clean, that they just didn’t pause to say thanks.    It dawned on me this week, that there could have been other reasons. 

Maybe they were healed but they were consumed with other issues going on that they didn’t feel thankful.  Maybe just after one of them was healed, they found out their donkey died and they would have to walk to the priest and it was a long way away.  Maybe they were mad about the way Jesus had healed them.  Maybe they had expected their healing to be a more elaborate affair.  Maybe they were bothered that though they were healed their skin itched intensely and they were consumed with that.  Maybe they had another issue and they were hoping Jesus would heal that too and He didn’t.

Maybe they felt entitled and didn’t think they should thank Him.  Maybe they felt He was just doing His job. 

We, as humans, find many reasons to not feel thankful.

I was having a great time these past few weeks thinking about gratitude and all the great blessings in my life. 

Then near the end of the week, there were a couple things that didn’t go my way.  It made me feel sad and even mad and a little discouraged.  It wasn’t as fun to think about all the way Heavenly Father had blessed me with.  It was easier to feel bugged and concentrate my thoughts in that direction. 

That is when I found a quote from Pres. Monson that I had marked sometime before.  I thought it was interesting that I would find this in the midst of what was going on.  This is from his general conference talk 2 years ago.  Here is the quote:

When we encounter challenges and problems in our lives, it is often difficult for us to focus on our blessings. However, if we reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much we have been given.

Pres. Thomas S. Monson

“The Divine Gift of Gratitude”

This helped me to realize that the true measure of our gratitude to our Heavenly Father is not to thank Him when things are going great but to be able to find the ways He is blessing and helping us in the midst of challenges and problems. 

This isn’t a new thought, but I feel that Heavenly Father wanted me to have this experience so that I would share it in my talk.  This sounds pretty basic, but I feel that someone else in this congregation besides just me, was supposed to have that reminder today.

Pres. Monson spoke about counting our blessings in the most recent general conference.  Let me remind you what he said:

We are blessed with so very much. And yet it is sometimes difficult to view the problems and permissiveness around us and not become discouraged. I have found that, rather than dwelling on the negative, if we will take a step back and consider the blessings in our lives, including seemingly small, sometimes overlooked blessings, we can find greater happiness.

I would recommend this same exercise to you—namely, that you take an inventory of your life and look specifically for the blessings, large and small, you have received.

I know that all of us have been given blessings that we haven’t even considered.  I think that Pres. Monson is trying to tell us that the more we consider on the many blessings God gives us, our view opens and we see can even more.  Blessings that we had not even considered before.

My favorite movie of all time is “It’s a Wonderful Life”.  I like to watch it sometime during the Christmas season and so I will be watching it again soon!  George Bailey has some tough breaks in his life and is consumed by his problems, which are large.  He is given an opportunity to see how much he has been blessed.  It has a quick happy ending but that is because it is a movie.  But the concept is the same for our own lives:   Even when things aren’t going so well, we need to search for all the ways Heavenly Father is blessing and helping us.

Coming back to Pres. Monson, in his general conference talk from 2 years ago, he also mentions another experience of Jesus and gratitude.

As [Jesus] traveled in the wilderness for three days, more than 4,000 people followed and traveled with Him. He took compassion on them, for they may not have eaten during the entire three days. His disciples, however, questioned, “Whence should we have so much bread in the wilderness, as to fill so great a multitude?” Like many of us, the disciples saw only what was lacking.

“And Jesus saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? And [the disciples] said, Seven, and a few little fishes.

“And [Jesus] commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.

“And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.”

Notice that the Savior gave thanks for what they had—and a miracle followed: “And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets full.”

A miracle followed when Jesus expressed thanks for what they had, though it wasn’t nearly enough.   I had read this scripture story many times and had never taken it to be a story of expressing thanks.  I really appreciated Pres. Monson’s thoughts on this. 

In talking about being thankful, I haven’t mentioned yet how much easier it is to think about the things that are wrong.  Last week, I got to listen to one of my favorite talks by Elder Holland, The Tongue of Angels and it was great to be reminded of a few things he said that deal with the topic of negativity and complaining:

I love what Elder Orson F. Whitney once said: “The spirit of the gospel is optimistic; it trusts in God and looks on the bright side of things. The opposite or pessimistic spirit drags men down and away from God, looks on the dark side, murmurs, complains, and is slow to yield obedience.” ⁶ We should honor the Savior’s declaration to “be of good cheer.” ⁷ (Indeed, it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost any other!) Speak hopefully. Speak encouragingly, including about yourself. Try not to complain and moan incessantly. As someone once said, “Even in the golden age of civilization someone undoubtedly grumbled that everything looked too yellow.” I have often thought that Nephi’s being bound with cords and beaten by rods must have been more tolerable to him than listening to Laman and Lemuel’s constant murmuring. ⁸ Surely he must have said at least once, “Hit me one more time. I can still hear you.”

Yes, life has its problems, and yes, there are negative things to face, but please accept one of Elder Holland’s maxims for living—no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse.

It doesn’t take any special giftedness or smartness to see what is lacking in a situation.  It sometimes does take looking deeper or pondering to find what is good or hopeful in a situation.  And if there is anything I have learned in life, it is that our Father in Heaven can masterfully make something good happen in the midst of any situation, no matter how bad it may seem.

In fact, I wonder if this is one of the most important lessons He would like for us to learn in this life.

Almost always, with any blessing, there are always aspects of it that may not be good.  For example, in the pre-earth life when we learned we would have this earth to come to and gain a body, we shouted for joy.  Now, here on earth, we see that it is not always easy to shout for joy.  Everyone was given a wonderful body to use while we are here.  This is a huge blessing.  But even with this huge blessing, things go wrong.  Our body doesn’t always work the way we want it to.  We get sick, body parts break down or don’t work right.  But even with the things that go wrong, the blessing of having a body and learning all the lessons from having one, are practically innumerable.

It is a great blessing to have children, but sometimes those children don’t listen to what we tell them, don’t make good choices, and it makes us feel stress or disappointment.  Sometimes when children are small, all their needs can be overwhelming and hard for us to always appreciate them.  Or you may even have the great blessing of a child going on a mission and you may miss them intensely.  Or you may have the privilege of loving someone so much and then you lose them to death.

The trick in this life is to play the “Glad Game”.  Any of you who have seen the movie or read the book “Pollyanna” are familiar with this game.  It is to find something positive or hopeful in any negative situation that you might encounter. 

It seems to me that Pres. Monson is asking us to play the glad game. 

He said :  We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude.

I want to repeat this thought of Pres. Monson’s again:

When we encounter challenges and problems in our lives, it is often difficult for us to focus on our blessings. However, if we reach deep enough and look hard enough, we will be able to feel and recognize just how much we have been given.

If we cultivate this ability, then when things happen that we can’t find any good in, we will have developed enough faith to know that God isn’t finished yet.  Or maybe we are just having some of those experiences so that we can appreciate when things do go well.

Let’s always try to be the tenth leper.  Even when things aren’t going well, let’s make miracles happen by concentrating on the great blessings we are all still receiving from God all the time.  For some, it will require thinking hard and digging deep, but I think Jesus and Pres. Monson were trying to show us that miracles occur when we take the time to be thankful always.

I would like to end with a couple thankful scriptures.  The first is found in Alma:

 37 ^aCounsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for ^bgood; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the ^cmorning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.

Alma 37:37

And this scripture from Psalms that my mom used to always repeat to me as a child which is one of my very favorites:

24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.