Death-the gateway to Eternal Life!

A tribute and dedication to my niece,

Kimberly Mae

Kimberly Mae Tokanang

January 10, 2009 - January 23, 2009

Daddy's little princess, Kimberly Mae Tokanang, died peacefully in the arms of her mother on January 23, 2009 surrounded by family and friends and has returned to the loving embrace of her Heavenly Father.

This innocent, precious little baby who is my niece came to this earth to simply receive her mortal body, inspire and humble those she touched with her sweet spirit, and then returned back home to her Father in Heaven.

As I attended her funeral yesterday the spirit of the Holy Ghost was present and very strong.  I cried tears of joy, not even getting a chance to know this special niece.  The music was beautiful and the testimonies born were very uplifting.  I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is real and has been restored to this earth. 

 Through this experience my faith has increased, my testimony strengthened.  I am grateful for what she taught me in her short mortal sojourn.  Though her stay was brief, she brought a new light of hope and reinforcement to the truths I have learned throughout the years.  How grateful I am for an understanding of God's eternal plan of happiness and salvation.  Families can Be Together Forever and I will get to see her be raised one day.

A vision given to Joseph Smith the Prophet, in the temple at Kirtland, Ohio, January 21, 1836

D&C 137:10

10 And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.

Moroni 8:12

12 But little children are alive in Christ, even from the foundation of the world; if not so, God is a partial God, and also a changeable God, and a respecter to persons; for how many little children have died without baptism!

Through Jesus Christ, we can all be redeemed from our fallen state.  The fullness of the gospel has been restored with all the saving ordinances to help us gain our eternal salvation.  The keys, rights, and authority of the priesthood have also been restored to make it possible to receive these ordinances.

Little Kimberly waited nearly six hours after being taken off life support to receive a name and blessing into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Her great-grandfather blessed her with the power and authority of this restored priesthood and within seconds she drifted off to the next phase of life!   This is a great testimony builder for me!  I love my Heavenly Father and although we don't always understand His will and purposes, it is He who's work we're engaged in as the Father of our spirits. 

Moses 1:39

For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

An Apostle in our Midst!

Elder D. Todd Christofferson- the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints attended BYU-Idaho on Tuesday January 27, 2009.

He was sustained as the newest apostle April 05, 2008.

Yesterday was an awesome experience. To be in the presence of one of the Lord's living apostles is quite a blessing. Elder Christofferson spoke to a student body of over 12,000 students and faculty at the weekly devotional held at the University. I got to go to the stage afterwards and shake he and his wife's hands and say hello. Very uplifting experience every time!

His message was to "Always Remember Him." Elder Christofferson gave three ideas on how to always remember the Savior, Jesus Christ.

1. Seek to do His will in all things.
2. Accept our responsibility and live consciously to consecrating ourselves as
disciples of Christ.
3. Living by faith and without fear.

A scripture he shared with each idea is as follows in correspondence with the number above.

1. 3 Nephi 27:13-15 13
Behold I have given unto you my ^agospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the ^bwill of my Father, because my Father sent me.

14 And my Father sent me that I might be ^alifted up upon the ^bcross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the ^ccross, that I might ^ddraw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be ^ejudged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

15 And for this cause have I been ^alifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their ^bworks.

2. Alma 12:12-15
12 And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning ^adeath, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be ^bjudged according to our works.

13 Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.

14 For our ^awords will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the ^bmountains to fall upon us to ^chide us from his presence.

15 But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our everlasting ^ashame that all his ^bjudgments are just; that he is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.

3. D&C 6:33-37
33 ^aFear not to do ^bgood, my sons, for whatsoever ye ^csow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow ^dgood ye shall also reap good for your ^ereward.

34 Therefore, fear not, little ^aflock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are ^bbuilt upon my rock, they cannot prevail.

35 Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and ^asin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.

36 ^aLook unto me in every ^bthought; ^cdoubt not, fear not.

37 ^aBehold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the ^bnails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall ^cinherit the ^dkingdom of heaven. Amen.

Beautiful Sabbath Day! Gladys Knight-A Mormon?

Today at church I was reminded of a lot of simple truths. First of all, in priesthood meeting we discussed the spirit of Elijah...

From the Old Testament we learn:
Malachi 4:5-6
5 ¶ Behold, I will ^asend you ^bElijah the prophet ^cbefore the coming of the ^dgreat and dreadful ^eday of the Lord: 6 And he shall ^aturn the ^bheart of the ^cfathers to the ^dchildren, and the heart of the ^echildren to their fathers, lest I come and ^fsmite the ^gearth with a ^hcurse.

I am very grateful for Family History and genealogy work. This helps us unite and link our families together through sacred temple ordinances forever. I am so grateful for the truths found in Latter-day revelation.

In the Doctrine and Covenants, a book of revelations to the prophet Joseph Smith the following was recorded:

1. D&C 110: 13-14
   13 After this vision had closed, another great and glorious ^avision burst upon us; for ^bElijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:
   14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

Then in Sunday school we learned about the Atonement.
I was reminded of the importance of applying Christ's atonement in our daily lives. We CAN be forgiven of all our sins, mistakes, weaknesses, and short-comings.

1. 2 Ne. 25: 16
   16 And after they have been ^ascattered, and the Lord God hath scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations, yea, even down from generation to generation until they shall be persuaded to ^bbelieve in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement, which is infinite for all mankind—and when that day shall come that they shall believe in Christ, and worship the Father in his name, with pure hearts and ^cclean hands, and look not forward any more for ^danother Messiah, then, at that time, the day will come that it must needs be expedient that they should believe these things.

In our last meeting, Sacrament service, we listened to an older couple speak on the topic of conversion and being converted to Christ and His gospel.

"Conversion means 'to turn with.' Conversion is a turning from the ways of the world to, and staying with, the ways of the Lord. Conversion brings a mighty change of heart. Thus, a true convert is 'born again,' walking with a newness of life."
-Elder Russell M. Nelson, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles Ensign Nov. 2005.

Tonight, to top off the day of spiritual feasting and uplifting of the soul my sister-in-law and I went to a missionary fireside where we learned of our true purpose and identity here on earth. That is to be a disciple of Christ and invite others unto Christ continually!
What a great day it has been!

I found this beautiful arrangement for one of my favorite hymns sung by Gladys Knight and her choir Saints Unified Voices. She and her family have been Latter-day Saints for ten plus years now. She is a great example of faith to all and especially the African communities who love her tunes. Please enjoy this song: "I Am a Child of God." Here is her website for more gospel tunes: http://www.suvchoir.org/multimedia.html

glenn beck

This is simply worth watching!

ENJOY!

Lehi's Dream!

Wow! This is an amazing dream found in 1 Nephi 8! The symbolism in this chapter of scripture is very interesting for everyone alive today. When it speaks of a great and spacious building and the mists of darkness I think of the world and the temptations of Satan. And then when it speaks of the tree of life and the rod of iron which leads to it I am reminded of Jesus Christ, eternal life, and the words of Christ that lead us there.

Today, like always there are only two sides, white or black, light or darkness, good and evil. There is no middle ground per say that is safe...no sitting on the fence in idleness. We are either going up or down, but never at a standstill. Each of us must choose to follow the Lord in righteousness or be enshrouded by evil, darkness, and captivity. It's very easy to find ourselves in the gray zone bouncing back and forth between the two or trying to hold one foot to each side.

Lehi's dream illustrates the latter-days that we're living in. I encourage you to go to this web page and read this chapter: http://scriptures.lds.org/en/1_ne/8
It is very eye opening!

JOY!

2 Nephi 2:25 "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy!"

What a simple phrase with a lot of value and meaning!

I hope everyone is enJOYing January and living a happy productive life with an abundance mentality and attitude for this New Year!

Life is great and meant to be enjoyed!

Hope you've had a blessed Sabbath Day!

2009 Has arrived!

2009 ---- A time to Rise and Shine

With the new year and everyone setting goals and resolutions I, too, am determined to do this very thing. My goal, however is to do this often throughout the year of 2009. Many will write goals and maybe make it to February or March perhaps, but then give up or get distracted, lose focus and eventually fall back into their bad habits.

It's interesting to me to see how many people use this one day (jan01) or week of the beginning of a new year to set goals, hopes, and dreams to do better. It's like the date has some magic or renewal of energy that gets people thinking and excited. What about the rest of the year? Do we track progress for improvement? Have deadlines? Why can't each new month, week, or day be the beginning of renewed energy?

To me goals are dreams with deadlines! And making a year from now the deadline is very overwhelming...we must take baby steps and track our progress over the course of a day, week, or month. This helps us to see small improvements, reward ourselves, and continue on the path with endurance.

You seldom see anyone wanting to do worse, however than the previous year, but why is it we tend to slip back to mediocrity and bad habits.

I believe its because we are creatures of habit. Each and everyone of us get into the habit of doing the same things over and over, whether good or bad, we find ourselves spinning our wheels and in the ruts of life. When this occurs we can't seem to see into the horizon of light and opportunity of improvement. We become lax and complacent thinking we're doomed to some awful drudgery of life. That all odds are against us. It's not so.

It doesn't have to be this way. Accountability for ones endeavors helps keep a person aligned and on track to accomplish his or her goal. We must create a laser focus often to see if we're still on the tracks (goals) we've set up for ourselves. And because we are creatures of habit this generally involves two parties...someone who cares and that will hold us accountable.

I believe writing down one's goals is an essential step in the process, but action is required to make things happen, and then often review and tracking progress is critical to staying on track.

Many of these ideas and principles I have discovered through reading and study. I have discovered a very insightful web resource: www.stephencovey.com that is free and easy to set up goals and check them daily or weekly.



You will find my goals on there and I hope to challenge a few of you that want to help to hold me accountable this coming month and year.

A few goals that I have set for myself this year are the following:

Spiritual: Read scriptures 30 mins/day with journal notes and attend the temple once/week or 50 times in 2009!
Physical: Exercise 30+mins/day 5 days/week
Mind/Personal Development: Read/listen to audio 30 mins/day or 1 new book/month.