Happy New Years ~ Goals for 2011

Another year has come and gone; 2010 was a great year and 2011 will bring many new and exciting experiences. I love the fresh start of a new year, new month, new week, and new day.

My family experienced many new things this past year, but the best part of our year was that we added a little one to our family. It was the highlight of the year for sure. Becoming a parent is a great blessing. It is a privilege to be entrusted a little baby to raise, train, and teach. I am so grateful to be a new daddy.

In 2010, I also began a graduate study program in Human Resources and business management at Utah State University. So far it has been a lot of work but a great experience. I have met many new friends and colleagues.

Today, my wife and I were asked to speak in church. Our topic was priorities and goals.

My beautiful wife gave a great talk on making relationships a top priority this year. She gave great insights on how to enrich our current relationships with our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, our spouse and family members, as well as friends and colleagues. Due to time restraints, she was not able to speak about developing new relationships which is also important.
My talk leaned more towards setting goals, especially spiritual goals.

I decided to break up the word GOALS and focus on some key ideas and suggestions for spiritual growth in the New Year.

G ospel, Get to work, Go to the temple. Sharing the gospel and our testimonies of it will help strengthen us and those around us. Get to work - by being anxiously engaged in a good cause.

27Verily I say, men should be ^aanxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

Go to the temple - here we can learn about the plan of salvation with lessons of where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going after this life.

O bedience - Jesus Christ is our perfect example of obedience unto God the Father. He gave His will unto the Father in all things and lived a sinless life. We should obey the commandments and learn to follow Him.

A t-one-ment - When we develop a personal relationship with Christ, we can become At-One with Him. By repenting of our sins and applying the Savior's atonement for us, we can be forgiven and progress spiritually.

L ove - We should love our neighbors as ourselves. We should love our spouse and children. And we should love life! Charity is the pure love of Christ. In the Book of Mormon we learn more about this. REPLACE the word charity with Christ . This is a true principle for everyone.

46Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

47But ^acharity is the pure ^blove of Christ, and it endureth ^cforever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48Wherefore, my beloved brethren, ^apray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true ^bfollowers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall ^cbe like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be ^dpurified even as he is pure. Amen.

S acrifice, Service, Spirit, Savior - These all go hand in hand. As we sacrifice our time and talents to serve others we are following the Savior's example and allowing the spirit to be our guide.

With my ideas and suggestions, perhaps we can set some new goals to improve in any one of these areas.

In 2011, I hope to work on going to the temple once per week and developing a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer, scripture study, and temple worship.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!