Resolutions ~ Part Three

   Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take four minutes to seven minutes to read from start to finish.

This post focuses on a BYU Devotional in January 1994, and it is called "Resolutions" by President Joe J. Christensen. This post is part three, I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the 

Devotional, and I hope that you would be able to learn something new while you are reading through this

post. 

President Christensen has mentioned the following; "Spiritual Resolutions

Finally, the fourth resolve mentioned by everyone in the poll: I will grow spiritually - I will increase in favor with God.

In order to grow spiritually, there are a few items that are essential. ... If we are to increase in “favor with God,” we must resolve to overcome as much as possible the sin of human pride. 

... That means that everyone of us, to one degree or another, suffers from the problem. No one of us is completely free from its effects, but we must do all in our power to overcome its influence. Pride creeps up on us, because as human beings we have a remarkable capacity to fall under its influence even when we think we are in the safest of religious settings. ... Even in Church callings there can be danger. 

We may fall into the trap of aspiring to some position or another. ... Where we serve does not matter. How we serve matters a great deal. Pride causes us to become overly concerned as we compare ourselves with others about how intelligent we think we are, ..., to what organizations we belong, ..., how much money we have, what race or nationality we are, what kind of car we drive, to what church we belong, how much education we have been privileged to acquire, and on, and on, and on.

... Your opportunities, your relative prosperity, and our stratified society make overcoming inappropriate pride a genuine challenge. ... Pride of intellect - the arrogance that thinks it knows more than it does, ... , smiles at the cultural crudity of contemporaries, and ... Pride of power - the passion to achieve it, ..., to feel superior to others, 

to give orders with a strident voice and move men about like pawns on a chessboard. [McCracken, What Is Sin? pp. 11–12; emphasis added]

"One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is
this: to rise above the little things." - John Burroughs.

Resolve now that you will read from the scriptures daily. President Benson has repeatedly emphasized that we should include some reading every day from the Book of Mormon. It really is another testament that Jesus is the Christ. ... Even slow readers can read two pages in ten minutes or less. 

If we started each January first reading just two pages of the Book of Mormon each day, by the time we came to September, we would have finished another reading. Then we could start over and continue to, as Nephi said, “feast upon the words of Christ.” 

If you don’t think you can handle two pages per day, do as a friend of mine suggests: Try fifteen seconds at least. Read at least one verse. Every decision of your life could be more inspired if you were to do this consistently. 

Next, resolve really to pray and not just say prayers. There is a big difference. Learn to pour out the real in-depth feelings of your heart to your Heavenly Father, rather than merely going through the form of saying about exactly the same trite words and phrases that you have become accustomed to use. 

Remember that if we don’t feel like praying, as President Brigham Young counseled, that is the time to pray until we do feel like it. ... Many of you brethren and some of you sisters have already been on full-time missions. For all of you single young men who haven’t, resolve now that you will prepare yourself physically, mentally, emotionally, and morally to serve as a full-time missionary. There is no other experience in which you will grow spiritually more effectively and efficiently than you will while serving a full-time mission. 

... Next, if you are really serious about growing spiritually, then “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” The scriptures tell us that “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work” (Exodus 20:8–10).

... Temptations to break the Sabbath are even greater now than they used to be. Television is a challenge. ... As you know, some of the best games are televised on Sunday, and whether it is Super Bowl or not, the temptation is great. ... Or, maybe for you it is justifying yourself watching other shows on Sunday that are anything but spiritually uplifting.

I have discovered that we can take advantage of technology. You who have them can simply use VCRs to record the program you don’t want to miss on Sunday, and then, in a fraction of the time on another day at your own convenience, you can watch that special event, fast-forward through the commercials and time outs, and not 

miss a thing.

... Choose from among the following suggestions from this First Presidency message: As we plan our Sunday activities, ... set aside time for ... meditation, and for service to others. ... Read the scriptures, ..., study the lives

and teachings of the prophets; prepare church lessons and other church assignments [for example, study for 

your religion class]; write to or visit relatives and friends; write to missionaries; enjoy uplifting music ... ; read 

with a child; do genealogical research, [work on your] personal histories; sing Church hymns; ... develop our appreciation for the cultural arts ... ; friendship nonmembers ...; visit the sick, the aged, and the lonely. 

[Spencer W. Kimball, “Therefore I Was Taught,” Ensign, January 1982, p. 3]

Make Sundays special, and they will help make you special in the sight of the Lord. ... Keeping the Lord’s day holy will do the same for you. ... It will take energy and effort to keep the resolutions about which I have spoken this evening. I pray that we will do this so that we can increase in “wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” And, in so doing, we will become more like the Savior every day for the rest of our lives. ... "

If you would like to read the whole devotional either now or in your own time, here is the link below.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/joe-j-christensen/resolutions/

Stay Tuned until next time.

Resolutions ~ Part Two

  Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take five minutes to eight minutes to read from start to finish.

This post focuses on a BYU Devotional in January 1994, and it is called "Resolutions" by President Joe J. Christensen. This post is part two, I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the 

Devotional, and I hope that you would be able to learn something new while you are reading through this

post. 

President Christensen has mentioned the following; "Physical Resolutions

Now for the second resolution. I will be resolute in preserving and strengthening my physical health. It is impressive that more than 160 years ago the Lord revealed a health code that we call the Word of Wisdom, which can make all the difference in how we feel and perform. With good health, we can be happier and more successful. Without it, we are curtailed in almost every other way. Resolve to get an adequately balanced diet.

Getting healthy nutrition is another area where it is hard to perform up to the level of our knowledge. ... Resolve to follow the do’s in the Word of Wisdom: Eat plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains. Discover that a meal does not have to feature meat every time in order to be enjoyable. In addition to improving your health, your 

budget will also be benefited. It really is a “win-win” situation.

Then, resolve to avoid completely the don’ts - tobacco, alcohol, and addictive stimulants, coffee, tea, and drugs in any form and you will be blessed in a multitude of ways. If any of these negative practices have been, or are a part of your life, right now, tonight, resolve that in your future there will be absolutely no participation in tobacco, alcohol, or illegal drugs, ever! 

... Resolve to get adequate physical exercise. Choose some sport or other vigorous physical exercise that is consistent with your situation and physical condition and be regular in pursuing it. Get the blood circulating and give your major muscles a workout. An appropriate amount of time and effort spent in exercising will help you to be more effective in all other areas of your life.

I don’t know what your choice will be. ... Of course, you need to make your own choice, but resolve to do something physical regularly. Resolve to get adequate rest. Really follow the counsel of the Lord where he said: “Cease to sleep longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated” (D&C 88:124).

Some of you are not getting the rest that you need. Some are habituated to going to bed late and sleeping much longer than your system really needs, thus missing out on some of the personal inspiration you could be receiving. Adequately rested, there is great value that can come to you as an early riser. ... "If you are to be successful as a General Authority, ... I will give you one piece of advice: 

Go to bed early and get up early. If you do, your body and mind will become rested and then, in the quiet of those early morning hours, you will receive more flashes of inspiration and insight than at any other time of the day." - Elder Lee. ...  You can change, even if you consider yourself a “night person.” Set the habit in twenty-one days. When it comes right down to it, it is a matter of strong resolve and “mind over mattress.”

"New Year's Resolutions"

Social Resolutions

Now to the third major resolution: I resolve to be a truer friend and to become more socially acceptable to people of high standards. Learn to be the kind of person with whom others of high standards enjoy associating. We all would like to have more friends. 

... Dale Carnegie wrote How to Win Friends and Influence People. ... You should read and reread the entire book. His suggestions are equally valuable today. Among them are: Become genuinely interested in other people. Smile. [Remember, the Lord commanded us to “be of good cheer.”] 

Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. Talk in terms of the other person’s interests. Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely. [Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1982), p. 112] 

Occasionally, look in a full-length mirror. Certainly we should not become obsessed with how we look, but we should work to improve our physical appearance. President Kimball said: ... You might take a careful inventory of your habits, your speech, your appearance, your weight, ... and your eccentricities. ... Take each item and analyze it. What do you like in others? What personality traits please you in others? Are your dresses too short, too long, too revealing, too old fashioned? ... Do you laugh raucously? ... Are you interested only in your own interests? [TSWK, pp. 295–96]

The Lord expects us to do the best we can with what he has given us. ... After you have done what you can to improve your appearance, forget about yourself and think of others and their needs. Rather than working so hard to find Mister or Miss Right, work harder to become Mister or Miss Right and you will more likely have the social life and marriage you desire. You will have good friends, and, in the end, I hope you can be fortunate enough to marry your best friend.

... Our challenge is to resolve to love everyone in the appropriate way. You all know there are different kinds of love - the romantic, the brotherly, and the kind that enables us to love our enemies. The Savior universally commands us to love our neighbors and even our enemies. On the other hand, the expression of romantic love is anything but a universal commandment. 

The full expression of romantic, physical affection by you is designed for you and one other person only, inside the bonds of marriage. If you remember that, then you will avoid the temptation to make the romantic expressions of physical affection merely a game, and you will be sure to protect and preserve yourself from the immense problems that come from the immorality that is so prominent in today’s culture. You have heard so many times that your body is a temple and not a visitors’ center. No tours are permitted."

Stay Tuned until next time.

Resolutions ~ Part One

 Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately five minutes to read from start to finish.

What is your understanding of the word "Resolutions"? What does "Resolutions" means to a immediate relative? 

This post focuses on a BYU Devotional in January 1994, and it is called "Resolutions" by President Joe J. Christensen. This post is part one, I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the 

Devotional, and I hope that you would be able to learn something new while you are reading through this post. 

President Christensen has mentioned the following;

"... You are going in the right direction, and if you continue choosing the right, you will arrive at a destination that will be good for you now and in the hereafter. ... To a degree, we all know the gospel and what we should be doing in our lives. Very likely, we know more than we apply. Right? ... I would like to visit with you about resolutions - resolutions to conform our lives more closely to what we already know about the gospel. 

I am sure that some of us have made a bundle of New Year’s resolutions, and maybe a few of us haven’t chosen to make any because of prior problems we have had in keeping them. Don’t overlook the power that making good resolutions can have to help make your life happier and more successful regardless of your past behavior. 

"may the new year bring peace, love,and happiness."

Let’s explore for a moment the term resolution. As a noun, it suggests steadfastness of purpose. As an adjective, resolute is characterized by firmness or determination. 

As a verb, resolve brings to mind such terms as courage, mettle, fortitude, tenacity, backbone, and moral stamina in the face of hardship, temptations, and unfavorable odds (see American Heritage Dictionary [Boston: Houghton-Mifflin]).

I was anxious to know something of your concerns and aspirations, and so I had an informal survey taken of 150 young adults who were asked to list three resolutions they felt would help them to become more successful and happy during the new year. Almost everyone in the survey (98 percent) included a resolution to increase the level of his or her spirituality. 

Two out of three (68 percent) indicated they would like to improve their social skills. Half (49 percent) indicated a desire to increase their level of physical fitness, and half (48 percent) wanted to grow intellectually. Everyone indicated a desire to improve. After all, self-improvement is at the heart of why we are here in mortality.

... In the Joseph Smith Translation (Matthew 5:50), we read: “Ye are therefore commanded to be perfect.” The translation of the Greek word for perfect means “complete, finished, fully developed.” ... We believe that the Savior meant what he said and that, for us, becoming like our Father in Heaven and the Savior is a commandment - not just a suggestion. We should strive continually to become more like them.

... In other words, the Savior increased or developed in the same areas that those of you who were included in the poll indicated that you would like to improve, that is: - intellectually (in both wisdom and knowledge) 

- physically (in stature) - socially (in favor with man) - spiritually (in favor with God).

I am convinced that if we made and kept resolutions in these four areas, we would have a happier and more successful new year and every year for the rest of our lives.

Intellectual Resolutions

First, consider this one: I resolve to expand my intellectual horizons. I will increase in wisdom. This year, commit yourself to read good books - not just when you are attending the university or college, but throughout your life. Some people learn to read but don’t read. ... At some point in our lives, we learned to read. But the question tonight is: Are we reading? Are we growing in wisdom?

... We do not have a professional, theologically trained and salaried clergy. Leaders and teachers are called from among the membership - people like you and me. In terms of learning, however, the scriptural commandment to 

us is: “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” and, “Become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people” (D&C 88:118, 90:15; emphasis added).

Notice the emphasis on best books and good books. What we choose to read will make a huge difference in the development of our minds and character. We cannot justify mentally shifting into neutral and failing to exert our efforts to make progress intellectually. ... So whether or not you are in school, the challenge is the same. 

We should continue learning throughout our entire lives and, especially, learning more about the gospel. ... If we read continually, we would not be able to read more than the smallest fraction of the books in print. We should

not waste time reading anything but that which would be uplifting and instructive. 

... Remember, the scripture said, “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom” (D&C 88:118; emphasis added). 

... Here is a practical suggestion: Ask a few respected people who you know are readers to share with you the titles of the five books besides the scriptures they feel have had the most positive influence in their lives. You will soon accumulate a good list of titles for starters.

In addition to making a resolution that we will read only the best in print, it would be very beneficial if now we resolved not to watch even one R- or X-rated (NC-17) movie, video, or television show from now on. That may sound extreme to some of you, but I assure you that much of our future happiness and success depends on it.

There is safety in following the prophet. President Benson has said: Consider carefully the words of the prophet Alma to his errant [and promiscuous] son, Corianton, “Forsake your sins, and go no more after the lusts of your eyes.” (Alma 39:9)

“The lusts of your eyes.” In our day, what does that expression mean? Movies, television programs, and video recordings that are both suggestive and lewd. Magazines and books that are obscene and pornographic. We counsel you, ... not to pollute your minds with such degrading matter, for the mind through which this filth 

passes is never the same afterwards. 

Don’t see R-rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive, or pornographic. [“To the ‘Youth of the Noble Birthright,’” Ensign, May 1986] In our day, this is one of the most effective tools Satan has to pacify and lull us into carnal security, cheat our souls, and lead us carefully down to hell (see 2 Nephi 28:21). ..."

Stay Tuned until next time.

New Year, New Me

 Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately five minutes to read from start to finish.

I know for myself that I have read a lot of posts on social media accounts that some friends has stated "New Year, New Me." How accurate is that saying? How often do you hear people who has said that saying at the beginning of each year? How can we choose to become new to ourselves during the new year?

"New Year. New Me. Same dreams. Fresh starts."

 I would like to share with you some suggestions of what I have considered about ways of how I can choose to become new myself throughout this year.

~ I would like to focus on drinking more water each day, and I will do my best to keep track of my daily water intake. 

~ I would like to focus on eating more healthier food each day. 

~ I would like to focus on making a habit of regular exercising with a friend. ~ I would like to focus on spending less money towards purchasing extra items. 

~ I would like to focus on getting minimum of seven hours of sleep at night. ~ I would like to focus on doing personal scripture study daily. ~ I would like Jacob and I continue to focus on more into listening to General Conference talks.

Why would I like to focus on drinking more water each day? I know that it is healthier to drink water more than it is to drink soda drinks and drinking juices. 

Why would I like to focus on eating more healthier food each day? I know that for the past several months; I have gotten myself into a habit of eating small serving (62 millimeter/2.2 oz to be exact) of ice cream each day and I know that is not healthy. Each day when I consumed ice cream, I have also been eating a fruit each day. 

I hope I would be able to eat ice cream a few times a week instead of everyday of the week.

Why would I like to focus on making a habit of regular exercising with a friend? I know that at times when I go on walks by myself, I feel lonely and sometimes I just do not feel like listening to Spotify during my walks. I think it would be the best for my well-being if I was able to go on walks with a friend.

~ Why would I like to focus on spending less money towards getting extra items? Throughout last year; I have spent $100 US dollars ($130 ish Australian dollars) towards video games for Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 because I missed playing the Playstation 2 when I was younger, and Jacob and I have been given to us Xbox 360 for free by a friend. 

We decided to keep the Xbox 360 because a friend thought the Xbox 360 was broken, and she told me that if I could fix it, Jacob and I can keep it. It was a simple fix, and in order for us to keep it to use it, we needed to spend money towards getting controllers. 

I have spent money towards new clothing because I have not been able to fit some clothes that I used to wear in Australia because I have been gaining a lot of weight, and I would lose weight but just not a whole lot for me to fit into clothes that I used to wear in Australia.

I have been able to donate a portion of clothes that does not fit me, and I have been able to put into a box aside for Jacob's and mine future children to fit into. I am hoping that this year I would not get tempted to spend as much as I did last year into clothing. Every piece of clothing does adds up quickly. 

Why would I like to focus on getting minimum of seven hours of sleep at night? I know that last year, I tend to struggled of getting enough sleep at nights because I would be too focused on playing games on my phone after my bedtime and I do not keep track of the time. I would hope throughout this year that I would do better and not playing games on my phone beyond my bedtime. I used to get minimum about six hours ish of sleep last year. 

I do hope that I would be able to self-discipline myself and allow myself to have seven hours of sleep at night. I would like to avoid having myself feeling too tired in the morning when I wake up, and I would like to be able to achieve as much as I can throughout the daytime when I do get enough of good night sleep. 

Why would I like to focus on doing personal scripture study daily? I would like to get into a habit of doing personal scripture study daily, and I missed reading my scriptures daily. So far of this year, I have not missed a day of doing daily scripture study. 

Why would I like Jacob and I to continue focus more into listening to General Conference talks? I know that Jacob and I have been doing great at listening to past General Conference talks as a couple ever since August last year during most mornings before we start our days, and during most evenings before we go to sleep. 

We currently have thirty-five years worth of listening to past General Conference talks until we have catch up to the most recent General Conference sessions (October 2020). We love learning so much while listening to past General Conference talks and it certainly does help me to work out topics to type up during the weeks time to time. 

In what ways are you going to do to become better yourself this year? 

Stay Tuned until next time.

The Time for New Year's Resolutions ~ Part Two

 Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately five minutes to read from start to finish.

This post focuses on BYU Devotional in January 1975 and it is called "The Time for New Year's Resolutions" by Brother Sterling W. Sill. This post is part two, and I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the Devotional. 

Brother Sill has mentioned the following; "Living according to the Bible

There are many places where we do not want to have any recessionals. It is very important that the Lord should be with us yet, lest we forget the promises we have made to him. ... If you read in the Book of Mormon the vision that was given to the prophet Nephi, you will see that he was permitted to see us and our time and what we did here as this great nation was being established upon the Western Hemisphere. 

The angel pointed out to Nephi that these people carried with them a book as they went forth in this great accomplishment. The angel said, “Knowest thou the meaning of the book?” Nephi said, “I know not.” Then the angel explained to him that this book was the great Bible record that was carried by these people as they came to our shores (see 1 Nephi 13:21–23).

As the “land of the Book,” we sell more Bibles in the United States than in all the rest of the world put together. We do more toward trying to help other people. This is the place where the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. This is the center of education. This is the center of invention. 

This is the place that the Lord looks to for the gospel to go out all over the earth. ... Every one of us was permitted to come to this earth with the hope that we might qualify for the celestial kingdom. If we are only interested in the terrestrial or the telestial kingdoms, it is not necessary to be baptized. 

"Cheers to a new year and another chance to get it right."
- Oprah Winfrey.

... You can get into the telestial kingdom without any education. If you are only interested in the telestial kingdom, it is not necessary to be married in the temple, because if you qualify only for the telestial kingdom you won’t have your families anyway.

One of the greatest ideas there is in the world for us is that we should be the “land of the Book.” Our lives should be lives patterned after and following the great commandments and directions that are given us in the Holy Bible and in the other volumes of scripture that have been given to assist us. 

This ability to prelive the future includes the opportunity to prelive our eternal lives. ... I do know that it would be something less fine, less glorious, less satisfactory, and we would be less happy. It would be as far below the celestial as the twinkle of a tiny star is below the blaze of the noonday sun.

Planning for our last hours

Somebody said that the most important event in life is death. That is the graduation day. Death is our only possible entrance into immortality. The last hour of life is the key hour. That is the hour that judges all of the other hours. Nobody can judge anybody’s life until his last hour. ... But suppose you go forward today and prelive your last hour and find out what kind of a person you would like to be at that time.

... Every day each one of us in some way trades off some future birthright for some present pottage. ... So on this occasion, I’d like to remind you again of this period of the New Year, when we must not forget the lessons that we have learned in the previous year. 

We should not forget the month of January with the authority Janus had of doors and beginnings. This is the one time each year when we look back into the past and then start over with new beginnings on a clean sheet. This past year we may have been plunged into several kinds of recessions which have made it a little more impressive that we should let no recessions get a hold in our lives.

We pray to God that no recession will ever take place in the significance of Easter or Memorial Day or Mother’s Day or Father’s Day or that first day or each week which is our Heavenly Father’s day. And as we commemorate Thanksgiving and that tremendously important period of Christmas, we ought not to cause a recession by packing up our tinsel and our ornaments and forgetting the significance for which these periods were set apart. 

Father, we ought to pass into the New Year as one of the greatest of all great days where we form convictions and make decisions that will govern all of our future lives. ... I don’t know of any place in the world that is a better place for you to be than here where you can partake of the Spirit of the Lord ... May God help each one of us to be successful ..." 

If you would like to read this whole Devotional either now or in your own time, here is the link below.

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/sterling-w-sill/time-new-years-resolutions/

Stay Tuned until next time.

The Time for New Year’s Resolutions ~ Part One

Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately five minutes to read from start to finish.

I know that I hoped for last year that this blog would reach total of either 9,500 total page views or 10,000 total page views. Overall, I was well pleased to know that this blog has reached over 9,500 total page views in December last year. 

This post focuses on BYU Devotional in January 1975 and it is called "The Time for New Year's Resolutions" by Brother Sterling W. Sill. This post is part one and I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the Devotional. 

Brother Sill has mentioned the following; "... The custom of celebrating holidays

We have a very interesting custom among us of setting aside special days on which we think about special things. We set aside the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day, and on this day we let our minds reach up and try to understand the purposes for which this day was set apart. 

We set apart the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day for the same reason. Someone has said that the human mind has some of the qualities of the tendrils of a climbing vine; that is, it tends to attach itself and draw itself upward by what it is put in contact with. 

Then we have some other great days on which we think about other wonderful ideas. We have Memorial Day, Easter, Pioneer Day, and the Fourth of July. We set aside the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving. On this day we try to build gratitude and appreciation into our lives. ... As we recount our blessings, we increase them. ...

Importance of the New Year

... This is a time when we make New Year’s resolutions. This is the time when we could make some determinations about the things that we have been thinking about during Christmas. Sometimes after some great event is over, we close our minds on it and forget about what we have done. 

That is, after Christmas, we repack our boxes of ornaments and tinsel. The Christmas themes are taken off the radio, and we go back to doing the things that we did before. Of course, when we do that, we miss one of the greatest values of Christmas. 

When we lay down the ideas that we have associated with during this high point of the year, we frequently have a corresponding recession in our lives. ... The Christmas season loses much of its constructive purpose when we repack our tinsel and forget about it. ...

"NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION
Something that goes in one year, and out the other."

Looking backward and forward in time

We come now to this very important period of January, this time of a new beginning. ... Janus had one interesting peculiarity; he had two faces. With one face he looked back into the past year to discover his own mistakes and his own successes. 

Then through the other face he looked up into the future to make plans for a new year and to put these great ideals into operation that had been formed during the past year.

... Now, God has a time-traveling ability, some of which he has given to the prophets as well as to us. We remember that Abraham was permitted to go back and relive the preexistence. He said, “Now the Lord has shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and that among all these there were many of the noble and great ones” (Abraham 3:22). 

The Lord also put John the Revelator into a time machine and sent him up into the future to prelive the final judgement. We have been given that same ability in our dreams and imaginations. ... President McKay didn’t learn how to be the President of the Church when he was ninety or seventy or sixty. 

He learned those lessons when he was five and ten and fifteen. And then in his dream he went back and relived that important experience so that he could reabsorb the original good. When he had awakened the next morning, even though now his mother had been gone for many years, it was as though he had actually had that experience with his mother during the nighttime.

Preliving the important events of our lives

But no one needs to be asleep in order to dream, and with equal benefit we can go back and relive our marriage vows. We can relive and revitalize the covenants which we made at the waters of baptism when we promised God that we would be faithful. 

We can go back and relive all of those sources in the past from which we may regain strength and ambition, and we can remake our decisions about them. Or we may push the lever in the other direction and prelive the future. ...

We can also prelive our marriage vows and determine in advance the kind of people we would like to be when that great occasion arrives. 

This is much better than being faced with the pressures of the moment when the occasion arises so that we clean ourselves up temporarily to get married. ... However, after the goal has been accomplished, we sometimes drop back into our past mediocrity because we are not prepared to carry through. 

Sometimes we even go to college or we go on missions or we do some other great thing, but because we lack the necessary buildup to give us the follow-through and determination, it doesn’t do us the good that was intended. ... But for all of us, this month of January is a month when we look up into the new year and also plan for more effective lives. We can prelive our marriages. We can prelive our deaths. 

Suppose we think occasionally of the kind of people we would like to be on that very special future occasion of our marriage, when we stand up in the house of the Lord that has been dedicated for his sacred purposes and take some very special person by the right hand and promise her or him that throughout our lifetimes we will be faithful. We will be true to those great trusts of life that have been given us as we have come into mortality."

Stay Tuned until next time.