Today in Sunday school the teacher asked if anyone in the class knew what a blog is or is someone who blogs. I raised my hand. Then he asked me why and I said, mostly to remember what I learn and make it searchable. This blog was started to encourage myself to make time and energy for being outgoing and getting to know other singles. Also, to cheer myself and you on in not giving up faith and hope as we live the gospel and avoid entitlement, bitterness, and the other emotions I sometimes find in our ranks.

I read recently that 71 percent of Latter-day Saints aged 18 and up are married. Plus we tend to marry within our faith - 83 percent of members who are married, marry within the church. So if you’re single in this church, you’re in the minority. So we need to stick together.

The teacher then talked about Nephi recording double the information in 2 Nephi 25 as is in Isaiah, which the chapter covers. Obviously blogging is a lot easier than etching words into metal. However, remembering was part of it to. He didn’t want us to forget God. We promise not to every week. But we still do. And reading scriptures is a reminder.

One thing I’ve noticed about blogging - sometimes my posts are higher quality than other posts. Contrast that with Nephi’s writing that took more time and effort which means he would only write the most important things, ideas with the most worth (didn’t he tell us that he was only writing what would benefit us?).

Anyway, it’s not every day I hear about blogging in a lesson at church. Not only did it inspire this post, but it has me thinking what would Nephi write if he blogged?

Elder Ballard spoke at Brigham Young University-Hawaii recently and he talked about new media - including blogs. He asked students to consider sharing their views about the LDS church on blogs.  New media also includes sites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and other sites where you can comment on and respond to articles about the church.

It reminds me of my friends at The More Good Foundation, whose main goal is to have positive and accurate information about the church rank highly in search engines.

I blog for a living (along with some other internet marketing consulting) and I’m a big fan. I agree that it’s important that we as members join in the online conversations about the church. This is like being in the world but not of the world. We leave the bad and benefit from the good.

It’s so nice to see the church say something positive about the Internet. Normally we talk about the dangers of the Internet - pornography and the like. But, as Elder Ballard points out we need to participate so that people get an accurate view of our beliefs.

Here’s a little sneak peek. I’m one of the owners of LDSFriends.com and we’re going to launch the new site soon. It’s a social networking site for members of the LDS church. We’re going to make it easy for anyone who is a part of our community to start a blog. Great news, isn’t it.

Warning: Once you start blogging it will be tough to stop!!

I found an article about what makes a happy marriage that has some insights that will be helpful in any relationship. One thing it mentions is that to have a strong relationship you must give up:

• Being right
• Controlling another person (this is not Christ’s way, but another’s)
• Unbridled self-expression
• Retaliation
• Withdrawing

I have had the wild ride when it comes to relationships! My ex-boyfriend got into unbridled self-expression and killed the relationship. He detailed four things he wanted me to change - in vivid detail. It was really critical and it left me in shock.

For example, he said I had oily skin!! Now, first I live in Utah, a dry climate that sends me running for the lotion and lip balm. Second, I actually have normal to dry skin. I guess that microderm face treatment I got made my skin a bit too smooth.

For the New Year let’s not focus on how someone can meet our expectations. Instead let’s focus on our relationship skills and what we can do to improve.

Today I gave my first talk in church in years - about tithing. I reviewed how tithing creates a bond of love with God - because sacrifice creates love. Over a year ago I was promised that if I continued to pay tithing I’d always have employment to support myself and my son. That promise was tested again and again as I quit jobs and lost jobs but always found something. At first I was almost sick with fear, but eventually I trusted Heavenly Father’s promise and stopped being so afraid. Instead I trusted.

Tithing prepares us to live the law of consecration - of having things in common and having no rich or poor. It gives us a chance to sacrifice what we have and brings us away from materialism and greed. It really is an honor to pay - it’s something we can be perfect at.

I thought it was almost miraculous that I was on time to church and clear. I spoke from my heart so early in the morning. I’m just not a morning person, although I’ve gotten better at it over time. I said a lot of prayers about that. I loved hearing the kind words from members of the ward about the talk I gave. It made an impact and all month as I knew I’d be giving it, it filled me with a thankful heart.

I don’t know why I never realized this simple plain thing before today. I was reading the scriptures about shepherds and it hit me. When Christ was born the visitors were representations of himself.

The shepherds came - representing his role as the Good Shepherd. Shepherds are the humble workers whose job it is to serve, take care of and watch over. “There is one God and one shepherd over all the earth” 1 Nephi 13:41.

The wise men (or kings) came with gifts. Christ has all wisdom - the baby Christ was becoming the ultimate wise man bearing gifts of eternal life with God and resurrection. The price or a cost is so high that only he could pay for them. The gifts that others bring of their finest are sacrifices honoring the gift that Jesus was going to give when he died and was resurrected. There are 3, perhaps symbolizing the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?
No earthly king can compare to heavenly kings. Ultimately Christ will be king on the earth. This is a position of power and leadership in person during the millenium. It’s like the opposite end of the shepherds because kings have glory and possessions, are rulers and have followers. They are worshipped. This is also his role as a judge. He is both the king and the shepherd but started out as the shepherd and will end as king.
Shepherds, wise men, and kings all come to visit Jesus as a baby or child. Each represents the ultimate role of the Savior for us. How I never got this before…interesting read in wikipedia on the nativity…

If you’re hoping to get married or remarried, this article has a list of expectations to discuss. Before you’re married is the time to start learning relationship skills. These relationship skills can help us be happier while we’re single too. Life is a practice test, you have to keep learning and practicing.
“James McNulty and Benjamin Karney at Ohio State University published a study in which they tested 82 newlyweds and re-tested them at six month intervals for four years following marriage.” (Meridian Magazine article on Marriage)

• couples who had high initial expectations for their marriage, but low relationship skills, weren’t that happy after 4 years.
  
• couples with low expectations and low relationship skills were fine.
  
• couples with high relationship skills only experienced high marital satisfaction if they also had high expectations for the marriage. If they had low expectations, they weren’t happy.
  

So the moral is to develop high relationship skills and keep your expectations high. Review a list of expectations throughout your marriage and learn to communicate well and have a good attitude about these expectations.

It’s not what a parent dreams of when they send their son off on a mission after years of hope and preparation. What Do Parents Do When Their Son Comes Home Early From His Mission? Hint: it doesn’t involve criticism or judgement.

I was reading this article in Meridian Magazine today about parents reaction when their son comes home early from his mission. You know it’s a painful subject when the author’s name is omitted (like those anonymous Ensign articles). I had to contrast this with the article I posted yesterday. This article has something to teach us about our intentions and our hearts.

I believe the Lord is far more loving and mericiful than we often believe or remember. Yes there is repentence, and our choices do matter, but the Lord is more understanding, patient, and loving, than others can be. That’s why He lives to hear our soul’s complaint. He knows soul’s complaints.

There are great lessons in this article. The best is the dad’s spiritual promptings about the scriptures. I love what he shared (you’ll have to read the article).
Two ideas are worth noting:

• Christ asks us to continue to repent and to love
• Christ doesn’t expect or require the same things from all of us. We have to be in touch with the spirit to know what His will for us is. It may be different than we expect or what other’s understand. Thankfully we only have to answer to Him.

Finally a quote from the article: Our ultimate positioning in Christ will not be found in the thickness or impressiveness of our church résumé, but in the ways that we continue to repent and love.

I hope you’ll find the message of this article as sweet as I did. I’m thankful they wrote about this personal experience. They are such good examples. Their reaction I’m sure inflenced the outcome of their son’s life and feelings about his mission.

Look at the fruits (or results) of two ways of handling difficult situations. One estranged family members from each other (decreased love). Another brought spiritual insight and growth (increased love). I hope in any charged situation we might be in with people we love we decide to take the problem to the Lord and respond in a positive way.