I Believe in making decisions that are consistent with my Goals.

I Believe in making decisions that are consistent with my Goals.

First off, I have not always made decisions that are consistent with my goals, but I have learned the hard way that if we want to accomplish a goal, we need to make decisions with that goal in mind.  The more time we spend thinking about our goals and what we need to do to accomplish them, the more likely it is that we will make decisions that move us toward our goals and the more likely it is that we will someday obtain that which we desire most.  When we make decisions that are not consistent with our goals it shows that the goal is not really all that important or that we are just paying lip service to the goal or the thought of the goal.  For if it truly is a goal we will not do things that inhibit our progression toward that goal.  Periodic introspection is of value.  Pondering and meditating as to what we are doing to achieve a goal is worthwhile.  It enables us to redirect our efforts to stop doing the things that do not help us achieve our goal and it helps us to make new plans as to what we can do to move us forward to achieving our goal.  I have learned that in order to achieve a goal I need to make decisions that are consistent with that goal.  I believe in making decisions that are consistent with my goals.

I Believe in doing things that invite the Spirit

I Believe in doing things that invite the Spirit

I believe in doing things that invite the Spirit and not doing things that drive the Spirit away.  First of all I love the Spirit. I love feeling the Spirit.  I love the feelings of peace, joy, comfort, and love that always accompany the Spirit.  I believe it is what it will feel like to live with our Father in Heaven, but maybe only a glimpse of what it will feel like, it might be much more intense.  I believe that we need to learn how to recognize and follow the promptings of the Spirit in order to know what we must do and also to learn what we need to know in order to be prepared to live in the presence of God.  That is the plan, return to live with Him.  Therefore I believe we should do the things that invite the Spirit into our lives.  I want to share with you seven ways to immediately invite the Spirit, as suggested during the October 1988 general conference by Elder Gene R. Cook, then of the Seventy and now an emeritus General Authority. The seven tips include:
Pray; Use the scriptures; Bear and hear testimony; Use worthy music; Express love and gratitude to God and man; Share spiritual experiences; Perform and partake in priesthood ordinances.
I believe we can do most of these things every day.  We can all pray, read the scriptures, listen to worthy music, express love and gratitude to God and man, and read the testimony of our leaders by reading a conference talk each day.  As we do these things we can write our Spiritual impressions down.  This act of recording our Spiritual experiences shows God that they are sacred to us and He will bless us with more light and knowledge, line upon line, precept upon precept.  We can share these experiences with our family in FHE or with our spouse.  The last one is the toughest to do each day.  For me it is pretty easy.  I get to go to the temple almost every day and perform priesthood ordinances.  Some days I get to participate in them.  On Sunday we can partake of the sacrament, but the temple is the place that we can most often go to, to perform and partake in priesthood ordinances.  We should go there as often as possible.  I believe we should do as many of these things as we can each day.  I believe that they, as said by Elder Cook, immediately invite the Spirit into our lives.  I believe in doing things that invite the Spirit.

I Believe in Not Complaining

I Believe in Not Complaining

Mom always says my glass is half full, meaning that I prefer to see the bright side of life, I never beat myself up for what I did in the past (I can’t change anything) rather I think about what I am going to do in the future and how I will do things differently and perhaps better by changing my behavior. I also believe that complaining about my situation doesn’t help me get through tough times or hard days.  It actually makes things worse.  If when I am having a bad day I count my many blessings and think about how great my life is, I start to feel much better and appreciate how much my Father in Heaven loves me.  That doing hard things with a happy heart helps me to grow and develop into the kind of person He wants me to be.  I read a post on the internet a few weeks ago that I liked very much so I am going to share it with you.

 “An old friend recently caught me off guard with this message:

“Judging from your Facebook posts, you've never had a bad day in your life."

I replied with a laugh, “Oh, really?”

He answered by describing his frustration that sometimes his friends use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to run what he calls an “unrealistic highlight reel” of their lives. Every day is good news, kids who win shiny trophies, gummy bear sculptures and stunning photos of meals that could’ve been prepared by Emeril Lagasse.

“Bam!”

Maybe he’s right, I thought, and I promised that the next time I had a difficult day, I’d share it and add a dose of reality to my social media presence.

Well, my rotten day just arrived, but it didn’t come alone.

It brought friends.

My downer day became a week.

One promising writing project was delayed — again — and another was cancelled all together without a whiff of warning. The latter was one of the most exciting of my career and involved a giant on the Fortune 50 list, a Fortune 100 player and a little fish in the top 250.

I’ve had vehicle trouble — twice — that left me on the side of a mountain road and, the next day, an interstate. My beloved truck’s next stop is probably on Craigslist for $50 and a bag of Fritos.

There were serious computer issues, a lost credit card, a diamond jumping from my wedding band, broken glass on the watch my wife gave me for Christmas, a hateful email from a reader, and the list goes on.

Oddly, as I started to post the woes, I kept getting stuck on two words that were in my head, but not on the list: “So what?”

I had a tough week.

And?

Everyone has trials.

All we can do is forget the last minute, the last hour or the last week and prepare for the next. What's the point in stripping apart a difficult day to study the broken parts? I'd rather just build tomorrow.

To my pal who thinks all my days are perfection, think again. Just because I don't dwell on them doesn't mean I don't get punched in the mouth like everyone else.

Bad days are inevitable — complaining is not.

I’ve had my share of challenging days, weeks and even years.

He does, too.

And, so do you.

Wouldn’t you rather give fuel to the good days and starve the bad? If we do, we just might grow more good days to share.

Maybe he’s right. Maybe some of us use the Internet to paint unrealistic pictures of our lives. We gloss over the disappointing report cards, the burned bread, the job we didn’t get and the bug we did.

You know what?

That’s just fine.

Our friends, both digital and in the flesh, should never doubt that we’re always here to listen. But they should also understand that we’re much less interested in the pitch they missed than how they plan to send the next one over the fence.

Yes, misery loves company. But so do optimism, hope and humor. And if you think negativity is contagious, try love. It’s downright infectious.

I sure hope my buddy forgives me if I continue to share the positives in my life like faith, family fun and publishing projects. And I hope he knows just how many people are waiting to cheer his good days, too.

I suppose, if pressed into a negotiation, I could scale back on the Facebook photos of food truck tacos. But the gummy bears are here to stay.

A guy has to draw a line.”

Jason Wright is a New York Times best-selling author of 10 books, including "Christmas Jars" and "The Wednesday Letters." Learn more at jasonfwright.com, or connect on Facebook at facebook.com/jfwbooks or by email at jwright@deseretnews.com.

Jason sums up how I feel, I believe on focusing my efforts on the good things in my life and not complaining about how hard things are and in doing this I believe my life is fuller and richer. I believe optimism, happiness and love is contagious as is misery, sadness and hate.  The Father never said it would be easy, He only said it would be worth it.  I am sure one of Gods attributes is optimism and I am sure He never complains.  I chose to follow His example and I Believe in Not Complaining.

I Believe in Forever Families

I Believe in Forever Families

This past week I had the honor of sealing 2 families, both had three children.  It was such an emotional experience, it made me realize just how much I believe in the sealing power of the priesthood and how families can be together forever.  Of course it all depends on the faithfulness of the members of the family, but there is something about the power that binds sealed families, that makes me think that this ordinance has real power to hold families together and gives each member of the family something special to help them stay focused on making it back worthy to live as a family unit with Heavenly Father.  The promises taught by Joseph Smith: “The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught a more comforting doctrine—that the eternal sealings of faithful parents and the divine promises made to them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, would save not only themselves, but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold. Either in this life or the life to come, they will return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father’s heart and home, the painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.” (Orson F. Whitney, in Conference Report, Apr. 1929, p. 110.), are I believe founded in the thought that because of the sealing power there is something at work in our families that we can’t understand but is real and powerful.  I believe in forever families and am so thankful that I have one.

This is one of the families I sealed this week.

This is the other one.

I Believe in Grand-kids

I Believe in Grand-kids

I believe in grand-kids, I can’t help but think about our grand-kids this week.  We met Sam and Ginny and their two darling girls in Puebla last Sunday and have been enjoying being with them for this last week.  Grand-kids are a joy and blessing that is hard to describe.  They are magical and bring so much joy and happiness into our lives.  We love seeing each one of our grandchildren on Skype and we have pictures of them on a calendar Jill made us that we look at each day.  But being able to have Xela and Willa sit on my lap and giggle and laugh is magical; there just isn’t a better word.  We love each one so much and have hopes and dreams for their future lives.  Each hope and dream centers in their coming to know who they are and their learning about their Savior and His atoning sacrifice and how through repentance each one can return and live with our Father in Heaven.  We pray each day for them and hope that our example will have a positive impact on their lives now and in the future.  We yearn for their parents to teach them about “The Plan of Happiness” so that we can be together forever and have these magical moments always in our lives.  I believe in grand-kids.