January Commonplace Sampler

From my notebook this past month:

"And if my soul may find her peace
In sleep, and sink in good oblivion,
And in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
Then I have been dipped again in God, and new created."
- D. H. Lawrence


"The most important work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own home."
-Harold B. Lee



"Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling... It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in, it is what God gave you time for."
-quoted by Neil L. Anderson



And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us."
-1 Nephi 15:9-10



"The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts."
-Marcus Aurelus



Gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us. It surpasses disappointment, discouragement, and despair. It blooms just as beautifully in the icy landscape of winter as it does in the pleasant warmth of summer."
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf



"I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are lead by Him. I am fearful that they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give their leaders if they did know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in their right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whisperings of the Spirit... whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not."
-Brigham Young

A Thought From my Scripture Study

"In our Savior’s great intercessory prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John, he prayed for us, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent” (John 17:3). Then he spoke of the Apostles and of the believers of that time: “For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me” (John 17:8). The kind of knowing which came to Christ’s Apostles and other believers of that time was a gift of the Spirit, but note the importance of the words which Christ conveyed to them orally, which then were conveyed by them to any who would hear their testimonies, and later are conveyed to us as written testaments. The reality of God and Christ and our relationship to them comes to us through a chain of knowing conveyed by words, even holy words, and by the Holy Spirit.

It is because of our awareness of the importance of words in transmitting redeeming truths to one another that Relief Society has embarked on an effort to encourage learning by offering help with basic reading skills to those who need them and by motivating those of us who now read to read more meaningfully.

Being able to read well and with understanding is an important path to knowing God, and it is a reliable and universal way. I call it universal because as human beings we are all born with a genetic endowment for recognizing and formulating language. It is just one of the wonderful ways we are! Our Creator meant for us to value and develop our ability to communicate with him and with each other. He expects us to use these capacities to learn righteous ways, to lift one another, and to develop our divine natures."

-Aileen H. Clyde, “Charity and Learning,” Ensign, Nov 1994, 94 (emphasis added)