Week 16

This week's lesson was on gifts of the spirit. i can't tell you how many times I have had this lesson and how many times I have given it and yet this time I got it. I truly understood the importance of the many gifts we are given and the gifts that others have been given. I have mentioned several times that truly one of the gifts of the spirit that I have been given is that of Faith in the Lord Jesus christ and knowledge that the gospel is true. Looking back, even when i wanted it not to be true, i always knew it was. With that gift i still had a choice and sometimes i wished that i could say it wasn't. This of course was when I was younger and had to choose whether i was going to live the gospel or not. It was not an easy choice- I must admit i had reason to want to live the way of the world. Not all of it but for loves sake i wanted to be with someone who didn't want to live the gospel. I teetered for awhile- but really looking back- i never teetered i always knew. i may have made some decisions that weren't in accordance with that knowledge but I always knew. Since making that decision- the decision that I was going to live the gospel the best i knew how- i have never looked back. And now as I think about it that is another gift I have been blessed with- the ability to make decisions and look forward and not back. I have been blessed by others gifts that maybe they didn't even realize they had. Anyway this week i realized that these gifts are just as important as the gift we were given at baptism. Of course without the gift of the holy ghost we would not have these other gifts. oftentimes we forget that we can ask for gifts as long as we are asking for the purpose of building up the kingdom of God and not for the purpose of looking better to the world. i want so much to have knowledge that i can share with others. I, however, must do my part to get that knowledge. My must be prayerfully seeking answers, studying the scriptures, attending my meetings and all the things i have already been asked to do. As I continue to do these things i will be blessed to be able to share my knowledge with others in a way that it will be beneficial to them. I feel as if I am rambling and so i will end with a link to what i believe is the most awesome talk given on the gifts of the spirit. It is found in the February, 2002 Ensign.
My mom gave me this talk and it change my whole outlook on gifts of the spirit. It should be studied and pondered. I am so grateful for the gospel and the blessing that come from living it fully. I am so grateful for the decision I made to follow the teaching of the prophets. To stop rationalizing and justifying those things i was doing at the time. I know I have a ways to go and that there are things that I can improve upon but i know that as I continue to allow the spirit to work in my life and follow the promptings i will be protected, guided, and blessed far beyond what I can imagine.