Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
We’ve MOVED! … Into my parents basement. Sorry about the long duration between Blog postings, but our internet stopped working shortly after the last posting and then we moved out in early January into my parent’s basement, and I then became very ill for about three weeks. Then after that we had to get the rest of the things out of our old apartment and then head down to the states for my Best friend Midori’s wedding and FINALLY I now have a moment, AND, the internet to be able to write a post to you all.(This video clip is RIGHT before Midori's reception, we put the snowman on the car while my dad was sitting inside, he didn't like it, but secretly he did tehe).
I will receive my dual citizenship this coming January (January 2010), and so James and I
decided that if we were to stay in Canada for another year before headed down to Boise for school we might as well save that $1,100 a month for rent (that doesn’t include utilities) to be saved for the money it will cost to go to Boise State University. The plan essentially is to live here till I get my dual citizenship, then head down to Boise and live there for a year to get Idaho residency status and then once we have residency status there James will then attend BSU (because if you are a resident of the state of Idaho you receive approx. $10,000 off tuition each semester at BSU) and there he plans to major in Mechanical Engineering. So for now, that’s the plan.
Midori, my Best f
riend, got married on Feb. 14th 2009 in the Jordan River Temple, and received her endowments in the Salt Lake Temple. I had never been to a live session before and going to her endowment session was very interesting. If you have never participated in a live session before at the temple I would encourage each of you who have not to make time to do so in the near future. (The Photo near the top is the snowman we put on her car before she drove off). James and I made the goal to attend the temple once a month when we got married and I think (I think) we missed just Januar
y, but we attended the temple twice in February and are planning to attend the temple twice more this month (we just went this last Sat.) So, it makes up for missing the whole January thing. I’m just glad it’s only about 2 hours away instead of being 3 or more. (The Temples we have visted and gone inside are: Boise, Cardston, Rexburg, Salt Lake and Jordan River)
I was asked to talk in Relief Society this past Sunday, out of the Joseph Smith Manual, and it went EXTEAMLY well! The Spirit was literally poured out upon all of us in that room. And I was SO pleased because out of the many times I have ever taught different classes before; the Lord gave me more confidence than ever! I was truly blessed. It makes me happy that each time I accept to do something the Lord would have me do, I become a little bit better each time I do it. He’s awesome like that. But since the lesson was like super Awesome, because the spirit pretty much wrote it for me, I think I shall put in an excerpt from it.
One thing that really caught my eye was on page: 353, In the second paragraph from the bottom it states, “From henceforth, let truth and righteousness prevail and abound in you; …; abstain from EVERYTHING which is UNrighteous or UNholy;…” Then on page: 354 we read to, “render good for evil.”
These little passages reminded me of Lamoni’s father in Alma 22:15 & 18. “Behold, said he, I will give up all that I posses, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy…O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God ,wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee…”
So Lamoni’s father is willing to forsake his kingdom and to give away ALL his sins to know Christ. To “render good for evil.” To develop Christ like qualities, and become a Lover of the cause. He is willing to give away Even his Favorite sins to become as the savior is. He received the invitation from Aaron and “The invitation to follow Christ is an invitation to follow his example and to become like him.”
Each of us has also received the same invitation to follow Christ and to truly become a Lover of the cause of Christ. So to further our progress to achieve our goal to become as the Savior is and to gain Christ like attributes and qualities, and the board shows us some examples of these qualities, we need to recognize our individual weaknesses. Where do you personally need to improve, and are you willing and anxious to improve? Do you have the desire to please God? Is really what it comes down to.
So when Lamoni’s father said, “I will give away ALL my sins to know thee…” He meant even the sins that
were most precious to him. Applying that to ourselves, what sins do we silently refuse to give to Christ? Do we enjoy the occasional “R’ Rated movie, do we think gossiping is O.K. as long as it is kept under some control? Is it alright to listen to music with immoral messages, because we don’t “LISTEN” to the words, we just like the beat? Or is it alright to use profanities only when you deem it necessary? Or even at all? Basically, what’s your favorite sin? And why won’t you give it away? There are two quotes that I think go along with this very well.
QUOTE #1: “No, there is no escape. There is no heaven with a little of Hell in it – no plan to retain this or that of the devil in our hearts or our pockets. Out Satan must go, every hair and feather.” – George Macdonald
QUOTE #2: “Evil can be undone, but it cannot ‘develop’ into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, ‘with backward mutters of dissevering power’ – or else not. It is still ‘either-or’. If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.” – C.S. Lewis
So, to reiterate what the quotes said was that, ‘there is no heaven with a little of hell in it’ and that, ‘If we accept heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.’ The point being that even though we are not perfect quite yet, we can start working on our favorite sins to try to eliminate them from our lives to become more Christ like each day. Preach my Gospel states; “Learn of Him and seek to incorporate His attributes into your life. Through the power of His atonement, you can achieve this goal and lead others to achieve it also.” Let us all seek to gain attributes that a ‘Lover of the Cause of Christ’ would be expected to have.
O.K. SO that was a really big excerpt from it, but I just liked how it all flowed together so well right there, and considering how long the lesson was overall, it really was just a small portion of what was said. But perhaps, reading my long excerpt will give you a little bit of uplift in your day today. Maybe it’s something you needed to hear. O’well. Either way it was written. So you can’t really
un-read it now MUHAHAHA!!!
And yes, that IS James and I being Run over by two HUMUNGO Semi's. (This was on our drive down to Idaho for My Aunt's Funeral in Dec. '08) Yes, well. I think I have written enough for one day for you to read. So I must be off now. I love you all, and if I have written anything that you
have further questions on, just ask me about it.
Love Always,
Angela M. Fraser
I will receive my dual citizenship this coming January (January 2010), and so James and I
decided that if we were to stay in Canada for another year before headed down to Boise for school we might as well save that $1,100 a month for rent (that doesn’t include utilities) to be saved for the money it will cost to go to Boise State University. The plan essentially is to live here till I get my dual citizenship, then head down to Boise and live there for a year to get Idaho residency status and then once we have residency status there James will then attend BSU (because if you are a resident of the state of Idaho you receive approx. $10,000 off tuition each semester at BSU) and there he plans to major in Mechanical Engineering. So for now, that’s the plan.Midori, my Best f
riend, got married on Feb. 14th 2009 in the Jordan River Temple, and received her endowments in the Salt Lake Temple. I had never been to a live session before and going to her endowment session was very interesting. If you have never participated in a live session before at the temple I would encourage each of you who have not to make time to do so in the near future. (The Photo near the top is the snowman we put on her car before she drove off). James and I made the goal to attend the temple once a month when we got married and I think (I think) we missed just Januar
y, but we attended the temple twice in February and are planning to attend the temple twice more this month (we just went this last Sat.) So, it makes up for missing the whole January thing. I’m just glad it’s only about 2 hours away instead of being 3 or more. (The Temples we have visted and gone inside are: Boise, Cardston, Rexburg, Salt Lake and Jordan River)I was asked to talk in Relief Society this past Sunday, out of the Joseph Smith Manual, and it went EXTEAMLY well! The Spirit was literally poured out upon all of us in that room. And I was SO pleased because out of the many times I have ever taught different classes before; the Lord gave me more confidence than ever! I was truly blessed. It makes me happy that each time I accept to do something the Lord would have me do, I become a little bit better each time I do it. He’s awesome like that. But since the lesson was like super Awesome, because the spirit pretty much wrote it for me, I think I shall put in an excerpt from it.
One thing that really caught my eye was on page: 353, In the second paragraph from the bottom it states, “From henceforth, let truth and righteousness prevail and abound in you; …; abstain from EVERYTHING which is UNrighteous or UNholy;…” Then on page: 354 we read to, “render good for evil.”
These little passages reminded me of Lamoni’s father in Alma 22:15 & 18. “Behold, said he, I will give up all that I posses, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy…O God, Aaron hath told me that there is a God; and if there is a God ,wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee…”
So Lamoni’s father is willing to forsake his kingdom and to give away ALL his sins to know Christ. To “render good for evil.” To develop Christ like qualities, and become a Lover of the cause. He is willing to give away Even his Favorite sins to become as the savior is. He received the invitation from Aaron and “The invitation to follow Christ is an invitation to follow his example and to become like him.”
Each of us has also received the same invitation to follow Christ and to truly become a Lover of the cause of Christ. So to further our progress to achieve our goal to become as the Savior is and to gain Christ like attributes and qualities, and the board shows us some examples of these qualities, we need to recognize our individual weaknesses. Where do you personally need to improve, and are you willing and anxious to improve? Do you have the desire to please God? Is really what it comes down to.
So when Lamoni’s father said, “I will give away ALL my sins to know thee…” He meant even the sins that
were most precious to him. Applying that to ourselves, what sins do we silently refuse to give to Christ? Do we enjoy the occasional “R’ Rated movie, do we think gossiping is O.K. as long as it is kept under some control? Is it alright to listen to music with immoral messages, because we don’t “LISTEN” to the words, we just like the beat? Or is it alright to use profanities only when you deem it necessary? Or even at all? Basically, what’s your favorite sin? And why won’t you give it away? There are two quotes that I think go along with this very well.QUOTE #1: “No, there is no escape. There is no heaven with a little of Hell in it – no plan to retain this or that of the devil in our hearts or our pockets. Out Satan must go, every hair and feather.” – George Macdonald
QUOTE #2: “Evil can be undone, but it cannot ‘develop’ into good. Time does not heal it. The spell must be unwound, bit by bit, ‘with backward mutters of dissevering power’ – or else not. It is still ‘either-or’. If we insist on keeping Hell (or even earth) we shall not see Heaven: if we accept heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.” – C.S. Lewis
So, to reiterate what the quotes said was that, ‘there is no heaven with a little of hell in it’ and that, ‘If we accept heaven we shall not be able to retain even the smallest and most intimate souvenirs of Hell.’ The point being that even though we are not perfect quite yet, we can start working on our favorite sins to try to eliminate them from our lives to become more Christ like each day. Preach my Gospel states; “Learn of Him and seek to incorporate His attributes into your life. Through the power of His atonement, you can achieve this goal and lead others to achieve it also.” Let us all seek to gain attributes that a ‘Lover of the Cause of Christ’ would be expected to have.
O.K. SO that was a really big excerpt from it, but I just liked how it all flowed together so well right there, and considering how long the lesson was overall, it really was just a small portion of what was said. But perhaps, reading my long excerpt will give you a little bit of uplift in your day today. Maybe it’s something you needed to hear. O’well. Either way it was written. So you can’t really
un-read it now MUHAHAHA!!!And yes, that IS James and I being Run over by two HUMUNGO Semi's. (This was on our drive down to Idaho for My Aunt's Funeral in Dec. '08) Yes, well. I think I have written enough for one day for you to read. So I must be off now. I love you all, and if I have written anything that you
have further questions on, just ask me about it.Love Always,
Angela M. Fraser
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