Choice 2: Matthew 8-9; Mark 2. Miracles Are Evidence of Faith and God's Power Part 1

Reference	Miracles of the Lord	Who Demonstrated Faith
Matthew 8:1-4	Cleansed the leper	The Leper
Matthew 8:5-13	Healed the servant with palsy	The Centurion
Matthew 8:14-15	Rid Peter's Mother-in-Law of fever	Peter's Family
Matthew 8:16	Cast out devils & healed sicked	Those People
Matthew 8:23-27	Calmed the waves	Disciples
Matthew 8:28-34	Cast devils into swine	Jesus
Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34	Healed the woman with blood issues	The woman
Matthew 9:27-31	Gave the blind men sight	The blind men
Mark 2:1-12	Healed the man with palsy	Man w/ palsy, his friends, & family

New Testament Blog: Choice #4- We Must be Born again

The difference between “seeing” the kingdom of God and “entering” the kingdom of God, is that I really have no idea. But I would guess that when you see the kingdom of God, you are envisioning the possibility of what it could be like, while entering could be along the lines of not only envisioning the kingdom, but working towards obtaining the kingdom. The Lord explains this to Nicodemus, the Rabbi. He tells Nicodemus that he must enter into baptism in order to enter the kingdom of God. Baptism is a symbol of rebirth. In Moses 6:59, examples of rebirth are: dust of the living soul, be cleansed by blood, sanctified from sin. Baptism can also be a symbol of death. In Romans 6:4, examples of death are: resurrection, death of the natural man, death of our sins, death of Jesus Christ.
To be born of the Spirit, a man must look go of the natural man and enter into a covenant to let go of the natural man. When he obtains the gift of the Spirit, he is born with the light of Christ to lead and guide his life.
The natural element that the Lord compares to the Spirit to is the wind and it's an effective comparison because the wind and the Spirit are felt, but not tangible. They are not seen.
Heavenly Father loves all of his children. He sacrificed the life of a perfect being in order to make up for the imperfections of others. Jesus took upon our sins as a gift, so we could receive everlasting life. Jesus was sent specifically for that purpose. Despite our imperfections we will be able to obtain eternal life and spend them with our families and our Heavenly Father as long as we have full faith in Christ.

New Testament Homework; Jesus is Amazing

I am currently taking a online religion class and I have learned BOAT LOADS of things that I have never took into consideration before when reading the New Testament.
the scriptures I had to read were Luke 2:40–52, Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 3:24–26, and Doctrine and Covenants 93:12–14:
1. In Luke, I read the story of how Christ, as a child, went with his family to Jerusalem for the Passover. When his family left they didn't realize that they had left him behind. When Mary and Joseph finally found Jesus, he was in a temple and he was having a discussion with doctors. Mary and Joseph were not very happy with Jesus, as most parents would be if they had been frantically searching for their child for more than a day. Jesus's explanation to his parents distress was "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?"(Luke 2:49). His parents at first didn't understand what he was saying. One of the things God sent Jesus to do while he was her on earth was to gain as much knowledge as he possibly could. Thus, when he was having a discussion with the doctors he was trying to gain knowledge because God (His Father) wanted him to.
2. In JST Matthew 3:24-26 it talks about how Christ grew up with his brothers and sisters. During his childhood the Father was with him a lot because he was teaching Jesus things that would be important to his ministry in his later years. Jesus didn't need to learn the things of man, because the things of God were a more perfect form of all the knowledge that men have to offer.
3. In D&C 93:12-14, Joseph Smith reiterates teachings of John the Beloved. John teaches that Christ had to learn things gradually. Heavenly Father taught Jesus the importance of certain doctrines and principles gradually from the time he was younger until he was right about to start his ministry. Heavenly Father taught Jesus these things so he could teach those he would minister to. Jesus also went through all the same trials, and tribulations so he could understand why he need to be our Savior and Redeemer.
I also read the stories in the institute manual called, “Jesus Had to Overcome the Veil” (pp. 24–25) and “As a Child, Jesus Sought to Learn from His Father” (pp. 25–26). From these two stories, I learned what I had learned from the scriptures I read. Something I didn't learn from the scriptures but from the the stories I read, was that Jesus didn't have the veil lifted from him from birth. I had always thought that he hadn't had the veil when he was living on earth but I guess he did! I also learned that Jesus Christ didn't receive the ability to have the Holy Ghost until right before he started his ministry.
Christ example can be an inspiration to me because he had the ability to be perfect despite the fact that he didn't have the veil lifted from him, and he had all the same trials and tribulations that we have in our lives. I feel as though by his example of striving to live obedient despite the fact that at first he doesn't know why he has to do something can apply to my life. I often question things, especially if I have a shallow understanding of what it is pertaining to. Thus, if I apply his example I will be able to accept things and be more obedient to the laws and commandments of God.

My wonderful, fun-filled bike accident

On my way home from work, I had my little sister following me on her bike. She was carrying her golf clubs on her back. She kept telling me, "Please go the easiest way home!"
I decided to go down shiloh road, which was one of the main roads that had a bike trail. I had forgotten that (for some odd reason) there was construction going on this road. As my sister and I were crossing the street to get on the bike trail, I saw a contruction sign that was set right in the middle of the sidewalk. Luckily there was a house with a gravel driveway that allowed me to go around the bike construction sign. As I was trying to get back on the sidewalk from the other side of the gravel driveway, I didn't turn my bike hard enough to get over the big lip on the sidewalk that was higher than the gravel driveway, and with that my bike went the oppostie way of my body and I slide over the nicely scraped gravel road.

A construction worker was the first one to get to me as I tried to get up, but failed miserably. My little sister kept yelling my name from the sidewalk. I hobbled back to the sidewalk with the help of a the construction worker. The man who lived in the house that we used the driveway, came out and started to check my wounds. My hand was bleeding and I also had some scrapes on my left foot. The man was a missionary and part of a local evangelist church called "Jump for Jesus". There was a huge ramp in there backyard and they met every Sunday to watched their pastor fly off the ramp and through a ring of fire! So while the missionary was pouring water over my bleeding hand, he was telling me all about his church and inviting me to come to the meetings . It was while he was telling me thisthat I noticed that it wasn't water that was running down my leg and was pooling in my shiny purple ballet flats. I looked down to see blood coming from under my pant leg, and seeing how much blood there was made me not want to look under my pant leg at all. After finally began to feel pain from that spot, I asked the gentleman if he could look at my knee. He told me to look away and after he looked at it, he quickly waved over his friend and said to me, " I'm going to let my friend look at it, he use to be a paramedic."
That's when the friend said, "Yep, that's gonna need stitches."
That was when I finally began to weep. I have a severe fear of needles- or in other words, belonephobia. Just the thought of using medical needles make me bawl. It was at this time that my mother pulled up into the driveway. She saw me bawling and after being told I would need stitches she knew I wasn't crying because of the pain.
It was after six, so instead of being able to go to my regular doctor, my mother decided to take me to the emergency room. They put me in a wheel chair, gauze and bandaged me up, took x-rays- the whole sha-bang. Made me take off my pants and wear one of those moo-moo looking things. My mom, dad and little sister were making jokes about how I'm the reason for health insurance and that I'm just a glutten for punishing myself. Both are true so I was giggling along with them.
Dr. Toby and the nurses sometimes weren't as humored by our jokes, but overall they thought we were an interesting family. Dr. Toby stop most of the funny-business when after I had specifically told him I was severely afraid of needles, he decided that I needed a numbing shot in the huge gash on my knee. I wonder how many times he has seen a 19-year-old cry, because I was crying like I was 5-years-old and the world was about to end. After it was done, my body had stopped pumping adrenaline into my system and I was feeling very drowsy. It was almost like the feeling I got after my High school varsity games when I would play the full 90 minutes. I felt the pressure of the hook needle going around the gash in my knee, and all I could do was lie on the medical bed and hold my mom's hand.
Another funny thing that happened was Kenton's reaction to the whole ordeal. After I had recognized there was blood(instead of water) flowing down my leg, I sat down, took off my shoe (and set it next to my leg) and took a picture of my leg and shoe. I promptly sent him a pix message with no words. I later found out that my father had called and left him a message after finding out that I had been in an accident, because my dad assumed that Kenton, being one of my best friends, would be with me. My dad only said on the voice message, " If you're with Kailey, and you have your oil, give her a blessing." Ironically Kenton was asleep and driving down to Utah when all this was going on, but he was sure shocked when he finally awoke from his deep slumber.
Of course he called my dad first =P, and my dad concocted a story about how I had wanted to do the "Jump for Jesus" thing to show my faith, but I hadn't realized that I should use a motorcycle instead of a bike when going on the ramp. So when I did call Kenton after I got out of the emergency room, he told me, " Tell me what happened so I can tell you how stupid you are." Oh, I felt the love.
In the end, I'm glad I'm still on my parents health insurance. The whole ordeal was fun, and I ended up with my favorite drug for killing my pain: Hydrocodone =). Watching movies and getting sleep is all I get! I mean, with my hand being all ripped up and my knee being almost unbendable, I haven't been able to participate in to many chores and events.Also my sisters are feeling hospitable and I received my first spongebath the other day. And the bruises and scars are going to help me create great stories in the future; "Well kids, mom use to wrestle lions and one day they kinda beat her up." The look on their faces; Priceless.

My Last Days in Hawaii- I think...

Reflection:

Scene One...Action

When you realize a month after you have left a place that you will never return to it for the same reason, it makes you wonder why you went there in the first place and why you love it now

Ode to Hawaii for it's full of dang (good) Mormons.

For it's swaying palm trees

Which leaves fall on me

For it's sunny weather

That sometimes makes me fetter

For it's pineapple so fresh

It sure is a catch

For all the girls who I care for

And all the boys I scared off

Oh sweet Hawaii never lose the shine you create on everyone's face

For the tourist spots (which I serenly hate)

For the "white sandy beachs"

And the Jumbo Shrimp (which I also dislike)

Ted's Bakery: I shall miss your MahiMahi

Ala Moana and it's busy air

Which most of the time I really don't care

Oh my dearest loves, like Hukilua beach,

Or Hukilua Cafe (with it's roast beef)

Temple Beach (aka Kara and I's beach-duh)

And since I know it's my last time there to hum

I'll just say la-te-te-dum

April foola joke Monologue

April Fools Day is a wonderful day;Full of magic and wonder, and more magic. But this April Fools day meant something a little bit more than just your average every day prank. I realized that this prank helped me to change my views about my life in general. And here is my in-depth, well thought out story :
March 2nd was an interesting day. I was sitting at my friend's house and listening to her tell me about her "engagement" April Fools prank. It consisted of pictures (with her neighbor who is a model), and facebook. Easy equation for mayhem. It was as she explained her prank to me that I realized I hadn't planned a prank for this year. So I began to rack my brain. Should I pull your everyday prank, or should I do something over the top. I usually like to plan things, so I thought, what da heck, why not push some people over the edge with this April Fools day.
The next couple of days I started to formulate what my possibilities were; should I make my parents think i'm in the hospital, or that I am stranded on a boat in the middle of the ocean. I could "elope" to vegas... Ya no. So then I thought back to my friend's prank and thought, "I could really make people believe I am engaged." And the sad part is, I knew most of them would believe me. The reason being is people back home joked before I came here saying things like, "Oh your going to be single for half of your first semester and then you'll be married by the end of your second semester there!" Not funny. And NOT true. I'm nothing special, and obviously all the boys here are smart enough to see that.
Anyway, gradually the ingredients to the plot came together. I had a ring(thanks to Angela), my best friend (who would become my witness) was coming Thursday March 25, and leaving the night of April Fools. All my friends at BYUH were helping me out, Facebook was being used to my advantage, and I had a photographer for the engagement pictures.
The only thing I was missing; a boy. My requirements were: a guy who didn't know me. I thought that would be simple, but this campus is so small , the only way you don't know them is if they are married and/or reclusive. I thought that was the case until I was talking to my friend Cheka after English class on March 5. As I was explaining to her my problem, she said she knew the perfect person. Who is this person? I asked. She simply said, "Richard".
At that time I had NO idea who he was... or so I thought. She then told me to come and meet him while she picked up her Chemistry book from him. We walk into this building I had never noticed before that is connected to the JFS Library. We walk to the back and there were cubicles. We weaved through the cubicles and then I see the face of this person, who I did know.
Richard Ahlstrom. I met him 3 times last semester. The only reason I know this is because each day was significant to me. The first time, I met him through his sister (who is in my ward) as her and I were walking to church for the first time at BYUH . That was a super awesome day! The second time was October 24(the day before my birthday). I re-met him at a bonfire that I went to after I had a birthday party for myself and my roommate! He didn't remember me so I reintroduced myself, and mentioned that I thought we had met before. The third time, was the Friday before finals week of Fall Semester 2009, when I had found out that my cousin Spencer had been murdered at a bar. It had been a rough day, and I was sitting outside of the library, at a picnic table with my friend Caralee, trying to study because I thought I would have to take my finals early in order to make it home for my cousin's funeral. Richard walked by and said Hi to Caralee, and when I (being very good with names and recognizing people) saw him, I said ," Hello Richard." Of course, as things happen sometimes, he forgot who I was. Because of how rough my day had been, I was considerable unhappy in the first place, and I become even more unhappy that this guy couldn't remember my name. (I'm over it now, so don't worry).
So how do you think I felt when I first saw this guy? I was thinking, "Oh great, it's the guy who couldn't remember my name, yay for me." But I asked him regardless of my feelings, and he agreed. Part of the prank was the guy had to call my dad and tell him he was dating me! Funniest 5 minutes of my life!
The month progressed and I was making preparations for the big week. I was lying to my mom and dad about how my life was going that entire month(and they would always ask about Richard and I would lie even more). All of my best friends were asking me questions too. Funny part about this entire prank though, is I had to end up telling my best friend, Kenton, because I could tell that he was very jealous and unhappy with me. He promised not to tell, and he later on helped me to get his entire family, and all of his roommates at BYU(who I talk to occasionally).
As the month of March sped by, I felt closer to my friends then I ever had before. I loved all the support and help all my girls gave me. I really appreciated all the ideas they came up with in order to make this prank more believable. I also really appreciate all the things they did like taking pictures, video taping things, and overall, lying in my behalf in order to make it seem as though my Faux Fiance and I were really attached.
The day finally came for Miss Shelby to come. I picked her up from the Honolulu airport on Thursday night. Friday, we went to Sunset beach and then to a date night for my ward. Saturday, she finally met my Faux Fiance. We went on the Laie Falls hike and at the falls is where the fake proposal took place. Shelby really believed it. Sunday I skyped my parents, with Richard, and we watched as they ecstatically congratulated "us".That same night I posted on Facebook that I was engaged (and this is why a person should never trust Facebook), and I got up to 57 post in one night. Monday was a busy day of school, but we did go to the PCC Night show.Tuesday, Shelby and I worked on on my homework. Wednesday was another busy day and so Shelby went to some classes with me (where a girl in one almost let the prank slip).
Can you imagine lying for a WEEK straight. I was so sick of my ring, that I kept slipping it off and putting it in my pocket when Shelby wasn't around me. I became so fed up with the lie in fact, that I stayed up until midnight Wednesday night in order to change my Facebook back to normal! I was single once again! HOORAY! I got really good reactions from all the people who thought it was for real. My entire family has sworn vengeance on me for the rest of my life, and my mom is going to beat me when she comes here to take me home on April 8th. The only sad part about my entire plan was, a girl from back home texted Shelby before I was going to reveal to her the prank! So I didn't get to see the stunned look, or feel a firm smack across my face.... nope.... all because I wanted to be single.
From this experience, I learned so much. I learned how important it is not to judge people based on preconcieved notions. My Faux Fiance is actually a really great guy, as it turns out. He isn't a block-head, and he isn't conceded. He is genuinely nice and I appreciate all of his help and all of the free-time he gave up in order to make this thing work. I enjoyed getting to know him through our planning meetings hahaha. Although he thought he couldn't act, his proposal was the BOMB! It literally made me (and all the other girls there) melt. Hahaha great job Faux Fiance, I owe him Subway for the rest of my life (or until he forgets my name again =P).
I also learned how much I love my family and friends. I feel as though I have a family in Hawaii as well as in Montana. My parents were encouraging me to be happy, they trusted my judgement, and they never thought I was being stupid in my decisions (which I appreciate). My friend's here make me so happy. They kept kept my spirits high, even when they knew I had dished it all to myself. They all loved my prank and I couldn't have done it without them. Which is why, now I am questioning whether or not I want to stay. Before I was so set on going to BYUI, but now I get this feeling as though I should be staying here with my Ohana. I also love this place. I guess it is something I will have to decided in the next couple of months while I am home.
So what did I learn through this prank? I learned that having fun is what builds friendships. Causing mayhem inflames vengeance. And doing something together creates a bond that can never be broken. I will forever cherish this memory!

Disgustingly Funny

Funny story:
I procrastinate; I will openly admit it and agree with anyone who says it. I'm sitting in the library, trying to make my 7 page research paper turn into a 8 page research paper.... not happening very quickly.
I get up and I go to the bathroom, shaking off some nervous as I take a stroll. I'm sitting in my stall and all of a sudden the girl next to me starts talking. I don't hear anyone, and I kinda wonder if it is someone who is outside of the stall who she is talking to. I wait for the voice, 5...10....15 seconds. Then I hear her begin to talk and I realize- she is talking on her cell phone and going to the bathroom. That's frickin nasty. Please dear friends, if I call you and you are using the restroom, please please please please please CALL ME AFTER YOU ARE DONE!
Love you