Welcome

Well here I am in a place I never thought I would be (no, not jail), writing a blog. To my friends and family it is probably an even bigger surprise than it is to me. I just feel a need to express my feelings about certain topics, primarily those involving church and family, with those I care about. I hope that through this forum someone, somewhere, may benefit.

In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma gave a very powerful discourse to the people of Zarahemla. In Alma 5:14 he askes "And now behold, I ask you, my bretheren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye recieved his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?" This "mighty change" he speaks of has been the topic of multiple books and conference addresses throughout the history of the church. It will be the way I begin my blog.

Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Seventy, in our most recent General Conference (October 2009), presented a terrific sermon on this topic. He, being a heart surgeon, gave interesting insight to this topic. He explained how a heart transplant patient must continue to follow a prescribed lifestyle to keep his body from rejecting his "new heart". He concluded his remarks with the following:
"To endure to the end, we need to be eager to please God and worship Him with fervor and passion. This means that we maintain faith in Jesus Christ by praying, studying the scriptures, partaking of the sacrament each week, and having the Holy Ghost as our constant companion. We need to actively help and serve others and share the gospel with them. We need to be perfectly upright and honest in all things, never compromising our covenants with God or our commitments to men, regardless of circumstances. In our homes we need to talk of, rejoice in, and preach of Christ so that our children—and we ourselves—will desire to apply the Atonement in our lives. We must identify temptations that easily beset us and put them out of reach—way out of reach. Finally, we need to frequently biopsy our mightily changed hearts and reverse any signs of early rejection."

My goal, along with many in the church, is to experience, then "maintain" this change of heart throughout my life. Life experiences, and true devotion are beginning to make this change in my own heart. I hope to be able to discuss these changes in myself in this blog. I hope others will share their expereinces so that we can all grow together.