The Journey of Discipleship

I was on my way to work this morning, and I was listening to Elder Uchtdorf's conference talk, "The Way of the Disciple".

One part really resonated with me:

'It is not enough merely to speak of Jesus Christ or proclaim that we are His disciples. It is not enough to surround ourselves with symbols of our religion. Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessings of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not a primary way of worshipping.

Ours is not a secondhand religion. We cannot receive the blessings of the gospel merely by observing the good that others do. We need to get off the sidelines and practice what we preach.'

I couldn't help but wonder if I am just surrounding myself with good, religious things and then simply observing them. I think you can do this even when you are extremely busy in life (if not especially so). The distinction lies in what we are busying ourselves with.

Hands down, I need to do better in this department. Not that spectating is a bad thing, as long as we're not relying on it to quench our spiritual thirst. We need to DO, and DO often.

I love you all, we (especially the women in our household) miss you . I hope this message finds you in good spirits.

Adam

A testimony of the fast

I suppose I've always just fasted out of obedience. I've never had a huge prayer answered due to fasting or had any other experience that really hit me hard as to why we fast. As Adam can probably attest to, it can be quite the challenge for me to fast. I always get the shakes and I've almost passed out a few times. My face is always very pale right before I end my fast (blood pressure drop)... I wouldn't survive long if we were to starve. So I tend to ask myself, why not just pray?? Doesn't it do the same thing? But I still fast, happily, because I know it pleases the Lord and that's basically my main goal in life :)
So today, I decided to fast for Alec since he's starting chemo this month and I know (via classes and watching my friend Brenna suffer) what it can do to the body and how miserable it must be. At first my thoughts were completely Alec-oriented. Like my suffering without food for one day would show that I cared for him as he suffers for the next year (ha, feeble? indeed).
As the day went on, I started to think more about what the Lord means for us to learn by fasting. I started to think about what we learn in the temple and how our body needs constant nourishment, both physically AND spiritually. In a way, by fasting, the Lord is reminding us of our Sprit's need for nourishment. The body is loud, it screams when it's hungry... but the Spirit is subtle, and if we're not careful, we could starve ourselves spiritually. Just by going without food for one measly day, our bodies start trembling, our blood pressure drops like crazy, the body almost goes into a state of shock (at least my whimpy 115 pound body does). But how often do we starve our spirit for a day? Thankfully... I can say not terribly often, but I KNOW my Spirit would love more nourishment a little more regularly.
So today, I have learned for myself WHY we fast. It may be like a power prayer, due to the sacrifice attached. But really, it is a reminder that our Spirit needs fed just as much as our body does. If we can feed ourselves spiritually (with real intent) as much as we do physically, I really believe Satan would have very little power over us.
I love you guys!! Thanks for being such a wonderful family! I'll miss being just a 4 hour drive away!