The Door to True Happiness

"The gospel of Jesus Christ has the answers to all of our problems.  The gospel is not a secret.  It is not complicated or hidden.  It can unlock the door to true happiness.  It is not someone's theory or proposition.  It does not come from man at all.  It springs from the pure and everlasting waters of the Creator of the universe, who knows truths we cannot even begin to comprehend.  And with that knowledge, He has given us the gospel - a divine gift, the ultimate formula for happiness and success."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Way of the Disciple," Ensign, May 2009

Temple and Home, a Haven from The Storms of Life by Connie Allen

"In spite of our obedience, trials and tribulations will come our way. Disasters and tribulation are not always for the punishment of the wicked, but often for the sanctification of the righteous. We admire the early members of the Church for their faithfulness through their numerous trials. It is interesting to contemplate whether they succeeded in facing their obstacles because of their spirituality or whether they were spiritual because of the obstacles they faced."  (Glenn L. Pace, “Spiritual Revival,” Ensign, Nov 1992, 11)
EVERYONE goes through storms in life; if not right now, it has come or it will come. Just plan on it.  It is how we handle these storms that matter. Do we let them build us up and make us stronger?  Or do they tear us apart?  Storms are for the purpose to teach and prepare.  We should take what we learn in the temple and apply them to our families and homes.  Sister Allen listed four ways to do this:
Prayer: we learn how to pray in the temple, the prayer roll teaches us about faith and love.
Teach:  in the temple we are taught by the spirit.  We learn about the importance of families, the sealing power, the plan of salvation etc.  We should take the things we learn and share them with our families, especially our children and grandchildren.
Love:  we feel love at the temple through the ordinances and also because of the peace, calm and serenity that exists there.
Testimony: when we attend the temple our testimonies will increase.  We can share our testimony of the temple and the truths we learn there with our family.

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Feasting on the Words of Eternal Life by Geri Clements

“There is a power in the [Book of Mormon] which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book.  You will find greater power to resist temptation.  You will find the power to avoid deception.  You will find the power to stay on the straight and narrow path.  The scriptures are called the “words of life” (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon.  When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.”  (Ezra Taft Benson, “The Keystone of Our Religion”, Ensign, Jan. 1992, 2)
Scripture Study Helps:
Marking Ideas:  Keep several colors of pencils and color code your scriptures.  For example: yellow - parables, orange - miracles, red - general highlighting, blue - highlighting during stake and general conference talks, brown - underline all “and thus we see” and “I will show unto you” type references where the lessons of the scriptures are emphasized, green - JST: circle verse number and mark footnote.
Scripture References used in Ward, Stake and General Meetings:  Mark scriptures with the name, date, and meeting of talks when the scripture is referenced.
Symbols for Marking: 
Heart Conditions: ♥
Scripture Mastery: mark these in a separate color or use stickers
Temple Sticker: D&C Kirkland Temple Dedication
RS Sticker: D&C 25
Gifts of the Spirit: D&C 46
Dates: “ALLJ (After Left Jerusalem), BLLJ (Before Lehi Left Jerusalem), BIWB (Before I Was Born)
References to Music: ♪
Additions for Quick Reference:
Post it Tabs - Red: sacrament scriptures; Yellow: reference JST, harmony of gospels, etc; Blue: special  portions of scripture such as the word of wisdom, first vision, sermon on the mount, Christ appearing in America, blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Post it Notes - take notes during ward, stake and general conference on post it notes then stick the current notes in your scriptures to review periodically.
Glue Inserts - use a repositionable glue stick to insert notes.
Patriarchal Blessing - shrink this personal scripture and insert it into your own scriptures.
Joseph Smith Translation: get in the habit of noticing any passage with a JST footnote and replacing the text with the associated JST inspired translation.

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Focusing on the Things that Matter Most by Marcia Peterson

Sister Peterson opened by stating that often times rather than speeding up to get through life’s “speed bumps” we need to slow down.  She referred to President Uchtdorf’s last conference talk where he spoke about there being an optimum turbulence penetration speed requiring pilots having to decrease the speed of the airplane in order to minimize the negative effects of turbulence.  We too, need to slow down a little, steady the course, and focus on the essentials when experiencing adverse conditions.
She also talked about greyhounds in England who are trained to race around a track by chasing a mechanical bunny.  Over time, even when a real live rabbit runs across the track, the dogs will continue to chase the mechanical bunny.  Her point was, what mechanical “bunnies” are we chasing?  Are we so conditioned and distracted that we too are missing the “real” bunnies that cross our path?
The list of things that mattered most to her were:
Gospel/Testimony
Family
Relationships - we are commanded to love one another, love=time
Happiness
Investing in ourselves
Being grateful
Health
Contentment
We need to put the most important things first in our life.  One sister suggested that no electronic devices get turned on in the morning until we have these most important things done.  Example: scripture study, prayer, exercise etc.
We need to pursue what matters most while living in a troubled, yet glorious world.  We can do this by refocusing, getting organized, and deciding what matters most to us.

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Facing Trials with Gratitude and Humor by Denise Lund

Sister Lund talked about how we need to laugh everyday - through good times and bad.  To thank our Heavenly Father on a daily basis for all things, including trials.  Laugh with our children.  Even we would like to put our hands around their neck and squeeze!  Start a “humor journal”.  Write down everything in your life that you laugh about or funny things that happen to you and your family.  When we do these things we will face trials with more humor and have a better understanding of why Heavenly Father gives us trials.