Twenty years ago in March!!!

I woke up this morning and realized that the end of March will be 20 years since I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I am so grateful for my Baptist upbringing that taught me to communicate with God and to treat my body like a temple and so many more truths that I still hold dear.  I left none of those behind when I accepted the gift of this church that Heavenly Father was offering to me.... 20 years ago!

The person I am today is due to the softening influence of the fullness of the gospel in my life.  I just read in 3 Nephi this morning about other churches that are built on the works of men or on the works of Satan. The disciples in the New World asked Jesus about what to call the Church.  He asked why there would be disputations among the people about this when the scriptures were clear that His Church would take among them His name.  He went on to teach:

 3 Nephi 27:

9Verily I say unto you, that ye are built upon my gospel;therefore ye shall call whatsoever things ye do call, in my name;therefore if ye call upon the Father, for the church, if it be in myname the Father will hear you;

10And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then willthe Father show forth his own works in it.

11But if it be not built upon my gospel, and is built upon the worksof men, or upon the works of the devil, verily I say unto you theyhave joy in their works for a season, and by and by the endcometh, and they are ^ahewn down and cast into the ^bfire, fromwhence there is no return.

12For their works do ^afollow them, for it is because of their worksthat they are hewn down; therefore remember the things that Ihave told you.

13Behold I have given unto you my ^agospel, and this is the gospelwhich I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the^bwill of my Father, because my Father sent me.

14And my Father sent me that I might be ^alifted up upon the^bcross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the ^ccross, that Imight ^ddraw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by meneven so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me,to be ^ejudged of their works, whether they be good or whetherthey be evil—

 It struck me that however noble and good intentioned we are, if we are doing the works or men and not God, we aren't drawing unto Him on His terms, but ours.  This profound truth is obvious.

I knew the Book of Mormon was true a year after someone gave it to me to read...  I had started to read it and remember saying outloud that I just didn't know how to know if this book was true....  We ask people to read it, ponder it, pray to know it is true and the truth will be made known unto them....  I knew, not by reading it or using my intellect to figure it out, but because the Holy Ghost witnessed unto me that the Book of Mormon is true scripture given to us from a loving Heavenly Father.

I want to go to Nauvoo to celebrate the Relief Society's birthday in March.  The Relief Society is the organization of women in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I posted on Facebook asking if anyone else might want to go, too.  One friend posted that they were going later in the month because it was her tenth anniversary of when she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I realized it will be 20 years for me and maybe that is why I feel such a pull to do this THIS year.  One friend can go with me, but if I go alone, I am planning to go...  It is important.

This morning before I got up, I realized that Ed will beat Cole Thies' record of not being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and still married to a member for 20 years.  He said in jest that he wanted to beat Cole's record... He has (or nearly has) and it is indeed time for him to be baptized.  The bishopric invited Ed to take the temple prep class at the end of last year and we just finished the before the temple classes.  There has been a noticeable difference in Ed since we started these classes...  The bishopric were really thinking outside the box when they asked us to take these classes.  :-)

There are so many opportunities that will draw Ed nearer unto our Savior.  Ed is helping with a totally AWESOME experience for our young men tonight.  Our youngest son will be going tonight and our older two have done this in the past.  He also is going with the young men to Nauvoo to hike the martyrdom trail on spring break.  I felt earlier this month that I needed to gird up my spiritual armor and was prompted to add a couple of things to my daily routine.  I am also making it to the temple more often and taking friends.  :-)

I would like to invite everyone that reads this to pray for our family.  We are truly building our eternal family and I know it'll take the prayers of all.  I am grateful for being able to see God's hand in my life and knowing that He loves me.