This is cross posted at my personal blog, HotPepper.ca.

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I’ve always been interested in knowing what callings everyone had in the Bloggernacle, so I’m conducting a survey.

What is your calling?

Google Forms doesn’t allow storing of cookies, so the only way I can mitigate duplicate responses is by asking for names and email addresses. Names and email addresses will not be published.

I’m trying to collect several hundred, so I can have a good sample size. Once I reach that point, I hope to publicize them here.

Please pass the word.

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I like to go to the Marriage and Family Relations class for Sunday School when it’s available.  (Smaller class, more discussion, interesting topics.)  A few weeks ago in the class we were discussing the divine role of the mother, and I thought I knew what to expect.  Still, I was a little surprised when the conversation headed toward group-sanctioned husband-bashing.  You know, the typical complaints: My husband is incapable of putting the kids to bed on time.  My husband would let the kids starve if I left it up to him.  (“What is it with husbands not feeding kids?!”)  Men just aren’t hardwired to pay attention to household needs like women are; they just don’t care as much.  Men aren’t naturally able to nurture as well as women can.  “I love my husband, but I’m glad he’s not the mom.”

Read the full post and comments at  Feminist Mormon Housewives

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In church we often hear the questions, “Are there any volunteers for the canning on Friday?”  “Can I get a volunteer for the prayer?”  “Who would like to do this service on Tuesday night?”  “We need five people to go help with this move Saturday morning at 7:00.  By raise of hands, who would like to do that?”  While this way of asking for service may have its merits, I believe there is a far better way that yields much greater blessings to more members and others.  It is found in the assignment.

Read the full post and comment at The Millennial Star

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Seven months after I was laid off as a nine-year employee of the University of Lethbridge, I finally found a job.

It was a relief.

I had sent out dozens of resumes and had several interviews, but nothing seemed to come to fruition. Finally, after nearly running out of severance pay, I found a job with a solid, growing company. That’s an entirely different post.

Having been there for three weeks now, I’ve noticed a few things. It’s a stressful, hectic work environment seasoned well with colourful language. It’s much different compared to my last work environment.

The downside to this job is my shift runs Wednesday to Sunday. It’s the first time in my adult life I have had to work Sundays. The last time I was job hunting, I had three job offers, and ignoring a job that required me to work Sundays was an option. This time, I had no choices; this was my only job offer.

I was heartbroken when I found out I had to work Sundays.

Sundays have for many years been a special day for me. It has been a day unlike others: the only work I do is church related; I don’t participate in general entertainments; and I try to do gospel-related, enriching activities.

Having to work on Sundays is going to make this very difficult to maintain.

After I accepted the job (partly because I needed money to support my family and partly because of opportunities promised in the future), I thought about this some more and realized there were some things I could do to keep some semblance of spirituality in my life.

Luckily, my calling as ward executive secretary doesn’t require much my being at church on Sunday. A lot of what I have to do on Sundays can be done electronically or dropped off at the church before church starts.

I was able to arrange my dinner break to coincide with one of the wards in our building. At least, I can sing two of the hymns and partake in the sacrament.

We are going to continue being faithful in participating in our monthly ward temple night.

I am singing in the stake Christmas cantata.

I dress in my Sunday best even though everyone else is dressed in jeans and t-shirts.

Today was my first Sunday shift (the last two weeks were training Monday to Friday), and I have to say that I have never appreciated a Sacrament Meeting as much as I did today. As I mentioned above, my stressful, hectic, colourful work environment makes it difficult to feel the Spirit.

Going to church and being among my fellow saints today was a real blessing. For 40 minutes, all the swearing was gone. All the phone ringing was gone. All the worrying and stress was gone. For 40 minutes, I could relax, pray, and meditate. Even with screaming babies, today’s Sacrament Meeting was a harbour of strength during a spiritually turbulent day.

Today’s experience gave me an entirely different perspective on what it means when we refer to Sunday as a day of rest. Rest indeed.

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I gave the following talk in our Sacrament Meeting today. I requested giving a talk today because it is the last time I will be attending my ward for at least several months. My new job requires me to work Sundays.

Shortly before appearing to the Nephites, Jesus spoke to them amongst the engulfing darkness, saying:

“Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? . . . if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.” (3 Ne 9:13–14)

In a similar plea to the people of the Old World, Jesus offered:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” (Matt 11:28–29)

How many of us have carried in our hearts for too long a burden too heavy? How many of us have stumbled along the strait and narrow path hoping to make it without clinging to the iron rod? How many of us have suffered through pain and sorrow and darkness because we wanted to hide our sins and cover our follies?

Brethren and sisters, let us remember we need not suffer; we need not carry our burdens; we need not stumble unsupported.

Jesus’s offer of peace, rest, and mercy is extended to everyone: Mormon and non-Mormon, poor and rich, male and female, you and me. Each of us is a sinner, each of us falls short of the glory of God, (Rom 3:23) and each of us needs healing.

In 1 Nephi, chapter 8, we read of a vision the prophet Lehi had. In this vision, was a tree with beautiful, bright, sweet-tasting fruit. Leading to the tree was a strait and narrow path. Running alongside the path was an iron rod. According to 1 Nephi 11, the tree represents the love of God and the iron rod represents his word, which could be the scriptures or Jesus himself.

Often, when we hear or read this story, we imagine ourselves walking along a narrow path, holding onto the rod, and slowly advancing toward a distant tree. Consider the following:

In 2 Nephi 31:17, Nephi states:

The gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate

The Lord declared in Moses 7:53

Whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall

The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary, documenting the usage of English in Joseph Smith’s time, defined “strait” as difficult, distressing and rigorous.

When we take all these things under consideration, I have to wonder if travelling along the strait and narrow path is less like a peaceful stroll through a quiet park and more like an exhausting climb up a rugged mountain. If so, then it’s no wonder the people following the strait and narrow path in Lehi’s dream were clinging to the iron rod. (1 Ne 8:24)

Following the strait and narrow path is tough. Being a Christian isn’t easy.

Embracing the natural man is easy. It’s easy to be unyielding, defiant, proud, impatient, and unloving. Putting off the natural man, on the other hand, is hard. It’s hard to be submissive, meek, humble, patient, and full of love. (Mosiah 3:19)

It’s hard to be submissive and meek when you’re in the thick of a faith-testing trial. It’s hard to be humble when you don’t want to be embarrassed. It’s hard to be patient when you’ve stumbled for the 500th time. It’s hard to be full of love when others hurt you.

But just because something is difficult, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth doing. If the climb up the strait and narrow is difficult, we keep going. If we stumble on our climb, we cling to the iron rod and pull ourselves up. We keep going because we know the fruit at the end will taste so very sweet.

How do we do it? How do we stop ourselves from giving up? How do we pick our bruised and battered selves up each time we stumble? How do we find balm for our wounds and strength for our exhaustion? In the Saviour, of course.

We all know Jesus came to save us from sin and death. But he saves us from pain, sorrow, and suffering, too.

To the people of Gideon, Alma the Younger taught:

“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; . . . he will take upon him [our] infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy . . . that he may know . . . how to succor his people” (Mosiah 2:11–12)

Jesus knows what we go through when we sin and struggle. He understands each pain of sorrow and each twinge of guilt. He can honestly say, “I’ve been there. I understand.”

Because he knows what we go through, he is merciful to our suffering. He doesn’t want us to suffer as he suffered, which suffering caused him “to tremble because of pain, to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit.” (D&C 19:18) And he stands with open arms to succor us.

The Doctrine and Covenants teach us that if we are but faithful and keep his commandments, He will encircle us in the arms of his love. (D&C 6:20)

The prophet Nephi taught that we deny Jesus despite his lengthening out his arm to us each day. And despite our denying him, he will still be merciful if we repent and come unto him. (2 Ne 28:32)

In sharing with us the conversion of Lamoni and his people, Mormon taught us that the Lord’s arm is extended to all who repent and believe on his name. (Alma 19:36)

Lehi preached that he had beheld the glory of the Lord and was encircled about eternally in the arm of his love. (2 Ne 1:15)

Alma the Younger, in speaking to the people of Zarahemla, taught that Jesus has sent an invitation to all, that if we repent, he will receive us, for his arms of mercy are extended toward us. (Alma 5:33)

Brethren and sisters, the scriptures clearly declare the Lord stands with open, loving, merciful arms waiting to embrace us. But he doesn’t come to us. We must come to him if we want to experience his love, mercy, and peace. In order to come unto him, all he requires of us is four things.

First, we must learn of him.

In Matthew 11:29, Jesus invited us to “take [his] yoke upon [ourselves], and learn of [him]; . . . and [we] shall find rest unto [our] souls.”

We cannot expect to come unto one of whom we know very little. It is fundamental to understand the Saviour. We must understand who he was, what he did and what he taught.

Jesus was more than someone who performed miracles. Everything he taught challenged the popular beliefs and established ways of the society in which he lived.

The law said we shouldn’t kill; Jesus said we shouldn’t get angry at others. The law said we shouldn’t commit adultery; Jesus said we shouldn’t look at others to lust after them. The law said we should seek revenge for wrongdoings; Jesus said we should turn the other cheek. The law said we should hate our enemies; Jesus said we should love everyone.

His teachings laid out a higher way of living, a higher way of loving, respecting, and forgiving others. Mormon encapsulated the life of Jesus in the brief statement: charity is the pure love of Christ (Moro. 7:47). Every action he took and every tenet he taught was infused with his pure love.

We must feast upon his words and study his life if we are to understand who he is and consequentially how to come unto him.

Second, we must have faith in him.

Faith in Jesus Christ, the very first principle of the gospel, naturally comes next. For as we learn of him, we gain a testimony of him. We become convinced of his divinity, and we want to be like him.

This leads to the third thing required of us: repentance.

Amulek, companion to Alma the Younger, invited us to exercise our faith unto repentance, and as we did so, we would call to God for mercy (Alma 34:17). As our faith in the Saviour grows, so does our desire to be like him. We desire to be new creatures, to be born again, to become his spiritually begotten children (Mosiah 5:7). We desire a mighty change, to have the gospel written on our hearts (2 Cor. 3:3), and to have his image engraven in our countenances (Alma 5:14).

We desire to follow the counsel of King Benjamin to repent of our sins, to forsake them, to humble ourselves before God, and to ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive us (Mosiah 4:10). We desire to be as the Nephites after being delivered from the Gadianton Robbers, forsaking all our sins and abominations (3 Ne 5:3).

Repentance brings us to the fourth thing Jesus requires of us: keep his commandments. As we desire to be better, we want to do better. We want to do good, not just avoiding doing bad. We want to keep the Sabbath holy, not just keep it work-free. We want to tell the truth, not just avoid telling lies. We want to serve others because we love them, not just because we were asked to.

Please remember these four things are not steps in a checklist.  We cannot say, “Oh, we are done learning of him. Now it’s time to get some faith.” The faith comes in time. The repentance comes in time. It all comes in time. These four things are interdependent and interconnected. They are parts of a process. A lifelong process.

As we learn of Jesus, our faith in Him grows. As our faith in him grows, we want to repent. As we repent, we want to keep the commandments.

Brethren and sisters, Jesus promises us peace, mercy, and deliverance from the sins that hold us bound, that burden our backs, and that darken our hearts.  If we but learn of him, develop faith in him, repent of our sins, and keep his commandments, one day we will find the loving and merciful arms of the Saviour are no longer open. We will find them closed, closed around us. We will feel of his glory and finally, after much trial, stumbling, and heartache, we will be healed.

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To begin with, the Relief Society meetings described in the book sound like business meetings where women were encouraged to share their ideas for improving the society:  “Meetings are held serai-monthly in which all have the privilege of speaking; expressing their feelings or making suggestions for the furtherance of the work of the society.”

Read the entire post at Your Grandmother’s Relief Society « By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog.

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Handbook 2: Administering the Church is now online at the Church’s website.

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I have to say the thing said today that touched me the most from today’s Worldwide Leadership Training Broadcast was the idea presented by, I believe, Elder Cook that bishops have the discretion to allow priesthood holders without r3ecommends and who may not be very active to still participate meaningfully in ordinances for the children.

This means a lot to me.

My father, for his own reasons, was not active in the church when I left on my mission. He was not with me when I took out my own endowments and he did not ordain me as an elder. I regret that he was not able to play a part in such a pivotal point in my life. Granted, I am sure that he, as an active temple worker now, probably regrets it even more than I do.

I wonder though what things would have been like if that discretion had been available and communicated to our bishop. I wonder if my father would have been able to ordain me an elder.

I think of a father of two boys in the last are I served on my mission. Both boys were baptised the same day, and because of whatever reason, their father was not able to perform the baptisms. He was there at the service, but he confided in me, with tears streaming from his eyes, how sorry he was that he couldn’t do for his boys, his last children, what my companion and I would do.

At the very least, there are some sons out there now who will be so happy to have their fathers participate in such meaningful milestones in their lives. Likewise, some happy fathers, too.

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This Saturday the Church’s new handbook is going to be unveiled in special training meetings beamed to stakes all over the place. Boxes of the new handbooks are sitting right now deep in the bowels of your stake center. Someone in Church distribution, apparently on the theory that BCC is an administrative unit of the Church, actually sent a box of the new handbooks to the BCC offices. While regular Church officers are sworn to secrecy, I don’t remember anyone putting the cone of silence over our little group. So we’re going to go ahead and let you in on some of the changes you’ll find in the pages of the new handbook. To wit:

via Sneak Peek at the New Handbook « By Common Consent, a Mormon Blog.

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