Never Faileth?

Sorry its a long one... but it might just be worth it...

Monday nights around 5:00 you will find two Jessica's climbing our way up the south campus stairs to the JSB (Joseph Smith Building). When I was registering for classes this semester I found myself in need of 2.0 credits of religion. Last semester I took the first half of the New Testament from Sis. Gaye Strathern. It was my favorite class last semester and I did everything in my power to find another class taught by her. This semester I found it and fit it in my schedule. I am taking one of those once-a-week-but-twice-as-long evening classes. :)

*quick pause for explanation* For those who don't know or understand all this BYU lingo I shall explain. Each semester at BYU you are required to take at least one religion class and no more than two. You can choose from a variety of classes offered such as Book of Mormon, Old Testament, New Testament, and Doctrine and Covenants. All of these are split in half so one semester you take one and another semester you can take another. Logically it makes sense as it would be very difficult to read the whole book of works in one semester with 14 other credits. :) The New Testament is split up so that the first half consists of the 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) studying the life and teachings of Christ in his earthly mission. The second half reads all the rest (Acts- Revelation) and studies the missions of Paul and the growth and decline of the early Christian Church. *now back to the story*

This class goes from 5:00-7:00 pm and is easily the best (and fastest) two hours of the week. Sis. Strathern teaches her classes to read intelligently and look for meaning and understanding as we read through the Bible. Her lectures are discussions and she makes us dig and search to find the answers to her questions. At the end of her class she hopes to instill in us the ability to discuss intelligently and actually understand the context and teachings found within the works. She is amazing. A student from Australia who got her masters in Physical Therapy and a PHD in Ancient Middle Eastern Studies (or something like that). She knows the original context of the bible and the history of what is happening to cause the principles taught. She will also give us the Greek translations of some of the words. These translations usually change the meaning of the scripture completely! It is amazing what a little "fancy King James" language can do to your doctrine...

This week we were studying the Corinthians. And the reason for my contemplative mood comes from a new understanding of Christian liberty and Charity. To set the stage Paul has received word that there a few problems in Corinth that are causing disunity in the church there. Paul sends a letter from Ephesus to the saints in Corinth addressing their issues. One of these issues is the issue of Christian liberty (as Sis. Strathern calls it). There are some saints who are eating at the Greek Temples. This causes issues because it is a signal to some that this is what they are worshiping. These saints are using the argument of "I know that there is only one God. I am not worshiping here. My testimony is not being hurt by it." Paul in turn takes that argument and throws it back into question. He tells them that the issue is not them eating at these temples. The issue is that those saints who are weaker in their testimonies who see you there might have a "stumbling block" because of you. This is what Paul cares about. In essence, if it offends anyone around you, then you shouldn't do it no matter what it is. If you have charity for your brothers and sisters, you will do everything in your power not to hurt them in any way, shape, or form. As Sis. Strathern puts it "There's no way in this wide world." *in an Australian accent* :)

Christan Liberty comes from the way Jesus taught his principles. The Jews were so fixed in the rules and letters of the law of what to do, when, and how much... and what not to do that some missed the subtle ways of Christ. Christ taught principles and let each one interpret what it means to them on an individual basis. The Gospel is the same today. It is such an individual experience that we are very rarely, if ever, given rules on things we should and shouldn't be doing. We get suggestions from the Brethren but nothing that isn't our choice. According to Paul we will let others help give us the guidelines on how to live. If it offends our neighbor... or even a stranger, we should care enough about them to not want to offend them. This goes as far as what you are doing is right. Christian liberty is the proper use of our agency.

So what does this mean for me, today, as a BYU student in 2009? What does what Paul thinks matter to me? It means that if I have hurt or offended anyone, I have the responsibility to repent of it. I will answer to God for my disunity. If I have charity I don't want to hurt my brothers and sisters. It was a slap in the face for me to hear this. It usually is when I go to Sis. Strathern's class... I know I need to do better. Its not an easy ride to make it to where I want to be. You have to get into the gospel, stop sitting on the stands, and labor diligently. Its hard work to be a disciple of God but the reward is beyond imagination. :)

Don't worry... I am not quite finished yet. With a slap like that, your self-esteem can hurt something awful. Heavenly Father rebukes us when its necessary and for me I was getting too comfortable and prideful in my life. It is time to kick it up a notch. But when that initial slap comes, he is ready for the relief and comfort to dab on your face... or for me... my heart.

We finished up class this week in 1 Corinthians 13. Paul is talking about Charity. Sis. Strathern took us through each characteristic charity has... (found in 1 Cor. 13: 4-8...you know the famous scripture... Charity suffereth long, beareth all things... etc... ) but she turned it on us so that I was able to see this scripture in a completely new light. I figured we would be talking about it as a "what we need to have in order to know we do have charity" as we just finished talking about Christian liberty... but this twist came and took my feet out from under me. I mean, of course I believe it this way but I've never thought of it quite like this...

Charity is the pure love of Christ (Moroni 7:45) so when Paul recites the characteristics of Charity he is describing Christ. (I know... duh Jess...) But go to a level of more depth and take a moment to pause and think about it. I will now leave you with this to ponder. We went through each of these things and discussed what Christ did in his mortal ministry to give us this perfect example to follow. We talked about how much he loves us, how much he suffered, how he was not easily (or ever) provoked, etc. We talked about how he believes in each one of us and in our capabilities (believeth all things) and how he hopes for our safe return and for our proper use of his atonement. He went through it all so that we could. I hope we remember that as we go about our daily lives... Christ never fails us and we should do everything we can to not let him down either.

4 ^aCharity ^bsuffereth long, and is ^ckind; charity ^denvieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself ^aunseemly, seeketh not her ^bown, is not easily ^cprovoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in ^ainiquity, but rejoiceth in the ^btruth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never ^afaileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Cookie Love

Somehow, despite my best efforts at washing my hands they are still very sweetly red and smell faintly of butter cream frosting... Why? This is the question of the day. Luckily, I have the answer!

My latest adventure started with a text. The plan was to go home after work and party it up with... yup you guessed it... my mom! We wanted to make valentine's cookies and boy was it fun! When I got to my house my mom had already made the cookie dough and was letting it cool before we commenced the rolling, cutting, and cooking of the cookies. We were not quite sure how it would turn out... but we were having fun and that was all that mattered. The process up through cooking, however, is just the first step of creating valentine cookies... There is still the decorating...

After about a third of the cookies were frosted we began to run out of steam. Luckily my dad came up and used his abundant creativity with a few... :) (my personal favorite was the "candy land cookie" do you see the path?)



I love times like this. It is so much fun for me to hang with my mom and chat about boys and school and different cooking tips. We have a lot of fun! I love my mom and am so very grateful that she loves me back! ;) I don't know what I would do without her help and support. She has been there through thick and thin... and when I have questions about cooking something... So thanks Mom. For everything. I love you!

Humbled

It has been a rather long week. My semester has been going great... until this week. All of the sudden every one of my classes surprised me with something huge that was due. It started with Tuesday's surprise exam in ASL (it might not have been totally surprise but I think I didn't understand some of the signs I thought I did...). I had a Psychology paper due, a history paper due, an exam in Geography, and a quiz of Psych as well. All of this was due on Thursday and Friday... So my week was spent trying to keep up with the work and not let the readings fall behind. Needless to say, the stress made me a little less-than-happy...

Thursday was a long day and I couldn't wait to be finished with it. After I worked on my paper and some reading I went to work. You know its bad when going to work is a welcome break from what you are already doing... but it makes for a long day when I know I have hours of homework to still do. When 5:30 came around I finished up and went out to my car. When I opened my door my heart jumped into my chest. There was something florescent yellow sitting on my seat. At a second glance I saw that it was a little elephant! Underneath him was a little note explaining that it was "Special Stress absorbent material designed especially for Jess. When she needs an extra hug. Love- Bryce" On the back was a little inspirational quote and scripture telling me how I could make it. I named the elephant Theodore. He is possible the cutest elephant EVER! :)
He was successful in cheering me up and I realized how blessed I am. My friends and family are absolutely amazing! They care about me even if I feel like I don't deserve it. I went to bed with positive ideas about the upcoming stressful day and felt like I could do it. Unfortunately... I had another lesson to learn this week...

Yesterday was one of those "Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Days." Alexander and I seem to have a lot in common...
I woke up, got ready and went to campus. I had a little trouble printing my paper for history but it eventually came out... but made me in a rush to make it to my psych class. I had my geography book with me so I could study as much as I could without the study guide I was supposed to pick up from my professor's office. The plan was to go from history to the SWKT (Spencer W. Kimball Tower) to pick it up, go home to grab some lunch, and study to take my test by about... 5:00... *sigh* Lets just say... that is not how the plan went today. I was pushed to the point that I just wanted to give up. I went to history and forgot to turn in my paper. When I went back to give it to my professor, he wasn't there. I couldn't find my geography professor or TA where they were supposed to be to find the new study guide for the exam I had to take. I was interrupted over and over again while trying to study... the list goes on... finally at 8:00 I went over to the testing center to take the test. When I got it, I realized I forgot to study a very important part of the material... it was on another sheet... and I couldn't remember what numbers I needed... *sigh* that was when I decided I needed to give up for the day. It was just too much for me to handle. I finished my test and called Bryce who wanted to come pick me up. So I went outside into the cold to wait for him.

As I went outside I saw a light. (no I am not dead... nor was it a near-death experience) It was on the side of the mountain. I also heard a helicopter. The light was scanning the entire face of Y mountain! I believe they were looking for someone... my heart stopped cold. Immediately my day did not seem so bad. I was about to get into a warm car and go to my warm apartment and there was someone on the mountain as it got later and later in a very cold night. I said a quick prayer for them and for those on the helicopter. I thanked Heavenly Father for my newest humbling experience.

No matter how bad I think I have it, its not. There is always something to be grateful for and I am definitely one of the most blessed. I have no reason to not be happy or feel sorry for myself. I need to serve and recognize all that is good in my life! So thanks to all of you who are each a blessing of the best!