Happy Birthday! A year in review

Today is officially my 52nd post on this blog, which excites me for new conceptualizations to come. I'd like to take the time here to talk a little bit about myself, and where I've gone in the last year. I hope you enjoy this break from protocol, and I hope hearing the story of Weekly Conceptualizations will inspire you to go out and serve.

And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him
in the kingdom of my Father!

And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
Doctrine & Covenants 18:1-16

The scripture above is the crux of the whole blog. I don't think that I have used the blog to declare repentance unto others, but I hope it has inspired someone somewhere at some time to be better. I created Weekly Conceptualizations because I was looking for a way to be better myself, to get more out of my scripture study, which I have found in the last year to truly be the hinge point upon my level of spirituality on a day-to-day basis. The scriptures are true, as are the words expressed by modern prophets. I chose this arena to express my feelings about the words of prophets old and new because I knew people would see it, and that would provide me the opportunity to serve in a capacity that I as of yet had not experienced. I offer my apology; this blog is truly a selfish pursuit.

With that said, I also apologize for the waxing and waning that has occurred from week to week. Some posts have been grand discourses; others have been simple thoughts and testimonies. It would be my desire to write a grand discourse every week, but I can only write as much as what I prepare for. It is easier to prepare when the Spirit is present, as creativity and talent seem to reach a leading edge, almost seamlessly producing an outcome that can only be described as spiritual. This spiritual "flow" is the ideal; however, it is not always reality.

For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
2 Nephi 2:11

I have felt opposition in the past year, and it is reflected in my ability to better serve. This blog has endured three time zones, three callings, countless home teaching visits, and many a Sunday too tired to write. Over the last ten months it has endured being relegated to the time in between breakfast and four to five hours of church sandwiched between two or more hours of travel. This blog has endured culture shock, being overworked and underpaid, and long days away from refuge, both spiritual and physical. I have been through a lot over the last year, but I am consoled by this scripture, which I feel I can apply to myself:

My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions
shall be but a small moment;

And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph
over all thy foes.

Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall
hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee,
neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

And they who do charge thee with transgression, their hope shall be blasted, and their prospects shall melt away as the hoar frost melteth before the burning rays of the rising sun;

...

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.
Doctrine & Covenants 121: 7-11; 122: 7-9

These things give me hope for a brighter day. And yes, my hope is bright. I started this blog with that idea, that hope is measured in brightness, that how bright our hope is reflects the level to which we have the Spirit at any given time. If we have the Spirit in greater abundance, then our hope is brighter. Hope is in future events, based in faith on true principles. Thus, a " Perfect Brightness of Hope" (see 2 Nephi 31:20) can be interpreted to be the level to which the Spirit enlightens one's understanding of the principles in which they already have faith.


It is my prayer that we who are tired, downtrodden, and having a hard time might have hope for a brighter day. I KNOW that brighter days are ahead for all of us. How can I know this in spite of a lack of knowledge of every person's personal circumstances? Simple. It comes through the knowledge that I have that Jesus is the Christ, and that He as a perfect man wrought the Atonement on behalf of the imperfect, which constitutes all of us. I know that if we apply the Atonement in our lives, we will be granted strength to withstand trials and that we will be able to gain that inheritance which we so long for. My message a year ago was much the same, and I reckon it will continue to be the same. Like Nephi, my soul delights in plainness. It is my prayer that ths week and every week we may be simple, looking toward the Savior that we might live.

Have a great week!