Personal Progress

March 19, 2015

I’m working on Choice and Accountability in Personal Progress again this afternoon.  When doing the required reading in value experience #1 I was reminded that The Lord wants us to work out and come up with solutions to our own problems.  When we do he will bless us and help make what we come up with work.  There can often be more than one right solution and/or answer to our problems.

Regular scripture study and prayer help me make correct decisions by helping me stay close to the Holy Spirit so I can be reminded of important matters and so I can have help thinking through possible consequences (positive and negative) of my decisions.  They also help me learn more about Jesus Christ so I can be more like him.  Prayer and scripture study also help me learn about the promises the Lord has made.  When I learn of those promises, I can do what is asked and claim those blessings for myself and my family. 

In value experience #2 I am asked to list each standard of righteous behavior in the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet.  The standards are:

·         Agency and Accountability

·         Dating

·         Dress and Appearance

·         Education

·         Entertainment and Media

·         Family

·         Friends

·         Gratitude

·         Honesty and Integrity

·         Language

·         Music and Dancing

·         Physical and Emotional Health

·         Repentance

·         Sabbath Day Observance

·         Service

·         Sexual Purity

·         Tithes and Offerings

·         Work and Self-Reliance

·         Go Forward with Faith

It is important to live these standards because the First Presidency promised that if I do I “will be blessed with the companionship of the Holy Ghost, [my] faith and testimony will grow stronger, and [I] will enjoy increasing happiness.”

For the next three weeks I am going to work on these three standards:

• Entertainment and Media, I will improve myself by not spending so much time on social media or watching TV or reading books so that I don’t miss out on valuable interaction with my family.
• Gratitude, I will also “be specific in thanking [Father in Heaven] for His goodness, for my family, for friends, for leaders and teachers, for the gospel, and for His Son, Jesus Christ.”
• Service, I will “seek the guidance of the Holy Ghost each day to know whom to serve and how to help meet their needs” so my “capacities will increase”.      

I am so thankful for personal progress.  I am thankful for the personal inspiration and the inspiration from my stake leaders to work on it with my young women.  It has blessed me more than I thought it would.  The Lord is so good to me. 

Love,

Mindy