Planner and other Missionary Stories

PATTI MINER MISSIONARY STORIES: --YOU NEVER KNOW WHO THE SPIRIT WILL TOUCH AS YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE.

Be Aware….Listen to the Spirit….and Open Your Mouth!

I left my planner on an airplane once. My planner was very important as I was traveling a lot at that time and it had every schedule, phone number etc… The next day was Sunday and I got a call from a Stewardess with a southern accent. She started out by saying, “Do you want to know what you’re doing tomorrow?” I was excited and asked if she found my planner. She said yes  and she would fax me the next day and then mail it to me. She hoped I didn’t mind when her and 4 other stewardesses looked at it and loved how I did menu plans and individual dates with each of my kids once a month…then she asked what VT / FHE and Temple meant that I had marked off regularly. After 45 minutes she knew what they meant. As a thank you for sending me back my most important book…I sent her The most important book to me… the Book of Mormon with my testimony in it. 

A month later I got a phone call from a young man who asked if I was the lady who lost her planner on the airplane. I said yes and he said there were 5 stewardesses who had something to tell me. He held the phone up and they all shouted, “We’re getting baptized.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

When MeKette was still in Primary she wrote her testimony in a Book of Mormon and the Primary Presidency mailed them out to different countries. A year later we got a letter from a man in Africa who had joined the church after receiving MeKette’s Book of Mormon and thanked her for her sweet testimony.

______________________________________________________________________________

At the Mrs. America Pageant I had gotten to my room first and was unpacking when Mrs Alabama arrived as my roommate. She dropped her bags and gasped when she saw my MRS UTAH banner. She had an anti-mormon radio station and was her State BAPTIST Women’s  President. She bible bashed for a few minutes and I as I was not expecting it I was quite taken back. Then the spirit told me to stop and tell her my schedule.  I told her how we go to Sunday School and study the Bible. I told her about Primary/Relief Society/Priesthood and the charity that the church does as well as our name is the Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter Day Saints. She then had an “ah-ha” experience and realized we were Christian. After that we would hold early morning prayer with the other contestants (46 of them attended) They called us by our state’s name so -  ALABAMA would praise the Lord in Scripture (she was loud like a full belt preacher) and UTAH would pray (since most did not know how to pray except prayers preachers had written down for them.)

When I arrived home, I got a call from ALABAMA (Katrina White) saying that her and her family and half her radio station had joined the church.

_____________________________________________________________________________

One day I was preparing to go to a wedding reception when a knock came to the door. It was a young girl selling paintings.  She noticed the painting of  Christ in our living room and asked if I were a Christian. She said she was from Israel and was Jewish. I told her I was LDS and she said someone had given her a Book of Mormon a few weeks earlier. She asked how to find out more about the religion. I told her I could refer her to the missionaries  - just then two missionaries were tracking in the rain down our street (the missionaries never tract down our street) I pointed to them and said, “Like those two missionaries” Since I had a salesman at the door they went to my neighbors house across the street. She asked how someone becomes a missionary. I told her the Prophet of the World, just like Moses in his time, chooses where they should go. She was fascinated and wanted to know more. I invited her inside and ran across the street to get the missionaries.  Upon hearing about her, the missionaries were excited and came right over. They taught her the first discussion and set up an additional appointment.

They came by the next day to thank me for the contact. I gave them the addresses of all the other non-members in our ward that I had had on our activities committee when I used to be the  Ward Activities Chairman. (It is in the handbook that you can have them on your committee.)

Choosing Good over Evil Every Day

Below is one of the most touching videos but also very inspirational and it made me think about good overpowering evil. God has given the greatest gift of free agency to all the world. The only way we can be tested and progress to the next level. We are all here bumping into that free agency of elements, animals and people every day. Our gift to God is to choose Him over and over again, every time we are faced with hard things.
For Men are that they might have Joy...and true Eternal Joy, Hard to Understand that kind of Joy, God's Joy,
is Eternal Progression.
Even when we choose poorly, God sent Jesus to pay for our poor choices.
Then we repent and start fresh choosing God again....every day.


http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865592068/One-year-since-Sandy-Hook-Evil-did-not-win--video.html

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

“GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD”

 

I was reading an article in the newspaper in which they described that in the Pioneer times each woman had a crock with sourdough culture in it. She had to work it every day because there was no fridge to put it in, so she had to make bread every day.  Pioneer mothers would usually knead the dough on the wagon seat because the back of the wagon was full and the seat was the only clear, flat spot.

The pioneers made their own yeast using potatoes. They would borrow some yeast (a start as it was called) meaning a little bit of a yeast culture, and then add potatoes and sugar so that the yeast would grow.  As long as they kept the yeast alive, it would continue to multiply and they had a good supply of yeast.

 

This article made me think, what if the pioneer woman did not make bread that day and let the yeast die? Then their life source would die. Each one of us may not have to make bread every single day to keep our yeast alive, but we do need to read scriptures, attend the temple, have family home evening and a collection of other commandments to obey in order to keep our spiritual yeast alive so our spiritual life source does not dry up. We each must have our DAILY BREAD OF LIFE.

 

Thus Jesus prayer to Heavenly Father applies to us this day with our righteous works,

Father Give us This Day our Daily Bread of Righteousness and may we do the works so that our spiritual bread will grow and never die.

 

Patti Miner

Mentally Strong People: The 13 Things They Avoid

I was impressed by this list compiled by Amy Morin, a psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker,  that she shared in LifeHack. I am sharing it on my blog because I found quite a few things that I could work on...

1.    Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves. You don’t see mentally strong people feeling sorry for their circumstances or dwelling on the way they’ve been mistreated. They have learned to take responsibility for their actions and outcomes, and they have an inherent understanding of the fact that frequently life is not fair. They are able to emerge from trying circumstances with self-awareness and gratitude for the lessons learned. When a situation turns out badly, they respond with phrases such as “Oh, well.” Or perhaps simply, “Next!”

2. Give Away Their Power. Mentally strong people avoid giving others the power to make them feel inferior or bad. They understand they are in control of their actions and emotions. They know their strength is in their ability to manage the way they respond.

3.    Shy Away from Change. Mentally strong people embrace change and they welcome challenge. Their biggest “fear,” if they have one, is not of the unknown, but of becoming complacent and stagnant. An environment of change and even uncertainty can energize a mentally strong person and bring out their best.

4. Waste Energy on Things They Can’t Control. Mentally strong people don’t complain (much) about bad traffic, lost luggage, or especially about other people, as they recognize that all of these factors are generally beyond their control. In a bad situation, they recognize that the one thing they can always control is their own response and attitude, and they use these attributes well.

5. Worry About Pleasing Others. Know any people pleasers?  Or, conversely, people who go out of their way to dis-please others as a way of reinforcing an image of strength? Neither position is a good one. A mentally strong person strives to be kind and fair and to please others where appropriate, but is unafraid to speak up. They are able to withstand the possibility that someone will get upset and will navigate the situation, wherever possible, with grace.

6. Fear Taking Calculated Risks. A mentally strong person is willing to take calculated risks. This is a different thing entirely than jumping headlong into foolish risks. But with mental strength, an individual can weigh the risks and benefits thoroughly, and will fully assess the potential downsides and even the worst-case scenarios before they take action.

7. Dwell on the Past. There is strength in acknowledging the past and especially in acknowledging the things learned from past experiences—but a mentally strong person is able to avoid miring their mental energy in past disappointments or in fantasies of the “glory days” gone by. They invest the majority of their energy in creating an optimal present and future.

8. Make the Same Mistakes Over and Over. We all know the definition of insanity, right? It’s when we take the same actions again and again while hoping for a different and better outcome than we’ve gotten before. A mentally strong person accepts full responsibility for past behavior and is willing to learn from mistakes. Research shows that the ability to be self-reflective in an accurate and productive way is one of the greatest strengths of spectacularly successful executives and entrepreneurs.

9. Resent Other People’s Success. It takes strength of character to feel genuine joy and excitement for other people’s success. Mentally strong people have this ability. They don’t become jealous or resentful when others succeed (although they may take close notes on what the individual did well). They are willing to work hard for their own chances at success, without relying on shortcuts.

10. Give Up After Failure. Every failure is a chance to improve. Even the greatest entrepreneurs are willing to admit that their early efforts invariably brought many failures. Mentally strong people are willing to fail again and again, if necessary, as long as the learning experience from every “failure” can bring them closer to their ultimate goals.

11. Fear Alone Time. Mentally strong people enjoy and even treasure the time they spend alone. They use their downtime to reflect, to plan, and to be productive. Most importantly, they don’t depend on others to shore up their happiness and moods. They can be happy with others, and they can also be happy alone.

12. Feel the World Owes Them Anything. Particularly in the current economy, executives and employees at every level are gaining the realization that the world does not owe them a salary, a benefits package and a comfortable life, regardless of their preparation and schooling. Mentally strong people enter the world prepared to work and succeed on their merits, at every stage of the game.

13. Expect Immediate Results. Whether it’s a workout plan, a nutritional regimen, or starting a business, mentally strong people are “in it for the long haul”. They know better than to expect immediate results. They apply their energy and time in measured doses and they celebrate each milestone and increment of success on the way. They have “staying power.” And they understand that genuine changes take time. Do you have mental strength? Are there elements on this list you need more of? With thanks to Amy Morin, I would like to reinforce my own abilities further in each of these areas today. How about you?

 

I am thankful that the Lord gave us Self Healing Bodies…

The most incredible amazing part of the human body is the cell. All human life originally begins as one single cell, which then divides into many more cells, until a baby is born after nine months of cell division inside the mother's womb.

The cells in our bodies are endlessly working every second to bring us back to a natural state of wellness, or equilibrium. When we turn to medicine, vitamins, herbs, or physical adjustments of our body's systems to heal us, we are really only helping our bodies' natural ability to heal itself.

Each cell is a complete living unit that is constantly monitoring and adjusting its own processes, always working to restore itself to the original DNA code it was born with, to maintain balance within the body. Cells have the ability to heal themselves, as well as make new cells that replace those that have been damaged or destroyed. Even when a large number of cells are destroyed -- something that happens almost daily inside our bodies -- the cells around it replicate to make new cells, thereby replacing almost immediately the cells that were destroyed.Almost simultaneously, the process of new cell formation begins. These new cells originate mostly from the newer layers of cells of a particular tissue, while older cells are pushed to the site of the injury, to gradually fill the space that was made by the injury. This remarkable and complex process automatically stops when the healing is complete. This healing process is not just for injuries. It also takes care of normal, everyday wear and tear.

God in his infinite goodness, gave us these self healing bodies. Our gift to Him that we use our free agency that He also gave us, to choose Him to love and serve Him with Hearts, Might, Mind and Strength.

 

"I Can Depend on You" Music Video

 

 

 

“I Can Depend on You” Music Video

from Patti Miner ‘Deep and Wide’ Album

http://youtu.be/XIuZIZRpoh0

SPIRITUAL MATHEMATICS

SPIRITUAL MATHEMATICS

 

I believe there is a Mathematic formula for Faith and receiving divine guidance.

D&C 8:2 Yea, behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.

(The Mind + the Heart = The condition the Holy Ghost can Communicate to you with your Whole Presence)

 D&C 88:15 And the spirit and the body are the soul of man.
(Thus the Spirit Plus the Body Equals the Soul of Man.)

Technology is amazing. To paraphrase Amy Jensen (BYU Communications)
“Children and People in our Physical Presence are more important than Cell Phones....In Mass Communication Technology today we can project our souls across vast geographies. For example: My texting or emailing before or during a Meeting has an effect on my presence here. My iPhone allows me to divide my presence. While I may be seated here…part of my soul is back at the office with the email and another part of my soul is in the presence of the company I am texting miles away from the location of my body. Such dispersement of my Soul has prevented me on occasion of participating with Human Beings with my complete presence.”

Multi-tasking divides our presence. We need our complete presence right here and in the present time of now to truly experience our spiritual and physical life to the fullest.

We are here to develop our Faith thru our Sacraments to become like Heavenly Father.

 “A Sacrament could be any one of a number of gestures or acts or ordinances that Unite us with God and His limitless powers.  We are imperfect and mortal. He is Perfect and Immortal. But from time to time – indeed as often as possible and appropriate – we find ways and go to places and create circumstances where we can unite symbolically with Him, and in so doing gain access to His power.”  -Jeffery R Holland 1988

 

I believe there is a Mathematic formula for Faith and receiving divine guidance.

Body + the Mind + the Spirit = the Entire Soul Receiving guidance through the Holy Ghost…Combined with the Doctrine of the Sacrament which embodies the Atonement of Jesus Christ…Equals Faith with which all things are possible