EFY???

The other day I had a lot of time to kill, since I didn't have to work until 5 so I decided to take a stroll onto campus to go to the bank and grab a Jamba Juice, which is where Freddie works.  I told Freddie that I needed somethng to do and he suggested to go sneak into one of the classes at Education week (basically EFY for adults).  I thought it sounded like a great idea so I started looking at classes to go to and tried to get into one in the Ballroom in the WILK, but they would not let me in with out a pass.  I was really discouraged and so I gave up the idea and I started walking back to my apartment.  While walking home I was drawn to the Benson Building and I know that it was the spirit that led me straight to the class that I wanted to go to.  I snuck into the back with out a word from any one and was drawn immediately by the speaker.  His name was Wayne E. Brickey and his lesson was entitled "The Power of the word to cleanse, edify, and unite-- blessings for individuals and families."  His lesson was so good and I was so spiritually charged.  I knew I was meant to go to this class-- it was exactly what I needed in my life at the time!  Here are a few points that he made:

He talked about the absolute necessity of taking the time to read the scriptures.  He said an hour a day is best.  Half an hour is a blessing.  Fifteen minutes is better than nothing. 

The church did research and figured out that those who read the scriptures in the morning have a more spiritual experience.

It is not enough to just read the scriptures, but to understand the meaning of them.  We first need to read them, then to clarify them and look for principles.  In D&C 41:12 it says to teach the principles of His gospel.  It's the principles that have the fulness of the gospel not the books.  After finding the principles, we need to figure out how to live them.  "Be not hearers, but doers."  We are striving to be perfect.  The last step is to testify of that principle.  In D&C 84, it says that "man can get closer to God by reading and abiding by its principles." 

So there are 5 steps:

1. Read the scriptures

2. Clarify/ search them

3. Find the principle

4. Live that principle

5. Testify of that principle

It is a cycle that begins with the word and ends with a testimony.

That night I told Freddie how awesome this class was and how motivated I was to start reading my scriptures more.  We decided that we were both going to buy a morning pass the next day and go to a couple of classes before we had to go to work at 12 o'clock.  We decided to go to Brother Robert Millet's class called "Doubt not, fear not-- dealing with unsettled and uncertain matters in our lives."  The auditorium was packed with hundreds of people and we knew that this class was going to be really good.  We were so pumped!!  We sat by these two sweet ladies who kind of reminded me of the two sweet old spinsters who raised the grinch in the new version of the movie. 

They saw that our name tags said that we were from New Orleans and started asking us all these questions and they said that Brother Millet was from Louisiana also and that he is (according to them) the best speaker at education week.  They were right!  The spirit was so strong and you knew this man was a man of God.  It was probably one of the best classes I had been to in my life.  One of my favorite points he made was on the subject of doubt.  In the book called "Knowing Christ" by Allister McGrath, it talks about how doubt reflects our ability to believe.  

Everything worth believing goes beyond everything that we can be sure about.  Doubt is not healthy because it focuses on ourselves.  It cuts the lifeline between us and God.  Doubt is like a child because when it demands attention it demands for even more.  Brother Millet challenged us to stare our doubts down and feed our faith.  He gave the example of Jacob and his son and how his faith was not shaken by the anti christ.  "Doubt not, fear not."  Pray for God to banish all doubt and all fears-- God loves those prayers and He answers them.