Urban Poly Princess

 27 Thus we may see that the Lord is merciful unto all who will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name.

 28 Yea, thus we see that the ^agate of heaven is open unto ^ball, even to those who will believe on the name of Jesus Christ, who is the Son of God.

 29 Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the ^awordof God, which is ^bquick and powerful, which shall ^cdivide asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ in a strait and ^dnarrow course across that everlasting ^egulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked

 31 And in this year there was continual rejoicing in the land of Zarahemla, and in all the regions round about, even in all the land which was possessed by the Nephites.

 32 And it came to pass that there was peace and exceedingly great joy in the remainder of the forty and ninth year; yea, and also there was continual peace and great joy in the fiftieth year of the reign of the judges.

34 And they were lifted up in ^apride, even to the persecution of many of their brethren. Now this was a great evil, which did cause the more humble part of the people to suffer great persecutions, and to wade through much affliction.

 35 Nevertheless they did ^afast and ^bpray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their ^chumility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the ^dpurifying and the ^esanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their ^fyielding their hearts unto God.

I like reading about prosperity,  joy and rejoicing despite pride that plagued the righteous.

I also like how in verses 27-29 Mormon cannot restrain himself from offering commentary. He specifically tells us what we can learn. We are told exactly why he includes these verses and we can take what he teaches us AND we can also come to our own conclusions.

Becoming Goodly Parents - L. Tom Perry

Culture is defined as the way of life of a people. There is a unique gospel culture, a set of values and expectations and practices common to all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This gospel culture, or way of life, comes from the plan of salvation, the commandments of God, and the teachings of living prophets. It is given expression in the way we raise our families and live our individual lives.

The joining together of a man and a woman to be legally and lawfully wed not only is preparation for future generations to inherit the earth, but it also brings the greatest joy and satisfaction that can be found in this mortal experience. This is especially true when the powers of the priesthood proclaim a marriage to be for time and for all eternity. Children born to such marriages have a security that is found nowhere else.

“… By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.”³

The gospel culture is the most important culture in the world. Identity and culture have been things I've thought about a lot with my mixed cultural background. My parents came from very different cultures and I have enjoyed how each enriches my life. Anytime my uncle visits me to wait for his son who works at the Walmart near my house I am grateful for my Tongan culture that he feels comfortable to visit me here in my home. The last time he was here I told him about how I taught relief society for someone and that it was fun. I then told him I was a gospel doctrine teacher 3x before and a relief society teacher 4x but that I was having fun with my calling as an assistant secretary in the relief society. I didn't tell him I served as relief society president in my student ward at BYU-Hawaii. 

I had just finished my mission. Polynesian girls are raised in extremely conservative homes. I still remember this Samoan girl asking me if I wore make-up like I did on my mission. I told her I did. She was shocked. Samoa is probably a lot like Tonga. I did my acrylic nails every two weeks then too. MAJOR culture clashes there. I was grateful for my calling and I wanted to show that Samoan girl and anyone else who didn't say anything to me that the gospel had NOTHING to do with the superficial stuff like make-up OR the clothes you wore provided of course that you were modest AND I WAS!!!  

This works both ways. We should treat people who may not wear or care about what they wear well. Most people see this as a Christlike attribute. What many fail to see however BUT is the SAME thing is that just because someone loves make-up OR clothes like me DOES NOT mean they are superficial or stupid. It doesn't mean anything. I've ALWAYS been this way and it is fun to me. Should I change that for other people??? I don't think so. 

My favorite quote is by Marianne Williamson