April 2004 Every six months, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are blessed to hear from our leaders, in General Conference, messages that our Heavenly Father wants us to hear.  This time Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke to us about making spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  His talk was called, "Preparation for the Second Coming".  After listening to his talk I realize that it is time to dig out the Apple Box Reflector Oven , dust off the wheat grinder, check the food storage inventory list and not only replenish my supply of cooking oil but make sure that the spiritual oil for my lamp is FULL!  As Elder Oaks said, "We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming.  And the preparation most likely to be neglected is the one less visible and more difficult....the spiritual.  A 72 hour kit of temporal supplies may prove valuable for earthly challenges, but, as the foolish virgins learned to their sorrow, a 24-hour kit of spiritual preparation is of greater and more enduring value." How grateful I am to a loving Heavenly Father who will not leave us guessing and wondering how we can endure the events that will surely come to pass.  We are so blessed to have a living prophet to guide us and direct us...but that free agency thing...well, sometimes I wish that my loving Father in Heaven would take me by the ear and say...what do I have to do....spell it out for you!!  Sometimes I wish He would sit me down and force me to listen to His instructions...but, just as I have experienced by being a parent myself, even then, stubborn children do not listen.  I pray that this time this stubborn child is really listening! I printed out the following part of Elder Oaks message, taped it into my journal and will be writing down some ideas on how I can follow his counsel...which is: "What if the day of His coming were tomorrow?  If we knew that we would meet the Lord tomorrow through our premature death or through His unexpected coming, what would we do today?  What confessions would we make?  What practices would we discontinue?  What accounts would we settle?  What forgivenesses would we extend?  What testimonies would we bear?  If we would do those things then, why not now?  Why not seek peace while peace can be obtained?  If our lamps of preparation are drawn down, let us start immediately to replenish them." Deb~~ Refill your Spiritual Lamps with these Resources: Spiritual Health - Developing Self Reliance - Latter-day Saint Woman, B www.lds.org - Official Site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Basic Beliefs, Gospel Library (Church magazines articles, curriculum resources, etc.) Scriptures, Provident Living, Church Stake & Ward web sites, Family History, Family Home Evening, Humanitarian www.meridianmagazine.com - Meridian Magazine Meridian is an online magazine, updated weekly, with a gospel perspective. Articles include world news pertaining to LDS issues, Book reviews, quotes, spiritual thoughts and essays, Gospel doctrine lessons, etc. www.christiantech.com/ - ChristianSoup.com This site has a search button for words in the entire Webster's 1828 Dictionary. The 1828 dictionary reflects our nation's Christian heritage, and the Christian philosophy for life, government, and education. www.farmsresearch.com - FARMS (Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies from BYU) Supports study and research on the Book of Mormon, the Book of Abraham, the Old Testament and the New Testament, studies of the early formative period of the Christian tradition, ancient temples, and other related subjects. It also publishes a number of periodicals, books, and other related material on these subjects, of particular interest to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. www.ce.byu.edu/cw - BYU Conferences & Workshops Site for information on Women’s Conferences, Education Workshops, Family and Religion, Genealogy, Music Programs, Sports Camps, etc... www.ce.byu.edu/is/site/index.dhtm - BYU Independent Study University Catalog, Free Web Courses, New Library Services. https://speeches.byu.edu/ Speeches and Recent BYU Addresses Devotionals and CES firesides given at BYU will usually be put online three to four weeks after the event. Archived speeches. http://personal.lig.bellsouth.net/w/o/wol3/menu.htm - General Authorities of the LDS Church. The most comprehensive source available on over 450 General Authorities of the Church in the latter days. Data on First and Second Elders of the Church, The First Presidency, The Three Witnesses, The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Patriarch to the Church, The Seventy, Assistants to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Presiding Bishopric. www.plainbookofmormon.com - Book of Mormon Study Guide Complete Book of Mormon text on 8th grade reading level. Pictures and color coding text so you know who is speaking. www.dcsites.com - Doctrine & Covenants Revelations Sites Takes visitors on a scriptural and visual tour of more than 40 locations and 100 photographs showing where every revelation recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors. Click on Locations and you can pick locations and pictures and revelations will be displayed. (You can also purchase this information on compact disks for a higher resolution of this information to use in lessons or presentations.) www.deseretbook.com - Deseret Book Online store outlet; Gospel Study Helps; LDS News and Events; Gospel Doctrine, RS, YW, YM, Primary Lesson ideas; Weekly family home evening packets in the form of a PDF file. www.zionsbest.com/hinckley.html - The Best 70 Conference Talks of President Hinckley Links to LDS.org for 70 of President Hinckley’s talks. www.helpingothers.ws - The Kindness Handbook by Jeri-Lynn Johnson, was published in April of 2001 by Shadow Mountain, Salt Lake City. It sold out in April of 2003 and did not go into reprints. It is now out of print. However, the author has put the entire book on-line. Chapters include: Abuse, Addictions, Adversity, Death, Disabled, Divorce, Moving, Pain, Suicide, Surgery, Teen Pregnancies, Wayward Teens, and Unemployment. www.familynightlessons.com - Family Night Lessons A year of Family Home Evening Lessons. www.foreverfamilies.net - Forever Families Forever Families provides practical, scholarly and sacred information for strengthening individuals, marriages and families of all faiths, organized around themes of The Family: A Proclamation to the World. Our anticipated audiences are parents, couples and individuals who are interested in promoting principles for enriching marriage and family life in their homes and in their communities. Forever Families is sponsored by the School of Family Life at BYU. www.lds.about.com - About Network - Latter-day Saints Search this site for resources in many LDS areas. Basic beliefs, Church Callings helps, Family, etc.   If Ye are Prepared, Ye Shall Not Fear... Lilies Lane Preparedness Binder Basic emergency preparedness information Back to Spring 2004 Newsletter Front Page