Chosen Daughters of God

Wow, best Sunday I've had in a long while!  Well....besides last week at General Conference.
But anyway.
I haven't been in the best place for the last while, so this is the first time in months that I've managed to be in all three hours of church.  I honestly don't know why that happened.  Why did I choose that?  Why did I pass up on this amazing experience?!  I guess I just didn't realize what I was missing.

9:00 a.m. church.  Usually I'm not a fan, most people aren't.  I woke up at 7:30 this morning!  I'm really productive in the mornings if I can actually get up, and today I did!  Just popped out of bed and got ready for the day.  I had my MOTAB playing, singing along, and thinking about what I needed to do today.  I got ready quick enough to chat in the hallway before heading out to the JKB.

Forward to church, during sacrament meeting we had the two relief society presidents and the two elders quorum presidents speak today about living by the Spirit and making decisions based on what the Lord wants you to do.  Obviously this was because of the announcement about changing missionary ages.  They were really inspirational, and got me thinking about how blessed I am.  The fact that I have an all-powerful, all-knowing deity on my side, letting me know what to do, and helping me get there?  That's amazing!  It's like playing t-ball when your dad is a professional baseball player and gets to shadow you during the game, telling you where to go and what to do.

Then I got to go to Temple Prep class, which was fantastic!  We talked about what things you need to do to go to the temple worthily.  I got an excellent booklet/manual on the subject that I have already started reading.  So great!  We talked a bit about the Word of Wisdom, which was great because that ended up being the lesson in Relief Society as well!  It's just so amazing!  All week my personal study has been about the nature of the soul, and how it is the body and the spirit, and how it was created and is part of the Lord.  Then the continuation of this being the Word of Wisdom?  I cannot describe how perfectly this fits in.  It is clear to me that the Lord is guiding me through my study, making every new thing a continuation on the previous.  Line on line, precept on precept you know?  Exactly what I need to know.  

Then there was floor meeting!  I don't know if I've said this before, but the girls in my hall are absolutely amazing!  Our meeting was essentially the same message as sacrament meeting.  I started them off by having them close their eyes.  I told them to imagine a page, on one half of the page I told them to write down the things they wanted to do with their lives.  Then after a bit, I asked them to write on the other half the sort of things their patriarchal blessing or the scriptures or any personal revelation they had ever received had said about these things.  Then we talked about how these lists were different.  Emmy said she felt that the first was more shallow and immediate, while the other had a more eternal perspective.  Then we talked about how the Lord has an eternal perspective and knows what the best possible path is for us to take.  I told them about my experiences this week and how everything has been lining up perfectly to confirm the revelation I received during the Saturday Morning session.  The we opened it up for discussion.  Hanna asked everyone what tings they did to ask for revelation, and the girls opened up!  Oh it was beautiful!  I am surrounded by the Lord's finest, most valiant souls.  Hearing the things they do to grow closer to their Heavenly Father was so inspiring.  I wish I had been like them last year.  Descriptions of temple visits, fasting, prayer, priesthood blessings, talking with family, and more were common.  Last year I would maybe pray, wait for a minute for an answer, maybe if it was a really big problem I would think about it in the temple, but often that would not be the case.

I see now partly why they opened up this age group for missions.  These girls are so willing and so ready.  They have great desire to serve the Lord.  For a while, I was worried that there would be some girls that would not make the right decision, or that they would choose it for the wrong reasons simply from peer pressure or personal weakness.  I have no fear now that they will lose their way.  Many of them already know what the Lord desires of them, and the rest have the faith and the patience to wait for their answer.

These are the Chosen Daughters of God, and I am so blessed to be among them at this time in my life.  They are a better influence on me, than I could ever possibly be on them.  I love them so much.