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Oct 22 & 24

In Matthew 17,  forgiveness  is  necessary  for everyone. When Peter needed to pay back his  debt,  he searched for others that owed him money. Peter didn’t have mercy for the  debtor ;  Jesus told Peter and us, we aren’t justified in accusing.  Specifically,  7x70 times, do you have to forgive someone.  However,  this was only a figurative language for a really long time, some Jews took this  literal .   When someone does you wrong,  you  need to leave their actions alone and forgive them.  Often,  we become obsess with how we were treated,  losing our precious time on a negative mindset. Our debt to Jesus is so  immense  that we cannot repay him. To show him our grace, we show mercy to those around us.   I get caught up on others that disrespect me. I want to take action for revenge or shut them out of my life completely.  Literally  the other night I had a party my house, one of my friends stole something of mine. I called him out of it, he was clearly guilty. This is a gr
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Oct

A  woman  was considered unclean; she had been bleeding on her period.  Unfortunately,  her bleeding has been twelve years; resulting to her being excluded from the community. She had faith that Jesus could heal her as she fought her way through a crowd. Although touching someone while on her period would make that person also unclean; she  proceeds  to touch a piece of Jesus’s cloak.    The woman was healed;  however,  Jesus hadn’t given her a spiritual blessing. He asked the crowd ‘who had touched him’, giving the woman agency to come clean. He performed a whole  miracle , with  physical  and  spiritual .   Jesus gives two - way  mir a cles . Though we tend to focus base on phy s ical healing; Jesus also wants to give us a spiritual blessing as well.  We want blessings, but we have  to  willing to  receive the whole blessing. 
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Journal for Oct 1 & 3

Appling the doctrine given to us comes when we interpret  something general to our specific needs. We can read the scriptures but if we do not interpret  ourselves then the doctrine doesn’t mean anything. Even  retaining  the knowledge of doctrine comes easier when put into our own words.   Matthew 6:5-8 says,  “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in  full/.   But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward  you/.   And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words/.   Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”  Interpreting  what we really shouldn’t do, Matthew wants us to stay clear from evil. We must give it lif
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Journal for Sept 24 & 26

The Wedding of Cana is thought to be a symbolic teaching of our covenant with Jesus. From John 2:1 - 12, John tells us that during the party Mary was concerned that there was no wine, and spoke to Jesus about this. Jesus agreed to help, Mary told the servants, “whatsoever he saith unto you, do it”. Servants were instructed to fill the six water pots used to clean the Jews as they entered for the party. Jesus than said verse 8, “draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it”. S ix is a bad number for the Jews, being that it is one away from seven. The servants were instructed the fill the pots, then Jesus said serve the governor, Brother Griffin told us that water pots may have been full of wine, or that it was still dirty, and t he servants would’ve had to had faith in Jesus that the dirty water turned to wine. Listening in class I knew the second version was much truer to me, even before Griffin had told us. When the servants fi
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Journal for Sept 17 and 19

Mary and Joseph had traveled down to  Jerusalem  to the Temple to sacrifice the two turtle doves, on their way back home, Mary and Joseph could not find Jesus. Luke 2:41, Mary and Joseph travelled back to  Jerusalem , after a full day of travel, to find search for Jesus. The altitude difference was about 3300 feet from Mary and  Joseph  to  Jerusalem , upon arriving it took an additional 3 days to find Jesus. Luke 2:46-49, “And  it  came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in  the  midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? Behold, thy  father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them,  How  is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”   Jesus was so into God’s works, that even after a  many day  of
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Journal for Sept 10 & 12

Luke 2:7 “And she brought forth her  firstborn son , and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn”. Everyone has read this at least once a year during Christmas, however I have always thought that the hotels where over booked due to the tax event.  However, Brother Griffith today told us that the inns, where actually the family rooms of people, their people. The friends, family, and neighbors that Mary and Joseph grew up around would not let them in. Because of Mary’s early  pregnancy , she and Joseph where outcasts; “...there was no room for THEM in the inn”.   I had always thought of Mary and Joseph being the popular, mildly wealthy couple. Not that they were shun from their entire town, fleeing to  Nazareth . In matter of fact, Matthew 1:1-16 tells us of Jesus’s heritage line; the women that were included are seen from society as the scum of the earth. Jesus came from humble beginnings. Truly humble from his heri
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Sept 5

Introspecting  the  flawed  of  my conception of The Plan of Salvation. I have always thought, once I get to heaven I will be finally forever be happy. That we would just have  happines s  gifted to us for making it through Earth. The basic diagram plot of The Plan of Salvation, and children songs singing, going to heaven one day, was my best understandings of the Savior’s Plan for me. I hope that I am not alone in this thought, maybe I just talk too much during Sunday School.   Brother Griffin’s lecture today had enlightened my thoughts. I knew that we had already been with God, however I did not know we were unpleased with our spiritual beings as angels. Our ambition was set to become like Him, but in order to be like God, one of us had to sacrifice themselves to fulfill the Infinite Atonement. (Helaman 14:15) “For behold, he surely must die that salvation may come; yea, it  behooveth  him and becometh expedient that he  dieth , to pass the resurrection of the dead, into the
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