The Awakening

I continued following my conscience and finding that I was so happy when I was just obedient to it.  Then during the summer of 2012 I had a feeling come over me that a change was coming. I started thinking maybe we needed to move since our fourth child was soon to be born and our house felt small for our family.  However, right after Thanksgiving the change came and it wasn't anything I had expected. It was the mighty change of heart, the spiritual rebirth that King Benjamin's people experienced. For two weeks the Holy Ghost went through my whole body so strongly that I hardly had the physical strength to withstand it. I asked my husband to give me a priesthood blessing just so I could physically endure it, and I even pleaded for Heavenly Father to slow down the things He was teaching me because it was too much at once. I had dreams and visions opened to me that would change the way I think and live forever. This mortal life suddenly became nothing more than a field trip to me and familiar feelings of my thousands of years with my Heavenly parents surfaced and my relationships with my family members here took on a more eternal meaning. I remembered the closeness, love, and support that we had given one another, way before this short experience we have had on earth. I saw destruction and death that would take place, I saw people gathering to our area who would need a place to stay and food to eat, I saw land that was so green and abundantly bringing forth fruit, and I saw beautiful homes. The Spirit told me that we needed to cultivate such land and prepare a home that could welcome in whomever the Lord brought to it.

I was blessed with the spirit of discernment and my spiritual eyes were literally opened to see Satan's influence in our home. It was every where! Seriously, we had gift-wrapped it and given it to our children even! I learned that the popular children's princesses and fairies are nothing more than Satan's way of getting little girls used to the idea of dressing immodestly from an early age. I learned that the popular pink toy ponies are a way of skewing our children's understanding early on of what is real by changing the color and shape of the very animals that Christ created and placed on the earth. I learned that movie heroes and cartoon characters are nothing more than idols that we surround ourselves and our children with. I learned that Santa Clause is nothing more than a distraction to take away the focus from the Savior on His birthday, that the Easter Bunny plays the same role, and that Halloween is truly Satan's holiday. 

I know this sounds judgemental but I learned the truth about all the things Satan has created in this world to distract us from listening to the Savior's voice in our own souls and obeying it. Not all of these things are inherently wicked, what is wicked is the role they play in distracting us. I have learned also that the Lord allowed us to be in this worldly setting with all these distractions truly to test us and see if we would still recognize, embrace, and defend truth when we encountered it.

Once I had this understanding I knew I was completely accountable for what I allowed in my home.  We purged all of these worldly distractions and found that we actually fit very comfortably in our home and it was a good size for our family. Before I had bought into the world's idea that we needed more room with four children, however what we really needed room for was all the stuff we had accumulated. If the Spirit had not taught me this I might have pulled down my barn and built a bigger one to hold all my worldly accumulations, as Christ cautioned us not to do. We have been learning how to only take in what we really need and not go to excess if we are going to live the law of consecration. I hadn't realized how in bondage we had been to all of our stuff until we removed it and felt liberated. 

To learn about King Benjamin's people follow this link:

https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/5?lang=eng

To learn about the Priesthood follow this link:
 http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/restoration