Student Choice Assignment

For this week, I did choice #2 and I think the reason why David was not allowed to build a temple was because the Lord did not feel it was the right time to do so. Heavenly Father has a plan and time for everything and I think He values order, therefore, things will be done according to His will and on His time. I have learned a lot through this because it's a good reminder to know that the Lord is in control of everything and that all things will come together when it is right. All we need to do is just have faith and continue to love and follow His commandments.

Student Choice Assignment

In the book of Judges it tells a story about a man named Samson and his life. Because Samson's parents were righteous and faithful to the Lord, He blessed them with a son who was destined for greatness. Samson was blessed with strength and leadership, but he had made some poor decisions that affected his life and those around him greatly. He was married, but lusted after another woman named Delilah, however she was deceitful and tricked Samson into liking her so he would confide in her and tell her the source of his strength. Of course, he believed her and told her that his hair was his strength and by doing so, she told the philistines who came after him, shaved off his hair, and captured him. Samson was so upset and disappointed in himself for how he had acted and treated his wife and for believing Delilah that he destroyed buildings, which resulted in his death and the death of many others. I think we are all blessed and sometimes we allow temptation, sin, and Satan to enter into our lives and he is able to get us when we least expect it. When we do make mistakes, sometimes we feel overwhelmed and lost, which can lead to bitter and angry feelings towards God. However, we must remember that we all have agency and we need to stay close to the Lord and faithful in His commandments because when we slip up, we become vulnerable to Satan. We can learn from the story of Samson in that we need to have a strong testimony and relationship with the Lord and stay away from those things in life that are misleading and unrighteous. If we love God and do all that we can to please Him, He will always be there to guide our lives.

Student Choice Assignment

For this week, I chose "Choose You This Day, Whom Ye Will Serve" That statement is really powerful and meaningful to me and I think it's important that we all choose who we will serve because when we do so, our decisions and lifestyles will be determined upon who we have personally chosen to lead and guide us in our lives. In the Joshua 24:15 it states, "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." I love this scripture and it applies perfectly to this lesson! To me, this verse is telling me to choose for myself. There are so many people in our lives who will influence us and there are times where we will make a decision based off of what they think, but it is clear that we need to choose for ourselves and stand strong and stay true to what we decide and what we believe. I choose the Lord's side and this is because of my personal relationship with Him and because of my testimony of the gospel. I know that God is the source of all truth and He has blessed my life in so many ways and because of this, I can't imagine serving anyone else. He brings happiness and eternal life and when I am on God's side, I feel I am doing what is right and I will continue to do follow in His ways.

Student Choice Assignment

Choice 1- In Deuteronomy 20:17 the nations listed are Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. The Lord commanded that Israel destroy these nations because they were wicked because they were serving other gods and their altars and pillars were not of the Lord. Heavenly Father saw them as being unrighteous. We can protect ourselves from sin today by following God's commandments and by only being in the service of Him and those around us. When we do good unto others, we are ultimately doing good unto the Lord and when we serve others, we serve Him. I think that today's society seems to get caught up in serving "gods" which symbolizes material things of the world. I see a lot of people who are not focused on striving to live more Christ-like and are allowing worldy posessions to come before the Lord. I have noticed this a lot with money, greed, and selfishness. So many people in this world are too concerned with how much money they have or what they can do to get ahead, instead of loving life and enjoying all of the blessings God has given us. When we put God and our Savior Jesus Christ above everything else, we truly have it all and will understand and see all the greatness and blessings in our lives.

Student Choice Assignment

For this week's assignment I chose choice number 1: Why is the book called "numbers?" After reading over some of the material, I learned that the book of Numbers does indeed number each tribe of Israel. At the beginning of the of the children of Israel's sojourn into the wilderness, the males twenty years of age and older were counted at 603,550. After the 40 years of wandering and bearing children in the wilderness, the ending count for males twenty years of age and older were counted at 601,730. It's interesting that there would be less than the original amount counted for at the beginning, but I think a reason for this could be that the Lord saw some of them being ungrateful of the wonderful blessings that would come from the promised land so, the ones that did not make it were those who were not worthy and did not show a great amount of faith. Being in the wilderness for 40 years would be a difficult and a trying time for anyone and with the people of Israel complaining toward Moses and God, it was hard for them to see and understand the blessings that the Lord was giving them. I think it is a good reminder that no matter what the situation or circumstance may be, or even how difficult it may seem, God always has a reason and purpose behind everything. Strive to look for the positives and try to be strengthened to grow closer to Heavenly Father and feel of his love, constant comfort, and guidance.

Student Choice Assignment

For this week's assignment I did Leviticus 11-14. There are two lists, one containing the clean animals that Israel could eat and one containing the animals they couldn't. The list of food they could eat were: cloven footed and cheweth the cud, fins and scales in the water, and locus, beetles, and grasshoppers. The unclean food they could not eat were: uncloven the foot and cheweth not the cud, hare, coney, things without scales and fins, camel, raven, owl, hawk, swan, pelican, stork, harron, lizard, snail, eagle, ossifrage, ospray, vulture, kite, cuckow, lapwing, bat, creeping fowls, weasel, mouse, tortoise, ferret, chameleon, and mole. I think the purpose and meaning of this was for the people of Israel to practice self-discipline and to follow direction and guidelines. Another list is for what God ordained for the use of man and what He has restricted. The list for those things ordained include: self-made pure wine, strong drinks for washing the body, wholesome herbs, tobacco for bruises and cattle, ripe fruits, beasts and fowls sparingly, grain, and mild drinks. The list for what he has restricted include: Drinking wine and strong drinks made by others, hot drinks, and tobacco for the body or belly. This applies to the Word of Wisdom and it is a guideline to help us avoid things that the Lord does not want us to partake, but also what is not good or beneficial for our minds or bodies. Heavenly Father wants us to be strong and healthy and to only partake and do things that will be nutritious and helpful to our physical and spiritual well being. I love the blessings that come from following the Word of Wisdom and also the words of the Lord and I feel like I work hard on my physical health, but I can do more to be spiritually healthy. I can be more diligent in my scripture study and to show more gratitude and appreciation for the wonderful people in my life and for the opportunities I have been given.

Student Choice Assignment- The Ten Commandments

In Exodus 20:3-17 a list of the Ten Commadments includes:
The two great commandments are to: Love God and Love your neighbor
This is a list of the commandments included with what commandment associates with it:
1. Love no other gods before me- Love God
2. Do not worship idols such as statues and monuments- Love God
3. Do not take the Lord's name in vein- Love God
4. Keep the sabbath day holy- Love God
5. Honour thy father and thy mother- Love God
6. Do not kill- Love our neighbor
7. Do not commit adultery- Love God/ Love your neighbor
8. Do not steal- Love your neighbor
9. Do not bear false witness- Love your neighbor
10. Do not covet- Love your neighbor
I think three of the commandments that are most neglected by the world today is- keeping the sabbath day holy, committing adultery, and coveting. I think if the the world today would keep these commandments and follow the words of our Heavenly Father then we would live in a peaceful, loving, honest, successful, and righteous world. How wonderful would it be to live in a place where we wouldn't have to worry about our safety or wonder if our posessions would still be around when we leave them unattended? If more people were honest and truly loved God and loved their neighbors, I think we would have more peace of mind and put more trust in those around us. There is so many blessings that come from following the commandments and it truly would benefit everyone to do as the Lord has asked.