How to Process Your Emotions

How to Process Your Emotions

I have spent a lot of my life in misery, not liking how I think and feel. And pretty much not liking what I think about myself. I have had so much fun discovering how to move through my life in a much different way and I want to share with you what I have learned and am continuing to learn.

This first video is about "How to Process Your Emotions." A tool we all need.  Enjoy.

I purposefully made this video, short, for those on-the-go. To watch a more detailed version of this subject Click Here

Personal Revelation

President Nelsons talk: Read Talk

"The privilege of receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children."

Said President Lorenzo Snow, “This is the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint … that it is our right to have the manifestations of the Spirit every day of our lives.”4

President Nelson told wendy that he told her he had personal revelation when he proposed to her. Guys you can say that! just make sure they are getting the same revelation! :)

"Whatever our Church calling, we can pray to our Heavenly Father and receive guidance . . . and be enabled to accomplish things we simply could not do on our own. 

The Prophet Joseph Smith set a pattern for us to follow in resolving our questions.  

[he] took his question directly to Heavenly Father. 

He sought personal revelation, 

and his seeking opened this last dispensation.

In like manner, what will your seeking open for you? 
What wisdom do you lack? 
What do you feel an urgent need to know or understand?"

unsplash.com/@colterolmstead

THE HOW
Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. 
Humble yourself before God. 
Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. 
Turn to Him for answers, for comfort, about concerns, fears, and weaknesses.
Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your 
And then listen! 
Write the thoughts that come to your mind. 
Record your feelings.
Follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. 
Stretch beyond your current spiritual ability to receive.

"As you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, you will “grow into the principle of revelation.”9"






You don’t have to wonder about what is true.11 You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that this is the Lord’s Church. Regardless of what others may say or do, no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son are giving away the secrets of the universe!”13

@awmleer

WHAT YOU WILL NEED
Exact obedience, 
Earnest seeking, 
Daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon,
Regular time committed to temple and family history work.
Express gratitude for every blessing the Lord gives you.

You will be given the knowledge and understanding you seek. Every blessing the Lord has for you—even miracles—will follow. That is what personal revelation will do for you.

If we are to have any hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must learn to receive revelation.

This is the most concise piece of information in  being able to learn how to be worthy to and receive revelation. I have been on a life long journey to learn the skill of being able to receive. I use to think that all the revelation I got was 'no' answers. I thought I was feeling a "stupor of thought." But I am learning Depression is not a stupor of thought.

What I am learning is the more I work on my thoughts and stay in a place of worthiness, I am more in tune with the spirit of God and am receiving. I have received promptings when Heavenly Father knows I need to know something. My next goal is to know the right questions to ask to be guided in a more precise way.

***All blog posts in this section are from LDS Conference Talks. All Quotes are from one individual talk with references to whom the speaker was also quoting. This is how I started recording my thoughts while reading Conference talks. Now I want to share them with you.***

Fight or Flee

All Quotes are from Elder Ellis October 2017 General Conference: Read His Talk Here

Elder Ellis asks the question, "Do I fight or do I flee?" My first response was possibly like most people, "I fight for truth and righteousness." But then he gave some examples of people fleeing, Like the pioneers. I believe that because they were 'fighting for Christ,' they knew they had to flee. They had to live and survive to help Him grow His church. And living in insane conditions, wouldn't grow healthy hearts or minds.                   

Elder Ellis finished by saying it is in what spirit we flee or fight, that matters. We cannot flee or fight in a spirit of fear. The pioneers where not fleeing in a spirit of fear. They were done!!! Done being persecuted, done loosing lives and homes and all that was dear to them.

He said that discouragement and fear are tools of the adversary.  I am feeling discouraged by how hard a 12 week, presenting coarse is. I loved his encouragement to build a strong mind by sticking with it. 

(Later . . . Actually Elder Ellis didn't say "to build a strong mind, or to stick with it. He did say ". . . go forward in faith."He quoted a scripture in part, found in 2 Timothy 1:7. " For God hath not given us the spirit of fear" The rest of that scripture does say, "but of power, and of love, and of a SOUND MIND." I was being witnessed to by the power of the Holy Ghost.) 

When we have a hard time one of our first responses are to quit. We can think we are having a stupor of thought. And that is often not true. When things get hard we give in to fear. When our brains feel fear it's response is automatic. It say's do I fight, Flee, or freeze? And unless we are thinking with our "Thinking Brain" (the pre-frontal Cortex) we forget what it was that was so important to us to have started it in the first place. Fighting to achieve it, or overcome it doesn't seem so important anymore.

I was sitting in Sacrament meeting yesterday listening to testimonies. One lady in our ward was talking about a trial she is going through and knew, that she either had to "Feed her faith, or Feed her Fear." That is the bottom line, the descision we have to make. What do we feed when life gets hard?

This is a good talk for that, listen to it in the spirit! What do you hear and feel?

• "Do we trust His commandments to be for our good? 
• His leaders, though imperfect, to lead us well? 
• His promises to be sure? 
• Do we trust that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do know us and want to help us? 
• Even in the midst of trials, challenges, and hard times, do we still trust Him?"

"It seems clear that hard is good!"

"President Thomas S. Monson has pleaded, “May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.”2 With regard to our temples, he stated that “no sacrifice is too great, no price too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive [temple] blessings.”3

In the world of nature, hard is part of the circle of life. It is hard for a baby chick to hatch out of that tough eggshell. But when someone tries to make it easier, the chick does not develop the strength necessary to live. In a similar way, the struggle of a butterfly to escape the cocoon strengthens it for the life it will live."

Struggle is a part of life. It is when we accept the struggle, lean into it, and accept what is going on, do we turn weak things into our strengths.

"Through these examples, we see that hard is the constant! We all have challenges. The variable is our reaction to the hard."

When our family lost our dream job in Nevada of living on a farm and doing home school we were devastated, sad and very disappointed. There was a lot of emotion going on. We had a 2 1/2 year time of underemployment. But the lessons we learned were immeasurable. The strength we gain keeps giving and giving. 

"We each choose our reaction to hard."

Be Careful With Easy
Here Elder Ellis describes his work with multi millionaires. Noting that many of them had decided that they would make life easy for their children, so they wouldn't have to suffer as they had suffered. Of this he said:  "They did not want their children to suffer as they had. In other words, they would deprive their children of the very thing that had made them successful."


Declare how you want to get through the HARD
Did you know how powerful it is to make a declaration out of a scripture. In the end of his talk Elder Ellis tells of his desire to "stand with Mormon as a true disciple of Jesus Christ." I looked up the scripture he referenced there and decided if you stand with Mormon, why not declare it. It is in 3 Nephi 5:13. The beginning of that scripture is a declaration. 

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the son of God."

Behold is saying, look at me. This is what I am. Not in a vain way, but by way of examination. I am an example of Jesus Christ, this is what a disciple looks like. And I declare it to myself and the world! What a better way to start a declaration. 

Morning declarations are firm positive thoughts that give us a firm foundation to stand on during the day. We can get ideas for them from the scriptures, from modern day apostles and prophets. Create them to help spiritually hold your mind in a place of love. Design them and use them for power of thought.

Joy in the Journal
We are going to go through hard things, doubts, sadness, and many other emotions will show up. Struggle is eminent.  What will we do with it, can we do the hard? Use these questions to dig deep during the hard. Write about your answers, use the answers to make a statement to yourself, about what you will do with that hard time, how you will fight.

• "The question “Do we trust Him?” may be better stated, “Do we have the faith to trust Him?”
• Do we have the faith to trust His promises regarding tithing that with 90 percent of our increase plus the Lord’s help, we are better off than with 100 percent on our own?
• Do we have sufficient faith to trust that He will visit us in our afflictions (see Mosiah 24:14), that He will contend with those that contend with us (see Isaiah 49:25; 2 Nephi 6:17), and that He will consecrate our afflictions for our gain? (see 2 Nephi 2:2).
• Will we exercise the faith necessary to keep His commandments so He can bless us both temporally and spiritually? 
• And will we continue faithful to the end so that He can receive us into His presence? (see Mosiah 2:41)."

Answer these questions on your own, then use these scriptures to find a deeper answer. Moses 1:39, D&C 112:10, D&C 1:38, Alma 37:16, Isaiah 55:8–9.

***All blog posts in this section are from LDS Conference Talks. All Quotes are from one individual talk with references to whom the speaker was also quoting. This is how I started recording my thoughts while reading Conference talks. Now I want to share them with you.***

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/do-we-trust-him-hard-is-good?lang=eng

Yielding to Spiritual Gifts

Quotes by Elder John C. Pingree jr.:Read the Talk Here

Why "yield ourselves to God?" I Have spent the last 3 1/2 years learning how to gain and develope self mastery. I have noticed along the path the strong pull of resistance. It is strong and sometimes very hard to want to get uncomfortable enough to finish a goal, to over come an unwanted behavior and become that person I dream to be. So I have read and Learned about why we are "Resistant" to change. 

I want to change, I want to yield and I have learned some amazing tools of how changing what you think, is the yielding part. It is the beginning of "Change." The opposite of "Resistance."

Photo by SwapnIl Dwivedi 

"To Moses, God declared, “I have a work for thee” (Moses 1:6). 

• Have you ever wondered if Heavenly Father has a work for you? 
• Are there important things He has prepared you—and specifically you—to accomplish?

I testify the answer is yes!"

President Spencer W. Kimball taught: “Before we came [to earth, we] were given certain assignments. … While we do not now remember the particulars, this does not alter the glorious reality of what we once agreed to.”2

What did we once agree to do? Have we found the answer to that amazing question? When I think of it, this causes me to think deeply. I have pondered it many times. I have prayed to know.

Once while I was in my garden, I heard the words in my mind, "This is your passion." I had been studying about passion projects and what they do to keep our minds in a healthy place. And I wanted to figure out what I was passionate about. And then I heard those words. 

I also love people and want to help them learn what can they can do to increase and progress in this life time. So am studying all I can to improve my teaching skills.

These two things bring me a lot of joy. When I was raising my family that was my passion and my joy. Now I enjoy these two things and find ways to serve doing both of them.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his ^aworkmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good ^bworks, which God hath before ordained that we should ^cwalk in them.

When we find something that we can help our Father with, it gives our life meaning and purpose. We rise up to new levels. I never use to think that I, as an ordinary person, could do great things. But the truth is . . . just serving in a calling, helping a neighbor out and taking care of a family of 6 children is "doing great things." 

I am one ordinary person. And now I know because of the things I did, I can do more.

1 Corinthians 1:27 But God hath chosen the ^afoolish things of the world to ^bconfound the wise; and God hath chosen the ^cweak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

President Russell M. Nelson explained:

“The Lord has more in mind for you than you have in mind for yourself! You have been reserved and preserved for this time and place. …

“The Lord needs you to change the world. As you accept and follow His will for you, you will find yourself accomplishing the impossible!”4

Four Principals to find your purpose

Desire to help others:

D&C 11:8 If you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation.

The other day I was in a waiting room and I picked up a magazine called "The Magnolia Journal." (fall 2017 issue) This magazine was a shared message of what a couple did for a living and was sharing their gifts with others. Inside the magazine they encouraged others to find their passion and with beautiful illustrations, encouraged others to start doing something.

Each item was something someone could get education about, gain the talent in and then bless other lives with it.

"The primary purpose of divine assignments is to bless others and to do “much good.”

A friend/mentor of mine has dedicated her life to serve others who suffer because a loved one is addicted to porn. She spends 2+ hours every week mentoring and blessing their lives at no cost to them. She recognizes a strong need in these women and seeks to bless them. These groups of women number 25 or more each session.

Discover and Develop Your Spiritual Gifts

What is a spiritual gift?
Do I have a spiritual gift?
How do I find my spiritual gifts?
There are many many spiritual gifts here are some. And Elder Pingree states:
" . . .but there are many others.6 Some might include having compassion, expressing hope, relating well with people, organizing effectively, speaking or writing persuasively, teaching clearly, and working hard."

The friend I talked about up above Finds her gift and her determination to help moms who suffer because of others choices.

Make Use of Adversity

When we go through a trial we learn and we grow. The lessons learned can be your greatest ways to start to discover a new gift and serve other people.  Elder Pingree says that the Lord teaches us what we can do to bless others because of the "specialized empathy, developed through adversity."

Rely on God

"When we ask Him in faith with real intent, He will reveal our divine assignments to us.9 Once we discover them, He will help us fulfill those assignments."

 By way of warning lets be prepared for the thing that would keep us from this divine assignment:

" At the same time God helps us fulfill divine assignments, the adversary works to distract and dissuade us from a life of meaning."

Sin is perhaps our greatest stumbling block, dulling our sensitivity to the Holy Ghost and restricting our access to spiritual power.

 Are we living in such a way that God can work through us?

Satan also seeks to distract us with less important matters.  Are we so preoccupied with worldly things that we are diverted from our divine assignments?"   

I loved this quote from this talk and have used it for a reminder of who I am as a servant in our Heavenly Fathers work. And who better to get if from than Mother Teresa: “It’s [God’s] work. I am like a … pencil in his hand. … He does the thinking. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it. The pencil has only to be allowed to be used.”10  

My hope is that God can use me because I made myself available to him!

Joy In The Journal 
Things to consider and journal about after reading this message.
1. Am I living in such a way that God can work through me? 
2. What are my spiritual gifts? Have I discovered them? What will I do to discovered them?

Our True Value

Quotes in this post are by Elder Uchtdorf: Read His Talk Here

Elder Uchtdorf starts off  reminding us that we have just gathered in this conference as: "Sisters of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities, and languages united in faith and love for the Lord Jesus Christ."

I resonate with those words, "for the Lord Jesus Christ." because as we do everything we do "for the Lord Jesus Christ" we are using our abilities to become like him. And as we become like him and unite together we become a more powerful whole.

President Uchtdorf tells a story of three sisters, their personalities and how they dealt with their challenges and gifts:

"The first sister was sad. Everything from her nose to her chin and from her skin to her toes seemed not quite good enough to her. When she spoke, her words sometimes came out awkwardly, and people laughed. When someone criticized her or “forgot” to invite her to something, she would blush, walk away, and find a secret spot where she would let out a sad sigh and wonder why life had turned out to be so bleak and cheerless."

This is a perfect example of what some of us go through at times . . . and others all of the time. First she feels embarrassment, then she excludes herself, then she hides and starts to marinate on negative thoughts.

"The second sister was mad. She thought of herself as very smart, but there was always someone else who scored higher on tests at school. She considered herself funny, fair, fashionable, and fascinating. But always, there seemed to be someone who was funnier, fairer, more fashionable, or more fascinating.

She was never first at anything, and this she could not endure. Life was not supposed to be this way!

Sometimes she lashed out at others, and it seemed that she was always one breath away from being outraged by one thing or another.

Of course, this did not make her any more likable or popular. Sometimes she clenched her teeth, tightened her fists, and thought, “Life is so unfair!”"

This sister was truly gifted, but she lived life through the thought lens of "NEVER ENOUGH" She knew her talents, she was aware of them, but they would never measure up. When we don't VALUE our personal best, and seek to grow and challenge ourselves to level up, it will never be "ENOUGH." In the end here, even her body language showed how she valued herself. When we don't believe in our value it shows all over us and other people see it, notice it, and avoid it. 

Her circumstance: This sister has talents
Her thoughts: I am not the funniest, fairest, most fashionable, or most fascinating.

I'm not first. Life is not suppose to be this way. Life is so unfair.

Her feelings: Mad

Her actions: Clenching teeth, tightening fist

Results: She never held her value as enough

"Then there was the third sister. Unlike her sad and mad sisters, she was—well, glad. And it wasn’t because she was smarter or more beautiful or more capable than her sisters. No, people sometimes avoided or ignored her too. They sometimes made fun of what she was wearing or the things she was saying. They sometimes said mean things about her. But she did not allow any of that to bother her too much.

This sister loved to sing. She didn’t have great pitch, and people laughed about it, but that didn’t stop her. She would say, “I am not going to let other people and their opinions stop me from singing!”

The very fact that she kept singing made her first sister sad and her second sister mad."

This sister reminds me of the wemmick girl in the book, "You Are Special" by Max Lucado. This girl was happy from the inside out. The other Wemmicks couldn't put stars or dots on her. She already new her value. The dots didn't stick because she knew her value, the stars didn't stick because she already knew her value, she didn't need them to feel secure about herself.

"Many years passed, and eventually each sister reached the end of her time on earth.

The first sister, who discovered again and again that there was no shortage of disappointments in life, eventually died sad.

The second, who every day found something new to dislike, died mad.

And the third sister, who spent her life singing her song with all her might and a confident smile on her face, died glad."

The results. What ever our thoughts are about our circumstances in life will be our end result. King Benjamin warned us to watch our thoughts. (Mosiah 4:30) It is a worth while activity to participate in. And the results WILL BE  eternal.

Elder Uchtdorf is a great mentor for Jesus Christ. This story and article can provide an emmence amount of guidance for anyone struggling if they can learn how to apply what he is truly saying to each of us. If we will evaluate our circumstances and our thoughts about those circumstance and use his talk for a tool, I promice we can change our lifes!

He next evaluated each sister:

Sister #1:

• Had a victim mentality—"as someone who was acted upon.1"
• Everything made her miserable. Ask yourself, what are the things making you miserable right now? Can you change that? What are the solutions?
• This perspective on life (someone who is acted upon) gives others control over us and how we behave. "When we do this, we are driven about by every wind of opinion—and in this day of ever-present social media, those winds blow at hurricane intensity."

"Dear sisters, why should you surrender your happiness to someone, or a group of someones, who cares very little about you or your happiness?"

Sister #2:

• Practiced blame and hatred. - Passive Action
• "Lashed out at people" - Emotional Action
• She was an angry person - Feelings
• Blinded by her thoughts and actions, they were true to her. Unaware of reality. 
• Living in emotional child hood.
• Her view/thoughts about others didn't serve her if she wanted to love unconditionally. Thoughts

"When someone opposes or disagrees with us, it’s tempting to assume that there must be something wrong with them. And from there it’s a small step to attach the worst of motives to their words and actions."

When we want to stand for something we think is right, we need to do it in love and righteousness. Hate and anger lead to problems.

Our thoughts lead to our actions, which determine the results we will get in life. One the subject of actions Elder Uchtdorf says: “Yes,” you might say, “I would be willing to love my enemies—if only they were willing to do the same.

But that doesn’t really matter, does it? We are responsible for our own discipleship, and it has little—if anything—to do with the way others treat us. We obviously hope that they will be understanding and charitable in return, but our love for them is independent of their feelings toward us."

It has to be independent. Unattached expectations. That's what makes it unconditional, that's what makes it more like the Saviors love. The act of love, no matter what, is what makes us like Christ.

Sister #3

• "Represents the authentic disciple of Jesus Christ.
• trusted God even in the face of ridicule and hardship.
• she maintained her faith and hope, despite the scorn and cynicism around her.
• lived joyfully
• not because her circumstances were joyful but because she was joyful."

The inspired counsled antidote: 

• "Remember who you are. 
• Remember that you are of the royal house of the kingdom of God, daughters of Heavenly Parents, who reign throughout the universe.
• You have the spiritual DNA of God. 
• You have unique gifts that originated in your spiritual creation and that were developed during the vast span of your premortal life. 
• You are the child of our merciful and everlasting Father in Heaven, the Lord of Hosts, the One who created the universe, spread the spinning stars across the vast expanse of space, and placed the planets in their appointed orbits.
• You are in His hands. Very good hands. Loving hands. Caring hands.
• Nothing anyone ever says about you can change [any of this]. Their words are meaningless compared to what God has said about you.
• You are His precious child. 
• He loves you.
• Fear not. The Good Shepherd will find you. He will lift you upon His shoulders. And He will carry you home.2
• The Atonement:The beloved Savior of the world gave His life so that you could choose to make that destiny a reality.
• Let these divine truths sink deeply into your hearts."

May I suggest that this list of inspired counsel helps us Stay on the Path, and stay at the tree. It is what helps us to stay out of hater and victim mode. That is where we want to be, that is where we will experience peace and joy.

Suggested activity: If you can honestly look at your life and see the misery that is caused by the lies of the world, copy and print the above list and review it every day until your whole soul believes these beloved truths sent straight to a prophet of god, then to each of us. It takes a lot of repetitions for our brains to grab hold on a new belief or concept.

Sometimes we might think we know and believe these things, but if we are living in misery, we really don't.

If the list looks to long. For sure, keep it simple. Rewrite some of the ideas in your own words. Or, use only 5 at a time.

Joy in the Journal:

Ask yourself: How do I keep my vision fixed on the glorious happiness promised to the faithful?

***All blog posts in this section are from LDS Conference Talks. All Quotes are from one individual talk with references to whom the speaker was also quoting. This is how I started recording my thoughts while reading Conference talks. Now I want to share them with you.***