Since I got married 2 months, 8 days, and 8 hours, and 31 minutes ago (who's counting?), I've had the chance to go through some old boxes at Mom's. I was delighted to find this, a gem that had been lost for years:
Mom and I stayed up late cracking up at the entries in my VERY FIRST JOURNAL ever, the summer I turned eight years old. It was technically a school assignment: our third grade teacher-to-be read journals we wrote before school started so she could have an idea where our literature skills were. (Hence the red pen notes throughout the journal.)
Most people would describe my childhood personality as Inquisitive, so I chose "Diary of a Nosy Kid" for this series. As a "sophisticated", know-it-all eight year-old, I had a pretty good grasp on grammar, but I had some interesting ideas about stuff! Like this:
"Today is my birthday! I loved all the presents! When it was eight-thirty (the time I turned eight,) I didn't feel anything."
So apparently, when you hit the exact minute of the anniversary of your birth on your birthday, you're supposed to feel "something." I was incredibly disappointed that I didn't feel a magical transformation of my body clicking from 7 to 8 years old.
I expressed similar disappointment again in my next entry, two days later, when I was baptized:
"Also, yesterday, I got baptized! When I was under water, it felt like I was under pool water and I didn't feel anything. My sins were washed away and afterwards I got the gift of the holy ghost."
Apparently, I expected to feel something magical when I was underwater, too! I guess when we are eight years-old we haven't quite developed our sensitivity to spiritual matters, but we do understand enough to know why we choose to make big decisions like get baptized. I'm sure glad I made that choice 16 years ago, and even more grateful that I recorded it.
A few days after Scott and I got engaged (eek!), we went down to California to visit family. While there, we attended a local ward. The Spirit taught us a sermon that day!
After the Sacrament was administered, the rest of the program was announced. A woman stepped up to the pulpit, and without any introduction, began, "And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful...."
YES, she was quoting scripture: 3 Nephi 11, when Jesus appears to the people and blesses them. As this woman continued, a very distinct, warm Spirit descended on the chapel as she bore testimony through reciting these verses. Line after line, she spoke with emotion about Jesus descending from Heaven and inviting them all to come forth and feel the prints of the nails in His hands and feet.
She quoted SEVENTEEN full verses of the chapter by heart, and without any closing words sat down. A young girl came up and sang, "Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the most high God!"
By then, the Spirit in the room was palpable. I'm going to borrow my sweet fiancé's words from his journal to describe what happened next:
"After that, another speaker got up and started talking just like "normal" Sacrament meeting speakers talk. The quiet reverence fled. Her voice seemed harsh and cutting, and suddenly the spirit of the room was completely different. She wasn't saying anything bad....but I personally hadn't experienced the sort of reverence and spiritual nourishment that the quoted scripture and song had provided for a while, at least not in Sacrament meeting."
Scott and I learned that sometimes we Latter-day Saints are often too conversational and casual in our attitudes during church. We forget how sacred an ordinance the Sacrament is, and in order to avoid feeling awkward we try to tell jokes, entertain, and then tie it together with a precious little message. That's NOT the purpose of Sacrament meeting! There we participate in a sacred ordinance with the Lord, literally using His Atonement to wash us, and we recommit to live a clean life from then on.
Scott wrote, "Maybe sometimes, our spirit is just hungry for peace. A peace that only the Holy Ghost can provide. An encompassing, enveloping peace. And the scriptures can be a powerful tool to feed our spirits with that peace."
I am currently memorizing the same passage that woman recited.
Elder Richard G. Scott said, "Great power can come from memorizing scriptures. To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship. It is like discovering a new individual who can help in time of need, give inspiration and comfort, and be a source of motivation for needed change."
