matthew chapter 8

hey everyone! i apologize for not posting last week. i totally forgot to post Sunday. then i meant to post Monday to make it up and totally forgot that and before you know it. its Sunday again.
well its Sunday and my birthday which means its a good day.
today i was at my parents house and we were hanging out for my birthday and i stayed for scripture study. they are studying the new testament and are in Matthew. they read Matthew 8 which is the chapter where Christ heals the lepers, calms the tempest storm, and casts out devils into swine.
i want to talk about casting out the devils. there was a war in heaven where 1/3rd of the host of heaven followed Satan and they will never receive a mortal body, which is what they want more than anything. they will do anything they can to possess a body which is why they went into the swine. we need to be careful what we let in. Satan and his followers know us they knew us when we were all together in heaven. they are very good at tempting us. we always something that we have over Satan and his followers. we have a body! we need to surround ourselves with people and influences that influence us for good not bad. i know that when we have the Holy Ghost with us as our companion those "devils" can not be there. I'm sorry that its so short tonight but its pretty much short sweet and to the point. just know that Satan can not be where there is good. and if for some reason you ever come in contact with one of those evil spirits, just bring your right arm to the square and command them the leave in the name of Jesus Christ, and they will HAVE to leave. hopefully you never come in contact with any of them. always stay worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
now to end one of my favorite quotes in the world is....

always remember that there is one thing that you will always have over Satan and his followers.

Joseph, the earthly father of Christ

so, today's post is going to be on our Sunday school lesson from today. mainly about what a great man Joseph the carpenter (Christ's earthly father) was/is.  we went over Matt 1/ Luke 1 today. and talked about when the angel came to Elisabeth and Zacharias. and Mary and Joseph.
Now, Joseph was of Royal blood. and when he found out that Mary was pregnant, and according to the law he could have accused her of violating the marriage covenant and brought her to a public trial. such a trial could have resulted in a death sentence. Rather than do this, he decided to release her privately from the marriage contract. this was before the angel has appeared to him to tell him that Mary was pregnant with the son of god. there could not have been a better man chosen to help raise Jesus Christ, the Son of God. i could not imagine if Joseph would have gone with the law and gone through with the trial. what would have happened? have you ever thought of that? i hadn't until today in Sunday school. and that made me think what an amazing man Joseph was! and how we are all part of something bigger. Just as Joseph was part of something bigger and made a decision that changed his life forever and would've taken a completely different turn, so do we make decision everyday that change our lives for good or for bad, depending on the what we choose. if Joseph had decided to turn Mary in the whole plan of the Father would have been ruined. Oh how great the goodness of our God! that he can help us make decisions everyday in our lives just as Joseph made. we would not have the opportunity to return to our heavenly father if Joseph had not had the love for Mary and the influence of the holy ghost to help him make the decision that he did to not send Mary to trial.
i have attached the genealogy of Jesus Christ through Joseph.
Matthew 1:1–17 begins the Gospel, "A record of the origin of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac…" and continues on until "…and Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ."

Go in peace

hey everyone! I'm so sorry that i didn't post yesterday but i was out with the missionaries, and as soon as i left them i got a call from my mom saying that my grandpa was getting taken to the hospital via ambulance, and she was in St George and couldn't be there so she asked me to go be with my grandparents while in the er. so, i went and sat with them in the er for about 5 hours, just to find out that my grandpa's test results all came back clear. and he could go home. so i am happy to announce that he is home and well. he just had a little fever. nothing was wrong with him as far as anyone knows. :)
now on the scriptures.
so, this year in gospel doctrine we are starting the New Testament. i am so excited to be teaching it. i am especially excited to be teaching the parables. we have been doing scripture study during the week for the last few months as friends. we have done all of the parables, it has been so fun to have a study group during the week to help keep the spirit with us during the week and not just on Sundays.
what are your favorite scriptures from the New Testament? i have a couple, i love the scripture where the harlot is brought before Christ and is about to be stoned, and then Christ tell the the scribes and pharisees that are about to stone her " He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."  then he asked her "Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?" and she said "No man, Lord. "And Jesus said unto her, Neither do Icondemn thee: go, and sin no more." that scripture teaches so much a bout thinking that we are better than anyone else. and teaching us to love others and not be so quick to judge but help those that struggle to change, and to come unto the Lord. it teaches us to forgive others of their trespasses, and love them as he has loved them.
my other favorite story in the New Testament is of the woman that is sick and no one will go near her, and all she wants to do is touch the robe of Jesus Christ and she knows that if she can just touch his robe she will be healed.  
Mark 5:25-34 "25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole 29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague 30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing 33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague." this scripture is such an example of faith. this woman had such incredible faith that by only touching the garment of Jesus Christ she knew that she would be healed. i want to have such faith. this woman has always been such an inspiration to me. it just goes to show how faith can work within you and as long as you have enough faith miracles can happen. such as being healed of a 12 year long blood disease. there is a beautiful song by Jessie Clark Funk that talks about this amazing woman it is one of my favorite songs, so here it is. 

til next Sunday!