4 Nephi 1:37-49

1:37-49 - The "true believers in Christ, and the true worshipers of Christ... were called Nephites." The IM quotes Elder Neal A. Maxwell as teaching the attributes of a true believer in Christ, when he taught, "True believers are settled in their views of Christ. Despite their weaknesses, their spirituality is centered on the Savior, so their views of everything else are put in that precious perspective." Even since I learned who God truly is, and as I've desperately searched out more information about the Savior, I've slowly started seeing everything through the filter of, this mortality is but a striving ground for the eternities, and God's deep and personal love for each and every one of us. As I've come across issues such as self-esteem, modesty, chastity, all these topics, I've learned more about what they really mean and the purposes for having them as laws in this life. This is going to set Satan right on me, but as far as being "settled" on my view of Christ, I am, I really, truly feel like I am settled. I've live my life on the dark side before and I have no desire to go back and I never will go back. Am I perfect? Hardly, but I always know what direction I will be facing, who I will turn to for comfort and guidance, He who loves me most and eternally, Jesus Christ and my Heavenly Father. He continues, "True believers gladly perform their duties in the kingdom. These duties are usually measurable and straightforward. They include partaking worthily of the sacrament, rendering Christian service, studying the scriptures, praying, fasting, receiving ordinances, attending to family duties, paying tithes and offerings..." I think it's interesting the phrase "measurable and straightforward," used here. I've found that the Lord provides much guidance, but those things which are critical to us, usually pertaining to ordinances and covenant keeping, are explained thoroughly and repeatedly, there's not much ambiguity concerning those matters. Home and visiting teaching is measurable, taking the sacrament and attending your meetings is measurable, paying tithing, offerings, fasting and prayer are all measurable and easy to understand and do. The added bonus of these aspects are that all of these things can range in personal significance from minimum engagement such as "going through the motions" all the way to full attention such as using those performances to perfect us. Interestingly, I was listening to an article in the Oct 2014 Ensign by Elder David A. Bednar entitled "Missionary, Family History, and Temple Work," in which he taught, "An individual must first pass through the gate of baptism and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost- and then continue to press forward along the path of covenants and ordinances that leads to the Savior and the blessings of His Atonement. Priesthood ordinances are essential to fully 'come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.' Without the ordinances, an individual cannot receive all of the blessings made possible through the Lord's infinite and eternal atoning sacrifice- even the power of godliness." As we solidify our testimony of Christ, we go step by step through the ordinances he commands us, then as Elder Bednar says, we are able to become more Christ-like through the atonement. Elder Maxwell continues, "True believers are humble. They are 'meek and lowly of heart.' They are not easily offended. They do not resist counsel." I've come a long way on this, but I still have a lot to do. I'm not resisting counsel anymore, but welcome it, and that's a step forward for me, but I'm still working on humility. I'm almost out of time so I'm going to have to skip around quite a bit, "True believers have a balanced contentment. They strike a balance between being too content and wishing for a more important role." This is similar to what we talked about yesterday, that everything has their balance, even when it comes to religion. This also reminded me of the most recent general conference talk by Elder Carlos A. Godoy entitled, "The Lord Has a Plan for Us!" in which he taught "Just because things are going well does not mean that we should not from time to time consider whether there might be something better. If we continue to live as we are living, will the promised blessings be fulfilled? God loves. He is our Father. The Savior Jesus Christ lives, and I know that through His atoning sacrifice we can find the strength to overcome our daily challenges." Not overwhelmed, but constantly seeking progress, that's a good balance. Next is, "True believers truly pray. Their prayers are sincere... The true believer's prayers, at least some of the time, are inspired." I don't know a ton about inspired prayers, but I do know that I had a heart to heart with the Lord today while I was feeling overwhelmed and it was incredible. I spoke to Him, he taught me, and afterwards, I felt a million times better and more empowered. I think that I'm going to rearrange my prayer schedule so that I can really try harder to commune with God and not just word vomit on him so that I can go to sleep. I think I'm going to say my night time prayers in the car on my way home from work, I'm able to think there, and speak, then I can have a good conversation, now I'm just trying to do whatever I have to to get into the bed, let the dog outside, go to the bathroom, take out my contacts, pray, etc. Ok, I'm almost out of time so I'm just going to copy and paste the rest of it, because it's really good.