How to use Faith in Healing....

This book continues to get better and better.  I love it.  

Anyone not have a problem in life?  I didn't think so we all have them whether they are great or small.  We all have some sort of problem and if you don't..... well you have a problem. haha
This chapter continues on with the theme of put your troubles in Gods hands.  His name is even Immanuel meaning God is with us.   As Christians we believe that God is near us, we can call on him to help us, to lean on, and he can support us.
Have you ever had a problem and as you sit pondering it trying to come up with a solution and you have a thought pop into your head.   Do we give credit to where the thought came from?  Where did that inspiration come from.  It was most likely our Heavenly Father giving us an answer to that solution.  He gives us ideas and if we are willing to try them and believe that they will work, we can solve our problems.  Now its not that easy sometimes.  We have to work for it and sometimes we go for days,  months and even years before we get these ideas or before we are willing to listen and heed to them.  If we actually take the time to ponder and think, take that time to be quiet then we can allow those lines of communication to be open.  We have to be willing to experiment upon the word too.  Be willing to try something new or something we had never thought of.  We have to have an open mind. It might not be something we want or would like to do but it is the answer.
A very important part in solving a problem is to realize that we have the power within us to solve that problem.  We have to have faith in ourselves that we can get that solution.   Second  We have to make a plan.  There are so many things that fall threw the cracks because we have no plan.  Its like those new years resolutions we write down (if you are that good to write them down.  haha)   We don't go further than that.  We don't make a plan on how we are going to change and meet that goal.   It's the same thing with solving this problem.  We need to write down how we are going to work it out, what steps we are going to take.

At the end of the chapter he gives 10 ways to help create a technique to solve our problems Here are some of the few that I really liked.

• - Keep calm  we can't make a good decision when we are rushed and flustered.  Find a calm place to think about it,  it will work out.  We can't operate very well under stress
• - Don't try to force an answer keep your mind relaxed and ideas will start to flow keep a pen and paper hand to write them down.
• -Pray about the problem I guess I figure this is a given one how can we expect help if we don't ask.
• -  Go to church or temple where the spirit is strong and let your subconscious work on the problem as you calm yourself.

Something else that I have learned from my  husband is to talk it over with people you trust.  You can get those great ideas and solutions from others as well.  They can be inspired to help without even knowing they are helping.  Its good to bounce ideas off other people.  I have even had some problems put into perspective as I talk about them I realize they aren't as bad as I thought.  When we say them out loud sometimes that helps or brings new ideas to our minds.  So be open to talking and trying new things.

This next chapter really has impacted me lately.  How to use Faith in Healing.  I had another foot zone from a different friend and it really truly helped me heal on all levels.  Physically, spiritually and emotionally  it was a wonderful experience. This chapter hit a little closer to home than some of the others.  I have also had a desire to study faith more and really try to increase mine.

He talks a lot about how sickness is a lot more than just our bodies fighting bacteria and viruses.  It is deeply connected to our emotional state.  We need to make sure we are addressing the emotional side of our bodies as well.  With it being "winter" or "sickness" season.  I have been trying to find alternative ways to prevent and treat sickness a more natural way.

He says that there are 5 factors that have to be present to heal.  He is referring to physical and mental sickness as well.

1.  A complete willingness to surrender oneself into the hands of God.  Why wouldn't we want to do that he knows best right?
2.  A willingness to let errors and sins go.  We have to let those go to cleanse our soul.  
3.  To believe and have faith that with both God and medical science we can be healed.   We need both to truly heal our bodies and souls. They both help each other.  
4. A willingness to accept Gods answer no matter what it may be and to not be bitter about the answer if we like it or not.  
5. Unquestioning faith that God can heal.  

I think most people will hit this or reach this point when they have no where else to turn. They have no more hope so they finally reach out to God.  It shouldn't be this way but sadly it happens this way a lot.    If Jesus could heal the sick, blind, the lame, everyone when he was here on the earth then why can't he now?  He is the same yesterday today and forever right?  I had never thought of it in that way before.   Spiritual forces as well as medical technique are important in healing.  Our bodies as well as our minds need healing and God is over both.   I think about priesthood blessings when I was reading this and how if we don't have faith we won't receive what we need.  Faith is so important in everything. This is why I have been thinking and wanting to study more about faith.  I don't believe i have unwavering faith and I would like to increase it.  I know that it has to be practiced so that is my new goal is to exercise my faith. 

   He ends the chapter by saying "Remember that Joy itself possesses healing power."  Just being joyful will help us heal so why not be happy and enjoy life more.


picture credit is from (http://ralftagao.com/2016/06/use-faith-healing/)

Pres Monsons biography is amazing!!!

I have never read a biography of anyone before and my sister had read President Monsons and said how good it was.   So I started a very large book and I really don't have time to read or I don't make time to read. It took me about a year to read it all the way through.  This book is quite big so I knew it would take me a long time to finish it.  I would just read a few pages or sometimes a chapter before bed and I loved it.   I learned so much about his life.  I loved to see how as a boy he was slowly prepared for each task he was asked to do. Also to see that he was just a normal person learning how to do things.  He learned how to listen to the spirit and follow its promptings no matter what.  He was very young when he was called to serve others.  At 22 he was a bishop I can't even imagine that.
   Something I didn't know was that he was a big part in the Gospel being spread in Germany.  It goes into great detail about it. There is actually a whole book about his involvement with it.  I loved reading about how he was so dedicated to helping those saints. He went to support the saints and they finally after years and years opened up and built a temple because the government trusted him because they had watched him and the members for so long and liked how they were true and good people.  He had a lot of patience and faith that things would work out in a situation that didn't look so good in the beginning.

 I also loved reading about a lot of other apostles that he worked with and encountered before they were put in as apostles.  They were all prepared in the same way that he was.  They were also all very faithful and hard working.  I got to see some of their history and where they came from.

The biggest thing President Monson does it that he cares about the one.  He knows how important every individual is.  That focus on "the one", that willingness to stop, to pay heed to the spirits promptings, defined him long before he was called as an apostle, and that expression of Gods love has continued throughout his life.  His whole life was one story after another of helping or heeding to the spirit to stop and talk to the one, or take the long way home and he would meet someone that needed him.  He was always doing small little things that was more often then not be an answer to someones prayers.   He said something like he knew it would all work out because he knew that God would answer his prayers sooner or later in the way He wanted.  What faith he had.
Making others feel loved has been a hallmark of President Monsons life and ministry.

His accounts of personal experiences became the hallmark of his teaching.  He would give talks with his own personal experiences. Everyone loves his stories and experiences.  He helped with the Preach my Gospel Missionary book and he said that putting personal experiences in there would help more people understand the principle, and be able to apply it into our lives easier.  We tend to listen and understand more when its told in a story or real experience.  We can relate to it when we hear it.

Put simply he finds goodness in everyone.  No matter who you are he always looked at the best in them.  He said " Have the courage to refrain from judging and criticizing those around you as well as the courage to make certain everyone is included and feels loved and valued."  Once again it goes back to making sure that everyone felt loved and included.  Who are we to judge others?  He was such an example of unconditional love.  I know this is something that is a daily struggle for everyone,  we all try to put off the natural man every day and not judge others.   He was a great example to us all.


He has been in the quorum of the 12 for a long time he was able to see so many different things come to pass. He was there for when the Blacks were granted the priesthood,  the scriptures were updated with the footnotes, the ensign was put out.   The ensign was new in 1970 and would be written for the adults of the church, that they might be more adequately prepared to be examples to their children and to the world.  I loved reading about this and what the purpose of the ensign was.  I never really thought about how different the church was when my parents were growing up.  It was quite different in a lot of ways.  There were no Area authorities, and so many councils to help improve things.   The church has evolved in a lot of ways but the Gospel is always the same.   I loved reading about the changes and seeing how he was a part of it all.
 Reading about his life made me have a deeper testimony of the truth of him being the true and living prophet. I felt the spirit testify again and again of this truth, also that all of the apostles are called and have such an important role.  They are mostly all older gentleman and yet they still are able to carry on and travel and be active with their responsibilities.  I know that the Lord is with them and keeping them healthy so they can fulfill their callings.  I am so grateful for all they do.   He truly was prepared and called to serve and lead our church in these latter days.  I know when I listen to him speak again I will see him a little differently knowing more about his past.  I have a greater love for him personally because I have seen and learned about the sacrifices he has given to move the work of the Lord forward.

Power of positive thinking... Two for one (8 & 9)

Two for one today.... I don't believe in defeat and How to break the worry habit.  I put two chapters in this post because I feel like a lot of it is repetitive and its just helping grind it into our minds.  Which is good because it takes different stories to help us see it in ways that we can adapt them into our lives.

I don't believe in defeat-  

This was a very positive and encouraging chapter.  He says if we practice believing that God is with us and that in combination with him.  We will have the power to handle whatever comes our way.    He goes on to say that most of our obstacles in our life are mental in character.  We imagine up things to be worse than they actually are, or we imagine up hurtles to have to jump to get to where we want.  People will say mine are not mental, mine are in fact very real.  That perhaps may be true but your attitude towards them is mental.  Our attitudes play a big part in how we, meaning our minds perceive them.
With God all things are possible.  We can imagine putting our problems in the Lords hands.  Handing them over to him.  We trust him completely to help us solve it and make it through whatever trial it is.  If we don't believe in defeat then we can't be defeated.  We will keep trying and trying harder and harder to accomplish whatever it is.  We will stay positive for that is what will get us through.  When we have a negative thought come in about defeat we have to counteract that and think a positive thing or two about that exact negative thought.  It will switch our brain to start to think positive about it.  We need to focus on the positive and that is how we will overcome defeat.

How to break the worry habit.....  This had my name written all over it.  I am a huge worrier.  You name it I have worried about it and having kids it is even worse.
He talks about some ways that we can help break these worry habits and one of them is to empty our mind daily.  He says the best time to do this is before bed which makes sense because our dreams usually come from things that we have thought about or subconsciously been on our mind.  Our dreams tend to absorb the last ideas that were in our mind.    So to empty our minds before bed will help our sleep habits.  To empty your mind you just think about pouring everything in your mind out, cleaning it all out.  Whether you think of sweeping it all our or like a dumpster dumping out.   Then we really have to think its empty, remember how powerful our minds are if we think it, it can be....  Its like when a child gets hurt and we kiss it better and it is.  I have done this and it seems to help me, it really helps to imagine an actual dumping of my thoughts or worries.

  Faith can always overcome fear.   If we pray and we say God is now protecting me and my loved ones from all harm. We won't have to worry about it.  "Worry is a destructive process of occupying the mind with thoughts contrary to Gods love and care"   He doesn't want us to worry, he wants us to be full of love and faith.  T
he more you worry the better you get at it and I have found that to be true.  Once I get worrying about something and playing it through my mind how badly something will go, I keep making it worse and worse.   I have to think of something positive or listen to some good music to distract my mind from the worry I was doing.
When my husband is out of town it is the worst.  I hate sleeping alone or knowing I am alone all night.  I imagine up the worst things to happen.  I don't know where it comes from.  This is one reason I can not watch the news, there are so many bad things they report and I don't need to encourage or give my mind new ways to worry.   I try to read my scriptures or a good uplifting book before bed.

I know there are so many things to worry about and I have just tried to think positively about everything.  If I have a worry thought come into my mind I say is that really realistic or am I just imaging the worst.  Most of the time I'm just imagining and nothing is ever bad.  I know that if I just have faith and put my trust in Heavenly Father each day that things will work out.  If something does go bad as it sometimes does.  I have to remember everything happens for a reason.  There is something I can learn and I need to learn to lean on Him for help.  This has helped me a lot with my worry.  It takes constant practice, I have had this habit for a long time and I know it will take a lot of work to slowly overcome and be better at it.

My himalayan salt lamp

I have gotten quite a few questions about our himalayan salt lamps.  My husband for one thinks it's just a big expensive cool looking rock.  I started to have my doubts too after reading all sorts of stuff on the internet.  You can find whatever you want to find on the internet for or against anything.


I had heard about them in a crunchy group I'm in and thought I want to try if it will help kids sleep and improve with allergies.  So I got one on Amazon of course, I do a lot of my shopping on Amazon now.  Its just easier and they usually have a good price.  I put ours in our kitchen since that is where we spend most of our time.   What can I say we like to eat. haha.

These salt lamps emit negative ions, very small amounts but when you have it lit for long periods of time it releases more.  These negative ions help with all of the positive ions that are in our air around us from electronic devices.  These positive ions disrupt our sleep, cause stress and can make allergies worse.  Having a salt lamp lit will help counter some of these positive ions we have on our homes, even if it is a small amount.

They are a great night light as well, they are soothing.  We have one in our kids bed room and they love it.  It is their night light as well as doing all of the other great things that they do.  Something else my husband said was that the light alone is probably taking up way too much energy just to have it on all the time.  It actually runs on a 15 watt bulb.  That is nothing, it will not raise your electric bill.

They can sooth allergies as well because the lamps attract  water vapor that is in the air.  This water vapor can carry mold, bacteria and allergins.  It will carry these to its surface and remove them from the air.  So it can help purify our air.  I figure if it has a chance of helping us keep sickness and allergies away, its worth it.  Well take it.

I really like the look of them, they have this low orange glow about them.  You know how when you look at a fire and are mesmerized by it?  Well this is kind of like that.  It just feels good and looks amazing.  I know these lamps are not a cure all but they are beautiful and they are doing a small little part in being a little bit healthier.

How I treated my sinus infection naturally

As the season finally changed and it actually started to feel like winter a few weeks ago I got a terrible cold.  It started out with a sore throat and I tried to suck on the onguard throat drops but I"m not a huge fan of the taste of them.  I did it anyways because I did not want to get sick.  Nothing is worse than being a mom of three young kids and being sick.   I upped my water intake hoping to keep it away too.
The next day I was sick sick luckily it was saturday so my husband was home he could watch the kids.  I just was sore and did not feel good.  I drank lemon honey tea.  I learned this remedy while on my mission in Chile.  It was great.  I already know how good lemon is for me and of course honey.  It was the only thing that helped my throat and made me feel better.  I drank that three times a day for quite a few days.
Sunday came around and I felt a little better I was still very stuffed up and I felt sinus pressure but I made it through church alright.   I continued to be incredibly stuffed up and had this terrible sinus pressure that hurt my eye and was giving me a constant headache.   I even tried putting some breathe essential oil on my nose and sinus and it burned my eyes.  I should have done it before I went to bed. haha  Lesson learned.

After a week of being sick of being stuffed up and this terrible sinus pressure, I was ready to be done.  I really didn't want to go to the doctor because I knew what they would prescribe me....  antibiotics and I did not want that.  So I said If I am still sick at two weeks then I"ll have to make the decision to go in or suffer some more.  I can't live like this any longer.  I went and got a foot zone for this and some other reasons as well.  I believe it helped with the sinus infection, I was sure I had.  She also suggested drinking colloidal silver.  I had never thought of that.  I mean, I use it topically, for things like that but I have never actually ingested it.  I don't know why I didn't think of it, it's a natural antibiotic and will kill those nasty bugs.  So I started drinking it just a tsp twice a day.  I also got some Vitamin c tablets and unscented garlic pills. I had heard these were great to ward off sicknesses.  So I started doing all of these things at the same time.  I also started diffusing Breathe right by my bed at night, I know this helped me sleep better and be able to breathe.



This was all on saturday, a week after I had been really sick.  So by about wed, a week and a half of being sick, I was feeling much better. I wasn't blowing my nose 89 times a day anymore.  I was so happy when I finally started to feel better.  Since I started doing most of it at the same time I can't say it was just one thing that helped fight it off but I was so glad that I did it using natural resources.  I think it was a great combination of all of it.

I also didn't eat any sugar.... that is hard.  I have really been trying to cut back on our sugar intake lately and it has been hard, I am a major sugar tooth.  I know sugar just feeds the sickness, and is overall terrible for our body so I put my foot down and told myself  NO!   Great lesson to myself,   I can do hard things.   I also started to drink a ton of water, this was so helpful except the part where I have to go to the bathroom 15 times a day.
I am just so glad that I was able to use my resources that I have found so far on my trying to be healthier and natural journey.   I love learning about new things and actually getting to try them out first hand.  I hope to be able to fight sickness off all winter long the preventative way.

Power of positive thinking.....Expect the best and get it!!!

"If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth"  Mark 9:23

What do you believe in?

This doesn't mean that  by believing you are necessarily going to get everything you want or think you want.  That wouldn't be good for us.  When you put your trust in God, he guides your mind so that you do not want things that are not good for you.  This can be really hard to accept.  I read an article in the Ensign last week that talked about if we are ready to accept Gods will no matter what it may be.  This young couple had just gotten married and the husband had found cancer and they were asking for a blessing and one of the general authorities went and asked a few questions before he gave him a blessing he said are you really ready to accept whatever got has in store for you?  Even if it is returning to your heavenly home right now?  That came as quite a shock to the couple they weren't expecting that, they didn't really want that.  Were they truly willing to accept whatever his will was?

Part of expecting the best is that you have to do your part and actually work to get it.  I think we all know that you can't just expect to sit back and have great things happen to you.  We have to go all out and put all of ourselves into whatever we are working for.  If we do this and put everything we have in, life will not hold out on us either.

We have to be specific about what we want.... we can't just say I want to be happy.  We have to have objectives about what we want to do to be happy and what makes us happy.  We need to take them one by one and work little by little.   We know we can only do so much but as long as we are giving it our all and continuously working towards that goal we will be blessed.

A lot of this chapter and even this whole book is about being true to yourself and really letting those deep feelings and wants out.  We have to be honest with ourselves on how hard we are really working, what we truly want,  What God wants of us.   This is a hard one, In order to know this we have to be one with God, we have to have that communication open with him.  One of the questions he asks is "should we want it? "  talking about whatever we are working towards.... what is our purpose in wanting it.  Will it help us?    We can ask God for any right thing and ask it as a little child... They truly believe and have such great faith.  We cannot doubt, it closes the flow of power but if we believe and have faith then we can do it.  Faith is so powerful that if God is for us, who can be against us?  Really!?!  Think about that for a minute.... he knows all and is all powerful.

I have really been trying to build this closer relationship with my Heavenly Father to try to be more in tune with the spirit and be able to use this power through faith.  As I raise my own children I need the divine guidance from Him.  I want my kids to be successful and be good people, so I need his help to know what they need individually.  We are learning quickly that each child is so very different.  Different things work for different kids and we have to adapt to each one to help them learn and love.

 A small phrase he had in this chapter that really made me think was "Love cannot live under domination"   I am a pretty stubborn person and when it comes to throwing fits I can tell its a struggle for me.  This phrase though is making me see myself better  I can't just dominate the kids.  I have to work with them and come to an agreement.  Love doesn't work in a forceful way it has to be felt.  I have a hard time with being firm and domination.   I guess its about our intentions if I'm just being stubborn and don't want to let it go or if I really feel that its an important lesson to learn.   Its hard being a parent some days.  I really am trying to do my best and I love the insights that this book gives me.

Why I let my boys play with dolls

We baby sat my nephew the other day he is 5 months old and it was great.  It fed my baby hunger and it was good.   He is an adorable baby but he is always hungry and reminded me of how a baby is.  I looked at my 22 month old and realized he is no longer a baby.   Funny how when they are your youngest you forget how a real baby is.  

Anyways it was fun and I enjoyed it.  Apparently my "baby" did too.  We have a few baby dolls that were given to my daughter but she hasn't played with them much the last little bit.  My baby started to carry around these dolls and feed them his fishies, or take them for a stroller ride.  He would also share his binki with them and look at them like he was comforting it.  It was adorable.  He also likes to read books to his baby.  He will lay in his crib at night or at nap time with his baby and read books till he falls asleep.  I realized that this was from seeing me take care of my nephew.  He is so observant.  He will see the older kids do things and he will imitate them.  So he was being a mommy.  I thought it was so cute.  

I think its great for boys to play with dolls.  Some dads and even moms are not ok with that idea because they are boys.... They should play with boy toys like trucks.  We have plenty of trucks and I think its sweet for him to play with a doll.  

He will hopefully be a Father one day and this is good practice for him to know how to take care of a baby.  That improves his fatherhood abilities.  I am not worried about how he is playing with a "girls" toy.  I think its adorable.    

Power of positive thinking ....Stop fuming and fretting

Once again this chapter is for me.   haha I love this book.   The main part of this chapter was to slow down our lives and simplify and I have been working on this for a few weeks.  Looking for ways to simplify everything.  

He talks about how we an stop fuming and fretting over things.    We need to slow our lives down  and sometimes we don't even realize we are going so fast.  The other day Jared asked me if we should put Lexi in something like dance.    I was like no first of all DANCE!!!  No... she wouldn't like that.  She would like swimming maybe but I love that we don't have to be a million places all the time.  I love that we can stay home at night and just hang out with our family.   I know in a few years it won't be that way, I want to enjoy it.  

He says it is impossible to have peace of soul if our pace is so accelerated.  God won't go that fast.  God gets things done and they are done right and he does them without hurry.   I remember when I would do my chores growing up my dad would always say  Do them right the first time and you won't have to redo them.   Sometimes I know I would rush through so I could play but then I wouldn't get paid that week and I would have to do it again.  So if I would just do it right the first time it would save a lot and I would get more money.    My dad is wise.  

What do we miss when we are so busy with "life"  simple things get passed by.   I have seen this a lot with kids.  When I am so busy with mom duties.... laundry, dishes, cleaning I miss out on the little fun things the kids are doing.  Simple funny  things they say and do.   

We need to take that time and have quietness to have things settle down.  We need to practice being peaceful.  When I was studying for my hypnobabies birth I would practice relaxing for when labor acutally came.  I would practice peace it was wonderful.   I would look forward to that 30 min after the two kids went to bed that I could relax and practice that.  It really helped me relax and in turn helped me have an incredible experience.  

He talks about this comparison of muddy water.  If we let the muddy water settle and let it stand alone for a minute it will become clear.  We can see better and clearer.  This can true with our lives as well.  We don't make good decisions spur of the moment or when we are in a rush, or very emotional.  We need to stand back and let it clear up, look at all of the options and then decide

Something that can help us slow down and not fume and fret about things is to actually sit still.  It is hard to do sometimes because we are so accustomed to moving and always doing something.  We can be physically still and just think about peaceful things.  Think about a place that you find peaceful and the feeling you get when you are there.

I think in today's world we are always going and it would be good for most of us to slow down and just sit still for a minute without our phone or anything and just think  peace....  It can really calm us down and help us clear the muddy waters of life.