Self Evaluation...

Happy Sunday!  I woke up this morning and started getting ready for church only to find out that there was no way for me to get there.  I tried walking and made it maybe 10 feet out the door before I turned around.  It's snowing, and the sidewalks are VERY slippery.  So for now, I resorted to watching broadcasts that I had missed on lds.org.  I watched the CES Broadcast from Nov. 5 that M. Russell Ballard spoke at.  It was great!  It made me really think about where I stand in my life spiritually and what I need to fix to remain on the path.  He asked 10 important questions:

• 1. Are you happy with the direction of your life and the depth of your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?
• 2. Do you love God with all of your heart, soul, strength, and mind, as the Lord taught the lawyer in Luke 10?
• 3. Are you doing the simple things in your everyday life?
• 4. Are you being kind and thoughtful of the needs of those around you?
• 5. Are you following the counsel of the Brethren emphasized in this past conference to avoid completely any kind of pornography?
  Pornography cannot exist in our lives if we have true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I say with all the strength that I have: if this is a problem in your life, “Leave it alone!”
• 6. Are you living worthy of a temple recommend?
• 7. Are you actively participating in your Sunday meetings, especially sacrament meeting—partaking of the sacrament worthily and renewing your covenants with the Lord?
• 8. Are you returned missionaries maintaining the dignity of a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ in your dress and in your personal demeanor?
• 9. Are you preparing for and actively pursuing finding your eternal companion?
  I could spend the rest of the evening on this question, but I am sure by now you understand that we do not endorse “hanging out.” If you haven’t gotten that yet, get it tonight. In your vernacular, “Cool it!” We recommend proper dating—you know, it’s simple: a boy asks a girl for a date, and you have a good time together. Are you really looking for a companion who loves the Lord and honors His holy name?
• 10. Those of you who are married, are date nights a regular occurrence as you continue to build and strengthen your relationship?

He also read a poem by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr., titled The Oak Tree:

A mighty wind blew night and day.

It stole the oak tree’s leaves away,

Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark

Until the oak was tired and stark.

But still the oak tree held its ground

While other trees fell all around.

The weary wind gave up and spoke,

“How can you still be standing, Oak?”

The oak tree said, “I know that you

Can break each branch of mine in two,

Carry every leaf away,

Shake my limbs, and make me sway.

But I have roots stretched in the earth,

Growing stronger since my birth.

You’ll never touch them, for you see,

They are the deepest part of me.

Until today, I wasn’t sure

Of just how much I could endure.

But now I’ve found, with thanks to you,

I’m stronger than I ever knew.