Practice Test Attempt # 2 - 94%
Reflections on all the lessons
| 1) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is when I heard Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 mentioned in the first gathering and how it basically says that it is by faith and by acting in faith that we become courageous enough to keep enduring the insanity of mortality. For me, acting in faith includes teaching and to teach, we must first learn and to learn, we must be willing to accept that we will eventually have to teach what we have learned in order to keep the knowledge in practice and to also learn how to better apply it in our own lives. When it comes to free agency, there are two ways to use it; properly or improperly. It is IMPOSSIBLE to engage in a bad behavior or make a bad choice without hurting a person, as we ourselves are people and when the Spirit leaves us due to bad behaviors that are not repented of, the absence of that presence will surely come to cause us pain when we come to feel that loss. It may take time for us to feel the absence of the Spirit when we lose it, but we will eventually feel that something is missing and the pain of loss will accompany the realization that something has been lost.
The concept of acting in faith is the most important thing I want to remember from this lesson because it shows me that God believes enough in our potential that He provides us guidelines in which we can live a very spiritually safe, yet very productive life. We are given knowledge and the choice to learn it and by choosing to learn what the Lord invites us to learn, we are acting in faith. Another action of faith is actually putting into practice what God has to teach us even if we don't fully understand why His teachings are important. The commandments and standards God sets forth are not meant to restrain, but to protect us from things that would eventually kill our spirit after wearing us down. By making correct choices with our gift of free agency, however, we will not need to go through the grieving period that comes when the Spirit is lost and we acknowledge the loss as being real and has come as a result of our own bad behavior. Ultimately, it is by our choice as to whether or not we keep the Spirit with us and it is by our own choice when we lose the Spirit as to whether or not we utilize the Atonement to get the Spirit back into our lives.
2) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is that being a disciple means being someone who commits to a cause they feel is worthwhile, such as one serving in Christ's name, and doing so for the purpose of learning and growing is actually putting the concept of leadership with a small l into practice. Furthermore, leadership with a small l is loving and serving as the Savior did by reaching out and assisting others when they did not know something that I do know or cannot do something that I am good at. It is by using my God-given gifts that I can be a leader and a good example unto others.
Remembering this concept is important to me because my confidence is shaky when it comes to communicating with other people effectively enough to be of a help when there were things that people needed help with. Each time I get the chance to practice talking to people and offer them help, my confidence grows and I can feel the Spirit giving me strength to keep on wanting to be of help to others.
3) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is how Doctrine and Covenants 130:18 says that God gives us different degrees of intelligence depending on the knowledge we accepted and when we accepted it. God gives us knowledge when we show him that we can use it in a spiritually responsible manner, thereby letting Him know that we are open and ready for any experiences or blessings He wants to give us. There are two reasons a person does something; desire to do it or the demand from someone else that it be done. We may not like heeding another person's request that something be done, such as learning, but if we accept the responsibility that comes with acquiescing to the demand, we will most likely learn much depending on the attitude we take into it and we could end up desiring to learn even more hereafter.
I want to remember the concept taught in Doctrine and Covenants 130:18 because it reminds me that although I have learned a great deal, there is still so much yet to learn and I need to actively cherish each piece of information that God gives me because who knows how long it will be mine for? We need to be very selective in what kind of influences we allow into our lives so that we can truly enjoy that which is good for as long as it is our to enjoy. I am very selective in not only my learning, but who I associate with. I feel strongly that the type of people you associate yourself with is the type of people you eventually emulate and the type of spirit you will come to adapt.
4) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is the reading called 'Job Hunting According to Nephi' that was written by Edgar Tooley and how it talked about how it is necessary to be humble in order to seek the help of the Lord in whatever predicament we find ourselves in, as He knows what will be best for us and can guide us in that direction if we are willing to allow ourselves to be taught. If we are not teachable or humble enough to realize that we may not always know what is best, why would the Lord want to help us find our way? The Lord is willing to help us, but only if we want to be helped and we are humble enough to realize that we NEED His help and sometimes, the Lord will allow us to have experiences that will help us realize that we need His help and cannot do without it.
I want to remember this because I find it very fascinating that we are given so many opportunities to do better and we are also given the Atonement so that we can do more than just dare to dream. Because of the Atonement and the fact that we can let go of our sins and let God refine us, we can dare to act on seeking after our righteous desires. Yet, with all the opportunities we are given, the Lord doesn't just hand them to us; He invites us to go out and use our agency to pursue what we want and feel would be best for us even though it might not be the best thing in reality? Our choices make our reality and reality sometimes makes our choices for us, but we always have the Atonement to come home to if we come to find that we do not know what is best.
5) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is the talk called 'The Three R's of Choice' by President Monson and it talked about how all choices have consequences, but all consequences have different levels of impact on the different people that are affected by the choice that is made. The right to choose refers to the free agency that we have and how free agency is a precious gift given to us by God that we might learn and grow according to our mandate of mortality. Along with Christ, Satan volunteered to perform the Atonement, but his motives were to rob people of their agency and to take the glory for a plan that was not his own; he wanted to be an eternal plagarist. Fortunately, Christ was chosen and we have our agency to do with what we will. The responsibility we have to make decisions refers to the obligation we have to choose whether or not to support good or evil in this continued war that is waging between good and evil. As much as we may want to remain neutral, neutrality will eventually turn into apathy and with apathy comes the loss of being able to choose for ourselves, for apathy is choosing not to care and with that, the loss of ability to care will soon follow. The results refer to the unavoidable fact that our choices have consequences and those consequences can either be very big or very little depending on our choice. Consequences to not just affect the one making a choice; they affect others connected to the chooser. While the Atonement is there and has paid for our sins to be taken away so that we aren't imprisoned by them anymore, we have to want the Atonement's help to be able to enable that payment that will save us. We need to be grateful for our agency and the chance we have to use it wisely.
I want to remember the three R's of choice because it reminds me that I need to be wise in all that I do, as everything I do will have an effect on something or someone. I can make a choice, but I cannot choose the consequence of my choice, so I need to be very aware of not only the choices available to me, but also of what the consequences are to those choices.
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| 7) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is the CES Devotional called "What Is Truth?" that was written by President Uchtdorf and it starts off by saying that we are the future of the Church, which is both awesome and slightly intimidating, as it is hard enough being a good child of God sometimes and we'd fail at that if it weren't for the Atonement. We learn about the truth of the Atonement when we mess up in life and need to utilize it in order to get back on the straight and narrow path, as it helps remove the burden we feel from messing up and when that burden is off our shoulders by our choice, we feel a sense of liberty.
I want to remember this because I see many people and other sources proclaim to have the truth, yet the others who make such a claim are not often open-minded to learning anything from others, as they are afraid that new information will collapse what they know to be true. It is fascinating to watch others cling to truths simply because it is all they know even if the truths have been disproven; they are afraid that if they let go of what they know, they will have nothing.
8) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is the talk by Marion G. Romney titled 'The Nature of Self-Reliance' and how it talked about how man is free to choose their way and that includes choosing to be self-reliant, as we are all invited to find our own way in mortality and how can we do that if we don't know how to care for ourselves and meet the needs that will come during our journey through mortality? We need to learn how to and actively take care of ourselves so that we can be in a position to care for others through the stewardships we will be given in the Church and also in our own families of creation. Even if we cannot work for whatever reason and must be on assistance, we still should do things for others and/or the community, such as volunteer work, to show our gratitude for what we have been given.
I want to remember the talk because man is truly free to choose what they will become, but nobody can truly choose what they can become without first learning to take care of themselves. Knowing and practicing the concept of self-reliance helps people to believe in themselves enough to create goals and future aspirations. When people know how to take care of themselves, they believe that they can accomplish greater by helping others through sharing what they have learned.
9) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is how Moses 1:39 talks about that God's work and God's glory is to give us the Atonement and the Plan of Salvation so that we might have immortality and eternal life. In order to do God's work, we have to be in a position where we can feel the spirit and that requires us to realize that we first need the Atonement for ourselves before we can share the knowledge of it with others. Along with the Lord's work, however, we are faced with doing temporal work that is expected of man on a daily basis in order to survive temporally. For six days, we do this work, but on the seventh day, we are commanded to rest and engage in things that will rejuvenate our body and Spirit. The Sabbath, which is Sunday, is for resting from the work we do the other six days and without taking rest from our labors, we become overwhelmed and unable to function either temporally or spiritually. The Lord is very aware of the fact that we have both temporal and spiritual responsibilities, as we are given such responsibilities to test and try us that we might be able to become perfect by the personal that these opportunities do for us. The Lord gives us gifts and abilities in which we can do His great work and the work we are meant to do to glorify Him and our journey of growth.
I want to remember this part of the lesson because we are truly the beauty of the Lord and when we work for good, we become more beautiful and more like Him. To neglect our responsibilities in favor of making ourselves comfortable and remain in our comfort zone, we exhibit both frailty and foolishness because we are not trusting the Lord to guide us as He has promised. We also exhibit frailty and foolishness when we try to go beyond our abilities without the help and instruction of the Lord, as we are trying to test God and His admonition that there is a proper season and path for everyone. We need to trust in God and work with what we has given us, as He will help us to make the most of what we have been given so long as we are willing to push forward in faith with our best efforts. If we do not try our best, however, and use what we have to do what we can for the Lord, for ourselves, and for others, we are cheating ourselves out of opportunities that will help us grow and also blessings that we can receive for trusting the hand of the Lord to uplift our lives. The Lord is willing to help us if we ask, but He cannot and will not force us to take help that we are not motivated to ask for. If we do not ask of God, we will not receive. If we ask of God, we will receive
10) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is the talk 'Earthly Debts, Heavenly Debts' by Elder Wirthlin and how it talked about how we needed to be wise when dealing with both. Being able to survive in mortality sometimes requires that people go into debt in order to gain what they need to build themselves a safe and comfortable living while alive, but there is a fine line between safe and comfortable. Safe living may be very simple, but not provide all the comforts one wishes to have. Comfortable living may provide everything that is wished for, but may not necessarily be spiritually or temporally safe. Debt is bondage and why would we want to go into unnecessary earthly debts when we are already in debt to our Savior, Jesus Christ, because of how He saved us through the sacrifice of His blood and life?
I want to remember the talk because I believe that experiencing and possessing something doesn't mean we have to go into debt, but we can find a way to budget simple pleasures into monthly expenses as long as we take care of our spiritual and temporal expenses first. For the needs have to come before the wants in order to be successful in not only surviving what life will throw at us, but also thriving at the delicate art of surviving in mortality. We shouldn't spend on that which has no value to us, but we should remember that we are of great value to God and Jesus Christ and that is why Christ spent his blood and life to buy us out of the darkness where mankind had resided since the Fall.
11) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson is The Family: A Proclamation to the World and how it says that we were all created in the image of Heavenly Father and whatever gender we were born to be has a purpose and is a divine characteristic of who we are and who we can become. God gave us bodies so we could do all we needed to in mortality not only for ourselves, but also for the families of creation we all will have the opportunity to make and keep with us for eternity should we choose to. God doesn't and will never condone neglect or abuse of the responsibilities that come with being a spouse and a parent. He will also not condone postponing either responsibility for the sake of convenience and comfort. We will ALL stand accountable before God someday, so we had better make the most of the time that we have and live in a way that we can be proud of.
I want to remember the Proclamation because I find it a big relief that God is very aware that His values and the values of the world are polar opposites of each other and if He doesn't provide ways for His children to stand up for what they hold dear to their hearts, they will crack under pressure and stray from Him. I find it amazing that even in 1995, the world's values were still somewhat aligned with the values of the Lord, but there were certain things that they didn't agree on and God knew that chasm would only grow as the world began to view God as more of a hindrance than a guidance to the progression of man. God is aware of how man and Satan are both trying to destroy Him and the values He holds near and dear to His heart by attacking His children.
12) The most important thing I want to remember from this lesson my feelings from reading "An Attitude of Gratitude," by President Monson. We really need to take time in our daily lives, no matter how busy we might get, to think about the Savior and how much He gave us that we might be able to live and learn to our fullest potential and that we don't have to focus on our sins because He bought them off of us and took the penalty required for them, something only one of a perfect life could do. We need to show gratitude for Christ's act of healing and grace by living the best lives we can live.
I want to remember this concept because it is my firm belief that anyone, no matter what their circumstances, can show gratitude for what they have and what they have been given. Everyone shows gratitude in different ways, but the important thing is that gratitude is shown swiftly and properly. We show gratitude to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ for all that they have given us simply by serving those in need and by living the best possible lives that we can, using our agency properly and repenting when we don't. there are people in need all around us and with that, there are ample opportunities for us to serve and fulfill those needs. There is opportunity to show love for others every day and serve others to truly show that love and lose our daily concerns and worries in the love that we can show through our service and feel as a result of doing service. Intent is nice, but it dies unless action follows it even if the action is but a simple gesture of love.
Flow
As far as the flow of the course topics go, everything stems back to the concept of lifelong learning and how learning never even really stops when mortality ends, there is just a different kind of learning to do after death. In terms of learning and keeping the knowledge in practice, we are the ones who are the barriers to our own success simply because we allow fear to overrule our faith and the faith that the Lord has in us to accomplish something He asks us to do. If The Lord has faith in us, we need to stop lacking faith in ourselves and know that the Lord will provide us a way to accomplish what He asks of us. we are given both knowledge and opportunities to help us learn and grow. People automatically think they will screw up, so they do not even bother to try and end up surrendering any opportunities to learn simply because they were scared of failure. If we make a safe environment for the Spirit by engaging in positive and uplifting activities that motivate us to do good and live well, the Spirit will want to be with us so we can become even better at living well. In turn, the Spirit will help us be successful at continued learning.
Ponder
When it came to interacting with others in order to learn more, I found it very interesting that people have so many different thoughts on the same topic and that everyone's personal experiences contributed to their perspective on things. I worked alongside people both in person and online and getting to know someone you might never see is like getting to know God and Jesus Christ, but we know we will see them in due so long as we do what needs to be done spiritually.
Effective Learning
I now know that there are more ways to study and absorb information than before I took this course and that every little opportunity to gain information can have value somewhere at some point in our lives. Because of all the work I had to do on my own and with others, I am now not afraid to try new things that might come forth in my life so long as they do not compromise my standards. I have always believed that it is better to fail having tried your best than to having never tried and cheated yourself out of an opportunity to learn and grow.
Self-Reliance
I am more self-reliant now in that I am able to take more of an initiative when it comes to putting myself out there and getting to know people who could be potential friends or more than friends. I really want to learn how to socialize better in group settings, as that is a weakness of mine with the disability that I have, because I need to learn social skills in order to successfully navigate friendships and any potential relationships that might come to pass. Pathways has enabled me to have confidence in myself and in the fact that I am so loved by God and Jesus Christ that He has and continues to bless me with opportunities to grow. Additionally, Pathway gatherings and the institute class beforehand, plus attending church and any church-related activities, have helped me to become more comfortable in social settings and the group activities are helping me to become more comfortable with talking to people.
Service
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Concepts
The concepts I will continue to apply to my life after the semester ends are lifelong learning, family relationships, and giving back because I firmly believe that those concepts, as well as the other concepts I have learned this semester, are essential to the success I will have making the most of the opportunities I have and the ones that the Lord has yet to give me. The Lord will not abandon us when we strive to do his work in a righteous frame of mind and I believe that to be true for myself; as long as I continue to try, God will help me. I have found myself thinking deeply about the Savior and how much He gave me that I might be able to live and learn to my fullest potential and that I don't have to focus on my sins because He bought them off of me and took the penalty required for them, something only one of a perfect life could do. I strive on a daily basis and need to continue to show gratitude for Christ's act of healing and grace by living the best lives we can live.
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