Galations 5: 17

June 6, 2011

I had a good day today and I got a lot done.  It seems like the past week I have been keeping myself compulsively busy, doing a lot of nothing.  I'm not sure why I have been trying to keep myself distracted from the things on which I know I should be spending my time.  Even though I still have 7.5 years left in prison, I am determined to take advantage of everyday.  I believe that I can use this time to improve myself and make a positive contribution to others.

I decided today that I have not been paying attention to what "enticements" are keeping me away from doing all that I want to accomplish in the day.  In my preparation for the Gospel lesson I a going to be giving this week, it really struck me that the natural man desires the opposite of what the Spirit desires. 

 Galatians 5:16  "This I say then, ^aWalk in the ^bSpirit, and ye shall not fulfil the ^clust of the flesh.

 17For the flesh lusteth against the ^aSpirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."

I guess I still don't realize how consistently I need to be guarded against the desires of the natural man.  Without the companionship of the Holy Ghost I am nothing but a prideful sinner who is full of himself and glories in the domination of others.  Vain and arrogant, I  would always lead myself right into the worse possible situations.

With the Spirit, I have a peaceful, patient love that whispers peace and comfort to my heart.  I always seem to have enlightened thoughts and ideas about how I can improve my spiritual focus.  The more I am blessed with the companionship of the Holy ghost, the more creative I feel.  I hope you all enjoy the poetry that has been posted.  I never know what's going to pop out, when I listen to the Spirit.

I am excited for the coming week and I know I am going to improve on my performance from last week.

The Lesson of the Cookies

March 16, 2011
Church was amazing. I felt the Spirit very strongly. The subject was the Atonement. I was able to comment and participate because I have been studying it recently. The stake president was also there for the first time; a glowing man, bubbling with the spirit. You can always tell who the stake presidents are. You could almost see the Holy ghost following him around.

Today was been an all around awesome day. I can tell the Spirit is working very strongly on me because I did some things today that surprised me.

First when "store" came (the items purchased from the prison commissary were delivered), I noticed that the new white guy that was moved in here about a week ago didn't get anything. I was impressed to go and give him a Ritz cracker pack. They are the little ones with six Ritz peanut butter crackers. At first, I second guessed myself and thought, "Oh that would be weird, I haven't even said so much as hi to the guy." Right after I thought that, I was immediately impressed again to give the guy one. At that point, I knew the Holy ghost was inspiring me to do something and I didn't hesitate to do it. I felt good doing it. I have to be honest, it felt foreign to me, being led by the Spirit. It has been longer than I can remember when I felt that exact kind of prompting. The Spirit confirmed to me that I was being directed.

Later that evening, I had another thought pop in my head out of nowhere. I remembered that my buddy, Jeremy, did not get any store for himself. He owed some people store and had to pay them back with everything he had ordered. This time I didn't hesitate; I just went over to him. I didn't know what I was going to say. I opened my mouth and out popped, "You didn't get any store for yourself, did you? He said that he didn't, that he had to pay everyone back. "I have some cookies that I could store out to you with no tax," I offered. He kinda looked at me like I was crazy. Everyone usually charges a "tax" (like you have to pay back the one your borrowed, plus one more) when they let someone borrow anything. "So, you have some cookies that you don't want?" he asked suspiciously. I got the feeling that he was really thrown off by my random offer to help him out. "I didn't say I didn't want them. But if you want some, just let me know," I told him, as I started to walk away.

As I was leaving, the new white guy (that I had given the crackers to) waved me over to his bunk. He lives in the bunk across from Jeremy. He wanted to tell me thank you for the crackers. We shook hands and I told him I knew how it was, just settling in, and seeing everyone get store when yo u had next to nothing. As I walked back to my bunk, I had the biggest smile on my heart. Nothing beats the feeling of knowing that the Lord is using you to do good. Today was another spiritual breakthrough for me. Now that I have a taste for being led by the Spirit, I am focusing even more on keeping Him with me always.