#3 Physical challenge.

Few more challenges and I will be ready to go... Physical challenge, let see. This challenge is about health and fitness.

Sleep enough (7 to 8 hours)
It would be nice to have a racing bike, they are light and ergonomic, to train traithlon. Some day!
I'm going to start running again, liberty park is a nice place, my goal will be 3 rounds not stopping around the park.
If i know of any 3 mile event, I'll join.
My wardrobe needs an update, a read once that a consist in 70% basics and 30% accesories and trendy items. Maybe some tops and socks will help.
LPS

Next...#2 Intellectual challenge

I want to learn how to play the transverse flute. I have to research about their cost and learning methods available. I feel confident in my musical skills, I can read music, so I will learn quickly. I want to read some bibliographies, LDS biographies are cool but I will like to new other kind of people like Barbra Streisand or someone from loyalty, Like Prince Philip of Spain. This year I will go at least three times to the opera.
LPS

Ok! Here is the plan... #1 Spiritual challenge

Pursuit of Excellence consists of 5 sorts of challenges SPIRITUAL, INTELLECTUAL, PHYSICAL, SERVICE AND CHARACTER.
For Spiritual Challenges I was thinking in follow the Sunday School lessons for every sunday and make of this year something meaningful. I will get the guide (Old Testament) and study before every. I am excited of studyig the Old testament, I have never had a compleate course of it; this upcoming year is my change.
I am also excited for having Gospel Principles as the main lessons for Relief Society. When I learned that the lessons were going to be from that manual I felt grateful for many reasons. First, the Church has grown and reach many people for its simplicity and truthfulness, and second, the Gospel is still the same. I see it as a recall of what we are here to do; which is the Lord's work, no more, no less. All around me sometimes turns sophisticated, complicated, too much of everything. Simple things, basic things, true principles always lead the way, they are essential to build my life.
So, I will focus on those two sources, Old testament and Gospel Priciples, for my Spiritual Challenge 2010.
LPS

Obedience

Obedience is the first law of heaven, It is an act of faith. You may be required to do things you do not comppletely uderstand. As you abey, You  increase in faith, knowledge, wisdom, testimony, protection, and freedom.Strive to be obedient to the Lord, and the living prophet.

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Mathew 7:24-27)

Obedience, something that nobody likes to talk about in these days because it is thought to be restrictive, old fashioned, and boring. My father once sahred a great scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that touched my heart and enlightened my young mind (I was 17.)

And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law andperfected and sanctified by the same.(D&C 88:34)

LPS

Humility

Humility is the willingness so submit to the will of the Lord  and to give the Lord the honor for what is accomplished. Humility is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of spiritual strength. Humility will help you as you strive to be obedient , to work hard, and serve selflesly. The opposite of humility is pride.
And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Mathew 26: 39)
The Savior JesusChrist is my greatest example. I'm so thankful for all He has done for me and taught me.
LPS

Patience

Diligence is steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the Lord's work.The Lord expects you to work diligently  -persistently and with great effort and care.
Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;(D&C 58: 27)
Do many things of your own free will. Don't wait for your leaders to tell you what to do. Focus in the most important things and avoid waisting time.
Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided to enable you to translate; but be diligent unto the end. (D&C 10: 4)
Time is the only thing I have, I need to be wiser in the ways I use it. I like agency, and I like more that I have agency. Most of the gifts and talentes at this age have to be earned by diligence, constant hours of practice and courage to try new things and let prejudices aside.
LPS

Patience

Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffereing without  becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious.
Life is full of diffiulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instanteous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.

Pres. Thomas S. Monson.

Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. James 5:10-11

I admire patient people. I want to be more patient.

LPS

Knowledge

D&C 88:118 And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith. 
D&C 131:6 It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance. 
As  you study diligently, prayerfully, and with pure intent, the Holy Ghost will enlighten your mind, teach you, and help you understanf the meaning of the scriptures and the teachings of living prophets.
You can also gain knowledge by watching and listening to others, especially church leaders.

Education makes a people wady to lead, but dificult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.Lord Brougham.
I am so grateful for education and knowledge! My mother used to tell me that if I knew how to do things I would not depend on others to do those things for me, and now I add that I can pass on that knowledge to others.

LPS

Create

Create
I just love it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhLlnq5yY7k

Virtue

Virtue

What you choose to think and do when you are alone and you believe no one is watching is a strong measure of your virtue.

Proverbs31:10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
LPS

My favorite...

I have to catch up a little bit. 
Charity and Love
When youa re filled with charity, you obey God's commandments and soa ll you can to serve others and help them receive the restored gospel.
"Pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love." (Moroni 7:48)
You will come to feel a sincere concern for the eternal welfare and happiness of the other people. You will see them as children of God with potential of becoming like our Heavenly Father, and you will labor in their behalf.
You will:
...avoid negative feelings such as anger, envy, lust, or covetousness.
...avoid judging others, criticizing them, or saying negative things about them.
...try to understand them and their points of view.
...be patient with them and try to help them when they are struggling or discouraged.
Charity, like faith, leadas to action.
Moroni 7: 45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail— 
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. 
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

Blaise Pascal said: 

THINGS HUMAN MUST BE KNOWN TO BE LOVED; THINGS DIVINE MUST BE LOVED TO BE KNOWN.

George McDonald said:

MAY YOU GROW TO BE AS BEAUTIFUL AS GOD MEANT YOU TO BE WHEN HE THOUGHT OF YOU FIRST.

I wish I could feel charity unceasingly.

LPS

Hope

Todays seems to be a great day! Christmas is closer!
Today is about "Hope"
It is believing and expecting that something will occur
Hope helps you conquer discouragement
"The unfailing source of our hope is that we are sons and daughters of God and that His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, saved us from death" ("Hope, and Anchor of the Soul," Ensign,Nov. 1999, 59-60)
One of my favorite scriptures is about Hope:
Ether 12:4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God. 
Hope is essential to go on in life and to reach (and receive) the highest blessings, so, I will not give up Hope.
LPS

Some notes...

Some extracts from the "Christlike Attributes" on "Preach My Gospel." 
Faith in Jesus Christ: Faith in Him means that you trust Him and are confident that He loves you. Your faith will be manifest through diligence and work. Doubt and fear are opposed to faith. As you explore the scriptures and search them, you learn of his ways, His love for all people, and His commandments. Through faith you receive answer to your prayers and personal inspiration to guidde you in the Lord's work.


Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 
Alma 32:21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. 
Moroni 10:33 And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me. 
John14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 


Faith makes sense. It is in ours. I just realized that to be faithful you have to be valiant.
Today is cloudy, we might have snow this weekend.
LPS


pd1.- Tonight, I'm looking foward to cook cream puffs with Max.
pd2.- I have to finish the physics notes.

The Christmas Spirit

The Christmas Spirit

BrainStorm or StormBrain??!!??!!

I was reading the little pamphlet last night in my 15 min. break at work. The feeling I got was that this little (now of gigantic proportions) pamphlet pushes oneself to do what is capable to do, no excuses, no idles times (although there is time to rest and spare). That reminded me what David McCullough (writer) expressed in the Christmas concert on Sunday (past Sunday) Emerson said to a friend (I do not remember his friend's name) that his pray on Christmas was that people (Americans) would become ambitious in the land, not in searching power but by looking forward to excel, in being good people. That really touched me in many ways, in big scale I can see many differences between my country and the United States, we are good people too but the wrong doings of government leaders, corruption and false traditions have led many people astray and hopeless to excel, (well at least it has made it harder.) I can see the situation changing though, our President now have declared ward against drug dealers, of course wars are not desirable but we have to stand for something and  defend it for the welfare of families and youth. It is my pray that those robbers vanish and people repent and become closer to God, abandoning their false traditions.


Ok, coming back to our main subject of business "Pusuit of Excellence" I thought in my favorite section of "Preach my Gospel" which is "Christlike attibutes." Why? well as the introduction to this program says, it is(the program) to "develop a  Christ-like life of love and service." Challenging, right?!


Since I am starting in 3 weeks (wow! 2009 is almost over, time flies!) I will share some of my ideas. I think I have to sleep the right amount of hours (7 to 8) more that makes my day dull. I will write early in the mornings, maybe this year I could follow the study guide for sunday school (it can be my scripture study goal and study guide for this new year), I can learn new recipes, sew bags for friends and family. I think I should do something related to education, sometimes I have the feeling that I wasted precious years studying something that I really did not like, however, I would like to be a teacher in arts or languages (Spanish or English; French, I always wanted to learn French,) I like to work with young people. I can be a High School teacher! I have to check my options. I have more thoughts (this is turning in a brain-storm, Hooray!! that's a start) but I will post them tomorrow.


Today it is a clear sunny day, the trees in front of the apartment are leaf-less (I hope it is a word!), there is snow on the grass tha has turned into a crust of ice.
LPS


pd1.- the attributes of Christ are Faith in Jesus Christ, Hope, Charity and Love, Virtue, Knowledge, Patience, Humility, Diligence, and Obedience.
pd2.- I'm having sirloin for luch today, yumi!

What I felt inspired to do ...

On Sunday (last sunday) I watched a movie titled "Julie&Julia" which it is about this young woman  who starts writting a blogg describing he way cooking a famous recipe book (Mastering the art of French Cooking) written by Julia Child. Julie's main purpose was to achive something during a year. The movie shows over all how she grows in easy simple things in life while keeping up with her goal. The movie portraits also Julia Child's effort to find a purpose of her own; she finds it in cooking (I love food and specially to eat it).

So, How does it applies to me? or what idea emerged in my mind? While thinking in Julie I remembered my "Personal Progress book" (the big white one, that shows how old I am now, hahaha!). As Julie, I made my way throught that book for six years (12 to 18), memorizing the Young Women motto, learning from every single value (they were seven), doing projects, going to the mutual, youth conferences; those were busy times! To make the long story shorter, I learned a lot in my adolescence, I strenghtened my testimony of the Savior and of the Plan of Salvation, and I learned about my purpose and potential in this life.


In conclusion I thought in doing something similar for this up coming year, at least similar in length, something that would keep me; first: busy, second: focused, and third: make me in a better me. I will write in my blog and I will take a challenge (that is how it has been called).


Now, the project (or challenge) for this coming year 2010 (loud fanfare) "Pursuit of Excelence" which is, and I quote "an achievement challenge designed to help a participant develop a Christ-like life of love and service . Accomplishing this objective requieres a diligent  and serious effort in all aspects of life-spiritual, intellectual, social, and physical."


Well, Try me then...hehehe!!
LPS


pd1.- the first thing it is to keep this blog up to date.
pd2.- the official starting date is January first 2010.
pd3.- until that day I will post ideas, you all are welcome to share.
pd4.- thanks Max for bringing the movie!