Misconceptions and Views on Depression

Honestly this talk says it all!!

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2005/10/myths-about-mental-illness?lang=eng&_r=1

Too many times I hear of talks that speak about depression meaning you are closer to the devil than you are the spirit.  That is incorrect.

My favoite excerpts:

"It is important to understand, however, that happiness does not imply the absence of adversity. Every individual experiences temptation, opposition, and trials that test faith and endurance: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things” (2 Ne. 2:11)."

"Though medical science has made marvelous progress in the past century in solving some of the mysteries of the brain, the truth is that knowledge in this complex area is still in its infancy. We still do not know exactly how the brain works nor exactly how and why parts of it may malfunction. One thing is certain, however: no individual, family, or group is immune from the effects of mental illness. Furthermore, we are learning that many mental illnesses result from chemical disorders in the brain, just as diabetes results from a chemical disorder in the pancreas. Why, then, is there still such misunderstanding and fear surrounding mental illness?"

"Myths and misconceptions about mental illness unfortunately are found among Latter-day Saints just as they are in the general public. These harmful attitudes include the following:

1. All mental illness is caused by sin. The truth is that many faithful Latter-day Saints who live the commandments and honor their covenants experience struggles with mental illness or are required to deal with the intense pain and suffering of morally righteous but mentally ill family members. Their burdens—and they are many—can be lifted only by love, understanding, and acceptance."

"2. Someone is to blame for mental illness. Most often, victims blame themselves. Many seem unable to rid themselves of terrible though undefined feelings that somehow, some way, they are the cause of their own pain—even when they are not. Parents, spouses, or other family members also often harrow up their minds trying futilely to determine where they went wrong. They pray over and over again for forgiveness when there is no evidence that they have anything of note to be forgiven of. Of course, in the vast majority of instances none of this works, for the simple reason that the victim’s thoughts and behavior result from disease processes which are not caused by the actions of others, including God. 

Ascribing blame for mental illness causes unnecessary suffering for all concerned and takes time and energy which would better be used to increase understanding of what actually is happening—to get a complete assessment and proper diagnosis of the illness involved, to understand the causes, to get proper medication and learn behavioral and cognitive techniques that are part of the healing process. As victims, loved ones, and all the rest of us increase our understanding, then patience, forgiveness, and empathy will replace denial, anger, and rejection."

"4. Mentally ill persons just lack willpower. There are some who mistakenly believe that the mentally ill just need to “snap out of it, show a little backbone, and get on with life.” Those who believe that way display a grievous lack of knowledge and compassion. The fact is that seriously mentally ill persons simply cannot, through an exercise of will, get out of the predicament they are in. They need help, encouragement, understanding, and love. Anyone who has ever witnessed the well-nigh unbearable pain of a severe panic attack knows full well that nobody would suffer that way if all that was needed was to show a little willpower. No one who has witnessed the almost indescribable sadness of a severely depressed person who perhaps can’t even get out of bed, who cries all day or retreats into hopeless apathy, or who tries to kill himself would ever think for a moment that mental illness is just a problem of willpower. We don’t say to persons with heart disease or cancer, “Just grow up and get over it.” Neither should we treat the mentally ill in such an uncompassionate and unhelpful way."

How will we react when we see Christ?

You know? I think many people consider this question over and over.  I remember someone once said in a talk long ago that we would react when we see Christ the way we are living right now.  Are we living in a way to be more like Him?  In 1 Nephi 8 it talks about Lehi's dream.  If you remember reading it correctly it talks about several different types of groups.  The first group loses their way in the darkness because they did not hold onto the iron rod tight enough.  The second group become ashamed of the fruit they have partaken.  They notice the people in the Great and Spacious Building and leave.  And the third group come and they "fall down" and partake of the fruit.  Why do they fall down?  Does anybody ever ask this question?  I love this part.  It's my absolute favorite part in the whole story.  Well, obviously the first group does not continue to learn of Christ.  They stop reading the scriptures and going to church and eventually just lose their way.  They forget what Christ was like, and don't know how to apply their lives to become more like Christ.  The second group knows what it feels like to try and become like Christ.  This group scares me the most, because why would I try something so sweet and then give it up just because people in a building are laughing at me?

Back up to the people who fell down at the Tree of Life.  Why did they fall down?  Well I have a couple of cross references to this scripture, and I LOVE IT!  1 Nephi 11:22-24 the Tree of Life is explained further here, "Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.  And he spake unto me, saying:  Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.  And after he had said these words, he said unto me; Look! And I looked, and I beheld the Son of God going forth among the children of men; and I saw many fall down at his feet and worship him."  Never have I not found an answer to a question I was looking for in the scriptures.  God really knows what he's doing.  Now if we go to John 3:16 it confirms that the Tree of Life represents Christ, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  If we are in group 3, and we see Christ we will fall at His feet and worship Him.  May we all worship Him, Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer, because there is nowhere else I hope we'd rather be, but back with our Father in Heaven.  And through our Savior Jesus Christ is the only way to get back to Him.  I hope to put this blog together, because I read all the money gaining blogs, all the how-to's and whats-its, but what about the most important thing in our lives?  What about our Spiritual well-being?  May my testimony stand strong, even as it is until the end of my life.

The Mote in Your Brother's Eye

You know, in relation to the story of the woman with adultery and the stones.  I often wonder how to apply the scriptures to my own life.  And as I ponder that story.  I think of all the times I have been to church and how often do we as teachers, as leaders like to fix "other people's problems"?  Even if they do not ask for help.  And even when they do.  I like to think of us as those with the stones when we are in moments like those.  And Christ reminding us.  He who is without sin may cast the first stone.  Have we already been saved and found perfect in the glory of God? Did we already get judged and were told that we were without sin?  As far as I know, none in this room has.  I think the most critical step to this Gospel, the difference between those with personal testimonies of their Savior Jesus Christ and those who have not yet receieved this witness (but to those, keep working on it!) that those are they who go to church and look to improve themselves, not others (at least I like to hope).  Those who truly want to be more Christlike people, more loving, reaching out to those in need, and in sorrow, and in mourning.  Comforting those in need of comfort.  Charity, like Christ said, "removeth a multitude of sins".  Peter 4:8. He also said remove the molt out of thine own eye.  I sure hope that we go to church to perfect ourselves.  I remember someone once telling me that because I was a "perfectionist" it's because I compare myself to others.  No, I do not.  I'm constantly trying to be the better me.  I think of an example: when others also see our own weaknesses and feel the need to say so, can make us feel like we have failed because we are working on it.  It is like someone who is already mopping the floor and someone comes up to them and sees them mopping it, even though they are in their own house, but still feels they have the right to say, "You know, you should really mop up your floor."  It's a stupid example, but it's like repetitively telling someone they need to do something that they are already doing. Are we all like this?  I think searching out others' weaknesses can also cause them to trip at the finish line.  I would hope and pray that I would never cause another child of God to trip.  Because I'm sure we would face the very wrath of God Himself. Oh, how He loves His children.  I pray that I will not offend others.

Turn your lives over to God

This is a blog that I will keep in confidence.  I write down my thoughts because they are all I have.  It's amazing to me, because as I read the scriptures I am constantly feeling stronger and stronger to serve my fellow men.  A couple of scriptures that continuously stand out to me are:

Matt 10:38-39- And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 39-He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Matt 10:28- And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Matt 10:30- But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 32-Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33- But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

Matt 5:14-16- Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid 15-Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16- Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.

These scriptures stand out to me so much.  They make me want to be more!  I want to serve my fellow men so much more, and I know that's why we're here on this earth.  The confusion, the business of life and everything around it can turn into so much turmoil and strife.  But as we put our focus on others, our focus is to become like Christ and we serve Him and forget our own lives.


"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.  He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace" Ezra Taft Benson (teachings of ETB, p 361)

Visiting Teaching and Misconceptions!

This article was written by the Relief Society Presidency. It says:

"Contact your sisters frequently through visits, phone calls, letters, e-mail, text messages, and simple acts of kindness."

So amazing to me that they leave the option for many ways to contact our sisters. This talk gives a lot of amazing ideas of how to serve your sisters.

https://www.lds.org/…/visiting-teaching-understanding-the-p…
love this!!! Sometimes I think people forget that when you visit or home teach it's about taking care of others. It's not just about preaching the gospel, (although that is important too) it's about looking for the lost sheep. Leaders of the church can't visit everyone. This is why it is distributed among ward members. This article explains we can do this in many ways! :D One of my favorite experiences is through being a missionary and seeing one of the members of the church deciding to serve a mission through visiting teaching. She baptized hundreds, and ended up meeting with President Packer to help strengthen other missionaries through her service. VISITING AND HOME TEACHING ARE SO IMPORTANT!

Visiting Teaching: Understanding the Power of Ministering - Ensign Mar. 2012 - ensign

Our Heavenly Father needs us to follow a higher path and demonstrate our discipleship by sincerely caring for His children.

LDS.ORG

How I Gained My Testimony

At the age of 8 years old my parent's tradition was to give me a full set of scriptures.  This is my parent's baptismal gift.  I loved them from the very beginning.  I remember taking them to church with me and the person next to me having their scriptures "colored" or marked in.  I told my dad I wanted to do that.  He said I could only do that if I read through the entire Book of Mormon. So, I set off, at the age of 8.  I started reading the scriptures that young!  I don't know if you remember the first time you read through the scriptures, but do you remember how hard they were to understand?  I do.  I remember how hard and that I basically didn't understand a thing.  But I kept on reading.  It took me 4 years to read through the entire Book of Mormon.  Can you believe that?!  It was so hard for someone so young as me to understand it, so I took my time.

But I remember, very distinctly.  My parents always had us turn off the lights at a certain time at night and go to bed.  And at this time, it was nearly midnight, I was under the covers (with a flashlight!) reading The Book of Mormon.  I had entered the book of Alma, which is an easier book to understand.  And I remember reading that book and feeling the Spirit so strong, so overpowering.  I stopped, I said a prayer, and I thanked God because I knew at that moment without a doubt that this book was true.  It was something remarkable actually.  That someone so young as I was, could understand even without completely understanding the book itself that it was true.  That what this book contained was something that made me feel good, made me want to be a better person.  And I will love it with all of my heart.

As I have grown older, every single Family Home Evening that I conducted as a child I would talk about the importance of praying and reading the scriptures.  That is because I believe it is so important to my very core!  If you think about it, Lehi and his family as they were leaving the city Jerusalem God asked them to turn around and get the book of their ancestors of the prophets (or the scriptures!).  Why would God think it was so important for them to turn around and go back?  I could go into details of the physical, but I feel the spiritual is much more important!  Because God wanted them to learn His gospel, and to apply it into their lives.  Remember in this blog:  http://religioussideofme.blogspot.com/2017/08/when-we-have-knowledge-of-christ-are-we.html
how I shared the importance of knowing what our Savior's life was like so we too could learn to become like Him?  The scriptures are a very important aspect in becoming such. And so is prayer.  These two things are SO important!!

Missionary Work

If there is anybody out there who questions whether or not they want to serve a mission, they need to read my experience beforehand!  Growing up, my dad would tell me of his experience.  How he was the first in his family to serve a mission.  His father did not serve a mission.  His older brother (at the time) did not serve a mission, but my dad wanted to know if it was something God wanted him to do.  So, what did my dad do?  He asked God himself.  He prayed.  My dad said he expected lightning, but then after a week or so he realized lightning wasn't going to come.  God wanted to see if my dad was reeeeally willing to serve if He told him to serve a mission AND to know if what he would be teaching would be true.  My dad realized this.  So to get an answer my dad started praying everyday for months.  My dad felt the need to serve a mission.  The answer to if what he was teaching was true came later.  After a year's worth of praying.  God wanted to make absolutely certain that my dad would be willing to put in the effort before and after His answer.

With this story, I knew immediately I wanted to serve a mission.  There wasn't a doubt in my mind.  I knew that what I would be teaching was correct, and I knew with all of my heart that I would love the people I would serve.  As I was serving miracles started happening.  So frequently, and so quickly that I was amazed.  I knew with a direct certainty, that God wanted us to spread His word to everyone around the world, and quickly at that.  One of my favorite scriptures that I always tell the missionaries about is, Alma 26:22, "Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing-unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even has it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance. " This is Ammon and he is speaking about his experience and the sons of Mosiah's experience.  It is amazing to me, they baptized thousands of souls!  THOUSANDS!  And they were serving their missions as far as we know 14 years.  Let's do the math, shall we?  Even if they only baptized one thousand souls (not thousand'S'!) 1000 divided by 14 equals 71 souls per year.  Can you just imagine?  Serving your mission for 2 years and baptizing 140 souls.  Well, here Ammon says it is possible.  Here's the missionary recipe for success!:

Repent
Exercise Faith
Bring Forth Good Works
Pray without Ceasing

Now, I'm not saying that the number of souls you bring to repentance is necessarily important.  But what I'm saying is you can be a successful missionary if you do the following 4 things.  Abinadi, another favorite missionary example of mine.  He died!  He died before he even knew that he had converted somebody!  He taught and taught, got thrown out, and nobody showed even the least bit of interest.  But God had a plan, and it was that Alma would be converted, and after that bring hundreds of souls to repentance.  So even though you may not SEE what these 4 things can do for your missionary experience, you are literally saving hundreds of souls.

I remember going to a testimony meeting, and how interesting it was that a young youth got up and talked about September 11th.  I was a youth in those days, when it happened.  And this youth got up and bore his testimony about how amazing it was to him that firefighters, policemen, and people off of the street risked their lives to rescue many others.  Well, this youth proceeded to say how amazing it was to him that even more so, missionaries risk their lives;  but, missionaries risk their lives to save SOULS.  How amazing is that!?

If there is one thing this blog can do, I hope that it will help you to see that there is no fear in the choice of serving a mission.  "With God NOTHING is impossible!"  God is there with your decision to serve a mission (if physically possible, and if not physically possible there are still many other ways you can serve in your own hometown!) every. single. step. of. the. way!  Just make sure to apply repentance, faith, good works, and praying without ceasing!  There is nothing that God cannot do, as long as you allow Him to be a part of your life.  He is your Father after all, he wants to be a part of your life.  Serve your mission, and if you're not of age yet, practice and strive to live these four principles.  You will succeed!