Modest is Hottest

Yes, this is a corney phrase and doesn't quite capture the seriousness of this topic.

Ah... modesty....

Any of you who went through the Young Women's program have talked about this countless times,

but I want to give a guy's perspective to modesty!

How modest a girl dresses tells a lot about her level of spirituality and conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ! The second I see a girl dressed immodestly, I know that there's something that she doesn't completely understand:

1. She doesn't understand her divine worth as a daughter of God. She is seeking the praise and attention of man rather than the praise and attention of her Heavenly Father.

2. She doesn't understand (or appreciate) the Atonement of Jesus Christ. If she did, and if she recognized that Christ suffered for her lack of clothing, she'd repent and dress modestly!

3. She doesn't understand the principle that her body is a temple. She forgets that it is a gift with a commandment to dress it and use it appropriately. She fails to remember that she will be held accountable for what she does with/to her body.

4. She doesn't understand the effect this has on other boys. Particularly her brothers!
This is where I want to give some attention:

These are my sisters! I love them and they are an incredible example to me! How grateful I am that they've always dressed so modestly. As a boy, my views of girls are filtered by the things I've perceived about my mom and sisters. Even at home, my sisters dressed modestly! Rather than short shorts, they wore pajama pants. Rather than tank tops, they wore t-shirts. They were ALWAYS modest!

I've imagined what it would've been like if they were immodest. I likely would've viewed this as normal and in turn viewed other, immodest girls, as normal. I would have been desensitized and seen women differently.

Because of their modesty, however, I appreciate it! I find myself sensitive to girls that dress immodestly and am quickly disinterested.

I said earlier that immodest girls don't understand the points above. Its one thing to know something and another thing to understand  it.

President Boyd K Packer taught that "true doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior..." If these points were truly understood you'd dress modestly.

Thank you to all you wonderful women who DO dress modestly! Continue being the wonderful example that you are and always know how pleased your Heavenly Father is with you!

(Note that I often use the word "girl" when referring to immodesty and "woman" when referring to modesty. Your level of modesty is a direct reflection of your maturity.)

Seeking to inspire change,

Kirk

Tips for Temple Attendance

Courtesy of Kevin Miller Photography

http://www.kmillerphoto.com/

Now many of us are familiar with the old primary song, "I Love to See the Temple!"

But do we love going to it as much as we like looking at it??

Let's consider some of the keys to temple attendance:

1. Go OFTEN!

How often will be different for all of us. Some of us live significantly closer to a temple than do others. Some of us are much busier with school, work, or family activities. As we set goals to go on a regular basis, however, we will be more likely to go frequently.

Prior to my mission, I was encouraged by my Stake President to go 2-3 times weekly as preparation. What this meant was that I went about 35 times before leaving for Philadelphia! What a rich experience this was! The frequency of my visits brought a Spirit into my life that helped me to more fully remember the Savior and strive consistently to follow Him. This was something that I greatly missed for two years.

Upon returning home, this same Stake President challenged me to go DAILY for the first two weeks I was home! 12 times in 14 days! How grateful I am for this challenge! The temple is truly the Lord's house and His presence is readily felt there!

2. Spiritually Prepare

This too will be different for different people. What I try to do is go to the temple with questions. Sometimes I'm seeking answers to personal questions/problems. Sometimes I'm looking for doctrinal insight and deeper meaning of particular scriptures etc. Rarely do I leave without answers! Its incredible! Take the time to sit and wait! Don't schedule activities so soon afterwards that you're needing to rush out. Block out some time to stay!

Other ways to spiritually prepare could include studying the doctrine of temples (or the doctrines taught in the temple) during your personal scripture study. Your temple experience doesn't only have to happen in the temple.

3. Physically Prepare

Again, different for everybody. For me, because I'm spoiled, I don't have to plan really far in advance so I can go to the temple because its so close! For you, it may be more of a sacrifice. It may take finding a babysitter or sacrificing other activities.

For me, physically preparing means getting enough sleep the night before so I'll be able to stay awake at the temple and soak in all that's available! Whatever you need to do, do it!

4. Invite Others

 Bring people with you! This will not only ensure that you go but you'll be blessing others!

Great blessings can be had as we attend the temple! I KNOW that to be true!

See also President Monson's April 2011 conference talk on temples:

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-holy-temple-a-beacon-to-the-world?lang=eng

Welcome Home

This will show the surprise visit of a father to his son after coming home from active duty in the military. If you are a sensitive person, I suggest grabbing a tissue.

This video afforded me the wonderful opportunity to ponder on the reunion we will one day have with our Father in Heaven. What a short clip of pure happiness :)

Future Blogs

Blogs to Come:

"When you find your best friend, marry her!"

A few of my favorite things

Lessons Learned from Marathon Training

Learning about yourself through prayer

The Law of Chastity - A Principle of Becoming

The Value of Clean Language

...

More ideas/requests?

X's & Y's

I learned a lot about myself today in my psychology class through a short experiment entitled "X's and Y's."

Dr. Miller started by passing out 10 notecards to 10 of us at random. I was one of these 10. He then explained that we were going to play a game...

Each of us were to write either an X or a Y on the notecard and hand it in. For every Y, everyone would get "$100". However, if you were to write an X, you would get "$100" for every Y as well as an extra "$300."

Hmm... Think that through for a minute...What would you pick?...

What if you choose X and everyone else does as well? Then you're not going to make much money....Unless everyone else were to choose Y....

If you picked an X, you are guaranteed to make as much or more than everybody else.

However, if you picked a Y, you may not necessarily make as much as everyone else, but you would be helping everyone else to make more.

Did you decide to look only at yourself and how much YOU could make? Or was your choice based on what would most benefit the group?

I think there's a lot to be learned about yourself from your choice...

In the Business of Preparing

It seems to me that the Lord is in the business of preparing us for things to come. 3 examples in my own life:

1. On my mission, each companion/area of mine was given to me for a reason. From them, I learned valuable lessons that gave me a great advantage later on. For example: I served with a missionary that I didn't get along with as easily as my previous companions. I tried hard to foster a relationship and to build a friendship but my efforts seemed to be in vain. This was a difficult 6 weeks for me BUT it taught me how to love unconditionally. I learned that I could love a person without being loved back. I could serve someone without expecting it returned to me. How grateful I was for the next 17 months to use this skill! This is a true attribute of Jesus Christ that I began learning from this companion.


2. Marriage plays a vital role in God's plan for our happiness. Although I don't believe that there is a one and only "soul-mate" that we are intended to find, I do believe that there are individuals with whom we are more compatible and have the opportunity of being happier with. Each relationship I've been in has taught me something about what to look for in a future wife. The Lord has prepared me through them and helped me understand the importance of things such as reciprocity, commitment to the gospel, and similarity in interests/goals.

3. Understanding that the Lord works in this way and prepares us for things to come, I've often wondered why it is that I've been struggling so much financially this summer. Its caused me to prioritize and identify what things are needs and what things are merely wants. I'm finding that I'm much less worried about comparing what I have to what others have and its really helping me to grow! These lessons will have wide applicability throughout my life but I've recognized one thing in particular: As a parent it will be of much greater importance to take care of the temporal needs of my children than to try and "Compete with the Jones.'" And I might as well get used to being poor if I actually have as many kids as I've always joked around about having! (10)

Always Learning

Example is often the most powerful teacher. I just witnessed an example of a man who hasn't stopped learning. Let me share it:

This man is quite accomplished. He is very talented and has experience in many fields. I believe he was a professor for many years, he serves faithfully in his church responsibilities, and has traveled the world over. As I sat in the lobby of a building on BYU campus, he came strolling through. My first thought was that he must have just finished teaching a class. He informed me, however, that he'd just completed a midterm exam. Wait, what? I went on to ask him what class he was taking and learned that he's taking an ancient Hebrew class that requires 4 hrs a day of time in class and probably more outside of it. This isn't required for any kind of degree that he's working toward or anything. In fact, he's not even enrolled! He's auditing the class! He simply wants to learn and is loving learning the language of the ancient scriptures. What an incredible example of one who never ceases to learn.