Turn a ‘Mess’ into a Message with the "Praise Principle”

“The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him. Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect him from the elements, and to store his few possessions. One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky. He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost. He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger. He cried out [toward heaven],’ How could you do this to me?' 

“Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island! It had come to rescue him! 'How did you know I was here?' asked the weary man of his rescuers. 'We saw your smoke signal,' they replied. 

The Moral of This Story: It's easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn't lose heart, because God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of our pain and suffering. Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground. It just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.”  (I wish I knew the author to credit them.)

That ‘islander’ had a paradigm shift about his little hut on fire. My feelings have also changed concerning two children’s chronic illnesses and other trials in my life.  At first, I felt like my ill daughter was a victim of poor genetics. I even wondered at times if we were somehow forgotten by God.  When one of my children was a victim of a violent crime, I really went down into despair.  

Back then, I did not realize fully that the Atonement of Jesus Christ could reach out and bless my tender heart at that moment and the next day, and the next. Studying spiritual re-patterning, or energy healing has shown me that the atonement of Christ can help 
 mend broken hearts as well as other emotions felt in suffering life's difficulties. 

“Some church members feel weighed down with discouragement about the circumstances of their personal lives, even when they are making sustained and admirable efforts,” said Elder Hafen.  “Frequently, these feelings of self-disappointment come not from wrongdoing, but from stresses for which they may not be fully to blame.  The atonement of Jesus Christ applies to all of life.  The Savior’s atonement is thus portrayed as the healing power not only for sin, but also for carelessness, inadequacy, and all mortal bitterness.  The Atonement is not just for sinners.” (Beauty for Ashes, Ensign, Apr 1997, 39)   Since depression filled days of despair years ago, I have learned a variety of ways to access healing power from the Atonement. One method called the “Praise Principle” involves perspective, gratitude, prayer and praise. 

Elder Maxwell encourages us to see our challenges and to pray with an eternal perspective. “If God chooses to teach us the things we most need to learn because he loves us, and if he seeks to tame our souls and gentle us in the way we most need to be tamed and most need to be gentled, it follows that he will customize the challenges he gives us and individualize them so that we will be prepared for life in a better world… We must pray, therefore, not that things be taken from us, but that God's will be accomplished through us.  What, therefore, may seem now to be mere unconnected pieces of tile will someday, when we look back, take form and pattern, and we will realize that God was making a mosaic. For there is in each of our lives this kind of divine design, this pattern, this purpose that is in the process of becoming, which is continually before the Lord but which for us, looking forward, is sometimes perplexing…. “(But For a Small Moment”, Sep 1 1974, BYU Fireside, emphasis added)    

Having the right perspective can calm our hearts. M. Catherine Thomas, a BYU professor and one of my favorite authors explains, "It is how we interpret what is happening to us that either liberates us or imprisons us.  If we interpret what is happening as something that should not be happening, and we can’t change it, then we will suffer.  If we can accept that which-cannot-be-changed as a reflection of what God would have unfold, then we can have peace.”  (Light in the Wilderness, 23)

In addition to perspective, gratitude can help bring us peace. Focusing on what is going right, instead of dwelling on struggles is health advice according to mind-body medicine and scripture. “President Kimball told of giving a woman a priesthood blessing and telling her that she would be healed of a malady.  A few weeks later, the woman came back, angry that she hadn’t yet been healed. President Kimball responded: ‘Now I understand why you have not been blessed.  You must be patient, do your part, and express gratitude for the smallest improvement noted.’  She repented, did as he counseled and was eventually healed.  We should express constant gratitude for even the smallest increment of blessing.” (Mary Jane Woolger, “What I Have Learned about Mighty Prayer,” Ensign, Dec. 2006, 54) 

I was deeply affected by Elder Dallin H. Oak’s talk “Give Thanks in All Things” where he said, “The revelations, for which we are grateful, show that we should even give thanks for our afflictions because they turn our hearts to God and give us opportunities to prepare for what God would have us become.” (Ensign, May 2003) Paul says, ”For my strength is made perfect in weakness.  Most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore, I take pleasures in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”  (2 Cor. 12: 9-10).  It was difficult at first to even mouth words of thanks for heavy burdens, but I started thanking anyhow. In the beginning, I said the words but only half-heartedly believed them.  It felt like “chewing on concrete.” I was missing part of the praise principle process that I use now. 

 James Cox teaches a recorded course on learning the Savior’s thought patterns and he explains the previous scripture  in 2 Corinthians well. “As one expands his capacity to feel sorrow, he is also expanding his capacity to feel joy, and his capacity to feel God’s perfect love.  As one takes this sorrow unto the spiritual word and is willing to go through it out of the love he feels for the Savior and Heavenly Father, the healing begins. . . . By thanking Heavenly Father for the adversity [it] changes our focus from the temporal [world.]… With a spiritual focus the Lord will ask if we are willing to go through this for Him.  As we think of what the Savior went through for our sins, it helps us to be willing to go through [adversity] for Him.  As we endure the pain and suffering for Him, we are transferring the pain to the spiritual world where the powers of heaven will help us to endure and overcome.” (James Cox, Becoming Spiritually Centered 76,79)  Elder Maxwell said it may be true (in some way we don’t understand) that the cavity which suffering carves into our souls will one day also be our receptacle for joy. (see “But For a Small Moment”, Sep 1 1974, BYU Fireside)

Marion G. Romney points out that God told the pioneers to praise Him when they were suffering the greatest!   This is advice to us, too, though hard doctrine, until one has experienced its blessings. I am amazed by what heroes in the scriptures do when it seems ‘huts’ have gone up in flames or under in floods.  They do things that would NOT come naturally without focusing on the Savior.  James 1:2 admonishes, “Count it all joy when ye fall into many afflictions.”  As Enoch saw the flood victims of Noah’s day he had bitterness of soul and said “I will refuse to be comforted.”  The Lord’s advice to him at that point in time is revealing.  It applies today. The Lord said to Enoch: “Lift up your heart, and be glad: and look.” Then He showed Enoch Christ’s atonement. 

There are other examples in the scriptures. Paul and Silas were thrown into prison and locked up in chains. At midnight they weren’t looking for pity, they were singing praises to God - and the prison doors opened. Nephi was tied up on a ship by his own brothers for days until his wrists and ankles were very swollen. The account says, “I did look unto my God and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions.” (1 Nephi 18:16)  The converted Lamanites praised God in the very act of perishing under the sword. (Alma 24:23) I ask, is there a pattern here?!  I aspire to live more often in the attitude of forgiveness, gratitude and praise.

President Brigham Young taught, “Some hold grudges for a lifetime, unaware that courageously forgiving those who have wronged us is wholesome and therapeutic…. The Savior has offered to all of us a precious peace through his atonement, but this can come only as we are willing to cast out negative feelings of anger, spite, or revenge.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, ed John A. Widtsoe, (1954), 345.  quoted in Ensign, April 2007, 68,69) I teach my clients that it is one thing to forgive past trials, but quite another to express gratitude for going through the most difficult times we have ever had. I believe that whenever God gives us a challenge, He also has a gift for us in its hands. It is up to us to find the silver lining, the precious lessons, in the storms of our lives.

The Holy Ghost prompted me to take a class about praise from Judy Dunston of Saratoga Springs, UT.  Judy’s personal example of applying the Praise principle in various challenging times with her children were inspiring.  She teaches 4 practical steps that enable a person to praise in all things. Judy gave me permission to share these in my book Healing Arts-A Gift from God.  The principles she teaches are “1. Release judgment of what is going on currently.  2. See it as perfect for your learning.  3. Praise God for the event just as it is.  4. Turn this burden over to the Savior with gratitude for the learning.”  I feel this is similar to a modern day apostle telling us,  “The most profound relief waits to be claimed: our afflictions can be ‘swallowed up in the joy of Christ.’ Alma 31:38.” (Neal A. Maxwell, "If Thou Endure It Well," 3) I could finally see the wisdom in even our worst trials by praising God for them. Beyond forgiving the past, and being grateful for lessons we learned,  I believe it is exhibiting even higher consciousness to praise God for those heart wrenching experiences. Praising God in all things is a very high level of consciousness. (see David Hawkins, Power Vs. Force which has a chart titled "The Map of Consciousness.")

Learning to better and more quickly live the Praise Principle over the last few years has given me hope when I felt hope was gone.  It has saved me in very scary moments – the ones that take your breath (and life force/light of Christ/breath of life) away.   At those times we can pray in faith, giving gratitude for the hard lesson upon us, and give our burden to the Savior.  I have asked the Lord to take my burdens with gratitude and praise for the priceless learning I trust that I will gain with time.  I learned that in those moments that challenge us most, we can rely on this principle to give us hope again. 

My friend, Kathy Truman, took Cliff and Judy Dunston’s “Praise Principles” class at the 2013 LDS Holistic Living Conference. Kathy wrote down her difficult life experiences and then turned them around, giving praise to the Lord for them. I was deeply touched by reading the harsh life experiences she had turned into expressions of gratitude.  I felt inspired by her example. Being a type 2 (4) (from Carol Tuttle’s It’s Just My Nature),  I made a template of how my  friend Kathy did that. Before I share that, let me introduce you to someone else I know.  First, the ‘bad’ news, and then the good news.

This woman had a daughter who was riddled with excessive anxiety, chronic depression and a diagnosis of mental illness. Her daughter was cutting and repeatedly suicidal.  For years there were 911 phone calls, police in her home, and trips to the emergency room.  The mother tried to protect her other children from the worst chaos.  However, the turmoil threatened to tear her family apart.  Another teenage daughter moved out of the home for a time in order to bear threats to safety and the roller coaster of emotional outbreaks. Adding stress, particularly to the father, was the family’s health insurance which refused to pay a dime toward any of the ill daughter’s expensive hospitalizations,

As if the illness wasn’t enough, the ill teen was also the victim of a violent crime and suffered post traumatic stress from the abuse afterward.

Years later, one of her sons suddenly became ill and doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong. An Energy Medicine machine found Lyme frequencies in his body, but doctors scoffed and said chronic Lyme didn’t exist and that such infections were not obtained in the state of Utah.  The family had trouble finding a doctor willing to test for Lyme disease. A clinical diagnosis was made and blood tests showed the co-infection Mycoplasma. For all the effort, the son still suffered in a recliner for over half a year without enough energy to even play a video game.

This nearly adult son finally admitted he had been exposed to something traumatic in grade school. The mother faced this sudden news and admitted addiction along with pained wonder at how the depth of emotional abuse he endured had escaped her observation.  This son moved out and sought relief by experimenting with substance abuse which led to hospitalization. 

The woman’s husband, the only breadwinner for the family, suddenly lost his job 3 times.

Not 1 of the woman’s 3 sons served a mission which was a heavy burden on her mother heart. One of her adult children was surrounded by an anti-Mormon environment from co-workers and left the religion that was so dear to her behind.

After 6 years of being off psychiatric meds, her daughter’s bipolar pattern resurfaced as post partum psychosis after childbirth. The adversary worked hard to convince this woman that such a setback was reason enough not to publish her stories sharing the integrative help they had found so beneficial for bipolar and other issues all those years previous.

Some people wondered if this woman was into something 'evil' because of her work in integrative health.  Her mentor in energy healing was falsely accused of the same type of things and called into her ecclesiastical leaders offices for investigation.  Other like minded friends who also experienced these kinds of complaints had experiences that did not always end as nicely as her mentor’s experience had with profuse apologies and heartfelt expressions of gratitude for dedicated, Christlike service.

This person is me.  The reason I shared the bad news is to testify of the miracle of God’s hand in my little family’s life and of “THE good news” of the Savior, Jesus Christ.  I am a witness of His love. I believe God is endeavoring to teach me that I can choose to experience and feel gratitude and even praise in all things.

A.  Praise God that I had a daughter with bipolar because it brought me to my knees, seeking answers and fasting often to learn truth.  I found out that God truly does know and love His children individually for answers came one line at a time to help that daughter.  I praise God for this illness for it taught me that forgiveness is a healing principle that affects bodies physically and that we could use forgiveness purposefully for that intent. I praise God for experiencing bipolar in our home because it led us to energy healing which later taught me how to assist in relieving the emotional pain of my family and others.  Unconventional answers in this field of medicine that surfaced to help one daughter, eventually blessed hundreds of other people’s lives!  Praise God I learned to have gratitude in all things because of this illness. Praise God for bipolar because it opened my eyes to the reality of opposition in all things:  God’s light was real and so was darkness from the adversary.  Praise God I learned how powerful men and women can be against this darkness. I praise God for very difficult times that taught me by experience that faith is a mighty power! I am grateful this illness taught me I could help my daughter and others with spiritual re-patterning at a distance. Today this brings days of extreme joy helping others that I would have otherwise missed. 

 B. Praise God two of my children experienced abuse because it taught us deeply of the ability of Jesus Christ’s atonement to remove personal suffering and trapped trauma.  Praise the Lord that we learned the power of having an eye of faith because of these trials. I learned that what I initially thought would be a useless process -- that of ‘mere’  imagery –- was actually very powerful. The imagery used was of being in a garden with the Savior and giving Him all of my deep grief, heartache and pain. That imagery work, in reality, brought waves of pulsing color and peaceful, forgiving feelings that have stayed with me ever since.  Praise God that now I can testify that Christ truly does swallow up our sorrows in His love.  Praise God for abuse because through it we learned the atonement is for far more than just sins alone!  The atonement offers us ongoing rescue and respite from  unwanted emotions, memories, feelings and thoughts. Because of trials, I have some beginning understandings of how my Savior’s light – the Light of Christ – is allowed more brightly in our lives. I've been so blessed by studying the integrative field of energy healing! It has educated me on the need to release trapped trauma and unresolved emotions from our bodies and differing methods on how to go about doing that.  I am grateful that this complementary medicine also teaches a person to prevent the need for future "emotional release" by living at a high level of consciousness, so as to avoid creating similar patterns again.

C. Praise God my son dealt with Lyme disease because it taught us about even deeper levels of healing.  It taught us to be grateful for energy medicine machines such as ASYRA which immediately found the frequency of Lyme in my son’s body when traditional medicine continued to be mystified.  Praise God for Lyme because it taught us of the power of Constitutional Homeopathy and Radionics to rid his body of toxins and pathogens. We are grateful for another platform to share the marvelous blessings of energy medicine with others. Lyme taught us to express praise in the midst of hard things and shorten the time it took to see the Lord’s hand in our lives.  This afforded us “aha” moments earlier on in trials.  We praise the Lord for illnesses that better prepare us to meet Him again.  Elder Hales said, “Sometimes we don’t understand death, illness, mental and physical disabilities, personal tragedies, war and other conflict.  Some of them are a necessary part of our mortal probation.  Others, as Enoch foresaw, are part of the preparation for the Savior’s Second Coming.”  (Ensign, May 2003 p 18) I feel there is so much truth in that apostolic statement that I can trust it fully concerning mystifying illnesses like Lyme Disease and brain disorders labeled mental illness that afflict ever younger ages.   

D.  Praise God for issues with addiction for it taught my son to turn to the Savior in all things.  I am grateful I had the learning experience of praying to experience mighty faith like Alma the Elder who prayed in faith for his son to be "brought to a knowledge of the truth."  Having this experience taught me love versus judgment and increased empathy and humility.  Praise God for the struggles of my children that taught me there is no disgrace in having suffered, in having been labeled, in having been addicted or heartbroken or sorrowful or misjudged. We are not our ‘stories.’ We are beloved children of the most High who are learning important lessons along our way. Praise God for addiction issues because I learned on a deeper level the power of spiritual gifts and a deeper level of trust in spiritual promptings and the wisdom of heeding them immediately. I am grateful this trial taught me about Maurice Harker’s book and work teaching Christ centered addiction prevention and recovery.  Like my book, he teaches of the adversary’s involvement in modern day issues. Praise God I have learned that I allow the Savior’s love and light in a greater or lesser degree inside and around me by the words I speak and allow to repeat in my mind.  What a blessing to have learned that when mindful and expressing higher consciousness, I feel a real difference in my body.

E. Praise God we lost our sole source of income repeatedly and had to live off of our food storage and savings more than once because it reinforced the importance of following the living prophet’s counsel to stay out of debt and store food and supplies to be prepared for the future.  We are grateful to be able to live peacefully in troubled times and aspire to be the calm in the eye of the storm, even while chaos swirls all around.

F. Praise God my sons didn’t or couldn’t go on missions because it taught me to desire a new heart. It taught me not to judge others or their challenges. Praise be to God for allowing me these priceless learning lessons – for I understand now that we are more than our experiences.  I praise the Lord for this opportunity to learn  sensitivity and that there are all kinds of missions being served by valiant young people who might not wear outward name tags.  Other servants of the Lord are tagged on the 'inside' by hearts written on by the spirit. Their missions are as diverse as their faces. Some have known the darkness and yet choose to stand and be warriors for Jesus Christ. Praise God that difficult parenting moments have helped me to develop a deep, abiding faith in God and trust in His plans and His timing, and a knowledge that my children have a powerful Savior who is more powerful than their problems and weaknesses.

G. Praise God one of my sons left the church because it affords me opportunities for spiritual growth. I've come to understand that my children’s choices do not reflect my ability as a parent, but agency.  Praise God I am allowing my children their agency and putting my trust in the Savior for I have a covenant relationship with Him. God IS LOVE – and He loves in all things!  He ALLOWS for agency and I can too while continuing to love my wayward son. Praise God for this opportunity to learn to extend invitations in love and to learn of love’s greater power than emotions tied more closely to force.  Praise God for another chance to use the Praise Principle, to rely on the Savior to take this burden, and to envision the power of God working in my family. Praise God for trials which bring practice in assurance and confidence to trust in God – now, and during future prophesied calamities that will precede our Savior Jesus Christ’s return to this earth as King of Kings!

H. Praise God my daughter experienced a bipolar pattern again with postpartum psychosis after giving birth for it provided opportunities to be taught other paradigm shifting solutions for mental illness. We learned of another LDS family’s amazing, God-given insight into the brain, mental illness and also addictions! Praise God my daughter thought she could go without this other family's supplement (Empowerplus) for a time - for her choice taught all of us how powerful that inspired micronutrient for brain health really is. I praise God for a driving need to understand more about the physical body level, Gut and Psychology Syndrome, pro-biotics, and minerals connection to Chi. I'm grateful we learned how having confidence in both God and ourselves can affect the physical level through Vibrational Medicine and Radionics for I had marginalized energy work’s power to affect people physically and had mostly concentrated on its mental, emotional, and spiritual benefits. 

I.  Praise God that my mentor was hauled in to her Stake Presidents office for it stirred in me a great desire to seek and search in depth for truths regarding forms of healing arts.  Without my mentor undergoing this extremely hard time, I may not have had the motivation to learn that there are examples of all sorts of alternative healing methods in the Bible and validation for them in modern scripture and the words of prophets.  Praise God that I know today because of trials, of the healing arts – of energy healing and emotional release,  hands-on-healing, long-distance healing, vibrational healing and generational healing…  I think of all the families who lives would not have been blessed by energy work and phone sessions without my mentor’s sacrifice.  Praise God her example has blessed a multitude of people’s lives today! In the end her trial brought more clarity!

I know the bitterness of life can be perceived this way for each of us through the marvelous Atonement of our Savior! Praising God in all things opens effectual doors to miracles in our lives. I have experienced them.  Through the Atonement we can be made whole. With the Savior’s help, we can learn to be thankful even for our trials.

 “Often the deep valleys of our present will be understood only by looking back on them from the mountains of our future experience. Often we can’t see the Lord’s hand in our lives until long after trials have passed. Often the most difficult times of our lives are essential building blocks that form the foundation of our character and pave the way to future opportunity, understanding, and happiness.” (Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Continue in Patience," Ensign , May, 2010, 58)  I have lived that and have also experienced understanding the blessings of trials in their midst by living the Praise Principle. Past unhappiness can reap future joys.  I experience joy now because of the trials I went through.

I have had wonderful wounds to make me the person I am today. I aspire to praise the Lord for each one of them. Jesus Christ’s atonement offers incredible hope in our day to day lives.  The Lord has already felt our pain and is willing to carry our burdens. I am blessed by using the praise principle’s practical steps to access the Savior’s rescue of me.  I am grateful to have learned that my little hut “catching fire” really can be a signal that summons the grace of God. I testify of the miracles of God! 

Only the Messiah can turn a Mess into a Message, A Test into a Testimony, A Victim into Victorious.  Praise Him!

(Template included here.)

Let me introduce you to someone I know.  She/he was (list trials).

A.___________________________________________________________________________

 ____________________________________________________________________________.

B.___________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________.

C.___________________________________________________________________________

 ____________________________________________________________________________.

D.___________________________________________________________________________

 ____________________________________________________________________________.

E.____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________.

F.____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________.

This person is me.  

Summarize or expound on each concept above. Realize how it made you a better person, (more empathetic, more apt to fall on your knees in prayer, strengthened your testimony...) taught you something, or provided an opportunity to develop a new quality. Discover what God's purpose may be for that event in your life.)

A. Praise God I was  ________________________________________________________because

_____________________________________________________________________________.

B. Praise God I ____________________________________________________________because

_____________________________________________________________________________.

C. Praise God _____________________________________________________________because

_____________________________________________________________________________.

D. Praise God I was ________________________________________________________because

_____________________________________________________________________________.

E. Praise God I ____________________________________________________________because

_____________________________________________________________________________.

F. Praise God _____________________________________________________________because

____________________________________________________________________________.

More on Healing Generations

I have come across some valuable information since I wrote my book.  Here are a few wonderful paragraphs relating to healing generations by Truman Madsen. Thank you Tresa for sharing this.

And, therefore, as you look back at your seventy or so forebears...  you might recognize that you have inherited the blood of many generations.  And blood may not be a correct word scientifically, but in the scriptures it stands for seed, which means heredity, the inheritance of tendencies, and all of us have them.  You have the blood of this generation, from which we must become clean - 'clean from the blood of this generation' (D&C 88:85). If you do, you will be clean from the blood of every generation, because it is compounded and accumulated into now- and that includes the blood of some degeneration. 

So perhaps you do have problems that you can blame on your ancestors, and if you
forgive that and choose to stand close to the Lord in the process of purifying your life, that will affect  your whole family in both directions.  You are not alone. There is no way you can gain solitary and neutral ground.  You are in it - you are involved. And this, I believe, is one of the profound meanings of the tame and wild olive trees. If you take a wild branch and graft it in to a tame one, if the branch is strong enough it will eventually corrupt and spoil the tree all the way to the roots. But if you take a tame branch and graft it in to a wild tree, in due time, if that branch is strong enough, it will heal and regenerate to the very roots. You will have then been an instrument in the sanctification even of your forebears.

...To be that kind of branch and achieve that kind of transformation backward and forward is perhaps the greatest achievement of this world.  But to do it one must be great, one must be linked, bound to the Lord Jesus Christ.  One must be mighty.  One must be something of a savior.  And that is exactly what the Prophet Joseph Smith said we are: 'saviors on Mount Zion.'   (Truman G. Madsen, "The Temple: Where Heaven Meets Earth," p 84)

The following is the ending excerpt from an  excellent article by Larry Barkdull on Meridian Magazine.  Who knew that Elder Hafen and Isaiah touch on healing generations?! Thank you Sylvia for sharing this.  Brother Barkdull wrote:

Becoming a 'Repairer of the Breach'

Isaiah counseled, “Hide not thyself from thine own flesh [your own family].”(14) That is, love them, pray for them, and fast for them. We expect the Lord to stand by our children despite their waywardness. Would He not, therefore, expect the same of us? Our willingness to sanctify ourselves through fasting and prayer in behalf of our children, and our continuing to love and reach out to them, serves to repair relationships. Through fasting and prayer we sanctify ourselves to become, according to Isaiah, “the repairer of the breach.”(15) That is, fasting and prayer empowers us to repair anything that has torn the relationship apart.

Concerning our becoming repairers of the breach, Elder Bruce C. Hafen taught that we, through fasting and prayer and applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ, gain power to repair even generational family problems and to stop the “intergenerational flow of affliction,” which plagues one generation of our family after another. These generational problems are often the reasons our children are presently suffering. Some damaging family traits reduce agency and continue to afflict several generations of a family. But by means of the sanctifying principles of faith, fasting, prayer, and diligence, these negative traits can be halted and severed.

Repairers of the breach can seek heavenly power to ensure that those harmful traits will never again distress subsequent generations. Elder Hafen said we can “fill the void left by a former generation and raise a new foundation for the next, thus repairing the breach in the intergenerational linkage: ‘They that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach; the restorer of paths to dwell in.’ (Isa. 58:12) (Bruce C. Hafen and Marie K. Hafen, The Belonging Heart: The Atonement and Relationships with God and Family Heart, 119.)

Promised Blessings 

"Isaiah’s doctrine concerning the fast is astonishing. Generational healing becomes possible. Evidently fasting yields a power that extends to our deceased loved ones, allowing them to be healed and set free. Through focused fasting, we become repairers of the breach to our present families and our ancestors. Moreover, our children-- “they that shall be of thee”--will “build the old waste places.” In other words, because of our fasting, our children will also be empowered to repair the generational injuries and help to save their forefathers. What will be the result? 

“Thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations [to follow]”; that is, you will help your children lay a new foundation for their lives upon which salvation will come to them and to those your grandchildren. Therefore, you will be given the honorable name, “repairer of the breach”—the one who helped them overcome their weakness, repair their broken lives, and brought them back to the correct path. (See also John H. Vandenberg, Conference Report, April 1963)

Does the fast still sound too simple, too easy? Perhaps we should reconsider the fast as an incredible principle of power and do as Moses encouraged his people to do: simply look up and live."  (Larry Barkdull, "Rescuing Wayward Children through Fasting and Prayer," Meridian Magazine, Thursday July 10, 2010, www.ldsmag.com/article/5880)

IF YOU LIKED THIS POST YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY READING "GENERATIONAL QUOTES"
http://tamarasbook.blogspot.com/2009/08/generational-issues-quotes.html

Fred on Forgiveness Heals Physically

Fred Taylor spoke to our Mind-Body-Spirit Health Group in Mountain Green last week. Here are the notes I promised some of you.

I introduced him as born and raised in Ogden, married to Diane with 3 children and 5 grandchildren. He went on a mission to Austria. He was Branch President of the care center in Roy for 3 years, where I met him. Currently, he is High Priest Group Leader in his ward. His working career ended when he was declared disabled. He has a standing appointment with the missionaries every Tuesday to take them to the temple, grocery shopping, and anywhere else they need to go. In fact, he is pretty much on call for the missionaries 24/7.

Then I told our group that Fred was different from the other speakers we have enjoyed, in that he is NOT certified in any healing techniques. This, I explained, made all that he has been able to accomplish in helping others with their health, an even more impressive accomplishment.

I went on to say that Fred was my hero for listening to a prompting of the spirit to take a copy of his story to the care center one morning. Because he listened and obeyed, my family was immensely blessed to learn the health principle that forgiveness heals physically. I thought Fred had given away over 1000 copies of his healing story, but I was corrected to learn that he had given away over 1500 copies! I said that Fred was also a hero to me because I didn't know anyone else who listens to the spirit as closely as he does. I said he really is a walking miracle and gave his website as: www.littleeverydaymiracles-fred.blogspot.com

Fred's presentation 2/23/2010

At age 38 I was told I had M.S. I had terrible dizzy spells and other problems. At the time I asked "Why me?" Later on with the help of the spirit, I asked, "Why not me?"

I was sitting in Sunday School when I was prompted to read something in the D&C. There was something that would help me. I read D&C 122 about Joseph Smith in the jail. That wasn't it. Then I read D&C 121 about being in the Liberty Jail. Verses 4, 7 and 8 jumped off the page at me! It read, "My son, peace be unto thy soul... endure it well... it will be a small moment" That was very comforting.

I went home and still had dizzy spells. I didn't get around or do much at all. I couldn't even stand up (showed us wobbling jerking ALL over the place.) A year later the doctors did more tests and told me there was less evidence of M.S., and that I possibly had Meineir's disease. No meds worked and this went on for 5 years. I couldn't stand up, even with help. I took a disability retirement at age 43 with 3 teens at home. I felt worthless, but knew I would be okay because of the powerful experience in Sunday School while reading in the D&C.

A friend in my ward had tried to get me to learn about Jan Graf and the work he did down in St. George. Every time he tried to convince me it would help, I told him that I knew my problem wasn't stress, I had a PHYSICAL problem! Well, this went on for 8 years, my friend encouraging me to go see Jan Graf. So 8 years later my friend brought over a booklet by Jan Graf. One and a half weeks later, I read the booklet just to get my friend "off my back" about the whole idea. However, as soon as I read the booklet I Knew it was exactly what I needed. I set the booklet down and picked up the phone to make an appointment with Jan.

I spent 3 hours there in that appointment where Jan taught me how properly forgive. I'd heard about forgiveness all my life. I'd heard all the talks and lessons, but I found out I didn't know how to really forgive. Jan taught me to forgive outloud and in present tense: not with I "should" forgive or I "ought" to forgive, or I "will" but "I forgive," as in right now. We worked down a list name by name plus I had to forgive myself for holding feelings against them. Jan also drained the negative energy off of me. After the appointment, I went to the desk to pay and I was standing there whenI realized that for the first time in 8 1/2 years, I wasn't wobbly. I was standing still! I carried my cane out to my car and drove home!

(Fred passed around a photograph of his expired handicap license plate and cane.) I want to tell the Bible story of the man who was lowered through the roof by his friends in order to be close to the Savior. (He told the story of the Lord telling the man he was forgiven and of his immediate healing.) That was ME on that bed! I knew I hadn't forgiven myself. I literally took up my bed and walked.

I want to show you how Jan Graf taught me to drain negative energy. Tamara will you come up and help me? Use one of your fingers, it doesn't matter which one, and hold it about6-8 inches above the person's LEFT foot. It must be the left foot and you can't do it to yourself. It requires 2 people. Focus on what you're doing. Jan told me it doesn't matter if you use your left or right hand to drain the energy. I feel a sort of buzz and my hand tingles when I do this. I don't do it daily, just when I feel the need. Negative energy comes when we are depressed, offended, ill or feeling negative emotions. We all build it up. It can manifest with physical symptoms like my equilibrium not working. If we don't judge people, including ourselves, we won't have all the forgiveness work to do! I like the poem by Robert Burns that says "Look gently on man..."

I want to share some experiences about the MIND changing its deep down inside thinking. In my first visit with Jan, he taught me that people are afraid of food because they fear it will cause weight gain, or possibly diabetes... We program our minds to believe these kinds of things! Our minds says "Okay, I'll have to suffer the consequences if I eat that sugar or fat..." Jan said the Lord gave us all food to enjoy and we don't let ourselves enjoy it. I eat whatever I want whenever I want it and I stay the same weight. I'm with the missionaries a lot and not one of them over all these years, who is crazy enough to challenge me to an eating contest has ever won. I have wasted every elder's challenge. In 2007 I lost 20 pounds. Sometimes I eat half of a half gallon of ice cream. Once I ate 5 steaks.

When I was a teenager I tore the heck out of my knees playing basketball. 6 years ago my son and his wife came with their 1 1/2 year old girl. She got into lots of pots and pans. My wife Diane said I had to put child proof locks on all the cabinet doors in the kitchen. It took me about an hour to do that. The thought came to me: that's gonna kill my knees! It did. I went and got ice packs. Later, I had the thought: I'm going to forgive my knees for thinking they had to hurt to justify the pain. Well, I did that and the pain was gone, but they were still stiff and swollen. Then I thought, I'm going to forgive my knees for believing they had to swell and be stiff and sore. 7 months later, I had to put new brakes and rotors on our car. I climbed around on the cement floor in the driveway and had NO pain or stiffness. I don't have to do that to myself anymore! I smile now and think I don't have to do that to myself anymore. Last summer I tore a rotator cuff. I spent 30 minutes with Jan. 2 days later, I vacuumed our entire house and then went and vacuumed out my van. My shoulder was FINE!

I have asked Tamara if she will come up and tell us about her experience with forgiveness.

"I had to have my gallbladder out2 years ago because I was turning yellow. It was supposed to be an out-patient surgery, but I got doctor induced pancreatitis and had to stay in the hospital 5 days. I went home and Fred stopped by to check on how I was doing about 10 days after surgery. He didn't tell me at the time, but he thought I looked really down. I was still moping around spending a lot of time on the sofa.

Fred asked me if I had forgiven the doctors for causing me to have pancreatitis. I said I didn't hold it against them, I wasn't the suing type... He again asked, have you forgiven the doctors out loud? I had to admit that I hadn't. Fred suggested that right then and there, I forgive them for every negative thing I had allowed in my head. While I did that, he put a finger on my forehead with the intention of sending me positive energy. So I forgave the general surgeon out loud for suggesting we do a scope procedure prior to surgery. I forgave the other doctor for doing the scope and irritating my pancreas. I forgave the surgeon for the micro tear in my bile duct. I forgave the doctors for causing me 5 days hospital bills. I forgave myself for allowing any thoughts of blame toward them... and on and on I forgave.

When I was finished, I had the most wonderful sensation come into my body. I still remember it very vividly. I felt a heavenly, warm energy coming down into the top of my head, filling me up with a light sensation that poured into my head and flowed down my neck and into my body. It filled me up with a lightness and a feeling of hope and energy. It was an incredible feeling! I had so much more energy, I got up off the sofa and headed for the kitchen to take care of things that had been piling up. Both my husband and Fred commented that I looked physically different.

(A hand was raised in the audience and the person asked, "So what did you do Fred, did you drain negative energy and then put in positive energy?" Fred answered that was the way he remembered it.)

FRED CONTINUED

You have to touch the forehead to put positive energy in another person. Touch them in the middle of their forehead right at the hairline with one of your fingers. Not everyone feels it.

(A question was asked about doing the forgiveness at the same time as draining energy or putting positive energy in.) I explained that you don't have to do it at the same time as you are forgiving out loud. If I'm out in public I still do forgiveness out loud, I just say it kind of to myself, -as long as you can hear yourself say it.

There are 4 things needed for changes to happen. First, you have to have a desire for it to happen. You have to be willing to let it happen. You must believe the other person deserves forgiveness. And you have to allow it to happen.

Forgiveness doesn't mean you condone what the other person did. You are for giving it over to God. We're to love others as ourselves, not in spite of ourself or _____. Forgive one another or you have the greater sin. God will forgive us if we repent, so what right do we have to judge who deserves forgiveness and who doesn't? Christ has paid the price and so He has the right to make those His own. God is a perfect gentlemen. He never goes where he's not invited.

We have no right to judge because we do not know another person's mind. Only 1 is qualified for that job, so our job is to forgive. Being unforgiving is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. And saying I'll forgive but I'll never forget is like saying I don't forgive.

How many times should we forgive? The scriptures say the Lord taught the disciples 7 times. The Jews had a hard time believing that because 7 was like saying infinity. Then the Savior replied till 70 times 7. What that means is that any time you think again of what that person did to you, you need to forgive them AGAIN. That is the 70 times 7 principle. That thought you had of remembering brings it up again, that you were offended in the past.

1.Forgiveness must be verbal- thinking it is just a start.

2. Forgiveness must be specific by name for a specific thing.

3. Forgiveness must be in present tense. (not I will or I can or I need to... those are future tense.)

After you forgive the other person you must forgive yourself for holding in thinking negative things about them.

You can continue to learn this as you drive. There are plenty of opportunities then! You have 2 choices. You can choose to be upset which creates more stress and negative energy and makes you feel bad. OR you can choose to forgive the other driver for being human and yourself for being offended and thinking unkind things.

The absolute best way is to forgive. There is no revenge as sweet as to forgive. We judge people due to our pride. I am walking proof. (Closed with testimony)

(A hand was raised with a question: How long did it take till you were all better? ) I was better as I walked out of my first appointment..

(How did Jan know what was needed?) He uses kinesiology, or muscle testing, to determine when in your life you had an issue that needs taken care of. Every time he asked me if I could remember that time in my life, I knew who it was I had to forgive.

(Did you ever feel they were just words?) ____

(Guy Laing stood up and emotionally told about his daughter's experience seeing Jan Graf the first time.)

I have heard a lot about depression lately. I know what that feels like because I went through it with my disability. I'd suggest to start expressing gratitude as the best solution to that black hole starting to open up and pull us down. It seems to have an even higher healing power than forgiveness! That is because if we are grateful for something we had to forgive for, it has tremendous healing power.

(Comment from audience: Isn't that 2 sides of the same coin?) Tamara raised her hand and commented that in her opinion gratitude was even higher, because it took a lot longer to be grateful for the trials she went through with her daughter than it took to forgive them.

(Question from the audience: We have seen some atrocities lately in the world. Do you just say the words of forgiveness when things happen that are so horrible?) I said sometimes you have to say it over and over until hopefully you really mean it. (Audience member added that the song I am a Child of God had its words changed from I must 'know' to I must 'do'.) I added that it goes back to believing we forgive all. Who is the judge of who deserves to be forgiven? Love without a grudge.

(Fred felt prompted to end with an additional story from his mission. He butted heads with his mission president who did not believe in medical treatment and did not allow any sick days even upon doctor's orders. He had plenty of opportunities to forgive with hilly, step ridden Austria and his bad knees and such a mission president. In the end, going home early with a medical release meant he met his wife. So he was able to turn it all around and be grateful. He looked the mission president up and forgave him just before the president passed away. )