Spiritual Intersection

             
One day I was walking home from the bus stop, and I was at an intersection. The light was red in the direction I needed to go. I was on Facebook on my cell phone, but I was aware of my surroundings. When the light turned green and I got the walk signal, I started walking across the street, but I was still paying attention to my phone. After I had just barely left the curb onto the crosswalk, I saw out of the corner of my eye a car that was headed directly for me. The driver didn't notice me until they were almost right on top of me, but thankfully they hit the brakes fast enough as I jumped expecting a collision. I was heading in the right direction, and I had the right of way, but I wasn't paying attention to what was going on around me. Instead I was focused on my phone. The driver of the car that almost hit me didn't stop at the green light before making the right turn, as they weren't required to stop, but they apparently didn't see me until after they started turning. I didn't do anything wrong, and they didn't do anything wrong, it was just a matter of paying attention to your surroundings before moving.
This can sometimes happen to us on the crosswalks of life. We may be heading in the right direction, and not be doing anything wrong, but we may not be paying attention to what's going on around us. We may be going to church, saying our prayers, reading our scriptures, but we aren't looking to notice the opposition that sometimes subtly crosses into our path. If we're doing all the right things, but we have our focus on something other than what's going on around us and just mindlessly going through the motions in the Church, Satan can slyly stick his foot in the door. He will tell a thousand truths to get you to believe one lie. Along with being a good person, we also need to know what situations we need to avoid, harmless as they may seem, to avoid being "hit by a turning car," or being led into temptation without realizing it. We are taught to avoid the appearance of evil. We need to think about who we hang out with, what groups we're affiliated with, and our overall appearance to other people. If we're aware of our surroundings, we can stay on the right path and we won't be led away by the subtle temptations of the devil. If we keep our attention off of our "cell phones" when we cross the intersections of life, and we pay attention to our surroundings, we can avoid those temptations and stay on the straight and narrow path without getting bumped off.

Spiritual Word Search

             
A word search is made up of many different characters, or letters, that at first glance may seem like they're just in a random order. But when you start looking closely at the letters, you will find a lot of them arranged to form words. These words are arranged in several different ways. Some words you can see just by glancing at the letters, and other words you have to focus on what you're looking for to find. Sometimes you need someone else to point out words to you that you're having trouble finding yourself. The end of some words might be the beginning of other words, and the beginning of some might be the end of others. There are some words that, within the letters that form those words, you'll find the beginning, end, or even the middle of other words. And there are yet other words that seem to be isolated on the sidelines and not connected with any of the other words at all. But no matter how the words in a word search are arranged, if every letter isn't in the exact place they are in, the letters wouldn't come together the way they do, and the word search wouldn't be complete as it is.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is made up of many different characters, or people, as well. At first glance, the Church may look like just a bunch of people doing a bunch of different things that don't seem to have anything to do with each other. But when you look at the duties and responsibilities of each member, and the role they play for the better of the Church as a whole, you will find that they come together to fulfill different goals, or purposes, that come as a result of the individual responsibilities. These responsibilities are designed in several different ways. The purpose of some responsibilities seem clearly obvious. To see the purpose of other responsibilities you have to look closer to understand. And yet other purposes, you're not going to see unless someone else explains it to you.

The letters in the word search represent the individual members of the Church. The words that the arranged letters create represent the duties and responsibilities that are performed by the individual members. The word search itself represents the Church as a whole. Some responsibilities in the Church lead to the beginning or end of others, and some intersect with each other. Others seem to be on the sidelines not playing as big a role as the rest. But just as the letters in the word search, if the members of the Church don't fulfill their individual responsibilities in the callings and positions they hold, the Church as a whole wouldn't come together the way it does, and it couldn't truly contain the fulness of the Gospel.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints contains the fulness of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We each have responsibilities to fulfill, and each responsibility is just as important as another. No matter what position you hold, or what role you play, whether it be a Nursery teacher, Primary teacher, Relief Society or Priesthood leader, Bishop, or even a Deacon's Quorum second counselor, we all play an important role. But we all need to work together in fulfilling our individual responsibilities, as well as helping each other to achieve the end goal of assisting Heavenly Father in fulfilling His work and His glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.