Doctrine and Covenants 6:23

Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?

I am particularly fond of this verse because it talks about the mind. sometimes we feel peace in our hearts because it is our feelings that are hurting.

But for me, I have lived with conflicts in my mind and I have struggled to find peace.

I used to say that the problem was that I have an analytical mind. But that is not a problem. it's good to hear information and have a mind that like a computer sorts through that information and tells me when the pieces don't fit together

I have come to realize that I am inspired; that is, I feel the spirit through my intellect. My patriarchal blessing is a great encouragement to me.

• The Lord has blessed you with a good mind and body and it is expected that you will use your faculties and abilities to the furthering of His work.

• You have a desire to help your fellow men in intellectual ways

• I commend you for your studies. . . and pray that our Father in heaven will bless and sustain you in these; that they might be productive, that they might give satisfaction to you, and that you might be an instrument in the hands of our heavenly father in doing much good through these intellectual matters.

• I encourage you in your studies. You will be able to pursue them in a more fruitful and encouraging atmosphere and under more ideal conditions.

• You will excel in your teaching qualities. You Will be an effective teacher and an instrument in the hands of the Lord in bringing a knowledge of the Gospel to many.

• There will be other ways in which you will be able to promote the principles of peace and love which are found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's me. That's how the spirit talks to me. I can jump into reading materials - be it scripture or commentary - and I will be conflicted if the material is not true to my inner knowing that God loves us and is 100% on our side, wanting us to be successful.  To me, that is what the principles and peace and love represent.

I am grateful for Terryl and Fiona Givens whose writings have given me the inspiration to trust and follow my own feelings and to believe that I can have an impact in teaching Gospel truths. And that means that it's okay to call out anything I see as untruth - especially regarding the nature of God and our purpose here on the earth as His children.

It's funny that I used to feel like an oddball for challenging the thinking and ideas of others. It's hard to go against the crowd - especially when that crowd is your "LDS family".  But I'm okay seeing things differently because I know in my heart that I love the Lord and that my search for answers has always come from an honest heart. I love the Gospel as I have come to understand it. I sometimes wish I could have a forum to speak because I have so much to say about this wonderful story of who God is and who we who inhabit this earth truly are.