I don't always get around to blogging the same days, every other day or even a certain number of times a week.  Life has some busier days than others.  Right now, I should be downstairs, peeling potatoes so that I can mash them and get the rest of dinner ready.  In two hours I will be at an Eagle Court of Honor for one of the boys in our troop, who rather than waiting to have his court of honor with a few of the other boys, is having it early so that his brother, who is being deployed to Iraq shortly, can attend with his family.  Immediately after that, Tom and the new Eagle are rushing off to sing in our Stake's Christmas choral program, which our family will be attending.  By the time we get home from that, it will be busy again and I don't want to want to miss a Scripture Sunday.  So this will be brief, but the plain and simple truths of the gospel do not need a great deal of expounding upon.  Fortunately for me, my Gospel Doctrine's class is full of great scriptures, right from our lessons!

Our course of study this year is the Doctrine and Covenants.  I am always aware of the adversary and his plan to make us miserable, even as he is.  The counsel to Joseph Smith, as it is to us, is found in Section 10:

5  Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.

I need that reminder as well…to pray always.  I have heard in hundreds of times, but if I do not heed the warning, I am foolish indeed.  The battle is real – so is the enemy.  But so is the promise of guidance from the one source that will not let us down - our Heavenly Father. He wants us to succeed, to find joy.  What a wonderful blessing it is to know that He loves us and wants us to be happy.  But even more, that He has provided a way that we might accomplish this and a Savior that can make it a reality!