While wrapping up work late tonight, I felt a bit grouchy. It was late. I didn’t get as much done today as I expected. I have even more to do tomorrow. Meh.
I wanted something to shift my rising emotion. I felt the thought to go to Family Search and look at Grandma Leona’s pictures.
While I’ve never had that thought before, it didn’t seem too bizarre. She was the grandparent I knew best. She was consistently the person who had mastered her thoughts the most of anyone I knew—then or now.
I looked at pictures of grandma that we’d all uploaded. Leona’s beautiful spirit shone from the images. I love and miss her.
I recognized her handwriting in a document my mom uploaded. Apparently, Grandma had written out the shortest sacrament meeting talk in history, which decades later perfectly hit the spot for her granddaughter who noticed her underlining (which here is italicized) and wondered if grandma was the woman in the example she gave.
Leona Noble’s Take on Mastering Our Thoughts
Charity thinketh no evil.
The scriptures tell us,
For as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.
We are what we think. The Apostle Paul and prophet Mormon taught that charity, “the pure love of Christ,” thinketh no evil.
The scriptures tell us how to distinguish between good and evil thoughts.
Wherefore, all things which are cometh of God; and that which is cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to , and to do that which is evil continually.
We Are the Masters of Our Thoughts
We are the masters of our thoughts. We can prune our gardens. We can cultivate good thoughts and weed out evil thoughts.
Our thoughts and minds need spiritual food.
We can cultivate righteous thoughts by keeping in mind our purpose here on Earth. If we forget that purpose, we might fall prey to immoral thoughts, worries, fears, self-pity, and negative thoughts.
One woman began thinking about clothes and new furniture she couldn’t afford. She became
discouraged when she compared her life to others.
She decided she could learn to control her thoughts. She learned to think about the kind of person she wanted to become. She studied the scriptures and tried to pattern her life after His example. She found that her testimony and family were more precious to her.
The scriptures guide us by saying that
whatsoever things are , whatsoever things are , whatsoever things are , whatsoever things are , whatsoever things are , things are of good report; if there be any , and if there be any praise, on these things.
If we fill our minds so full of good thoughts, there will be no room for the bad.
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