Week 6: day 7 (May 22)

We are half way through the challenge!!!! HALLELUJAH! Great job for making it this far... and you CAN make it all the way! Hang on tight! It's going to be much harder for some once school gets out, we head out on vacations and our lives lose a little of their structure and discipline, but I am looking forward to restructuring my day around the challenge and make this the best summer EVER!

The weekly challenge for next week is to eat your VEGGIES! You will be getting some inspiration soon about why you want to eat 4 servings every day! So keep your eyes open for that. I personally have a huge testimony of how good my body feels when I follow my mom's age-old advice to "eat your veggies" and I hope we can stretch ourselves this week and try new things!

Now for our SURPRISE... we have a new member of our group, who happens to be an apprentice of life coach and motivational speaker, Steve Chandler (who I quoted in last week's email). Steve's words have profoundly affected Andrew McKee's life, helping him discover new ways of seeing the world, overcoming his struggles. Andrew teaches these things to others and has offered to teach us (for free of course) at a party for our group!!! Date and location coming soon! I am so excited!!! Andrew is awesome!

The MYSTERY CHALLENGE for this week is to MEDITATE! My hope is that you will take at least a few minutes each day (preferrably right after your morning prayer) to sit in a quiet, peaceful place and just be. Listen to your breath go in and out and enjoy not worrying about the future or the past, and see if there is anything your Father in Heaven wants to teach you through the Spirit. This is such an important part of the gospel that David O. McKay talked a lot about it and in the "Teachings of the Presidents of the Church" he talks about meditation as being one of the FOUR ELEMENTS of WORSHIP. Do you see it this way? Our stake president has asked us to spend "half the length of every personal prayer in silent reflection and meditation." I have tried to implement this more lately and have really enjoyed this quiet, peaceful time and the closeness to the Spirit it brings. (give yourself 3 points this week if you really make an effort to commune with God this way)

Here is a quote from the lesson- PLEASE READ!

Meditation leads to spiritual communion with God through the Holy Spirit.

We pay too little attention to the value of meditation, a principle of devotion. In our worship there are two elements: One is spiritual communion arising from our own meditation; the other, instruction from others, particularly from those who have authority to guide and instruct us. Of the two, the more profitable introspectively is the meditation. Meditation is the language of the soul. It is defined as “a form of private devotion, or spiritual exercise, consisting in deep, continued reflection on some religious theme.” Meditation is a form of prayer. …

Meditation is one of the most secret, most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord. Jesus set the example for us. As soon as he was baptized and received the Father’s approval, “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” [Matthew 3:17] Jesus [went] to what is now known as the mount of temptation. I like to think of it as the mount of meditation where, during the forty days of fasting, he communed with himself and his Father, and contemplated upon the responsibility of his great mission. One result of this spiritual communion was such strength as enabled him to say to the tempter:

“… Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Matt. 4:10.)

Before he gave … the beautiful sermon on the mount, he was in solitude, in communion. He did the same thing after that busy Sabbath day, when he arose early in the morning, after having been the guest of Peter. Peter undoubtedly found the guest chamber empty, and when they sought [Jesus] they found him alone. It was on that morning that Peter said:

“… All men seek for thee.” (Mark 1:37.)

Again, after Jesus had fed the five thousand he told the Twelve to dismiss the multitude, but Jesus went to the mountain for solitude. The historian says, “when the evening was come, he was there alone.” (Matt. 14:23.) Meditation! Prayer! ¹¹

Let us make God the center of our lives. … To have communion with God, through his Holy Spirit, is one of the noblest aspirations of life. It is when the peace and love of God have entered the soul, when serving him becomes the motivating factor in one’s life and existence. ¹²

Week 5: Day 7

Fitness fanatics!

How are all of you doing this week? I think you are all amazing!!!!

Only one more week until we are half-way done with the challenge!!! I hope that when we are done, some of you are inspired to run this challenge for your friends, just like I have for all of us. If you are, we will have a meeting where I can teach you how to do the google doc's etc. Let me know if you might be interested in that. It'd be fun to keep this going!!

This week's mystery challenge is in the survey. The weekly challenge is to write in a journal EVERY DAY! It doesn't have to be a novel, it can just be a journal where you write about insights that you had that day from things you experienced, learned, or felt. Hopefully with increased prayer and scripture study, you are feeling more inspiration and learning lots. You need to WRITE IT DOWN so you don't forget, so your family can learn from you and so you can learn more! (more on journaling later).

I hope you are all striving to get your own personal best each week. Although we send out a list of where our points rank- the most important thing is that you keep trying to improve yourself each week! Like Dwayne said to me "Points matter, rank doesn't." Heaven isn't graded on a curve, we are all allowed in if we do the best we can with what we are given. 

One more thought. I have been reading a cool book by Steve Chandler called "The Story of You." He is a great motivator and teacher and talks a lot about how much of our life is dependent on our perspective of things and how we tell ourselves stories. My story used to be, "I just don't have the energy to work-out like I used to." And now, thanks to the challenge and all of you my new story is "Exercise is an important part of my day and I love to workout almost every morning!" Maybe you are holding yourself back because you are "a procrastinator" or "Just not a scriptorian" or "Too busy" or "Don't have willpower." Those are just stories that you are telling yourself, but you can write a new story whenever you want. You have incredible power and opportunities awaiting you when you see things this way. When trying to solve a problem, or overcome a weakness, Steve says...

"Bring all you've got to it as fast and as forcefully as you can to MASSIVELY OVERWHELM the problem, as though KILLING AN ANT WITH A SLEDGEHAMMER!"

I hope this helps. There are enough hours in the day to get these things done, and you do have the power to resist temptation. You just have to decide to reinvent yourself and then become the new person who does those things you want to do. The only question is, "How bad do you want it?"

Week 4 charts!

Gotta love these charts! 


I hope the forgiveness is flowing this week and your abs are burning! Hopefully some of the challenges that used to be difficult for you to either do, or remember to do, have become habits now!

MYSTERY CHALLENGE: Forgive someone (or yourself). Worth 3 points.
	YES! Holding grudges only hurts me and I'm ready to let go! 57 22% No, I like the pain. 0 0%

Did you feel the effects of added fiber in your diet this week?
	Yes, I felt like my insides were scrubbed clean! 18 7% Somewhat. It helped a little but I didn't eat as much fiber as I should have. 21 8% No, I ate lots of fiber but didn't notice a difference. 13 5% No, I didn't eat any extra fiber 5 2%

Which daily challenge was the most difficult for you this week?
	Twice daily personal prayer 2 1% Daily personal scripture study 3 1% Not eating after 7:30 7 3% Exercise 15 6% No desserts 15 6% No Soda (or other personal nemesis) 9 3% Eating recommended amt. of fiber 6 2%

Are you going to incorperate last week's challenge (eat more fiber) into your daily routine now?
	Absolutely! I love eating nuts and twigs! 20 8% Somewhat, I will eat more fruits and veggies 35 13% No. I love it when my intestines get all blocked up 1 0% No. I hate fiber with a passion! 1 0%

Are you getting better at things that used to be hard for you?
	YES! I am conquering my demons :) 19 7% Sorta- I am stronger but fall back into bad habits sometimes 36 14% NO!!! Grrrrrrrr! 2 1%

Rate yourself between 1 and 5 on how much you pushed yourself this week.
	1- I didn't try at all 2 1% 2- I tried a little but can do much better 17 7% 3- I put a decent amount of effort into it 15 6% 4- I wasn't perfect but worked hard 19 7% 5- I gave it all I had this week! 4 2%

Did you try harder this week than last week?
	Yes 22 8% No 16 6% Same 19 7%