MORONI SPEAKS IN ETHER - HOW BEGIN THE JOURNEY TO RECEIVE YOUR CALLING AND ELECTION SURE

We just read this in scrips tonight.  There is great power in these words:

   https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/12?lang=eng

37 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.

 38 And now I, Moroni, bid farewell unto the Gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love, until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood.

 39 And then shall ye know that I have seen Jesus, and that he hath talked with me face to face, and that he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things;

 40 And only a few have I written, because of my weakness in writing.

 41 And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen.

 Here is an experience of a contemporary of mine who sought after "the blessing" and obtained a promise - though I do not believe this was the "full monty" of a personal audience of the Savior.  You really have to be an elect to get to this point - and points beyond this in the journey back to Father's presence.  Truly the Celestial Kingdom is a prize of prizes - and it does take effort.  I have many of my "saved by grace" friends who tell me that it is okay and it will just kind of happen.  I point out that just giving something of worth away, cheapens it.  If we were just handed a doctoral degree, it would mean nothing and there would be no learning for having had to fight for it.  Such is salvation - God wants us to want it badly enough that we will put it all on the line and go for it.  Here is this experience by Michelle (I have vetted her - she is quite the gal, and a normal, regular person per my usual interrogation when I run into one of these elect), who is laser focused on her personal journey and mission to share, so that others can be inspired to move forward (as I have, by her).  Also, please note that I have tried to tab individual answers to specific questions by indenting them and double spacing.  The FB thread this was posted on is approaching 300 inputs, so there is much information.  I am doing this as a data dump so later I can mine it once I have more similar stuff to compare it against.  Scripture is not so complete, so it is nice to have the lattice of word filled in with a contemporary experience:

I know that I'm offering unsolicited information - yet I feel compelled so that you all, all like minded individuals, can know that what the Lord took me through is possible, and possible for you too. I never would have dreamed He would do this for me, and yet He has - I am no one special, just a mom and wife trying her best to overcome struggles and become more like Him. I post this in hopes that it helps someone. It is my averageness (is that even a word?) that makes it all the more remarkable, so here it goes...(this was started in another thread, and the topic had been on the sealing up, I think - or had morphed into it)
I can personally testify that the sealing up is occurring now, and happened to me 8 months ago (Sept/Oct 2014) and took me by complete surprise even though it was the sincerest desires of my heart, in the moment I was praying, to live through the tribulations. I reasoned with Him that if 10 years of those awful trials could lead me to exaltation, then I was willing to go through it. If I could get through those 10 years, I would be left with an eternity to be grateful for those trials. (I looked at it as the hottest but shortest road to exaltation. Does that make sense?)
I didn't know he was going to answer that prayer in the exact moment I was praying it, (most prayers don't get answered in the moment so I wasn't expecting it) but when I ended my prayer I was physically changed, I felt physically different, it was literally a physical change. Like I had been touched, as is described in the scriptures, and my body was changed. Or like being set apart for a calling and you literally feel the mantle rest on you. (That's only once happened to me with a calling, and that's the best way I can describe it, but it was still "more" and different than that.)
Honestly, I've been trying to understand it ever since and I keep being led to this answer. The physical change that occurred I know is a physical protection - I will not die, though I still expect there will be pain regardless. I will see the destroying angels all around me yet I will not be harmed. I always thought it was what I wanted, but after it happened I couldn't tell my husband for 3-4 days. I kept thinking, "What just happened? What did I just do? Am I sure I don't want to take it back? Unpray that prayer?"
The next 4 months were not what I expected after that kind of experience. They were surprisingly sad as I felt completely depressed about it, because the reality of it all was sinking in and was hard to bear. Not even close to "exciting" as I'd always felt about it growing up. After a lot of studying about how The Lord protects his people in the last days, and a lot of prayer to take my fear away (which I knew was the influence of the adversary), he took it away. I am at total peace about it and am once again excited to be a part of it all, knowing what the end will bring.
I share this for 2 reasons, and hope you'll be respectful as it is hard to share something so personal: 1. Maybe you too have been sealed up and your mind is going wild like mine did, you're not alone John makes it clear in Revelation that this will be happening to a lot of people before the release of the destroying angels, and 2. I prayed it into my future, and you can too. I appreciate knowing now because it's given me a lot of time to internalize it emotionally, and to mentally prepare. The Lord needs people here on his side, and we can choose this if we want to.
I love associating with you all and getting a glimpse into you're thoughtful and amazing minds. I love the gospel and The Lord and look forward eagerly to his coming in Glory. Most of all I am grateful that He has made it possible for me to make choices like this in my life, that He has given me this amazing liberty and light which allows me the opportunity to return home with Him someday.

  Revelation 7:2-3
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of God in their forheads.

“The angel that John saw, symbolic of all these Eliases, carries the seal of the living God. He has to place this upon the servants of God before the end of the sixth seal, before the time when the destroying angels vent their fury. [[The seal, as mentioned in chapter five, is both a guard against defilement and pollution and a means of security. Both ideas apply here: the seal identifies the Saints as God’s own, and, as its major purpose, it insures their protection against the coming judgments.]] The imagery parallels that in Ezekiel 9:4 where a mark on the forehead protects the righteous from the destruction about to fall on Jerusalem. (The [[****]] marks the part that perfectly describe what happened to me.)

“Joseph Smith taught that the four angels assisted in “sealing the blessing upon their [the Saints’] heads, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making their calling and election sure.”9 Peter expounded the doctrine of calling and election (see 1 Pet. 1:3-5; 2 Pet. 1:1-19), and Paul referred to it on a number of occasions (see Eph. 1:11-14; 4:30; 2 Cor. 1:21-22). The basic idea is that through faith, repentance, and baptism, a person can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. As he responds to its teachings, he becomes purer and develops the attributes of godliness, culminating in Christ-like love. Certain benefits flow out of this. As Nephi said, “Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Ne. 31:20). A person has made his calling and election sure when the promised blessings are sealed to him. Peter admonished the Saints of his day to “give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2 Pet. 1:10). The “these things” he referred to include growing in virtue, testimony, patience, brotherly love, and the pure love of Christ. Those who do these things are assured that they shall have eternal life from which they will never fall. Revelation suggests that this power will function widely before the end of the sixth seal.

"There is another step one can achieve in mortality, but Peter does not focus on this. He does allude to it when he states, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (2 Pet. 1:19). The Doctrine and Covenants states that the term “the more sure word of prophecy means a man’s knowing that he is sealed up unto eternal life, by revelation and the spirit of prophecy, through the power of the Holy Priesthood” (131:5). Thus, a person can receive a revelation that he has attained unto eternal life while in mortality.10 The symbol of the seal as used by John does not necessarily include the more sure word of prophecy. It does include having theHoly Ghost ratify the covenants that one has entered into and the person maintaining a state of justification through faithfulness.”

It has been 2-3 years since I read VoG, but I will share with you that it was because of that book that I uttered that prayer. It was the picture of the last days in the story line that he presents that I went to the Lord and asked to be a part of that specific picture, those specific events. His answering that prayer of mine told me a lot about that book. I do need to reread it though, now that I have had this experience, and see how I fit into the events. All I can say is that I wanted to be a part of it, I wanted to be an unharmed missionary traveling around, I wanted to be one of the 144000 when I prayed that prayer, though I didn’t ask for those things in particular, He knew the things I had in my mind. In my prayer I was begging to be a part of it, and that if it could lead me to exaltation, would he please let me. Because I didn’t pray it audibly, but instead went to the Lord with a picture in my mind figuratively pointing to it and saying "I want to be a part of this!", it’s hard to say what exactly He has in store for me in the future. I think the truth is that I will still have some free agency – if when I get there I WANT to travel around and gather, I think He will allow it. But if my children and husband are still alive and I WANT to be with them, that He will allow that too. I’m just not sure on that part yet. In the prayer I saw myself walking to the New Jerusalem, and wanting to being a part of that, and felt His acceptance of that desire, but as time has gone on I can also see that it may get to that decision and I still may change my mind based on the circumstances. So there is still room for freedom and different choices. Does that make sense? I don't have absolute clarity on this aspect, but it is what rings true to my heart, probably because this was Spencer's vision for his future life, and my life will not be a duplicate of his.

It really started when I was reading Following the Light of Christ into His Presence by Pontius. I was so blown away by everything he was saying, as I slowly read it, that I begged the Lord to help me DO what he was saying, to hear and recognize that still small voice telling me to do "the little things" in my life, and to give me courage to act on it. I probably read the first 2 chapters 7 or 8 times before I went on. And then I finally understood what it means to be one of those who "hear his voice". I put it all to the test, and put it all into practice, and probably one of the most important things I started doing was writing it down. I would: sense a prompting, act or not act on it, realize an outcome, and write it down - the good and the bad. The Lord really became my teacher when I started writing it down. He pulled things from my previous knowledge base and showed me how things fit together in ways I never would have thought about if I wasn't trying to make it all make sense on paper.

I had a year (probably the same year as the stuff above) where I was praying with my whole soul to love my children, to really love them. The suffering endured in my life taught me that it was safer to close my heart, and it was unbearably painful and heavy to have it open even for a few moments, but I learned because I prayed and wanted it desperately. That love for them became more real and beautiful as that year went on, and I discovered I could pray for that love for my husband, and then to everyone around me. There was one week of pure loving bliss, where I literally felt charity for everyone around me. I remember being at Walmart, looking at all the strangers, and I could see lovely, good and pure things in everyone, without a judgmental thought. I wish I could live in that state (something to pray for again); I felt like I got a glimpse into a life without temptation. I also discovered that we judge people out of fear, and if we want to have charity for everyone to pray to have that fear removed from our hearts.

The next step was in learning how to recognize when I had done something to offend the spirit and I couldn't hear his voice anymore. I had an experience where I was being prompted continually through my days as I kept focus on the Savior, and I heard a voice give me a specific prompting, which sadly I ignored or put off until later. I didn't realize how seriously he would take it. I thought I'd get a slap on the wrist and we would be good again. He didn't speak to me with a single prompting for 3-4 weeks! After my mistake, I started doing everything I knew in my power to do - I was being perfectly obedient to any commandment I knew, I was praying with all sincerity of heart, I was repenting constantly verbally and turning from my ways - NOT doing the thing I was in trouble for - kind of repenting. Nothing would bring him back to me. I paid a high price for it. It took fasting for forgiveness after all those weeks of being left on my own for him to speak to me again. It was a good lesson for me to learn. I learned that you are not held responsible in the same way for regular promptings as you are to pure knowledge promptings poured into your mind with specific words.

I wasn't a perfect person, but I was perfectly trying to change my heart to Him. To make Him the focus of my life. To live listening to His voice, and to love His voice above all else. That entire process IS repentance. It is becoming as He is. There is a difference between having something you struggle with, and trying your hardest to overcome it and still failing vs. being okay with even a little sin. It truly doesn't matter to the Lord if you are further along on the "righteous" scale than another (ie. we as members don't smoke/drink/ we go to church etc. vs a neighbor who breaks many commandments but is trying their hardest to overcome with God's help.) So we really can't compare ourselves to others. Everyone in their journey can decide to take this journey and find themselves in the same position I found myself after doing and trying for so long.

I have also learned that spirituality has a short shelf life. That I can't say, "Heavenly Father, I am so busy, I'm going to focus on xyz, and in 3 weeks I'll come back." The climb back up is again from the bottom, full of confusion of how you got there in the first place, thoughts of "why would you even want to?" or "it's SO much work!". You even forget how to do it. (which is where writing it down becomes invaluable.) So the Lord and I are working on me maintaining it now. I have to learn how to keep my eye fixed upon him when life gets almost to busy to handle. It's so much easier to maintain it, than to keep going up and down in the Nephite cycle.

This entire process helped me to lessen the gap between the peaks by a long shot (going from years between these kind of high mountain top views, to weeks between them instead.) But that climb is a rough one, so I'm trying to figure out how to just stay on the top. By trying to realize sooner when I have taken my eye off Him and refocus.

Sincere daily repentance is also a really important lesson I have learned. I've come to see the fog between us pretty clearly (it gets foggy when I take my eye off Him.) Whenever I feel that, I pray for forgiveness, and help in my weaknesses. It has never failed to take the fog away between us.

Prayer is one of the most crucial aspects of everything I have learned. It is critical because He respects our agency so entirely, that merely thinking thoughts is not enough. Take your thoughts and ask yourself, have I prayed about this? Exercise your agency through your prayers, so that he can act in your life.

I gave a lesson in relief society and if you want to understand the process I followed for having my intentional prayers leading me to personal revelation (that voice that shows you "the little things"), this is how I did it. I know that the principles outlined there are true, and have brought me the sweetest blessings I have known.

I love like minded friends, though I would say that knowing me personally, you'd never know I'd been through this - I really am just a regular everyday mom. I have my faults the same as everyone. It has opened my mind to understanding that we truly have no idea what another person has been through. I haven't shared this with many people who know me personally, and don't think any of them (who don't know) if they considered the members of our ward would put me at the top of their list for those they thought could experience it.

I think we all are unfortunately mentally blocked by have a "church hierarchy" idea that these things only happen to those in high callings in the church. The Lord doesn't look on outward appearances, but on the heart. We all need to remember that as we consider each other. You could never really look on someone and know their standing before God. Not a bishop, not a stake president. Those titles truly don't mean anything about their standing before God. Hopefully it does, but you and I will never know. Only God does. Anyway, my take away point is two fold: *you* can have that relationship with God, and have an open heart to your neighbor - it just might surprise you where their hearts stand with God!

I had read Visions of Glory several years ago and here is the process I went through in order to accept it: "wow, this is amazing!! All the little quotes and scriptures I've held in my heart all these years about the last days finally make sense"...to... "there is no way this is true"....(followed by a lot more research into the things that I felt couldn't happen)....finally settling in... "not only is it going to happen, but I think it might actually happen exactly how he describes."

It was in this spirit of pondering on everything said in that book, in addition to the Following the Light of Christ (by John Pontius), and things I'd been reading about Isaiah (by Gileadi) that I went to the Lord in prayer - just one of many I'd been praying that morning.

To explain what motivated that prayer I should first share what was in my heart. A thought entered my heart from a friend, and it wouldn't leave. She was thinking these things of herself, but the impression it burned in me was that she was describing my future. That thought was that the tribulations would start, and I would live through about 1/5th of it, and then I would die and leave the battle. This thought wouldn't leave me, and actually made me quite unsettled. I felt like I'd been prepared for this my whole life - and if not a person like me, then WHO would he need for that end fight? I know that I have it within me to pull down the powers of heaven, and know that I would have enough faith to do the things VOG talked about during the tribulations, so why would I have to leave?

And so, these things causing me great anxiety, led me to continue a constant conversation I'd been having with the Lord that day. My prayer wasn't very long, but it consisted of approaching the Lord in an almost lawyerly fashion, enumerating all the reasons why I wanted to stay:

Here I am on the threshold of the greatest time to be alive, to be a witness and be a participant in the events leading up to His second coming. I've been prepared for this all my life, so why take it from me now? I told him that based on the trials and suffering in my life thus far, I have perfect confidence in Him, and though it was asking to go through hell again, I trust Him to take me to better and better places, refining me in the process. I didn't want to spend an eternity working on what I could accomplish in a short 10 or so years here on earth. If he would let me stay, I could have eternity to be grateful for those earthly years of tribulation. If he didn't need someone like ME here, then who DID he need here? I always felt like it was part of my identity to be a part of the final days, so how could he be taking me out? There couldn't be a better proving ground for progression to exaltation. I begged Him to please let me take that road, saying: I want exaltation more than anything and I can't see a straighter path to exaltation than going through the trials ahead specific to THIS time on THIS earth. If I won't condemn myself, please let me go through these trials so that I can be exalted. And IF it will lead to my exaltation, Heavenly Father, please let me stay."

I was figuratively pointing to VOG and everything else I knew of the last days, saying "Heavenly Father, I want to be a part of this!" I had no idea that he would answer that prayer. In fact, I really had no idea that he COULD answer that prayer. I just wanted it desperately and was pleading my case before Him. During the prayer, I felt the confirming spirit in all that I was saying, but it came on so gradually that I really didn't recognize it for what it was. Though I must have been aware of it to some extent because as soon as I realized I was getting his support and attention, I started asking for other things - I wanted this blessing to be extended to my husband and children. (The spirit gave the opposite feeling of confirmation and after the prayer it didn't take me long to figure out why: if they want it, they will have to ask for it - I couldn't take away their free agency.)

At the conclusion of that prayer, something miraculous happened that I've been trying to wrap my mind around for the past 12 months. As soon as I said "Amen", my body felt different - physically different. Like I had hands placed all over my body, and as soon as I said Amen, their hands came off at the same time. But it was more than that, I could sense that every particle in my body had changed somehow. There aren't words to express how surprising the experience was. I never knew that what He had just done for me was even possible for someone like me - a regular average person - a Child of God, but no one special.

It took me days to even tell my husband what I had done, and what the Lord had done to and for me. It was interesting that also immediately upon saying Amen, I was gripped by the awful reality of what I had just done. The suffering I had just asked to go through was now my future. And my reaction over those few days was, "wait a second, I'm not sure I really want this - I had no idea I could choose my future, and I need some time to really think this through before I decide. Did I really want this? Am I sure I don't want to take it back, unpray that prayer? I am asking to go through Hell. Again but worse. And one of the worst feelings to consider was this: did he really answer my prayer JUST because I asked for it? To me that's not a good enough reason - I only wanted it if HE wanted it for me, if it was SUPPOSED to be my future." I will admit, as reality was sinking in I did want to unpray that prayer, and think it over to really be sure it's what I wanted first. But I never did, I never have prayed to have it taken away from me. Instead I've been searching for understanding.

 Here are the 2 things I knew for sure immediately upon the close of that prayer: 1. The powers of the adversary (as he can have power over others) no longer applied to me - and that his destructive power was limited, and stopped short just around my body about a foot or so as I imagine it in my mind. I belong to God now. With the physical change that occurred, I knew I was sealed His. 2. That I will receive exaltation some day. And thus my calling and election were made sure (this took a long time of pondering on - and asking, Lord how is it done?). I wouldn't have believed it were it not for the words I uttered during that prayer, and that He did in fact answer me.

Serious questions arose out of my studying in the scriptures/good books about my experience. Was I really one of the 144,000? If not, then what was that? And if so, could I really be one, being a female? The temple ordinances make it appear so, and the term God is both female and male. If I am one, then was I translated that day? I didn't think so, I'm still tempted and I still bleed when cut. If not translated, then what kind of changing did I experience that day? What powers have I been endowed with because of it? I believe I am one of the 144,000 John talks about, but how could I lay claim to only part of what he described?

Fast forward almost a year, (two weeks ago), I was fasting just to tell the Lord that I loved him and was willing to accept whatever he wanted to teach me, asking him to guide my thoughts and desires. My husband gave me a blessing that night, and among other things, he first told me that the Lord knew my heart, that I know how to hear His voice, and that He would answer my prayers (no stipulations of obedience, or in His timing, etc.) That made me really focus on what I wanted to pray for. And the next day I had it narrowed down; I wanted to know what happened to me that day I prayed almost a year ago. The next day I followed a prompting that had been on my mind for several days - it led me to starting a discussion with some facebook friends that led me back to Revelation chapter 7. I felt that their interpretation of a section of it was hokey (trying to tie the Palmyra Temple dedication to this chapter), and so I read it again, and within a matter of a few minutes, the spirit interpreted that chapter for me, in answer to my prayer for understanding my experience.

Revelation 7 starts off with holding back the destroying angels until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads (which I think means C&E, or sealing the endowment blessings to you, or the protection of their bodies against the coming trials, or all of those), then you see them in a temple ceremony where it is explained to John who they are - they are those who have gone through tribulation and have made their garments white and clean in the blood of the lamb, who are then given the power of translation. It's so simple, and it's all right there!

I have never heard it explained like this, even as I have been searching for answers over the past year. No scholar on the topic has really understood it (that I've read) and the Lord showed me what it meant, me! It is still so hard for me to believe what I feel God is telling me about myself, and yet in my soul I feel it is true. And more than that, I feel like it explains my life to me - it explains ME to me. It illuminates the reasons for all the suffering I've gone through, and my reaction of absolute resolution to press forward in faith regardless of any peer or family member, without the fear of man, and with full confidence in God.

I sincerely hope that anyone reading this walks away with the message in their heart that this is a road they want to take. That it is truly possible, that a changed heart is their deepest desires.

It really started when I was reading Following the Light of Christ into His Presence by Pontius. I was so blown away by everything he was saying, as I slowly read it, that I begged the Lord to help me DO what he was saying, to hear and recognize that still small voice telling me to do "the little things" in my life, and to give me courage to act on it. I probably read the first 2 chapters 7 or 8 times before I went on. And then I finally understood what it means to be one of those who "hear his voice". I put it all to the test, and put it all into practice, and probably one of the most important things I started doing was writing it down. I would: sense a prompting, act or not act on it, realize an outcome, and write it down - the good and the bad. The Lord really became my teacher when I started writing it down. He pulled things from my previous knowledge base and showed me how things fit together in ways I never would have thought about if I wasn't trying to make it all make sense on paper.

I had a year (probably the same year as the stuff above) where I was praying with my whole soul to love my children, to really love them. The suffering endured in my life taught me that it was safer to close my heart, and it was unbearably painful and heavy to have it open even for a few moments, but I learned because I prayed and wanted it desperately. That love for them became more real and beautiful as that year went on, and I discovered I could pray for that love for my husband, and then to everyone around me. There was one week of pure loving bliss, where I literally felt charity for everyone around me. I remember being at Walmart, looking at all the strangers, and I could see lovely, good and pure things in everyone, without a judgmental thought. I wish I could live in that state (something to pray for again); I felt like I got a glimpse into a life without temptation. I also discovered that we judge people out of fear, and if we want to have charity for everyone to pray to have that fear removed from our hearts.

The next step was in learning how to recognize when I had done something to offend the spirit and I couldn't hear his voice anymore. I had an experience where I was being prompted continually through my days as I kept focus on the Savior, and I heard a voice give me a specific prompting, which sadly I ignored or put off until later. I didn't realize how seriously he would take it. I thought I'd get a slap on the wrist and we would be good again. He didn't speak to me with a single prompting for 3-4 weeks! After my mistake, I started doing everything I knew in my power to do - I was being perfectly obedient to any commandment I knew, I was praying with all sincerity of heart, I was repenting constantly verbally and turning from my ways - NOT doing the thing I was in trouble for - kind of repenting. Nothing would bring him back to me. I paid a high price for it. It took fasting for forgiveness after all those weeks of being left on my own for him to speak to me again. It was a good lesson for me to learn. I learned that you are not held responsible in the same way for regular promptings as you are to pure knowledge promptings poured into your mind with specific words.

I wasn't a perfect person, but I was perfectly trying to change my heart to Him. To make Him the focus of my life. To live listening to His voice, and to love His voice above all else. That entire process IS repentance. It is becoming as He is. There is a difference between having something you struggle with, and trying your hardest to overcome it and still failing vs. being okay with even a little sin. It truly doesn't matter to the Lord if you are further along on the "righteous" scale than another (ie. we as members don't smoke/drink/ we go to church etc. vs a neighbor who breaks many commandments but is trying their hardest to overcome with God's help.) So we really can't compare ourselves to others. Everyone in their journey can decide to take this journey and find themselves in the same position I found myself after doing and trying for so long.

I have also learned that spirituality has a short shelf life. That I can't say, "Heavenly Father, I am so busy, I'm going to focus on xyz, and in 3 weeks I'll come back." The climb back up is again from the bottom, full of confusion of how you got there in the first place, thoughts of "why would you even want to?" or "it's SO much work!". You even forget how to do it. (which is where writing it down becomes invaluable.) So the Lord and I are working on me maintaining it now. I have to learn how to keep my eye fixed upon him when life gets almost to busy to handle. It's so much easier to maintain it, than to keep going up and down in the Nephite cycle.

This entire process helped me to lessen the gap between the peaks by a long shot (going from years between these kind of high mountain top views, to weeks between them instead.) But that climb is a rough one, so I'm trying to figure out how to just stay on the top. By trying to realize sooner when I have taken my eye off Him and refocus.

Sincere daily repentance is also a really important lesson I have learned. I've come to see the fog between us pretty clearly (it gets foggy when I take my eye off Him.) Whenever I feel that, I pray for forgiveness, and help in my weaknesses. It has never failed to take the fog away between us.

Prayer is one of the most crucial aspects of everything I have learned. It is critical because He respects our agency so entirely, that merely thinking thoughts is not enough. Take your thoughts and ask yourself, have I prayed about this? Exercise your agency through your prayers, so that he can act in your life.

I gave a lesson in relief society and posted it in ____ files section called "Intentional Prayer". If you want to understand the process I followed for having my intentional prayers leading me to personal revelation (that voice that shows you "the little things"), this is how I did it. I know that the principles outlined there are true, and have brought me the sweetest blessings I have known.

I will try and add more of her words on the prayer of the righteous, required to get to this point.  Sorry, the SMAs simply do not apply here.  Oh - and for the several commenters who have asked what that is.... Standard Mormon Answers or Primary Answers.... 

Thanks, Michelle - and God bless you on your journey to greatness.  Also - one other thing that I hope I will not get dinged over sharing.  Michelle is experiencing trouble with her voice.  Please pray over her voice box, that it will be returned to its normal function as she rests it and allows the body to do it's natural knitting.  The prayer of the (many) righteous availeth much.