ring out wild bells

Ring out the old, ring in the new,

Ring, happy bells, across the snow:

The year is going, let him go;

Ring out the false, ring in the true.

About a month ago I attended a fireside at the Tempe Institute of Religion that showcased different choirs and soloists singing and playing Christmas music. It was a blessing for me at the time because I was having a really hard time getting into the "Christmas Spirit" and I felt like this was the little nudge I needed.

One of the songs that was played on the organ was "Ring Out Wild Bells." I've seen it in our hymnal but I personally have never sung it. The narrator told the story that it is a poem written by Alfred Lord Tennyson and later set to music by a soldier in a war (whether this is true, I do not know). The song, especially played on the organ, has a really haunting melody. We sang it in church last Sunday and Terry told me it sounded like something from a scary movie.

I went back and looked at the words to the poem/hymn again and loved them. I especially loved the verse that I posted (for the whole poem, click here). The first of the year is always a time of reflection for me. I think about the old, and I welcome the new. I think about the things I have done, and the things I want to do. I think about the things that I have accomplished and the things that I have yet to do. Now this usually all sounds great and wonderful for the first week or two, and then dies out sometime in early February.

I've really given thought to this and want to give an earnest try to keeping some goals. To help me on my quest, I've decided to set some goals within the boundaries of the format for "Pursuit in Excellence" from our church. Each day I will post my different goals for each of the areas (spiritual, intellectual, physical, service and character).

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Spiritual --

1. Read the Book of Mormon and The New Testament, in their entirety by July 22 (my birthday)

2. Attend the temple once a month

3. Magnify my calling

4. Write in my journal at least once a month

5. Try to gain something from each Sunday's lessons

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Now a goal will never be accomplished if there isn't a plan in place. So here are my plans:

Reading the scriptures is often hard for me. I didn't grow up in a family where scripture reading was done, ever. So now that I'm independent and thriving on my own, it's hard for me to have the discipline to do it. For a while last year I tried to get up early in the morning to read, but that was completely unsuccessful. So I'm left to reading at night. Which always runs the risk of falling asleep. BUT, I'm going to do it.

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Since we live so close to the Mesa Temple, it's become increasingly easier to make it to the temple once a month. Kristie, Nanette and I try to go together on a Saturday. (It was cute, we were sort of scrambling to go in December right before I left to go home, but they were the ones really pushing to go.) I enjoy going to the temple (some don't) and I can see how going blesses my life.

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In the church we talk a lot about "magnifying our callings." Since, as a church, we don't have any paid clergy, the members are the ones doing all the leg work. I love this because it gives me the opportunity to serve in so many capacities, to interact with different people whom I might not otherwise, and gain a deeper love for the Gospel. I don't have a calling yet (which is kind of weird for me) because we're relatively new to the branch we're attending, and they haven't given me one quite yet (and I think they keep forgetting about me). When I do get a calling, and I want to be able to put all the time and effort it deserves, and then more.

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Since I've started blogging, I've sort of felt like I don't have to journal anymore, which is NOT ok. There are still some really personal experiences that I need to get down on paper, and I haven't been. I find that if I don't write something down as it's happening, when I do go later to write about it, the entry comes out trite and cliched. To write in my journal once a month is not a difficult task, so I'm not sure why I'm not doing it (for more on journal writing, check out this talk from October's General Conference).

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When I first moved to Phoenix and was attending church on my own, to help make myself feel like less of a loser for sitting by myself, I decided to put up the facade of being a Spiritual Giant, and I would write in a notebook things that came to my mind. Little did I know, that I've developed a great habit (I'm sad to report that since I've been attending church with my roommates, it's becomes harder, since one roommate wants to talk all through church). I often look at the congregation during church meetings and see blank stares and emptiness. By writing things down that come to my mind, or scriptures I want to go back and read, it's helped me to learn more and grow just by sitting in church! My goal is to take notes each and every Sunday. Then I really will be a Spiritual Giant!

More to come in the following days on other goals I have. May 2008 be as great as 2007 (and perhaps even better).

**what do you think of new years resolutions?**

**is it easier to call them "goals?"**

**which are the hardest to keep?**

**easiest?**