Keeping Thoughts Clean

(This article was inspired by a talk given by Boyd K. Packer)

In this day and age, many people find it really difficult to keep their thoughts clean.  Our thoughts are like water, the seek the path of least resistance, which could be in the lowest levels.  One of the most difficult challenges that man will have to face is to keep their thoughts clean.   If we don't keep our thoughts clean, and let our thoughts roam in our minds, it could affect our actions and speech.  There is a way to keep your thoughts clean, and to focus on more uplifting things.  That is to listen to clean music.
Music has one of the most powerful influences on our brain.  It causes our feet to tap to the beat, sometimes without us realizing it, it can influence our emotions, and it can even give us energy.   We must be careful though in the music that we listen to.  If we listen to music with lots of cursing and swearing, it can cause us to curse and swear as well.  In fact, there was a story about a young adult who loved listening to a heavy metal song that talks about someone shoplifting and getting away with it.  A few months down the road, he was arrested for... guess what... shoplifting.   To add to that, he was listening to the song while he was shoplifting.
So remember this, avoid music that disrupts or drives away the spirit, and when you feel like an unclean thought comes to your head, sing in your mind or even hum a favorite hymn.

History of Mormonism: Eliza R. Snow

Eliza R. Snow was an important figure in the History of Mormonism. She was born on January 21st, 1804, in Beckett Massachusetts. When she was two, her family moved to Ohio.
Eliza lived with a large family, and the parents saw that each of their children got a good education. Eliza worked as secretary for her father in his office as justice of the peace. Her brother, Lorenzo Snow, received education at Oberlin College.
Eliza's Parents, who were baptists, welcomed people of all religious sects. When Joseph and Emma Smith arrived in Hiram Ohio, just four miles from the Snow Farm in 1831, word traveled quickly to the Snows about Joseph and the Book of Mormon. The Snows quickly became interested and soon, Eliza's sister and mother was baptized into the Church. In 1835, Eliza was baptized into the Church as well.
Eliza became a huge help for the Church. She was a member of the Relief Society, and was a poet and hymn writer, writing many hymns that are still in use today.
After Emma died, Eliza was sustained as president of the Relief Society. She traveled around Utah Territory, talking to other female members (sisters) to become self-sufficient. She and many sisters trained nurses, over looked construction of stores, granaries, manufacture silk, and construct a hospital.
Eliza earned herself the nickname, the "Prophetess." She died on December 5th, 1887. By 1888, there were more than 22,000 members of the Relief Society in over 400 wards and branches.