Fasting & Prayer

"Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and prayer. And inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances, not with much laughter, for this is sin, but with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance - Verily I say, that inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours.." D & C 59:14-16

Rejoicing and prayer with thanksgiving and a cheerful heart. The truth is if I thought of all the activities I do with thanksgiving and a cheerful heart, fasting is probably not on the list very often. I regularly find that I am distracted by my family and their moans and groans. Recently fasting seems like something I have to do, more of a duty or item on a checklist, than a blessing.

I have had fasting experiences of deep desire to receive a blessing. My fast differed in those instances for multiple reasons. Usually my fast was not a pre-planned scheduled event, but a desperate need on my part to receive comfort, guidance or some other blessing for me or my family. In this state of being my fasting would usually be coupled with temple attendance. Now the element of temple attendance changes everything for me. I do feel the thanksgiving and a glad heart as I attend the temple. The world and its distractions are left at the doors and a true perspective is revealed within. I enter and leave with a cheerful heart knowing that revelation and blessings are gifts given to those who enter to serve. So the question is ... how do I have a similar experience on Fast Sunday?