The Best Gift

This week I learned a very powerful lesson about what it really means to depend on the "enabling power of the Atonement".  I had experienced heartache before, but nothing to this extent.  I can't tell you logically how it happened, but I know that as I kept praying and reading my scriptures, and kept believing something good would happen I was healed.  I have never felt more love and gratitude for my life and for those around me, and I know that was because of the power of the Atonement.  The natural woman inside of me would not have the ability to feel these things towards other people at this time in my life, but because I chose to rely on my Savior, and to really turn it all over to Him, He enabled me to change, to live and to love.  It didn't happen all at once, it didn't even happen in a certain event, it happened gradually, over-time I was able to feel and see that power.  I'm so glad for that hindsight and perspective and for the wonderful words of our prophets and counselors that help us get through this crazy journey called life.  I know that as I righteously sustain, and as I strive to continue to find ways to build my future family, I will be able to achieve that dream and that the angels of heaven will help me along the way.

A talk that really helped me that a friend shared with me was called "That We Might Not . . Shrink" by Elder Bednar.  Particularly a passage caught my attention that I would like to share.

From the teachings of Elder Orson F. Whitney, who also served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire” (quoted in Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle)

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Trust in the Lord With All Thine Heart and Lean Not Unto Thine Own Understanding

Trust.  That has been one of the most difficult lessons I have learned this week.  Trusting in God is more important than anything else.  Because at certain times in your life, He is the only person you can trust.  Inevitably everyone will let you down at one point, that's part of being human.  We are all imperfect and are striving to be better, but we make mistakes along the way.  If we want to feel whole, loved and at peace, than we need to trust Him who created us, and loves us more fully than we could every comprehend.  The man who knows us perfectly. I hope I can remember that, and also remember that charity, in all things, especially through trials, makes you happier and closer to God.

www.euroscientist.com

Charity, Truly a Divine Gift

Still in preparation for my Relief Society lesson I am excited to teach this Sunday, and also based off of a project I am working on for my class, I delved into the topic of charity.  Charity is interesting because it is something we constantly have to work on.  The natural man does not possess attributes like charity, because when we come to this phase of our life in this world we must learn to prove ourselves to God by exhibiting these characteristics so we prove to God that we remember and love Him and His children.  Still from Bishop Waddell's talk "A Pattern for Peace" he mentions that, "Peace of mind peace of conscience and peace of heart are not determined by our ability to avoid trials, sorrow, or heartache".  I contrasted that with Moroni 10:32 where it talks about serving God with all of our might, mind and strength, which is also like having peace of mind, conscience and heart. We all will inevitably have heartaches and trials in this life, but how we react to them and what we choose to do with our attitude with them will help determine how well we are developing these Christ-like attributes.  Everything leads and points towards Christ and the more we can learn to recognize that in this life, the happier we will become.

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Learning, Listening and Walking

This week I read a General Conference talk that really hit me, and spoke to my soul.  It is called "A Pattern for Peace" by Bishop W. Christopher Waddell.  I mentioned in my last post about some difficulties I have been having with my plans not going the way I expected and that has caused a lot of discord in my health.  I'm a planner, always have been and always will be.  And I am trying to learn how to be more flexible with my planning, but sometimes it's just hard when you plan on something and it doesn't end up working out.  But more importantly I have learned to trust in the Lord and ask for His plan for me, and what He thinks is best for me instead of what I think is best. This talk really helped remind of that, and help me want to learn better how to turn to my Savior. Bishop Waddell suggests that through every trial and consequence in our lives we should adopt the attitude of learning, listening and walking.  He relates all of these to learning to listen to Christ, and walking in his footsteps.  It was a powerful reminder to me that amidst all of life's trials and heartaches if we can just but learn from our experiences, listen to God and strive with all of our heart to walk in His footsteps, we will learn and grow in ways we never imagined.  God wants what's best for us, and the trials we receive are meant to help us in every capacity along the way.

                                                                                             

Understanding is a Complex Idea

This week I really feel like I have had some challenges come up based on plans I made that didn't work out.  Unfortunately I didn't understand the purpose of why I was planning these things, nor did I understand the full implications of why these plans were so important to me when they didn't come through.  But through turning to the Lord in all of this I have realized that sometimes you have to plan on the unexpected, and be willing to be flexible.  The Lord doesn't work around your plan, you work with His plan, because He knows best.  I flipped open the Book of Mormon and read a part where Abinidi was chastising the evil priests of King Noah saying,

"Ye have not applied your heart to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise"(Mosiah 12:27)

I think part of understanding why we do things is appealing to the Lord and asking for His help in formulating our plans and realizing that we need to apply to the Lord for understanding when things don't work out the way we want them to.

The Connection

Have you ever had that feeling where you just connect to someone's spirit?  Where whatever they are saying you just seem to really relate to and understand?  I have really felt that with a recent deceased apostle by the name of Elder Richard G. Scott.  For some reason I have always related to him on a more intimate level, and his talks are always answers to my prayers in the week I read them.  I know he has blessed so many people's lives, and will continue to bless them in the next.  I especially loved his talk "Making the Right Choices" from the October 1994, ironically a little over a month before I was born, General Conference Session.  In it he talks about how the choices we make here are paramount, and will shape our future in the life to come and to exercise caution.  One of my favorite quotes I pulled was this,

"One of the hardest things for you to recognize is how truly strong you already are and how others silently respect you".  

I doubt my capabilities so often in life, and it is only when I turn to the Lord and have Him as my strength that I realize how much I am doing, and who I am becoming.  I would like to challenge anyone reading this to do the same!  Learn for yourself your worth, and become the person God intended you to be. 

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Recognize the Lord May Be Working With You In A Different Way. . .

This week I would like to talk about a passage of scripture that has really impressed me, ever since I was young.  This scripture is found in Mosiah 24:15 from the Book of Mormon and it says as follows,

And now it came to pass that the burdens which were

laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the

Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their

burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with

patience to all the will of the Lord.

I love this, because I think it illustrates to us the diverse ways in which the Lord works. In this case He did not take away the burdens from Alma and his people, instead He made them light.  I think the Lord works with us in the ways we need to learn.  Alma and his people needed to learn to fully repent, to pay for their acts of rebellion against the Lord.  But interestingly enough, once they did repent, the Lord "tried their patience" (Mosiah 23:21) to see if they really had turned their hearts towards Him.  When He saw that they did, they still remained in bondage for a while, and then the Lord delivered them.  Because their sincere desire was with the Lord, He was able to make their trial easier to bear at the time.  I think more often than not this will happen in our lives.  We have trials that may not ever go away as part of this mortal existence, but the Lord will find ways to make them light if we but turn to Him.  God loves you, more than you can comprehend, and He will work with you in the way He knows you need to grow the most.

               

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The Temple; A Piece of Our Heavenly Home

Something that has really hit me this week is the importance of temples.  And not just going to the temple, although that in itself is commendable, but also what you get out of the temple when you choose to go.  I think part of the reason we stress going to temples so much is because it reminds us of our heavenly home.  The place where all of us were before we came here, still exists on this earth today, but only a piece of it.  And that is in the form of temples.  Not only do I feel renewed because of the sacred covenants I am remembering I have made, but I also feel this sense of belonging and love emanating from the walls, and also on the faces of the people there.  Surely we all knew each other once!  The temple is the one place I feel like I can go where I can see people for who they really are.  Not superficial attitudes, no judgement on fashion or occupations, just people as God sees them. The temple provides that perspective I need in my life to continue going forward without feeling discouraged, but with encouragement to want to do better and be better.  My voice echos Elder David A Bednar's as he says,

"I invite you to begin making the spiritual preparations
so you can receive the blessings available only in the holy
temple. Please cast away the things in your life that stand
in the way. Please seek after the things that are of eternal
consequence" ("Honorably Hold Thy Name in Standing". Ensign. May 2009)

May we all make a more conscious, collected, united effort to go to the temple and remember our heavenly home.

                                                                               www.ldschurchtemples.com

This Week's Compilation

What does it take to reach perfection?  A few words initially pop into my mind: perseverance, faith, humble attitude, but what does it really take?  Well I don't know if there really is a concrete answer to that question.  But what I do know is exhaustion is not a prerequisite to perfection.  Unfortunately, I did not come up with that conclusion on my own.  In an October 1993 Ensign Cindy K. Peterson gave a talk entitled just that.  (you can access the link at the bottom of the page).  She discusses how she thought that unless she was exhausted at the end of each day, she had done something wrong. Somehow perfection translated in her mind as being busy all the time.  When in fact that is not true.  I unfortunately fell for the same trap.  The more accomplishments I felt I did in a day the more successful the day was.  But I had to realize sometimes you can't measure some of the accomplishments you have made, nor do we recognize all of them.  How do you measure the love and time spent with a child, or spouse?  Are the relationships you are building with them helping you become better and a more perfect and whole being?  Yes!  But those are not things easily checked off in a calendar, or on an agenda.  This talk really helped me gain the perspective I needed to remind myself what this life is for, and to really strive to come close to my Savior in differentiating on what is really going to help me become better in the long run.

Link: https://www.lds.org/ensign/1993/10/exhaustion-is-not-a-prerequisite-to-perfection?lang=eng&query=%E2%80%9Cexhaustion+prerequisite+perfection%E2%80%9D

                                                                                    kentuckysportsradio.com

Our Unique Role

Something that has really impressed me lately, is how unique gender is to our identity. We truly are sent down here with different tasks and goals to accomplish in this life. Personality traits and characteristics are always fun to talk about with people, but I believe our true chore characteristics are divine.  We are all children of God, and as such we all have a responsibility to represent Him in our lives on earth.  As I have been thinking about what it will be like to be a mother Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talk really impressed me.  It is called, "The Moral Force of Women" and a particular passage caught my eye stating,

                         "Dear sisters, we rely on the moral force you bring to

                         the world, to marriage, to family, to the Church. We

                         rely on blessings you bring down from heaven by your

                         prayers and faith. We pray for your security, welfare, and

                         happiness and for your influence to be sustained."

Never underestimate the influence you can have on those around you!  Our influence is important! Not to say that men do not have a good influence, more on that later, but as women we can be empowering without being manly.  We are a force of good.  We are His Daughters.  I hope we can all live our lives to bring the blessings of heaven on those around us and righteously sustain and stand by, not behind or in front, but stand by our spouses in our worthy pursuits here on this earth.