Complaining like worry, like regret,
like the little knob on the side of the toaster that says it will make your toast darker-does nothing.
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Friday, August 24, 2012
ONE by ONE how the Lord reaches and teaches us
By Hilary Weeks
Two summers ago I went on Trek with our ward. I wasn’t overly excited to go. It’s not that I wasn’t interested in the pioneers or didn’t want to see those sacred locations – it’s just that I had been through some rough months and my mind was focused on survival.
My personal preparation for Trek was…essentially non-existent.
As a result, my experience at Martin’s Cove was…not what it could have been.
I have wanted a re-do ever since.
Earlier this summer my three youngest daughters came to me with their finest “puppy dog” faces. They had an idea.
Our family should go to the American Girl Doll store in Denver! I agreed - that was a good idea!
This was my chance for a do-over! I suggested we stop in Martin’s Cove on our way there. Knowing the value of preparing for a spiritual experience, we decided to read and learn about the Martin Handcart Company. As a family we discussed the pioneers and what they went through. We prayed as a family that we would have a testimony building experience while there. The Sunday before our adventure we fasted as a family. Tim and I visited the temple the day before we left.
We felt prepared.
…and we were richly blessed.
Each of us – even the seven year old – learned and felt something while we were there. On the drive home (a couple of days later) we talked about what we had experienced and I was shocked at how many things we had learned…everyone of us was taught something different. I love how the Lord reaches and teaches us ONE by ONE. Each heavenly lessons is individual-specific. We counted 17 different things that we learned!
SE-VEN-TEEEEEN!
That is amazing to me.
Here’s our list:
1. What we have to give is enough
2. Each person makes a difference
3. We are stronger together
4. Preparation matters
5. Be a leader
6. Choose to contribute
7. Encourage each other
8. Lend a hand
9. Don’t complain
10. Be grateful for Priesthood power
11. Put the past behind
12. Lighten the handcart
13. We are each special
14. We can do hard things
15. Ask
16. Walk the extra mile
17. Leave worries on the other side of the river
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Let the Savior be your lead
Do not “solo” in life. You will almost certainly fall.....
Let the Savior be your “lead” in life. He has said, “I am … the Rock of Heaven … ; whoso cometh in at the gate and climbeth up by me shall never fall.” The Redeemer will safely lead you over the most difficult obstacles of life. His laws are absolutely secure anchors of protection that dispel fear and assure success in an otherwise dangerous world. Such a life will certainly provide you peace and happiness.
Richard G. Scott
We reach toward the unknown, but faith lights the way.
If we will cultivate that faith, we shall never walk in darkness.
God will open the way.
When there is no way, He will open the way.
“In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e, time.
Taking time for each other is the key for harmony at home.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
"Yes, there will be moments of beginnings and moments of endings throughout our lives, but these are only markers along the way of the great middle of our eternal lives... Being always in the middle means that the game is never over, hope is never lost, defeat is never final. For no matter where we are or what our circumstances, an eternity of beginnings and an eternity of endings stretch out before us."
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
“Wherever you now find yourself on the road of discipleship, you are on the right road, the road toward eternal life. Together we can lift and strengthen one another in the great and important days ahead. Whatever the difficulties confronting us, the weaknesses confining us, or the impossibilities surrounding us, let us have faith in the Son of God, who declared, ‘All things are possible to him that believeth.’”
Neil L. Andersen
“Experience has taught me that if we, like President Monson, exercise our faith and look to God for help, we will not be overwhelmed with the burdens of life. We will not feel incapable of doing what we are called to do or need to do. We will be strengthened, and our lives will be filled with peace and joy. We will come to realize that most of what we worry about is not of eternal significance and if it is, the Lord will help us. But we must have the faith to look up and the courage to follow His direction.”
Carl B. Cook
“Difficult days are ahead. Sin is on the increase. Paul foresaw that members of the Church would endure persecution, Peter counseled, ‘If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf’. As Jesus descended below all things in order to rise above all things, He expects us to follow His example. Yoked with Him, each of us can rise above all of our challenges, no matter how difficult they may be.”
Russell M. Nelson
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
"voice" of the Lord
"…Between the poles of sin and adversity, lie such intermediate points as unwise choices and hasty judgments. In these cases, it may be unclear just how much personal fault we bear for the bitter fruits we may taste or cause others to taste. Bitterness may taste the same, whatever its source, and it can destroy our peace, break our hearts, and separate us from God. Could it be that the great ‘at-one-ment’ of Christ could put back together the broken parts and give beauty to the ashes of experience such as this? I believe that it does, because tasting the bitter in all its forms is a deliberate part of the great plan of life. This consequence of the Fall was not just a terrible mistake; rather, it gives mortality its profound meaning:
‘They taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good’
"What we know is not always reflected in what we do."
“To miss the misery is to miss the joy.
And to miss the joy is to miss it all."
Bruce C. Hafen
"Righteousness is simply a humble understanding of how unrighteous
one is coupled with a deep commitment to become better."
"The gospel of the Savior is not simply about avoiding bad in our lives; it also is essentially about doing and becoming good. And the Atonement provides help for us to overcome and avoid bad and to do and become good. Help from the Savior is available for the entire journey of mortality
from bad to good to better and to change our very nature."
"God uses no magic wand to simply wave bad things into nonexistence. The sins that he remits, he remits by making them his own and suffering them. The pain and heartaches that he relieves, he relieves by suffering them himself. These things can be shared and absorbed, but they cannot be simply wished or waved away.
They must be suffered."
"The deep hurt is the mirror image of the deep joy that still awaits you."
"The scriptures are like a written “recording” of the “voice” of the Lord a voice we feel in our hearts more than we hear with our ears. As we study the written word of God, we learn to hear His voice in the words we read. As we return repeatedly to the holy scriptures, we gain experience and confidence in hearing and feeling His voice.
"Being Mistreated is the most important condition of mortality,
for eternity itself depends on how we view those who mistreat us."
"It frankly does not make sense to occasionally 'fill up' with water, with long periods of dehydration in between. The same thing is true spiritually. Spiritual thirst is a need for living water. A constant flow of living water is far superior to sporadic sipping."
"In the long run, our most deeply held desires will govern our choices, one by one and day by day, until our lives finally add up to what we have really wanted most--for good or otherwise. We can indeed have eternal life, if we really want it, but only if there is nothing else we want more."
"The miracle of the Atonement is not just that we can go home but that miraculously we can feel at home there. If Christ did not require faith and repentance, then there would be no desire to change. Think of your friends and family members who have chosen to live without faith and without repentance. They don’t want to change. They are not trying to abandon sin and become comfortable with God. Rather, they are trying to abandon God and become comfortable with sin. If Jesus did not require covenants and bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost, then there would be no way to change. We would be left forever with only willpower, with no access to His power. If Jesus did not require endurance to the end, then there would be no internalization of those changes over time. They would forever be surface and cosmetic rather than sinking inside us and becoming part of us part of who we are."
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Truth lived in faith
"Don't judge yourself by what you understand of your potential.
Trust in the Lord and what He can do with your dedicated heart and willing mind."
"Do not allow yourselves to be made to feel inadequate or frustrated because you cannot do everything others seem to be accomplishing. Only you and your Father in Heaven know your needs, strengths, and desires. Around this knowledge your personal course must be charted and your chioces made."
Marvin. J. Ashton
"In this age of one hour dry cleaning and one minute fast food franchises, it may at times seem to us as though a loving Heavenly Father has misplaced our precious promises or He has put them on hold or filed them under the wrong name. . . ."When heaven's promises sometimes seem afar off, I pray that each of us will embrace these exceeding great and precious promises and never let go. . . .
God will remember you."
One of President Lee's favorite sayings was:
"It's all right to pull the cow out of the mud on Sunday,
provided that you don't push him in on Saturday night."
"Just as the lame man at the pool of Bethesda needed someone stronger than himself to be healed, so we are dependent on the miracles of Christ's atonement if our souls are to be made whole from grief, sorrow, and sin".
Merrill J. Bateman
"The Prince of Peace was sent to "bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound"
(Isaiah 61:1).
The Lord Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ, is the Great Physician,
the One sent of the Father to heal our wounds, to dry our tears, to settle our souls."
Robert L. Millet
"The only person you should try to be better than,
is the person you were yesterday."
"Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion;
for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God".
(D&C 101:16)
"Our lives become extremely busy. We run from one thing to another.
We wear ourselves out in thoughtless pursuit of goals which are largely ephemeral.
We are entitled to spend some time with ourselves in introspection,
in development, in thinking, meditating, pondering things."
~ President Gordon B Hinckley ~
"..Those who have chosen to 'come unto Christ' soon realize that they do not 'own' themselves. Instead, they belong to Him. We are to become consecrated along with our gifts, our appointed days, and our very selves. Hence, there is a stark difference between stubbornly "owning" oneself and submissively belonging to God."
Neal A. Maxwell
"Some people pray cream and live skimmed milk"
I solemnly testify that God our Father lives, that His plan is perfect. I bear testimony that as you raise your voice in prayer, those prayers are heard. They are best answered when offered from a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I know that someday I will be judged for how well I testify of my certain knowledge of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I solemnly witness that because of His Atonement, our Father's plan of happiness will succeed. Satan's plan is doomed to failure. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I solemnly witness with every capacity I possess that He lives and that He loves you. Through your obedience He will help you find happiness.
Richard G. Scott
"You're going to have some dark moments. We all do. But when they come, I hope you will remember to let the sunshine into your life. Don't be hard on yourself, and don't let other people be hard on you either. Give yourself credit for the good things you do. If you make a mistake, give yourself credit for trying...if you do only half of what you wanted to do, or do it only half as well as you would have liked, pat yourself on half your back.
But lighten up!
Be lighthearted enough that you can float above the dark clouds and see the rainbows in your life.
The gospel brings a whole rainbow of light into our lives".
Chieko N Okazaki
"Trust In The Lord"
". . . we may in our anguish feel that we could bear anything if we could only understand the divine purpose in what is happening . . . the righteous live by faith and that faith is not an easy solution to life's problems. Faith is confidence and trust in the character and purposes of God . . . .
Our religion is 'not weight, it is wings.' It can carry us through the dark times, the bitter cup. It will be with us in the fiery furnace and the deep pit. It will accompany us to the hospital room and to the place of bereavement. It can guarantee us the presence of a Captain on the rough voyage. It is, in short, not the path to easy disposition of problems, but the comforting assurance of the eternal light, by which we may see, and the eternal warmth, which we may feel. 'The Lord is good; Blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
Marion D. Hanks
There will always be a need for you to walk to the edge of the light of your knowledge and testimony into the twilight of faith. You will be asked to exercise faith in truths you have not yet come to prove through your own experience or through the sacred witness of the Holy Ghost.
Exercise faith in Jesus Christ and in His infinite capacity to bless. Faith leads one to action, to achieve goals even when there is little visible evidence to give hope of success. Faith is abiding trust in truth. Therefore it is a source of power to know simple yet profoundly important truths and to have the faith to live them. Enduring happiness is rooted in unchangeable truth lived in faith.
Richard G. Scott
"In your pursuit of excellence, real effort is required. Remember, 'he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully' (2 Corinthians 9:6)."
Thomas S. Monson
"No service, No Christ.
Know Service, Know Christ."
Unknown
"Since 'God is love' (1 John 4:8), the closer we approach Him, the more profoundly we experience love. But because a veil separates this mortality from our heavenly home, we must seek in the Spirit that which is imperceptible to mortal eyes."Heaven may seem distant at times, but the scriptures offer hope: 'Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart' (Jeremiah 29:13)."
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"Should you become discouraged or feel burdened down,
remember that others have passed this same way;
they have endured and then have achieved.
When we have done all that we are able to do,
we can then rely on God's promised help."
"Wonderful, glorious things are in store for you,
if only you will believe, obey and endure."
~Thomas S. Monson~
Do something today that your future self will thank you for.
Before you were conceived,
We wanted you.
Before you were born,
We loved you.
Before you were here an hour,
We would die for you.
This is the miracle of love.
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