Miracle of miracles and wonder of wonders

 

 

 

“Prayer is the preparation for miracles.”

 

H. Burke Peterson

 

“Prayer is the instrument of miracles”

 

Marion G. Romney

 

 

“Some miracles affect many people. The ultimate such miracle is the Atonement of Jesus Christ-His triumph over physical and spiritual death for all mankind. No miracle is more far-reaching or more magnificent. Other far-reaching miracles-impossible to explain by rational means-occur as a result of obedience to the commandments of God.”

 

Dallin H. Oaks

 

 

“Miracle of miracles and wonder of wonders, They are interested in us, and we are the substance of Their great concern. They are available to each of us. We approach the Father through the Son. He is our intercessor at the throne of God. How marvelous it is that we may so speak to the Father in the name of the Son.”

 

Gordon B. Hinckley

 

 

“Someone has said, “My, oh my, what miracles we could accomplish if our hands moved as fast as our tongues.” He said, “After all is said and done, there is usually a lot more said than done.”

 

Sterling W. Sill

 

 

“They who doubt the possibility of miracles are indeed without the power to perform them

…Miracles are the fruits of faith.”

 

Orson F. Whitney April 1925 General Conference

 

 

“…The Lord works miracles in response to the faith of His children…He loves and blesses all of His children. In an airport one day I picked up a copy of the Dallas Morning News. My eyes were drawn to a columnist’s report of a letter detailing a remarkable miracle. The writer’s five-year-old granddaughter, Heather, suddenly became feverish and lethargic. She breathed with difficulty, and her lips turned blue. By the time she arrived at the hospital, her kidneys and lungs had shut down, her fever was 107 degrees, and her body was bright red and covered with purple lesions. The doctors said she was dying of toxic shock syndrome, cause unknown. As word spread to family and friends, God-fearing people from Florida to California began praying for little Heather. At the grandfather’s request, a special prayer service was held in their Church of Christ congregation in Waco, Texas. Miraculously, Heather suddenly came back from the brink of death and was released from the hospital in a little over a week. The columnist concluded that Heather ís living proof that God does answer prayers and work miracles.’”

 

Dallin H. Oaks

 

 

“We carry in our hearts a firm and unshakable conviction of the divine mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was the great Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Creator who, under the direction of His Father, made all things, “and without him was not anything made that was made”. He was the promised Messiah, who came with healing in His wings. He was the worker of miracles, the great healer, the resurrection and the life. His is the only name under heaven whereby we must be saved.”

 

Gordon B. Hinckley

 

 

When the Lord said, “Lengthen your stride, quicken your pace, heighten your reach, widen your vision, and stretch your capacity,” he was in reality saying “expect a miracle,” for these are the stuff from which miracles are made.

 

Hartman Rector, Jr.

“Let us all make this year’s Christmas season a time of rejoicing and celebration, a time when we acknowledge the miracle that our Almighty God sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem the world!”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 

caramel milky way brownies

 

 

caramel milky way brownies

 

Ingredients

Caramel Milky Way - mini sized 36
3 cup2 Sugar
1 1/2 cup Flour
1 cup Cocoa Powder
3/4 tsp. Baking Powder
6 Eggs
1 1/2 cup Oil
3/4 tsp. Salt
6 tsp. Vanilla Extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray or line a 13x9 baking pan.
Combine the Sugar, Flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Powder and Salt in a medium bowl.
Add in the Eggs, Oil and Vanilla Extract until well-incorporated.
Pour half the batter into the pan. Layer with Caramel Milky Ways. Top with remaining batter.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Check often starting at 25 minutes.

Pattern of Love

Pattern of Love

by Jack Smith

I didn’t question Timmy, age nine, or his seven year old brother Billy about the brown wrapping paper

they passed back and forth between them as we visited each store.

Every year at Christmas time, our Service Club takes the children from poor families in our town on a personally conducted shopping tour.  I was assigned Timmy and Billy, whose father was out of work.  After giving them the allotted four dollars each, be began our trip.  At different stores I made suggestions, but always their answer was a solemn shake of the head, no.  Finally I asked, “Where would you suggest we look?”

“Could we go to a shoe store, sir?’ answered Timmy. 

“We’d like a pair of shoes for our Daddy so he can go to work.”

In the shoe store the clerk asked what the boys wanted.  Out came the brown paper. 

 “We want a pair of work shoes to fit this foot,” they said.

Billy explained that is was a pattern of their Daddy’s foot.  They had drawn it while he was asleep in a chair.

The clerk held the paper against a measuring stick, then walked away. 

Soon he came with an open box.  “Will these do?’ he asked.

Timmy and Billy handled the shoes with great eagerness.  “How much do they cost?” asked Billy.

Then Timmy saw the price on the box.  “They’re $16.95,” he said in dismay.  “We only have eight dollars.”

I looked at the clerk and he cleared his throat. 

“That’s the regular price,” he said, “but they’re on sale for $3.98, today only.”

Then with shoes happily in hand the boys bought gifts for their mother and two little sisters. 

Not once did they think of themselves.

The day after Christmas the boys’ father stopped me on the street.  The new shoes were on his feet, gratitude was in his eyes.  “I just thank Jesus for people who care,” he said.

“And I thank Jesus for your two sons,” I replied. 

“They taught me more about Christmas in one evening than I had learned in a lifetime.”

 

Crisscross Apple Crowns

 Ingredients

 

• 1-1/3 cups chopped peeled tart apples
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
• Dash salt
• 1 package (16.3 ounces) large refrigerated flaky biscuits
• 2 teaspoons butter, melted

Directions

• In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the apples, walnuts, raisins, 3 tablespoons sugar, flour, 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon and salt. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes or until almost tender.
• Flatten each biscuit into a 5-in. circle. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle a rounded teaspoonful of sugar mixture over each. Top each with 1/4 cup apple mixture. Bring up edges to enclose mixture; pinch edges to seal.
• Place seam side down in ungreased muffin cups. Brush tops with butter; sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture. With a sharp knife, cut an “X” in the top of each.
• Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 8 servings.

 

He shall be called Wonderful

 

 

“Several years ago just before Christmas, my niece, Shelly, grabbed her mom’s hand and, without explanation, led her into the privacy of the laundry room. ‘Mom,’ she asked in a serious whisper, ‘is it okay if I believe just one more year?’  Since that memorable happening, our family has established a family tradition. Each Christmas Eve, we gather together around the tree. With the lights low and the fire burning in the fireplace, we ask the question once again, the most important question of the year, ‘Is it okay if we believe one more year?’ not only believe in the traditions of childhood with Santa Claus and reindeer, but more importantly in the message of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, whose birthday we are celebrating. Do we believe in his mission, his atonement, his resurrection? Do we believe in his invitation to come and follow him?  Of course we are not really committing ourselves for only a year. We are pledged to follow the Savior forever. But we live life a day, a week, a month, a year at a time,

and Christmas is a season to focus on the year ahead and reconfirm our discipleship.”

Ardeth G. Kapp

“In each of us there is at Christmastime something of our childhood. We all revel in the fun of Christmas of giving and receiving tinseled presents, of singing favorite carols, of feasting on goodies we never miss at other seasons, of gathering together as family and friends, all having a wonderful time. But there is something else, something better, and that is to sit together as families and read again the fascinating story of the birth of Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem of Judea.”

 

Gordon B. Hinckley

 

“This is a glorious time of the year, simple in origin, deep in meaning, beautiful in tradition and custom, rich in memories, and charitable in spirit. It has an attraction to which our hearts are readily drawn. This joyful season brings to each of us a measure of happiness that corresponds to the degree in which we have turned our mind, feelings, and actions to the spirit of Christmas, to the Savior, whose birth we celebrate.”

Thomas S. Monson

 

 

“May we remember these ABCs as we begin our journey into the New Year, cultivation a positive Attitude, a Belief that we can achieve our goals and resolutions, and the Courage to face whatever challenges may come our way.

 

Then the abundant life will be ours.”

 

Thomas S. Monson

 

 

“Don't limit yourself and don't let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities. You can achieve what you believe you can. Trust and believe and have faith.”

 

Thomas S. Monson

 

 

“…there is so much to be grateful for. I give my thanks to our Heavenly Father and to all of you. This is a time when we ponder our blessings and when we also prepare for the new year, for which we should make new resolves and set new personal goals… Please do the same within your families. Count your blessings, and express your gratitude to your eternal partners, to your children, and to your parents for all that they do.”

 

Spencer W. Kimball

 

 

“This is the beginning of a new year, and each of us might well say to himself, ‘Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Let me begin now to prepare for eternal life, that I may know a fullness of joy and happiness now and forever.’

 

After all, this is really what each of us wants,

 

and it is most important that we take time to find out how to get it and begin now to work at it day by day.”

 

N. Eldon Tanner

 

 

“Father in Heaven clothed your intelligence with spirit

 

and made it possible for you to enjoy the wonder of a physical body…….

Upward growth occurs in cycles that build upon each other in an ascending spiral of capacity and understanding. They are often not easy, but they are always beneficial. As you walk the path of righteousness, you will grow in strength, understanding, and self-esteem. You will discover hidden talents and unknown capacities. The whole course of your life may be altered for your happiness and the Lord’s purposes.”

 

Richard G. Scott

 

 

“One day we will take that unavoidable step and cross from this mortal sphere into the next estate. One day we will look back at our lives and wonder if we could have been better, made better decisions, or used our time more wisely.
To avoid some of the deepest regrets of life, it would be wise to make some resolutions today. Therefore, let us:

 Resolve to spend more time with those we love.

 

 Resolve to strive more earnestly to become the person God wants us to be.

 

 Resolve to find happiness, regardless of our circumstances.

 

It is my testimony that many of the deepest regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today.”

 

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 

 

The Holiest of all Nights

Oh Holy Night

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zh-yR0pbmU

The Holiest of all Nights, Heaven whispered a King is born, The Savior of us all, He will calm the seas and walk on water, He walks where angels trod, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, the dead will live, For Him who groaned beneath our load, He shed a thousand drops for you and me, A thousand drops of precious blood, The rising Lord forsook the tomb, He is not here, He is Risen, He is Heaven's perfect Lamb, He is the Son of Man, Thee only Begotten The Son of God.  He is the Great I Am, The Creator of all, every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under…. and every tongue will confess, This is The Christ, The Lord of All.

 

All is Calm

I know it is very, very early and may seem even a bit silly,

 but with the hustle and bustle of the Holidays coming upon us and

while all is bright and all is CALM, I thought I would send out my Holiday emails early and that perhaps the

Spirit in which they are sent may be with you throughout the Holiday Season.

Much Love Susan

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men.

Luke 2:14

“Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. . Better give your path to a dog than be bitten by him.”

Abraham Lincoln

The shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance
between your knees and the floor.

“Look to the lighthouse of the Lord. There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what its beacon light can rescue.”

Thomas S. Monson

“Every one of you must endure trials, and hardships, heartaches and discouragements. When in sorrow and in despair if you will remember, you will be comforted if you learn this lesson: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth”

Harold B. Lee

“The feeling of love from our Heavenly Father is like a gravitational pull from heaven. As we remove the distractions that pull us toward the world and exercise our agency to seek Him, we open our hearts to a celestial force which draws us toward Him.”

Paul E. Koelliker

“We are involved in the same battle that went on before the earth was created. It is a battle between right and wrong, between truth and error, between the design of the Almighty and his Beloved Son, on the one hand, and Lucifer, the son of the morning, on the other. Stand up for truth in a world of sophistry.”

Gordon B. Hinckley

“There certainly can and will be plenty of external difficulties in life; nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ dwells within a personal fortress, a veritable palace of perfect peace. ‘Whoso hearkeneth unto me,’ Jehovah says, ‘shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil’

Jeffrey R. Holland

“As a special witness of the name of Jesus Christ in all the world, I promise you that if you seek the Lord,

 you will find Him. Ask, and you shall receive.”

Joseph B. Wirthlin

"How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, His precepts!"

 Benjamin Franklin

the spirit of CHRISTmas

The Dime

Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his back yard in the snow. 

Bobby didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway he didn't own any. The thin sneakers he wore had few holes in them and they did a poor job of keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already.  And, try as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift.

He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless, even if I do come up with an idea,

I don't have any money to spend."

Ever since his father had passed away three years ago, the family of five had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that she was earning could only be stretched so far. What the family lacked in money and material things, they more than made up for in love and family unity.

Bobby had two older and one younger sister, who ran the household in their mother's absence. All three of his sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother. Somehow it just wasn't fair.  Here it was Christmas Eve already, and he had nothing.

Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were. It wasn't easy being six without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to. Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into each decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach.

It was starting to get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting off of something along the curb. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime. Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment.

As he held his new-found treasure, a warmth spread throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw.  His excitement quickly turned cold when the salesperson told him that he couldn't buy anything with only a dime. He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line.

When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten-cent offering.  Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and said to him, "You just wait here and I'll see what I can do for you."

As Bobby waited he looked at the beautiful flowers and even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers. The sound of the door closing as the last customer left jolted Bobby back to reality.

All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid. Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before Bobby's eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big red bow.

Bobby's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white box. "That will be ten cents young man." the shop owner said reaching out his hand for the dime. Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime.

Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime!

Sensing the boy's reluctance, the shop owner added, "I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like them?"

This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true. Walking out the door that the owner was holding for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas, son."

As he returned inside, the shopkeeper's wife walked out. "Who were you talking to back there and where are the roses you were fixing?"

Staring out the window, and blinking the tears from his own eyes, he replied, "A strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set side a dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the time whether I had lost my mind or what, but I set them aside anyway.  Then just a few minutes ago, a little boy came into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother with one small dime.

"When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years ago. I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man, whom I never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten dollars.

"When I saw that little boy tonight, I knew who that voice was, and I put together a dozen of my very best roses." The shop owner and his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they somehow didn't feel cold at all.

May this story instill the spirit of CHRISTmas in you enough to pass this act along.

There was something strangely familiar

The Magic of Christmas is not in the Presents

but in 

His presence

A couple, who we shall call John and Mary, had a nice home and two lovely children, a boy and a girl. John had a good job and had just been asked to go on a business trip to another city and would be gone for several days. It was decided that Mary needed an outing and would go along too. They hired a reliable woman to care for the children and made the trip, returning home a little earlier than they had planned. As they drove into their hometown feeling glad to be back, they noticed smoke, and they went off their usual route to see what it was. They found a home in flames.

Mary said, "Oh well it isn't our fire, let's go home."

But John drove closer and exclaimed, "That home belongs to Fred Jones who works at the plant. He wouldn't be off work yet, maybe there is something we could do." "It has nothing to do with us" protested Mary, "You have your good clothes on lets not get any closer."

But John drove up and stopped and they were both horror stricken to see the whole house in flames. A woman on the lawn was in hysterics screaming, "The children! Get the children!" John grabbed her by the shoulder saying, "Get a hold of yourself and tell us where the children are!" "In the basement," sobbed the woman, "down the hall and to the left."

In spite of Mary's protests John grabbed the water hose and soaked his clothes, put his wet handkerchief on his head and bolted for the basement which was full of smoke and scorching hot. He found the door and grabbed two children, holding one under each arm like the football player he was. As he left he could hear some more whimpering. He delivered the two badly frightened and nearly suffocated children into waiting arms and filled his lungs with fresh air and started back asking how many more children were down there. They told him two more and Mary grabbed his arm and screamed, "John! Don't go back! It's suicide! That house will cave in any second!"

But he shook her off and went back by feeling his way down the smoke filled hallway and into the room. It seemed an eternity before he found both children and started back. They were all three coughing and he stooped low to get what available air he could. As he stumbled up the endless steps the thought went through his mind that there was something strangely familiar about the little bodies clinging to him, and at last when they came out into the sunlight and fresh air,

he found that he had just rescued his own children.

The baby-sitter had left them at this home while she did some shopping.

Author unknown