Family

When a parent says, “We can do it! We can read the scriptures daily as a family,” the children will follow!

One such family with four young children writes: “We decided to start small because of our children’s short attention spans. Our oldest child was not yet reading, but she could repeat our words, so we began reading the Book of Mormon, just three verses each night. My husband and I would read one verse each, and then Sydney would repeat a verse. We progressed to four verses and then five verses as the boys began to repeat their own verses. Yes, it was tedious, but we kept going. We tried to focus on consistency instead of speed. It took us three-and-a-half years to finish the Book of Mormon. It was a great feeling of accomplishment!”

The mother continues: “Daily family scripture reading is a habit in our family now. Our children are comfortable with scriptural language, and my husband and I take opportunity to bear testimony of truths. Most important, the Spirit has increased in our home.”

Women

"Women should be women and not babies that need petting and correction all the time. I know we like to be appreciated but if we do not get all the appreciation which we think is our due, what matters? We know the Lord has laid high responsibility upon us, and there is not a wish or desire that the Lord has implanted in our hearts in righteousness but will be realized, and the greatest good we can do to ourselves and each other is to refine and cultivate ourselves in everything that is good and ennobling to qualify us for those responsibilities."

Eliza R. Snow

There Is Hope Smiling Brightly Before Us

Today the words of someone's testimony in sacrament meeting triggered my thoughts back to the topic of HOPE. I love these words from PREACH MY GOSPEL (Chapter 6 p. 117 emphasis added)

"Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will

fulfill His promises to you. It is manifest in

confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient

perseverance. It is believing and expecting that

something will occur. When you have hope,

you work through trials and difficulties with

the confidence and assurance that all things

will work together for your good. Hope helps

you conquer discouragement. The scriptures

often describe hope in Jesus Christ as the

assurance that you will inherit eternal life in

the celestial kingdom."

There is great power in knowing that good things are coming! It's easier to find joy in life. It's easier to be happy. It's easier to work though the hard times. Why is it sometimes so hard for us to trust that God will fulfill His promises to us?

A large part of this is understanding what promises God has made to us. We must go to the temple, study the scriptures, study the words of the prophets and our own personal scripture to find out what God has promised us.

I love the words in the hymn "We Thank Thee O God For A Prophet"

"When dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us

And threaten our peace to destroy,

There is hope smiling brightly before us,

And we know that deliv'rance is nigh.

We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness.

We've proved him in days that are past.

The wicked who fight against Zion

Will surely be smitten at last."

Even if we can only see the promises afar off (Hebrews 11:14) we can be persuaded of them, and embrace them. That is HOPE.

A Blood Donor Saved My Life

As I was taking the sacrament today and thinking about what the water represented, I had a quick flashback to the previous week. One of my favorite students, we will call her Becca, was wearing a t-shirt that caught my eye because it said "A Blood Donor Saved My Life". And I thought to myself, "Did she have a surgery or something? How did she almost die?" So I asked her, "Did a blood donor really save your life Becca? She just kind of looked at me embarrassed and said "not really". Well, a second later I looked at the shirt again and realized that the red cross was actually a Christian cross and then it all made sense.
As much as I am not a fan of taking sacred things like Christ's atonement and tying them to pop culture and commercializing...I am glad that the phrase "a blood donor saved my life" popped into my head as I partook of the sacrament today. I have come to realize that Christ really has saved my life in millions of ways both big and small. His blood really has sanctified me. I am grateful for the opportunity to become clean again after making mistakes, I am grateful for the strength that Christ affords. I am thankful for scriptures that teach me that He knows MY very own sufferings intimately the way that no one else could.

The Book of Mormon

I was reading through a study journal of sorts that I created for myself while on the mission and I came across a quote by Elder Marion G. Romney. As you read it, pay attention to the neat blessings that come from reading the Book of Mormon.

"I feel certain that if, in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, the spirit of that book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart."

Who doesn't want a home with more reverence and respect and less contention? I sure do, and I have decided to read the Book of Mormon more prayerfully. I love the Book of Mormon for so many reasons. I believe it is the most powerful conversion tool and I believe that because of my own experience with it. My testimony of Jesus Christ and of His restored gospel were gained after I came to know that the Book of Mormon was true.

I recall my first Christmas in Argentina, we went to a small hospital and sang to the patients. This was a considerably poor hospital and through the horrible conditions and the tragic reasons many of them were there that Christmas Eve; I saw peace in their faces. I watched as some Elders handed out Book of Mormons to any who would receive them and I was struck powerfully by the fact that there was no gift more precious that we could have given them that Christmas.

Sariah

I was reading tonight in 1 Nephi chapter 5. What I always remember about Sariah is how she doubted Lehi, her husband. Verses 2 and 3 use the phrase "complained against" Lehi. That always sounded so negative to me, like Sariah was just a whiner. But something caught my eye this time in verse 1. Upon her sons' safe return Nephi says Lehi was filled with joy, "and also my mother, Sariah, was exceedingly glad, for she truly had mourned because of us." I can only imagine how a mother might feel to not know where in the world she was and to not know what the future would hold and to believe that my 4 oldest sons had failed their mission and died. The suffering and fear that she was experiencing is probably something I can't quite fathom. I would probably have reacted the same way she did. Nephi adds in verse 7, "my mother was comforted" because of their safe arrival back to the camp in the wilderness. And now, verse 8,

"And she spake, saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath ^acommanded my husband to ^bflee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could ^caccomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of language did she speak."

What I believe is that because Sariah suffered the way she did and been brought to such a point of despair that caused her to murmer, when the miracle finally did come, she recognized it and knew that there was only One who could have brought her sons back to her safe and sound. Sariah needed to gain a sure knowledge that she was obeying the Lord and not just her husband, she needed a sure knowledge that the Lord would take care of them during their journey. Like Sariah I come to know and trust in the Lord more completely through the trial of my faith.

Leaving

So this is just a quick thought I had as I was reading Alma 35. Se trata de Alma the younger (when he's older) teaching the Zoramites. Verse 14 says, "And Alma, and Ammon, and their brethren, and also the two sons of Alma returned to the land of Zarahemla, after having been instruments in the hands of God of bringing many of the Zoramites to repentance; and as many as were brought to repentance were driven out of their land". I just thought it was interesting the way that sentence is worded. Any of the Zoramites who repented had to leave their land. And I think leaving probably helped them to have a fresh start somewhere else. Leaving is an important part of repentance. Whether it's figuratively leaving something behind (a bad habit, bad influences) or literally leaving (a bad movie, a bad party). You can't "move on" until you're ready to "leave" some other place.