Faith, Hope, and Charity

I wish that I could write as fast as I am taught. The knowledge that flows through my whole being when taught by the Spirit is overwhelming. There is no way that I can express in words the things that I am taught, the things that I feel, the things that I know to be true.

I had a wonderful opportunity to meet with our regions Relief Society Stake Presidencies last night as we were taught by great leaders in the church. We talked about many things one being faith, hope and charity and how they all go together. These are my thoughts as I have pondered on faith, hope and charity.

Faith is the beginning step; we must have faith that what we believe to be true is truth. Faith is the easiest of these three things for me. I have always had faith in Jesus Christ believing with all my being that He is my Savior, my Redeemer. His love for me gives me the opportunity of success because of the atonement that he went through for me. We gain our faith as we humbly pray, study and ponder upon the sacred words of our prophets both latter days and those of today that teach the words of Christ. The Spirit bears witness to us of these sacred truths.
As our faith grows we begin to hope for the blessings of the Lord, for His help and His strength in all of our daily tasks. Through this hope our knowledge and testimony grows. Soon it begins to burst within us and we want to share what we know and feel with those around us, with those we care about and those we love. Thus comes charity, the true love of God. We are filled with it, we see it in others and our love grows for all of Gods children.

Faith is the desire to know that what we have been taught is truth.

Hope is what we hang onto until we gain the knowledge of truth from the Holy Ghost as it bears witness to us of all truth.

Charity comes after we gain knowledge of the love that Christ has for us and as we begin to understand all that He did for us in Gethsemane. As we begin to feel, understand and know His love for us our heart begins to open up to those around us with that same love that He so freely gives.

Expressing love to those you care about

My daughter just called me to offer a prayer in her behalf. As a Relief Society Counselor in her ward she and the RS Presidency are meeting with a sister in their ward who just lost her husband in a car accident. They have only been married 3 months and just recently moved away from family. So she is in a new area with no family and the grief and fear that she is facing and doing it all alone. What a responsibility they have to let her know that she is not alone. That she is loved by sisters that care. My heart aches for her and I don’t even know her. I care and she doesn’t know that I do. All I can do is pray for her and I have done that.

This has given me the opportunity to stop and think about those that are dear to me. How am I treating them, do I let them know not only by what I say but also my actions and body language that I love them. Am I letting them know that they are the most important part of my life? Do I let my husband go out the door in the morning not knowing how much I care for him and about him? Do I express my gratitude to him for how hard he works and all that he does for me? After over 40 years of marriage you would think that I would have everything perfect but I sometimes take to many things for granted. I for one am going to make some changes. I am going to make sure my husband knows how very dear he is to me and how much I love him, after all eternity is a very long time.

We have been told to keep a gratitude journal, to offer prayers of gratitude to our Savior for all we have been blessed with. Maybe we should figure out ways to let those we love know that we love them and that they are such an important part of our lives. We need to do that every single day.

This is the month of love, the celebration of Valentine’s Day. I hope that you all find ways to express love and appreciation for those you care about.

The Tender Love of Jesus

I have so enjoyed reading and learning from the gospel of John in the New Testament.His writings are for us. They are written with a very tender love for Jesus.

John 10 talks about the good Shepherd. I have heard this being taught all of my life but I have never felt the overwhelming love that the Savior has for each of us as I did when I prayed and studied this chapter.

He knows each of us by name.
He knows our needs and our desires.
He is our Shepherd and wants us to follow Him.
He cannot help us if we do not follow Him.
He cannot help us if we do not ask.

Verse 14. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.

Verse 15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Verse 17-18. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again, This commandment have I received of my Father.

V. 27. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

V28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

Chapter 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

v.15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

V16 And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.

If He is willing to lay down His life for us what else is He willing to do for us? He did this so we will live again, what a wonderful gift. More than that, He endured the atonement. He did all that was needed for us to return home to our loving Heavenly Parents. All we need to do is learn of Him and become like our Savior Jesus Christ. Through the atonement we have been given the opportunity to make the changes in our own self to become as he is, to become like Him who made it all possible. Through Him, who knows us all by name, we are given the blessing of eternal life and exaltation.

We are family

This is the poem I wrote to share for our family home evening lesson

We are family
Our lives are intertwined,
Brought together on the earth
as one in heart and mind.

Through life’s long journey
There will be trials and pain,
We will feel heart ache and sorrow
But, true knowledge must be gained.

We must cherish one another
Have the pure love of Christ,
As we serve and lift each other
Throughout our mortal live.

Watch over one another
With concerning heartfelt care
Your are so very important
Constantly in our daily prayers.

Comfort one another
When the journey is too much
Encircling all in loving arm
Giving strength from gentle touch.

Gaining instruction from family
Is something we all need,
Watching and observing the example
Helps to plant the eternal seed.

We are family
And our deepest heart’s desire,
Is to sit down in heaven together
United in love through Priesthood power.

Christmas Reunion

What an amazing Christmas celebration we had this year. My daughter, son in law, and family opened up their home in Colorado for us. We had our first ever Christmas with all of our children, 14 adults, 20 grandchildren and 5 dogs. We started arriving on the 20th and the last family to go left on the 28th. So we had eight wonderful days of celebration. My son’s family from Las Vegas was the last to arrive (Tuesday the 23rd). Not because they planned it that way but because of weather. There were many obstacles that tried to keep us from going, isn’t that always the truth, when something is so important Satin tries so hard to stop it. We have memories that we will treasure forever. Cousins that hadn’t seen each other in several years and none of them wanted to leave when the time came.
We had a talent show that was amazing. I didn’t know my family had such great talent. Santa came one night with gifts for everyone. We had a white elephant exchange that was a lot of fun, some crazy gifts. We had a delicious Christmas dinner of turkey, ham and all the trimmings. We had a family home evening lesson on our family motto: ““We must cherish one another, comfort one another, watch over one another, and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together.” The Spirit was so strong as we shared our thought and feelings.
Nothing about our Christmas was traditional. Santa came Christmas morning with stockings brimming over and that was the limit of gifts from Santa. We spent the rest of the morning sharing gifts of the heart. . A quote to put on our wall, “Love at Home” (a childhood memory). Another saying on a glass brick, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” A special Christmas Ornament with Sly Family Reunion 2008 to always remember this time together. The picture of the Saviors hands with the quote from Isaiah 49:15, “See! I will not forget you… I have carved you on the palm of my hand”. Then we enjoyed a tradition from childhood with a wonderful Christmas brunch.
Games we played: pit, this is a spoon, apples to apples, Christmas bingo, a Christmas song game. We made nativity ornaments for our trees next year, candy necklaces. Everyone played rock band the whole time.
We have videos and pictures galore to help us remember this festive reunion. It will be remembered and treasured in our hearts forever.