I love this time of year. I love the Christmas lights and all of the decorations. The feeling of love and giving where ever you turn. I love putting up all of my nativities for all to see and enjoy. But, I don't think anything I do this year will compare to the celebration we had last year. It is a memory that I will treasure in my heart forever. Having all of my children and grandchildren around me was the greatest gift I could be given.
Here is a great place to go for ideas and the opportunity to get in the Christmas spirit, take a minute to check it out.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
Our nothingness
What we do with our lives is nothing without the guiding light of the Lord.
There is emptiness in our heart and in our lives without the influence of the Spirit
There is emptiness in our heart and in our lives without the influence of the Spirit
Importance of home and family
Gods work is to bring to pass immortality and eternal life of man.
Our work is to know and understand and act upon every needful thing to return home to our loving Heavenly Parents.
We must know and understand the importance of Home and Family
Home is where we preside. It doesn’t’ matter what it is, how expensive or how humble it is, what matters is what is going on within its walls.
Elder L. Tom Perry reminds us:
We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm. . . . Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes.
In general conference 25 years ago, President Spencer W. Kimball warned:
Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.
The battle for your homes is real. To preserve your family you will need to believe deeply and actively in family life in the home and take action.
Protect Our Homes,
Renew Our Powers
SHIRLEY R. KLEIN
“Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.”10 If our homes compare to the temple, what is it about the home that makes it sacred? Listen to the dictionary meaning of “sacred”: “belonging to or dedicated to God; worthy of reverence; set apart for or dedicated to some person, object, or purpose; that [which] must not be violated or disregarded; properly immune, as from violence or interference.”
As you develop spiritual strength through everyday activities in your home, you are building strong timbers and pickets to protect your homes. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read that God has only given us spiritual commandments and that none of them are temporal (see D&C 29:35). If God’s commandments are not temporal, that means they are not limited to this life: His commandments are everlasting. We can apply this to our homes by realizing that all our actions on earth have consequences. The things we do on earth shape the person we become now and in the life to come. Thus the earthly patterns of living we create in our homes have power to influence our spiritual outcomes. Spouses can “love and care for each other and for their children”21 and foster development of characteristics to prepare them for eternity.
Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley
In 1966, BYU Commencement address he said, The preservation of the family will be one of the great and serious challenges facing you in the future into which you come.
The family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home.
If you want to reform a nation, you begin with families
No nation is stronger than the homes of its people.
The family is divine. It was instituted by our Heavenly Father. It encompasses the most sacred of all relationships. Only through its organization can the purposes of the Lord be fulfilled.
I am satisfied that nothing will assure greater success in the hazardous undertaking of parenthood than a program of family life that comes from the marvelous teaching of the gospel; that the father of the home may be clothed with the priesthood of God; that it is his privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to provide for their needs; that he is to govern in the home in the spirit of the priesthood ‘by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; (D&C 121:41-42);
And that mothers in the home is a daughter of God, a soul of intelligence, devotion, and love who may be clothed with the Spirit of God; that it is her privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to nurture those children in their daily needs; that she, in companionship with her husband, is also to teach her children to ‘understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands… and to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.” (D&C 68: 25, 28)
In such a home, parents are loved and not dreaded’ they are appreciated and not feared. And children are regarded as gifts of the Lord, to be cared for, nurtured, encouraged, and directed.
(Pillars of Truth, “ Ensign, Jan 1994).
The primary place in building a value system is in the home
The home is the seedbed of all true virtue. If proper values are not learned in the home, they are not likely to be learned anywhere…
The family is the basic element of society. Good homes become the foundation for the strength of any nation.
Continually he says
I plead with you to put harshness behind us, to bridle our anger, to lower our voices, and to deal with mercy and love and respect one toward another in our homes. There is no discipline in all the world like the discipline of love. It has a magic all its own.
There is too much selfishness
There is too much of worldliness in our homes
If there is less trouble in the homes, there will be less trouble in the nations.
In the family proclamation
“By divine design mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children
We have divine responsibilities to nurture our children.
What does nurturing look, feel and sound like? (D&C 121:41-42)
Our work is to know and understand and act upon every needful thing to return home to our loving Heavenly Parents.
We must know and understand the importance of Home and Family
Home is where we preside. It doesn’t’ matter what it is, how expensive or how humble it is, what matters is what is going on within its walls.
Elder L. Tom Perry reminds us:
We need to make our homes a place of refuge from the storm. . . . Even if the smallest openings are left unattended, negative influences can penetrate the very walls of our homes.
In general conference 25 years ago, President Spencer W. Kimball warned:
Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.
The battle for your homes is real. To preserve your family you will need to believe deeply and actively in family life in the home and take action.
Protect Our Homes,
Renew Our Powers
SHIRLEY R. KLEIN
“Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.”10 If our homes compare to the temple, what is it about the home that makes it sacred? Listen to the dictionary meaning of “sacred”: “belonging to or dedicated to God; worthy of reverence; set apart for or dedicated to some person, object, or purpose; that [which] must not be violated or disregarded; properly immune, as from violence or interference.”
As you develop spiritual strength through everyday activities in your home, you are building strong timbers and pickets to protect your homes. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read that God has only given us spiritual commandments and that none of them are temporal (see D&C 29:35). If God’s commandments are not temporal, that means they are not limited to this life: His commandments are everlasting. We can apply this to our homes by realizing that all our actions on earth have consequences. The things we do on earth shape the person we become now and in the life to come. Thus the earthly patterns of living we create in our homes have power to influence our spiritual outcomes. Spouses can “love and care for each other and for their children”21 and foster development of characteristics to prepare them for eternity.
Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley
In 1966, BYU Commencement address he said, The preservation of the family will be one of the great and serious challenges facing you in the future into which you come.
The family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home.
If you want to reform a nation, you begin with families
No nation is stronger than the homes of its people.
The family is divine. It was instituted by our Heavenly Father. It encompasses the most sacred of all relationships. Only through its organization can the purposes of the Lord be fulfilled.
I am satisfied that nothing will assure greater success in the hazardous undertaking of parenthood than a program of family life that comes from the marvelous teaching of the gospel; that the father of the home may be clothed with the priesthood of God; that it is his privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to provide for their needs; that he is to govern in the home in the spirit of the priesthood ‘by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; (D&C 121:41-42);
And that mothers in the home is a daughter of God, a soul of intelligence, devotion, and love who may be clothed with the Spirit of God; that it is her privilege and obligation as a steward of our Heavenly Father’s children to nurture those children in their daily needs; that she, in companionship with her husband, is also to teach her children to ‘understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands… and to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord.” (D&C 68: 25, 28)
In such a home, parents are loved and not dreaded’ they are appreciated and not feared. And children are regarded as gifts of the Lord, to be cared for, nurtured, encouraged, and directed.
(Pillars of Truth, “ Ensign, Jan 1994).
The primary place in building a value system is in the home
The home is the seedbed of all true virtue. If proper values are not learned in the home, they are not likely to be learned anywhere…
The family is the basic element of society. Good homes become the foundation for the strength of any nation.
Continually he says
I plead with you to put harshness behind us, to bridle our anger, to lower our voices, and to deal with mercy and love and respect one toward another in our homes. There is no discipline in all the world like the discipline of love. It has a magic all its own.
There is too much selfishness
There is too much of worldliness in our homes
If there is less trouble in the homes, there will be less trouble in the nations.
In the family proclamation
“By divine design mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children
We have divine responsibilities to nurture our children.
What does nurturing look, feel and sound like? (D&C 121:41-42)
Friday, February 13, 2009
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.
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.
Friday, February 6, 2009
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.
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.
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