...ssssweeeeeet...!!!

I posted a little bit about this on FB already, I am sorry to those of you that have already read the Reader's Digest version there... but man... I just LOVE my life sometimes...

I LOVE being the mom of adult kids that are kind and loving... It is the BEST life has to offer, when you like and enjoy your children... Honest... I know my kids are not perfect... yes, we are like everyone else... we have our struggles... but I'm so far from perfect that it's easier on my ego anyway to have "normal" kids, I guess... LOL... And then, some days are just BETTER than normal... the only word to use... HALCYON... a slice of Heaven...

Yesterday was one of those - so close to a perfect days-, that I'd be hard pressed to find a better one in my reference... even accounting for the fact that we missed my cousin and uncle by only a few minutes at the care facility, because of traffic... and seeing my sweet little Aunt of 91 years struggling so hard to recover and gain strength after a fall several weeks ago... She was so loving as we visited while she let her lunch bites "settle"... She asked about MY family and recalled days to me of when I was a girl... I would stay at their home to hang out with cousins and play on their family farm on family trips from Idaho to Arizona... Such SWEET memories... so bitter sweet to see my mother's siblings grow older... and know that we will not have them with us much longer on this earth... I am so grateful for the loving family I was born into... and for a knowledge that families are forever...

I have been blessed to have so many great days in my life... good (ssssweeeet) days happen pretty often for me, in different ways... I've had many a nearly perfect day with Son1 and Sweetee in recent memory... I've had some pretty "fab" days with Son2 over the last few years...

Still, yesterday afternoon included one of those mother-daughter-times that don't come along everyday any more... because all kids grow up and leave home, to live their own lives, which is right and proper... having said that... I'm really learning to cherish each and every wonderful day with my kids... On this day, Princess Bride surprised us and joined us at the temple in the early afternoon, an unexpected joy... a great treat to be together in a place of such peace and feel so eternally bonded... and we had so much fun after dinner... for a while, just the two of us... (while hubby took a little nap and Sir Knight was getting ready/left for work). We spent a couple hours milling over her new cake decorating book, which she got from her Secret Santa gift exchange at work... She is really getting into cake decorating, with her sister in law, which is way cool, because her maternal grandma did that... (guess that particular gene skipped a generation... ha ha) It was such a nice gift from someone that hardly knows her, but took the time to investigate what she likes...

I also have to thank hubby for being my BEST friend at ALL times... my heart and soul... and my confidant... for putting up with doing all the driving... doing what I want to do all day on one of his precious days off... and then on top of that, listening to my chatter when I am happy as a magpie... LOL... If you "know" hubby, you KNOW that last part is NOT something that comes naturally for him... he would rather have his nose in a book, be sitting in a forest alone, or wandering a canyon as a hermit... LOL... but he is so great, and he only rarely gave any indication that he "wasn't" having as good a time as I was yesterday... maybe he was...??? Nah... but he is a super good sport and he loves me so much, he's happy to just be with me too, even if he'd "rather be sailing"... LOL...

to quote...

--Henry B. Eyring
"You make choices every day and almost every hour that keep you walking in the light or moving away toward darkness. Some of the most important choices are about what you set your heart upon." Walk in the Light, Ensign, May 2008, 123–25

feasting on the Sabbath...

I love the temple... Yesterday was a chance for hubby and I to again make a trip to the temple... Elder Bednar's talk from the Sunday afternoon session of conference 2 weeks ago was on my mind all day as we went about our busy but wonderful temple experience:

Within the sound of my voice are many young women, young men, and children. I plead with you to be worthy, to be steadfast, and to look forward with great anticipation to the day you will receive the ordinances and blessings of the temple.

Within the sound of my voice are individuals who should have but have not yet received the ordinances of the house of the Lord. Whatever the reason, however long the delay, I invite you to begin making the spiritual preparations so you can receive the blessings available only in the holy temple. Please cast away the things in your life that stand in the way. Please seek after the things that are of eternal consequence.

Within the sound of my voice are individuals who have received the ordinances of the temple and for various reasons have not returned to the house of the Lord in quite some time. Please repent, prepare, and do whatever needs to be done so you can again worship in the temple and more fully remember and honor your sacred covenants.

Within the sound of my voice are many individuals who hold current temple recommends and strive worthily to use them. I commend you for your faithfulness and devotion.

For me there is great comfort in the blessings of the temple... over the years it's been one of our favorite "date" places... yesterday was no exception...

I am reminded WHY we have 3 new temples being built in AZ... We NEED more temples... this time of year each year that starts the Saturday roll-call of what is often referred to as "wedding season"... from here until next fall every single Saturday is beyond crazy busy... (though generally all year long, Saturday's are busy..) Weekly there are from between 25-40 weddings/sealings every single Saturday depending on the time of the year it is...

All in all our day was great... but I am really looking forward to more temples in AZ... the new Phoenix temple which will be an hour closer to us will be a much smaller one, and like Snowflake we will make an appointment to attend, after it is built... that is always a calmer experience, I have discovered... Even stake and ward temple excursions are handled differently I am told... and yesterday I was reminded why we try when at all possible to go during the week when hubby is off instead of Saturdays when it seems like everyone else in AZ goes to the temple... LOL... But no matter what the circumstances... I am grateful for the opportunity to attend and for the blessings of the temple in my own life and the lives of my children...

I love the temple...

the atonement...

it's Easter...

Last weekend at General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints an apostle of the Lord, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, gave a very moving testimony of the Atonement. I have always appreciated Elder Holland's talks wherever he is speaking... in conference, at firesides, or with his wife when I heard them many years ago... I love to go back and listen/watch his talks over and over... I know that this talk about the atonement will be one that I turn to often in the years to come...



I just wanted to share...

feasting on the Sabbath...

Why we build Temples...



Why I love the Temple? The absolute peace and love I feel from my Heavenly Father and Savior is overwhelmingly strong for me within the walls of the temple, and that feeling is the same no matter which temple I go to... I crave those feelings of communion with heavenly influence...

feasting on the Sabbath...

This weekend was Stake Conference... I love SC... For years I have really appreciated the Saturday evening session that is for the adults best... usually I get the most out of this session, but that is possibly because I prepare for it...

I am learning through this exercise of "feasting on the Sabbath", I started at the beginning of the year, that when it comes to a LOT of experiences in life, many are made better by preparing for them... Not just anticipating, but actually preparing to focus on that experience and nothing else... Living in the moment as it were...

This SC was no different... I prepared for the experience and I can say that it was one of the best conferences I have ever attended... even though physically I was as uncomfortable, if not MORE uncomfortable trying to sit through it, as I ever have been... I was REALLY hurting, cause my pain meds wore off and I forgot to take any with me... but I couldn't leave... I was learning SO much, I experienced a feeling of thirst for the words being given that was really exciting... I gained some very important renewals into my own personal faith and spiritual needs in life... but I will just share one "woven concept" here:

True JOY comes from following council to be spiritually and temporally prepared within my own self... when I am properly doing what I can to fill my own well, and find joy and contentment with the life I have... I can love and care for others around me better... I know I can be doing a lot more... but I was also reminded that I don't need to do for other what they are able do for themselves, any more than others should do for me that which I can and should be doing for myself... This is a careful but joyful dance that we best perform through the spirit of Christlike charity and love... Those that follow council best are the best able to give of surplus joy which they will often own, because they HAVE internal contentment and peace. Also I was reminded that charity doesn't necessarily mean money... it often means giving of one's TIME and talents...

Some of these renewed ideas that I learned this weekend are related to a theme I had already latched on to for this month... and I find that really interesting.

find joy in life...

Last month I mentioned that I use "Read My Scriptures" in my personal and family study efforts... This has been a great tool for me, I have even donated to the cause because I like it so much... Right now I have 3 reading schedules I get reminders for... The weekly Gospel Doctrine Sunday School lessons, my personal study of scripture, and a family schedule, from which I pull out ONE scripture reference a day to text to our immediate family (plus one friend that wanted to be included)... These three reading schedules come in an email... and since I generally read my email daily, I then remember to read my desired scripture schedule...

Once I finish reading there is a "completed" button to hit, which then triggers the next day's reading assignment to be emailed to me. Clicking on that completed button also opens a new web page to the Read My Scriptures web site and there is always a quote included as an added boost to my studies... today's quote was too good not to pass on...

"Sadness, disappointment, and severe challenge are events in life, not life itself. I do not minimize how hard some of these events are. They can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to become the confining center of everything you do. The Lord inspired Lehi to declare the fundamental truth, "Men are, that they might have joy." That is a conditional statement: "they might have joy." It is not conditional for the Lord. His intent is that each of us finds joy. It will not be conditional for you as you obey the commandments, have faith in the Master, and do the things that are necessary to have joy here on earth." --Richard G. Scott, "Finding Joy in Life", Ensign, May 1996, 24

The last few months... (and some times it feels like years) have been especially challenging for me personally and for our family as well... we have had our share of economic woes, along with the rest of the country although only some of those challenges are because of family members losing jobs... Many of our challenges have been tempered by living the gospel and following council for years in the past... but honestly that does not mean that we do not feel the challenges deeply...

Like Adam and Eve we are left to make our way in the lone and dreary world. But thank heavens we also have the benefit of the Ministry of Angels....

feasting on the Sabbath...

This last week has brought me through a few lows... and I have been profoundly grateful for the gospel while I have been living through them...

My understanding is not perfect, but it is solid... I am grateful for the Savior's Atonement... I know that He loves me... imperfect and weak as I am... and even when I feel unworthy of that love, I DO know that He loves me... and I know that I can show my love for Him by loving others as He loves me...

I publicly express my love for my family... I have been very grateful for their support and love of me.

I share this with them and anyone else that cares to view it as wise counsel from the Lord, through one of His servants:



This second video touched me deeply and I wanted to remind those that I love to reach outside themselves to lift each others burdens... and then maybe reach outside that place and touch those who they do not even know perhaps... this is the way that we find the greatest joy and happiness in our own lives... it's not the things we give to others that are of greatest worth... the simple kindnesses we show are of the greatest value... when we listen for help from the Lord, we will know the kind of gifts to give... I really need to remember this lesson...



*As a side note, I have decided that March is going to be a whole month of finding JOY!

feasting on the Sabbath...

This week as I was preparing to help teach the temple prep class again, I was re-reading a few dedicatory prayers from some of the temples that I have been to or would very much like to go to... I found the Dedicatory Prayer from the Nauvoo Temple to be so poignant, and thought I would share with anyone that was unaware that these prayers are available for study.

Prayers that are given at temple dedications are revelatory in nature... I need to remember that...
Photo: © 2005, Scott Cannon./link
(...written in advance of posting)

feasting on the Sabbath...

My feast this week comes from studying two peripheral topics I was lead to, which are related to my lesson for Sunday... I have to share, that while I usually feel inadequate as a teacher... teaching is often a vehicle for which the Lord uses to teach many of us the most... Preparing a lesson is a great study tool...

This quote is not something that I will use in class (mostly because we always run out of time just covering the lesson material, so there isn't time to introduce much extra material, and I don't want to confuse or sidetrack our discussion...) But I will possibly include it at the end of the handout I make to send home after class each week for personal study. I like to send home the list of scriptures from the manual, because sometimes we can't get to all of them in class... I encourage class members to re-read through them again during the week, as a follow through in preparation for the next week...

Also, I want to note this quote in my journal... and I want share it with family and friends... I consistently find, that the more I study... the more I trust in the Lord, the more I remember that the gospel is a safety net for my heart and mind... The more I understand that the subjects I study dovetail one another, to help me gain understanding...

True Faith

“The just shall live by faith,” we are told in holy writ. I ask again, What is faith?

Faith exists when absolute confidence in that which we cannot see combines with action that is in absolute conformity to the will of our Heavenly Father. Without all three—first, absolute confidence; second, action; and third, absolute conformity—without these three all we have is a counterfeit, a weak and watered-down faith. Let me discuss each of these three imperatives of faith.

First, we must have confidence in that which we cannot see. When Thomas finally felt the prints of the nails and thrust his hand into the side of the resurrected Savior, he confessed that he, at last, believed.

“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

Peter echoed those words when he praised early followers for their faith in Jesus the Christ. He said:

“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

“Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”

Second, for our faith to make a difference, we must act. We must do all that is in our power to change passive belief into active faith, for truly, “faith, if it hath not works, is dead.”

In 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley raised a voice of warning to the Saints of this Church as well as to the world at large. He uttered that same warning last night at priesthood meeting. He said: “I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order. So many people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are living on borrowings. … I am troubled by the huge consumer installment debt which hangs over the people of the nation, including our own people.”

Brothers and sisters, when these prophetic words were uttered, some faithful members of the Church mustered their faith and heeded the counsel of the prophet. They are profoundly grateful today that they did. Others perhaps believed that what the prophet said was true but lacked faith, even as small as a grain of mustard seed. Consequently, some have suffered financial, personal, and family distress.

Third, one’s faith should be consistent with the will of our Heavenly Father, including His laws of nature. The sparrow flying into a hurricane may believe that he can successfully navigate the storm, but the unforgiving natural law will convince him otherwise in the end.

Are we wiser than the sparrow? Often what passes for faith in this world is little more than gullibility. It is distressing to see how eager some people are to embrace fads and theories while rejecting or giving less credence and attention to the everlasting principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is distressing how eagerly some rush into foolish or unethical behavior, believing that God will somehow deliver them from the inevitable tragic consequences of their actions. They even go so far as to ask for the blessings of heaven, knowing in their hearts that what they do is contrary to the will of our Father in Heaven.

How do we know when our faith conforms to the will of our Heavenly Father and He approves of that which we seek? We must know the word of God. One of the reasons we immerse ourselves in the scriptures is to know of Heavenly Father’s dealings with man from the beginning. If the desires of our heart are contrary to scripture, then we should not pursue them further.

Next, we must heed the counsel of latter-day prophets as they give inspired instruction.

Additionally, we must ponder and pray and seek the guidance of the Spirit. If we do so, the Lord has promised, “I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart.”

Only when our faith is aligned with the will of our Heavenly Father will we be empowered to receive the blessings we seek. (Joseph B. Wirthlin, “Shall He Find Faith on the Earth?,” Ensign, Nov 2002, 82)

(...written in advance of posting)

feasting on the Sabbath...

Hubby and I are teaching the temple preparation classes in our ward currently... As I have been preparing this week's lesson several quotes touched me very much and I looked up the references for the original text... The following words from a First Presidency Ensign message printed in 1994 are ideas I want to give much more thought to, in my own life...

Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve said:

“Temple work … gives a wonderful opportunity for keeping alive our spiritual knowledge and strength. … The mighty perspective of eternity is unraveled before us in the holy temples; we see time from its infinite beginning to its endless end; and the drama of eternal life is unfolded before us. Then I see more clearly my place amidst the things of the universe, my place among the purposes of God; I am better able to place myself where I belong, and I am better able to value and to weigh, to separate and to organize the common, ordinary duties of my life, so that the little things shall not oppress me or take away my vision of the greater things that God has given us” (Conference Report, Apr. 1922, pp. 97–98).

***

President Howard W. Hunter continued:

"Truly, the Lord desires that His people be a temple-motivated people. It would be the deepest desire of my heart to have every member of the Church be temple worthy. I would hope that every adult member would be worthy of—and carry—a current temple recommend, even if proximity to a temple does not allow immediate or frequent use of it.

Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship, for the sanctity and safety which is provided within those hallowed and consecrated walls. The temple is a place of beauty, it is a place of revelation, it is a place of peace. It is the house of the Lord. It is holy unto the Lord. It should be holy unto us.....

But to have the temple indeed be a symbol unto us, we must desire it to be so. We must live worthy to enter the temple. We must keep the commandments of our Lord. If we can pattern our life after the Master, and take His teaching and example as the supreme pattern for our own, we will not find it difficult to be temple worthy, to be consistent and loyal in every walk of life, for we will be committed to a single, sacred standard of conduct and belief. Whether at home or in the marketplace, whether at school or long after school is behind us, whether we are acting totally alone or in concert with a host of other people, our course will be clear and our standards will be obvious.

The ability to stand by one’s principles, to live with integrity and faith according to one’s belief—that is what matters. That devotion to true principle—in our individual lives, in our homes and families, and in all places that we meet and influence other people—that devotion is what God is ultimately requesting of us. It requires commitment—whole-souled, deeply held, eternally cherished commitment to the principles we know to be true in the commandments God has given. If we will be true and faithful to the Lord’s principles, then we will always be temple worthy, and the Lord and His holy temples will be the great symbols of our discipleship with Him." (The Great Symbol of Our Membership, Ensign, Oct 1994, 2)

(...written in advance of posting on Sunday)

feasting on the Sabbath...

This morning during my own personal study time I came across the following quote, I submit it here for consideration and remind myself to pay closer attention to this counsel.

"Closely related to our own obligation to repent is the generosity of letting others do the same...In this we participate in the very essence of the Atonement of Jesus Christ...We don't want God to remember our sins, so there is something fundamentally wrong in our relentlessly trying to remember others' sins...It is one of those ironies of godhood that in order to find peace, the offended as well as the offender must engage the principle of forgiveness."

--Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Peaceable Things of the Kingdom", Ensign, Nov. 1996, 82

feasting on the Sabbath...

I will not be making it to church this morning... I am too unsteady. Just making it to the bathroom is enough challenge... today... The anemia is back into the "cautious" ranges... so, I will follow my doctor's orders... stay down... drink my allotted fluids... take my medications like a good little invalid... [insert chuckling] and work on reading the SS/RS lessons for my own edification...

The really good new is that I will still get seriously fed by the spirit today even though I have to miss sacrament meeting... I am planning on watching the CES fireside with President Thomas S. Monson, live, right from the comfort of my bed... (and I can rewatch it on demand as many times as I need to in order to compensate for falling asleep at the drop of hat...) Isn't technology wonderful?

feasting on the Sabbath...

Today is "Fast Sunday" all over the world, and a day of great spiritual feasting and in turn blessings for believing members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wherever they congregate.

As a life long member I grew up understanding the general idea of fasting but it wasn't actually until severe health issues interfered with my ability to physically fast in a normal way that I really started to appreciate the "Law of the Fast"... Fasting for me today is very different physically than when I was younger and healthy. I am happy to say that fasting is different for me spiritually too... it is much more of a feast because I put so much more of myself into the process.

Beyond fasting, weekly feasting on the Sabbath takes personal effort on the individual's part. Rarely can someone walk into a chapel and passively receive this gift. I know it is possible to feel the spirit passively, for I have had that experience too... but to "feast", one must be an active partaker of that spirit.

I share this Ensign article by Elder C. Elmer Black, “Messages from the Doctrine and Covenants: The Holy Sabbath,” Ensign, Apr 2005, 66–67; as a text to help those that might be looking for such experiences in their lives... Since we will be studying the Doctrine and Covenants and Church History this year I think the article is especially pertinent... As an active member that wants a stronger connection to my Heavenly Father and the Savior I am personally planning to put more effort into my individual study and worship so that the Sabbath becomes a regular feasting day for me, and I can experience a greater personal influence of the Spirit in my life... not the semi-effortless stab at spiritual strength I have sometimes settled for...

A new year is never the only time to make changes... but it can be a time in which we are yearly reminded of new focus, because lesson manuals change nearly every year... At the start of this new year have set a goal to take a greater responsibility for my own spirituality and desire to be fed by the spirit. This year I am not just going to simply put my plate on the table and hope a few crumb fall on it... I am going to ladle on to my plate the gospel courses that we have been given... I am remembering that the number of courses the spirit will fill is only limited by my willingness to dip into each one that is available to me.

The Father and Savior are offering a feast... the question has always been, how much I am willing to eat.

loving the unlovable...

I've been thinking about this idea since our church meetings this last Sunday. There were a couple of comments that were made in Relief Society that started me thinking about this idea.

I know that there are some people that are "less lovable" at times of their lives... but I started wondering... are there people that are and stay "unlovable" for always? A few sisters in my ward seem to think so... Maybe I just have not met anyone that difficult to love... but I always thought that everyone had some sort of lovable attribute... at the very least one, and usually several...

I have known teens that made it really hard to love them... I have siblings that have attributes that are difficult for me to connect with, and I've had times during my life when I didn't get along with my parents and in-laws... I also recognize that there are many people in my ward, stake and extended community that I don't have much in common with and that I don't particularly care for even... but they appear to have friends and are lovable to some other people... so I never thought of them as unlovable... but Sunday last, 2 different people mentioned that they knew completely "unlovable individuals"... people that had no apparent friends, and were so caustic around others that they seemed to have no one that even wanted to communicate with them, and that they felt some less lovable people can become unlovable by not trying to be more likable to those around them...

This was honestly one of the most depressing thoughts I have ever heard of. I started wondering... isn't loving others a choice in many instances of our lives? Isn't it better, at the very least, to tolerate with patience and love those we view as less lovable, rather than risk being considered not worth the effort to love by our Savior, when it comes to loving the parts He finds less lovable about us?

These thoughts and concepts have been on my mind a lot the last few days... and I am working through my own personal struggle with this... and especially as it effect my husband and children... trying harder to accept and even learn to love what is less lovable about those in my circle of life and love... I am not completely sure how this will turn out, but the effort feels essential to MY salvation... I really do not see it as important to those who may I view, as having less lovable attributes, some days... I need to learn to love the way the Lord loves me... warts and all...

an invitation...

I am changing my profile "about me" section... (I also want a new look, so will be choosing some new artwork soon too... but I will start with just some new words about myself for today...) Still... I decided didn't want to loose my invitation to any possible readers to hear more about the gospel... so I am going to save that part which I wrote in days past...

[previously written]: I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have a deep love for, and strong testimony of, the gospel of Jesus Christ and enjoy sharing beliefs and values. I welcome your questions about the church and would be happy to introduce anyone to some missionaries that can bring this wonderful message of Jesus Christ into your home.