...The test a loving God has set before us is not to see if we can endure difficulty. It is to see if we can endure it well. We pass the test by showing that we remembered Him and the commandments He gave us. And to endure well is to keep those commandments whatever the opposition, whatever the temptation, and whatever the tumult around us. We have the clear understanding because the restored gospel makes the plan of happiness so plain.
CR, Apr. 2004, P. 15 col. 2
And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have
removed their only firm basis: a conviction in the minds of men
that these liberties are the gift of God?
- Thomas Jefferson
Notes on the State of Virginia
In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children—
Alma 46:12)
“Godly sorrow … is a deep realization that our actions have offended our
Father and our God. It is the sharp and keen awareness that our behavior
caused the Savior, He who knew no sin, even the greatest of all, to endure
agony and suffering. Our sins caused him to bleed at every pore. This very
real mental and spiritual anguish is what the scriptures refer to as having
‘a broken heart and a contrite spirit.’ ”
Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, Oct. 1989, 4
“I can't stress too strongly that decisions determine destiny. You can't make eternal decisions without eternal consequences.”
Thomas S. Monson
CES Fireside for Young Adults November 6, 2005
We "become" truly the "sum" total
of all our "choices"
in this life...
Deb
Picture of Christ - remains in Stake President's office
Picture of Christ - Still intact"There is a danger in the word someday when what it means is "not this day."...The scriptures make the danger of delay clear. It is that we may discover that we have run out of time. The God who gives us each day as a treasure will require an accounting. We will weep, and He will weep, if we have intended to repent and to serve Him in tomorrows which never came or have dreamt of yesterdays where the opportunity to act was past. This day is a precious gift of God. The thought "Someday I will" can be a thief of the opportunities of time and the blessings of eternity."
"There is a danger in the word someday when what it means is "not this day." "Someday I will repent." "Someday I will forgive him." "Someday I will speak to my friend about the Church." "Someday I will start to pay tithing." "Someday I will return to the temple." "Someday."
--Henry B. Eyring, "This Day", Ensign, May 2007, 89–91
SUCH A GIFT”
In her book Such a Vision of the Street, Eileen Egan, a lay person who worked with the Missionaries of Charity for 30 years, describes Mother Teresa’s beatific outlook:
One day, after my conversation had been filled with a litany of problems, Mother Teresa remarked, “Everything is a ‘problem.’ Why not use the word gift?” With that began a shift in vocabulary.
Shortly thereafter, we were to fly from Vancouver to New York City. I was dismayed to learn that the trip had to be broken en route, with a long delay, and was about to inform her of the “problem.” Then I caught myself and said, “Mother, I have to tell you about a gift. We have to wait four hours here, and you won’t arrive at the convent until very late.” Mother Teresa settled down in the airport to read a book of meditations, a favorite of hers.
From that time on, items that presented disappointments or difficulties would be introduced with “We have a small gift here” or “Today we have an especially big gift.” There were smiles, perhaps rueful, at situations that earlier had been described by the dour word problem.
July 1990 - Readers Digest
Joseph Smith once said: "The Lord said he would raise up a pure people. There is still much to be done. We have to establish the kingdom of God on the earth so that the kingdom of heaven may come. That takes men and women who have iron faith and steel in their commitment to the Lord. And if the Lord has to take us through the fires to find enough metal to do the job, then I say, let the fires begin. I, for one, am ready."
“Why do we have a Relief Society president on the general and the local level?” Sister Beck said. “So we can have an organization. And we have an organization because we have a purpose. And when we have a purpose, there is an expected work and outcome.
“Relief Society isn’t just a feel-good, get-together, let’s-enjoy-each-other, do-anything-anytime-anyplace-for-any-reason” organization, she said. “This is part of the Lord’s work.”
Because the purposes of the Relief Society—to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and help those in need (see Church Handbook 2: Administering the Church, 9.1.1)—have been determined by the Lord, the outcome is that “we will improve women individually and as a whole,” Sister Beck said. “… We’re not entertainers. This is the Lord’s business of salvation. That’s the business we’re in. We teach like the Savior taught, and we teach, and we teach. And we build the Lord’s kingdom.
“We’re not about causes or advocacy groups,” she said. “We have an advocate. The Savior Jesus Christ is our Advocate with the Father, and we stand by Him, doing His great work for His great cause.”
Relief Society, she explained, helps women be organized under priesthood direction to move the Lord’s work forward. “We’re here to provide relief and rise above life and live more fully the gospel,” she said. “Relief Society is not a passé or worn-out organization. It is in its ascendency. It’s growing and developing and becoming world-class. ... We will increasingly provide an example to the world of how the Lord’s people should be organized and live.”
President David O. McKay stated the following:
“The responsibility is upon each individual to choose the path
of righteousness, of faithfulness and duty to fellowmen. If
he (chooses) otherwise, and as a result (meets) failure, misery,
and death, he alone is to blame. As President (Brigham)
Young said on one occasion:
“If Brother Brigham should take a wrong track and be shut
out of the kingdom of heaven, no person will be to blame but
Brother Brigham. I am the only being in heaven, earth, or hell,
that can be blamed. This will equally apply to every Latter-day Saint.
Salvation is sent to me, I can reject or receive it. In receiving it, I
yield implicit obedience and submission to its great Author
throughout my life, and to those whom he shall appoint to instruct me;
in rejecting it, I follow the dictates of my own will in preference to
the will of my Creator.” (Discourses of B.Y. – Page 390)
“The true end of life is not mere existence, not pleasure, not
fame, not wealth. The true purpose of life is the
perfection of humanity through individual effort, under the guidance of God’s inspiration.”
(Teachings of the Presidents: David O. McKay )
(Pages 208 – 209)
QUOTE BY: Joseph Smith, The Prophet
"Perhaps there are those who demand rather than request. There may be those who pray for certain blessings without any questions in their minds as to the value of those things to them. Perhaps they are disappointed and even shaken in their faith if their prayer is not granted. Remember that our prayers are often as inconsistent and inappropriate to our Father in Heaven as are the demands of our little children upon us.
"What earthly parent would would give a little one a bottle of poison with which to play, even though the child might ask and demand and cry for it? . . . And yet we sometimes ask for just such impossible things, just such dangerous things, and the Lord in his mercy withholds them. Let us pray with the attitude always of the crucified One, 'nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.' (Luke 22:42)" (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 123).
“In a world too preoccupied with winning through INTIMIDATION and seeking to be NUMBER ONE,” President Howard W. Hunter pointed out, “no large crowd of folk is standing in line to buy books that call for mere meekness. But the meek shall inherit the earth, a pretty impressive corporate takeover---and done without intimidation! Sooner or later, and we pray sooner than later, everyone will acknowledge that Christ’s way is not only the right way, but ultimately the ONLY way to hope and joy. Every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that GENTLENESS is better than BRUTALITY, that KINDNESS is GREATER than COERCION, that the SOFT VOICE turneth away wrath. In the end, and sooner than that whenever possible, we must be more like him” (Ensign, May 1993, 64-65) (Quoted in “Men of Influence – The Potential of the Priesthood to Lift the World – By: Robert L. Millet, pages 41-42)
We know from modern revelation that “the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.” We cannot gauge the worth of another soul any more than we can measure the span of the universe. Every person we meet is a VIP to our Heavenly Father. Once we understand that, we can begin to understand how we should treat our fellowmen. One woman who had been through years of trial and sorrow said through her tears, “I have come to realize that I am like an old 20-dollar bill—crumpled, torn, dirty, abused, and scarred. But I am still a 20-dollar bill. I am worth something. Even though I may not look like much and even though I have been battered and used,
I am still worth the full 20 dollars.”
April 2010 - General Conference
"YOU are MY HANDS"
Tuesday, May 03 2011
Today I want to talk about fairy tales, romance, princesses and princes, weddings, modesty, and to see just how many references I can make to cartoon movies.
First, let's talk about the Catherine's, Duchess of Cambridge (better known as Princess Kate's) wedding dress. I, along with many other women worldwide sacrificed a few hours of sleep on Friday morning, just to see a commoner marry a prince. Now, before you mock me, or laugh, let me remind you of a few things. This wasn't just about watching the wedding of two people in the tabloids. This was about much, much more to every little girl who ever dreamed of growing up to marry her own handsome prince.
When I was a little girl I watched Cinderella, the story of an unloved, barely noticed commoner who catches the eye of a handsome prince. And they lived happily ever after, and wore awesome shoes. I watched Beauty and the Beast, where a smart girl sees the good in an ugly beast of a man, and is rewarded by finding out he's a handsome prince. And then there was the Little Mermaid again, a young girl, who albeit was a “princesse de poissons,” who didn't follow tradition, but she still grew up, and married a handsome prince.
And then there is the best movie of all time- the Princess Bride. She wasn't a princess, and didn't grow up to marry a prince, but she did have a really great wedding dress. But it was the Princess Bride almost wedding that made me secretly hope that the archbishop of whatever they are called in Westminster Abbey would say, “Mawwaige! Mawwaige is what brings us togethuh today!” (Alas, he did not.) But it was the story of a woman who fell in love with the most unlikely of farm boys, and yet still earned the title of Princess Bride.
Are you sensing a theme here??
After a lifetime of stories about girls with strong personalities who manage to do their own thing, strike out on their own, and marry a handsome prince, yes, I wanted to see the real thing happen. It gave hope to every girl and woman out there that “someday her prince will come” (Snow White- who I actually think was a princess, or at least in the upper echelon of society before being sent to live with height deficient coal miners in the woods.).
We grew up in a world where commoner girls only marry a handsome prince in cartoons and fiction. But this time it really happened in real life. And the commoner girl got the fancy carriage ride, the pretty dress, and she wore a real tiara. Oh, and she got a handsome prince.
Now, before you criticize me too much, let's get serious here. There's something to learn from a few fairy tale love stories!
But first! The wedding dress! (I'm sorry to all the men who actually made it this far and just said, “NO!!!” and clicked away from this page. I can't help myself.) The newly named Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, wore a beautiful and modest wedding dress. Her maid of honor wore a beautiful and mostly modest dress. Do you know why? Because tradition and expectations there dictate that the dress worn in the Abbey must be modest to reflect the solemnity of the occasion!
Hallelujah for modesty!!
Oh, that every church expected their brides to wear modest wedding dresses to reflect the solemnity of the occasion. And so, whether or not you care at all about the Royal Wedding, be glad for this one thing. Princess Kate's wedding dress will impact fashion for years to come. (After all Lady Diana's dress with its' ginormous sleeves were reflected in fashion for the next decade!) Modest wedding dresses are about to become very fashionable!
Now, let's talk about love, fairy tales, and growing up to marry a handsome prince.
And forgive me, I'm going to keep using the Royals as my examples.
Do you really think that little Kate Middleton ever wrote in her journal that she hoped she would have to wait till she was 29 to marry a balding man, give up her career, and have to wait 8 years for her boyfriend to propose? And that she hoped he would have a really intimidating family? And that over 2 billion people would have an opinion about her wedding day choices?
And how many of us really do get exactly what we dreamed of? How many of us will actually live out a fairy tale because, even though we are beautiful and talented, we paid attention to the “farm boy?” (Keep up with me, I'm switching fairy tales on you!) Or what if Belle had never seen the good in Beast? Or Prince Darling fell in love with a sleeping beauty? Or if Prince Charming had listened to other people's opinion of a young Cinderella?
Something to note, the great romance stories, and fairy tales, are never about the beautiful woman who believed she was better than every man she ever met, and eventually she was right. They are always about giving someone (even a mute mermaid) a second chance, and discovering someone worth knowing. The great love stories aren't about superficial beauty. They are all about what is on the inside!
I hope there are more and more fairy tales every day. I hope for more stories where a girl looks past a
balding spot, an overbearing family with bad teeth, and finds a handsome prince. I hope for more men who see not the unwelcome step-daughter, but a diamond in the rough. I hope for more second chances, second looks, and patience with others. I hope we all see a little of ourselves in the Beauty and the Beast story, both from the perspective of Belle and Beast.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I hope we all find fairy tale love, where it wasn't what was on the outside that mattered, but what was on the inside. I hope we all get over ourselves and discover that Prince Humperdinck isn't worth any amount of money and jewels, but the hard-working and patient farm boy with worth true love. And I hope no one has to resort to using iocane powder to get to their beloved. Also, never get involved in a land war in Asia.
Bring on the hard-working farm boys who make me feel like a princess any day. I'll over look his bald spot, and he can learn to work with my demanding ways. Because that, my friends, is true love (which is almost as good as an MLT: a mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. I love that.).
And if you couldn't follow any of my crazy Disney, Princess Bride, or fairy tale references, I'm sorry. And if you could follow along - thanks for letting me take a few liberties.
Tithing Slips untouched