Families are forever

Roasting marshmallows, playing games, eating together, snowball fights, hikes, trips to the lake, Christmas traditions, telephone calls, sitting together in church, sleepovers, road trips; the list goes on and on of family memories. I am so grateful for all these wonderful times of laughter with my family. I cannot imagine a time without them in my life.

 

 

 I have a family here on earth.

They are so good to me.

I want to share my life with them through all eternity.

Families can be together forever

Through Heavenly Father’s plan.

I always want to be with my own family,

And the Lord has shown me how I can.

The Lord has shown me how I can.

 -Families Can Be Together Forever, LDS Hymns 300

 

 As I was growing up this was my favorite song to sing in church. I loved the thought of getting to be with my family forever, that our relationships with one another did not end after this life. Now, this song has come to mean even more to me as I have gained a stronger testimony of the truthfulness of that message. Heavenly Father designed a wonderful plan so that we can have the blessing of being with our families for eternity. He never meant for us to go through this life or the next alone. As we strive to live by His gospel, and attend the holy temple with our families, we WILL be with them forever. That is a promise we recieve from our loving Heavenly Father and a blessing we recieve from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I KNOW that I can be with my family forever, and I know you and your family can receive this same blessing. This I say in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

My parents were sealed for time and all eternity in this, the Oakland, Ca temple, on Dec. 28, 1975

 

 To learn more about strengthening our families, visit: http://mormon.org/family

 

 

 

 

My Angel Mother

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

 -Abraham Lincoln

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, and I wanted to write a blog explaining all that she has taught me, and expressing my gratitude to her. It is because of her that I am where I am today, just as President Lincoln expresses. I refer to a well-known story in the Book of Mormon. It is the story of the Stripling Warriors. They step up to defend their families in a war-stricken world. They show great strength and courage even though they had never fought before. "Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it." (Alma 56: 47-48)

 Because of the way they had been taught by their mothers they exercised great faith and not one of their lives were lost in battle. I know that because of the way my mother taught me, I too can stand my ground when life's battles come my way. My mother has taught me how to exercise faith, how to pray, how to seek answers, how to study, how to rely on God, how to develop charity, the importance of the temple and many more vital lessons. I consistently look to her example and strive to be more like her. I am so grateful for all she has done and continues to do for me and for all those who stand in need. Thank you, mom for all you do for me and the Christ-like example you are.

The Headless Chicken Named Sin

We all have heard the stories about chickens running around after their heads are chopped off. Well, I'm here to tell you that these stories are true. I lived on my grandpa's farm for 5 years where I had the privilege to assist in the process of getting the chicken from the yard to the dinner table. Before my family lived out there, though, an incident occurred during this process to my cousin. (He shall remain nameless because I'm not sure how happy he'd be with me sharing this story.) When he was five years old he wandered a little too close to where they were chopping off the heads and a headless chicken ran right towards him. He began to back pedal very quickly but tripped on a board and fell flat on his back. The chicken then proceeded to run up onto his chest where it finally gave up the ghost. On his chest, a headless chicken. Needless to say, he is still afraid of chickens to this day, and he is now a full-grown adult.

In the Book of Mormon, in Alma 13:12, it states: "Now they, after being sanctified by the Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered into the rest of the Lord their God."

 Once we have "been sanctified by the Holy Ghost" or essentially once we have repented and been cleansed of our sin, we must have this same attitude towards sin, that of abhorrence. If we stay close to our past sins, they will still have the ability to chase us down and overcome us, as this headless livestock did to my cousin. This experience has effected his whole life, and his attitude toward chickens. Returning to previous sins can also affect our whole lives for the ill. But, if we remember to leave behind all previous sins and mistakes and turn to our Savior, we will never be dragged down again.

I know that Jesus Christ knows and loves each and every one of us, and that through His Atonement we can all be raised up and move away from past mistakes. What a glorious, hopeful message that is! I bear that testimony of our loving Savior in His name, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

I Stand All Amazed

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

 I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

 I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

I would like to add my testimony to that of this hymn (Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 193). I am SO AMAZED at the love my Savior continually offers me. I KNOW that He died for us and that He lives for us today. I am so grateful for His love and strength and support that I receive every single day. I know that as we turn to the Savior we can all experience that comfort that comes from knowing the love He has for you and from knowing all He has done for you.  

Healed

When I was 15 years old I was riding bikes with a friend on a warm sunny day after school. We were riding downhill pretty fast and I lost control of the bike and crashed head first into a pile of rocks. This is what I’m told anyway. I don’t actually have any memory of the day due to the force in which I hit my head . I was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries to my face and head and lacerations on my arms and legs. Upon arrival it was discovered that I needed stitches in four different places on my face and I had a broken my cheek bone. After having a CAT scan it was discovered that I would need plastic surgery to put my cheek bone back into alignment so it could properly heal. They told my parents that my face would carry come pretty heavy scars following the surgery and would always look a little deformed. They were also told it would be a very long healing process and that I would probably be out of school for quite a while.

 Somewhere among all the trauma my uncle came to the hospital from his work. When he arrived he immediately gave me a priesthood blessing. In the blessing I was blessed that I would recover fully and quickly, and I was blessed that I would not need surgery in order for that healing to occur. The next day when the doctors sent me to get another CAT scan they were dumbfounded at what they saw. My cheek bone was in perfect alignment. No surgery was necessary. I was released from the hospital later that day and my face was fully healed in two weeks. The scarring went from bright red to being hardly noticeable in just a few more weeks. When I returned to school people didn’t even believe I had been through the experience I had been because there were no outward signs.   

This is just one of the ways the power of the priesthood has affected my life. Priesthood Power is simply the power to act in God's name. Worthy male members of the LDS church can hold this Priesthood and use it to bless lives as our Savior would if He were on the earth. "In my name they shall do many wonderful works; In my name they shall cast out devils; In my name they shall heal

Christ bestowing the priesthood on the 12 apostles

the sick; In my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf ;" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:66-69) This is a real and everlasting blessing given from our Heavenly Father. I know I was healed because of the power of the priesthood and the faith my parents and I had in that eternal power. I am so grateful for the priesthood in my life and that it has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. (See http://mormon.org/restoration)

Be the Lesser Part

I was reading in the Book of Mormon the other day and this verse really hit me: "And thus ended also the eighty and seventh year of the reign of the judges, the more part of the people remaining in their pride and wickedness, and the lesser part walking more circumspectly before God." (Helaman 16:10) You may wonder why this verse of all verses affected me but my immediate thought was: "Be the lesser part!"

 It is fairly easy to live a righteous, honest life if all those around you are also living in this way, but how much harder is it to live righteously when you are in the minority or "the lesser part"? Our beloved Prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, gave a talk discussing this topic entitled "Dare to Stand Alone." In this address he states:

"As we go about living from day to day, it is almost inevitable that our faith will be challenged. We may at times find ourselves surrounded by others and yet standing in the minority or even standing alone concerning what is acceptable and what is not. Do we have the moral courage to stand firm for our beliefs, even if by so doing we must stand alone?"

That question really makes me think: "Do I have the moral courage to stand alone?" "Do I have the strength?" When I have pondered more on this topic the thought that has occurred to me over and over is that even when I feel like I am standing alone, I am never, ever alone. My Savior is always standing next to me, strengthening and uplifting me. This makes it possible for me to stand up for my beliefs even when I may appear to be standing alone. President Monson continues in his talk to give us ways that we can gain the courage necessary to stand alone: 

"In order for us to be strong and to withstand all the forces pulling us in the wrong direction or all the voices encouraging us to take the wrong path, we must have our own testimony. Whether you are 12 or 112—or anywhere in between—you can know for yourself that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Read the Book of Mormon. Ponder its teachings. Ask Heavenly Father if it is true. We have the promise that 'if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.' "

In order to stand alone we must know and believe in what we are standing for. I know that as we each take the time to develop our own testimony in the Savior and His Gospel we will develop that strength and moral courage to be "the lesser part" and stand tall WITH our Savior for what we know to be true.

"Come, follow me"

One year when I was about 14 years old and my older sister, Kaylin, was about 17, her, I, and my parents were on a hike. Kaylin and I, being teenagers, had no desire to hike with our parents so we pulled back a little ways behind them so we could have our own conversation. As we were walking we noticed we were following almost exactly in our parents footprints. We began to laugh as we pointed out that we could just hear some old church leader using that experience as a way to teach a gospel principle. We joked about how some of those leaders always seemed to find gospel principles and thoughts using the smallest things in everyday life, and we then proceeded to figure out what they might say to share this thought on following exactly in your parents footprints. I don't remember exactly what we planned out for this dynamic talk but I'm sure it was very spiritual. But, as I can't remember what Kaylin and I came up with, I thought I'd share some thoughts I've had on my own about this gospel application and hope she'll forgive my memory and the fact that I'm turning into one of those old church leaders myself..not in age or leadership role but in applying the gospel to obscure situations.

Whose footprints do you follow in? Whose footprints would you like to follow in?

I would like to focus on the second question: "Whose footprints would you like to follow in?" There are many great answers to this question. The example of the parents footprints that originally spurred this idea can be a very good one. If you have good, faithful parents who love and teach gospel principles then following in their footprints is an excellent idea. Also, following in the footprints of older siblings, or church leaders (yes, even old ones) can be very uplifting. But I'd venture to say the very BEST footprints we could follow in are our Savior, Jesus Christ's. "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12) We are promised as we follow the Savior that we will have the light of life. Because the Savior lead a perfect life, as we do our very best to follow in His footsteps we will be able to free ourselves from sin and worldly sorrow. No, we will not be perfect. Yes, we will make mistakes. But as we strive more and more every day to follow in His footsteps we WILL find more joy and strength. We will be kept from much heartache and we will be able to move forward with faith.

 Come Follow Me

(vs.1)
"Come, Follow me," The Savior said.
Then let us in his footsteps tread,
For thus alone can we be one
With God's own loved, begotten son
(vs. 2)
"Come, follow me," a simple phrase,
Yet truths sublime effulgent rays
Are in these simple words combined
To urge, inspire the human mind.
(vs. 5)
We must the onward path pursue
As wider fields expand the view,
And follow him unceasingly,
Whate'er our lot or sphere may be
(vs. 6)
For thrones, dominions, kingdoms, pow'rs,
And glory great and bliss are ours,
If we, throughout eternity,
Obey his words, "Come, follow me."