Savior of the World

Here I go again, with another resolve to write on this blog.

In January, I was asked to direct a local production of {Savior of the World}. I had 12 weeks to put together the show; anyone who has been part of a production knows that’s not a lot of time. Plus, I broke my toe in the middle of production. I had plenty of opportunities to be frazzled and break down, however, every time I felt about to hit that point, I would feel a calm reassurance that everything would work out. I knew that was from the Lord. There were times that the only thing keeping me going was this blessing; because I only saw the big picture with my mortal eyes, He saw what our potential was and kept me moving.

From the beginning, my focus was meant to be on Jesus Christ, after all, it was a play about His Resurrection. So, every time, any one of us got together we’d say a prayer and have devotional. I can testify of the power of the Spirit in this production. I can’t begin to number the times where myself or someone else in the production felt the guidance of the Spirit. We came together, as a group, and became a family; a family one with our Lord and Savior. I know this came from inviting the Spirit through prayer and focusing our minds to who we were representing, our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Another big decision was to take the performance area off the ‘stage’ and put it in the audience; it’s called ‘Intimate Theatre.’ I felt, and the Spirit confirmed, this was the best way for an audience to take the world away and focus completely on their feelings toward the Savior. And focusing on their feelings came from the characters in the play. Through the characters’ own personal journeys to the Savior, our audience was able to, hopefully, gain a deeper appreciation for these people who had a first-hand witness to the reality of the Savior’s resurrection and deepen their own. This was my goal… for all of us involved to REMEMBER HIM and I saw that in the audience reaction on performance nights.

Everyone involved worked tremendously hard on this performance and it was because of our individual connections to the Savior. I felt of His love and understanding for us; we wanted to invite others to come unto Him, so He was with us. He knew of our little production and what we were trying to accomplish. During production I kept repeating, ‘if one person involved (cast, crew, audience) draws closer to Christ because of the production, then we did our job.’ I know we did our job because I’ve drawn closer to Him (and I know others did too because they told me), and for that I’ll look back on this experience and be forever grateful.

Kids and Christmas

I've been trying to figure out what I want to do with this blog. I stopped posting, honestly, because everyone else did. But, it doesn't mean that I haven't had Spiritual experiences since September. I've been feeling as though I still need to do something like this, the missionaries even challenge my husband and I to get out there, spiritually, on the web. I told them I used to write weekly on a Spiritual blog and then I realized how much I missed writing my experiences down. Sheesh! Leave it to the missionaries to remind me of a Spiritual purpose! :)

Anywho, I watched this today and it sums up the wonder of the Christmas season. I love this time of year when we can openly discuss the Savior and His role in the Plan of Happiness. I also love the pure, simple testimonies of these children. It's no wonder that we are encouraged to be like a little child.

18 Random Rules

My MIL sent these to me a LONG time ago, and I've been wanting to share them:

Eighteen Random Rules of Life - Michael Josephson

I love maxims, those concise capsules of worldly wisdom. I collect them
and write them and, of course, love to share them. Here are 18 random
rules of life worth posting on your mirror or, better yet, using as
dinner-time discussion starters.

1. Find the lesson in every failure and you'll never fail.
2. The likelihood that you're right is not increased by the intensity
of your conviction.
3. Real friends help you feel worthy and make you want to be better.
4. When you're in a hole, stop digging.
5. Don't confuse fun with fulfillment or pleasure with happiness.
6. Refusing to let go of a grudge is refusing to use the key that will
set you free.
7. Hating hurts you more than the person you hate.
8. Counting on luck is counting on random chance. Your odds are much
better when you plan and work.
9. Being kind is better than being clever.
10. Don't underestimate the power of persistence.
11. The easy way is rarely the best way.
12. It's much easier to burst someone else's bubble than to blow up your
own.
13. You can't avoid pain, but you can avoid suffering.
14. Self-pity is a losing strategy. It repels others and weakens you.
15. Shortcuts usually produce short success.
16. Control your attitude or it will control you.
17. It's more important to be significant than successful.
18. The world is waiting for you to heal it.

I haven't shared this yet, because I really wasn't sure how to connect it with nurturing our spiritual growth. What I've realized, with this email sitting in my inbox, is ALL of these 'rules' can apply to our spirituality and the gospel. What it all boils down to is trying to be a little more like Jesus Christ each day. Each one gets us to be a better version of ourselves---which is one step closer to Him who we should follow.

He is our ultimate example--- our 'rule of life.'

A Little Taste of Job

I posted this yesterday on our family blog and thought I should share with y'all.

These past couple weeks have been dooseys. I've had a few health problems which all collided this week making it Job-worthy (at least to me). So here's the back story:

Problem 1---My knees.. and NECK? Go figure. I've always had bad knees; chalk it up to the genes (my mom and aunt both had knee surgery growing up). It really hasn't been a big deal; I get an occasional ache here or there and then it passes. Well, back in March my left knee started clicking when I went upstairs. I didn't think it was a big deal, until it started hurting. So, I scheduled an appointment with a Chiropractor. While I was there I mentioned a constant neck pain that I have; again I didn't think anything of it. They took x-rays of my knees and neck and found bone spurs in my knees and severe whiplash in my neck (FYI: never go on the Boomerang ride at Seven Peaks in Provo, UT---that's when I got my whiplash). WHAT? So much for being minor things; my chiropractor was more worried about my neck, so I currently go to the chiropractor once every two weeks because, frankly, that's all we can afford.

Since she didn't really do anything about my knees, I took that problem to our family practice doctor. I ended up getting MRIs around both knees. It showed no bone spurs (whew) but some kind of problem with both my meniscus and one ACL and it also showed the beginning stages of arthritis----great.... So he referred me to Physical Therapy. I've actually enjoyed it a lot; I've learned exercises to do at home and I'm in my last couple of weeks (good thing because we're going to Seattle next week...wow...next week...). The clicking is now occasional and I hope it goes bye-bye soon.

Problem 2----umm...well... I won't go into great detail with this one but I've had more issues with Annabelle, feeding her and clogging. For a couple of months I got into the pattern of getting a clot or two a week, thinking about calling my OBGYN and then the next day it'd go away. Finally, a couple weeks ago, I gave in and called her office. They wanted to see me IMMEDIATELY--- so after begging my amazing neighbor/friend to watch Jared for a couple more hours (thanks again) Belle and I were off to see the doctor. She took one look at me and said, yeah, you have an infection, but they took a sample just to be safe. A week later, just after finishing my first round of medications, her office calls and says the culture came back resistant to the medication I just finished so they are prescribing me a stronger one... great.... unfortunately... that leads to problem three... we think...

Problem 3----REALLY? In the middle of problem two, I get a weird leg rash. So I go to my dermatologist and he gives me more medications---- Yikes! That goes away after applying my meds for a day, so I stop, which is what he told me to do. This past Saturday, after romping around in a grass field for family pictures (stay tuned for those) I noticed at home, that I had a small allergic reaction around my armpits, so I take a benadryl and think nothing of it--- until it wakes me up in the middle of the night because I'm itching subconsciously. Sunday morning, it was bad, luckily I was able to cover it up for church and hope it didn't get worse. Greg and a friend gave me a blessing and it was the first thing that really helped all day. I felt like it would get better, and it did, before it got worse. By night fall, I had it on my legs too....and by the next morning it got larger on my arms and on my torso.

Nothing really helped the burning itching pain and it never went away. So, yesterday, I went back to the dermatologist. He determined that I'm having a reaction to my stronger antibiotic that I stared taking a couple days before the rash appeared. So, he gives me something to stop the reaction and tells me to stop taking the medicine. I call my OBGYN to get the okay to take my new medication while feeding Belle, and she gives me a new one for my infection---one that I'm not allergic to *crosses fingers*.

Mostly I'm typing this up because I want to document what I've been going through the past couple of months. I'm not doing it to complain (okay, maybe a little). I've had a hard time trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be learning from all of this, because I found myself thinking 'one of these things I can handle, but all of this, come ON!' I started to understand, even in the smallest form what Job had to have been feeling when trial after trial came his way. After starting to throw a pity party, I always found myself coming back to the Savior; it didn't help at all that our lesson was all about the Atonement.

Yeah, I've had worse pain. Ovarian cyst---worse. Labor--- WAY worse. But, in that moment I felt helpless because nothing was helping. Until I remembered the One person who's felt it all. Not only does he know exactly what physical pain I've been through, but also the emotional trials along with it. He can take it away. Yesterday, when I was having issues with all of this, I got I church gem in my inbox titled: "severe trials, supreme blessings" My first thought was, what? really? It was from President Uchtdorf's talk from last priesthood session. He was talking about the Kirtland era of Church History and how it was a time of great trial but also great blessings, he then said: " 'Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me' (D&C 88:63). As the Saints of Kirtland drew near unto the Lord, He truly did draw near unto them, pouring out the blessings of heaven upon the heads of the faithful."

Of course, the emotional basket case that I am, I cried as soon as I read that and said, 'message received.' I'll do my best, even though it may seem small, because I know I can get through what this life brings with my family, my faith, and the Lord by my side.

Spiritual Application!

I absolutely love fifth Sunday lessons; I love being able to having another testimony of the Bishopric. Since we had family in town, I was able to take notes and delve into the topic.

A few months ago, all of the regional leaders in our area had a training with Elder Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Our Bishop was so touched by how it was done that he spoke to the youth a couple months ago (my husband works with them, so that's how I know) and then the adults this past Sunday.

We were asked to come to the meeting with questions about our multiple stewardships, be they in the family or at church. And, not just any questions, but the type of questions that keep you up at night. He then stated: When a problem is present, there needs to be a reinforcement of doctrine or principles. Well, in order to reinforce we must first understand what doctrine and principles are.

Doctrine is truth revealed from heaven about eternal progression. It answers the why questions in life. Elder Bednar explained there are only 3 or 4 doctrines: Nature of the Godhead, Plan of Salvation, the Atonement and an unknown (it was implied that either E. Bednar was still trying to figure this one out or didn't want to give it away because it's meant for own discovery). These doctrine, eternal truths, set the foundation for everything else in the church and in life.

Principles then are guidelines for activity which grow out of doctrine. They answer the what? question; things like faith, obedience, repentance, everything in the scriptures, etc. Our Bishop reminded us not to get too rapped up in classification. The importance is in how we apply the doctrines and principles in our lives.

Applications of doctrine and principles are very personal and can change throughout time and circumstance. Applications cannot be taught by an every day mortal human being; they must be taught through the Holy Ghost through personal revelation. We use personal revelation to apply revealed principles like the Word of Wisdom, Sabbath Day, repentance, etc. in our lives and do so; but what may be good for one is not what was revealed to another.

Does this mean one is right and the other is wrong? I don't know, but what I do know if two trying-to-be righteous individuals are using the gift of the Holy Ghost to make right decisions, then they must both be right. The key there is we know if it's right for us by our own personal worthiness. We need to be worthy of the Holy Ghost in order to make decisions with his help.

What we can do is use our illustrations (experiences) of how personal applications of doctrine and principles work in our lives; which I think is exactly what we do with this blog! "I read this the other day," or "I was thinking about..." is usually how our posts begin. The spirit is talking to us; wanting us to share how it helped us because then we help each other. We try to grow closer to Christ, and each other, by sharing our own personal experiences of how we applied the gospel.

This whole hour was a big A-Ha! moment for me. The gospel is much simpler than we think. My husband wonderfully shared when the Bishop spoke to the youth, but I didn't write it down so I forgot. I remember how when he shared with me how I wanted to turn around and share it to my Spirituality sisters and everyone who would listen. I'm so grateful for inspired leaders who take their stewardship responsibility seriously and strive to spread the happiness around.

Let's never be afraid to share our 'secret weapon' because it's a something that helps us all.

In Memoriam

As it is Memorial Day, I was thinking about the soldiers and saints that have sacrificed their lives for the freedoms of their families, friends, neighbors, and strangers. I also thought about the example of our Savior Jesus Christ who led the way along that path and still strengthen those who are fighting for righteousness and humanity today.

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."--Helaman 5:12

Quick thought

I have been really tired lately because my son hasn't been sleeping very well. His teeth act like they want to come in and then they just don't. But I can tell that they hurt him because of the drool and the fingers in the mouth, the list goes on there. Sometimes days just seem to go by unnoticed, unappreciated for many of us. When we look back on these days and wonder how we got through them all, let us remember the poem,

"Footprints on the sand":

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.

This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”

The Lord replied,
“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you.”

A New Life!

This week has been a week full of wonder and love. Our baby boy was born this past Wednesday and we are in utter amazement at his sweet little life. We are grateful that he is healthy and here safe in our family. Today I wanted to share some thoughts from my husband about the birth. I was so touched by his perspective that I thought it would be wonderful to share with all of you. He said the following:

Spiritually speaking, there exists no better example of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and parallel suffering of our Heavenly Father. Meagan, in her beautiful own way, suffered selflessly for another who was powerless to help himself. I had to watch and reassure and love Meagan and baby as best as I could having no power to relieve their suffering. Heavenly Father, on the other hand, had all power to stop his Son's suffering and had to exercise Godly restraint to stay His almighty hand to allow Christ's sacrifice for us to be efficacious. In the end, Meagan was delivered victorious from her suffering, Bennett's deliverance was complete, and Meagan enabled a sparkling new soul to live a life full of joy in a way profoundly similar to what Christ has done for us.

I don't know if my words do the thought justice, but that's what I learned and I learned it in a more intense and beautiful way than I have ever before experienced. Welcome Bennett, we love you forever.

Now, meet baby Bennett:

Easter All Year Round

The past week leading up to Easter I have been pondering the Savior's life. At Easter time each year we get to re-focus our minds on our Savior and on the knowledge that He lives! I started to think to myself, "Why are we only focusing on the resurrection of Jesus Christ once a year at Easter?"

It is similar to Christmas. We get all jazzed up about the birth of Christ for about 1 month. People turn to service, treat each other more kindly, and emulate the Savior more fully. But once Christmas is over everyone goes back to their daily lives. So it is with Easter. We get excited to think about our Savior and how He died for us and broke the bands of death with His resurrection. But once Easter is over, we return to selfish thoughts and forget to be grateful for His sacrifice and the gift of eternal life which He has prepared for us if we choose to receive Him into our hearts and minds.

My challenge to all of us is that we continue to ponder about our Savior's life, sacrifice, and resurrection. He lives! We must turn our hearts to Him and follow Him in word and deed. We must be examples to those around us of Christlike love. We need to study His attributes and make them our own. Something I find useful to keeping my mind on the Savior is reading "The Living Christ." Print your own copy from the church website and read it AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. It is a wonderful reminder of our loving Savior who sacrificed His life for each of us.

I know that Christ lives. I know that He is our Savior. I know that if we follow Him we will gain exaltation and eternal life. I anxiously await His return to the Earth so that I may see Him once again. He is our loving brother and is always there when we need Him. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am ever grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who created such a wonderful plan for us to receive bodies and learn and grow here on the Earth. May we all stay on the path that leads to the presence of our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ!

He Lives

In finding the link for my post today, I came across this:

He Lives

I love Easter. I love Easter because I love my Savior--our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Abounding Love

Just a thought:

Let us lower our voices in our homes. Let love abound and find expression in our actions. May we walk the quiet ways of the Lord, and may prosperity crown our labors.

Gordon B. Hinckley, "An Humble and a Contrite Heart," Ensign, Nov. 2000, 89

It is so simple. Does our love for our family members guide the choices we make---or---the love of ourselves or the world? Do we do cook, clean and change poopy diapers because we have to or because we love and we want to serve our family members?

I notice a difference when I don't have the right attitude and since I'm the Mom it affects the whole house. I've learned---it starts with me. Since my kids are young, they feed off of my attitude. I would rather have my 21 month old mimic acts of love then frustration. I want to be the example that I mother should be. I want him (his sister and their Daddy) to know that everything I do is because I love them.

So--the question is---do I tell them and then show it in my service? Those days that I do are always much sweeter than the days that I don't. My goal is to show and tell them--every day, especially if I don't feel like it--- why I do what I do. I do what I do because of love. I do what I do because Christ first showed me (and us all) to serve---with love.

I sure hope it's love--because there's no other reason I'd touch poop.

Accountability

I feel increasingly drawn toward this value. I remember growing up in the church in Young Womens and reciting the value statement, "Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Choice and Accountability, Good works, and Integrity." (now virtue too!) There has been an unfortunately large use of the word, "free agency" in the church which really confuses people and leads them to less than effective thinking patterns. (such as "I can do whatever I want, ha ha")

My goal is everyday to think of being 100% accountable for my actions. Do I really want to answer to the Savior for this or that action/word/thought? What would I say if he asked me what I chose one thing over another? Goodness sakes, I don't want to feel embarrassed standing in front of a perfect being and feeling like I coulda/shoulda/woulda repented more often of whatever mistake I instead chose to keep repeating. Not only that but I want to choose to live like Christ would live if he were here today.

For each of us that represents various challenges. Because we all have unique strengths and weaknesses, it takes recognizing our own challenges and to refrain from judging others on the same path as us. Perhaps our strength is their weakness and what they need is a little understanding and guidance. In this case we need to do so lovingly.

We all can recognize the light of Christ within each other. We don't always see it in ourselves. Therefore I think we ought to tell each other about this light we see. Empowerment is the result of this type of encouragement. When I was really quite new to blogging I had a good example of someone who would always leave me nice, positive, and thoughtful comments.

This woman currently writes on this blog on Sundays. Because of her early example I decided that I wanted to be that person. I wanted to be the person who always made other people feel good by leaving them comments as often as I could. Occasionally I let myself get worked up over people who haven't left me any comments and think that they deserve not to have any comments. But really that is not what Christ would do. He would look far beyond his own need of love and see the needs of others - they need comments too.

That is just one example of encouragement, or charity, a Christlike attribute. There are so many others. Over the next couple of weeks I encourage my faithful bloggers to write about a Christlike attribute. Maybe it will be your strength, or a strength you see in someone else. I can't wait to read what all ya'll write about!

With love,
Trish

Be Thou An Example of the Believers

Yes, a video again. I will be so happy when my house is done and I can actually have time to breathe again. But for now, I have to take the easy way out and leave you with another video.

I weeped when I saw this video. Possibly because I know the girl, Brittany. She and I were very close special friends. Granted, I am ten years older than her, but she holds a special place in my heart. She is so kind and good and charitable. It did my heart good to see that so many other people love her as much as I do, and that they would go to such lengths to make her happy. When we do small things for others, it is amazing how it can effect them. I hope we can all learn from the example of these high school girls, and be a little more charitable, a little more Christlike.

Be Constant unto Me

I have always loved music; a lot of my spiritual memories are associated with certain songs. I know music has the power to touch our ancient spirits; awaken feelings we once had, but can't quite remember.

One of my favorite gospel-related song is the sacrament hymn titled, "Reverently and Meekly Now." I know I've sung this song for a long time but the lyrics didn't stick out to me until sitting in Choir during my Semester in Nauvoo. I'm going to do what our choir director did: I want you to take a moment to listen to this beautiful guitar rendition and read the lyrics. In particular, pay attention to who is saying these words:

Rev’rently and meekly now,
Let thy head most humbly bow.
Think of me, thou ransomed one;
Think what I for thee have done.
With my blood that dripped like rain,
Sweat in agony of pain,
With my body on the tree
I have ransomed even thee.

In this bread now blest for thee,
Emblem of my body see;
In this water or this wine,
Emblem of my blood divine.
Oh, remember what was done
That the sinner might be won.
On the cross of Calvary
I have suffered death for thee.

Bid thine heart all strife to cease;
With thy brethren be at peace.
Oh, forgive as thou wouldst be
E’en forgiven now by me.
In the solemn faith of prayer
Cast upon me all thy care,
And my Spirit’s grace shall be
Like a fountain unto thee.

At the throne I intercede;
For thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as thy friend,
With a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore,
Prayerful, watchful evermore,
And be constant unto me,
That thy Savior I may be.

What is so special about this song is how it is written from the Savior's viewpoint. We listen to Him, He who died for ALL our sins, plead to be obedient and remember Him as we partake of the sacrament. How wonderful it is to be reminded every week of the covenants we've made to be like Him! We are reminded of His amazing sacrifice, all because He loves us---'with a love that cannot end.'

I think of this hymn every time I take the sacrament and wonder if I'm doing enough. Does He know how grateful I am for Him and His love for me? Does He know that I hurt every time I sin because I just did another thing to make his suffering increase a little bit? Does He know how much comfort I get from knowing He truly knows how I feel?

Because of this song, and other manifestions, I know He knows me. I know He loves me and He loves you. I know He blesses me, even when I don't consider it a blessing. I know through His marvelous atonement we have the opportunity to repent and correct ourselves to walk in his ways and be constant unto Him. For that, and more, I'm grateful for OUR Savior.

Compensated for Every Tear

I am truly amazed at the resiliency of the human spirit. It is unbelievable how much pain one person can endure and still survive it somehow- that our bodies don't explode under all the pressure of it is truly miraculous.

I have heard the quote "you're stronger than you think you are", and this week I gained a personal testimony that it is true for every one of us. We really can deal with ANYTHING in this life, and still Christ endured more. And he didn't break under the pressure of it. His strength gives us the power to overcome our hardships without breaking too.

Every time I think I've reached my limit of what I can bear, I realize that I really am strong enough to bear whatever things I encounter in life, because God doesn't give us more than we can bear. If it WAS more than I could bear, what would I expect to happen to anyway? Even if I passed out from the stress, I would still be normal again eventually and will have passed through it.

I just feel so empowered by the Savior's atonement for me, and the knowledge that there really isn't anything I CAN'T bear with Him. Because everything "comes to pass" and eventually, I have passed through it, and I'm okay again.

I love the scriptures Joseph Smith wrote during his stay in Liberty jail under those awful circumstances. He offers up a pleading prayer to Heavenly Father, asking him "Where art thou??" And Heavenly Father's response is so kind and gentle, and reassuring. "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou enure it well, God shall exalt thee on high." Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8

I felt this the other night when my heart was heavy with some of the devastating news I've been dealing with for the past little while- I felt the Savior's reassurance that He understands, and that He is anxious to wipe away my tears and gather me into His arms when this life of pain and hardship is over.

If you haven't read "Come What May and Love it"- it was the last conference talk given by Elder Wirthlin before he died, Nov 2008 Ensign, and I highly suggest reading it again. My favorite quote from that talk is: "The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude."

And that concept that we will be blessed even for enduring hard things is beautiful to me.

God Has Given Me...

Um...I don't even know where to begin after reading those last two posts...

Monday we received some very bad news. As my husband put it, "our little angel was not meant to come to earth at this time." It's been very hard to start out the week as a soon-to-be mama and to end it as a woman who had a miscarriage.

But I am so grateful for the lists of awesome things that God has done for my husband and I that I shared with you last week. Although I am filled with all kinds of anger and sadness right now, I still know that God is fighting for me. Nate and I have such great family, friends and workplaces that have been supportive and understanding at such an awful time. And although my prayers have been mostly tears this week, God has seen each and every one of them and is providing a way to wipe them all away.

If there were anyone who would know the pain of losing a loved one, it would be our loving Heavenly Father. He so loved the world He gave the world His Only Begotten Son that we might have eternal lives. He suffered loss so that in the eternities, we would never have to fully suffer it ourselves. I understand that sacrifice know more than ever now and I am eternally grateful for it.

The Reason for the Season

I have been typing away for a while at this computer, and cannot get my thoughts to make sense in the written form, so though I would like to expound much more, I cannot. My thoughts have been regarding Mary the mother of Jesus. After each miracle she experienced or witnessed she held the experience close and pondered it in her heart. Every time I read that it floors me. And this is where I can't make any sense except in my own mind.

So, I would like to share with you instead something a dear friend of mine taught me last night. Malinda (my friend) was getting ready to teach her Gospel Principles class when she came across the question "what does repentance mean to you?" and she began thinking of that. Really, what did it mean to her.

I am not going to go into her experience much (if you would like to read it, go here) but I am going to share her scriptural thought. When the angels appeared the night the Savior was born
they declared they brought good tidings of great joy. She said that the glad tidings is the Gospel of Jesus Christ... the Good News. And the gospel is the Atonement of Christ. It's the fact that we can return to live with Him and our Father. And the Great Joy is Repentance. Because it is only through repentance that we can become clean. What a wonderful thought. A few years back I had the epiphany that the only reason we do celebrate Christmas is because of the Atonement. Without it, nothing would matter. There would be no reason for this season. How grateful I am for that.

And now, I leave you with a wonderful Christmas video Tricia emailed me. We thought that everyone would enjoy it. Merry Christmas and I hope the Spirit of Christ was with you all day, and can continue to be with you throughout your lives.

A Light Unto All

The church has a page all about Christmas; I wish I would have found it earlier in the month, but at least I can potentially use some of the ideas in the next few days and the upcoming years.

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Real Gift of Christmas

I'm posting this video because I thought it went really well with my topic from last week.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

A Gift for Christ

Today I want to share a family tradition from my husband's family. Each year at Christmas they have what is called the "Jesus Stocking." Every person sits down and writes a Christmas letter to Christ, including a gift that they will give to Christ that year for Christmas. Then everyone puts their letter into the stocking on Christmas Eve. It is very similar to a New Year's Resolution, except it is something that we are going to do for Christ through out the next year.

At the Christmas season we shop and search for the perfect gift for our family members, our friends, and our neighbors, but we never stop to think about giving a gift to our Savior. The whole reason we celebrate Christmas is because of Christ. It is important to remember that we are celebrating the birth of the Savior of the World. Without His perfect life and His sacrifice we would have no need to celebrate His birth. What better gift could be given than to serve one another and follow in Christ's footsteps?

So this year I want you all to sit down and think of a gift that you can give to the Savior. After all, we give gifts to those we love and we love Christ! It can be a random act of kindness for a stranger. It can be inviting someone to church. It can be reading more about the Savior's life while he was on the Earth. It can be anything you think a disciple of Christ might do. I know that if you do this you will feel the true spirit of Christmas.

PS: Check out the First Presidency Christmas Devotional that aired tonight. Here's the link.