I love this truth! I am so grateful that Heavenly Father doesn't leave us alone on the earth. I am so grateful for the gift of the Holy Ghost and the peace that I felt as I watched this, and the strength that it is to my testimony every time I hear the words of God.
8.31.2010
8.19.2010
Nourishment
I am pregnant again! Because of this wonderful blessing, I am constantly reminded of the need my physical body has for nourishment, and with a little one growing inside me, the need for nourishment is greatly increased, and cannot be ignored:) I was thinking about this tonight as I was feeling ravenously hungry (after eating just 2 hours earlier)....and then I thought about my need for spiritual nourishment. Just as my physical body needs more nourishment when I am feeding and growing a baby, I believe that my spirit needs more nourishment because I am a mother. It is my job to nurture my children and my husband, and to provide an environment where they can be spiritually nourished daily, by the Spirit of the Lord. In order to do this most important work, my own spirit must be fed constantly throughout the day.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke about spiritual nourishment- what it is and how we obtain it.
He said, "God reveals Himself and His eternal truths- the spiritual food that the scriptures call the bread of life and the living water- to those who seek, who serve, who keep His commandments, and who wait and listen in humility for His teaching. Study and reason are appropriate to begin this process, but "the things of God cannot be learned solely by study and reason. Despite their essential and beneficial uses, the methods of study and reason are insufficient as ways of approaching God and understand the doctrines of His gospel. We cannot come to know the things of God while rejecting or failing to use the indispensable method God has prescribed to learn these things. The things of God must be learned in His own way, through faith in God and revelation from the Holy Ghost." (Dallin H. Oaks, Nourishing the Spirit [1996])
He goes on to emphasize just how important the role of a parent is in helping their children to be spiritually nourished. "Among the most important things parents can do for their children is to provide them with worthy examples and with opportunities for personal religious experiences. Statistical studies of Church members in North America show that the example of parents is the most important single factor in shaping the behavior and beliefs of youth. These studies also show that family experiences are the strongest methods of affecting religious behavior- clearly exceeding the effect of Church activities."
I am so grateful for the organization of the Church that guides me on how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For He is the Living Water and the Bread of Life, and it is only through Him that our spirits can be filled and renewed every day. I am grateful to be a woman and for how Heavenly Father reaches out to me and teaches me so lovingly and personally through my every day responsibilities.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke about spiritual nourishment- what it is and how we obtain it.
He said, "God reveals Himself and His eternal truths- the spiritual food that the scriptures call the bread of life and the living water- to those who seek, who serve, who keep His commandments, and who wait and listen in humility for His teaching. Study and reason are appropriate to begin this process, but "the things of God cannot be learned solely by study and reason. Despite their essential and beneficial uses, the methods of study and reason are insufficient as ways of approaching God and understand the doctrines of His gospel. We cannot come to know the things of God while rejecting or failing to use the indispensable method God has prescribed to learn these things. The things of God must be learned in His own way, through faith in God and revelation from the Holy Ghost." (Dallin H. Oaks, Nourishing the Spirit [1996])
He goes on to emphasize just how important the role of a parent is in helping their children to be spiritually nourished. "Among the most important things parents can do for their children is to provide them with worthy examples and with opportunities for personal religious experiences. Statistical studies of Church members in North America show that the example of parents is the most important single factor in shaping the behavior and beliefs of youth. These studies also show that family experiences are the strongest methods of affecting religious behavior- clearly exceeding the effect of Church activities."
I am so grateful for the organization of the Church that guides me on how to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. For He is the Living Water and the Bread of Life, and it is only through Him that our spirits can be filled and renewed every day. I am grateful to be a woman and for how Heavenly Father reaches out to me and teaches me so lovingly and personally through my every day responsibilities.
8.05.2010
New Treasure
My parents told me about the mormon channel, which is an LDS radio station. It has a really neat program called 'Conversations' which are interviews with prominent LDS figures such as members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and their wives. The most recent one was a conversation with Julie Beck and her daughters. I had the opportunity to listen to it throughout my day today and was totally inspired! I LOVE Julie Beck and her example and testimony and how her love of being a woman strengthens me. It was so neat to hear her daughters thoughts on how their lives have been influenced by their mother, as well as their grandmother. You should totally find the time to listen to it...(even if you have to keep pausing it and listening in segments because of the welcomed distractions of children etc.)
I can't quote her exactly, but I wanted to share some of her thoughts that inspired me.
She was talking about what it means to have a mother heart. She said having a mother heart is when a woman understands her identity and rejoices in being a mother. She said when we are exalted, it is the title of mother that we will hold. Eve was named the mother of all living before she ever bore a child. Every woman, whether she can bear children in this life or not, is destined to be a mother.
Her daughter said one of the things she learned from her mother and grandmother was this..."Mothers are that they might have joy!" I love that! It reminds me of a quote by President Hinckley who said, "Life is to be enjoyed, not endured." I think that goes for motherhood as well. It is to be enjoyed, not endured. Although some days require endurance and are just plain hard, if we rejoice in our divine role, the Lord will show us all of the many things that we can delight in and ENJOY! I love it!
Go to the mormon channel and listen to it! I am so grateful for the example of righteous women. I am so grateful to be part of the Relief Society organization where women can unite together in our divine purpose. What a wonderful time to be alive!
8.03.2010
The Tongue of Angels
I have been thinking a lot about words lately...mainly because I have been realizing that I say a lot of things that don't need to be said. I kept thinking about Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk from conference a few years back entitled "The Tongue of Angels". I have been studying it and really trying to follow the counsel that he gives in it. He quotes one of my favorite scriptures from the book of James who tells us of a way where we can become perfect.
"Said James: "For in many things we offend all. [But] if any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. Continuing the imagery of the bridle, he writes: "Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also...ships, which though they be...great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm."
Then James makes his point: "The tongue is [also] a little member. ...[But] behold, how great a [forest] a little fire [can burn].
"...So is the tongue [a fire] among our member, ...it defileth the whole body, ...it is set on fire of hell.
"For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, ...hath been tamed of mankind:
"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
"Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
"Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be."
Elder Holland continues, "Is this something we could all work on just a little? Is this an area in which we could each try to be a little more like a "perfect" man of woman?" Then Elder Holland speaks specifically to us women. He says, "Wives, what of the unbridled tongue in your mouth, of the power for good or ill in your words? How is it that such a lovely voice which by divine nature is so angelic, so close to the veil, so instinctively gentle and inherently kind could ever in a turn be so shrill, so biting, so acrid and untamed? A woman's words can be more piercing than any dagger ever forged, and they can drive the people they love to retreat beyond a barrier more distant than anyone in the beginning of that exchange could ever have imagined. Sisters, there is no place in that magnificent spirit of yours for acerbic or abrasive expression of any kind, including gossip or backbiting or catty remarks. Let it never be said of our home or our ward or our neighborhood that "the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity...[burning] among our members."
Well, these words are very humbling to me. I never want my words to be offensive in any manner. I am so grateful for these words from our Heavenly Father spoken through one of His apostles on the earth.
You can read the entire message from Elder Holland by following this link
Or you can watch his message by following this link (sorry, I don't know how to make the link into one word, it's kind of messy looking:)
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