let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer... for the welfare of those around you

This morning I have taken time to refocus my efforts to fulfill my home teaching. It makes me sad that I have not done very well, especially during this holiday season. The thing that really hurt me is that I don't even know what my home teaching families need me to pray for.

let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you. (Alma 34:27)

My heart reaches out to those I have been asked to support, but my hands have failed to open the door.

...and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people,and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life— 

Now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him,that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you? (Mosiah 18: 8-10)

 Let us all open the door so the He may "pour out his Spirit more abundantly".  I know that He will.

I leave my testimony and repentance with you in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

August - The Savior's Call to Serve

In this months First Presidency Message President Monson shares some of his insights into church service.  He opens by suggesting that the one thing that we all have in common is the call to serve.  He  poses some questions to help us examine ourselves:

"Are you ever guilty of murmuring when a calling comes to you?  Or do you accept with thanksgiving each opportunity to serve your brothers and sisters, knowing that our Heavenly Father will bless those whom He calls?"

Throughout the rest of his message he shares examples of one who served the wrong master; he uses President John Taylor's words to show the danger of not serving, and ultimately reminding us of the Savior's many acts of service: 

"He brought strength to the limbs of the cripple, sight to the eyes of the blind, hearing to the ears of the deaf, and life to the body of the dead."

As I look back at my opportunities to serve I see some difficult or frustrating experiences and some times where the joy and growth has been immediate and exhilarating.  The one thing that I am certain of is that, if I allow myself to, I will be a better person and find new joys in those that I serve.

I leave you with my testimony that service is an opportunity to reap joy and President Monson's words:

"God bless us to find joy in serving our Father in Heaven as we serve His children on earth."

...in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

July 2012 - Always in the Middle

This month president Uchtdorf shares a perspective on beginnings, endings, and particularly what comes between.  He notes that: "...the beginnings and endings of things are celebrated and remembered..." and that, "... the middle of things often goes unnoticed.", but he asks us to focus on the stuff in the middle:

"...with the proper outlook, considering ourselves as in the middle of things can help us not only to understand life a little better but also to live it a little more meaningfully."

 President Uchtdorf notes that missionaries often loose perspective feeling "..too inexperienced to be effective...", or they dwell on the impending end of their missions.

He shares with us an experience the help him to see the value of the middle.

"Recently I felt impressed to redo the headstone on my parents’ grave.  Time had not been kind to the grave site, and I felt that a new headstone would be more fitting for their exemplary lives. When I looked at the birth dates and death dates on the headstone connected by the usual insignificant little dash, this small symbol of a lifespan suddenly filled my mind and heart with an abundance of rich memories. Each of these treasured memories reflects a moment in the middle of my parents’ lives and in the middle of my life."

Beginnings and endings represent important notations in my life, and I like to celebrate the good ones, but it truly is in the middle of such milestones that I have found the greatest joy.  And the Lord has often reminded us that this is true.

“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we [should] rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). 

“..this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors” (Alma 34:32; emphasis added). 

“Forever—is composed of Nows.”

I would like to add my testimony to president Uchtdorf's that today is where our joy is created and treasured.  As we savor today we will have hope and joy in our lives.

"Being always in the middle means that the game is never over, hope is never lost, defeat is never final. For no matter where we are or what our circumstances, an eternity of beginnings and an eternity of endings stretch out before us." 

"We are always in the middle."

To Some Out of Town Friends

I hope all is well an you are having a great time. I regret that I haven't been able to get over to your house this month, but I wanted to send you a note anyway. I feel the Spirit prompting me to remind you of a promise made President Eyring in this months Ensign. The message was "Faithful Friends", and talked about Jesus' friends and how we can can be a friend to him by being a friend to others.

"In the next few days you will have many opportunities to be a friend for Him. It may be as you walk on a dusty road. It may be as you sit down in a railroad car. It may be as you look for a place to sit in a Church congregation. If you are watching, you will see someone carrying a heavy burden. It may be a burden of sorrow or loneliness or resentment. It may be visible to you only if you have prayed for the Spirit to give you eyes to see into hearts and have promised to lift up the hands that hang down." (Ensign July 2010)

I pray for the Spirit to bless you all with joy and bring you back safely.

Single Mother

There once was a young mother with great hopes of the future of her family. It so happened that one day her husband disappeared without a trace. After a time the young mother came to realize that her husband may not ever come back, and that she could not live forever just waiting for something that might not happen.

It turned out that a grumpy old man allowed her and her children to live with him in his house. She was grateful for a house to live in, and although she knew that any day he could ask her to leave, she lived each day grateful for another day that she and her children could maintain that small stability in their lives.

This young mother felt a deep sense of loss with her husband gone, and often found herself fighting feelings of anger, depression, and abandonment. She yearned deeply to have the companionship of a husband, but knew that until the fate of her husband was determined she would have to live in the strange limo that her life had become.

As this young mother struggled through her daily life, she made consistent efforts to let the grumpy old man know how much she appreciated what he was doing for her family. He never responded to her notes and gratitude, but she knew that if she did not constantly remind herself of the many blessing she had that she would fall into life of misery and frustration and her heart would turn cold.

Now this grumpy old man was quite generous in some ways, but still it was difficult to cope with his constant grumpiness, and heartless comments. There were times that he would give the children rides to places they needed to go. He would sometimes actually play with the children until he got bored or distracted, and occasionally he would let the young mother sit with him in the TV room and distract herself with movie or a TV show.

One time the grumpy old man sent the young mother and her children on a 'vacation' as he called it. So for an entire week the young mother and her children lounged and played while the grumpy old man went about his work, and even made his own meals. While she was relaxing, this young mother found herself slipping back into the sorrows of loosing her husband, and for a time was completely overcome with bitterness and anger; she even found herself angry at God for allowing her life to happen as it had. She realized, though, that she could either let her heart turn cold, or fight off the negative feelings with gratitude and love for what she did have in her life.

Today this young mother still doesn't know what happened to her husband, and wishes for a resolution. But she has become a great strength to, and a buoyant light of optimism, for those around her. She has no money to help others, and often not enough for herself, but she has found many ways to let other people know that they are not alone, and that they are loved. And as she has done this she has found that the love has poured into her life. She loves the Lord and hopes one day that He will make her life whole again.

Priesthood Session

There are two talks that really stood out to me. The first one and the last one.

The first one was about priesthood blessings. I think it was Elder Oaks. It seemed to be a direct and very clear answer to questions about blessings. He talked about the essential elements of a blessing such as authority, the words of the blessing, the will of the Lord and faith. He also explained why the words sometimes are not reflected in the outcomes, and why that is. He said basically that the mortal weaknesses and frailties of the priesthood holder giving the blessing can sometimes be reflected in the words of a blessing diverging from the will of the Lord. When that happens the will of the Lord is what is seen in the results. He also talked about how faith is required to bring the will of the Lord into effect. This is a great talk for anyone with questions about priesthood blessings.

The last talk was by President Monson. He talked about a number of things, but I remember that he discussed music and how by its beat and rhythm it can dull the spiritual sensitivity of the listener. He also talked about how the Lord will never allow us to face a temptation without a way to escape it. A masterful talk full of small FHE topics.

Transoculoperspectorecon (To learn by seeing through a different perspective)

I have been teaching 4 and 5 year olds in primary for about 5 months now. It is not the first time that I have taught young children in order to fulfill a calling, but I gained a new perspective over the last couple weeks. You see, at the age of 4 children are still mostly untainted from the sorrows and prejudices of the world, but they are beginning to understand things of eternal consequence. They can be the cutest little teddy bears, or the cruelest little monsters, but they do it with the purest of honesty.

Well it happens that most of these children need to have a parent intervene with them at some time or another. I have watched the interactions, brief as they are, of the children and their parents, and I have noticed myself wanting to soften the hands of the parents. I want to slow them down and show them how cute and precious their children are. It's not that they are treating them mean, or unfair, or anything like that. It's just that the parents seem skeptical or resistant to the absolute cuteness of their children.

With this floating around in my head, I have thought about my interactions with my children. I have noticed that in our yearly family photos my kids come though as just the cutest little things. But I have also noticed that in the day to day life I often fail to see the absolute cuteness that they project. I also began to see that I am like the parents that I observe in primary. It seems so hard generally for parents, and myself included, to see the simple cuteness that is right in front of us.

So why is it so much easier to see the cuteness in other children?

I would like to propose that the answer is pretty simple, and by seeing the answer maybe I can become better, and you are welcome to come along.

I think that we as parents feel a powerful responsibility to teach their children, and we should. But we spend so much effort trying to catch and correct every bad or incorrect thing that we forget to have faith and let the perfect parent, our Father in Heaven be involved too. I wonder how much greater it will be if I can think of our perfect parent's involvement every time I teach or correct my children. And with a little further effort recognize and treasure the daily cutenesses of my children.