Love with all your Heart: Plain and Simple

Dear Sisters,

We are seeing every day more and more hate among our fellow Americans. At one point, I was worried about terrorists harming us, but they don't have to do anything, because we are destroying each other with violent acts of hate.

I have asked myself so many times, "What can I do to help build the kingdom of God among people that are filled with anger and frustration, so much so that they think the only way to deal with things is to take the lives of others".

Here is the problem, as I see it, righteous women are not doing enough, plain and simple. I hear the voices of those who feel offended, and those who think they are have every right to say, do and take what ever they want. I don't hear Christian women standing up for what they know is right. An example; it is not hateful to fight for our privacy from the other sex in public bathrooms. We have to protect our children and ourselves. What is is more important protecting our children or giving anyone the option of using any bathroom they feel they want to use? There has to be another way, but it's not going to happen unless we stand up for what we know is right. Our side needs to be heard, but we have to do it in a way that is not hateful.

I have no issue with any person in this world, as long as they don't harm others. They can live whatever way they want, but if they ask me or include me in a conversation, I will stand for God's way and tell them their choices are not right in the sight of God and his people. But I will never make them feel like they are less than a child of God.

I have been praying lately to be more loving, of all people. It's not easy because I have lived a life time of certain ideals and beliefs. But I have found my lifetime has made me judgemental, and that is not right.  So, I need to make some changes through devoted prayer, and trying to not look at people with thoughts in my mind about the choices that others make. We can accomplish anything we set our minds to but it won't always be easy.

However, if we show God that we are trying then we will get the help we need to make things right. Now, I am not saying we condone the wrong that is being done, and just sit back while this great nation falls apart. No, we need to be heard and let the world know that we don't want certain things that are harmful to our families.

We have sat back for way too long, and not enough of us are willing to fight for righteousness. If we stand together we can make a mighty change, but we must stand together in love and unity. Don't be afraid that you will be labeled as a prud, or a bigot. Stand firm and strong in all that is good. We will have the angels to stand with us.

I get pretty frustrated with people who don't communicate, like at work, I send emails to people about issues and they don't respond. I don't know if they read my email, or are working on the issue, or even just ignoring me. How hard is it to email me back and say something like, "We are currently working on the issue and will get back to you by the end of the day", or something like that. It's a common courtesy.

I think the same thing is happening in the hate that we are feeling in today's world. We don't listen to each other. People are quick to blame another, and not even know the person they are mad at. More than half the people who die or get hurt by an angry person are innocent. If you have a beef with someone, go to the person, not someone else. How hard is that?

And, you don't have to go with malice in your heart. We all have good and bad days, if someone offends you, take a moment to see the whole picture. Do an act of kindness for that person, to see if they are just having a bad day. We can't walk in someone else's shoes, there are so many factors in a person's life that make them act the way they do. We never know what tragedy they have experienced, or what underlying problems that exist in their lives. 

All we can do is stop taking things personally, stop being selfish and see if we can help make someone's day better, in hopes of saving the lives of others.

Sister, if we are going to protect our families and friends, we need to start showing more love to all those we meet on a daily basis. A simple smile or hello, can make all the difference in the life of someone hurting; just a small moment can do miracles in a hard world.

The scriptures tell us the hearts of many will be cold, and we do see that today, especially in the lives of our young people. What can you do to help them feel love again? Many of them have been given a stinky life, and they know no other way. We are all given the Light of Christ in our heart to know right from wrong but without someone to lead and guide, that light can quickly be burned out. Stop judging and start finding a way to help.

Think about it but remember to never put yourself or anyone else in harms way. Lets talk more, share a Coke and smile, (teeheehee, I work for Coke). Recognize that we are all different and lets take a moment to see what another might be feeling. Find a way to show the love and blessing we have in our lives. Blessing don't have to be monetary, but can be a sincere listening ear.

Jesus showed us how to love all people, we don't have to agree with their life style but we don't have to hate them for it either. That goes for anyone who is living a life style that is not Christian, don't hate us either. We are not here to judge but to help. If you don't want religion or our help then that is your choice but don't take my religion from me. If I want to mention God or pray then let me because that is my safe place, that is how I feel.  If it is offensive to you simple tell me and I will see what I can do to still maintain my freedom of religion and allow you to maintain your freedom to not have to endure it.

It's time to act now before Satan gets into the hearts and steals the lives of our brothers and sisters. He can't ever win, but he can try to take as many lives down with him as he can. We can't let him do that. We are stronger than him, we will win the battle if we stand firm and show love to all people. We just need to communicate and have a loving heart; it's that easy, plain and simple.

All my Love

Hello My Righteous Sisters,

Happy Easter!!! This is such an important day for mankind. I wonder how many people really know that? Today signifies new life, life everlasting, and it was all for us. Do people know what Jesus has done for us? Do we really understand the concept of the Atonement of Jesus Christ for us?

These are things we should be contemplating on a daily basis, not just Easter or Christmas. We should be thinking about how we can become more like Him so that His sacrifice will not be wasted. I look at his examples and see many things we could be doing, but today I would like to talk about showing compassion for those who suffering.

I am currently sitting in the hospital with my youngest daughter who is an unmarried young adult. She has a few health issues, but we came in a little over two weeks ago and are still here with some new issues. We have seen many people come and go, some as roommates with my daughter or some in rooms across the hall from us.

Unfortunately, some have not had anyone to come visit them (unlike my daughter who can't get rid of me). I was saddened by this because I could feel their loneliness. Jesus gave of his time to talk to and heal the sick and lonely. Most of us can't heal but we can certainly share our time with those who are sick and lonely.

For those patients in the hospital who had family visiting and caring for them, it was easy to see the love that was being poured out on their loved ones. But could they give of themselves like that for a stranger? I asked that of myself as well. I have never been in love with the medical field and chose to go a different path than most of my extended family who did choose jobs in the medical field. But having to be here with my daughter and help her through this journey has opened my eyes to things I never thought I would see.

It has also opened my heart to those who are alone in the hospital all day. I wonder if I can put aside my lack of desire to be around anything medical, to visit and share time with those who are sick and lonely, and stuck in the hospital?

Easter Message

I know this is something I can do to become more like Jesus. If being in the hospital environment is too much for me I know there are others that would love for someone to come visit them in their homes. At church, we could ask our clergy who in our congregation, could use a visitor. That could be a good place to start. Or, perhaps we have some neighbors or family that need a visit. There are so many places we could start. We just have to ask for direction and listen to the Spirit for that direction so we know who needs our unique gifts and friendship.

God gave each of talents and gifts for the purpose of sharing with one another to help each other along the path of life and back to our Father in Heaven. Becoming like Jesus requires effort on our part. So I would ask that you look at your life and responsibilities and see what time you have to give to another. Perhaps you don't have time to visit people, another place you could help someone is when you are in a waiting room for an appointment. The Spirit may prompt you to smile and share some kind words to a person sitting next to you. There are always opportunities to help uplift another, mostly by just listening to someone who is lonely.

I pray you will seek those who need to feel loved and know that they are not alone. You never know, but you just might be the answer to someone's prayer.

All my love

First Pray, Then Listen, and Don't Forget to Act

My Dear Sisters,

Last month I talked briefly about praying to our Heavenly Father. He loves us and wants to hear from us each and every day. But prayer is a part of a two way communication, speaking and listening. Many people don't think our Father speaks to us but He does, all the time.

Can you imagine calling your parents and doing all the talking? Would your parents not speak back? Of course they would and so does Heavenly Father. However, we have to learn how to listen and recognize his voice and promptings, then act upon what we learn. I would like to share with you how to recognize His messages to you.



Our Heavenly Father talks to us in different ways. I have had the blessing of hearing a still small voice. I have heard it in dreams as I woke up in the mornings. I have heard it quiet places. I have heard it as I pondered my questions. It was always amazing to me to feel that love and know He has answered me.

Sometimes we feel a peaceful feeling when He answers us. As we toil over an issue in our lives we are told to research our choices and make a decision, then take it to Him in prayer. If we feel peace and good about our decision then he is manifesting it is a correct one. Sometimes we may feel a burning around our heart. But if we feel absolutely nothing or are still confused or unsettled then we need to rethink our choice.

Sometimes our answers come when we are reading something, or a thought comes to our mind. I am learning to recognize the constant companion I have in the Holy Ghost helping to understand what my Father would have me know. I can't count the times I have made a decision about something not knowing why and found later that I was lead by the Spirit. I was so happy to see that I listened to Him.

Sometimes He answers our prayers through others as they come to our aid or say something that triggers an answer to our prayers. I have stood before a congregation and bore my testimony only to find that it was the answer to a question that someone was searching for. Or vice-versa, for me, I have heard people say things that was exactly what I needed to hear.



There are so many ways that He answers us and let's us know He is listening and cares about our worries. But with that in mind how is it then that the world is in so much trouble. Our Father has given us all the tools we need to live happy and successful here in this earth. He continues to be there for us and help us, as we need, on our journey. He has given us the Holy Spirit to always be with us. He hears us and loves us so much.

I can never deny knowing He is there because He has protected me from danger. He has blessed me with the things I need in life because of obedience. He has held me in times of great sorrow and loss. He has  given me courage to walk away from things that are not good for me. He has blessed me with opportunities to see the beauty of nature. He has blessed me with joy in witnessing a new life and the passing of an old one.



I could go on and on because I have been blessed to see those things that bring the greatest joy simply by being obedient, and keeping a good communication open with Him through constant prayers as well as putting myself in a place to recognize His communication to me. I feel so loved; how can I not be happy?

But I will say there are times that I fall and have to be reminded that He is there helping me. And for that I am truly grateful. I can do anything with the knowledge that He loves me and each one of us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. So all you have to do is talk to Him and then listen for His answers because He is always there.



Once you receive your answer or are prompted to do something then act upon it. Don't doubt just go and do. Everything always works out even if you don't know how to make it happen. I loved my life in Utah and wanted to live there for the rest of my life but I kept feeling the prompting to move back to Florida where most of my family were. Finally, after a couple of years of struggling with leaving my life there, I found the courage to move my family where the Lord would have us be.

I have been back for 11 years now and have found many reasons as to why we needed to be here. If I had not acted upon what I was told by my Father above, I would have missed very important blessings and direction for my life, and that of my families. It was the right thing to do and I love Him for leading me back to Florida, even though I still want to live out west.

Also, never forget to thank Him for those blessings and answers. It is easy to find the answers and forget to thank the One who sent them. Gratitude is the key to more of what we need.

Until next month, I pray God's blessing on you as you turn your heart to Him and start that journey with Jesus as your Savior and example.

All my love!!!

p.s. Next blog post will be Sept. 6th. See you then!

Hope, the Next Attribute of Christ

 2 Nephi 31:20

What is hope?

Hope is a trust that something you believe in will be so. For example, you have hope, or trust, that when you die you will go to heaven. You have hope and trust that when you go to bed at night that the sun will arise and you will get up to greet a new day. We hope for this to be true, we expect this happen. Hope and faith go together, which you will see this week in the scriptures I plan to blog about.

When we hope in things of God we are showing faith that we trust in Him to lead and guide our lives in a way that will help us gain eternal life. With hope we can endure trials and hardships. With hope we can endure to the end.

When we go through tough times it is hope that gets us through, hope to see a better day. It helps us endure to the end which is something we must do. I have found at times that I just wanted to give up and climb in bed and forget everything but, I know that I have to stand strong in Christ and endure what I must so I make sure that hope and faith are strong in my life and help others to do the same.

We are living in a time when there is so much evil surrounding us and some people don't even see it. They see it as part of life, but we are surrounded and we have to stand firm in Christ and His plan in order to fight for the good to shine through all of this darkness. And when we do, we have the hope of a promise from out Father in Heaven that we will have peace and joy in this life and the life to come in eternity.

As righteous women, we need to shine the light of Christ for others to see and hang on to their hope of a better life. Our example is so important to sustaining our families and helping others to endure to the end. Jesus needs us to do our part by helping our brothers and sisters in this world find Him and learn to do the same. It's time to become part of God's Army and shine the Light high for all to see.

What Can We Do with Faith?

Hebrews 11 (Click the link to read the scripture)

Do you know that "faith" is a powerful tool? It's by faith that we can work miracles; by faith we can do a lot of good things; by faith we can endure to the end." It is by faith that we can live our lives to become like that of Jesus'.

Hebrews 11 tells us that by faith men can subdue kingdoms, wrought righteousness (do good), and work miracles. I believe if we asked anyone they would all have a story to tell about faith. Many would be alike but there would be some that would just blow your mind away. We can learn from others by sharing these stories of faith. Here are couple of webpages with great stories.

Guidepost Stories of Faith

The Ensign - LDS monthly magazine

Jesus Inspiring Stories


Through faith we can do so much good. If you are trying to be like Jesus faith is a crucial tool. So we need to focus on being more like Him and do a lot of good. Where can we learn that? We can learn how to be like Jesus by reading the scriptures and doing as He did.

3 Nephi 27:21-22

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my ^agospel; and ye know the things that ye must ^bdo in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

 Therefore, if ye do these things blessed are ye, for ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

Share your story with others; you never know who's life you can change or how many lives you can touch.

All Shall be Judged from the Book of Life

Revelations 20:12-13

"And I saw the ^adead, small and great, ^bstand before God; and the ^cbooks were opened: and another book was opened, which is the ^dbook of life: and the dead were ^ejudged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their ^fworks.

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and ^adeath and^bhell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."

These scriptures tell us that all of us will be judged from the Book of Life. Our eternal future will be according to the things written there. What will be found in that book?

The book will contain our works. Not what we do for a living but what we do with the life that is given to us. How much good do you do in the world? How do you handle life's trials?

See, Jesus came and payed the price for our sins, all we have to do is repent of the things we do wrong and promise to never do them again, and don't do them again. Because Jesus already paid the ultimate price then we can be forgiven when we make wrong choices and stay on track. The scriptures tell us he remembers them no more.

What comes next is what is in the book, obedience. We need to be obedient to the commandments which are given to us by God. Part of that obedience is to love our brother (everyone) and do good things for them.  There are so many good charitable organizations in the world, so there are many opportunities to to be helpful. Those are things that could be written in the book.

When  you see a need to be helpful and produce good and you do them, those are things that could be written in the book. Taking care of one another and our planet, including the inhabitants that reside on them are good things we could find in the book. All things will be brought to our remembrance on judgement day.

What about the bad stuff, will they be found in the book? Good question, I think they will be only if we do not repent of those things. 

As righteous women we need to repent of the bad choices and put them behind us, God will. Then we need to get out there and do what ever good we can do to help build the Kingdom of God and help our brother along the path of life. We can all climb the ladder together and work to be saints of God. These are the things we want to find in the Book of Life. These are the things that will be our rewards in Heaven.

Spirit of Contention

3 Nephi 11:29 - "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another."

I can be pretty stubborn when I want to be but that is the key, I have to want to be, or...I find that when I dwell on an issue for a while I can get a little upset real easy. But I have been working on that weakness for a little while now, however, I think I still need to work on this.

Recently, we got a new Bishop, who I like a lot. He is a very good man and comes from an awesome family. But recently I found we had a difference of opinion in something concerning my son. Over the past two years I have been a volunteer at the Family History Library on the same nights my son has his youth meeting. Our routine has been that he would wait for me to pick him up when I was done but our new Bishop didn't like that he would be staying alone at the church so he took him home that night.

At first it bothered me then I let it fester until I was angry. I allowed myself to get caught up in the spirit of contention. It began to bother me so much that I couldn't sleep well that night. I had to pray for help to shake the feelings of anger. I didn't like the way I felt, nevertheless I wanted to be right about this.

The next morning I had calmed down and could see the error of my ways. I realized that he knew I was a single mom trying to serve the Lord through family history so he was probably doing something nice for me by taking my son home. I appreciate his kindness and had to ask for forgiveness for my thoughts and actions.

We can ruin relationships with people when  we allow things to fester inside of us. When we feel anger towards another person we are allowing Satan to influence our emotions even more. Righteous women have to work hard to avoid anger because we cannot be an example of our Savior Jesus Christ if we cause others to feel anger towards us. Self control of our angers and frustrations is a good tool to avoid Satan's promptings.

I have prayed for self control for certain things in my life, this certainly needs to be one of those things. The spirit of contention has ruined many people's lives. But we have a good example in Jesus Christ and we, as righteous women, should all be striving to follow in His footsteps. We can't love our brother if we feel the spirit of contention in our lives.

4th Article of Faith

"We believe that the first principles and ^aordinances of the Gospel are: first, ^bFaith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second,^cRepentance; third, ^dBaptism by ^eimmersion for the ^fremission of sins; fourth, Laying on of ^ghands for the ^hgift of the Holy Ghost."

These are the steps we take to become members of God's Kingdom. We must have faith in Jesus Christ in order for all of the other steps to become successful. Having faith means to believe in Him and his saving grace. It doesn't mean we have to know for a fact but that there is something we feel in our hearts that cause of to have that belief that He is real and loves us. 

When we want to follow Jesus then we find we must give up on the things that cause us to sin  and do things that are not what Jesus would have done. This is where the repentance part comes in. We ask forgiveness of our past sins and promise to never do them again, but if we make mistakes we can remember that Jesus suffered for our sins so we can repent again and start over. However; the idea is that we "never" do it again.

After we have made this change in our life then the next step is to be baptized the right way and with the right authority from God. The correct way to be baptized is to do it like Jesus did, see Matthew 3:13. It says he came up out of the water, meaning he was under the water so the proper way to be baptized is to be taken under the water and brought back up like Jesus did. The proper authority is through the priesthood of God. You can only get that from God meaning He gives the authority to those who holds His priesthood.

The last step is not the least step but just as important as the rest, and that is to receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands again through the proper authority from God. What is the purpose of the laying on of hands in this process? It is to give us that promised Comforter always, to have the Spirit to guide our lives so we know we are doing the right things. Its a promise to have His spirit to always be with us. Now that is an awesome gift.

Its all pretty simple to understand, Jesus did his part now we have to do ours. We need to believe that he is our only Savior, then change our pattern in life to emulate His, become baptized, then receive our gift of the Holy Ghost. I love the Plan of Salvation. I hope you feel the same Spirit I do when I watch this short video of Jesus being baptized.

Jesus being baptized

Sharing my Talk at Church

In the Mormon church we as members give inspirational talks when we are asked by our ward leaders. I haven't given one in awhile so it finally came around to me again. So today I gave a talk about why partaking of the sacrament is important and how I can better prepare for it.

We know that the sacrament was established by Jesus Christ himself (see the 4 Gospels in the New Testament). When we are baptized we covenant that we will do special things like be a good example of a christian person (doing as Jesus would do) and to witness His name at all times and places. Partaking of the sacrament weekly helps us remember these covenants. I would like to share my talk with you for my blog post today. Its long, it took me about 15 mins to speak but I hope you enjoy it and can learn something from it. Feel free to ask questions or make comments; I always welcome them.

Good morning,

When we celebrate Easter we celebrate the most significant event for the salvation of mankind that this world has ever known and that would be the Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. After all, in Moses 1:39 we learn that the whole purpose of us being here is so we can have eternal life and be like our Father in Heaven.

For behold, this is my ^awork and my ^bglory—to bring to pass the ^cimmortality and ^deternal ^elife of man.

I opened my mind and heart as I read this passage and found that it was a real eye opener for me because I was studying about the creation and when I read this I came to really understand its importance; that we are His work and glory, that we are His whole purpose.

But, in order for that to be successful we needed a savior; Jesus became that savior when He volunteered in the pre-existence. His unending love for us made it possible for all of us to return home to our Heavenly Father. By his coming here, on earth, He did three things to help us.

1)     1)  He showed us how to live our lives so that we could be worthy,

2)      2) He paid the price for the sins of the world giving us the opportunity to repent, and

3)     3) He opened the door to heaven through resurrection, by overcoming death

These are the things that He did that will help to return home to our Heavenly Father but we have to be willing to do our part. Yes, we have a part too.

 There are some things we have to do in order to return home. We have to be obedient to the commandments that have been given to us, which are actually good for us. I have heard some people say that our church is too strict, yeah, if you don’t want to return to heaven. But like a parent, Heavenly Father gives us commandments to keep us safe. So when we do them we are safe and happy.

Because we aren’t perfect we have to repent when we make bad choices. This is also a responsibility for us in order to return home. Jesus made it possible for us to repent so, in thinking about that, we really should not waste his atoning sacrifice. Everything He did was for us to have happiness while here on earth and to be able to return to Heaven if we choose. Because we are here today it means we have chosen to take that path.

Over the life span of this world God has been making covenants with His people. He started with Adam and still makes them today. The LDS people are a covenant making people. We make covenants with our Father in Heaven for many different things and He blesses us as we do our part of the covenant.

 A covenant is a sacred agreement that if we do certain things our Heavenly Father will give us certain blessings. Tithing is an example of a covenant we make with Him. If we pay our tithes and offerings the windows of Heaven are open to us as it says in Malachi 3:10:

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

I have a strong testimony in this. I have seen it work in my life many times.

When sacred covenants are made and we do our part, Heavenly Father has to do his part. He can’t lie or find reasons not to give us the blessings. He lives by the laws of nature. That means when certain things are done then certain things will happen; it’s just the way it works. For example, if you add 1 + 2 you will get 3; there is no way around it. If you have 1 apple and add 2 more apples there will always be 3 apples, it’s just the way it is.

So the laws of nature are the same, God tells us what to do through commandments and when we do them we will have certain blessings. Or, if we don’t do then we will have not have the blessings or there maybe consequences for not keeping the commandments. And He won‘t stop them from happening, it is our choice to obey or not.

But He won’t lead us to do anything that is harmful to us or anyone else. If we make the decision to not keep a commandment, like the word of wisdom, then we have to pay the price of making that choice. It could be something that ruins our health or something that gives us false happiness.

God wants us to be happy so He gives us commandments and He tells us in advance what they will do for us and if we don’t do them then we don’t get anything. I guess that’s like working in a job, either we work and get paid or we don’t work and don’t get paid.

Elder Robert D. Hales said, (quote) “… for the full blessings of the Atonement to take effect in our lives and allow us to return to live with our Heavenly Father, we must repent of our sins and be faithful in obeying the commandments of God. Thus, the redemptive blessings of repentance and forgiveness are an important part of the Atonement, but they are conditional upon our faithfulness in obeying the commandments and the ordinances of God.” (close quote)

We also make covenants through ordinances; like baptism, and going to the temple to receive our endowments, and to seal our families for eternity.  The first covenant we make in becoming God’s people is through baptism, and then receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority.

We are also given a gift weekly that we can be a part of  here in our Sunday meeting, and that is to partake of the sacred ordinance of the sacrament.  In the Gospel Principles manual , Chapter 23, it says: (quote)

“Each time we partake of the sacrament, we renew covenants with the Lord. A covenant is a sacred promise between the Lord and His children. The covenants we make are clearly stated in the sacramental prayers. It is important to know what those covenants are and what they mean.

We covenant that we are willing to take upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. By this we show we are willing to be identified with Him and His Church. We commit to serve Him and our fellowman. We promise that we will not bring shame or reproach upon that name.

We covenant to always remember Jesus Christ. All our thoughts, feelings, and actions will be influenced by Him and His mission.

We promise to keep His commandments.

We take these obligations upon ourselves when we are baptized, when we partake of the sacrament, we renew the covenants we made when we were baptized. Jesus gave us the pattern for partaking of the sacrament (See 3 Nephi 18:1-18) and said that when we follow this pattern, repenting of our sins and believing on His name, we will gain a remission of our sins.” (close quote)

So by partaking of the sacrament each week we find that it is important to us because it reminds us of who we are and our part of building His Kingdom here on the earth. It helps us to be able to return to Heaven with honor. And it helps us to know we are not alone as we experience our trials in life.

Many of you know about my youngest daughter’s condition. Some of you might not so with her permission I’d like to share her story. We found out when she was almost 2 years old that she had a vision problem. I discovered this one night when she was awake and wouldn’t go back to sleep. I put on her favorite movie, which was Pinocchio and turned off the lights so she would fall back to sleep. I sat on the floor next to her but soon realized that she couldn’t see me, I was sitting right next to her. So we took her to the eye doctor and found that she needed glasses.

After a few years we started asking questions about her night blindness and what could be done about that. We were sent to a place in Miami that diagnosed her with an eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa. This disease would eventually take her sight, we pray that it would take a long time to get to that point.

In 2008, she went for a physical and the Dr found a mass in her abdomen so we started the process of finding out what that was. An ultrasound discovered an enlarged spleen. She went through every blood test there was to determine its cause but nothing was found. She had surgery to remove it, it was almost the size of a football, spleens are normally around 4- 6 inches long, so use your imagination. They sent it to a lab for an autopsy and still found no cause. So we moved on with life.

Recently, my daughter was given an opportunity to go to a school in Daytona Beach where she would learn to live independently with low or no vision. She had to have a physical in order to go there. So in May we took her to a Dr for a physical, the next day we received a call to admit her to the hospital because she had only about 10% use of her kidneys. We were in shock, we had no clue that she was in a life threatening position.

They told us that she would need a kidney transplant or be on dialysis for the rest of her life. We have chosen the transplant. As I sat in the hospital I pondered all that had happened and began to see God’s hand in all of this. She was protected by all the events that led up to this discovery; participating in a program at the Light House for the Blind, then being encouraged by them to go to this school in Daytona , then the school requiring that she have the physical and finding this health issue. I prayed my gratitude for His watch over her.

In relationship to the promises of the sacrament, we received peace through the Holy Spirit in knowing that He was always there with us. We did not have to go through this alone. I say “we” because you know as parents that our children’s struggles are also ours. We received the promises of the sacrament because we were keeping the covenants we made.

One day while in the hospital they said her blood count was low and they needed to give her a blood transfusion and do a CT scan of her abdomen to be sure there was no internal bleeding from the kidney biopsy. There wasn’t but again we can see God’s hand in this because they found another issue through the CT scan, this time it was with her liver. I just felt like I couldn’t take any more news, I turned to my Heavenly Father for that comfort I needed and asked for the strength that I would need to help her through this tough time. Its believed that she has a genetic disorder of some kind that is connecting all of these issues, the spleen, kidneys, liver and even her eyes. We are still looking into that.

Before all this happened she had decided to go on a mission and do her part in building up the Kingdom of God. She was keeping the covenant she made at her baptism, to take His name upon her and share the Gospel with the people she would meet on her mission. By partaking of the sacrament weekly, she was able to keep in her mind those covenants she had made and was willing to give of herself and time to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others. But there is another plan for her that she will have to find as she goes through these trials.

So I hope you can see the covenants that we make and renew each week by partaking of the sacrament plays an important part in keeping us sane through the trials and gaining more wisdom and knowledge as we experience life. But the only way we can renew those covenants is to come to church on Sundays and partake of the sacrament weekly. If you don’t come then you will miss out on the blessings of protection and peace that we so need in this wild world we live in. Remember the laws of nature? It’s just the way it works.

Elder David B. Haight said, (quote) “Our most valuable worship experience in the sacrament meeting is the sacred ordinance of the sacrament, for it provides the opportunity to focus our minds and hearts upon the Savior and His sacrifice” (in Conference Report, Sept.–Oct. 1989, 75; or Ensign, Nov. 1989, 61)

I love this ward and the loving relationships we show for each other. As we enter this building we start saying our hello’s and giving hugs. We come into this room and show our joy in seeing our brothers and sisters but before the meeting begins we should be taking time to prepare ourselves to partake of the sacrament long before the Bishop or his counselors stand up.

We should be prepared to focus on the sacrament before the meeting begins. Some things that we can do to prepare for the sacrament are to listen to the prelude music, or say a silent prayer so that we can receive instruction. We could focus on a pre-planned thought to gain more knowledge or prepare ourselves to receive an answer to our prayers. Then when we partake of the sacrament we are better able to concentrate on the sacrament prayers. We become more focused on the covenants we made and by being obedient to the commandments we receive, we can have the peace and protection we need in the upcoming week.

By preparing ourselves before taking the sacrament we can have a more meaningful experience. If you haven’t already you should try it, you will be surprised at how things work out and what you learn. Also, we shouldn’t forget to show gratitude for the past week.

I wish I had more time to share more things with you because I have learned a lot, but I was told to condense everything into 12 – 15 mins. So I pray that you got something out of all this and that it will help you to better prepare to gain the knowledge and special experiences that you can have from the renewal of the sacred covenant we make weekly by taking of the sacrament.

I know that God lives and He loves us so much. I know that He sent his only Begotten Son to atone for our sins and give us the opportunity to return home and become one big eternal family. I know that this gospel is true and we have His words in the Book of Mormon.

I know that we have a prophet today that leads and guides us to make the righteous choices that we need to gain entrance back into heaven. I also know that we are never alone through our joys and sorrows. He is there with us when we have to go through the trials that make us stronger and creates the kind of person we need to be in order to do His work here. I know that when we partake of the sacrament we renew our covenants with Him and God keeps his promises when we keep ours.

I am grateful for the covenants we make with Him and I am grateful that He loves us enough to offer them to us. We just need to be willing receive them and do our part to gain the blessings and happiness that we need in this world and to be able to help others to have the same.

I leave these thoughts with you in the Holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love General Conference

Man, I can't remember a time that I have walked away from General Conference and not been spiritually fed, but this one was packed full of warnings and direction. I think I was over fed, :)

But there was a time when I wasn't so happy to see General Conference. I thought about this before Conference this year asking myself why it took me so long to look forward to these special occasions. I realized two reasons.

One was we didn't have a way to watch General Conference from home so we had to get dress in Sunday clothing for two days. It wasn't so much a problem for me to wear those clothes as it was to have to dress small children and take them back and forth for two sessions a day and to keep them clean and occupied between sessions. This was a pain for me so we didn't always attend every session.

The other reason was I couldn't listen to the speakers because the small children weren't cooperating with me. They wouldn't sit still for that long, tire easy and get fussy. That meant I had to take them out of the chapel and into a room full of parents with the same dilemma. It meant I couldn't hear what was being said and I felt like we should have just stayed at home.

But...now my children are older and I love watching conference. So I promise you young parents that the day will come that can sit and listen to Conference again. You will be able to get through this. The thing I learned from it was to be patient, and you will be blessed. Like Sunday meetings, if you attend you will be blessed. The Lord knows you tried and are doing the right thing so the blessing will come and you feel the Spirit in your life.

I am grateful that we did go because I do know that those days were blessed days with my family. By going every six months I was teaching my children that this is something we must do. That we would receive blessings as we do so and we would learn something from attending. And that the Lord knew we were there and being obedient.

I love General Conference and I do look forward to it and the spiritual feast I get when I do. I love watching it at home and talking with my family afterwards about what we learned from the talks. My family knows that this is what we do because we have always done it.

Preparing for General Conference

Hello!!! It's almost that time again; time to be spiritually fed by our General Authorities. I love General Conference, but I didn't always love it. When I was a young mother going to view General Conference with small children seemed useless because I never got to here any of it. Sometimes I would talk myself into not attending some of the meetings, as long as I attend Sunday morning I would like we accomplished something.

I learned that I learned nothing that way. So it seemed my major problem was getting my children to sit quietly while I had the opportunity to listen and learn. How do you manage that? I have learned that preparing in advance and having many thing for my children to do during this time was very helpful and there was nothing wrong with doing this.

I created bags of treats, coloring pages and puzzles. They were good things to keep their attention for awhile. I created a binder with pictures of the Savior and people doing good things. I created a photo album with family pictures so they could see us having fun. Anyway, these are some examples of what worked for me and my family. Here are some links for ideas that might work for yours.

Teen Prep

Adult Prep

Coloring Pages

Conference Worksheets

Learn the Apostles Names