Followers of Christ

{Elder Walter F. Gonzalez}

This talk did not speak to me as much as the previous ones did. Though the message was still a good one. As followers of Christ we are his disciples. "The Savior has promised, 'He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.' "

Elder Gonzalez says there are two characteristics that can help us recognize to what extent we follow him.

1. Followers of Christ are loving people.

We follow Christ because we love him and we are following his own example. "Through love the Savior was obedient to the will of the Father under any circumstance. ... The atoning sacrifice, which is unique to the mission of the Savior, is the greatest expression of love ever." He gave the example of Peter when the Lord asked him three times "Lovest thou me?" then said "Follow me."

2. Followers of Christ make and keep covenants.

"The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that even before the organization of this earth, covenants were made in Heaven." Everyone can make covenants. "Making covenants is an expression of love. It is a way of saying to him, Yes I will follow thee because I love thee."

He closes his talk by testifying that we are happier when we follow the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that this is true. The Lord has said, wickedness never was happiness. We can and will find great joy as we follow our Savior's example.

Become as a Little Child

{Jean A. Stevens}

Sister Stevens began her talk with a wonderful story. I'm just going to copy and paste it here rather then mess it up by trying to summarize it....

A member of the Seventy was on assignment in Hong Kong. "He visited a very humble ward that was struggling in many ways, unable to provide for its own needs. As the bishop described their situation, the General Authority felt the impression to have the members pay their tithing. The bishop, knowing their dire circumstances, was concerned about how he could carry out that counsel. He thought about it and decided he would approach some of the most faith-filled members of his ward and ask them to pay their tithing. The next Sunday he went to the Primary. He taught the children about the Lord’s law of tithing and asked if they would be willing to pay tithing on the money they earned. The children said they would. And they did.

The bishop later went to the adults in the ward and shared with them that for the past six months their faithful children had been paying tithing. He asked them if they would be willing to follow the example of these children and do the same. The people were so touched by the sacrifices the children were willing to make that they did what was necessary to pay their tithing. And the windows of heaven were opened. With the example of these faithful children, a ward grew in obedience and in testimony."

I love this story because the bishop went to the children first. Our Heavenly Father knows children are a key to helping us become like Him. They are often the first to love and the first to forgive.

She goes on to quote Matthew 18:3-4...

“Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven”

Children are so innocent and so pure. They have such amazing faith and are so trusting. We loose a lot of this same trust as we grow and get distracted with the world.

Elder M. Russell Ballard has taught us the importance of the Savior’s admonition to “behold your little ones” when he said:

“Notice that He didn’t say ‘glance at them’ or ‘casually observe them’ or ‘occasionally take a look in their general direction.’ He said to behold them. To me that means that we should embrace them with our eyes and with our hearts; we should see and appreciate them for who they really are: spirit children of our Heavenly Father, with divine attributes”

I love this quote! Sister Stevens ends her talk by quoting one of my new favorite songs from the moment I first heard my precious children singing it, "The Family is of God."

God gave us families

To help us become what He wants us to be-

This is how He shares His love,

For the fam'ly is of God.

Whenever I think about this song, or play it on the piano the spirit always testifies to me that it is true. God shares His love with us through our family. The family is ordained of God and is the basic foundation of our lives here on earth and is necessary for our journey home to our Father in heaven. I love all four of my babies. I wish they would stop growing up. If the love I feel for my family is just like God's love for us, then I want that in my life forever!

The Sabbath and the Sacrament

{Elder L. Tom Perry}

Elder Perry gave a great talk about how keeping the sabbath day holy can help us prepare to take the sacrament. As part of this he talked about teaching our children to be an example of the believers by keeping the sabbath day holy. God commanded us to "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy."

Elder Perry says...

"It is remarkable that even through the dark periods of apostasy, this pattern of Sabbath day worship and the sacrament continued to be practiced in many forms."

I thought this was very interesting and true. Churches of all forms have continually through the ages had some sort of sacrament. He says partaking of the sacrament is the center of our sabbath day observance. There are three things the Lord requires of us.

1. To keep ourselves unspotted from the world.

We hear this a lot and I've often wondered what all that entails. Elder Perry says the Lord expects us to avoid such worldly distractions of business and recreational facilities, and to dress appropriately. Regarding dressing appropriately he says,

"When Sunday dress deteriorates to everyday attire, attitudes and actions follow."

I'd never thought of it quite like that before, but it is absolutely true. We behave how we are dressed and how we dress can contribute to preparing to take the sacrament. We kind of did a double take when we heard: "it may not be necessary for our children to wear formal Sunday attire until the sun goes down." I'm usually the first to get my comfy clothes on after church and the kids are quick to follow suit. I'm going to try to be better at keeping my dress on for the whole day, not because I feel guilty that I don't, but to serve as a reminder of the importance of keeping the sabbath day holy and to help give my children this same reminder.

2. To go to the house of prayer and offer up our sacraments.

My husband and I had quite a discussion about this one. What does it mean "offer up your sacraments"? {I'd love any thoughts on this!} Elder Perry says we need to confess and forsake our sins. "The sabbath provides us with precious opportunity to offer up these - our sacraments - to the Lord." So I think to "offer up your sacraments" is kinda like offering up your sins to the Lord and asking for forgiveness.

3. To rest from our labors.

Labor includes the everyday work of our of our lives. So my question is, can I stop cooking and doing dishes on the sabbath? :) I recently gave a lesson to my valiant girls on keeping the sabbath day holy and we talked about certain things that are necessary to do on the sabbath. Food preparation, bathing. So the every day work of our lives are things that can be done on other days of the week like shopping, cleaning the house, and laundry.

I try really hard not to judge people. It is hard not to do when you see someone who you think is a good member of the church and is not keeping the sabbath day holy. Everyone who reads the bible should be keeping the sabbath day holy. I know everyone interprets everything a little differently, but I think this is something the Lord was very specific on. Keep the sabbath day holy. Rest from your labors. And allow others to do the same.

Probably the most thought provoking sentence in this whole talk is...

"The adversary succeeds when we relax our commitment to the Savior."

Not keeping the sabbath day holy is just one small way that we can relax our commitment. That one line alone is probably the biggest reason why I'm not rushing home to my pjs. I don't want the adversary to succeed. I don't want him to have power over my life or my family. Keeping the sabbath day holy is just a small thing that we can do to honor our commitment to our Savior.

It's Conference Once Again

{President Thomas S. Monson}

I love President Monson. I love the stories he tells and the way the light of Christ shines from his eyes. He truly is our prophet.

I talk about the opening message of conference for one reason...

"May I suggest that if you are able, you might consider making a contribution to the General Missionary Fund of the Church."

I know this stood out because my parents are serving a mission. We have already heard about missionaries who have given everything they have to pay for their mission and it is less than $20 a month. The sacrifices people are willing to make to serve the Lord is amazing. We take so much for granted sometimes. We can really learn a lot from these brothers and sisters who have such great faith.

After reading this I immediately told my husband we needed to follow this counsel. He quickly replied that he already had! After hearing President Monson's message he wrote a check for the missionary fund, and says he plans to continue doing so.

{I sure married a great guy!}