Temple Daughters Joy

 On Saturday, we were able to visit the Jordan River Temple to do baptisms.  It was the first time in over a year that we had been able to attend the temple.  It was WONDERFUL, but also it made me so sad to leave, not knowing when we would be back...but knowing that unless temples open more fully, it will be at least August before that happens.  I long to be back in the temple.  

It was nice to be welcomed to the temple and to feel the spirit there.  And we were the only ones in the baptistry, other than temple workers.  So we were escorted to the bathrooms, escorted to the font, and escorted to the confirmation room.  We were warmly welcomed.  Everyone was so kind.  As we were leaving, the temple president was there and thanked us for coming and for being in the temple.  I felt encircled in love and peace and the spirit.  But oh how I wished I could stay longer.  Even if I could have just sat in the baptistry's chapel for a bit.  I just didn't want to leave.  

Mother Taught Faith

 Personal history question for the week: What did your mother teach you about God and about faith? How did she teach you these lessons (FHE, scripture study, by example, etc.)? What miracles occurred in your mother’s life that you witnessed or that she told you about?

My mom faithfully attended church every week with us girls.  Often she attended alone with us as my dad wasn't always very active.  She accepted and served in callings.  I can remember that she had two visiting teachers that were very diligent and came each month to visit.  I don't remember their names or much about them, but I liked sitting next to my mom on the couch as they visited with her and shared a spiritual thought.  My parents didn't really go to social events or go on many dates or spend time with friends, so it felt special that two women visited my mom every month.

My mom taught us to pray.  And when we got older and my parents were divorced and my mom remarried, we began to have scripture study.  We didn't have scripture study or consistent FHE until I was a teenager. I don't remember a lot of formal teaching of the gospel in my home--though I'm sure there was more than I remember.   But I knew my mom loved the Lord and I developed a testimony as a child that strengthened as I grew.  

When I was a Beehive, my mom served as an advisor for the Mia Maids in the Young Women's program and I know the girls loved her and she loved them.  

But mostly my mom taught by example.  She was diligent in living the gospel, though I am certain it was challenging to do that on her own.  She had/has so many Christlike attributes...she is patient and kind and unselfish and loving.  She quietly goes about serving.  As I got older, she began going to the temple often and I think much of my life of the temple comes from her.   She was forgiving and never said unkind things about my dad after their divorce, even though I know he hurt her deeply.  She is quiet...she isn't silly or outgoing or very demonstrative but I have always known she loves me and that she loves the Lord.

As for miracles...I don't know of any big miracles.  But my mom raised three pretty remarkable girls.  She wrote in a letter to me (that I received at youth conference) that the Spirit had told her not to worry and that everything was going to be okay.  She said she didn't know what that meant but she trusted it was true.  And she met Mike and they have been married for more than 25 years now and she is happy and healthy and has a beautiful life.  Things have turned out more than okay and that probably feels pretty miraculous to her compared to how things were when I was 13-15 years old.  The Lord has taken care of her and blessed her.  

My words don't accurately convey all that my mom is or all that she taught me.  She lived what she believed and while she was mostly relatively quiet about her faith, I never doubted her faith.  I know she loves the Lord and I keep striving to become a little more like her.

Christ Done for Me

 What has the Savior done for me?

My thoughts and notes from our Relief Society lesson today:

*He created this world that we live in.  There's so much beauty!  Flowers, rivers, lakes, mountains.  Stars, sun, planets.  Us.

3 Nephi 9:15

* Answers prayers.  He helps us.  He hears us!

*He grants comfort and strength.

*He gives us perspective.

*He died for us and was resurrected.  

President Oaks said, "The Resurrection gives us the perspective and the strength to endure the mortal challenges faced by each of us and those we love. It gives us a new way to view the physical, mental, or emotional deficiencies we have at birth or acquire during mortal life. It gives us the strength to endure sorrows, failures, and frustrations. Because each of us has an assured resurrection, we know that these mortal deficiencies and oppositions are only temporary.

The Resurrection also gives us a powerful incentive to keep the commandments of God during our mortal lives. When we rise from the dead and proceed to our prophesied Final Judgment, we want to have qualified for the choicest blessings promised to resurrected beings."

*Through Him, we can have eternal families!

*His enabling power....We can do more and be more with Him than we ever can be on our own.  He helps us be kinder, stronger, more forgiving, smarter, wiser, etc. than we are on our own. He can help us accomplish more than we can on our own.  I rely on this power nearly every day of my life.

*Sara (our sweet teacher) shared that a member of their stake presidency was driving his daughter and several other youth to the Vernal Temple (2 1/2 hours each way).  The member of the stake presidency fell asleep at the wheel and his daughter was impaled by a road sign...he was trained as emergency room surgeon and cared for her.  She lost her leg, but she survived.  Sara said that she learned so much from this family about the Atonement...the young woman suffered a great deal of pain but she had such a strong testimony and she told me that she prayed all the time to give her strength.  She is doing great and has recovered, but she set such a great example of demonstrating faith.  Her dad felt such guilt and pain for causing this harm to his daughter.  He carried this pain for awhile but it was amazing to watch the change that came as he learned to forgive himself and used the Atonement to find peace.

*He rescues us, despite our selfishness, rebellion, sin, pride, and so on.  He heals those who cause pain and those who experience pain.  He forgives our sins and helps us overcome weakness.

*He gives us peace.  When the world is in commotion, we can still find peace.  We can find peace in the temple, in the scriptures, through prayer, through music, etc.

*He helps us overcome burdens and lightens burdens:

Mosiah 24:

"13 And it ^acame to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

14 And I will also ease the ^aburdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as ^bwitnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their ^cafflictions.

15 And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did ^astrengthen them that they could bear up their ^bburdens with ease, and they did submit."

*taught us the plan of salvation, taught us the commandments and covenants, He was the ultimate teacher!

2 Nephi 26:24-28  "He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world."

*enters into covenant with us!

*promises to be by our side, to go on our right hand and left, to be in our forward and rear and to send His angels to be round about us.

*His atonement is for ALL.  (2 Nephi 26:24-28)

*He lived a perfect life.  He is the ultimate exemplar.

*He loves me.  Love is the motivation of all He has done.

"We love what we sacrifice for.  And we sacrifice for what we love."

Promises to Covenant Israel

Oh how I loved studying the promises given to covenant Israel between October 2020 and April 2021.  It blessed my life immensely.  I suddenly saw these promises on nearly every page of scripture.  I also noticed them better in my life...and by that I mean that I noticed them happening more in my day to day life but also I was better able to look back at experiences in the past and see how many of these blessings have been fulfilled.  

I feel closer to the Lord now.  Studying these promises brought me strength and joy and peace and hope.  It reminded me, over and over, that God keeps His promises.  It reminded me that I'm NEVER alone.  That I can repent and be forgiven.  That I can be redeemed and enabled and strengthened and purified.  Our beloved prophet is so inspired and I'm SO grateful that I acted on his invitation to study these promises.  He was right; I was astounded!

I purchased a piece of art made by Eva Timothy with many of the promises on it.  It's hanging next to my rocking chair in my living room and I look at it nearly every day and think about one or more of the promises.

For 40  days, I shared a promise to covenant Israel on social media, one each day for the 40 days leading up to Easter.  That was a wonderful way to start each day, sharing one promise and thinking about how I have seen that blessing in my life.