That is good news!

I've was reading in a book this morning called: "Believing Christ" by Stephen E. Robinson.  Fantastic read.  Easter is around the corner and it is a wonderful time to remember our Savior.  I want to quote something very powerful that I read this morning in his book:

"But why would You do this for me?

    Because I love you.

But it doesn't seem fair.

    That's right.  It's not fair all - it's merciful.

    It is, after all, a gift.

But how can I possibly deserve such a gift?

   Don't be silly.  You can't.  You don't.  This gift

   is offered because I love you and want to 

   help you, not because I owe it to you.

But how can I ever repay You?

   There you go again.  Don't you get it yet?

    You can't repay me, not you or all the billions

    like you.  Gifts of this magnitude can never

   be repaid.  For what I've done out of love for you,

    you can only love me back, and seek to become

    what I am - a giver of good gifts."

Jenny's Pearls

I have 4 daughters of my own.  My oldest is just entering her teens - and I am learning so much.  She likes and wants to do everything.  This morning I felt inspired to send her a story I heard once called Jenny's Pearls.


The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.

"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please!" Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.

"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2. If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them yourself. Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar bill from Grandma." As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her piggy bank and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share of chores. She went to the neighbor, Mrs. McJames, and asked if she could pick dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.

Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up. She wore them everywhere--Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a bubble bath. Mother had told her that if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.

Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a story. One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"

"Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you."

"Then may I have your pearls?"

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess--the white horse from my collection. The one with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave me. She's my favorite."

"That's okay, honey. Daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.

About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"

"Daddy, you know I love you."

"Then will you give me your pearls?"

"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that matches her sleeper."

"That's okay, Honey. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you." And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss. A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on her bed with her legs crossed Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her cheek.

"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"

Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy. When she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's for you." With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind daddy reached out with one hand to take the prized necklace. With the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case. He handed the handsome velvet case to Jenny and told her, "Thank you for giving me your most prized possesion that you even saved for all by yourself. Here Honey, I have this for you also. I wanted to trade you, but I was going to give these to you tonight either way."

As Jenny pryed open the blue velvet box, so nice a thing itself she'd never known, the glistening white sheen of the rich genuine pearls struck her teary eyes.



Sometimes is is so hard for us to give up things we truly love, especially when we don't have the understanding of what is in store for us.  I also want to share one of my favorite Mormon Messages called "Moments that Matters Most."  It has a lot of hidden gems.

Are you forgetful?

I think I am one of the most forgetful people around.  I'll commit to be somewhere, or do something for someone, and at times I'll just get so busy and forget.

A couple of years ago an created a post talking about how important the word of "Remember".   This morning I was reading in the book "Teachings of Lorenzo Snow" and came across these profound words:

  "We frequently, in the multitude of cares around us, get forgetful and these things are not before us, then we do not comprehend that the gospel is designed and calculated in its nature to bestow upon us those things that will bring glory, honor, and exhalation, that will bring happiness,  peace and glory.  We are apt to forget these things in the midst of the cares and vexations of life, and we do not fully understand that it is our privilege, and that the Lord has placed it in our reach to pursue that gospel whereby we may have peace within us continually....  Where is the man that will turn aside and throw away those prospects that are embraced in the gospel which we have received?  In it there is satisfaction, there is joy, there is stability, there is something upon which to rest our feet, there is a sure foundation to build upon, and upon which to yield that which is required of us."

Something what helps me in my forgetfulness is routines.  When I establish regular routines to do things like daily prayer and daily scripture study,  I do a better job at remembering.  When was the last time you  attended a regular religious meeting?  Have you forgot what it is like to be spiritual?  When was the last time you said a prayer and read and pondered scripture?

Act on Faith!

I had the privilege to server a mission for my church in Portugal.  I was serving there with 3 other young men from Cape Verde, Africa, Elder Barros, Elder Brazao, and Elder Fernandez.  I was serving in a small town called Pombal.  This was a rural area of homes and villages surrounding a castle.

We used buses and trains to get around to the various villages.  We took a bus out to a member's house that lived far away.  We spent time with the family, had dinner, (if I remember right there were pork products in a soup, one being a pig's ear, still had hair on it).  The mother Rosa drove us to the train station to catch the train.  Well, the train was suppose to stop there at 9:09pm.  Well it was a very small town station and at that hour only me, Elder Barros, Elder Brazao, and Elder Fernandez were there.  It was freezing cold.

The train doesn't show up on time, so we wait.  Soon it was 9:30pm - still no train.  We then start running in place to keep warm.  I told them this was a test of our faith.  The next train will be the one to stop and take us home.  Well, soon after we hear a train coming.  We run out of the station anxiously waiting.  There is a horn and the train passes with hardly even noticing us.  We walk back into the station (the inside of the station was still outside and cold).  By this time Elder Brazao had his shoes off rubbing his feet.  The cold was harder on the Elders from Cape Verde.  They are use to very warm climates, whereas, I'm from Utah and was more accustomed to the colder weather.  Nonetheless, I had been jogging in place for 45 minutes.  I told them again that it is our test of faith.  Don't give up hope.  Within the next 5 minutes, 6 trains pass, not one of them stopping.  We had be waiting there in the freezing cold for over an hour.  Finally, Elder Fernandez said, "Its time to leave and find a taxi."  I said "the next one will stop.  It's a test of our faith.  I know that Christ lives, I don't doubt He lives and I know anything I ask and the Holy Ghost confirms, I will receive.  The part that was missing here in this experience was the confirming of the Holy Ghost.  We found a cafe and called a taxi and arrived at home without any problems.  We could have stayed at that station and froze for another hour or put some effort into finding another way home.  You can have tons of faith by words, but without getting up and doing something about it, forget it.

James 2:14,17

14. What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
17. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Live 2 Inspire!

In Romans chapter 11 the apostle Paul prophesies of the great Apostasy and restoration of the gospel.  After Christ's death the prophets and apostles where killed.  Due to unbelief the true gospel, the priesthood and authority was taken from the earth.  v20 "..because of unbelief they were broken off"

In verse 22 it says: ".. if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off"

So, it all begins by not doing good.  We eventually become blind.  v7 "... Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded."  We cannot stand idle and do nothing and not expect to be in good standing with God.  We then begin to forget.  Forget what?  Forget our divine nature of who we really are.   We are "spirit sons and daughters of heavenly parents, and as such, have a divine nature and destiny."

We cannot stand idle and expect to "ultimately realize our divine destiny as heirs of eternal life."  Let us be the "election" that "hath obtained it."  What good do you plan to do this day?  Who will you lift up and inspire?   I've enjoyed a phrase that I need to repeat in my mind often: "Live 2 Inspire!"

As God is, Man may be.....

Lorenzo Snow, a latter-day prophet stated:

"... and the Lord revealed to me, just as plainly as the sun at noon-day, this principle, which I put in a couplet:  As man now is, God once was.  As God now is, man may be."

I've pondered this statement this week.  I was attending the LDS temple and I decided while I was learning I'd look at things from a different perspective.  Instead of looking at life from my own perspective, I imagined, "what if I were God.. how would I go about "bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man?"  How would I help my children grow and progress?  How would I help them return to me?

It is interesting how things that you'd never consider enter your mind and heart when you look at things from another's perspective.  Although, I view myself in my own carnal state, "even less than dust of the earth" compared to my Heavenly Father, I've still been given the precious gift of creating another earthly life, and am an earthly Father.  I can relate somewhat, and I have an incredible amount of love for my children and want to live with them forever.

I'm not going to relate all that I learned as I've pondered these questions as if I was a  Heavenly Father, but I'd encourage you go through the same exercise.  You'll probably learn new and different things than what I learned.  It may prompt you to ask and ponder on different questions.  A wise man once gave me an unexpected answer when asking him what I thought was a very deep question.  He said, "You're asking the wrong question."

Why do we bless our food?

The other night I got in a discussion with the young men and leaders about why we bless our food.  We had ordered pizza for food at our activity.  When someone says in a prayer: "please bless the food that it will nourish and strengthen our bodies," is pizza really going to nourish and strengthen our bodies?  What if it was doughnuts and ice cream.  Where did the blessing of food come from.  One of the leaders mentioned that maybe it came from the pioneers coming across the plains.  They had to bless buffalo chips to bring nourishment to their bodies when they had no other food to eat.  Well, interesting enough I came across a real story of a pioneer woman while reading a talk by Elder Marcus B. Nash of the Seventy.

The life of Ann Rowley, a pioneer woman in the early days of the Church, demonstrates how exercising faith impacts our lives for good. A widow from England, Sister Rowley exercised her faith to answer the prophet’s call to gather to Zion. She was a member of the Willie handcart company, which encountered deep snowdrifts along the trail in the fall of 1856. They had reached a point in the trek where her seven children were literally starving. She wrote: “It hurt me to see my children go hungry. … Night was coming and there was no food for the evening meal. I asked God’s help as I always did. I got on my knees, remembering two hard sea biscuits that … had been left over from the sea voyage. They were not large, and were so hard they couldn’t be broken. Surely, that was not enough to feed 8 people, but 5 loaves and 2 fishes were not enough to feed 5,000 people either, but through a miracle, Jesus had done it. So, with God’s help, nothing is impossible. I found the biscuits and put them in a dutch oven and covered them with water and asked for God’s blessing. Then I put the lid on the pan and set it on the coals. When I took off the lid a little later, I found the pan filled with food. I kneeled with my family and thanked God for his goodness. That night my family had sufficient food.”

What a great story of faith.  In Mosiah we read:

“Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."

President Monson once stated:

"The future is as bright as your faith"

I just came another great pioneer story about blessing food.  This is a journal entr y from a rescuer of the Martin and Willie handcart company.  I read this from Elder Bednar's called: "The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality"


Examples of the enabling power are not found only in the scriptures. Daniel W. Jones was born in 1830 in Missouri, and he joined the Church in California in 1851. In 1856 he participated in the rescue of handcart companies that were stranded in Wyoming by severe snowstorms. After the rescue party had found the suffering Saints, provided what immediate comfort they could, and made arrangements for the sick and the feeble to be transported to Salt Lake City, Daniel and several other young men volunteered to remain with and safeguard the company’s possessions. The food and supplies left with Daniel and his colleagues were meager and rapidly expended. The following quote from Daniel Jones’s personal journal describes the events that followed.
“Game soon became so scarce that we could kill nothing. We ate all the poor meat; one would get hungry eating it. Finally that was all gone, nothing now but hides were left. We made a trial of them. A lot was cooked and eaten without any seasoning and it made the whole company sick. … “Things looked dark, for nothing remained but the poor raw hides taken from starved cattle. We asked the Lord to direct us what to do. The brethren did not murmur, but felt to trust in God. … Finally I was impressed how to fix the stuff and gave the company advice, telling them how to cook it; for them to scorch and scrape the hair off; this had a tendency to kill and purify the bad taste that scalding gave it. After scraping, boil one hour in plenty of water, throwing the water away which had extracted all the glue, then wash and scrape the hide thoroughly, washing in cold water, then boil to a jelly and let it get cold, and then eat with a little sugar sprinkled on it. This was considerable trouble, but we had little else to do and it was better than starving. “We asked the Lord to bless our stomachs and adapt them to this food. … On eating now all seemed to relish the feast. We were three days without eating before this second attempt was made. We enjoyed this sumptuous fare for about six weeks.”

Mr. Perfect

I had the wonderful opportunity to take my family to Disneyland a few weeks ago.  On the way down we stopped off at a Disney outlet store.  I found a great T-shirt there for $3.  On the front of the shirt it read, "Mr. Perfect.  Life is good when you're me"

I had to buy it and wear it with pride.  If fact, I'm wearing it right now as I type this thought.  The problem I've had with this T-shirt, is that the days that I wear it, I seem to have experiences that really show just how far from perfect I really am.  Tonight happend to be a not so shining moment for a father who lost his temper with his oldest daughter.  Of course, I'm sure I'm the only parent that has struggled in being the perfect parent.  For a brief time I felt me telling myself, "I can't do this?  I need help, I'm ready to throw in the towel."  At this point you start to disengage.  I found myself in my office pondering and praying.  I sat in my office chair staring at my bookshelf.  I decided to pull off a book called "Pathways to Perfection" by Thomas S. Monson.

 I opened it up and began reading a talk called, "Finishers Wanted".  Was this coincidence?  No way.  This was an answer to a prayer from a son to his Father in Heaven who was struggling to be a father of his own.  President Monson tells of story of how he was out window shopping and came across a sign that said "Finshers Wanted".  He told of examples from the scriptures of those who failed to finish and endure the race.  He also shared of examples of those who "fought a good fight" and "finished the course."  I read phrases like "run with patience".  It was just what I needed tonight.  Jesus says in 3 Nephi 12:48, "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."  So "life is good when you're me" and you are applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ in your life.  He feels in the large gaps that we have in our imperfect state, and carries us so we can be "Mr. Perfect" even as He and the Father.  We just need to endure, keep the commandments, rely on Him and "finish the course."  Let us be look unto Jesus, the Savior and be finishers, Hebrews 12:2:

2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Let us remember though that we cannot be a finisher without our Savior, Jesus Christ.  He is the "finisher" in us.  Moroni 6:4:

"... relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith."

My testimony of the Atonement

How have you gained a testimony of the Atonement?

I can still recall the sweet cleansing feeling that burned within my soul as I knelt near a grove of trees near my home one evening as I completed the repentance process.  I knelt and prayed in gratitude to my loving Heavenly Father.  I felt the cleansing power, it allowed me to move on to what the Savior and my Heavenly Father wanted, needed me to do.  The repentance process is a continuous process that I've had to apply in my life.  It is a perfect process that works, it lifts, it completes, and makes one whole.

It does not matter at what level you are in your life, whether you've strayed so far off the straight and narrow path, or if you are slightly distracted, or taken a few steps off the path, or you are right on the right path headed in the right direction - the repentance process applies, and the Atonement can lift and carry us to our eternal destination of peace and happiness.

Have you applied the Atonement in you life today? If not, why not?  Have you looked to your Savior and asked him to apply the wonderful gift of Love given to you today? Why not?
"Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price."

I know I can do the will of the Father because of this precious gift. "He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:  But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;  they shall run, and not be weary;  and they shall walk, and not faint."

Never!

I was touched by a talk I read by President Monson this morning.  I testify that President Monson is indeed a prophet of God.  He starts out by sharing an experience of being in an art gallery and comes across the picture by Frank Bramely.  I've posted this picture.  It is a wife who weeps in the lap of her mother-in-law after losing her husband at sea.

President Monson then gives a wonderful sermon on how our Savior has conquered death.  I was deeply touched in the talk about a letter from a father who lost his son whose faith in Jesus was so strong.


Last summer, not long after Jason’s 15th birthday, he was once again admitted to the hospital. On one of his visits to see Jason, his father found him with his eyes closed. Not knowing whether Jason was asleep or awake, he began talking softly to him. “Jason,” he said, “I know you have been through a lot in your short life and that your current condition is difficult. Even though you have a giant battle ahead, I don’t ever want you to lose your faith in Jesus Christ.” He said he was startled as Jason immediately opened his eyes and said, “Never!” in a clear, resolute voice.  Jason then closed his eyes and said no more.
His father wrote: “In this simple declaration, Jason expressed one of the most powerful, pure testimonies of Jesus Christ that I have ever heard. …As his declaration of ‘Never!’ became imprinted on my soul that day, my heart filled with joy that my Heavenly Father had blessed me to be the father of such a tremendous and noble boy. … [It] was the last time I heard him declare his testimony of Christ.”

May we have this same faith and "Never" lose faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.