Kids Who Need the Most Love

"The kids who need the most love will ask for it in the most unloving of ways."

Glow Yourself

"If you want to give light to others you have to glow yourself."

 Thomas S. Monson 

(“For I Was Blind, but Now I See,” Ensign, May 1999, 54)

(image credit to: #rhonnadesigns)

The Teacher Will Appear

When the student is ready the teacher will appear.

The Great Commandment

Joseph B. Wirthlin: The Great Commandment

"Nothing you do makes much of a difference if you do not have charity. You can speak with tongues, have the gift of prophecy, understand all mysteries, and possess all knowledge; even if you have the faith to move mountains, without charity it won't profit you at all....

"Without charity—or the pure love of Christ—whatever else we accomplish matters little. With it, all else becomes vibrant and alive.

"When we inspire and teach others to fill their hearts with love, obedience flows from the inside out in voluntary acts of self-sacrifice and service"
(Ensign, Nov 2007, 28–31).

Parental Influence

M. Russell Ballard:

"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it. [Alma 56:47–48; emphasis added]

Our youth need steadfast, courageous mothers--and they need fathers like Enos had. As you will recall, Enos was Lehi's grandson, the son of Jacob. Enos recorded that his father was "a just man" who "taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord--and blessed be the name of my God for it" (Enos 1:1).

The scriptural record seems to suggest that Enos had a spiritual change of heart one day while hunting. He wrote that during this quiet time alone, "the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart" (Enos 1:3).

Notice that this moment of spiritual enlightenment did not come at the height of a lecture from a concerned father to a troubled son. As important as those occasional lectures are, they rarely result in immediate long-term change. Nor did it come in the midst of one of Jacob's great gospel sermons. It may be that Jacob wasn't even alive to enjoy his son's spiritual rebirth. None of that matters. The important thing is Jacob made sure that he taught his son "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Enos heard, and eventually he understood. And, as Enos said, "blessed be the name of my God for it."

Journals and Blessings

I was reminded recently of this talk by Elder Eyring about the importance of keeping a journal, and recognising your blessings. I hope it uplifts you too:):

______________________

"I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.”

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.

The years have gone by. My boys are grown men. And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, “Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when . . . ” and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done in his day.

My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. You remember that song we sometimes sing: “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

"O Remember, Remember", General Conference, October 2007, Henry B. Eyring

Counsel to Youth

I love this talk by Elder Packer, some great counsel for youth, parents of youth and leaders:

Feeding and Nurturing the Flame

"There is a flame of desire for good deep within each of us. When that flame is fed and nurtured with the eternal truths of the gospel and the testimony of the Spirit, it will respond and grow stronger and brighter until it leads us to the fulness of truth. The flame must be kindled by love and tender care, then followed by constant nourishing. It is like the gardener who raises beautiful flowers. The constant, tender care and nourishment over time brings beautiful blossoms that are enjoyed by all who see them."
(Elder Ned B. Roueché, "Feed My Sheep," Ensign, November 2004, 30)
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Alma 32:37

"And behold, as the tree beginneth to grow, ye will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if ye nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit."

Distractions

Nephi had just received the interrpretation of the dream his father had seen, and it says he had "seen all things".

I bet he would have loved to come home, maybe take some time to internalize what he had seen and felt, maybe share with his family some of the parts - just dwell in the Spirit.

Well, this is what he came back to:

"And it came to pass that I behled my brethren, and they were disputing one with another concerning the things which my father had spoken unto them".
"And I Nephi was grieved becasue of the hardness of their hearts...."
(1 Nephi 14:2,4)

Maybe we've all had times like this when we have felt the spirit, or the Lords love, and something has happened which seems determined to drive out feelings of peace, and to encourage us to question what we have felt. A few verses later it says "after [Nephi] had received strength" he spoke to his brethren about it. I take comfort in this experience, that this is a pattern which sometimes happens, and if we feel like there a million other people have felt that too, that we too will receive strength. We must never forget what the Lord tells us, other peoples opinions can't change that, and the Lord will give us strength to help them too, when the time is right.

Spiritual Roots for a Spiritual Tree

I was just looking over Jacob 5 and was reminded of some things. In the Allegory of the Olive Tree we read:

"And we will nourish again the trees of the vineyard, and we will trim up the branches thereof; and we will pluck from the trees those branches which are ripened,that must perish, and cast them into the fire."And this I do that, perhaps, the roots thereof may take strength because of their goodness; and because of the change of the branches, that the good may overcome the evil."(Jacob 5: 58-59)

The Lord desires our happiness and in this situation there were some branches of the trees which needed to be trimmed as they had become bad, this was done to enable the roots to continue in goodness, and for it to take strength. I thought how this is similar to our lives, that sometimes the Lord sees things about our character that are becoming 'ripened', and that threaten our spiritual roots. Our spiritual tree can't survive whilst branches like pride, greed, lust, impatience, arrogance, negativity and the other gazillion things exist that drive away the Spirit of the Lord. Our strength lies in our roots, and the only real strength comes when Christ is our root. Through His goodness we can change, and we can find peace.

I am so thankful to know that I have a Saviour who cares about the life I am leading, and also cares enough not to allow me to continue in error without His intervention, I also LOVE the fact that I can make Him happy when when I freely choose to do right.

I hope no matter where you are today in this beautiful world, that you will be able to find an increase in happiness.

Go Back to Bethlehem

"Let us go back in our hearts to Bethlehem—to Jesus, the infant who grew to teach saving principles, to work miracles, to be our Redeemer."

—Elaine Cannon, Woman's Choices: The Relief SocietyLegacy Lectures-