[Faith, not Fear]

Could there exist a more perfect talk for the crazy times we live in? 

Why try? by Elder Howard W. Hunter

[source of power]

[October 2017 General Conference quotes]

I was asked to do one of the bulletin boards in the church hallway long time ago. I finally got around switching the quotes. Need to do it more often. I think it's important that those who are in the hallway for one reason or another (noisy kids...) have something uplifting to read. 

[He is mindful of us.]

[perfect empathy]

[personal story - Elder Christofferson]

Elder D. Todd Christofferson is one of the Twelve Apostles in our Church today. He became an Apostle in April 2008. This is what his biography states about his work experience: 

"Prior to his call to serve as a full-time General Authority of the Church, Elder Christofferson was associate general counsel of Nations Bank Corporation (now Bank of America) in Charlotte, North Carolina. Previously, he was senior vice president and general counsel for Commerce Union Bank of Tennessee in Nashville, where he was also active in community affairs and interfaith organizations. From 1975 to 1980, Elder Christofferson practiced law in Washington, D.C., after serving as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge John J. Sirica (1972-74)."

I just read an article written by Elder Christofferson in the New Era (a magazine geared towards the youth of our Church). I love it when the Church leaders share personal experiences as sometimes us Church members tend to think of them as having special lives with no troubles and trials. I'm pretty sure all of them had had many, many trials. Here is what Elder Christofferson shares in the April 2015 New Era:

"Some time before I was called as a General Authority, I faced a personal economic challenge that persisted for several years. At times this challenge threatened the welfare of my family and me, and I thought we might be facing financial ruin. I prayed for some miraculous intervention to deliver us. Although I offered that prayer many times with great sincerity and earnest desire, the answer in the end was “No.” Finally I learned to pray as the Savior did: “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). I sought the Lord’s help with each tiny step along the way to a final resolution.

There were times when I had exhausted all my resources, when I had nowhere or no one to turn to at that moment. More than once I fell down before my Heavenly Father, begging in tears for His help. And He did help. Sometimes it was nothing more than a sense of peace, a feeling of assurance that things would work out. I might not see how or what the path would be, but He gave me to know that, directly or indirectly, He would open a way. Circumstances might change, a new and helpful idea might come to mind, some unanticipated income or other resource might appear at just the right time. Somehow there was a resolution.

Though I suffered then, as I look back now, I am grateful that there was not a quick solution to my problem. The fact that I was forced to turn to God for help almost daily over an extended period of years taught me truly how to pray and get answers to prayer and taught me in a very practical way to have faith in God. I came to know my Savior and my Heavenly Father in a way and to a degree that might not have happened otherwise or that might have taken me much longer to achieve. I learned that daily bread is a precious commodity. I learned that manna today can be as real as the physical manna of biblical history. I learned to trust in the Lord with all my heart. I learned to walk with Him day by day."

The article is all about how we should look to God each day. How we can manage our trials by dealing with them little bit at a time with God's help. Elder Christofferson also shares this story about his mother:

"In the 1950s my mother survived radical cancer surgery, but difficult as that was, the surgery was followed by dozens of painful radiation treatments in what would now be considered rather primitive medical conditions. She recalls that her mother taught her something during that time that has helped her ever since: “I was so sick and weak, and I said to her one day, ‘Oh, Mother, I can’t stand having 16 more of those treatments.’ She said, ‘Can you go today?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Well, honey, that’s all you have to do today.’ It has helped me many times when I remember to take one day or one thing at a time.”

[Love these "I'm a Mormon" videos. This one especially.]

[God is merciful and He DOES have a Plan!]

I found this blog post today about what my Church teaches about being saved after this life and how that makes our faith "most liberal in mercy".

So many religions/churches teach that if you don't belong to their church, you are damned to hell or some kind of eternal suffering. Well, it's just not true.

God is our Heavenly Father (He is a literal Father to our spirits) and loves us more than we can even imagine. He would not condemn someone to eternal suffering just because they happen to be in the wrong church or even if they are atheist or even if they are the worst sinners.

If you read the above blog post, you'll learn what my Church teaches about who is saved. Pretty much everyone is saved to a wonderful place of glory.

Once you have read that blog post, read this following quote. It is from one of our manuals and explains how even the worst sinner is loved more than we can understand. The telestial kingdom is the lowest of the three God's kingdoms, yet it is glorious beyond understanding.

D&C 76:89–106. Why Will Those Who Inherit the Telestial Kingdom Receive a Glory That “Surpasses All Understanding”?

All who receive the telestial kingdom will have paid a price for this glory. The fact that after they pay this price they inherit a telestial glory is evidence of the Father’s love and mercy. Elder John A. Widtsoe wrote:

“The [Doctrine and Covenants] explains clearly that the lowest glory to which man is assigned is so glorious as to be beyond the understanding of man. It is a doctrine fundamental in Mormonism that the meanest sinner, in the final judgment, will receive a glory which is beyond human understanding, which is so great that we are unable to describe it adequately. Those who do well will receive an even more glorious place. Those who dwell in the lower may look wistfully to the higher as we do here. The hell on the other side will be felt in some such way.

“The Gospel is a gospel of tremendous love. Love is at the bottom of it. The meanest child is loved so dearly that his reward will be beyond the understanding of mortal man.”

I blogged about God's plan for us long time ago at my other blog. I explained the kingdoms of glory etc. You can read those blog posts by clicking here:

God's plan, Part I

God's plan, Part II

God's plan, Part III

So often you hear people say things like "Why did this happen?" (when something bad happens) or "Why did God let those people suffer? Why didn't he stop the bad guys?". Once you understand God's plan for us, you'll see why. People blame God for not doing anything about the bad things in life, yet they are often unwilling to learn more about God and why He is doing what He is doing (for example, why He is not stopping terrorists, etc). Once you understand The Plan and the gospel more fully, life makes so much more sense. You will understand why we have to go through trials and suffering in this life. You'll understand yourself better. Who you are. Where you came from. Why you are here on earth. Where you are going after this life. There is so much information if people are just willing to learn. Once you get The Plan, it all makes sense! I promise. :)

[refining silver scripture]

This story has been going around for a while now. I love it. 

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." (Malachi 3:3) This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot--then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.

She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you.

Author unknown

[hope for a better world]

"Every one of us has times when we need to know things will get better. Moroni spoke of it in the Book of Mormon as “hope for a better world.” (Ether 12:4) For emotional health and spiritual stamina, everyone needs to be able to look forward to some respite, to something pleasant and renewing and hopeful, whether that blessing be near at hand or

 still some distance ahead. It is enough just to know we can get there, that however measured or far away, there is the promise of “good things to come.”

. . . This is precisely what the gospel of Jesus Christ offers us . . . There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the “light that is endless, that can never be darkened.” (see John 8:12; Rev 22:16; Mosiah 16:9) It is the very Son of God Himself. . . . To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to you in His “more excellent ministry” with a future of “better promises.”"

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

(1999, October) “An High Priest of Good Things to Come,” General

Conference. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

To read the full talk, click here.

[depression and other mental illnesses]

I LOVE Elder Holland! Love, love, love him! His talks have given me so much comfort throughout the years. Even before he was an Apostle, I read his book "However Long and Hard the Road", and it helped me so much to put life's struggles into perspective. If you, or anyone you know, are affected by depression or any other mental illness, this talk is "balm of Gilead to a wounded soul".

We as a society, have to stop placing negative stigmas on mental illness. Just like any other part of your body can get ill, so can your brain. So often people with mental illness suffer in silence. It has to stop. We need to offer our love and compassion to anyone who suffers mentally. Not judge them. It is a lonely illness.

[What if all our prayers were answered?]

What would happen if all your prayers were answered? The whole plan of God would be annulled, that's what!

"Now, we find many people critical when a righteous person is killed, a young father or mother is taken from a family, or when violent deaths occur. Some people become bitter when oft-repeated prayers seem unanswered. Some lose faith and turn sour when solemn administrations by holy men seem to be ignored and no restoration seems to come from repeated prayer circles. But if all the sick were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, free agency, would be ended.

If pain and sorrow and total punishment immediately followed the doing of evil, no soul would repeat a misdeed. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil - all would do good and not because of the rightness of doing good. 

There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency, no Satanic controls.

Should all prayers be immediately answered according to our selfish desires and our limited understanding, then there would be little or no suffering, sorrow, disappointment, or even death; and if these were not, there would also be an absence of joy, success, resurrection, eternal life, and godhood."

Spencer W. Kimball, Improvement Era, March 1966

Once we understand God's plan for us, we will understand why there must be trials in this life and why He can't give us everything we want.

[love this!]

[found on Facebook, source unknown]

[God's love can conquer any darkness!]

Two times a year, our Church holds a General Conference during which the Church leaders share inspiring talks. I loved this talk particularly. Such a powerful testimony that God's love & light are stronger than any possible darkness. Such an uplifting talk!

"Healing comes when we move away from darkness and walk toward the hope of brighter light." 

I've gone through some very difficult times in my life. The gospel has healed it all! I don't need to dwell on the terrible things that I went through. I can choose to walk in the light instead. There is no need to analyze every little detail of trials we've gone through. If you just let God in your life, His perfect light is there to chase away any darkness. It works better than any kind of therapy. 

"God's light is real. It is available to all... It has the power to soften the sting of the deepest wound."

"Isn't it wonderful to know that we don't have to be perfect to experience the blessings and gifts of our Heavenly Father?"

"The darkness will surely fade because it cannot exist in the presence of light."

 Click here if you want to check out other General Conference videos.

[trials & free agency]

[trials]

{walk with God daily}

Some time before I was called as a General Authority, I faced a personal economic challenge that persisted for several years. It ebbed and flowed in seriousness and urgency, but it never went away. At times this challenge threatened the welfare of my family, and I thought we might be facing financial ruin. I prayed for some miraculous intervention to deliver us. Although I offered that prayer many times with great sincerity and earnest desire, the answer in the end was no. Finally, I learned to pray as the Savior did: “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). I sought the Lord’s help with each tiny step along the way to a final resolution.

There were times when I had exhausted all my resources, when I had nowhere and no one to turn to for help to meet the exigency before me. With no other recourse, more than once I fell down before my Heavenly Father, begging in tears for His help. And He did help. Sometimes it was nothing more than a sense of peace, a feeling of assurance that things would work out. I might not see how or what the path would be, but He gave me to know that, directly or indirectly, He would open a way. Circumstances might change, a new and helpful idea might come to mind, some unanticipated income or other resource might appear at just the right time. Somehow there was a resolution.

Though I suffered then, I am grateful now that there was not a quick solution to my problem. The fact that I was forced to turn to God for help almost daily over an extended period of years taught me how to truly pray and get answers to prayer and taught me in a practical way to have faith in God. I came to know my Savior and my Heavenly Father in a way and to a degree that might not have happened otherwise or that might have taken me much longer... I learned to trust in the Lord with all my heart. I learned to walk with Him day by day...

...In the 1950s my mother survived radical cancer surgery, which was followed by dozens of painful radiation treatments. She recalls that her mother taught her something during that time that has helped her ever since:

“I was so sick and weak, and I said to her one day, ‘Oh, Mother, I can’t stand having 16 more of those treatments.’

“She said, ‘Can you go today?’

“‘Yes.’

“‘Well, honey, that’s all you have to do today.’

“It has helped me many times when I remember to take one day or one thing at a time.”

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Ensign, January 2012, 18

(image via google image search)