Monday, June 1, 2015

We'll Ascend Together


We switched things around a little in our FHE the last few weeks. This week was my turn to go over Sis Burton's talk.  I had each family member read a section and tell me what they learned. My daughter had the first section and seemed to zero in on:

"I am convinced that a husband is never more attractive to his wife than when he is serving in his God-given roles as a worthy priesthood holder—most important in the home."

We tried to talk about what that really meant. It's not what the outward appearance the matters most, but where a man's heart, commitment, and devotion are.

I remember when Sis Burton was reading the list of questions. At the end of #5, my DH raised his hands and shouted "5 for 5! We have a great marriage!"

 am grateful for a father who was devoted to the gospel. I watched him perform all that was required of him and learned what it was I wanted in a husband when I was a young single adult. I found that devotion in another wonderful man.

Friday, May 1, 2015

Timely Prophetic Counsel

Our family lived in Baltimore for 6 years. I remember clearly still the day my kids and I stepped into the Inner Harbor Branch (we later became a Ward).  I was alone. My husband was deployed in Iraq.  But I will never forget the feeling of coming home. It was so real and so beautiful! 
To see a city we enjoyed and have such great memories of, become a place of turmoil and tragedy, was very sad to me. 

In the news this morning there was a discussion on what the causes might be that enable a community to remain in poverty, or to become so "broken spirited". The panel discussed welfare system. They even discussed the need for fathers to take responsibility in the lives of their children.  And the talks from conference that we read last week and this week kept ringing in my head. 

Elder Sitati's talk was especially powerful. He knows first hand poverty and the despair that can come into such a life.
"I was born and raised in humble circumstances typical to many families in Africa. I gained the ability to lift myself from those circumstances by seeking and obtaining, with the caring help of my parents, a good education. Developing a vision of what I could become was essential to my progress. Later, as a young couple, my wife, Gladys, and I found the restored gospel, which continues to bless our lives with spiritual direction. Like every family, we have our trials and challenges. But as we look to the Lord for help, we have found answers that bring peace and comfort, and we do not feel overwhelmed by these things.
"The challenges facing human society today, including immorality, pornography, armed conflict, pollution, substance abuse, and poverty, flourish because many in the world have turned themselves over by choice “to the will of the devil and the flesh” rather than to the will of God. “They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world.”
"However, God invites all His children to obtain His help to overcome and endure the challenges of this life with these words:
“I am God; I made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.
“… If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, … ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.”
"Faithful Latter-day Saints who understand their divine potential and rely wholeheartedly on the power available through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ are strengthened in their natural weakness and “can do all things.” They are enabled to overcome the enticings of evil that have put many under bondage to the adversary.
I am grateful for the knowledge I have, that so many do not have, that a Father in Heaven loves me. And because He loves me, He has a plan for me that will allow me to have true happiness in this life. And because He loves me, I can have His help when things get tough, and that the tough things will make me a better person. If every young person in Baltimore knew what I know, perhaps the would be more mutual respect, more desire for virtue, more tolerance and peace.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

April 2015 Reading Schedule



Week Talk and Link
Apr 20,2015 Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth and Defenders of the Family Proclamation
Apr 27,2015 The Family is Ordained of God- video and The Family is of God and Be Fruitful, Multiply, and Subdue the Earth
May 4,2015 The Comforter
May 11,2015 Why Marriage and Family Matter- Everywhere in the World and Why Marriage, Why Family and The Plan of Happiness
May 18,2015 The Music of the Gospel.
May 25,2015 Is Not This the Fast That I Have Chosen? and The Sabbath is a Delight
Jun 1,2015  The Priesthood- A Sacred Gift and Priesthood and Personal Prayer
Jun 8,2015 We'll Ascend Together
Jun 15,2015 The Parable of the Sower
Jun 22,2015 Choose to Believe
Jun 29,2014 Therefore They Hushed Their Fears
July 6,2015 Latter-day Saints Keep on Trying
July 13,2015 Truly Good and Without Guile and Waiting for the Prodigal
July 20,2015 The Lord is My Light and Thy Kingdom Come
July 27,2015 The Greatest Generation of Young Adults
Aug 3,2015 Yes, We Can and Will Win! and Fatherhood- Our Eternal Destiny
Aug 10,2015 Is It Still Wonderful to You? and Returning to Faith
Aug 17,2015 The Eternal Perspective of the Gospel and If You Will Be Responsible
Aug 24,2015 On Being Genuine and Seeking the Lord
Aug 31,2015 Stay by the Tree
Sept 7,2015 Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet
Sept 14,2015 The Gift of Grace
Sept 21,2015 Preserving Agency, Protecting Religious Freedom
Sept 28,2015 Blessings of the Temple

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

April 2015 GC

GC Bookclub will start up again in April, I promise!
Stay tuned for the new reading schedule.