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

April 2015 GC

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

Sisterhood and The Priesthood Man

These talks were great and although you'd think they were separate gender talks, they actually go hand in hand.

Sis Linda Reeves recently quoted from Pres Eyring's talk and wrote in the Church News, "Each of you will be a model of a priesthood man [or woman], whether you want to be or not. You become a lighted candle when you accepted... priesthood [covenants].

A Christ Centered Home

My husband and I both loved this talk! It was in a way, and affirmation of things we instilled in our own family years ago and are still trying to do (and convince our children at times) every day.

How do we lead our children to deep conversion and to access our Savior’s Atonement? I love the prophet Nephi’s declaration of what his people did to fortify the youth of his day: “We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, [and] we prophesy of Christ … that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”⁴

How can we do this in our homes? Some of you have heard me tell how overwhelmed my husband, Mel, and I felt as the parents of four young children. As we faced the challenges of parenting and keeping up with the demands of life, we were desperate for help. We prayed and pleaded to know what to do. The answer that came was clear: “It is OK if the house is a mess and the children are still in their pajamas and some responsibilities are left undone. The only things that really need to be accomplished in the home are daily scripture study and prayer and weekly family home evening.”

Years ago during preparation for our first USAF deployment,  we prayed and pondered how we could ensure safety for my husband and safety and special care for those of us left at home. We came to the conclusion, and a firm testimony with each succeeding deployment, that if I wanted, and fully expected, the Lord to bless my husband and family, that I needed to give him no reason NOT TO bless us and keep us safe.  That meant doing all I was asked and making sure we were following the commandments regarding our home and family life-- family prayer, scripture study, and magnifying my callings in the Church.

The Joyful Burden of Discipleship

I used Elder Rasband's talk in FHE this week.  It was excellent!

Elder Rasband gave us a gentle reminder of what it means to sustain our leaders and to help ease their burdens. To be the Lord's hands to life and strengthen those around us.

"To sustain our leaders is a privilege; it comes coupled with a personal responsibility to share their burden and to be disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ

"We are the Lord's hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and to lift His children.  He is dependent upon each of us..."

 I talked with the kids in FHE about the title and what it means to have a burden be joyful.  They are such good kids! My 11yr old readily explained how serving others and the Lord is something that makes you happy!

"Focusing on serving our brothers and sisters can guide us to male divine decisions in our daily lives and prepares us to value and love what the Lord loves.. When we are engaged in His work, we feel His Spirit with us. We grow in testimony, faith, trust, and love."

Grateful in Any Circumstance

I hope that dispute my lack of blogging isn't keeping you from your reading. The schedule has some great talks over the last couple weeks.  I am especially "grateful" for Pres Uchtdorf's talk.

I love that he points out that real gratitude doesn't come in being grateful for the things we've been give or have received, but rather "seeing gratitude as a disposition, a way of life that stands independent of our current situation.... being thankful in our circumstances- whatever they may be."

He says,

"This type of gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us.  It surpasses disappointment, discouragement, and despair."

Ensigns are here!

We received our Ensign and other church magazines today! Did you? 

We were also able to order one of each of our kids from the Distribution Center online.

Living Prophet

If there was ever a need for a living prophet, it is today.  I was in Gospel Principles on Sunday and they talked about this very subject. I am so grateful to know of the love my Father in a Heaven has for me, for the people of this time.  I know that because He has given us living prophets to teach us, lead us, and warn us.

Must admit that I was a little disappointed to hear Pres Monson say he wasn't going to be announcing any new temples this Conference.  It made me think of all the changes in the last few years, and that perhaps we're being allowed a chance to take a breath, digest what's happened and is happening, so that we may be prepared for more in the future.

"Although we are currently concentrating our efforts on completing the previously announced temples and will not be announcing any new temples in the immediate future, we will continue the process of determining needs and of finding locations for temples yet to come. Announcements will then be made in future general conferences. We are a temple-building and a temple-attending people."

His closing remarks were brief but full of so much counsel: read, re read, and ponder the conference talks, be kind and loving to those not of our faith, follow Christ's example.

"May heaven’s blessings be with each of us. May our homes be filled with love and courtesy and with the Spirit of the Lord. May we constantly nourish our testimonies of the gospel, that they will be a protection for us against the buffetings of the adversary. May the Spirit we have felt during these past two days be and abide with us as we go about those things which occupy us each day, and may we ever be found doing the work of the Lord."

Christ the Redeemer/The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

I chose these talks for Easter weekend. It was a good reminder of the reason we celebrate Easter. 

 We had several opportunities to share with family and friends our traditions, or more especially the things we don't do and why. When our kids were small we would have a "spring egg hunt" on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. We never introduced the Easter Bunny or all the candy and baskets. That's not what we wanted our kids to remember about Easter. The reason we celebrate Easter is because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Our family tradition begins with the observance of Passover. We don't celebrate it with the whole Seder dinner or prayers and rituals, but more of an acknowledgment and a reading of the story of Moses. We try to watch the movie "The Ten Commandments". Then we go through the scriptures of the last week of Christ's life, culminating with the resurrection and His visit to the American continent. Since our various trips to Jerusalem, we have actual photos to show the kids of the places in the scriptures and from the different events of the week. It's been a great tradition in our family and watching the kids each year come to understand the Atonement and learn to appreciate it more each year has been a joy!

Updated!

The April 2014 Reading Schedule is now up!

Continually Holding Fast

This was a great talk!  I loved Elder Hamilton's reference to Lehi's dream of the people he saw along the path to the Tree of Life.

... the Book of Mormon prophet Lehi shared a vision with his family where he “saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which [he] stood.

“And … they did come forth, and commence in the path which led to the tree.

“And … there arose a mist of darkness; … insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.”

Lehi then saw a second group that was “pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.” Unfortunately, “after they had partaken of the fruit of the tree they did cast their eyes about as if they were ashamed” because of those in “a great and spacious building” that “were in the attitude of mocking and pointing their fingers towards those who had come … and were partaking of the fruit.” These people then “fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.”²They were unable, or perhaps unwilling, to endure to the end.

There was, however, a third group that was not only successful in reaching the tree of life, but they afterward did not fall away. Of these, the scriptures say that they pressed “forward, continually holding fast to the rod of iron, until they came forth and fell down and partook of the fruit of the tree.”³ The rod of iron represented for this group of people the only safety and security that they could find, and they held fast continually; they refused to let go, even for something as simple as a Sunday afternoon ride in the country.

Elder Hamilton goes on to explain how we can be like that third group.

Continually holding fast to the rod means that whenever possible we attend our Sunday meetings: sacrament meeting, Sunday School, and priesthood or Relief Society meetings. Our children and youth attend their respective meetings in Primary, Young Men, and Young Women. We should never pick or choose which meetings we attend. We simply hold fast to the word of God by worshipping and attending our Sabbath meetings.Continually holding fast to the rod means that we strive to keep all of God’s commandments, to have daily personal and family prayer, and to study the scriptures daily.Continually holding fast is part of the doctrine of Christ as taught in the Book of Mormon. We exercise faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, change our hearts, and then follow Him down into the waters of baptism and receive the confirming gift of the Holy Ghost, which serves as a guide and comforter. And then, as Nephi taught, we “press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ” until the very end of our lives.

It has always been impressed upon us as a family.  While living in Baltimore we were richly instructed by a spiritual giant of a Stake President.  He stressed to the members that we (even the Bishopric members) should attend all our meetings on Sunday.  It is a question asked of us in the temple recommend interview.  

It is easy I suppose to sit in the foyer of church and catch up with friends and family, to try and have a quick presidency meeting or to gather last minute preparations for our lessons during Sunday School. I've seen this in the many wards and branches we've attended through the years.  Its sad really.  There is so much to learn and share in Sunday School!

Sacrament Meeting for our family has been easy in some places to attend and in others a little more difficult depending on the ages and dispositions of our children.  But we've made sure that even during those difficult times, that our children know how important Sacrament Meeting is to us.  Even if we're sitting in the foyer so our disruptive children don't disrupt others, they know that just because we're sitting out doesn't mean we don't whisper and sit reverently.  And that training was so hard to do while they were young, but it has totally paid off!!

Teaching with the Power and Authority of God

I've been searching and planning for a teaching class over the last couple of weeks (sorry for the delays in blogging) and this talk by Elder David M. McConkie has been a great resource and I've been putting stickies in my manual all week!

 What fun it's been to prepare this course. I loved this talk because it had all kinds of things that went with the "Teaching- No Greater Call" manual.

"The First Presidency has promised: 'The Holy Ghost will help you to know what to do. Your own testimony will grow, your conversion will be deepened, and you will be strengthened to meet the challenges of life.'"

I will especially use the two ways the gospel comes to men- by the word of the gospel and by the power of the gospel.

Elder McConkie reminds us of the sons of Mosiah and their very effective teaching methods in Alma 17:2-3.

And I have a couple stickies for the words by Elder Holland to missionaries where Elder McConkie replaces the terms missionaries and investigators with the terms teachers and students.

I will definitely use the following words of Elder McConkie:

"After you have prepared yourself and your lesson to the very best of your ability, you must be willing to let go. When the quiet promptings of the Holy Ghost come, you must have the courage to set aside your outlines and your notes and go where the promptings take you. When you do this, the lesson you deliver is no longer your lesson, but it becomes the Savior's lesson."

I did this in a lesson a few months back, not out of a prompting, but because for some strange reason, the lesson I had been preparing over the last month and reading everyday and going over and over even the night before, seemed to disappear Sunday morning and couldn't be found anywhere.  I left for church knowing that I was not supposed to use the lesson from the manual.  And it was a great lesson! Not the one I had prepared, but the one that needed to be given.

Drawing Closer to God

Drawing Closer to God

We had a lot of running here and there this week. And although I read two of the three talks I didn't find time to post until tonight.  I really enjoyed Elder Vinson's talk Drawing Close to God. 

There have been many times in my life when I've wondered "Why me?" or why the Lord didn't intervene instead of waiting for me to "move [my] carriage". 

Elder Vinson said, "In both of these instances, the weather could have been adjusted to eliminate the dangers. But here is the point—rather than solve the problem Himself, the Lord wants us to develop the faith that will help us rely upon Him in solving our problems and trust Him.Then we can feel His love more constantly, more powerfully, more clearly, and more personally. We become united with Him, and we can become like Him. For us to be like Him is His goal. In fact, it is His glory as well as His work."

It has been in those moments of "why" that I have gained a deep testimony of the reality of my Savior and have truly felt the love of my Heavenly Father.  I love this talk!!

I Will Not Fail Thee or Forsake Thee/ We Never Walk Alone

I was so grateful this week for having a reading schedule of the Conference Talks.  Especially the talks from last week and this week. I've spent the last few weeks visiting RS sisters who are experiencing great trials.  I marvel at the testimony of one and am even more grateful for a knowledge of the Plan of Salvation, the Great Plan of Happiness.  It is clear this sister has built her spiritual stamina and is relying on the strength of her testimony as she moves through her trials. 

This week I especially appreciated Pres Monson's General Conference talk about his experience of losing his dear wife.  

"My brothers and sisters, may we have a commitment to our Heavenly Father that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives. We should not need to experience difficulties for us to remember Him, and we should not be driven to humility before giving Him our faith and trust.

May we ever strive to be close to our Heavenly Father. To do so, we must pray to Him and listen to Him every day. We truly need Him every hour, whether they be hours of sunshine or of rain. May His promise ever be our watchword: “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

 Pres Monson's talk in the RS Session was wonderful!!!


I loved the story of the bread.  Although I've never experienced a prompting like this, I hope if I did I would respond as Sherrie did.

"My dear sisters, your Heavenly Father loves you—each of you. That love never changes. It is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. It is not changed by your talents and abilities. It is simply there. It is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. God’s love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve love. It is simply always there.

As we seek our Heavenly Father through fervent, sincere prayer and earnest, dedicated scripture study, our testimonies will become strong and deeply rooted. We will know of God’s love for us. We will understand that we do not ever walk alone. I promise you that you will one day stand aside and look at your difficult times, and you will realize that He was always there beside you."

Be Ye Converted/ Strength to Endure

These were both great talks.  As a mother to two youth and having spent the last couple of years working with the youth, I enjoyed Sis Oscarson's remarks to the youth of the Church.  I especially look forward to using this one in FHE soon.

Conversion is something that has been a big topic lately in General, Stake, and Ward Conferences- at least where we live. :)  Sis Oscarson describes:

"conversion to gospel principles comes through righteously living the principles of the gospel and being true to our covenants with the Lord."

 She then shares a story from her family history of such conversion and the sacrifice involved.  Her great-great grandmother had "come all the way from Scotland and had gone through tribulations and trials for the Gospel, and she did not intend, if humanly possible, to let a child of hers lose what she had come so far to gain.”




Elder Maynes talk was good talk.  I especially liked it since it's middle of winter and I'm getting a little frustrated with the cold and clouds (although yesterday it was beautifully bright and shiny!).  A talk on enduring to the end was just what I needed to renew my focus and give me encouragement.

"So whatever challenges you wake up to each morning, remember—with the spiritual strength you develop, coupled with the Lord’s help, at the end of the race you will be able to enjoy the confidence that the Apostle Paul expressed when he said:

“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 

“Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day."

I love the quote, "Our ability to endure to the end in righteousness will be in direct proportion to the strength of our testimony and depth of our conversion."  

He teaches us how to build a strong testimony.  

"A testimony, like your body, needs to be in shape if you want it to endure. So how do we keep our testimonies in shape? We cannot get our bodies into good basketball shape by simply watching basketball on television. Similarly, we won’t be able to get our testimonies in shape by simply watching general conference on television. We need to study and learn the fundamental principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then we must do our very best to live them. That is how we become disciples of Jesus Christ, and that is how we build an enduring testimony."

Elder Maynes shares how to spiritually prepare and to work on our spiritual stamina.  

"When we develop spiritual stamina, the false traditions of the world, as well as our personal daily challenges, will have little negative impact on our ability to endure in righteousness."