Temples announced

This is the Logan temple, the temple that is closest to me now.


Yesterday during the Saturday session of General Conference, President Monson announced plans to build five new temples. Two of those temples mentioned are to be built in areas that Erick and I have lived: Kansas City and Philadelphia. I was so happy that I began crying.

I know that faithful members of our church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in those areas have had to make huge sacrifices in order to attend the temple many hours away. I am so thankful for such blessings from the Lord.

Erick and I were married in the Bountiful temple, and I know that because of that, our family can be together forever. With a husband in the military, it brings me such peace to know that God loves his children and has a plan for us. If Erick's life is cut short, heaven forbid, I know that it will not be the end of our existence together; we will still be married, and we will be together again.

Testimony

This Saturday and Sunday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints will hold its 178th Semiannual General Conference where those who listen will be taught gospel and life truths by the leaders of the church. For any who are questioning our stands, this is an ideal time to see for yourselves what members of the church truly believe. There will be many that will bare testimony of the truths of our doctrines - but how can one know for themselves if what is being taught is correct?

One of our Apostles, Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught about the idea of gaining a testimony at our last General Conference. While it is a little lengthy, I love how he eloquently explains about the process by which this fundamental knowledge can be gained. Elder Oaks said,

"What do we mean when we testify and say that we know the gospel is true? Contrast that kind of knowledge with “I know it is cold outside” or “I know I love my wife.” These are three different kinds of knowledge, each learned in a different way. Knowledge of outside temperature can be verified by scientific proof. Knowledge that we love our spouse is personal and subjective. While not capable of scientific proof, it is still important. The idea that all important knowledge is based on scientific evidence is simply untrue.

While there are some “evidences” for gospel truths (for example, see Psalm 19:1; Helaman 8:24), scientific methods will not yield spiritual knowledge. This is what Jesus taught in response to Simon Peter’s testimony that He was the Christ: “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). The Apostle Paul explained this. In a letter to the Corinthian Saints, he said, “The things of God knoweth no man, but [by]
the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11; see also John 14:17). In contrast, we know the things of man by the ways of man, but “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

The Book of Mormon teaches that God will manifest the truth of spiritual things unto us by the power of the Holy Ghost (see Moroni 10:4–5). In modern revelation God promises us that we will receive “knowledge” by His telling us in our mind and in our heart “by the Holy Ghost” (D&C 8:1–2).

One of the greatest things about our Heavenly Father’s plan for His children is that each of us can know the truth of that plan for ourselves. That revealed knowledge does not come from books, from scientific proof, or from intellectual pondering. As with the Apostle Peter, we can receive that knowledge directly from our Heavenly
Father through the witness of the Holy Ghost.

When we know spiritual truths by spiritual means, we can be just as sure of that knowledge as scholars and scientists are of the different kinds of knowledge they have acquired by different methods."

I love these ideas because I have felt and deeply know this knowledge of the gospel, just as well as I have learned and proven scientific principles in the classroom. We challenge all to put these ideas to the test and watch General Conference this weekend. Those who do will come away from the experience strengthened with a greater desire to do good around them.

General Conference broadcasts will be shown at LDS stake centers, in many locations on television, and watched online at www.lds.org (times and details can also be found at this site).

General Relief Society Meeting

Once a year, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints holds a meeting specifically for women. This General Relief Society Meeting will be held this Saturday, September 26th at 6:00 p.m. MDT. We invite all women to participate and hear the uplifting messages of our church-wide leaders by either attending the meeting which is broadcast to all Stake Centers of our church, or watching the broadcast via Internet at www.lds.org. We know that any who do take the time to listen to this broadcast will be inspired to do their best and to reach out in love to those around them.

A Child's Faith

I have always tried hard not to burden the Lord with trivial problems. Sometimes, things just aren't important enough to pray about, I have often thought. How wrong I was! Yesterday, I learned a great lesson about the character of a loving Father in Heaven from my little boy, Sam.

Sam is almost 3 years old and is speeched delayed. About 80% of the time I have no idea what he wants. But one thing I do know, is that Sammy loves Thomas the Train. He loves everything about them! His favorite Thomas toys are the little take-along trains. They are just the right size to fit in his little hands. Yesterday, I let Sammy choose two of his trains to take with us to visit a few of our neighbors. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for Sammy to lose his trains on the playground. I was a little upset, because those toys aren't cheap, and after about an hour of combing the playground we only found one train.

It was getting dark and I had given up. I put the boys (I have a 16 mo. old too) in the wagon to walk home, and Sammy started to whimper a little for his lost train. I was halfway to our apartment when I stopped and thought, "It won't hurt to take one last look." Before I turned around, I paused and thought, "I guess a little prayer won't hurt either." So I went and stood by Sam and bowed my head (only after checking around to make sure no one was watching) and I said a quick prayer in behalf of my little son who has no voice for himself. It went something like this: "Father in Heaven, I know that this may seem very petty and trivial, but Sammy lost his little train. I know it isn't a big deal to us, but it means a lot to him. Please, Father, help us find his little train, and bless Sammy for his perfect faith. Amen."

We started back to the playground. Then to my utter amazement, when we got to the gate, there was his little train, sitting there as if waiting just for us! Tears of gratitude welled up in my eyes as I realized that finding Sammy's train wasn't a trivial thing to pray for after all. Why? Because it mattered to Sam, and if it matters to him, then it mattered to the Lord.

What a loving Father in Heaven! How blessed that we are to know that no matter what, he will be there for us, to help us, comfort us, and heal us, when we need him. Thanks to my little son, with his perfect faith, I know my Father in Heaven a little bit more. If it matter's to us, it matters to Him.

Parenthood

I love and value being a mother, but sometimes I need to be reminded of the importance of my work when all I notice around me are the spaghettio streaks on the wall or the yogurt-encrusted hair of my rambunctious kids. This week, that reminder of the beauty and sacredness of being a parent came from one of my new neighbors. A sweet woman that I had only briefly met before came up to me at our neighborhood playground with a beautiful baby boy in her arms. With pure joy written on her features, she explained to me that this was her new baby! She and her husband had just been able to adopt him after months of waiting and he had finally arrived. Throughout the day I witnessed both parents playing with him in the beautiful weather along with grandparents that had travelled from a foreign country to be with their new grandson. Later that day, I saw this new mother quietly rocked her son to sleep for the first time under the shade of a tree. I know that she will soon have her days of messes on the kitchen wall, but I'm also certain that she will find much joy along the way.

President Hinckley wrote that we should, "celebrate and treat children as our most priceless treasures ... If our children are really our greatest treasures, it stands to reason that they deserve our greatest attention (Standing for Something, 152)." I know that I often fall short of this ideal, but I truly hope that at the end of my lifetime I will be able to look back and see that I dedicated myself as much as I could to what matters the most.

Answers to Prayers

In my spiritually immature mind I sometimes try to figure out why God answers some prayers immediately and others seem to go unanswered. A few months ago, at my husband's graduation, the camera slipped out of my hands minutes before he walked across the stage to receive his MBA diploma. And of course it broke. I was devastated and immediately prayed "Heavenly Father, I know you can fix this camera and I am begging you to please fix it so I can take pictures of this." I honestly believed that after my pleading I was going to take a picture and I would see something other than squiggly lines indicating it was broken. But I didn't. It was heartbreaking to me. I followed up my prayer thinking "OK, that's OK, I know you have answered other prayers and I know at least that you heard me." I do wish it had been fixed though. It was such a big moment for my husband and our family, a culmination of 3 years of hard work and diligence and I hardly have it documented.

Fast forward a few weeks after that. We were driving through Georgia on our move to Florida and it began to rain. We were on the freeway going 75mph and although the rain didn't seem like much I felt like it was starting to puddle a little on the road and I had the thought to slow down which I shared with my husband. As I began to slow down a car passed us on our left. Within seconds this car hydroplaned, began spinning circles in the middle of the highway, and hit the left side rail. The trunk flew open and the car jumped several feet into the air landing down hard on the road. Had I not slowed, this car would have spun right into our car. My husband called 911. I was in shock. It was the worst accident I have ever seen and we were seconds from being involved and seriously hurt. The thought of my two children in the back seat getting hurt brought me to tears and we had to take the next exit so that my husband could drive and I could stop shaking and crying. I then remembered the prayer we had so simply given hours earlier "Heavenly Father, we are thankful for all we have and for the safety we have had so far on our trip. Please bless us with safety again as we drive today." It went something like that at least. I KNEW without a doubt that God had answered our prayers.

If I had to pick, I would much rather have the prayer of safety answered than my silly broken camera. No matter what the outcome, I believe that we must show our faith by praying to God continually. I believe there is reason behind how our Heavenly Father answers our prayers. Whether or not we "see" an answer to our prayers, I know he hears us when we pray to Him because we are his children and he loves us. I hope to have the same magnitude of faith someday as the prophet Nephi did when he said--

"Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen."

--2 Nephi 4:35--

Where is my voice?

Because of a few poignant experiences that my family has been through in the last year, my mind has been repeatedly drawn to, for lack of a better description, my priorities. Each time I have thought of where they should be, I seem to be far off the mark -- and excuses pile up. I have so much homework, and housework, and mom/wife-work, etc., etc. But then something unexpected happens, and I am jolted back to that same place again -- priorities. I am reminded of how blessed I am to be able to go to school, to have a home to live in, to be able to be a mom and a wife, and to be able to do all these things with the encompassing knowledge that there is a purpose behind it all -- a driving force that brings even greater happiness to these already joyful descriptions of my life.

If I follow the plan of happiness, I will have the opportunity to be with my husband and children for eternity. I have the opportunity to learn all the beautiful things this world has to offer, and then take them with me to the eternities. And the most incredible part of all of this? The plan itself is joyful. Not just the end result -- living it brings peace in a contentious world, serenity in a rapidly declining society, health an a tumultuous environment, and joy to all those who hear and embrace it. So therein lies my priorities -- or lack thereof. I have been blessed to know the way to find happiness, and I feel a responsibility to share that knowledge. When my little brother was preparing for his mission recently, he and I found an old CD I had from an Especially For Youth outing I went on when I was younger.

"I've never been the kind to testify
I don't have the words his truth deserves
But it's a simple thing he asks
A worthy heart and willing hands
He says if I'll make the choice
He'll help me find my voice" (Kenneth Cope)

How often has a variation of this verse been in my mind? I never have been the kind to testify -- because I don't have the words (or the courage) His truth deserves. But the rest of the verse is where I hope to focus -- it's a simple thing He asks ...

My priorities are constantly being realigned to keep myself on the track I want to be on -- but I have been blessed to know the simple truths in this world -- who I am, where I came from, and how to get to where I want to be -- and so many others don't have this same knowledge. So I hope to, once again, refocus my priorities and work on finding my voice, so that I can show my gratitude to my Father, and share His message. We may not all be called to the field, but we are all called to the work, and although I am nervous about the prospect, I genuinely look forward to heeding that call.