Jesus said - Day 10

Exodus 20:12

Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

John 6:38

For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Matthew 19:19

Honour thy father and thy mothers; and, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

All through his life Jesus Christ referred to the relationship he had with his Heavenly Father.  Often he would remind those with whom he associated to honor their fathers and their mothers.  This commandment is almost as old as formal religion and gives us all pause to think about how we treat and honor our parents who gave us life.  I'm so grateful for two good parents who brought me into this world.  They gave me a safe and secure place to grow up and they showed by their examples how to be of service to others.  They loved all seven of us children and provided for our needs and most of our wants.  They taught us how to work, value education, how to have fun, how to value family relationships, and how to live the gospel and strengthen our testimonies of the Savior.  My dad has been gone now for almost 35 years.  I think about him very often.  I miss him so much. My sweet mother just turned 91 years old last month.  She has significant challenges with dementia and struggles with every day living.  It was so fun to gather with extended family at her assisted living home and celebrate with her.  I love her.  I'm grateful for the good start she and dad gave me.  I honor them for being the perfect parents for me.

Jesus said - Day 9

The Lord speaking to Emma Smith said:

Doctrine and Covenants 25:12

For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

What would Christmas time be without Christmas music?  I don't even want to imagine.  Seriously, one of my favorite parts about the Christmas season is the music.  I've mentioned this before in previous Christmas posts, but I adore Christmas music on the radio, playing on Spotify, on a CD, in the car, and most especially in attending live musical performances.  This year was no exception.  I decided this year to limit the number of performances I attended, and I have.  But I chose carefully the ones I most love.  This always includes the BYU Celebration of Christmas concert given by the performing choral groups and the Philharmonic orchestra.  Wow.  This year was one of the best yet.  We went with Rick's mom, our daughters and SIL R and some of their siblings and spouses.  I am always moved to tears.  The spirit is overwhelming.  Here is just a little taste of what hundreds of young spirit-filled voices sound like:

Jesus said - Day 8

Matthew 24:29

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

Of course these verses speak of the last days when the son of man, even Jesus Christ, shall return to the earth again.  I couldn't help but think of the day we experienced on August 21st, 2017 when the sun was darkened and the moon did not give her light.  It was pretty amazing to see the total solar eclipse (about 90%) from where we live.  It was fun to experience it with several of the grandchildren and their mothers.  Wow! The wonders of this earth and the creations of the universe are awe inspiring.  We we know that God sent His son to be the creator of this earth.  It really gives you pause. 

This is Andy and Chelsea watching the eclipse from CA

Jesus said - Day 7

Matthew 11:29

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;

 for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

I recently read this talk given by Elder Neal A. Maxwell.  It is such a powerful lesson in learning to take the yoke of the Savior upon us by "Enduring" the trials and challenges of life.  

These steps as outlined in the scripture can bring rest to our souls:

Take his yoke upon us

Learn of Him

Understand what is means to be meek and lowly in heart and strive to emulate His example

After doing those things, we can find rest unto our souls.  

Simple enough, right?

Wrong.  It is so very difficult.

From Elder Maxwell's talk:

By taking Jesus' yoke upon us and enduring, we learn most deeply of Him and especially how to be like Him.  Even though our experiences are micro compared to His, the process is the same. 

There are so many things to be endured:  illness, injustice, insensitivity, poverty, aloneness, unresponsiveness, being misrepresented and misunderstood, and sometime even enemies.  Paul reminds us that meek and lowly Jesus, though the Lord of the universe, "endure contradiction of sinners against himself."  

We tend to think only in terms of our endurance, but is is God's patient long-suffering which provide us with our chances to improve, affording us urgently needed developmental space or time.

Therefore, true enduring represents not merely the passage of time, but he passage of the soul - and not merely from A to B, but sometimes all the way from A to Z.  To endure in faith and to do God's will, therefore involves much more than putting up with a circumstance.

Patient endurance permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord and our faith in His timing when we are being tossed about by the surf of circumstance.  Even when a seeming undertow grasps us, somehow, in the tumbling we are carried forward though battered and bruised.

Without patient and meek endurance we will learn less, see less, feel less, and hear less.  We who are egocentric and impatient shut down so much of our receiving capacity.  

How could there be refining fires without enduring some heat?  Or greater patience without enduring some instructive waiting?  Or more empathy without bearing one another's burdens - not only that other's burdens may be lightened, but that we may be enlightened through greater empathy?

The enlarging of the soul requires not only some remodeling, but some excavating.  Hypocrisy, guile and other imbedded traits do not go gladly or easily, but if we "endure it well" we will not grow testy while being tested.  Moreover, we find that sorrow can actually enlarge the mind and heart in order to "give place" expanded space for later joy.

Jesus Said - Day 6

Matthew 25:40

...verily I say unto you, Insomuch as ye have done it unto

 one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Back in early October, we had a stake humanitarian service day.  We estimate that in the six hours that the project was going on,  almost 300 women came to the church to offer their time and talents in service.  We wanted to have a local service project, a state wide service project and an international project. Can you even imagine all the good that was accomplished? 

We had five projects going on:

1.  A food drive for the local food pantry - Tabitha's Way collecting especially needed food items for those who have food insecurity in our community.  Over 700 pounds of food was gathered and delivered to the pantry the next day.  We were so lucky to have Al Switzler come and speak to our group and talk about the need for food in our very own community and his own experiences of being in need.  Such an awesome man!

2.  Days for Girls - We got involved helping sew kits for girls in need of feminine hygiene supplies in third world countries for our international project.  Many of these girls can't attend school or work or function because they can't leave their homes while they are having their monthly menstrual cycle.  The kits give girls and women reusable pads that can be washed and reused for about three years.  The girls can then find out how to make their own supplies going forward. Check out the link to their web site to learn more.  We made over 120 bags for this project!

3.  Bear, Bears, Bears!  This team of women made 140 stuffed bears to give to local hospitals, emergency crews, shelters, Family Support and Treatment centers, etc.  These cute little bears can be given to boys or girls and are so snuggly and warm.  

4.  Quilts for children in foster care in our community.  We found out about a need for children who are in foster care.  They often don't have much, if anything, of their own.  We made 24 quilts for this organization!  Most were twin size quilts for boys and girls of various ages and there were a few baby size quilts for infants.  A woman in our stake monogrammed all their names on the quilts after they were tied and ready to go.  It was such a fun project!  The quilts came that day ready to tie and many of the women stayed for hours tying quilts and visiting. 

5.  We have thousands of refugees coming into our state.  Most are settling in the Salt Lake valley, but some are coming to our county.  We made contact with a group that distributes household goods to families and individuals who are relocating to Utah.  This became our state project. They are in need of all sorts of household items, so we gathered items for hygiene kids, newborn kits, kitchen kits, cleaning kits, books, toys, bikes, etc.  

The response from the women in our stake was OVERWHELMING!!  Some gave cash which we used to buy needed items, and a lot gave items that were on a list of things that were needed.  Our donations filled two large trailers!  They were sorted, bagged and organized so that they could be easily distributed.  

We served a simple dinner of sub sandwiches and fruit, buffet style so women could grab a bite to eat while they were working. We had committees organized with about three to four women heading up each project.  They were amazing women who offered their time and talents to make this service day a great success.  I'm so grateful to ALL those who made this day possible.  We were the Savior's hands that day, doing unto others as He would do.