He reaches our reaching

The theme presentation at the stake women's conference:

As we meet as Relief Society sisters this morning, I am overcome with a sense of gratitude for ALL those sisters who have gone before us. March 17, 2017 marks 175 years since the organization of the Relief Society by the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1842. Knowing that we are a part of this great chain of female discipleship should give us strength and courage as we move ahead to overcome the challenges we face in our day as modern day members of this great organization.  Relief Society is literally the gospel in action in the lives of you remarkable women. One of the purposes of Relief Society is to increase faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and His Atonement.  Our goal for the conference today is to do just that.  We hope that you will leave this conference knowing that you are a beloved daughter of our Heavenly Father and that he knows you and what you are experiencing in mortality.  We hope you will feel increased hope and encouragement, knowing that you are not alone as you face challenges in life.  We have prayed that that Holy Ghost will touch your hearts and give you strength, encouragement and determination to carry on, for we know that many of you are dealing with very difficult challenges.  We are hopeful that through the beautiful music that will be sung or presented, through the messages of our speakers and through the spirit, that you will feel buoyed up, more confident and more able to recognize the good in your lives, and to give thanks to the Lord.

As a presidency, we chose the theme for this conference from Proverbs 3:5-6, which reads:  Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all they ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct they paths.

Trusting in the Lord with all our hearts is sometimes a very difficult challenge because our own reasoning, our own thoughts and ways of doing things can get in the way.  Leaning on our own understanding typically means that we tend to ask the question “WHY?”  Why me, why did this happen, why now, why this person, why this challenge? Then we tend to wonder:  What did I do to deserve this?  Did I do something wrong?  Am I being punished?  Who is to blame?  Where can I go to find solace?  Who will help me?  How can I escape this challenge?  Why, why, why?

Although each of us will pass through the “land of whys” or the land of questions and concerns as a natural part of grieving those things we’ve lost or that have changed, we usually try to find mortal solutions and explanations for the hard things that happen to us.  Ultimately I believe the answers will be more quickly found and issues more quickly resolved if we learn to trust in the Savior.  The Savior doesn’t want us to try harder to resolve our problems and challenges on our own; he wants us to turn to him sooner.  Accessing the healing and comforting power of the atonement is the one sure way to feel peace and comfort in a world of challenges, sorrow and disappointment. 

Sisters, how can we learn to turn to him sooner?  How can we learn to access the Lord’s help through the atonement?

The answer is in learning to have faith in Him, believing Christ’s promises and teachings, trusting him and turning the challenges that our mortal minds cannot solve or comprehend over to Him who is mighty to save.  He, only one.

This process may seem counterintuitive to our mortal minds.  We may insist that we can “do it on our own” or that “God doesn’t care about me” or “I don’t feel worthy to ask for help.”  Simply put, these are all Satan’s lies.  He wants us struggle on alone, hopeless and unhappy, isolated and prone to making foolish choices that only make hard situations harder.  Trusting in Christ is the only safe way that will ultimately yield the greatest rewards here and later. The choice is ours.  He may test us to see if we will chose Him, even when we feel abandoned by Him.  At some point we will have to decide if we choose to follow Christ, having faith and trust in Him, or if we won’t.  If we don’t chose Christ, the alternatives often lead to bitterness, despair, sustained anger, on-going loss of faith, remorse and hopelessness.

We have chosen to use the beautiful painting by Joseph Brickey (a member of the 8th ward) that depicts Christ walking on the water.

We can read in the gospels the accounts of Matthew, Mark and John as they relate to this miraculous story.  The words they use are instructive to us today:

In Matthew 14: 24-32 it reads:
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the seas, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto three on the water.
29 And he said, Come.  And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

In Mark 6:48 it reads that they were toiling to row, that the wind was contrary.
John states in 6:21: Then they willingly received him into the ship, and immediately the ship was at the land wither they went.

The key words used in the scriptures are: tossed with waves, winds contrary and boisterous, fearful, cried out "save me!" Christ IMMEDIATELY helped when asked.  But Peter had to ask first.  He had to reach and then Christ stretched for his hand and saved him.  He, meaning Christ, reaches our reaching! Once they had been tested, they willingly received him into the safety of their ship and the seas were instantly calmed.

Can you see the application for us today?  Can you see the parallels to your own life's circumstances?

Today, I asked my presidency and five more sisters to share a short example, or a vignette of sorts, from their lives telling of a time when they were figuratively traveling on a ship that was tossed with the waves and the wind was contrary.  Some of them even left the safety of the ship to seek the Savior or were thrown overboard and ventured into deep water, trying to make their way to Christ who was mighty to save.  I'm grateful for these courageous women who have agreed to show us a glimpse into their hearts and personal lives were there is sometimes sorrow or challenges that the eye can't see. We often look around the room full of our Relief Society sisters and think that we are the only one who is struggling or suffering through some challenges in life. Sisters, we all have been, or will be upon the great deep.  Hopefully the stories shared will strengthen your resolve to carry on with faith, trusting in the Lord, and to keep moving, struggling or swimming towards Christ.  We will share real life examples of how this could be done.

I'll start off and share an example from my own life of learning to trust in the Lord and then we will follow the program as outlined.

Stake Women's Conference

Dear readers, I'm back.
Life sometimes gets busy.  After Christmas, my Relief Society presidency and I got busy finalizing the plans for our stake women's conference.  It was held on February 25, and it turned out just like we hoped it would.  I'm so grateful for all those women who spoke and shared experiences from their lives when they had to trust in the Lord. Many sisters helped us decorate and un-decorate, many men helped us in the kitchen and with tables and chairs and we appreciated all their help.  My WONDERFUL presidency went above and beyond to carry out their responsibilities and assignments.  It was a great conference and we felt like we reached our goal to share messages of hope and encouragement, even in the face of all the challenges of life.  Our theme was Proverbs 3:5-6 - "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

We asked eight women to share experiences in their lives when they had to trust in the Lord and not lean on their own understanding.  They each shared pictures in slides in a powerpoint to show images that helped tell their stories.  It took great courage for many of them to share stories that were about times in their lives that were very hard.  The spirit was present and we heard many good comments about how their personal experiences touched the lives of those in the room.  Our new stake president gave an inspiring talk at the conclusion.

We had Hawaiian haystacks and grapes for lunch with a darling cupcake, commemorating the 175th birthday of the Relief Society organization.  I was so happy when my counselor in charge of decorations chose purple (my favorite color) as the color for the table coverings!  Every detail was so well done.
It was a wonderful conference.

Light the World - day twenty five - Christmas Day!

The birth of Jesus Christ was the most widely anticipated and prophesied event in the history of the world. In this single act, divinity and mortality united in a Savior who would balance the scales of justice, making it possible for the human family to achieve eternal life. Ancient prophets wrote of Christ’s coming and of His atoning mission. In the book of Isaiah, for example, we read, “He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). In an earlier chapter, Isaiah foretold Christ’s birth itself, saying, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).

Throughout the Old Testament and New Testament of the Bible and also the Book of Mormon is the message that “there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ” (Helaman 5:9). Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, our Advocate with God our Father. God’s prophets and messengers have repeated this truth throughout the ages, heralding the wonderful Messiah who would emerge so humbly in Bethlehem. Jesus Christ came into the world in order to save it. Stepping down from His role as Lord of all, He was born in very lowly circumstances. In a manger Mary laid the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world.

Because of Him, everything is possible.

Light the World - day twenty four

Christmas eve finally came.  We hosted our Christmas eve dinner and our traditional program in which everyone participated with music, song, story or scripture.  We enjoyed a smoked turkey and a honey baked ham with all the fixings and an English trifle for dessert.  The best part (and most touching part) of the evening was listening to a recording of Jake reading the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2.  Hearing his voice was so comforting, yet so sorrowful as we all miss him so very much.  Our hearts were full as we celebrated the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and sang a few Christmas carols before the children headed off to bed.  Claire and R came to spend the night with us, so we enjoyed their company as well as that of Andy and Chelsea.  Jordan returned to her home with her children and her brother and sister-in-law (Matt and Jessica) helped her and spent the night at her home.  This Christmas season was terribly hard for Jordan and her children.  We have prayed repeatedly for their comfort and happiness, even in the face of great sorrow.
Later that night we fell into bed feeling grateful.  Very grateful for the knowledge we have and the peace we feel.

Lauren folded the napkins in a very festive way.

We got to talk to Dave, Courtney,
Charlie and Margaret and hear about
their Christmas eve preparations.
We missed having them with us this year.
 Little Sam was all decked out in his Santa suit.

Light the World - day twenty three

Andy and Chelsea came to town!  This year they were able to spend 11 days with us through Christmas and New Years.  We were so happy to have them come and stay with us.  They bring so much energy and happiness and they jumped right in to help everyone.  While the women went to lunch the day they arrived, Andy went with Rick and all the children to a movie.  Later that evening they took Jordan to dinner and to Comedy Sports club for a good laugh.  Throughout the holiday they played with the kids, helped Jordan in lots of ways and just had a good time visiting Claire and R, going to a BYU basketball game, snowboarding, hosting a friends party at our home and just being so fun to be around. We love Andy and Chelsea and appreciate all they did to make our Christmas even more enjoyable.