A Living Testimony

"Testimony requires the nurturing by the prayer of faith, the hungering for the word of God in the scriptures, and the obedience to the truth we have received. There is danger in neglecting prayer. There is danger to our testimony in only casual study and reading of the scriptures. They are necessary nutrients for our testimony."

--President Henry B. Eyring, "A Living Testimony", April 2011 Young Womens Conference

Fire on the Farm by Scot Facer Proctor

My Journey: Fire on the Farm: By Scot Facer Proctor

What an amazing journey of faith. This just a great reminder to me that in ALL of our trials, even ones that we might just fled from before thinking to pray, we must pray. Great testimony builder!

The Power of Prayer

My boys and I were in AZ last week for my niece's wedding. The night before we were to fly out, I was packing and realized that I hadn't seen my oldest son's stuffed animal kitty. I recruited all the nieces and nephews to help search the house, and we looked in ever nook and cranny several times, coming up with nothing. With Hunter (my oldest) being on the verge of tears, I told him there was one last thing we could do - pray. Hunter said a sweet little prayer summoning Heavenly Father to please help him to find his kitty. Less than 5 minutes later, Hunter found his kitty in a spot that was looked at several times but the kitty never was seen there. What a great experience to plant a testimony seed in his life. My nephew, Ryan and I said "we should have prayed 30 minutes ago." We probably should have, but this was a great teaching moment nevertheless.

Something I noticed on my sister's fridge says this: ASAP - Always Say A Prayer. I think that is a great reminder that no matter what situation we are in, whether it be a trial, or a joyous occasion, or to simply find something that you're looking for, like Hunter's kitty - we should remember ASAP - Always Say A Prayer. 

May You Have Courage

"My final plea tonight is that you have the courage to stand firm for truth and righteousness. Because the trend in society today is away from the values and principles the Lord has given us, you will almost certainly be called upon to defend that which you believe. Unless the roots of your testimony are firmly planted, it will be difficult for you to withstand the ridicule of those who challenge your faith. When firmly planted, your testimony of the gospel, of the Savior, and of our Heavenly Father will influence all that you do throughout your life. The adversary would like nothing better than for you to allow derisive comments and criticism of the Church to cause you to question and doubt. Your testimony, when constantly nourished, will keep you safe."

--Thomas S. Monson, "May You Have Courage", Ensign, May 2009, 123–27

Alma 53:20–21

Stand for the Right, The Children's Songbook #159

Peace Offering --- Accepted

On November 9th, I shared some thoughts on "Taking the Higher Road" -- you may want to read this, so you understand what I am talking about here.

It's been three days after my peace offering to our neighbors, and today I got a knock on our door. It was the neighbor who I quarreled with, she had a plate of rice krispie treats, and this is what she said to me "This is my peace offering with you. We won't knock on your door anymore, we understand, as we also have kids. And we'll take care of the bikes. We want to not have contention between us either. We understand."

I can honestly say I was surprised. But through this experience, I have gained a testimony that when we follow in the footsteps of the teachings Jesus, the outcome in some way will be a good one. The response from our neighbor shows that she was touched by my act of kindness to her. She didn't have to make a plate of rice krispie treats, and take the courage to knock on our door, apologize and hand them to me, but she did. The outcome could have been good in so many different ways, the very fact that I had a spiritual renewal was a blessing. I always think about how we might plant seeds in people's lives. You can't choose the outcome, but you can plant the seed and they can choose to make that seed blossom now or in the future. The important part, is that you took the step, you took the higher road, you planted the seed. God is watching over us, and I know that He is pleased with us when we make good choices. It truly is simple, sometimes it feels hard, but it is simple. I am grateful for this experience, and I am grateful for the opportunity of planting a seed that blossomed. I would encourage you, if you're frustrated with someone, or something – take the higher road and you will be blessed for your efforts.

Testimony Builder - Thoughts By Me.

Today, I will be taking our boys to church, as my husband is sick with the flu. I think it can be a challenge to be by yourself and take your kids to church, but I also think that it is very important to follow through.

Let me step back a few years. When my oldest was under one, I would take him to church by myself, as at the time my husband was not active in church. During the course of the 3 hour block, I became discouraged because I wasn't getting the spiritual uplift that I wanted and needed. I was spending much of the time in the hallway, because my baby was being too noisy to be able to sit through some of the meetings. At that very moment that I became discouraged and thought to myself what is the point of me being here, the Primary President came around the corner and said to me, "I remember those days, it will get better." At that moment in time, it occurred to me that I am not the only one that has had to go in the hallway, that there will be better days, and it is important for me to be there even in the hallway for a short time period in my babies life. Why? Because it shows him that going to church is an important part of our lives, and eventually when he is older, the habit will be instilled in him, and again, when he grows older he'll start to realize the weekly spiritual nourishment that he can get at church. What a great insight that was for me. It was not coincidence that the Primary President came around the corner at that exact moment, and that what she said to me gave me a better testimony of why it is so important that I come to church with my little one even if it is in the hallway for a brief time in life.

Now, my oldest is in Primary and is loving it. I can see the spiritual growth he has gained by my persistence and faith in bringing him to church each Sunday. It is wonderful to hear him so excited to learn about our Savior. To learn about eternal families, as sometime in the future our family will be sealed for time and all eternity, what a great testimony builder this will be for him, and for our little family as a whole. It is exciting to see him be excited to say the family prayer at night, or during dinner time. It is heart warming to hear him speak with his little voice that permeates a spiritual warmth throughout my heart.

And, I am back to the hallway days off and on with our youngest. He will be able to go to the nursery in about 6 months, which will in turn help for me be able to focus on my weekly spiritual uplift. But again, for now, it is important to teach him that going to church weekly is important to us individually and as a family.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to teach our little ones the importance of living the gospel in their daily lives. I am grateful for the small teachings I receive through my children, for their little insights that give me strength to push forward. This life is truly an amazing journey, difficult at times sure, perhaps difficult is an understatement at times, but nevertheless, it is a blessing. I truly am grateful for the opportunities for spiritual insight and spiritual growth.

September 09' Visiting Teaching Message

I am going to visit two of my sisters today, and in reading the visiting teaching message this month, one of the quotes for this month is something that I have emphasized in my own life and sharing with others in general and on my On Wings of Faith group. Let me share this with you and we'll dive more into the importance of it in general & in my own life as well.

"The reason we pray, study the scriptures, have good friends, and live the gospel through obedience to the commandments is so that when - not if, but when --the trials come, we are ready." --Elder Robert D. Hales

We have been given some simple measures from the example of Jesus, and commandments from God that if we do these simple measures in our lives on a regular basis it will go a long way in our trialing times - and in turn our joyous times are even more joyous.. If we have not done these simple things on a regular basis, then our trialing times simply are harder to get through. The weight of our trials seem too hard to bare.

I know in my own life that when I have not been consistent with my personal prayer, scripture study, and other aspects that make life run more smoothly that life tends to be more bumpy.

If you know me, you will know that I have been through a lot of trials in my life, some that were through mistakes I have made or trials that simply were placed in my life - any way the trials came into your life gives the opportunity for growth. I know that when we choose to lean on God, doing our part, we will get through even a little bit easier, have more sense of peace, comfort, and in the end more joy.

Recently, I friend shared this with me during some difficult times in my life:

Remember that the fiery darts that Satan throws at us puts holes in our buckets, which makes us have to work to keep them filled. It is almost impossible for us to keep our buckets full all by ourselves, that is why Heavenly Father provides friends and loved ones to help in that bucket filling chore. As one fills another bucket, your bucket is filled in return.

Also remember, that the most important is no matter how hard life seems at times, remember that God will never give us anything that we can't handle. Never, never give up and don't let Satan win the battle he is waging against you. Know that endurance is the key to salvation. And that which does not kill us, only makes us stronger. Like the story of the man that was commanded by the Lord to push against a rock, and the man obeyed and pushed, and pushed, but he never moved the rock one inch. He became discouraged, and when the Lord came bac, he told the Lord, I pushed against the rock, but I failed because I was not able to move it. Then the Lord said, I only asked you to push against the rock, not to move it, and by pushing against the rock it has made you strong. So, God is there to comfort us when we think we have failed, but in reality we have succeeded! So, remember, keep pushing against every rock and you will become stronger by every passing day!

I have found in my own life that if the load of my trials are feeling so heavy that I am feeling unable to bare them, I ask myself "Am I doing my part?" If I am not, which we all have our moments that we fall back, then the good news is, is that we can move forward again. He is waiting for each and every one of us. He knows each of us. He loves each of us. And He knows what is best for us. It truly is in God's infinite wisdom that he places us with trials - it is out of love that he does this, to again, give us the opportunity to grow. We can choose that - that is our free agency to choose the better road. I do have a strong testimony of this, and while I am not perfect, and I continue to fall over and over again as others do - I learn, I grow spiritually, mentally, and physically. I am so grateful for these opportunities.

Quotes from Facing the Giant

"Your actions will always follow your beliefs."

"Coach: I prayed so hard, but I still can’t seem to win.
Mr. Bridges: I heard of a story of two farmers praying to God for rain to come. Both prayed but only one prepared the land. Who do you think trusted God more to send the rain?"

This so relates to me in so many ways right now. I have the know-how to have God send me the rain, I just haven't done my part, I have not prepared my fields the proper way. And so, I am dedicating myself to do just that - I need God to send me rain and I certainly cannot expect him to do it when I'm almost doing my part, it just means that He can only "almost" send me blessings. What a great eye opener!

"Never give up. Never back down. Never lose faith."

Grant Taylor: I want God to bless this team so much people will talk about what He did. But it means we gotta give Him our best in every area. And if we win, we praise Him. And if we lose, we praise Him. Either way we honor Him with our actions and our attitudes. So I'm askin' you... What are you living for? I resolve to give God everything I've got, then I'll leave the results up to Him. I want to know if you'll join me.

Grant Taylor: With God, nothing is impossible.
--Facing the Giants

Think about, REALLY THINK ABOUT what this means. What does this mean to you? I think it is natural for us to lean towards the world, towards man to increase our capacity in all our areas of life - when God has placed before us numerous resources to get through everything and anything we may be going through. It should be natural for us to lean towards God, lean towards Jesus and His teachings. This is the good news.

I often think about something one of our former home teachers expressed one night. The scriptures talk much about faith, and many people from the scriptures had a pure faith that literally made the scripture For with God nothing shall be impossible come to pass. Where is our faith? What do we need to do to work on our faith and make that scripture come to pass in our own lives. What do we need to do to strengthen our testimony?

One of my favorite books is Believing Christ by Stephen E. Robinson. Many of us believe IN Christ, but do you BELIEVE CHRIST? Do you believe his teachings and the powerful affect that it can have upon your life?

Doing Our Part

You know, everyone is at different points in their life - but the movie I mentioned earlier in another post (Facing the Giant) will either get you moving in the right direction or continue your endeavors in the right direction. It was just a great reminder in the midst of our trials, that God is good, that we need to praise him no matter what, and He will come through for us!

Which reminds me of something someone commented on in Sunday School this past Sunday. I liked what he said. He said that if we do our part, we will be blessed. This is God's promise to us, if we do our part, we will be blessed. He was specifically talking about tithing this time, but it really goes for anything --- if we "almost" pay our tithing, we "almost" get blessed. If we almost do our part, we almost get blessed. Those blessings are ours, and God is so ready to give them to us, but we must do our part! Another comment from a mother said that her 7 yr old asked one day about what they'd do as a family if they became poor. Her mother's reply was that she wasn't worried about that, because as long as they were paying their tithing the Lord would bless them, they would get through just fine. What is interesting is that she wanted to pay more in her weekly tithing than is required of us, her thinking in this is that if she did more than her part, she would be doubly blessed. What a great lesson to us from a child! I think often times we become the student and our children become the teacher. They have some amazing thoughts to share with us, such strength in their testimonies that are starting to grow.

So Grateful

This was a great day - and although I am not fasting (breastfeeding still), I really feel like my testimony grew today. I am so grateful for the opportunity to go to church, and for our church to be so close by. I am so grateful for the opportunity to take the sacrament and renew my baptismal covenants, and start a new week with a new perspective and goal in mind to do better. I am grateful for our Gospel Principles teacher, for the spirit he radiates to us as he teaches about the basic principles of the gospel. I am grateful for the lesson we had today on free agency (I will touch more on this later). I am grateful for the film I was able to see, from the hallway into the Relief Society room while I bounced Kelton, on the marvelous humanitarian services that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints provide worldwide. And I am grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the humanitarian efforts currently. I am grateful for tithing, for fast offerings, and for the blessings it provides us when we are faithful in paying to the Lord. I am grateful to know that all the tithing we pay in our church goes to the building up of many lives throughout the world, spiritually, mentally, and physically - and in all capacities of life. What a great blessing that it is to everyone, whether you're LDS or not, what a wonderful, overwhelming, joyous moment that is.