A FOOTPRINT OF YOUR LIFE

'T was just this time last year I died
 I know I heard the corn,
When I was carried by the farms -
 It had the tassels on.

I thought how yellow it would look
 When Richard went to mill;
And then I wanted to get out,
 But something held my will.

I thought just how red apples wedged
 The stubble's joints between:
And carts went stooping round the fields
 To take the pumpkins in.

I wondered which would miss me least,
 And when Thanksgiving come,
If father'd multiply the plates
To make an even sum.

And if my stocking hung too high,
 Would it blur the Christmas glee,
That not a Santa Claus could reach
 The altitude of me?

But this sort grieved myself, and so
 I thought how it would be
When just this time, some perfect year
Themselves should come to me.

- Emily Dickinson


When I was growing up in Croatia I lived with a Church and a graveyard at the end of my street.  This graveyard sat in the centre of our suburb which meant we had to use it as a thoroughfare to get from one side of the suburb to another.  I had to walk through it to get to my school. My school operated in two shifts.  The second shift was from 2 pm to 7 pm.  This meant walking through the cemetery at night but luckily we walked in groups. The graveyard and the church was the community central point so to speak.  I used to play in this graveyard with the neighbourhood children in one area of the cemetery where the grass was plentiful.  My favourite thing to do was to go from grave to grave reading the inscriptions the grieving families had inscribed on the head stones paying homage to their departed loved ones.  I was just a child but was always so deeply touched by the family ties of love from these inscriptions.  To me these graves were like footprints of the people who had once graced this earth.  They spoke to me as if they wanted me to know they had been here. To this day I have a special fondness for cemeteries and consider them sacred.  I used to have picnics with my children when they were little in our local cemetery.  They too liked to read what was on the gravestones and tried to remember people they had learnt about.  Some would say this is a morbid obsession.  To me it is just another way the concept of family tugs at my heartstrings.

My parents passed away recently in Croatia within 18 months of each other. I had not seen them for 22 years.  It affected me greatly that I was not there with them in their last days and that I did not attend their funerals.  It was a situation that was beyond my control but one which nevertheless makes me feel guilty and one which has not afforded me closure.  I have imagined what it would be like to return to Croatia now and stand at their graves.  I think it would be heart wrenching and I am pretty sure that one day this will be my reality.  I couldn't do much for them in their final days but I believe I have given them the greatest gift I could give them.  I have performed the savings ordinances in their behalf in the temple of God.

My children don't know my parents at all.  The last time they saw them my oldest daughter was 3 and my other daughter was 6 months.  All they know of them is what I have told them and what I have recorded about them in my family history records.  It's a terrible thing not to know your own grandparents. Now we have excellent technology to close the geographical gaps so that families can be in touch more effectively and so they are not forgotten to one another.  What of the generations to come though?  How do we ensure that our children's children and their children will know who we were and can feel of our influence?  Keeping journals is an amazing way to bridge generations.  Your journals might just be the only scriptures one of your posterity will ever read.  Through your journals, you will not only be remembered but you will continue to have an influence within your family for generations to come. 

"....As Arthur Clarke says, writing is the only means we have of bridging time.  Writing will bridge time and bring all things together.  No matter when a thing is written, we can tell not only what happened and who said what, but the subtlest nuances of feeling, the subtlest thoughts of people can be conveyed for untold thousands of years." (Hugh Nibley)

President Spencer W. Kimball taught:

"We hope you will begin as of this date.  If you have not already commenced this important duty in your lives, get a good notebook, a good book that will last through time and into eternity for the angels to look upon.  Begin today and write in it your goings and your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements, and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies.  We hope you will do this, our brothers and sisters, for this is what the Lord has commanded, and those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives." ("President Kimball Speaks Out On Personal Journals", Ensign, Dec. 1980, 61)

"Joseph Smith '...advised the elders all to keep daily journals'. 'For', said he, 'your journals will be sought after as history and scripture...That is the way the New Testament came, what we have of it, though much of the matter there was written by the apostles from their memory of what had been done, because they were not prompt in keeping daily journals". (Hyrum L. Andrus and Helen Mae Andrus, comps., They Knew The Prophet, p.65)

As Emily Dickinson, the poet of my heart, has so beautifully captured a life lived through her poem quoted above, I hope that my journals have adequately captured my life and that through them someone will come to know God like I have come to know Him.  This is my greatest desire, that my posterity will know and serve the one true and living God and that we will one day together inherit eternal life. 

  

FINDING THE LOST

"Several years ago as I was about to depart for work, a call came from my Bishop.  His oldest son had disappeared.  He had eaten breakfast and dressed for elementary school, but when his mother was ready to drive him and his sisters to school he could not be found.  They thought perhaps he had walked to school.  His mother transported her daughters and then made a search.  The boy was not at school.  It was at this point that calls went out to the police and to several ward members.  I delayed my departure for work and along with several dozen others, commenced an intensive search of the neighbourhood.  After a few hours his mother found him, curled up on the floor of his closet with the door closed.  He was fast asleep.

I have reflected many times on the shared anxiety of so many to find this boy, to see that he was safe again with his family, to ensure that nothing unacceptable happened to him.

The search for that boy is a metaphor for this lesson.  You see, I have ancestors lost in history.  We all do.  They languish in the spirit world, waiting and hoping for someone to find them.  Our longing to locate the dead who are lost should be as compelling as our anxiety to find the living who are lost".
(Ted L. Gibbons, D&C Lesson 40)

The estimated population of the world in A.D. 1 was 200 million; by 1850 it had reached one billion (see World Almanac and Book of Facts 1995 (1994), 510).  By mid 1995, the world's population was estimated at 5.76 billion.  Over time, as many as 105 billion people may have lived on the earth.  (Estimates courtesy of Population Reference Bureau, Washington, D.C.; see Carl Haub, "How Many People Have Ever Lived on the Earth?" Population Today, 23 (Feb. 1995): 4-5)

The number of completed proxy temple endowments is approaching an estimated 140 million, meaning that this work has been performed for about .13 percent (just over one-tenth of 1 percent) of the earth's estimated historic population of 105 billion.  (Ted Gibbons, D&C Lesson 40)
Daunting isn't it?  These statistics should not be discouraging but encouraging.  It should make us act in haste to save even just one soul who is languishing in the spirit world forgotten.  Oscar Shindler said something powerful:  "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire".  Elder Dallin H. Oaks broke it down to a manageable task when he said: "Our effort is not to compel everyone to do everything, but to encourage everyone to do something".  ("Family  History: In Wisdom and Order", Ensign, June 1989, 6)

Saving souls is the greatest work we can be engaged in. Saving the dead is comparatively easy compared to going from door to door asking people to listen to you while you tell them about the gospel. All it takes is planned time and a willing heart.

The Sunday School manual suggests four activities that will allow us involvement in this great work:

1.  Have a current temple recommend and attend the temple regularly.
2.  Prepare to have ordinances performed for deceased relatives.
3.  Learn about ancestors' lives.
4.  Keep a journal or prepare a personal history or a family history.

I was born and raised in Croatia.  My ability to trace my ancestors has been somewhat limited for many years.  I have done relatively little in this area compared to a lot of serious family history buffs.  I have done what I could and I ardently hope I will have the means and ways to do more in the near future.  I want to do more.  I am the only church member in my family and that makes me my ancestors' only hope.  I believe in family.  It's the main reason why I joined the Church 38 years ago.  My patriarchal blessing tells me I have been blessed with a rich heritage. I want to know what that means and I believe I will one day because I have the tools that are needed for this work, my Church membership and my desire.

 

 

THE SAVIOUR WANTS TO FORGIVE

(Talk given at Normanhurst Ward, Sydney, June 2013, based on Elder Craig A. Cardon's general conference talk entitled "The Savior Wants to Forgive" April 2013)

Many followed the Saviour during the time of his mortal ministry to hear Him speak and more often than not to witness the miracles He was performing, the miracles of healing being the most popular, which were many.  Perhaps the most significant of them all was the healing of the paralysed man who was lowered through the roof of the house in which the Saviour was preaching.  Why was this the most significant?  It certainly wasn't more spectacular than the raising of dead Lazarus, casting out unclean spirits or healing a leper.  What was significant about this instance was that through this healing the Saviour proclaimed that He can forgive sins.  So instead of saying "rise up and walk", He said "thy sins are forgiven thee". (Luke 5:17-24)  Perhaps all the other healings led up to this point where the Saviour could proclaim that He can do more than heal the body, that a greater healing was within His Power.  He used the physical healing as a symbol of spiritual healing he offers us through forgiveness of our sins.

Elder Cardon points out in his talk that it is important for us to know that the Saviour forgives sins in this life and not just at the final judgment.  I think when we repent and receive forgiveness,  we activate the power of the Atonement in our lives in three ways:

1.  Through our faith and repentance the Atonement empowers us to overcome the gravitational pull of sin and to overcome our weaknesses.  This gives us immense hope in overcoming certain sins we feel are beyond us as far as repentance is concerned.   In such instances the Atonement is our only hope.  I think we understood in pre-existence that the Atonement would be the greatest tool we would have here in mortality for overcoming the world.  I think we studied about it and were so converted to it that because of it we voted for the Saviour to rescue us from this fallen world.

2.  By activating the Atonement, the Saviour can heal us of emotional consequences of sin such as shame, guilt and sorrow but we have to exercise faith in Him that he can accomplish this.  One way we can do this is to learn to forgive ourselves for the sins we have committed.  This final step of repentance is often forgotten and we tend to sometimes walk away continuously bearing the cross of guilt which can be disastrous.  When we don't forgive ourselves we hold onto our sins and give them power and energy which increases the risk of returning them.  Here again the Atonement can come to our aid by giving us power to forgive ourselves.  If your guilt and sorrow is ongoing and you cannot let go and forgive yourself, call on the power of the Atonement to enable you to do so in the following manner:  "Through my faith in Jesus Christ and the power of forgiveness that comes through the Atonement, I ask for the ability to forgive myself of my past sins and to receive freedom from guilt, anger and sorrow".  Guilt does not serve a purpose once we have repented, it just keeps us stuck in the past.  Guilt is not meant to keep us in remembrance of our sins so we do not return to them, consequences of our sins do that much more effectively.  Guilt just corrodes our self-esteem and disables us from moving on.

3.  When we activate the Atonement in our lives, we are activating its power to heal us of emotional issues that led us to sin in the first place.  This would involve some introspection on our part to determine whether our sin was born out of pure rebellion or some deep seated issue which has been subconsciously wreaking havoc in us.  The discovery of any issue and the understanding that would bring would allow us to strike at the root of the problem thus ensuring there is no repetition of that particular sin. 

The Saviour wants to forgive because he is incredibly merciful.  Scriptures are replete with examples and proclamations of His infallible mercy.  When I read the Book of Mormon I am always on the lookout for godly characteristics that Christ possesses.  I write them into the margins of my scriptures.  I am amazed when I flick through my Book of Mormon to see that just about every page has inscribed in its' margins "He is merciful". 

When Peter asked Him how many times he needs to forgive, if it was 7, the Saviour said 70x7, meaning an infinite number of times.  He would not require this of us if He himself was not willing to forgive as often.  This alone tells us that His mercy knows no bounds.

When recounting Israel's many sins in chapters 5, 9 and 10 Isaiah repeats several times: "....for all this his anger is not turned away but His hand is stretched out still", meaning He does not approve of the sin but His hand is stretched out willing to take us back to Him.

The Lord is always willing to take us back if we are willing to repent.  He does not excuse the sin and He does not condone the sin but He will forgive the sin.  The Saviour cares less about what we have done and more about the fact that we have turned to Him for forgiveness because every time we do so we affirm His redeeming power and our acceptance of Him as our Saviour.  This acceptance means much to a man who is rejected by so many, a man whose purpose is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39).  To a man of sorrows, who is acquainted with grief, there is no sin too big to forgive, no sin bigger than the Atonement.  He is the hope of Israel, He is our advocate with the Father, He is the light, the truth and the way.

THE WORK OF SALVATION

President Joseph F. Smith, the 6th president of the Church, received an important revelation about the redemption of the dead 6 weeks before he died.  He saw in vision the Saviour's ministry in the spirit world where between the time of his crucifixion and resurrection 'he organised his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men, and thus was the gospel preached to the dead'. (D&C 138:30)

Every prophet that stands at the head of the Church seems to have a certain task to perform during their ministry, a task that seems very suited to their capacities and talents.  They have all been instruments in God's hands in bringing something significant to the Church for the edification of the saints.  Perhaps none deserved to receive the revelation of the redemption of the dead more than President Joseph F. Smith. 

Joseph F. Smith was Hyrum Smith's son and was only 6 when his father and his uncle, Joseph Smith, were killed in Carthage jail.  He was 7 when his mother, Mary Fielding Smith and her family joined the exodus from Nauvoo and he became the teamster of one of her wagons.  He was 13 when his mother died, leaving him an orphan.  Before he turned 16, he left on a mission to the Hawaiian Islands.  Within three months after arriving in Honolulu, he spoke the native tongue fluently, a spiritual gift conferred upon him by Elders Parley P. Pratt and Orson Hyde of the Twelve, who set him apart.  This boy was not yet 16!  Consider what the 16 year olds in our day and age are doing at such a tender age.  When he was 21, Joseph F. Smith left for another mission, this time for three years in the British Isles.  When he was 28, President Brigham Young ordained him an Apostle. This was one of the special spirits chosen for the express purpose of building the kingdom here on earth. His story doesn't end here though.  This man was acquainted with the poignant pains of physical suffering and death.  Death seemed to be his trial in life as he not only lost his parents but buried a wife and 13 children.  In early 1918 President Smith was devastated by the death of his son Hyrum, then only 45 and serving as an Apostle.  Only a few months after that Hyrum's wife also passed away.  President Smith's health turned for the worse after that.  He was sick for 5 months during which time he studied  and contemplated the scriptures fervently.  The revelation of the redemption was the result and was received 6 weeks before he died.  It was added to the Pearl of Great Price in 1976 and in 1979 was transferred to the Doctrine and Covenants as section 138.

We are engaged in a great work.  Proxy work is being accomplished on both sides of the veil for the redemption of every soul who has ever lived.  On either side of the veil we are acting on behalf of the Saviour trying to save souls, whether we are preaching in the spirit world to those who are in darkness or whether we are doing their temple work here by proxy.  Either way we are Saviours on mount Zion. What an amazing privilege to be able to save a soul.  President Hinckley said as follows:

" I think that vicarious work for the dead more nearly approaches the vicarious sacrifice of the Saviour himself than any other work of which I know.  It is given with love, without hope of compensation, or repayment or anything of the kind.  What a glorious principle." ("Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley", Ensign, Jan. 1998, 73)

Knowledge is pretty much worthless unless acted upon.  It can sit in our brains as nothing more than accumulated data.  I am starting to see my role in all this and where I need to improve.  My temple attendance is going to be heavily revised.  I want to be found there engaged in the work of salvation when the Saviour graces us with His presence again.  I know I was a part of this great work before I came here and I want to be engaged in it for the remainder of my days.

President Kimball said this of Temple work:

"The day is coming not too far ahead of us when all temples on this earth will be going day and night.  There will be shifts and people will be coming in the morning hours and in the night hours and in the day hours....day and night almost to exhaustion, because of the importance of the work and the great number of people who lie asleep in eternity..."(From You to Your Ancestors, Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1978, p.2)

 

ELIJAH IN OUR HEARTS

When the angel Moroni came to Joseph Smith, he said that Elijah would 'plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers" (D&C 2:2)  The fathers in this instance refers to our ancestors, namely the ancient fathers: Adam, Noah,  Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  The promises made to them have to do with the Abrahamic Covenant and are namely eternal promises of land and children and blessings of the priesthood.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve said that not only has God made these promises to the ancient patriarchs but that we 'undoubtedly made them to our own lineal fathers and mothers, those who came to earth before the gospel was restored but whom we promised to provide its saving ordinances' (Christ and the New Covenant 1977, p. 297)

Why are these promises so important?  Because without the blessings of the priesthood our time on this earth would be wasted.  What are the blessings of the priesthood?  Saving ordinances and sealing power which binds families together.  One of the primary purposes of life on earth is to establish eternal family relationships.  Without the sealing power, this would be impossible.  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught that without the sealing power, "no family ties would exist in the eternities, and indeed the family of man would have been left in eternity with 'neither root (ancestors) nor branch (descendants)'.  Inasmuch as ... a sealed, united, celestially saved family of God is the ultimate purpose of mortality, any failure here would have been a curse indeed, rendering the entire plan of salvation utterly wasted". (Christ and the New Covenant, p 297-98)

But our time on this earth and the plan of salvation will not be 'utterly wasted' at the Saviour's coming (D&C 2:3) because the sealing power of the priesthood was restored to the earth by Elijah through the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Kirtland Temple in 1836.

"The story of Elijah's return can be found in D&C 110.  Obviously there is no need to wait for him any longer.  This became the subject of conversation between Elder LeGrand Richards and the Mayor of Jerusalem, Teddy Kollek.  Elder Richards had just dedicated the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden on the Mount of Olives.  After the ceremony, the two conversed as they ate their lunch:
Elder Richards said:  "Mayor, I want to tell you something".
"What's that?" asked the Mayor.
Looking Mayor Kollek directly in the eye, the apostle said:
"Ten years ago I was here in Jerusalem and one day I went into three synagogues and hanging up on the wall in one of them was a large armchair.  I asked the rabbi what it was there for (I knew but I wanted him to tell me, which he did).  He said that it was so that if Elijah comes 'we can lower the chair and let him sit in it'.  Now Mayor, I want to tell you something and what I tell you is the truth.  Elijah has already been.  On the third day of April 1836 he appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple".
The Mayor said:
"I guess I better tell them to take that chair down."
(Beloved Apostle, p.301)

 It has always amazed me that people all over the world are infected with the family history fever, seeking out their ancestors and finding their roots.  But we need not be amazed for this is the spirit of Elijah at its work.  The world at large knows very little of proxy work for the dead but we know and we must act in haste for the time is getting so short.  This message comes out loud and clear through the leaders of the Church over and over again.  Elder Neal A. Maxwell has said this regarding family history:

"What we do here is so vital, but it is actually a preparation for our labours in paradise in the spirit world.  The scope in that spirit world is ten times as large as the demographics of this world."
("Our Preparation for Work in the Spirit World", excerpt from Neal A. Maxwell's address to Religious Educators: Salt Lake Tabernacle, 2 February 2001)

There is another aspect of the spirit of Elijah which affects us on daily basis within our families.  In a world full of violence where families are turning on each other we need this spirit now more than ever before.  Elder James E. Faust talked about this spirit in April 1993 conference:

"Perhaps we regard the power bestowed by Elijah as something associated only with formal ordinances performed in sacred places.  But these ordinances become dynamic and productive of good only as they reveal themselves in our daily lives.  Malachi said that the power of Elijah would turn the hearts of the fathers and the children to each other.  The heart is the seat of the emotions and a conduit for revelation.  This sealing power thus reveals itself in family relationships, in attributes and virtues developed in a nurturing environment and in loving service.  These are the cords that bind families together, and the priesthood advances their development."
(James E. Faust, May Ensign 1993)

Studying about family history this time around has brought me to a wider view of this work.  This is not just gathering of names and learning about your ancestors.  This is about uniting the whole of the human family, the work of the plan of salvation.  The Saviour has made all this possible.  He has not left us subject to the sting of death but has redeemed us both body and soul through one amazing selfless act.

"For this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man"
(Moses 1:39)

THE BEGINNING OF A GREAT WORK

President Wilford Woodruff was the Church President who ushered in the most marvellous work in this dispensation, that of family history. During the 1894 general conference he announced that he had received a revelation about genealogical work.  He said:

"We want Latter-day Saints from this time to trace their genealogies as far as they can, and to be sealed to their fathers and mothers.  Have children sealed to their parents, and run this chain through as far as you can get it. This is the will of the Lord to his people. 

"In my prayers the Lord revealed to me, that it was my duty to say to all Israel to carry this principle out, and in fulfilment of that revelation, I lay it before this people.  I say to all men who are labouring in these temples, carry out this principle, and then we shall make one step in advance of what we have had before." (Deseret Evening News, May 19, 1894)

President Woodruff had a great love for this work which might have commenced with a remarkable experience he had in the St. George Temple where he served for a time as its' President.  It was in this temple that endowments for the dead were performed for the first time in this dispensation.

"In 1887, Elder Woodruff was appointed as the first president of the St. George Temple.  Here he experienced some marvellous manifestations.  It was in this temple that the signers of the Declaration of Independence appeared to him and requested that their temple work be done. 

"The spirits of the dead gathered around me, wanting to know why we did not redeem them.  Said they, 'You have had the use of the Endowment House for a number of years, and yet nothing has ever been done for us.  We laid the foundation of the government you now enjoy, and we...remained true to it and were faithful to God'.  These were the signers of the Declaration of Independence (of the United States of America) and they waited on me for two days and two nights...I straightway went into the baptismal font and called upon Brother McAllister to baptize me for the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and fifty other eminent men, making one hundred in all, including John Wesley, Columbus and others". (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, sel. G. Homer Durham (1946), 160-61)  He was also baptized for every president of the United States until that time except three." (Church News May 1, 1993)

From 1885 to 1900, many Church members served genealogical missions.  They were invited to Salt Lake City to receive a blessing for their mission from a General Authority.  They were also provided with a missionary card and a letter of appointment.  They visited relatives, recorded names from gravestones, and studied parish records and family Bibles, returning to their homes with valuable information that allowed temple work to be performed.  Many missionaries reported spiritual experiences that gave them the firm assurance that the Lord was with them and often directed them to a needed source or relative.  (Our Heritage, A Brief History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-
day Saints, p 101-2)

You hear many amazing experiences in the Church from members who are heavily involved in family history but none is more amazing than that of Wilford Woodruff who was visited by the founding fathers.  These were faithful, God fearing men who provided the foundation of faith in God on which America stands.  I have always admired them and rejoice in  knowing that the temple ordinances have been done for them.

ARE THERE SWEETHEARTS IN HEAVEN?

 President Heber J. Grant told a wonderful story about work for the dead:

"There were three young men who were as intimate, I think, as any three young men who ever lived could be.  They were Heber J. Grant, Feramorz L. Young and Richard W. Young.  Feramorz L. Young had been in the East and had been graduated with honors from the Troy Polytechnic Institute, then went on a mission to Mexico, where he died and was buried in the Gulf of Mexico.  It always seemed to me a strange thing that a boy with all the education he had, who had made a wonderful success should be taken from us...He had to fight for the Church and its doctrines all the time he was in the East.

I thought that with his faith and knowledge and with all the information he had gained, it was too bad he had to lay down his life while in the Lord's service.

I do not think that Fera Young in his life ever listened to an unclean story.  If anyone started to tell such a story he would excuse himself and walk away.  I never heard an unchaste word uttered by him.  If there ever was a clean, sweet, absolutely pure young man upon the earth, he was that young man.

When he died his mother said she could not remember a word or thought or act of his life that would bring her the least sorrow or uneasiness.  There is many a mother perhaps who might say such a thing of her son, but usually if the man who without exception was the most intimate friend of that son from his boyhood up to the time of his death should tell everything he knew of him, the mother could not say that.  My mother could not say that of me, if others told her what I did as a youngster, but I could say it of Feramorz Young.

What in the providence of the Lord is the result?...A woman came to Sister Young, his mother, with photographs of one of this lady's near and dear friends, a very beautiful woman, and said:

"Now Mrs. Young, I do not believe a thing of what I am going to tell you.  This girlfriend of mine was one of the noblest, finest, choicest kind of girls and young women that ever lived.  She has come to me in this city of Salt Lake on three separate occasions at night in dreams, and has given me this information: the date of her birth, the date of her death, and all this is necessary, she says, for a record in the temple; and she has told me that your son, Feramorz L. Young, has converted her, and that in addition to converting her he has proposed marriage to her.  She has said to me, "I want you to go to Mrs. Young and give her this information and vouch for my honesty, virtue, integrity and upright life, and have the work done for me and have me married for eternity to her son, Feramorz. L. Young."

This woman who visited Mrs Young said:  "I do not believe a word of it but the last time this friend of mine came - which was the third time - she said: "There is nobody in Salt Lake City who knows me and can vouch for me except you.  You are the only individual that I know in Salt Lake City".  She said further to Mrs Young: "I can furnish you any references you may wish regarding my character, from the place where I formerly lived.  The last time this young woman came to me she said, "You might just as well go to Mrs. Young and give her this information, because I am going to come, and come, and come, until you do it".  And the woman continued, "I just cannot bear to have her come again, it is so uncanny, and I do not believe a thing of it".

This beautiful girl was sealed to Brother Fera Young and I am convinced that my dear friend lost nothing by dying in his youth.
("Comforting Manifestations": Excerpts from Funeral Sermon delivered by President Heber J. Grant from the Improvement Era February 1931)

Sometimes we think that those who die in their youth have missed out on love, marriage, children, a life, but this story clearly indicates this is not so.  We don't know who or what is in the spirit world for them. What incredible comfort it is to those of us who have lost children.  They are still with us because of temple ordinances and ever will be.

Here's what Elder Neal A. Maxwell had to say about this:

"We cannot control what I call 'the great transfer board in the sky'.  It's out of our control.  And the inconveniences that are sometimes associated with releases from labours here are necessary in order to accelerate the work there.  Heavenly Father can't do His work with ten times more people that we have on this planet except He will on occasion take some of the very best sisters and brothers.  And the conditions of termination here, painful though they are, are part of the conditions of acceleration there.  And we're back to faith and the timing of God.  And to be able to say, 'Thy will be done' (and I would paraphrase it, 'thy timing be done') is part of letting Him know we will be submissive in that situation too, even when we do not fully understand it.  (Our Preparation for Work in the Spirit World, excerpt from Neal A. Maxwell's address to Religious Educators: Salt Lake Tabernacle, 2 February 2001)

ON SPIRITUAL GIFTS AND WEAKNESSES

"If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for charity which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the Gospel. They are intended for this purpose. No man ought to say, 'Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature'. He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things and to give gifts that will eradicate them. If a man lacks wisdom, it is his duty to ask God for wisdom. The same with everything else. That is the design of God concerning His Church. He wants His Saints to be perfected in the truth. For this purpose He gives these gifts, and bestows them upon those who seek after them, in order that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the earth."  (President George Q. Cannon, Millenial Star, Apr. 1894, p. 260)

I have taught several lessons over the years on the gifts of the spirit as outlined in D&C 46.  The last time I taught it was this year in Gospel Doctrine class and I finally decided to take my own advice and seek some of these gifts as we are encouraged to do. Joseph Smith said that this Church would be dead without the gifts of the spirit.  They are one of the greatest tools we have for developing traits we lack and need to have, not only for our benefit but most importantly for the benefit of the Church for it is for this purpose they are given.  They are also an incredible tool for overcoming weaknesses we need to be rid of.  I got so convinced by my latest lesson that the gifts of the spirit should be sought for this purpose that I started to wonder if one of them could help me with a long standing weakness I had.  As I pondered about it I realised I didn't know which gift was needed for me to have for this particular weakness so I decided to pray about this and ask which gift I should seek.  I knew the answer that came to me was straight from above because I would never have come up with it in those words on my own. 

I tend to have a somewhat dogmatic manner at times and this has troubled me over the years and has created clashes with people which necessitated later apologies.  This weakness also makes me detest unfairness and others' imperfections and causes me to stand up for myself even in less important situations such as customer service.  The gift I was told to pray for was the gift of 'forbearance and self-restraint'.  As I contemplated this definition of the gift I needed I realised I had other weaknesses that could be overcome with this gift.  It was rather humbling to discover I had so many weaknesses that they could be grouped into a whole category.

I thought obtaining this gift was going to be a simple matter of praying for it and one day I would wake up with this gift under my belt ready to take on the world.  Unfortunately it didn't prove to be that simple.  I prayed many weeks for this gift and one day I had another 'customer service' incident that left me feeling less than good about myself.  I was wrongly done by and I gave as good as I got.  I walked away thinking I really could have used the gift of forbearance and self-restraint that day and wondered when I was going to get it.  As I thought about it, I realised what I had been doing wrong.  When I remembered, I prayed for this gift during my prayers and then I would forget about it. I realised this is not calling upon God for help at all.  I remembered the scripture in Ether 12:27 in the Book of Mormon which says:

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them".

Firstly, this scripture tells us that weaknesses are designed to bring us to God. Secondly,  I lacked humility in 'receiving' this gift.  I realised it was not enough to just pray for the gift in my daily prayers.  What I needed to do was humbly call upon God for my gift in the moment that I needed it and then act in faith as if I had it. Two things were needed of me to make this promise of God active, humility and faith.   In other words, some effort on my part was needed as well.

I realise it can be very hard to make yourself call on God in the moment when you are facing your weakness instead of giving into it because a lot of our weaknesses come with payoffs, payoffs that we enjoy and more than often want. The key is desire.  When the desire becomes greater than the payoff, you are half way there.  When you no longer want to be the person you see in the mirror, you are ready to change.

AM I MY BROTHER'S KEEPER?

There are four requirements suggested by the Church to ensure temporal self-reliance of the saints:

1.  Gain an adequate education and stay abreast of your field.
2.  Live within your income and consistently save for a rainy day.
3.  Avoid excessive debt.
4.  Acquire and store a year's worth of necessities.

Being temporally self-reliant seems to go hand in hand with being accountable for the stewardships with which we have been entrusted.  In D&C 104:13 we read:

"13. For it is expedient that I, the Lord, should make every man accountable, as a steward over earthly blessings, which I have made and prepared for my creatures."

If we are not engaged in provident living, we are not being good stewards indeed.  I have battled with this concept for many years having lived on the poverty line as a single mother.  There never seemed to be enough of my resources to ensure self-reliance should I one day be facing a bleak future.  We live and learn from consequences we suffer and I am one of the pupils.

It is interesting to me that straight behind this concept of temporal self-reliance comes an admonition from the Lord to be our brother's keeper.  Consider what the Lord says following the abovementioned scripture:

"14. I, the Lord, stretched out the heavens, and built the earth, my very handiwork; and all things therein are mine.
15.  And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine.
16.  But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.
17.  For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.
18.  Therefore, if any man shall take of the abundance which I have made, and import not his portion, according to the law of my gospel, unto the poor and the needy, he shall, with the wicked, lift up his eyes in hell, being in torment."  D&C 104:14-18

I am certain that we shall be judged the most on how we have cared for each other whilst on this mortal journey.  All that we possess in this life is not ours at all, it all belongs to God who gave it to us in the first place, as per the scripture above.  Therefore, each time we stretch out our hands to give, we are not giving away what is ours but what we have been provided with by God for our care and for the care of others.  We are merely being good stewards and instruments in God's hands of blessing others.  I have already mentioned this in another blog and will do so again here.  We are not meant to judge one another as we do not understand each others' capacities and burdens. We are not to think that someone has brought upon themselves their own calamities and now should suffer the consequences.  King Benjamin spoke of this in Mosiah 4, calling us all beggars before God.  I believe we are here to learn two things, without which we can never become like the Saviour and therefore cannot have eternal life, and that is love and service.  When we arrive at the point where we love and care for others as much as we do for ourselves, we have achieved our purpose and can go home assured we have accomplished what we have been sent here to do.  We will then be able to live in God's kingdom with each other sharing freely the inheritance of the Firstborn he so freely desires to share.  In the words of Victor Hugo: "To love another person is to see the face of God".

I want to share with you an instance from my own life where I was helped in a very small way but which was a great help to me at the time.  I was a newly divorced single mother battling to make ends meet.  With a few more days to pay day, I realised that the fuel in my car would not last.  I knelt down and prayed this one particular morning asking the Lord for $20 for fuel.  I then went to work and didn't really think about it much until lunch time when my co-worker came to my desk and put $20 on it.  I asked what the money was for and he said he was coming back from lunch when he noticed $20 on the footpath.  He said he picked up the note and wondered what to do with it. He decided he didn't need it and as he did so I immediately came into his mind and he resolved to give the money to me.  As President Spencer W. Kimball put it so aptly: "God does notice us and he watches over us but it is usually through another person that he meets our needs".   

AN UNBEATABLE PARTNERSHIP

How can we be spiritually self-reliant when  the scriptures clearly teach that we need to be reliant on God in all things?  President Lorenzo Snow has said that the gospel was purposely designed to be  difficult to live so that it would turn us to God for supernatural aid to enable us to live it, that without Him we could NOT live it.  I think it was designed to lead us to God and to make us dependent on Him. (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, pp 178, 179) 

What does it mean to be spiritually self reliant then? This is my take on it. To me it means to have your own testimony and your own relationship with God and not put your trust in the arm of the flesh when it comes to the things of the spirit and how you will live your life.  We cannot live on borrowed light, just as the Ten Virgins proved.  In the beginning when our faith is weak and we are just starting on our spiritual journey, it is essential for us to believe in the faith of others and to be nourished by their testimony but as you grow and mature in the Gospel, you have to come to stand on your own two feet and make the Atonement active in your life. Only you can do this.  By being spiritually reliant on God in all things, we also become spiritually self-reliant. It becomes a matter of your relationship with God. If you do not have this relationship with God and do not rely on him you will eventually end up relying on priesthood leaders to help you solve your problems and give you guidance on your spiritual path.  This is a grave mistake because it is putting your trust in the arm of the flesh and that arm very often fails. Priesthood leaders are overburdened these days with their responsibilities, earning a living and taking care of their families.  They are there to assist people with their process of repentance but I do not believe they should be holding our hands while we work out our salvation.  That responsibility belongs to God.  We are responsible for our own spiritual wellbeing and we have all the tools to help us: scriptures, prayer, temple, fasting. The list goes on.  If we would just do it our lives would be less complicated.  There is more depth to this.

A friend asked me recently 'how do we fully submit our will to God in the light of the fact that we are also taught to be self-reliant'?  It seems a contradiction in terms doesn't it?  Firstly, our will is the only thing that truly belongs to us that we have to give, all else we have comes from God, including the breath we breathe.  Secondly, God's perspective is always eternal and our eternal welfare is the one He is mostly concerned about. A good friend taught me this.  Very often these two facts clash in our lives.  For us to submit our will to the Father means to want for ourselves what the Father wants and not what we want.  That means changing our perspective from a temporal one to a spiritual one.  We live in a fallen world and our first instinct is to act as 'the natural man' (Mosiah 3:19)  In other words, we are very short sighted.  What is needful is for us to come to think as God thinks, to know Him, His mind and His will for His children to such an extent that our first instinct will be to make choices that would benefit us eternally, that which is good for us in the long run and not here and now. 

I stand in awe of Third Nephi whose faith on the Lord Jesus Christ was so great that angels ministered to him daily. (3 Nephi 7:18).  Imagine having angels coming to you every day.  I think his faith was so great because he became so in sync with the Lord that he did nothing that God would not do himself.  Because of this God came to have such trust in him that he promised him that 'all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shall not ask that which is contrary to my will'. (Helaman 10:5)  In other words, God knew Nephi and that he would not ask for anything inappropriate or not beneficial to his eternal salvation and the salvation of others.  When you come to the this point where you are of one mind with the Lord, you are spiritually self-reliant on a deeper level.  When you come to this point, it is extremely difficult for the adversary to shake you or entice you to put your trust in the arm of the flesh in any form.  And this is where we want to be.

Remember that Satan's way is to have us rely on ourselves and our wisdom, which is very finite and inadequate for the salvation of our souls and he would have us temporally reliant on others.  Both of these spell only one thing, bondage.  God seeks to make us free, he wants us in partnership with Him so that we will make wise choices that would lead us to optimal freedom.

THE LORD'S WAY

This week's Sunday School lesson is on spiritual and temporal self-reliance.  I am amazed at how much this principle is a part of warfare we have been engaged in since before the world began.  This is very much good vs evil, freedom vs bondage.  God wants us to be free while Satan wants us in bondage, terrified and miserable as he is.  God's way is to have us spiritually reliant on Him and temporally reliant on ourselves but Satan's way is opposite.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks expressed it this way:

"There are powerful forces at work to beguile us into self-sufficiency in spiritual things and to lure us into some degree of dependence in temporal things.  It is easy for Latter-day Saints to fall prey to those forces". (Dallin H. Oaks, The Lord's Way, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1991)

The adversary seeks to corrupt the practice of self-reliance because through it he can lead us away from God and keep us in bondage.  He would have us believe that we need to be spiritually self-reliant (thinking we can "work out our own salvation", in other words, not needing the Saviour) and heavily reliant on others in temporal things, meaning we would be putting our trust in the arm of the flesh.  He seeks to put us into bondage to the world.  This is most evident through debt.  Anyone who is knee deep in credit card debt will agree with this.  When you are in debt, you are in bondage to the world and you are not free. 

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Council of the Twelve said it this way:

"Independence and self-reliance are critical to our spiritual and temporal growth.  Whenever we get into a situation which threatens our self-reliance, we will find our freedoms threatened as well.  If we increase our dependence on anything or anyone except the Lord, we will find an immediate decrease in our freedom to act". (As quoted in The Church News, Oct. 12, 1991)

This is the old battle field, different venue.  We are veterans of a war with Satan whose goal has been from the beginning to have us captive and in bondage.  Nephi said it well:

"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man.  And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself". 2 Nephi 2:27

Tomorrow I will post about what it means to be spiritually self-reliant.

A GREAT LESSON IN REPENTANCE AND FORGIVENESS

My favourite talk of the October Conference was by Elder Richard G. Scott entitled "Personal Strength Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ".  I absolutely loved the way he used the story of the people of Ammon to demonstrate the principle that entitled his talk.  Never before had I given the fathers of the stripling warriors a second thought, how they must have felt to send their young sons out to battle instead of themselves, because of the sins they have committed in the past which necessitated the covenant they entered into to bury their weapons of war.  What faith it would have taken for those fathers who had keenly felt their responsibility to protect their families to allow their young sons to fight in their stead, not knowing if they would ever come back alive. And how would they have felt if their sons had died because of them?  Herein lies a great lesson for us.  So often we think 'this is my life and I'll do what I want' not suspecting that what we do has a profound effect on those around us and more often than not our loved ones bear the brunt of our sins as well as ourselves.  Not only did the Ammonite fathers have to send their teenage sons off to war because of them but they also had to rely on Nephite's mercy to provide them with protection they could no longer enforce themselves.   If you are not familiar with this story, read Alma chapter 53 of the Book of Mormon.

I was equally impressed with Elder Scott's insight into how incredibly important it was for those fathers not to break the covenant they had made because that would have left them exposed to Satan's power.  He pointed out that had they broken their covenant, they would have become vulnerable to Satan's attempt to exploit their memory of any previous guilt and would by this lure them back into his influence.  I think guilt is one of his greatest tools because by it he stands the chance of making us believe that we will never be better than the sins we have committed, that it is useless to try to forsake them.  He will tell you that this is who you are and you can never hope to be better. He loves to beat us up with it and discredit the worth of our souls. Guilt is a useless emotion, once we have repented, that prevents us from moving forward and keeps us stuck in the past we cannot change. The Saviour has atoned for our sins to meet the demands of justice but the atonement cannot remove the consequences of our sins.  It is these consequences that keep us in remembrance of our past sins to ensure we do not return to them, rather than guilt.  Guilt just keeps us stuck where the Saviour does not want us to be.  He desires to forgive us and he requires of us to forgive each other and ourselves.  If we cannot forgive ourselves, we most likely cannot forgive others for any offence they have caused us.  Forgiveness is central to the Saviour's character.  If we do not develop this characteristic, we cannot become like Him.  Each time we exercise forgiveness, we purge from ourselves feelings of hatred, resentment, anger, animosity and guilt and in turn we are filled with love, another characteristic without which we cannot become like our Saviour.  If you want to be like Him, learn to forgive.  If this essential trait eludes you and you feel it is beyond you, seek for the spiritual gift of forgiveness.  For steps to do this read my blog on spiritual gifts and weaknesses.

Had the Ammonite fathers broken their covenant and succumbed to their previous sins of murder, all would have been lost.  Any spiritual headway they had made up to then would have been in peril, and not just for them but for the generations to come.  Elder Scott said that 'their humble, lifelong commitment to forsaking their sins did more to protect their families than anything they could have done on the battlefield'.  The positive ripple effect of not breaking the covenant they made is felt even today amongst countless people who have studied the Book of Mormon and have been edified by the example of the 2,000 stripling warriors who fought so valiantly and were so firm in their faith in God that He would deliver them if they did not doubt. And this He truly did for not one of them was lost.  What an amazing example they are to the youth of this Church, an example that is so badly needed in our world.  Had these boys' fathers broken their covenant and regressed in their spiritual journey, we would not have this example to draw on today.

I also loved the way Elder Scott made a distinction between open rebellion against God and weaknesses.  Sometimes the legacy of past sins is short or long term consequences and more often than not we are left with weaknesses born out of those sins.  Regarding this Elder Scott says:

"The joyful news for anyone who desires to be rid of the consequences of past poor choices is that the Lord sees weaknesses differently than He does rebellion.  Whereas the Lord warns that unrepented rebellion will bring punishment, when the Lord speaks of weaknesses, it is always with mercy".

What great comfort it is to know that. I guess it all boils down to the intent of your heart and God knows what that intent is. I believe we will be judged on the intents of the heart more than on our behaviour.  The Lord knows our capabilities and He knows how much we can do, His grace is sufficient for the rest.  He has felt what it is like to be you for that one split second in the moment of His greatest suffering and because of that experience He is able to be merciful enough to forgive the sin and still have mercy towards the weaknesses that originated from it.

In Isaiah's eloquent words:  "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me".  Isaiah 49:16

ON FOLLOWING THE PROPHETS

So I went through my last conference Ensign to see how many talks I have read since May and out of 30, excluding the priesthood and young women sessions, I have read 10. Pathetic!!!  October conference is upon us so let's hope I do better this time around.  It's interesting to note that with a few talks, I have written in red pen 'prayer' and 'sacrament' next to their titles.  Obviously the message that was meant for me to get out of last conference was that I need to pray more and pay heed to the quality of my sacrament observance.  Elder Dallin H. Oaks in his talk "Followers of Christ" stresses that the Saviour instituted the sacrament to assist us in remembering that his teachings were not meant to be theoretical and that 'following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice but a continuous commitment and way of life that applies at all times and in all places". It's a new way of looking at the sacrament for me.  I will think on that next Sunday when I take that bread and water.  It should strengthen my commitment to do better next week than what I have done this week.

My two favourite talks from  last conference were:  Elder David A. Bednar's talk entitled "We Believe in Being Chaste" and "Lord I Believe" by Jeffrey R. Holland.

Elder Bednar says that 'our relationships with other people, our capacity to recognise and act in accordance with truth and our ability to obey the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ are amplified through our physical bodies".  What I loved most of wonderful things he said about this subject is that we should consider sin as a spiritual wound that causes guilt.  He says:
"Guilt is to our spirit what pain is to our body - a warning of danger and a protection from additional damage."  It reminded me of someone in our family who is wracked by guilt because of the sexually immoral life he is living.  I agree with Elder Bednar, you cannot commit sin and not have your spirit damaged.  The good news is that there is a healing salve for the spiritual scars we inflict upon ourselves through disobedience to the law of chastity.  That salve is the atonement of Jesus Christ which is available to us through our repentance.  Elder Bednar makes us understand that it is all worth while when he says:
"I can think of no blessings to be more fervently desired than those promised to the pure and the virtuous.  Jesus spoke of specific rewards for different virtues but reserved the greatest, so it seems to me, for the pure in heart, 'for they', said he, 'shall see God'."

One thing from Elder Holland's talk I think is the most significant:
"The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue - it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know". 
Sometimes we feel that we need to have the kind of faith that moves mountains and we get discouraged because we feel it is beyond us.  I am a true believer in the power that comes from being positive through thought and word.  Both thoughts and words have energy which can increase our power in developing and exerting faith.  Alma declares: "Even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe" (Alma 32:27).  If you have the desire to believe in whatever you need faith for, start from the bottom, start by saying positive words and thinking positive thoughts until your faith is so strong that it will bring about the results that you want.  I need to listen to my own advice.....I'm in bad need of doing this right now regarding my professional life.

Gotta go.  I have 20 more articles to read before the next conference Ensign comes out!

CONFERENCE FEVER

Ted Gibbons relates the following story from Jeffrey R Holland which I think we can all learn from:

"I was recently in Vavau, Tonga. It is a little island which is 1-1 1/2 hours away from Nuku Alofa by plane and 24 hours away by boat.  By boat is the worst trip that can be made.  When the Area Conference was announced for Tonga, it was determined that only one boat would be available for the saints from Vavau.  The boat held 150 people.  If you stuffed bodies into every possible corner of the ship, you could get close to 300 people.  EIGHT HUNDRED Tongans jammed onto that boat and stood up for 24 hours without sleep, without food, without drink, without anything - because they knew that a prophet of God was going to be in their islands and they were not going to miss him for anything in the world. Do you want to go to conference that badly?  Do you care that the prophet of God is speaking in the neighbourhood? Do you care enough to flip on the television set, a radio, or to come to a building to watch a priesthood meeting?  Eight hundred people stood up for 24 hours to get to conference... "The President of the Church is here" they said.  "That's our prophet and we may not see him again soon". And they came. ("Remembered and Nourished by the Word of God", Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU, Sept 26, 1976)

Ted Gibbons goes on to say that 'an additional element from this event came to light when I shared this story with a ward in my stake.  Members of the ward who were from Tonga came forward after the meeting to tell me that they were in Vavau when the Area Conference occurred.  They told me that as the boat pulled away from the dock, headed for Nuku 'Alofa, there were church members jumping in the water and swimming to the boat, still trying to find a place on the vessel.  They also told me that a second boat came just after the first had departed and took a much smaller group in substantial comfort to the Area Conference'.  (Ted Gibbons, D&C Lesson 37)

What an amazing story.  I am hoping to catch conference fever this month.  I want to be numbered among those on judgment day who were eager to hear the words of the prophets.

GOD'S SERVANTS

If an announcement came telling you that the Saviour himself would speak at the next General Conference, would your attitude and preparation for the event change at all?  But of course, He will be there.  He has made this clear through this scripture:

"What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by my own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." (D&C 1:38)  Not 'almost the same', or 'very similar' or 'very identical'.  It is the same. (Ted Gibbons, D&C Lesson 37)

So thinking back on last General Conference, we can ask ourselves, what did the Saviour ask me to do?  Can you remember what President Monson spoke about?  Did you get anything personally just for you from any talks that you heard?  Most important of all, did you implement it in your life?
What if an announcement came that in the next Ensign the lead article was to be written by the Lord himself?  How difficult would it be to convince you not to read it? (Ted Gibbons, D&C Lesson 37)
Do you remember what the First Presidency message was for last month? Is this the first article you read when you get your Ensign magazine?  Do you even get the Ensign magazine?  My daughter Christie reads the Ensign as part of her morning devotional, she says she digests it easier than the scriptures.  I've got to tell her, there is very little difference between the two.  Spiritual food is spiritual food.

Ted Gibbons, a Gospel Doctrine teacher from Arizona, gives a worth while suggestion regarding conference talks.  He says when the conference Ensign comes out each member of his family gets a copy and the following week family scripture reading gets put on hold while they discuss all the conference talks and make notes of the things they should be doing as a family and individually.  What an amazing idea!  After all, words of the living prophets are living scriptures.

In Ted's own words:
"It is not enough to talk about conference.  It is not enough to come to conference or to sit and listen to conference or to hear the words spoken in conference.  We must make application to our own lives.  We must be different because of the conference experience.  We must DO something".
(Ted Gibbons D&C Lesson 37)

Must finish.  I'm off to find the last conference Ensign!