Brightening My Light

ldsclipart.com The children chose their themes and wrote their speaking parts, with some help from the Sharing Time manual and their parents. Aiyana (6yo): October Prayer is reverent communication between God and Me. I can pray to God, and he hears me. When I get scared I pray to God to keep me safe. At night I say my bedtime prayers. From reading scriptures, they have taught me how to pray. I have learned that God may not answer my prayers right away, but He does when the time is right. Through my prayers I have developed a strong bond with God. I love going to church whenever I can. Cameron (10yo): June The theme for the month of June was “The first principles and ordinances of the gospel make it possible for me to live with God again.” We talked about faith in Jesus Christ leads us to love Him, trust Him, and keep His commandments. The next week we learned that repentance brings forgiveness. On the third week, we talked about when we are baptized we make...

I always love conference! I love how undeniably strong the Spirit is and how my testimony and dedication are renewed. The key is keeping all those feelings after conference is over. I am grateful that I can read and watch the talks again and again to help me with that endeavor. There is no excuse to let the spirit of conference diminish over the next six months. Congratulations to us for reaching 15 million members! But compared to the world population, we still have so much work to do, which several leaders reminded us. It is amazing that we have over 80,000 full-time missionaries now to help us! There is no excuse for us not to excel in missionary work. I thought the family choir in the Saturday afternoon session was neat. I have never seen that done before. My husband saw one of his fellow missionaries in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and I recognized the elderly Brazilian woman shown in one of the talks as an old friend's grandma, one of the sweetest, happiest women I know...

I got to watch the General Relief Society Meeting Saturday night, something I have not had the privilige of doing the last couple years. I was excited to meet the new presidency, and they are wonderful! They are so loving and sweet, so meek and mild, and very tenderhearted. I enjoyed and learned from each of their talks. Linda K. Burton, President, talked about cheerfully keeping our covenants. She also shared an excellent analogy on self-worth another woman shared with her: a $20 bill, though it may be torn, dirty, worn out, wrinkled, and used, is still worth $20. Carole M. Stephens, First Counselor, talked about being wide awake to our duties. She shared an experience she had on a pioneer trek she did with the youth. On a part of the journey called the women's pull, the women had to push the handcarts up a hill without the men's help. A young woman who had already pushed her cart up came back down and helped Sister Stephens and her companion with their car...

In my Doctrine and Covenants class at BYU, my professor gave us the following talk by Elder Ballard to read when we got to section 102: " A Chance to Start Over: Church Disciplinary Councils and the Restoration of Blessings ." Not having ever been in an disciplinary hearing, I did not know much about them, and this address really enlightened me. Church disciplinary councils seemed scary, but not anymore (though the idea of confessing something to that many people is still scary). Having had to talk to bishops, though, I can imagine that the love and encouragment a truly repentant person may feel in a hearing is hundredfold. Elder Ballard shared the following analogy in his talk: I remember as a child occasionally coming unkempt to the dinner table. My mother wisely sent me to clean up and then return. My parents would have been pained if I had taken offense and had run off—and I would have been foolish to do so. In the same way, the servants of the Lord occasionally ...

ldsclipart.com Imagine the Prophet were to come to your ward. What would you do? Would you arrive early to church? Would you dress your very best? Would you make sure you and your family were reverent, attentive, and smiling? Would you be respectful and full of admiration if you got to talk to him? You probably would do all these things. And why? Because he is the Prophet of God, of course. But why wouldn't you do these things any Sunday for any priesthood holder? President Boyd K. Packer shared this story in General Conference of October 2007  (I recommend reading the entire address): When I was a young man, I was a home teacher to a very old sister. She taught me from her life experience. When she was a little girl, President Brigham Young came to Brigham City, a great event in the town named after him. To honor him, the Primary children, all dressed in white, were lined up along the road coming into town, each with a basket of flowers to spread before the ...

Did you watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional last Sunday? Wasn't it wonderful? It's one of the few things that light the Christmas spirit in me (I'm somewhat of a Scrooge, for those of you who don't know me). I am watching it again now because I missed some of it and wanted to remember the parts that touched me so I can share them with you: Opening & Closing Love the wintry blue dresses instead of red. The French horns in "The First Noel" sounded heavenly. The entire song was angelic. MoTab sang "Silent Night" with much reverence and sincerity. The harp was beautiful. President Uchtdorf "Don't ever play with fire--an important message with literal and figurative implications for everyone, not only children." "The Lord does not expect that we commit to move mountains, but He does require that we bring as gifts our best efforts to move ourselves, one foot in front of the other, walking in the ways He has p...

Here are little facts and mnemonic devices to help you memorize the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in order. 1. Monson : His name rhymes with one . 2. Eyring : The first part of his last name sounds like eye , and we have two eyes. 3. Uchtdorf : He was called to the Presidency on February 3 , 2008. 4. Packer : The Green Bay Packers have won four Super Bowls. 5. Perry : He was born August 5 , 1922. 6. Nelson : He has six degrees (BA, MA, PhD, and 3 honorary degrees). 7. Oaks : The Creation took seven days, and one creation is oak trees. 8. Ballard : Think of the eight ball in billiards, which is similar to his name. 9. Scott : Two parents + seven children = family of nine . 10. Hales : He had ten other major Church callings before called as an apostle. 11. Holland : The two l's in his name look like the number eleven . 12. Bednar : The name David A. Bednar is twelve letters long. 13. Cook : Thirteen is a baker's dozen...

 Recently I read some blogs and comments by active, inactive, and former members of the Church. The posts were negative and critical and planted seeds of doubt in my mind about things I have never questioned before. I felt like I had let in poison and feared the effects it was having on me. The following Sunday, my husband and I read in the November 2010 General Conference issue of the Ensign the talk "Faith--the Choice is Yours" by Bishop Richard C. Edgley . This was no coincidence. The talk addressed exactly what I was feeling. In these troubled times, there are many attacks on the Church, from within and without. They are not in our control, but our reaction is. Bishop Edgley counsels, "When our sacred doctrine and beliefs are challenged, this is our opportunity to become acquainted with God in a most private and intimate manner. This is our opportunity to choose. . . . So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the u...

June 27 marks the 166th anniversary of Joseph Smith's death. I found this amazing video in honor of him ( click here for another good one). I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and restored His church to the earth. I know that he loved the Saints and the Lord and that he sacrificed so much to bring us the blessings of the gospel. Praise to the man! Challenge: May we continue to share his story and our testimony of him with all the world so that he did not die in vain.

I know that Jesus Christ still speaks to His children, through all types of revelation: the scriptures, our Church leaders, and personal revelation through the Holy Ghost. It does not make any sense to me why some believe He has stopped communicating with His children. His works never change, for He is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" ( 2 Nephi 29:9 ; see also Hebrews 13:8 ). He has not stopped, but has spoken to His children ever since Adam and Eve, giving us all the knowledge we need to return to Him. We especially need His guidance in these latter days, the final scenes before His Second Coming, and I am so grateful we have it. I know the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and that President Monson is a prophet. I know that Christ lives and loves us, and I am so grateful He shows His love by continuing to speak to us today. Challenge: Read 2 Nephi 29 .

We listen to a prophet's voice and hear the Savior too. With love he bids us do the work the Lord would have us do. The Savior calls his chosen seer to preach the word of God, That men might learn to find the path marked by the iron rod. In ev'ry land, in ev'ry tongue, our prophet will be heard; How swiftly round the world his voice reveals the gospel word! The sacred message that he brings will witness and agree With ev'ry prophet called of God throughout earth's history. Hosanna! Let our praise ascend unto the Savior's throne; Rejoice! The prophet has confirmed that by Him we are known. Attend, ye earth! The prophet speaks; come listen and obey. He is the man who holds the keys of priesthood pow'r today. ( Hymns , 22. Listen to it here .) Challenge: Study the words of this hymn to strengthen your testimony of the prophet.

Yesterday evening I watched the Christmas Devotional at our stake center. It was absolutely beautiful! It opened with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and congregation singing "The First Noel" and then after the prayer the Choir singing "For unto Us a Child Is Born" from Handel's Messiah . They sang with such contagious joyfulness. President Uchtdorf spoke first about seeing Christ with the heart. He quoted from The Little Prince , "Anything essential is invisible to the eye." Although many saw Christ with their eyes, they did not see Him with their hearts and accept Him as their Savior and Redeemer. President Uchtdorf exhorted us to unclutter our lives and let it be the season of seeking the Savior with our hearts. The Choir then sang "O Holy Night," my favorite Christmas hymn. I love when the Choir sings! President Eyring followed reminding us that the story of Christmas is a story of love. He advised us to create a small part of the Christmas s...

Busy as a man can be, He's our bishop. He finds time to talk to me; He's our bishop. Always kindly words he'll say To the children every day. Let us help him every way; He's our bishop. Cheerful as he serves the Lord, He's our bishop. He's the father of our ward; He's our bishop. He helps us to do the right In our Heavenly Father's sight. We love him with all our might; He's our bishop. ( "He's Our Bishop," Children's Songbook , p. 135 ) I love my bishop. I can think of only a couple bishops I did not like, and that's because I didn't understand the true nature of bishops at the time, and so I feared them. When I was about 17, I learned to appreciate them. Bishops are not principals or policemen (though maybe some are by profession). Bishops are Christ-like and fatherly: they love us unconditionally and want us to be happy; they are sweet and understanding. Bishops help us to repent, grow in the gospel, be spiritually strong...