I Believe

Behavior is a function of Faith. Faith motivates our everyday activities. Faith dwells within the heart of everyone. Faith is the moving cause of all action. All blessings, we receive by faith, both spiritual and temporal.

We must have perfect faith in the Savior Jesus Christ in order to be saved. He descended below all things. Even though we don't understand all things He does. Doubt not, Fear not.

Love is the motive that gives us faith to believe. Love is a gift. God loves us more than we can comprehend. He gave his only begotten Son. We love Him because he first loved us.

Pray unto God and he will console you.

We went to the Conferance Center this spring for our Regional Conferance. The Salt Lake Temple is in the background.

Life is Very Uncertain

I see my last post was over a year ago. On August 1, 2010....8-9-10....my father in law and his wife were in an accident that Joe, my father in law died as a result of his injuries. It was heart breaking and shocking to deal with. I had to turn to Heavenly Father many times to find the courage to make it through this test in my life. It was very difficult to witness the pain of my husband and also deal with my pain.

My testimony of the hearafter has grown as a result of this trial and heartache. Also the knowledge that Heavenly Father is there for us. My Savior is also my friend and my comfort. I know that he is ready and willing to take the burden from me. I only need to hand it to him. Sometimes, I have to give it to him again, because I have taken it from Him to carry on my own.

I also have to be conscious of my feelings toward the man that caused this accident. He was driving a semi at a high rate of speed and couldn't stop. Maybe there was something else that influenced him also. We are letting the attorney figure that out. We want to know what happened, as near to accurate as possible. We probably will never know all the truth, but there are questions unanswered that need to be answered.

On December 5, 2010 I also lost my Teddy Bear. He was my best buddy. My little maltese puppy. He was only 18 months, but he died of an incurable disease called GME. The disease attacks the the spinal chord and brain. It was very painful and he was only diagnosed with it for 10 days before he was in such pain that we had to put him to sleep. The only treatment was prednisone and the length of life was 1-4 weeks, with the quality of life very poor. I miss him, but I know he is happy now and I will see him again.

Well, I have been looking at some of the blogs I follow, and I really need to make an extra effort to update my blog. Actually, to heck with that, but maybe I should try to post a little more frequent.

Summer has been wonderful in that the weather was warm and we had lots of sunny days. I love summer. The difference in this summer and others, that I can most relate to, is the deaths of people I know. It has brought into greater focus just how fragile life is and how often we take it for granted or wish our days away. Instead of enjoying the daily journey, I sometimes look at it as mundane and monotonous. So here are a couple of pictures when I was thinking....yeah life is pretty great and I am so blessed.

Newsroom Blog: Messages of Hope Come From Times of Tragedy

Newsroom Blog: Messages of Hope Come From Times of Tragedy

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Divine Callings

"When President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder David A. Bednar were first sustained as members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a witness of the divine origin of their calls came to me during the session. I was also given in that moment an understanding of the surpassing sacredness of the call and service of an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. I do not have the words to express that understanding because it was communicated Spirit to spirit without words. To think of it now reduces me to a depth of humility I have never before experienced, and I plead with my Heavenly Father to sustain me as He ever has that I might measure up to something that is far beyond my native capacity and be able to focus outwardly, losing myself in your service. I trust in Him, and I know that His grace is sufficient, and so I here unreservedly commit all that I have and am to God and His Beloved Son."
D. Todd Christofferson, "Born Again," Ensign, May 2008, 76
This is a very powerful feeling, to have a personal witness of something that is real and true. I too have had a witness of divine appointment of our prophet President Thomas S. Monson. It was in a very still and quiet way, when he spoke for the first time in Conference after he became our prophet a few weeks prior. I could see him differently, as more divine I suppose. It was a beautiful witness of the truth of a prophet in modern day.
I commit myself to be more humble and meek before my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ to overcome my weaknesses and imperfections and strive to use the power of the atonement in my daily life, as a guide and accounting to myself and Heavenly Father, who loves me and accepts me unconditionally.

My Belief in Jesus Christ

To quote Elder Jeffery R. Holland from his testimony of Jesus Christ:
Now, to anyone within the sound of my voice who has wondered regarding our Christianity, I bear this witness. I testify that Jesus Christ is the literal, living Son of our literal, living God. This Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer who, under the guidance of the Father, was the Creator of heaven and earth and all things that in them are. I bear witness that He was born of a virgin mother, that in His lifetime He performed mighty miracles observed by legions of His disciples and by His enemies as well. I testify that He had power over death because He was divine but that He willingly subjected Himself to death for our sake because for a period of time He was also mortal. I declare that in His willing submission to death He took upon Himself the sins of the world, paying an infinite price for every sorrow and sickness, every heartache and unhappiness from Adam to the end of the world. In doing so He conquered both the grave physically and hell spiritually and set the human family free. I bear witness that He was literally resurrected from the tomb and, after ascending to His Father to complete the process of that Resurrection, He appeared, repeatedly, to hundreds of disciples in the Old World and in the New. I know He is the Holy One of Israel, the Messiah who will one day come again in final glory, to reign on earth as Lord of lords and King of kings. I know that there is no other name given under heaven whereby a man can be saved and that only by relying wholly upon His merits, mercy, and everlasting grace19 can we gain eternal life.
My additional testimony regarding this resplendent doctrine is that in preparation for His millennial latter-day reign, Jesus has already come, more than once, in embodied majestic glory. In the spring of 1820, a 14-year-old boy, confused by many of these very doctrines that still confuse much of Christendom, went into a grove of trees to pray. In answer to that earnest prayer offered at such a tender age, the Father and the Son appeared as embodied, glorified beings to the boy prophet Joseph Smith. That day marked the beginning of the return of the true, New Testament gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the restoration of other prophetic truths offered from Adam down to the present day.
I testify that my witness of these things is true and that the heavens are open to all who seek the same confirmation. Through the Holy Spirit of Truth, may we all know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He has] sent.”20 Then may we live Their teachings and be true Christians in deed, as well as in word, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I add my testimony that I too know that He lives, that He is our elder brother and that He is the literal Son of God. He died for us that we might, through His atoning sacrifice, be able to return to our Father in Heaven. They love us and know each of us personally. They know our wants and needs, answer our prayers and give us the pure and righteous desires of our heart. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Gay Rights

Without a doubt, I think this is the most single crucial moral issue of our modern time. Marriage is a sacred commitment between a man and a woman. One that is ordained of God and is to be treated with respect and reverance worthy of that holy right and covenant. We do not have the authority to violate that sacred right by authorizing men and men and women and women to participate in it.