I love to watch my little family.

My five year old is amazing, she is so curious about the world. If time would permit she would study the inner workings of anything she could get her hands on just to understand it. I adore to watch her play with her cousins; the majority of the time she is filled with so much compassion towards her tiny friends. Even when they are no where around if she gets a treat she sweetly asked if we can get one for her cousin. If the answer is no, confusion enters her mind and you can read the thought on her face; Why do I get something amazing, and my cousin does not get anything? She then saves a piece for the next time she sees her friend. She is so happy, and loves to be part of this world, I truly look up to her.

My husband is also someone whom I love to watch. I love to watch him work. Wither it be in church callings, school work or even helping out with his family. When he starts a task his heart is devoted to not only completing it but into doing it right and improving himself in the process. I wish I could say I did every accomplishment like him.

When thinking of resolutions I think of my family and how we can become a happier household. I look at what I love about each of us and what we need to improve on and I try to apply it. Life can get tricky, unexpected obstacles can hit at anytime. When this happens it is easy to fall. I feel so lucky to have two people who teach me so much on how to love, work and live! I feel so blessed.

When thinking about my little family, I really wanted to find a talk by President Hinckley. When President Hinckley spoke about his family you could feel his love for them and you could sense that he felt genuinely blessed. This is why I selected this talk I find his advice in it to be priceless. So Enjoy!

Each a Better Person

President Gordon B. Hinckley

Gordon B. Hinckley, "Each a Better Person", Ensign, Nov. 2002, 99–100

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There is room for improvement in every life. … Regardless of our circumstances, we can improve ourselves and while so doing have an effect on the lives of those about us.

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What a wonderful conference this has been, my brothers and sisters. As we return to our homes and to our daily activities, each of us should be a better individual than we were when the conference opened.

All who have spoken have done very well. The prayers have been inspirational. The music has been magnificent.

But what matters most is what may have occurred within each of us as a result of our experience. I, for one, have made a stronger resolution within myself to be a better person than I have been in the past. I hope that I will be a little kinder to any I meet who may be in distress. I hope that I will be a little more helpful to those who are in need. I hope that I will be a little more worthy of your confidence. I hope that I will be a better husband, a better father and grandfather. I hope that I will be a better neighbor and friend. I hope that I will be a better Latter-day Saint, with an increased understanding of the wonderful aspects of this glorious gospel.

I challenge every one of you who can hear me to rise to the divinity within you. Do we really realize what it means to be a child of God, to have within us something of the divine nature?

I believe with all my heart that the Latter-day Saints, generally speaking, are good people. If we live by the principles of the gospel, we must be good people, for we will be generous and kind, thoughtful and tolerant, helpful and outreaching to those in distress. We can either subdue the divine nature and hide it so that it finds no expression in our lives, or we can bring it to the front and let it shine through all that we do.

There is room for improvement in every life. Regardless of our occupations, regardless of our circumstances, we can improve ourselves and while so doing have an effect on the lives of those about us.

We do not need to wear our religion on our sleeves. We certainly do not need to be boastful about it or to be arrogant in any way. Such becomes a negation of the Spirit of the Christ whom we ought to try to emulate. That Spirit finds expression in the heart and the soul, in the quiet and unboastful manner of our lives.

All of us have seen those we almost envy because they have cultivated a manner that, without even mentioning it, speaks of the beauty of the gospel they have incorporated in their behavior.

We can lower our voices a few decibels. We can return good for evil. We can smile when anger might be so much easier. We can exercise self-control and self-discipline and dismiss any affront levied against us.

Let edit edit edit edit us be a happy people. The Lord’s plan is a plan of happiness. The way will be lighter, the worries will be fewer, the confrontations will be less difficult if we cultivate a spirit of happiness.

Let us work a little harder at the responsibility we have as parents. The home is the basic unit of society. The family is the basic organization of the Church. We are deeply concerned over the quality of the lives of our people as husbands and wives and as parents and children.

There is too much of criticism and faultfinding with anger and raised voices. The pressures we feel each day are tremendous. Husbands come home from their employment each day tired and short-tempered. Unfortunately, most of the wives work. They too face a serious challenge that may be more costly than it is worth. Children are left to seek their own entertainment, and much of it is not good.

My brothers and sisters, we must work at our responsibility as parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact everything in life does count on it.

If we fail in our homes, we fail in our lives. No man is truly successful who has failed in his home. I ask you men, particularly, to pause and take stock of yourselves as husbands and fathers and heads of households. Pray for guidance, for help, for direction, and then follow the whisperings of the Spirit to guide you in the most serious of all responsibilities, for the consequences of your leadership in your home will be eternal and everlasting.

God bless you, my beloved associates. May a spirit of peace and love attend you wherever you may be. May there be harmony in your lives. As I’ve said to our youth in many areas, be smart, be clean, be true, be grateful, be humble, be prayerful. May you kneel in prayer before the Almighty with thanksgiving unto Him for His bounteous blessings. May you then stand on your feet and go forward as sons and daughters of God to bring to pass His eternal purposes, each in your own way, is my humble prayer as I leave my love and blessing with you, in the sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

How have you resolved to be a better person?

Love,

Tiffany

I often imagine a hall of mirrors that line my mind. As I walk down looking into each beautiful hand crafted mirror I see memories. Some memories are happy some sad, and some mundane. Since they are mirrors I am able to reflect. I have learned so many lessons during my life. I have improved so much, as much as I do not want to relive my past there is such comfort knowing that my memories are there, and available for me to draw on so mistakes are not remade and happiness is always within my heart.

After reading today’s talk I am reminded of the blessing to forget. Today’s talk deals with ones ability to forgive and forget. There is something so liberating about that one statement. I know that I have used this tool with my friends, family and even the people with whom I associate with within a professional setting. I also believe that this tool leads to happier life without the weight of the burdens that the past pain can bring.

Today talk is from Elder Holland and was in the January 2010 Ensign.

Enjoy!

The Best Is Yet to Be

By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Best Is Yet to Be", Ensign, Jan. 2010, 22–27

From a Brigham Young University devotional address given on January 13, 2009. For the full text of the address in English, visit http://speeches.byu.edu/.

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Look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future.

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The start of a new year is the traditional time to take stock of our lives and see where we are going, measured against the backdrop of where we have been. I don’t want to talk about New Year’s resolutions, but I do want to talk about the past and the future, with an eye toward any time of transition and change in our lives—and those moments come virtually every day.

As a scriptural theme for this discussion, I have chosen Luke 17:32, where the Savior cautions, “Remember Lot’s wife.” What did He mean by such an enigmatic little phrase? To find out, we need to do as He suggested. Let’s recall who Lot’s wife was.

The story, of course, comes to us out of the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, when the Lord, having had as much as He could stand of the worst that men and women could do, told Lot and his family to flee because those cities were about to be destroyed. “Escape for thy life,” the Lord said. “Look not behind thee … ; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed” (Genesis 19:17; emphasis added).

With less than immediate obedience and more than a little negotiation, Lot and his family ultimately did leave town but just in the nick of time. The scriptures tell us what happened at daybreak the morning following their escape:

“The Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;

“And he overthrew those cities” (Genesis 19:24–25).

My theme comes in the next verse. Surely, with the Lord’s counsel—“look not behind thee”—ringing clearly in her ears, Lot’s wife, the record says, “looked back,” and she was turned into a pillar of salt (see verse 26).

Just what did Lot’s wife do that was so wrong? As a student of history, I have thought about that and offer a partial answer. Apparently, what was wrong with Lot’s wife was that she wasn’t just looking back; in her heart she wanted to go back. It would appear that even before she was past the city limits, she was already missing what Sodom and Gomorrah had offered her. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once said, such people know they should have their primary residence in Zion, but they still hope to keep a summer cottage in Babylon.¹

It is possible that Lot’s wife looked back with resentment toward the Lord for what He was asking her to leave behind. We certainly know that Laman and Lemuel were resentful when Lehi and his family were commanded to leave Jerusalem. So it isn’t just that she looked back; she looked back longingly. In short, her attachment to the past outweighed her confidence in the future. That, apparently, was at least part of her sin.

Faith Points to the Future

As a new year begins and we try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives.

So a more theological way to talk about Lot’s wife is to say that she did not have faith. She doubted the Lord’s ability to give her something better than she already had. Apparently, she thought that nothing that lay ahead could possibly be as good as what she was leaving behind.

To yearn to go back to a world that cannot be lived in now, to be perennially dissatisfied with present circumstances and have only dismal views of the future, and to miss the here and now and tomorrow because we are so trapped in the there and then and yesterday are some of the sins of Lot’s wife.

After the Apostle Paul reviewed the privileged and rewarding life of his early years—his birthright, education, and standing in the Jewish community—he says to the Philippians that all of that was “dung” compared to his conversion to Christianity. He says, and I paraphrase, “I have stopped rhapsodizing about ‘the good old days’ and now eagerly look toward the future ‘that I may apprehend that for which Christ apprehended me’” (see Philippians 3:7–12). Then come these verses:

“This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13–14).

No Lot’s wife here. No looking back at Sodom and Gomorrah here. Paul knows it is out there in the future, up ahead wherever heaven is taking us, that we will win “the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Forgive and Forget

There is something in many of us that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life—either our mistakes or the mistakes of others. It is not good. It is not Christian. It stands in terrible opposition to the grandeur and majesty of the Atonement of Christ. To be tied to earlier mistakes is the worst kind of wallowing in the past from which we are called to cease and desist.

I was told once of a young man who for many years was more or less the brunt of every joke in his school. He had some disadvantages, and it was easy for his peers to tease him. Later in his life he moved away. He eventually joined the army and had some successful experiences there in getting an education and generally stepping away from his past. Above all, as many in the military do, he discovered the beauty and majesty of the Church and became active and happy in it.

Then, after several years, he returned to the town of his youth. Most of his generation had moved on but not all. Apparently, when he returned quite successful and quite reborn, the same old mind-set that had existed before was still there, waiting for his return. To the people in his hometown, he was still just old “so-and-so”—you remember the guy who had the problem, the idiosyncrasy, the quirky nature, and did such and such. And wasn’t it all just hilarious?

Little by little this man’s Pauline effort to leave that which was behind and grasp the prize that God had laid before him was gradually diminished until he died about the way he had lived in his youth. He came full circle: again inactive and unhappy and the brunt of a new generation of jokes. Yet he had had that one bright, beautiful midlife moment when he had been able to rise above his past and truly see who he was and what he could become. Too bad, too sad that he was again to be surrounded by a whole batch of Lot’s wives, those who thought his past was more interesting than his future. They managed to rip out of his grasp that for which Christ had grasped him. And he died sad, though through little fault of his own.

That also happens in marriages and other relationships. I can’t tell you the number of couples I have counseled who, when they are deeply hurt or even just deeply stressed, reach farther and farther into the past to find yet a bigger brick to throw through the window “pain” of their marriage. When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died to heal.

Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change and improve. Is that faith? Yes! Is that hope? Yes! Is that charity? Yes! Above all, it is charity, the pure love of Christ. If something is buried in the past, leave it buried. Don’t keep going back with your little sand pail and beach shovel to dig it up, wave it around, and then throw it at someone, saying, “Hey! Do you remember this?” Splat!

Well, guess what? That is probably going to result in some ugly morsel being dug up out of your landfill with the reply, “Yeah, I remember it. Do you remember this?” Splat.

And soon enough everyone comes out of that exchange dirty and muddy and unhappy and hurt, when what our Father in Heaven pleads for is cleanliness and kindness and happiness and healing.

Such dwelling on past lives, including past mistakes, is just not right! It is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. In some ways it is worse than Lot’s wife because at least she destroyed only herself. In cases of marriage and family, wards and branches, apartments and neighborhoods, we can end up destroying so many others.

Perhaps at this beginning of a new year there is no greater requirement for us than to do as the Lord Himself said He does: “He who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42).

The proviso, of course, is that repentance has to be sincere, but when it is and when honest effort is being made to progress, we are guilty of the greater sin if we keep remembering and recalling and rebashing someone with his or her earlier mistakes—and that someone might be ourselves. We can be so hard on ourselves—often much more so than on others!

Now, like the Anti-Nephi-Lehies of the Book of Mormon, bury your weapons of war and leave them buried (see Alma 24). Forgive and do that which is sometimes harder than to forgive: forget. And when it comes to mind again, forget it again.

The Best Is Yet to Be

You can remember just enough to avoid repeating the mistake, but then put the rest of it all on the dung heap Paul spoke of to the Philippians. Dismiss the destructive, and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future and the bright future of your family, your friends, and your neighbors. God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go. That is the thing Lot’s wife didn’t get—and neither did Laman and Lemuel and a host of others in the scriptures.

This is an important matter to consider at the start of a new year—and every day ought to be the start of a new year and a new life. Such is the wonder of faith, repentance, and the miracle of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The poet Robert Browning wrote:

Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:

Our times are in his hand

Who saith, “A whole I planned,

Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”²

Some of you may wonder: Is there any future for me? What does a new year or a new semester, a new major or a new romance, a new job or a new home hold for me? Will I be safe? Will life be sound? Can I trust in the Lord and in the future? Or would it be better to look back, to go back, to stay in the past?

To all such of every generation, I call out, “Remember Lot’s wife.” edit Faith is for the future. Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us and that Christ truly is the “high priest of good things to come” (Hebrews 9:11).

Keep edit edit your eyes on your dreams, however distant and far away. Live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, of trust and divine love that will transform your life today, tomorrow, and forever. That is a New Year’s resolution I ask you to keep.

This article also had a learning section that I would like to share.

Learning from This Article

What lessons from the past can guide you in the future?

What blessings do you want to exercise faith to receive?

Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there. Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us.

Paul taught, “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness, of trust and divine love that will transform your life today, tomorrow, and forever.

After reading this talk I feel what Elder Holland is saying is remember the past for the joy and lessons that you learned and forget the pain that the mistakes may have issued you.

Love,

Tiffany

As I walk out my door most mornings to take my lil monkey to school I can grasp most major situations that attack me come. The world I have concluded is crazy. As I am driving I see signs, people, and even stores a banding simple standards to gain attention; and for the most part is has worked. Sometimes I must admit that I get swept up in life and go through the motions of trying to make it through my day.

As this weeks topic is goals, this brings my attention to one of my most repeated goals; getting to know myself. When I look back through all my memories I admire my teenage self. Although I would never like to become a teenager again I love how confident, and self aware I was. Somewhere through the years I became a role player. I played the role of wife, and mommy very well. I would never take my years back to relive them but I think I have become more conscious to the fact that I enjoy life more when I know who I am. To stat it simply I miss me. This was in reality something that I determined to work on last year when I was going through the ritual of making resolutions. Although I have made great strides to achieve my re getting to know me process, this year I have come to realize it might take more then a year. I am loving who I am becoming. It is through this self discovery that I have felt closer to Heavenly Father. There is freedom in this goal by allowing yourself to grow and be molded into the person whom you want to be; is an amazing self discovery that I wish for everyone.

I have found a talk that I think goes perfectly with this goal. It is written by Bryce B. Potter in the November 1971 Ensign. Enjoy!

Searching Inward

By Bruce D. Porter

Bruce D. Porter, "Searching Inward", Ensign, Nov. 1971, 63

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Beneath the slopes of Mt. Parnassus, the ancient Greek town of Delphi once flourished. Within the town, carved in gold letters on a marble temple, were three inscriptions said to contain the greatest wisdom known to man. The simplest of these inscriptions read merely, “Know thyself.”

Although centuries have left little kinship between the space-age world and the tranquil, glen-harbored Delphi, the search for self-knowledge has not ceased to occupy human beings. If anything, time has intensified the challenge of the Delphic inscription.

Self-understanding was never an easy prize, and this is particularly true today. We live in a rapid, changing world; an environment of scheduled necessity, transient phenomena, attention-diverting advertising and news. David Riesman, Erik Erikson, Hendrik Ruitenbeek, and numerous other sociologists warn of an identity crisis—the desperate search of millions for a stable identity and peace not offered by material things.

Revealed truths concerning man’s origin and destiny give the Latter-day Saint a much sounder basis for self-knowledge than most people have. A testimony of the simple scripture “Man was also in the beginning with God” (D&C 93:29) should add peace to any life. Nevertheless, even dedicated Church members sometimes permit themselves a “years-are-slipping-by-so-fast” despair, complaining at the shallowness of life, worrying over the mundane.

It need not be so. Only when we fail to search inward and find the beauty of our divinely sired spirits does frustration become a habit. Contrarily, a greater understanding of our premortal heritage and possible postmortal inheritance enables us to view daily affairs in the light of eternity. Frustration diminishes.

“The greatest lesson you can learn is to know yourselves,” taught Brigham Young. “… You will then begin to learn more perfectly the things of God.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 334.) The Prophet Joseph Smith used similar words in his King Follett Discourse at Nauvoo: “If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.” (Documentary History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 303.) The spiritual power and serenity of our great leaders come not only through a knowledge of God, edit but also through a closely related knowledge of self.

Self-knowledge is likewise an important element in the process of perfection. To his people in the Old World and later in the New, the Savior distilled the message of his Sermon on the Mount with the commandment, “Be ye therefore perfect.” (Matt 5:48. See also 3 Ne. 12:48.) To reach that ideal, we must know ourselves, for until we are conscious of our weaknesses, we cannot correct them; until we know our strengths, we cannot use them well.

The discovery of self is a profoundly spiritual experience, one that is possible for anyone willing to learn. It comes neither in a mystical, magical manner nor by casual effort, but it is made possible only through practical, concrete means. What are some of these means?

1. Diaries and journals. One of the simplest ways to greater self-understanding is to keep a personal journal. A journal becomes a map for inward searching, a net to capture moments of spiritual insight, a treasury of thoughts and plans. It can be used a thousand ways—as a continuous letter of encouragement and caution to oneself, as a podium for argument and discussion about problems, as a planning table for goals. Try sketching yourself as others see you, or bear your testimony in writing. With imagination, the possibilities and rewards of keeping such a record are endless.

A diary can also be a key to inward searching, if only because it forces a daily meeting with self. “We should every night call ourselves to an account,” wrote the Roman statesman and philosopher Seneca. An elaborate record of daily life is not necessary; just a few lines will serve to review a day’s performance. For the rest of mortality, diaries will prove valuable in checking dates or surveying changes in personal attitude.

2. Self-questioning. The housewife who feels that her life is in a small box wedged between an oven, washer, and three peppy children may seek escape in television viewing or at a swimming pool, social club, or theater. The businessman, teacher, or scientist may get a “wedged-in” feeling and seek escape in the mountains or on the golf course.

A certain amount of such escape is necessary for everyone, but wouldn’t it be better sometimes if we escaped into ourselves? A quiet hour of self-examination, goal-setting, and meditation on the eternal purpose of life can be far more therapeutic than the back nine.

“Fine,” you may say. “If a quiet hour ever opens up in my busy schedule, I’ll use it.” This approach is certain to fail. Self-examination is like prayer. As Brigham Young said, “You will find that those who wait till the Spirit bids them pray, will never pray much on this earth.” (JD, vol. 13, p. 155.) Firmly commit a definite hour each week, find a quiet place, and hang a sign on the door: “Worries and Trifles Not Allowed.” Only then will such an hour pay at overtime rates.

Even when time and place are right, introspection can be difficult without a definite plan. For this purpose a list of actual questions could be used. Try writing answers to the following questions:

—What is the source of my happiness? Am I happiest when engaged in self-directed activity? Or do my greatest joys come when serving others?

—Do I know Jesus Christ? Does his gospel excite me? Do I have an active, hard-working faith in the Savior, or am I a lip-service Saint?

—Have I a genuine love of all men? Not just tolerance, but “the pure love of Christ”?

—Are my duties in the priesthood [or as a mother] being fulfilled, even magnified? How about home teaching?

—Is the Holy Ghost operative in my life? Do I pray often, both alone and with my family? Do my prayers show gratitude? sincerity? humility?

—Am I hard-working, industrious, and enthusiastic?

—What specific steps can I take to improve my character?

—If I were another person, would I enjoy being around myself? Am I cheerful, patient, radiant, kind?

—Would I give my life for the Savior and his church? Very well—am I so giving my life?

Honest answers to such questions cannot help but reveal one’s inner self. These questions, a personal list, or one of many published lists could be used.

A weekly hour of self-questioning should begin and end with secret prayer. Criticism is desirable, but it must be only self-criticism, and even that is best when tempered by reasonable patience. Perfection is a long, hard haul, not an overnight miracle.

3. The Franklin method. “It was about this time that I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection.” So writes Benjamin Franklin, one of the United States’ founding fathers and first ambassadors, as he introduces the reader of his Autobiography to a plan for self-examination and improvement.

Franklin began by choosing what he felt were the twelve primary virtues, to which he later added humility. He proceeded to divide “the ivory leaves of a memorandum book” into thirteen rows and several columns. The columns were for the days of the week, the rows for each of the chosen virtues.

Before retiring each night, Franklin would search himself and his day with respect to each of the virtues, and “mark by a little black spot every fault I found upon examination to have been committed respecting that virtue upon that day.” In this manner he became aware of his weaknesses, and a clear view of desirable improvement was possible.

		TEMPERANCE
		Eat not to dullness. Drink not to elevation.
THE VIRTUES:		S	M	T	W	T	F	S
Temperance	T
Silence	S	X X	X	X	X
Order	O	X	X	X	X X
Resolution	R		X	X
Frugality	F	X			X
Industry	I		X
Sincerity	S
Justice	J
Moderation	M
Cleanliness	Cl
Tranquillity	T
Chastity	Ch
Humility	H

A plan for inward searching similar to Benjamin Franklin’s is an effective help to the Latter-day Saint striving for repentance and the other principles of the gospel. Becoming edit aware of needs is a large part of the battle.

It is interesting that Franklin began the plan only after concluding that his abstract resolutions and “mere speculative conviction” that he ought to do right were accomplishing little. Only a written plan could succeed. His evaluation of the method after years of using it is revealing:

“I was surprised to find myself so much fuller of faults than I had imagined, but I had the satisfaction of seeing them diminish.”

Are we able to say the same of our own faults?

4. Faith in Jesus Christ. No amount of inward searching will avail an individual much without an active faith in the living Savior. Countless men without the hopeful perspective of Christ’s plan have sought self-knowledge and improvement; often they have only concluded in frustration that perfection is unattainable. In one sense they were right. Man simply cannot perfect himself, by himself.

The surest way to self-knowledge is found in Christ’s words to Moroni: “… if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.” (Ether 12:27.) The Savior also teaches us the way to overcome the faults we discover by inward searching: “… 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.” (Ether 12:27. Italics added.)

It is from the example, life, and living inspiration of the Man of Galilee that men learn the path to perfection. Then, through faith, the path is walked. A faith of “mere speculative conviction” is not enough, however. True faith manifests itself in action.

“How shall we learn to know ourselves?” asked the German writer Goethe. “By reflection? Never; but only through action. Strive to do thy duty; then shalt thou know what is in thee.” It is not only in quiet hours of meditation that we discover ourselves, but also in hours of wearying toil, in service without reward, in smiles that hurt, in hungering, thirsting, striving, and seeking.

He who is willing to so strive embarks on a journey not unlike the odysseys of old. He will find shortcomings within himself he had never supposed were there. He will climb mountains not even visible from the low path of complacency and procrastination.

If the goal is pursued faithfully, he will find treasure at the journey’s end. For every person has treasure from a preexistent past buried within his soul—divine jewels waiting only to be polished to perfection by the Master.

Brother Porter attended Brigham Young University as a David O. McKay Scholar before accepting a recent call to labor in the Germany Central Mission. He is a member of the Albuquerque (New Mexico) Sixth Ward, Albuquerque East Stake.

I hope this talk has inspired you to get reacquainted with yourselves!

What do you do for yourself?

Love,

Tiffany

Welcome

I thought with this being the first post I would introduce myself. My name is Tiffany and I am a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am a mother to a little girl who think she knows everything because after all she is five. I am amazed everyday her sweet little talent that I get to experience. I am a wife to a wonderful husband who pushes me to be my best and treats me like I am his queen. We are currently both students. My awesome hubby is studying film and I am studying nutrition science.

I would like to tell you why I started this blog.

Every year when there is a beginning resolutions are made. At the start we focus on what we can change wither it be for positive or negative. I also seem to have at least one resolution that jumps from year to year; this goal is always the same and it is to become closer to my Heavenly Father. I would say this goal is somewhat achieved I tend to get wrapped in my daily life and I am ashamed to admit this goal becomes a bystander to my life.

While making my goals this year I wondered how I could make this goal last through out the year. Then I came to a conclusion one way I could become closer to Heavenly Father is through the words of the leadership of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. By reading one talk a day and by taking notes and really taking the time to acknowledge what I am reading. Then I can figure out how I may apply it to my life to improve my family and myself.

The next step was to figure out a way to hold myself accountable. This is where this blog comes into play. I have always though that wisdom comes in all forms, so I thought I would love to share my thoughts with the world and hear what the world has to say.

Along this path I hope to learn and grow as a mother, wife, daughter and as a women. I hope to make new friends and make my dent in this world . I hope to be a good example to my daughter and show her how to unleash your creative juices and how it can impact your dally life. Thank you so much for joining me and I hope to make great friends!

For this first week I thought it would be appropriate to share talks on Goals.

This first talk was published in the Ensign in 2007.

Three Goals to Guide You

President Thomas S. Monson

First Counselor in the First Presidency

Thomas S. Monson, "Three Goals to Guide You", Ensign, Nov. 2007, 118–21

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Your influence ranges far beyond yourself and your home and touches others all around the globe.

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This evening our souls have reached toward heaven. We have been blessed with beautiful music and inspired messages. The Spirit of the Lord is here.

Sisters Julie Beck, Silvia Allred, Barbara Thompson—thank heaven for your dear mothers and fathers, your teachers, your youth leaders, and others who recognized in you your potential.

To paraphrase a thought:

You never know what a girl is worth,

You’ll have to wait and see;

But every woman in a noble place,

A girl once used to be.¹

It is a great privilege for me to be with you. I recognize that beyond you who are gathered in the Conference Center, there are many thousands watching and listening to the proceedings by way of satellite transmission.

As I speak to you, I realize that as a man I am in the minority and must be cautious in my comments. I’m reminded of the man who walked into a bookstore and asked the clerk—a woman—for help: “Have you got a book titled Man, the Master of Women?” The clerk looked him straight in the eye and said sarcastically, “Try the fiction section!”

I assure you tonight that I honor you, the women of the Church, and am well aware, to quote William R. Wallace, that “the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”²

In 1901 President Lorenzo Snow said: “The members of the Relief Society have … ministered to those in affliction, they have thrown their arms of love around the fatherless and the widows, and they have kept themselves unspotted from the world. I can testify that there are no purer and more God-fearing women in the world than are to be found within the ranks of the Relief Society.”³

As in President Snow’s time, there are, here and now, visits to be made, greetings to be shared, and hungry souls to be fed. As I contemplate the Relief Society of today, humbled by my privilege to speak to you, I turn to our Heavenly Father for His divine guidance.

In this spirit, I have felt to provide each member of the Relief Society throughout the world three goals to meet:

1. 1.

Study diligently.

2. 2.

Pray earnestly.

3. 3.

Serve willingly.

Let us consider each of these goals. First, study diligently. The Savior of the world instructed: “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.”⁴ He added: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”⁵

A study of the scriptures will help our testimonies and the testimonies of our family members. Our children today are growing up surrounded by voices urging them to abandon that which is right and to pursue, instead, the pleasures of the world. Unless they have a firm foundation in the gospel of Jesus Christ, a testimony of the truth, and a determination to live righteously, they are susceptible to these influences. It is our responsibility to fortify and protect them.

To an alarming extent, our children today are being educated by the media, including the Internet. In the United States, it is reported that the average child watches approximately four hours of television daily, much of the programming being filled with violence, alcohol and drug use, and sexual content. Watching movies and playing video games is in addition to the four hours.⁶ And the statistics are much the same for other developed countries. The messages portrayed on television, in movies, and in other media are very often in direct opposition to that which we want our children to embrace and hold dear. It is our responsibility not only to teach them to be sound in spirit and doctrine but also to help them stay that way, regardless of the outside forces they may encounter. This will require much time and effort on our part—and in order to help others, we ourselves need the spiritual and moral courage to withstand the evil we see on every side.

We live in the time spoken of in 2 Nephi, chapter 9:

“O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

“But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.”⁷

Required is the courage to hold fast to our standards despite the derision of the world. Said President J. Reuben Clark Jr., for many years a member of the First Presidency: “Not unknown are cases where [those] of presumed faith … have felt that, since by affirming their full faith they might call down upon themselves the ridicule of their unbelieving colleagues, they must either modify or explain away their faith or destructively dilute it, or even pretend to cast it away. Such are hypocrites.”⁸

There comes to mind the powerful verses found in 2 Timothy, in the New Testament, chapter 1, verses 7 and 8:

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.”

Beyond our study of spiritual matters, secular learning is also essential. Often the future is unknown; therefore, it behooves us to prepare for uncertainties. Statistics reveal that at some time, because of the illness or death of a husband or because of economic necessity, you may find yourself in the role of financial provider. Some of you already occupy that role. I urge you to pursue your education—if you are not already doing so or have not done so—that you might be prepared to provide if circumstances necessitate such.

Your talents will expand as you study and learn. You will be able to better assist your families in their learning, and you will have peace of mind in knowing that you have prepared yourself for the eventualities that you may encounter in life.

I reiterate: Study diligently.

The second goal I wish to mention: Pray earnestly. The Lord directed, “Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing.”⁹

Perhaps there has never been a time when we had greater need to pray and to teach our family members to pray. Prayer is a defense against temptation. It is through earnest and heartfelt prayer that we can receive the needed blessings and the support required to make our way in this sometimes difficult and challenging journey we call mortality.

We can teach the importance of prayer to our children and grandchildren both by word and by example. I share with you a lesson in teaching by example as described in a mother’s letter to me relating to prayer. “Dear President Monson: Sometimes I wonder if I make a difference in my children’s lives. Especially as a single mother working two jobs to make ends meet, I sometimes come home to confusion, but I never give up hope.”

Her letter continues as she describes how she and her children were watching general conference, where I was speaking about prayer. Her son made the comment, “Mother, you’ve already taught us that.” She asked, “What do you mean?” Her son replied, “Well, you’ve taught us to pray and showed us how, but the other night I came to your room to ask something and found you on your knees praying to Heavenly Father. If He’s important to you, He’ll be important to me.” The letter concluded, “I guess you never know what kind of influence you’ll be until a child observes you doing yourself what you have tried to teach him to do.”

Some years ago, just before leaving Salt Lake to attend the annual meetings of Boy Scouts of America in Atlanta, Georgia, I decided to take with me enough copies of the New Era so that I might share with Scouting officials this excellent publication. When I arrived at the hotel in Atlanta, I opened the package of magazines. I found that my secretary, for no accountable reason, had put in the package two extra copies of the June issue, an issue that featured temple marriage. I left the two copies in the hotel room and, as planned, distributed the other copies.

On the final day of meetings, I had no desire to attend the scheduled luncheon but felt compelled to return to my room. The telephone was ringing as I entered. The caller was a member of the Church who had heard I was in Atlanta. She introduced herself and asked if I could provide a blessing for her 10-year-old daughter. I agreed readily, and she indicated that she and her husband, their daughter, and their son would come immediately to my hotel room. As I waited, I prayed for help. The applause of the convention was replaced by the feelings of peace which accompanied prayer.

Then came the knock at the door and the privilege which was mine to meet a choice family. The 10-year-old daughter walked with the aid of crutches. Cancer had required the amputation of her left leg; however, her countenance was radiant, her trust in God unwavering. A blessing was provided. Mother and son knelt by the side of the bed while the father and I placed our hands on the tiny daughter. We were directed by the Spirit of God. We were humbled by its power.

I felt the tears course down my cheeks and tumble upon my hands as they rested on the head of that beautiful child of God. I spoke of eternal ordinances and family exaltation. The Lord prompted me to urge this family to enter the holy temple of God. At the conclusion of the blessing, I learned that such a temple visit was planned. Questions pertaining to the temple were asked. I heard no heavenly voice, nor did I see a vision. Yet there came clearly into my mind the words, “Refer to the New Era.” I looked toward the dresser, and there were the two extra copies of the temple issue of the New Era. One copy was given to the daughter and the other to her parents. We reviewed them together.

The family said farewell, and once again the room was still. A prayer of gratitude came easily and, once more, the resolve to ever provide a place for prayer.

My dear sisters, do not pray for tasks equal to your abilities, but pray for abilities equal to your tasks. Then the performance of your tasks will be no miracle, but you will be the miracle.

Pray earnestly.

Finally, serve willingly. You are a mighty force for good, one of the most powerful in the entire world. Your influence ranges far beyond yourself and your home and touches others all around the globe. You have reached out to your brothers and sisters across streets, across cities, across nations, across continents, across oceans. You personify the Relief Society motto: “Charity never faileth.”

You are, of course, surrounded by opportunities for service. No doubt at times you recognize so many such opportunities that you may feel somewhat overwhelmed. Where do you begin? How can you do it all? How do you choose, from all the needs you observe, where and how to serve?

Often small acts of service are all that is required to lift and bless another: a question concerning a person’s family, quick words of encouragement, a sincere compliment, a small note of thanks, a brief telephone call. If we are observant and aware, and if we act on the promptings which come to us, we can accomplish much good. Sometimes, of course, more is needed.

I learned recently of loving service given to a mother when her children were very young. Frequently she would be up in the middle of the night tending to the needs of her little ones, as mothers do. Often her friend and neighbor across the street would come over the next day and say, “I saw your lights on in the middle of the night and know you were up with the children. I’m going to take them to my house for a couple of hours while you take a nap.” Said this grateful mother: “I was so thankful for her welcome offer, it wasn’t until this had happened many times that I realized if she had seen my lights on in the middle of the night, she was up with one of her children as well and needed a nap just as much as I did. She taught me a great lesson, and I’ve since tried to be as observant as she was in looking for opportunities to serve others.”

Countless are the acts of service provided by the vast army of Relief Society visiting teachers. A few years ago I heard of two of them who aided a grieving widow, Angela, the granddaughter of a cousin of mine. Angela’s husband and a friend of his had gone snowmobiling and had become victims of suffocation through a snowslide. Each of them left a pregnant wife—in Angela’s case, their first child, and in the other case, a wife not only expecting a child but also the mother of a toddler. In the funeral held for Angela’s husband, the bishop reported that upon hearing of the tragic accident, he had gone immediately to Angela’s home. Almost as soon as he arrived, the doorbell sounded. The door was opened, and there stood Angela’s two visiting teachers. The bishop said he watched as they so sincerely expressed to Angela their love and compassion. The three women cried together, and it was apparent that these two fine visiting teachers cared deeply about Angela. As perhaps only women can, they gently indicated—without being asked—exactly what help they would be providing. That they would be close by as long as Angela needed them was obvious. The bishop expressed his deep gratitude in knowing they would be a real source of comfort to her in the days ahead.

Such acts of love and compassion are repeated again and again by the wonderful visiting teachers of this Church—not always in such dramatic situations but just as genuinely, nevertheless.

I extol you who, with loving care and compassionate concern, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and house the homeless. He who notes the sparrow’s fall will not be unmindful of such service. The desire to lift, the willingness to help, and the graciousness to give come from a heart filled with love. Serve willingly.

Our beloved prophet, even President Gordon B. Hinckley, said of you, “God planted within women something divine that expresses itself in quiet strength, in refinement, in peace, in goodness, in virtue, in truth, in love.”¹⁰

My dear sisters, may our Heavenly Father bless each of you, married or single, in your homes, in your families, in your very lives—that you may merit the glorious salutation of the Savior of the World: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”¹¹ I pray, as I bless you and also the dear wife of James E. Faust, his beloved Ruth, who is here tonight on the front row, and their family, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

This is such a great talk! In my opinion it gives hope and clear instruction on how to prepare, lead, and serve as an example in our home and in the community. What thoughts did this talk inspire in you?

Love,

Tiffany
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Notes

1.

See “Nobody Knows What a Boy Is Worth,” in Best-Loved Poems of the LDS People, ed. Jack M. Lyon and others (1996), 19.

2.

“The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Is the Hand That Rules the World,” in The World’s Best-Loved Poems, comp. James Gilchrist Lawson (1955), 242.

3.

The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, ed. Clyde J. Williams (1984), 143.

4.

D&C 88:118.

5.

John 5:39.

6.

American Academy of Pediatrics, “Television and the Family,” 1, www.aap.org/family/tv1.htm.

7.

2 Nephi 9:28–29.

8.

“The Charted Course of the Church in Education” (address delivered at the Summer Institute of Seminary, Institute, and Church School Teachers at Aspen Grove, Aug. 8, 1938), in James R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (1965–75), 6:52.

9.

D&C 19:38.

10.

Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 387.

11.

Matthew 25:21.