Up, Up, & Away!

This weekend I took Henry up to Boulder so he could participate in a USA Track & Field indoor meet at the University of Colorado.  It was our first experience and we learned a lot of things in doing it.  We got up at 4 in the morning and waited all day before he was able to High Jump at the meet.

It turned out it was almost the last event of the day and he was the oldest of the boys so they went last.  It made for a long day. 

By the time he actually got to jump, we were tired and hungry, but he did AMAZING.  His first time jumping in almost a year and in sweats, and he WON!  He jumped 5 feet 10 inches--tying his record of last year.  I am sure he could have jumped more, but was pretty worn out by then and had no competition.  He was that good.

We are SUPER proud of him and wanted to share one of his jumps!

Tori's Charity Talk

This winter we moved to a new ward and they asked us to speak in Sacrament meeting. None of us were very thrilled with it since we were still living in the hotel and didn't have any of our church books, not much space to work on it, and just plain being stubborn. But we did it and now I'm sharing these talks with you.

Here's Tori's...

(copied directly from her notes)

(In the beginning of Ether 12) Faith, hope, and charity are essential to salvation.  1 Corinthians 16:14 says "Let all your things be done with Charity."

Now what is charity exactly?  Like my brother Henry said, 'it is the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection but the pure love of Christ."  1 Corinthians 13:13 says "And now abideth faith, hop, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

If we don't have Charity we have nothing.  When we don't have charity, we can not have salvation and return to the kingdom of heaven.  When we have the pure love of Christ, we are closer to Him and have more spiritual moments because we also prove we know what our Father asks of us.

For some, it's hard to have un-challengeable love for Christ and our Heavenly Father, but why I don't understand.    Because of Christ's sacrifices for us and how Heavenly Father was able to sacrifice his only begotten son.  When you hear the story of how Christ bled for our sins and died on the cross, how could you not love him for all he did for us imperfect beings?

He didn't have to do anything, he volunteered and did it because he loves us.  So why could we not return that unconditional love?

Deuteronomy 6:5 says "And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all they might."  Do you have charity in all that you do?  Do you love the Lord with all your heart?  With all your soul?  Along with all your might?

In Ether 12:37 it says "And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: If they have not charity, it mattereth not unto thee, thou has been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean.  And because thous has seen they weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father."

I want to end with that so you all shall know that if you have charity, you see your weaknesses.  And if you have complete and utter faith, along with keeping the commandments, we are all so many steps closer to our Heavenly Father and being with Him in his kingdom.

Henry's Charity Talk

This winter we moved to a new ward and they asked us to speak in Sacrament meeting.  None of us were very thrilled with it since we were still living in the hotel and didn't have any of our church books, not much space to work on it, and just plain being stubborn.  But we did it and now I'm sharing these talks with you.

Here's Henry's... 

(copied directly from his notes)

So because I'm only a youth speaker, I only have to speak for 5 minutes, so ....(talk slow,) ummmm..... (look at clock.)

My name is Henry Elliot and I'm a freshman at Canon City high school and patiently waiting for Track and field to start.  I think we moved here about 2-3 months ago.  I've gotten to know a lot of the youth so far and I'm glad we are such good friends already.  (grin) 

Or some of them are at least (just kidding and smile.)  So this past Monday, I along with some of my family, as you can tell, were asked to give a talk.  Now that's what you call a warm welcome. (grin)  I tried to give an excuse like "oh, well, that's just too bad because we aren't actually in your ward yet..."  As you can tell, it didn't work in the very least. (grin.)

But that's okay I enjoy writing talks.  It's fun for one thing and I usually learn something new about my topic.  The worst part is right before you get up, and they say your name to everyone.  yeah, that's when the butterflies are the worst. (grin)  So please bear with me as I stutter through my talk. (grin.)

(Deep breath and smile)

What is Charity?  Charity in the Bible Dictionary is defined as "the highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ."  And in Moroni 7:47 it states "but charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."  I think that is an awesome scripture; knowing that Charity can endure forever no mater what (grin.)  In Moroni 8:17 it refers to Charity as the perfect love and again is everlasting.  Finally, charity is a commandment.  All men should have Charity and except they who have charity they were nothing.

Charity is very important.  It is stressed throughout the scriptures.  In 1 Corinthians 13:1-5 Paul stresses the extreme importance of charity and what it is and isn't.  "Though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge; and though I have faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing."  Meaning to me, I could live the very best life in every way, shape, and form; that I could be the best man in the world...but if I don't have charity, it will have done me no good in the next life.  I have to not only have love, but show it.  Moroni 10:21 backs me up fairly well when it says "except ye have Charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God..."

Now that I have presented you with new or renewed tools, it is our job to apply it in our lives.  And hopefully when we practice it, it will be second nature to us and that we will be drawn closer to our Heavenly Father.  That it will be well with us in the last day.  This doesn't just apply to all the grown ups.  You kids out there can practice it too. (grin.)  You can invite someone you don't know or someone not having a good day to come play a game with you and your friends, or say something nice to them.  Parents and other adults, you are always being watched.  You set an example to others around you and are often role models and don't even know it. (grin)