Service Talk

President Snow was journeying through Iowa in February of 1846.  The weather was difficult and they struggled through rain, snow, and mud.  One day they ran into a gentleman who needed help carrying his trunk.  There was no room in President's Snows wagon, but they did not turn him away and made room for his stuff.

That next day, the axle on their wagon broke.  They were miles from the nearest house and the nearest town with no way to fix the wagon.  Yet, they were blessed to find this gentleman who they hadn't turned away was a wagon maker and fixed the axle better than it had been to start with.

By doing this small act of service, President Snow and his family were blessed to have the answer to their problems when they arrived.

God does notice us and our problems.  He watches over us.  But it is usually through another person that He meets our needs.  And usually by meeting someone else’s needs, our own needs are met. Whether those needs be physical, spiritual, or emotional.

If there is anything that life and service teaches, it is that helping those around us and spending our time on someone else’s' needs cures our sadness and mutes our own troubles.  Service is a sure guide to happiness. 

Jesus said “Whosever will save his life shall lose it: and whosever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

The greatest spiritual blessing comes from helping another.  If you want to be miserable, just harbor hate for a brother, and if you want to hate, just do your brother some injury.  But if you would be happy, remder a kind service, make somebody else happy.

There's a story that comes from the life of President Monson that shows how he had a wise mother who taught him the joys of service at a very young age.

"Sunday dinner was a big event in the Monson home, featuring roast beef with gravy and mashed potatoes. On Monday the family ate leftovers from Sunday dinner. On Tuesday they had stew from the end of the roast. Wednesday they had pork chops, and on Thursday a sirloin steak that fed everyone at the table. Friday was lamb chops or fish, and Saturday link-sausage sandwiches. Variations included Lima beans and ham one night, homemade meat pies another. Chopped fruit salad with marshmallows was a favorite, as was rice pudding. Gladys was known for her cakes. She often tinted each layer a different color—green on the bottom, pink in the middle, and yellow on the top—and covered the whole cake with thick chocolate frosting. Even Old Bob got one of Gladys’s cakes for his ninetieth birthday, with nine candles, one for each decade."

"Every Sunday Gladys would prepare a plate of food for Old Bob; before the family sat down to dinner, she would send Tommy off with the plate. One Sunday he asked, “Why don’t I take it down later?”

"His mother responded, “You do what I say, and your food will taste better.”

"He wasn’t sure what she meant, but he headed off for Old Bob’s, waiting anxiously as aged feet brought his neighbor to the door. Bob reached for a dime to reward the delivery boy. “Oh, Mr. Dicks,” said Tommy, “I wouldn’t want to take your money. My mother would tan my hide.”

“My boy, you have a wonderful mother,” Bob said as he patted Tommy’s blond hair."

"When Tommy got back, his dinner did taste better. “I didn’t realize,” he recalls, “I was learning a most powerful and important lesson about caring for those less fortunate.”

Joseph Smith's favorite hymn, A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, illustrates this wonderfully, especially verses two and five.

2. Once, when my scanty meal was spread,

He entered; not a word he spake,

Just perishing for want of bread.

I gave him all; he blessed it, brake,

And ate, but gave me part again.

Mine was an angel's portion then,

For while I fed with eager haste,

The crust was manna to my taste.

5. Stript, wounded, beaten nigh to death,

I found him by the highway side.

I roused his pulse, brought back his breath,

Revived his spirit, and supplied

Wine, oil, refreshment--he was healed.

I had myself a wound concealed,

But from that hour forgot the smart,

And peace bound up my broken heart.

When our acts of service are truly selfless and doesn't benefit us in any direct way, the heavens seem to see this and reflect it.

While big efforts and service are noteworthy and needed in some cases, none of us can overestimate the power of a few kind words in some one's day.  Small acts of service add up quickly and we have the opportunity to do them every single day, especially within our own family.

President Howard W Hunter said “Every act of service is important in God’s eyes, no matter how unheralded or inconspicuous.”

"We have been sent into the world to do good to others; and in doing good to others we do good to ourselves. We should always keep this in view, the husband in reference to his wife, the wife in reference to her husband, the children in reference to their parents, and the parents in reference to their children. There is always opportunity to do good to one another."

President Snow describes a heightened sense of others around us as godliness:

"We have just got to feel … that there are other people besides ourselves; we have got to look into the hearts and feelings of others, and become more godly than what we are now."

When we get to the other side of the veil, we will remember each other and remember the feeling of love, affection and friendship that we may not remember now.

"We are of the same Father in the celestial worlds. … If we knew each other as we should, … our sympathies would be excited more than they are at the present time, and there would be a desire on the part of every individual to study in their own minds how they might do their brethren good, how they might alleviate their sorrows and build them up in truth, how [they might] remove the darkness from their minds. If we understand each other and the real relationship which we hold to each other, we should feel different from what we do; but this knowledge can be obtained only as we obtain the Spirit of life, and as we are desirous of building each other up in righteousness."

The sign at the railroad crossing that warns us to stop, look, and listen could be a guide for our lives.  We should Stop as we rush through life.  Look for all the friendly, thoughtful, courteous things we can do, and all the little needs that we can fill.  Listen to others and learn of their hopes and problems so that we will be able to contribute in little ways to their success and their happiness.

One of the fruits of the Spirit is to cause us to be more interested in each other and more aware and concerned one for each other.  

"Be upright, just and merciful, exercising a spirit of nobility and godliness in all your intentions and resolutions—in all your acts and dealings. Cultivate a spirit of charity; be ready to do for others more than you would expect from them if circumstances were reversed. Be ambitious to be great, not in the estimation of the worldly minded, but in the eyes of God, and to be great in this sense, “Love the Lord our God with all your might, mind and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.” You must love mankind because they are your brethren, the offspring of God. Pray diligently for this spirit of philanthropy, this expansion of thought and feeling, and for power and ability to labor earnestly in the interest of Messiah’s kingdom."

The church is set up for us to help and serve one another. This church is God’s Church, which is so perfectly organized that every man and every woman, every child, may have an opportunity to do something good form somebody else.

It is the obligation of our priesthood members, it is the responsibility of our auxiliary organizations and of every member to serve and do God’s will.

Every act of service is important from the Relief Society president, to the Bishop, to the primary teacher, to the deacons who pass the Sacrament, to the members who clean the church each week. If we do service, and the more we do it, the more we shall become convinced that it is the work of God.

“President J. Reuben Clark said “In the service of the Lord, it is not where you serve but how.  In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one takes the place to which one is duly called, which place one neither seeks nor declines.”

This lesson is expressed in another way in the poem by Meade McGuire,

“Father, where shall I work today?

And my love flowed warm and free.

Then He pointed out a tiny spot

And said, “Tend that for me.”

I answered quickly, “Oh no, no that!”

Why, no one would ever see,

No matter how well my work was done

No that little place for me.”

And the word He spoke, it was not stern;

He answered me tenderly;

“Ah little one, search that heart of thine.

Art thou working or them or for me?

Nazareth was a little place,

And so was Galilee.”

King Benjamin declared “Behold I say unto you that because I said unto you that I had spent my days in your service, I do not desire to boast, for I have only been in the service of God.  And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that he may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.
(Mosiah 2: 16-17)

 

 As we cultivate more love and service within our own lives, homes, and hearts, and  If we look for service opportunities and pray for new ones, we will draw closer to our Heavenly Father and be more like His son, Jesus Christ.

Strengthening Our Family: Family Home Evening Sacrament Talk

I was asked to talk in sacrament meeting today on Strengthening the family.  I really had a hard time figuring out what I needed to say.  I started my talk several times and then just didn't like the direction.  I even had it half way written and the computer unexpectedly shut off causing me to lose it all.

I don't know if the Lord was telling me that I was on the wrong track or not.  I never did feel comfortable with any of it and the actual talk delivery was horrid.  But at least it's over and here is what I came up with....

We are blessed to live in the last days….a time of great joy and great trials….

Satan is attacking the family from every side.  As Latter day saints, we are blessed to have prophets that can see and recognize the fight against us.

President Boyd K. Packer told this story:

The back windows of our home overlook a small flower garden and the woods which border a small stream. One wall of the house borders on the garden and is thickly covered with English ivy. Most years this ivy has been the nesting place for house finches. The nests in the vines are safe from foxes and raccoons and cats that are about.

One day there was a great commotion in the ivy. Desperate cries of distress came as 8 or 10 finches from the surrounding woods came to join in this cry of alarm. I soon saw the source of the commotion. A snake had slid partway down out of the ivy and hung in front of the window just long enough for me to pull it out. The middle part of the snake’s body had two bulges—clear evidence convicting it of taking two fledglings from the nest. Not in the 50 years we had lived in our home had we seen anything like that. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience—or so we thought.

A few days later there was another commotion, this time in the vines covering our dog run. We heard the same cries of alarm, the gathering of the neighborhood finches. We knew what the predator was. A grandson climbed onto the run and pulled out another snake that was still holding on tightly to the mother bird it had caught in the nest and killed.

I said to myself, “What is going on? Is the Garden of Eden being invaded again?”

There came into my mind the warnings spoken by the prophets. We will not always be safe from the adversary’s influence, even within our own homes. We need to protect our nestlings.

We live in a very dangerous world that threatens those things that are most spiritual. The family, the fundamental organization in time and eternity, is under attack from forces seen and unseen. The adversary is about. His objective is to cause injury. If he can weaken and destroy the family, he will have succeeded.  (Boyd K. Packer)

Elder M. Russell Ballard continued this by saying:

Let me say again that the family is the main target of evil’s attack and must therefore be the main point of our protection and defense. As I said once before, when you stop and think about it from a diabolically tactical point of view, fighting the family makes sense to Satan. When he wants to disrupt the work of the Lord, he doesn’t poison the world’s peanut butter supply, thus bringing the Church’s missionary system to its collective knees. He doesn’t send a plague of laryngitis to afflict the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He doesn’t legislate against green Jell-O and casseroles. When evil wants to strike out and disrupt the essence of God’s work, it attacks the family. ("Let Our Voices Be Heard," Ensign, November 2003, p.16)

We have been told in “The family: a proclamation to the world” that the family is central to

the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children. 

So what can we do as parents, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles, and grandparents do to help our families win this war?

I can tell you it is the “Primary answers”; you know the ones that you learned at a young age…scripture study, prayer, going to church…  If you think about it, those are the answers to all of life’s problems.  I could just quote President Kimball and say “DO IT”, be done with my talk and sit down and we would all be good.

For The basic key to strengthening our families in a world of trial and sin is to have the Spirit of the Lord come into our homes.

Many years ago, the prophets of The church were inspired to introduce a program that will help our families by providing a way for us to bring the spirit and these Primary Answers into our homes each week….Family Home Evening.

President Hinckley stated that “if every family in the world practiced  ...Family Home Evening…you’d see a very great difference in the solidarity of the families of the world.”  (interview, Boston Globe)

Elder Bednar continued by saying…

"Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brushstroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But...our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results." (Elder Bednar,Ensign Nov. 2009)

Through his prophets, the Lord has told us that"... Like iron links in a chain, this practice will bind a family together, in love, pride, tradition, strength, and loyalty."  (President Bensen)

I know in our home, we have an on-again/off-again relationship with family home evening.  It is hard with so many of us going so many different ways each week to gather together and to put the time and effort into the lesson and activities.

So, in a time of increasingly busy schedules, how can we have regular and successful Family Home Evenings?

One key answer to that question is preparation. Using a Family Home Evening Outline is a great way to easily and quickly plan Family Home Evening. Giving each family member a Family Home Evening assignment will also help by delegating responsibilities and to encourage participation of all family members, including during the lesson.

Since I HATE to give lessons or talks, I am often surprised how eager my children are, especially Josh and Zach to give the lesson and be involved in the activities.  Even our young children can participate by helping hold up pictures, describing or pointing to things in pictures, and repeating a phrase or two about the topic being taught.

It is important for us to remember that the home is the place to teach our children the “vision of eternity” and “how to help them follow the road signs in order to reach their (eternal) destiny.”

“We must understand that each of our children come with varying gifts and talents.  Some seem to be given gifts of faith at birth.  Others struggle with every decision they make. “As parents we must constantly find the quiet moments during Family Home evening to teach them and bear our testimonies in a way that will help our children fight the battles in their lives.

I imagine it was during times like these that Alma from the Book of Mormon taught his son the gospel, so that years later when alma the younger was “racked with torment…and harrowed up by the memory of his many sins, he remembered hearing his father teach about the coming of Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world (Alma 36:17).  His father’s words years earlier were remembered when he was struggling and led to his conversion.

Our lessons do not have to be elaborate General conference talks…they can be simple 5 minute lessons on the important things our families need to hear.  The important thing is for our families to HEAR it and to hear it with the spirit of the Lord in our home.

The best way to have a successful Family Home Evening is to just have it. The purpose of Family Home Evening is to be (and learn) together as a family and all you have to do to achieve that goal is to simply hold Family Home Evening. 

The more regularly you bring your family together for Family Home Evening, the more accustomed they will come to being together, participating in Family Home Evening, and being united as a family. 

I know our Family Home evenings are often a bit loud with laughter filling far too much of the evening.  But that’s our family.  I am blessed to have children that like being together (most of the time).  We have our moments like most families do.  There is too much yelling at times.  Too many doors slammed.  We are not perfect.  But we keep trying.

And as we have more and more “On-times” with our Family Home evening efforts, I find that we have fewer arguments, more joy and laughter, and more happy times in our home.  This encourages me on those days when I don’t want to put the time into preparation to keep plugging away.

The first presidency has said…“In our Home Evenings, we can fill our souls with the things of God, thus leaving no room for evil to find a place in our hearts or minds.” (The First Presidency, Family Home Evening [manual, 1972], 4).

In 1915 the First Presidency of the Church gave us this promise: “If the Saints obey this counsel [to hold family home evening], we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influences and temptations which beset them” (“Home Evening,” Improvement Era, June 1915, 734).

I know that there is nothing more that I want for my children than to gain strong testimonies, go on honorable missions, and marry happily in the temple.  The lord has promised that Family Home evening is a way to strengthen our families from the war Satan is waging against us and to obtain those goals for our family.  By doing this every week, I can help my kids grow towards the happiness of eternal families and we can have “no empty chairs at our eternal table.”

Agency and Accountability Sacrament Talk

Tori had to give a talk today in church.  She was super nervous, but as always did a WONDERFUL job.  So many people commented to both of us how great of a job she did.  I don't think the notes that she based her talk on can tell you how down to earth and wonderful her talk was, but here they are anyway.

Strength of Youth 

Agency and Accountability

What is agency?

   Agency is “the ability to choose and to act for yourself” (True to the Faith, 12).

   Elder Robert D. Hales said: “We teach that agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and ‘to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon’   

   (2 Nephi 2:26). Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions” 

2 Nephi 

     27 Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and call 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.

  ---Continues to say---

     28 And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

     29 And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the devil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.

---FAVORITE PARAGRAPHS IN STRENGTH OF YOUTH

Heavenly Father has given you agency, the ability to choose right from wrong and to act for yourself. Next to the bestowal of life itself, the right to direct your life is one of God’s greatest gifts to you. While here on earth, you are being proven to see if you will use your agency to show your love for God by keeping His commandments. The Holy Ghost can guide you in using your agency righteously.

You are responsible for the choices you make. God is mindful of you and will help you make good choices, even if your family and friends use their agency in ways that are not right. Have the moral courage to stand firm in obeying God’s will, even if you have to stand alone. As you do this, you set an example for others to follow.

DEUTERONOMY 11 

    26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;

    27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:

    28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day,

JOSHUA 24

    30 And now remember, remember, my brethren, that whosoever perisheth, perisheth unto himself; and whosoever doeth iniquity, doeth it unto himself; for behold, ye are free; ye are permitted to act for yourselves; for behold, God hath given unto you a cknowledge and he hath made you free.

    31 He hath given unto you that ye might know good from evil, and he hath given unto you that ye might choose life or death; and ye can do good and be restored unto that which is good, or have that which is good restored unto you; or ye can do evil, and have that which is evil restored unto you.

In several verses in the scriptures it talks about how we know good from evil and sometimes its gonna be hard to choose, weither its hard because we know the right disition but we want so bad to see what the other choice would be like, or its because we're really not sure. Thats when we need to pray to see weither its a sunrise or a sunset (EXPLAIN THAT) 

MORONI 7

 15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

  @  How can I convince my friends that our standards are really about freedom and are not a burden?

    “The commandments are not a burden or a restriction. Every commandment of the Lord is given for our development, progress, and growth. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: ‘God has designed our happiness. . . . He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed’ (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 256)”

   @  What are the consequences of how I use my agency?

   “Your use of [agency] determines your happiness or misery in this life and in the life to come. You are free to choose and act, but you are not free to choose the consequences of your actions. The consequences may not be immediate, but they will always follow.

 

  @  Besides choosing between right and wrong, how else does agency apply to my life?

   “You are . . . responsible for developing the talents and abilities Heavenly Father has given you. You are accountable to Him for what you do with your talents and how you spend your time. Choose to do many good things of your own free will” (For the Strength of Youth, 3).

  @  Why does Heavenly Father allow Satan to tempt us?

   “Satan’s increasing influence in the world is allowed to provide an atmosphere in which to prove ourselves."

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)