Words to Live By from Elder Robert D. Hales

I spotted this article Ten Axioms to Guide Your Life by Elder Hales when I got my Ensign this month and couldn't wait to read it. Let me just briefly summarize and encourage you to read the whole article. It is really worth the time.
1. Everyone faces obstacles in this life. We can overcome them in one of three ways: Ask for help; Stop and take care of the problem ourselves; or just plow through the mess and hope to come out safely on the other side. All of these are viable options. Using the Atonement in our lives is one of the most effective ways to face obstacles.
2. Pursue goals with all your "heart, might, mind and strength." When we decide on a goal we want to pursue focus on the goal. If we are not working with singleness of purpose and conviction, going half-heartedly from one goal to another we work harder not smarter. We have to decide what we want and go for it!
3. Don't criticize, don't judge others. Don't let differences in personality get in the way of living with compassion.
4. Use the talents with which the Lord has blessed you for His glory and not for the praise or approval of others.
5. Don't be afraid to fail. We can learn things through failure that we couldn't learn any other way.
6. Crossing the finish line in this life is what matters--not how fast we run. The Lord doesn't expect us to run faster than we have strength but He does expect us to endure to the end!
7. "Temporal means 'temporary.' And temporary things cannot bring eternal happiness."
8. In order to learn the Lord's will for us we have to exercise agency and become accountable for our actions.
9. The world is moving farther and farther away from the us. We have to be a light on the hill to our friends and neighbors so that they can reach across that gap and have goodness and light through our righteous examples.
10. "Go to the temple. The endowment is the eternal curriculum. In it we are taught where we came from and why we are here on earth, and we are given the promise of achieving life eternal in the celestial kingdom if we obey the commandments and covenants. "

So there it is in a nutshell. What a blessing it is to belong to the Lord's church. I love the gospel and I am so thankful for it and for the inspired leaders who lead us along the path to eternal life.

Happy New Year

A new year, a new beginning. I love new beginings. They are so full of hope -the hope that is a part of all good things. The hope, of course, is that it's not too late, that we haven't blown it, wasted it, ruined it, or let it slip through our fingers. The hope is that we can start from here and move forward, and not just forward, but upward. The hope is that we can improve, grow, reach a little higher, do a little better, or just hold on a little longer. The hope is that our past mistakes may somehow be erased, forgotten, overcome. The hope, at its very core, is in the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We hope that perhaps God will find our offering acceptable when laid along side the offering of our Redeemer.
I hear hope's song in the ringing in of the new year. I catch its scent on the tender petals of spring. I feel it in the freedom and release of summer. I see it in the fall's crayon colors. I taste it in the first floating flakes of winter's snow. It is in each new month. It comes every Sabbath as I fill my thirsty soul with living waters. And daily it dawns upon me. A new day, a new start, another chance, a step towards where? It is mine to decide. I cannot stop my journey, but I can plot its course. I can get home.

Delectable Chocolate Almond Balls

I got this recipe from my mother-in-law. It is very easy and well--delectable. Enjoy!

24 ounces Chocolate bar with almonds (I use 5 of the big 5 ounce Hershey bars with almonds)
12 ounce Tub of whipped topping
Vanilla wafer crumbs
Melt the chocolate in the microwave or a double boiler. (If you do it in the microwave be careful not to burn the chocolate by stirring often.) Stir in the whipped topping and refrigerate until mixture firms up. Roll about a teaspoon of mixture into a ball (I use a small cookie scoop) and roll ball in vanilla wafer crumbs. Keep refrigerated. So yummy.

Christmas Began with a Baby

I love this quote about the true meaning of Christmas by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. "At the focal point of all human history, a point illuminated by a newstar in the heavens revealed for just such a purpose, probably no othermortal watched--none but a poor young carpenter, a beautifulvirgin mother, and silent stabled animals who had not the power to utterthe sacredness they had seen. Shepherds would soon arrive and later, wisemen from the East. Later yet the memory of that night would bring SantaClaus and Frosty and Rudolph--and all would be welcome. But firstand forever there was just a little family, without toys or trees ortinsel. With a baby--that's how Christmas began."Itis for this baby that we shout in chorus: 'Hark! the herald angels singGlory to the newborn King! . . . Mild he lays his glory by, Born that man no more may die; Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them secondbirth' (Hymns, no. 209)." 

Perspective

"There are so many problems facing us individually and collectively.Yet I have the simple faith that many, if not all, of them can be put intoproper perspective by Paul's sublime message to the Galatians:'Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I liveby the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me'(Gal. 2:20)." (James E. Faust, "A Christmas with No Presents," Ensign, Dec. 2001, 5-6)

For in His Strength I Can Do All Things - The Grace of Jesus Christ

David A. Bednar teaches us...

“Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

“Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things” (Jacob 4:6–7).

Brothers and sisters, please pay particular attention to the word grace as it is used in the verse I just read. In the Bible Dictionary we learn that the word grace frequently is used in the scriptures to connote a strengthening or enabling power:

“The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ.

“… It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts” (p. 697).

Thus, the enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity. I testify and witness that the enabling power of the Savior’s Atonement is real. Without that strengthening power of the Atonement, I could not stand before you this morning.

Can we sense the grace and strengthening power of Christ in the testimony of Ammon? “Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever” (Alma 26:12). Truly, brothers and sisters, in the strength of the Lord we can do and endure and overcome all things.

from In the Strength of the Lord October GC 2004 (emphasis added)

1. Ok First of all, can you imagine the trees, mountains, or waves obeying you? It creates quite a visual image in your mind. It is an amazing illustration of the strength of the faith of these people in Jesus Christ, for this is obviously something that you could not accomplish without God's power. It seems like an exclamation point or special emphasis on the size, power, importance, and strength of their faith in Jesus Christ.
2. Second, the Lord shows us our weaknesses in contrast to His grace, condescension, and power. We have to know our sins in order to partake of His atonement. Our human nature makes it necessary for us to rely on Him. Our sins, weaknesses, and problems can become strengths through Him. Is He showing you where you need to improve? Don't get discouraged by your faults. He wants you to see them in order to lean on Him in overcoming them.
3. Next, grace makes us stronger or enables us to do something. Through the Lord's grace we are better able to do things of which we thought ourselves incapable, or which we even thought impossible. What impossible tasks are facing you in your life right now? He will help. He loves you. His mercy is bountiful.
4. Now, are there good works that you are just too tired to carry on? Are you worn out? Are you too tired to continue in the service you have been asked to give? Does it seem too much? Do not despair. Through your faith and repentance you will receive strength and assistance. Don't try to do it alone. Lean on the Lord.
5. As Elder Bednar says, "Thus, the enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity."