Remembering 9/11: Our Prophet's Thoughts

9/11 destruction allowed us to spiritually rebuild 
(From the Washington Post)

By Thomas S. Monson

 The calamity of September 11th, 2001 has cast a long shadow. Ten years later, many of us are still haunted by its terrible tragedy of lost lives and broken hearts. It is an episode of anguish that has become a defining moment in the history of the American nation and the world. This week, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, along with Tom Brokaw, will pay its own homage to the unforgettable events of September 11, 2001.

There was, as many have noted, a remarkable surge of faith following the tragedy. People across the United States rediscovered the need for God and turned to Him for solace and understanding. Comfortable times were shattered. We felt the great unsteadiness of life and reached for the great steadiness of our Father in Heaven. And, as ever, we found it. Americans of all faiths came together in a remarkable way.

Sadly, it seems that much of that renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed. Healing has come with time, but so has indifference. We forget how vulnerable and sorrowful we felt. Our sorrow moved us to remember the deep purposes of our lives. The darkness of our despair brought us a moment of enlightenment. But we are forgetful. When the depth of grief has passed, its lessons often pass from our minds and hearts as well.

Our Father’s commitment to us, His children, is unwavering. Indeed He softens the winters of our lives, but He also brightens our summers. Whether it is the best of times or the worst, He is with us. He has promised us that this will never change.

But we are less faithful than He is. By nature we are vain, frail, and foolish. We sometimes neglect God. Sometimes we fail to keep the commandments that He gives us to make us happy. Sometimes we fail to commune with Him in prayer. Sometimes we forget to succor the poor and the downtrodden who are also His children. And our forgetfulness is very much to our detriment.

If there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from our experience of that fateful day, it may be that we owe to God the same faithfulness that He gives to us. We should strive for steadiness, and for a commitment to God that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives. It should not require tragedy for us to remember Him, and we should not be compelled to humility before giving Him our faith and trust. We too should be with Him in every season.

The way to be with God in every season is to strive to be near Him every week and each day. We truly “need Him every hour,” not just in hours of devastation. We must speak to Him, listen to Him, and serve Him. If we wish to serve Him, we should serve our fellow men. We will mourn the lives we lose, but we should also fix the lives that can be mended and heal the hearts that may yet be healed.

It is constancy that God would have from us. Tragedies are not merely opportunities to give Him a fleeting thought, or for momentary insight to His plan for our happiness. Destruction allows us to rebuild our lives in the way He teaches us, and to become something different than we were. We can make Him the center of our thoughts and His Son, Jesus Christ, the pattern for our behavior. We may not only find faith in God in our sorrow. We may also become faithful to Him in times of calm.

Thomas S. Monson is president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

More On Faith and 9/11: (from other prominent world religious leaders)

Desmond Tutu: Our post-9/11 failures

Thomas Monson: Rebuilding our souls

T.D. Jakes: Spirituality after the attack

Feisal Abdul Rauf: Radical Islam on its way out

Donald Wuerl: Peace begins internally

Katharine Jefferts Schori: Live the memorial

Mark Driscoll: Death and the hope of resurrection

Karen Armstrong: Unite through compassion

Deepak Chopra: Divided hearts, divided world

Yasir Qadhi: Americans still don’t know Islam

"Why do we need such resilient faith?"

The same reason the Pioneers did. "Because difficult days are ahead. Rarely in the future will it be easy or popular to be a faithful Latter-day Saint. Each of us will be tested. The Apostle Paul warned that in the latter days, those who diligently follow the Lord “shall suffer persecution.” That very persecution can either crush you into silent weakness or motivate you to be more exemplary and courageous in your daily lives." - Elder Russel M. Nelson

Let us prepare to stand in the face of persecution.  Let us be filled with faith and determination like the Pioneers.  Let us be modern-day pioneers and carry on. 

Firm as the mountains around us,
Stalwart and brave we stand
On the rock our fathers planted
For us in this goodly land—
The rock of honor and virtue,
Of faith in the living God.
They raised his banner triumphant—
Over the desert sod.

And we hear the desert singing:

Carry on, carry on, carry on!

Hills and vales and mountains ringing:

Carry on, carry on, carry on!

Holding aloft our colors,

We march in the glorious dawn.

O youth of the noble birthright,

Carry on, carry on, carry on!

Let us remember them on this Pioneer Day.  And let us strive to have resilient faith.

The Church Responds to HRC Petition

To read the position of the Church when it comes to same sex attraction and regarding this petition continue on and read the article at this link:

Church Responds to HRC Petition

Here is just a small portion of the article:

"While we disagree with the Human Rights Campaign on many fundamentals, we also share some common ground. This past week we have all witnessed tragic deaths across the country as a result of bullying or intimidation of gay young men. We join our voice with others in unreserved condemnation of acts of cruelty or attempts to belittle or mock any group or individual that is different – whether those differences arise from race, religion, mental challenges, social status, sexual orientation or for any other reason. Such actions simply have no place in our society.

This Church has felt the bitter sting of persecution and marginalization early in our history, when we were too few in numbers to adequately protect ourselves and when society’s leaders often seemed disinclined to help. Our parents, young adults, teens and children should therefore, of all people, be especially sensitive to the vulnerable in society and be willing to speak out against bullying or intimidation whenever it occurs, including unkindness toward those who are attracted to others of the same sex. This is particularly so in our own Latter-day Saint congregations. Each Latter-day Saint family and individual should carefully consider whether their attitudes and actions toward others properly reflect Jesus Christ’s second great commandment - to love one another."

To read it in it's entirety visit HERE.

Could You Ride Out the Storm?

“Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their year’s supply of food … and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year’s supply of debt and are food-free.” President Thomas S. Monson

Although this statement by President Monson might make us chuckle, in reality it could lead to a scary ride on storm-tossed waves. Is your family prepared for the storms that lie ahead? Recently I have been reminded that we have much more to do to be ready for unforeseen storms that may lie ahead.

And I have had the thought that the more prepared we are physically the more prepared we will be spiritually. If we are prepared physically for the waves I believe we will more easily feel the Savior's power working in us to calm the storm and we will feel of God's love for us.

Elder Holland said, "It is not without a recognition of life’s tempests but fully and directly because of them that I testify of God’s love and the Savior’s power to calm the storm."

WHAT IS YOUR FAMILY DOING TO BE PREPARED FOR AN EMERGENCY?
I'd love to hear tips, suggestions, and even questions that some of you have in regards to food storage, other emergency supplies, 72 hour kits, etc.

Here are some great resources to check out:

Family Home Storage Pamphlet

Family Finances Pamphlet

Family Emergency Planning

Prepared LDS Family

"My New Life" - A Beautiful Mother

I hope that I can learn to cherish the moments I have with my children, the wonderful moments I have in this life. I hope that I can push through the hard times and trust in the Lord. What a wonderful example Stephanie Nielson is of this. What a wonderful Mother.



I hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day!

Seek the Higher Ground

Words of Wisdom Wednesdays: Faith-Filled Experience

Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Lest Ye Be Wearied and Faint in Your Minds,” Ensign, May 1991, 88, 90.

“One’s life … cannot be both faith-filled and stress-free...Therefore, how can you and I really expect to glide naively through life, as if to say, ‘Lord, give me experience, but not grief, not sorrow, not pain, not opposition, not betrayal, and certainly not to be forsaken. Keep from me, Lord, all those experiences which made Thee what Thou art! Then let me come and dwell with Thee and fully share Thy joy!’ …Real faith … is required to endure this necessary but painful developmental process.”

Any Thoughts?

Lifting Burdens: The Atonement of Jesus Christ

"Apostles of Jesus Christ testify of the Savior’s power to heal, change, and purify us through His Atonement."

Finding Hope After 9/11

You're Never Alone

Happy Pioneer Day!

More Holiness Give Me...

On Sunday we sang the Hymn, "More Holiness Give Me", and it was one of my favorite parts of the meeting. I have heard this song many times but for some reason this time every phrase, every thought seemed to portray a need for greater desire, personal action, and complete diligence. I mentioned this to my husband and found that he had experienced the very same thing as I did during this sacrament meeting hymn. One thing that he said during our discussion was that the Hymn is like a sermon and it really is. Each line could be turned into a sermon in and of itself. What a powerful hymn.

While thinking about the words to this song I came across this wonderful talk by Bishop H. David Burton where he talks about the need for a decrease of the worldly "mores" and a greater focus on developing the "mores" of virtue, "The current conventional wisdom is that more is better and less is usually undesirable. For some, the pursuit to acquire more of this world’s goods and services has become a passion. For others, more of this world’s wealth is necessary just to sustain life or raise living standards to a minimum level. The unbridled desire for more often has tragic consequences.

The meaning of more and less is not always crystal clear. There are times when less is in reality more and times when more can be less. For instance, less pursuit of materialism may enable more family togetherness. More indulgence of children may result in less understanding of life’s important values.

Some aspects of life can be significantly enhanced by the notion that more is better. The sacred hymn “More Holiness Give Me” (Hymns, no. 131) brings to our remembrance the virtues worthy of more of our attention. Jesus Himself described what it requires to be “more, Savior, like thee.” He said, “I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (3 Ne. 12:48)."

As you read the words to the Hymn below, what line sticks out to you the most? What area could you use more perfecting in? As I listened and sang along on Sunday so many things seemed worthy of my greater attention.

More holiness give me, more strivings within.

More patience in suffering, more sorrow for sin.

More faith in my Savior, more sense of His care.

More joy in His service, more purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me, more trust in the Lord.

More zeal for His glory, more hope in His Word.

More tears for His sorrows, more pain at His grief.

More meekness in trial, more praise for relief.

More purity give me, more strength to o’ercome,

More freedom from earth-stains, more longings for home.

More fit for the kingdom, more useful I’d be,

More blessèd and holy, more, Savior, like Thee.

Bishop Burton continues, "The virtues expressed in “More Holiness Give Me” fall into several groups. Some are personal goals, like more holiness give me; more strivings within; more faith, gratitude, and purity; more fit for the kingdom; more purpose in prayer; and more trust in the Lord. Others center on adversity. They include patience in suffering, meekness in trial, praise for relief, strength to overcome, freedom from earth stains, and longing for home. The rest firmly anchor us to our Savior: more sense of His care; more pride in His glory; more hope in His word; more joy in His service; more tears for His sorrows; more pain at His grief; more blessed and holy; and more, Savior, like Thee. More of these virtues is better. Less is not desirable.

I have a new found love for this Hymn and many mini-sermons to take a much deeper look into. It is time to take a closer look at my life and turn some of my "mores" into less and some of my lackings into "mores". Let us strive to give more attention to the virtues so perfectly written in this Hymn.

As you read the Hymn, which line had the greatest impact on you? Would you like to see me write a post on a specific line from this Hymn? If so, which one?

Hope Ya Know, We Had a Hard Time

It seems that with each passing week I hear of someone else who has lost their job or their home or is going through a myriad of individual trials. This video is so touching and powerful. I love the message it shares of helping others even in your own time of trial. It brought me to tears.

Trials: Be of Good Comfort

This last week was quite a tough one for our little family. We hit bumps and pot holes continuously throughout the week. We had one particular trial that seemed to take all of my energy and emotions - it seemed to take over all of me. It was an overwhelmingly emotional week. It was draining and frustrating and sad, and very dissapointing. One day I may write more personally about the whole situation but it is still too fresh and I think to wait some time may be good for me.

But as I have been dealing with this trial along with the many other bumps and holes we hit throughout the week I have been gratefully blessed with a peaceful assurance that my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ are there - that They know me, that They care about me, and that They will never leave me. I have felt the peace of knowing that my Father in Heaven does listen to my heart-felt prayers. That my Savior does understand - that He does know what I am going through.

At moments I am still overwhelmed and I am still brought to tears but the other night I was blessed to be guided to these wonderful verses:

Mosiah 24:13-16
"And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort...

And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

And now it came to pass that the burdens...were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage."

I know that I was visited by the Lord during these trials. I know that I have been stregthened and taught.

The last line in these verses says, "Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage." The following day after I read these verses my trial did not dissappear but I felt a greater peace, a greater amount of comfort, and I felt like I could lift my head a little and smile.

I know that we are all watched over and cared for. I know that we are not left to fight our trials on our own. I know that we are loved by our Heavenly Father and by Jesus Christ and that they will never leave us but will visit us in our times of need and will give us comfot if we will have greater faith and patience.