Turn on Your Light

"Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world. . . will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different - in happy ways- from women of the world." - President Spencer W. Kimball

 (quoted by Sister Sharon Eubank in her October 2017 General Conference address Turn on Your Light.)

I want to be one of these women. I want to play an active part in this growth.

Discovering the Divinity Within

Discovering the Divinity Within

by Rosemary M. Wixom

Primary General President

Divinity = the status or quality of being divine

Divine = like God

"God has a plan for each one of us, and our individual purpose began long before we came to this earth."

Have you ever stopped to really think and ponder:

. What is God's plan for you?

. What is your individual purpose?

.What does your patriarchal blessing tell you about your individual reason for being who you am?

From The Family: A Proclamation to the World we are told that "each one of us is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents'and each has a divine nature and destiny."

I am a Child of God. Therefore, what?
Fill in the Blank!

What does being a child of God mean to you?  

What qualities does a child of God possess?
How does a child of God act? 

With this knowledge, what are our responsibilities? 

What will you do to live your life as a child of God?

I loved Larry R. Lawrence's talk from the Saturday morning session.  He said we can always ask Heavenly Father, through prayer, "What is keeping me from inheriting Thy divine qualities?" or "What should I be doing or not doing to become more like Thee?"  The Holy Ghost will then give us a customized answer.

As His child, He loves us more than we can even begin to understand.  In fact there is so much love that "Heavenly Father generously shares a portion of His divinity (the quality to become like Him) within us."

This is also known as our divine nature.  What is divine nature?  

In an article in the October 2014 New Era defines Divine Nature as :

The ability to become like God. 

"Through the Atonement, we can ultimately become like our Heavenly Father if we keep our covenants.  To become like Him means to take on his nature (His features, characteristics, and attributes) - the divine nature.  Associated with this divine nature are certain spiritual attributes. . .taught throughout the scriptures."

"Our divine nature (this ability to become like God) has nothing to do with our personal accomplishments, the status we achieve, the number of marathons we run, or our popularity and self-esteem.  Our divine nature comes from God. . ."

We all want to feel special, validated, noteworthy and unique.  Sometimes we allow our acceptance, and recognition to come from worldly accomplishments, instead of from God.  

I saw a quote on Pinterest that totally illustrates this.

Sister Wixom continues, 

"Looking through a window (focusing on serving and lifting others), not just into a mirror (focusing only on ourselves and our accomplishments), allows us to see ourselves as His.  We naturally turn to prayer, and we are eager to read His words and to do His will.  We are able to take our validation vertically from Him, not horizontally from the world around us or from those on Facebook or Instagram."

In a social media world, I think this is so important to remember.  Our worth is still the same whether we have 1000 'likes' or only one 'like'. 

"If you ever question that spark of divinity within you, (don't search for it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter), kneel in prayer and ask Heavenly Father: "Am I really Thy daughter, and doest Thou love me?"

I promise he will answer. 

"One of the sweetest messages the Spirit will relay is how the Lord feels about you."

-M. Russell Ballard

Divine Nature breathes into us and ignites in us the desire to:

-serve others

-reach out to others

-find peace

-follow the prophet

-remember our Savior

"Because you are His child, He knows who you can become. He knows your fears and your dreams. He relishes your potential. He waits for you to come to Him in prayer. Because you are His child, you not only need Him, but He also needs you. Those sitting around you right now in this meeting need you. The world needs you, and your divine nature allows you to be His trusted disciple to all His children. Once we begin to see the divinity in ourselves, we can see it in others."

Watch, Listen, and Learn

We are so excited to watch General Conference this weekend.

 This morning I put together our Conference Bags!

(You can read more about those HERE.)

We are eager to hear what our latter-day prophets and apostles have to tell us, and also to see who will be called to fill the vacancies of the much loved Elders Scott, Packer, and Perry.

The first session, held last Saturday, was wonderful.  The take-away for me was to remember my divinity and destiny as I serve others.  I also loved President Ucthdorf's talk about choosing a life of happiness and joy.  What a great reminder that I can choose to be miserable and sad or I can choose to be happy!

Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth

The conference quote graphics I have created are free for your own personal or Church use.  Just click on the graphic - it should enlarge.  Then right click and "save image as" onto your computer. 

Filling Our Homes With Light and Truth

By Cheryl A. Esplin

"Strong eternal families and Spirit-filled homes do not just happen.  They take great effort, they take time, and they take each member of the family doing his or her part.  Every home is different, but every home where even one individual seeks for truth can make a difference."

We all desire to have a strong family and a home filled with the Spirit.  It would be nice if that could just happen, but, as with all things worthwhile, it takes time and effort.

"Satan knows that in order for us and our families to withstand the pressures of the world, we must be filled with light and gospel truth.  So he does everything in his power to dilute, distort, and destroy the truth of the gospel and to keep us separated from that truth."

"When filled with the Spirit and with gospel truth, we have the power to withstand the outside forces of the world that surround and push against us." -WE HAVE POWER!  "If we not filled with spiritually, we don't have the inner strength to resist the outside pressures and can collapse when forces push against us."

image source and handout idea from HERE

(I'm planning on doing the soda can object lesson tomorrow for our FHE!)

 In her talk, Sister Esplin lists three things, that if we do them, will 'fill our homes with light and truth'.

1.  Inspiring MUSIC

"Inspiring music is just one of the many ways we can feel the Spirit whisper to us, filling us with light and truth."

Many years ago when my children were little I attended a Homemaking Meeting(remember when it was called that?) where a class was taught on music in the home.  The instructor shared a personal story about good music in her home that has stuck with me and made a huge difference in my home as well.  She had two sons that were rebellious.  They made some bad friends and some even worse choices.  Talking to them and trying to correct them had had no effect.  She decided that she would try to influence them through music.  She filled her home with classical music.  She always had a record playing.  The music was never loud, but it was always on especially when her sons were home.  The Spirit was felt in her home through this music.  Through the grace of God, Her boys were able to feel and recognize it, and they eventually settled down, and turned their lives back over to God.  That is the power of music!  

This powerful experience has stuck with me.  I have always tried to have good music playing in my home.  In the mornings while my kids are getting ready for the day, I have music quietly playing.  There is power in music.   The spirit can be felt through inspiring music.

2.  PRAYER & SCRIPTURE STUDY

"We are continually counseled to increase our spiritual knowledge through prayer and through studying and pondering the scriptures and the words of the living prophets"

There are many ideas on how to do this in President Uchtdorf's October 2014 talk -"Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth".

3.  SHARE your Testimony

"Do not bury your testimony in the ground"

image source

"The answers to our prayers may not come dramatically, but we must find quiet moments to seek greater light and truth.  And when we receive it, it is our responsibility to live it, to share it, and to defend it."

". . . As we fill our hearts and homes with the Savior's light and truth, we will have the inner strength to withstand in every circumstance."

General Conference -Women's Session

Have you seen this video put out by the Church?

"As you prepare for General Conference, I invite you to ponder questions you need to have answered." - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

Have you written down and are you pondering on the questions you would like answered during the sessions of General Conference?  I have.

"I promise you in [Jesus] name that if you pray with a sincere desire to hear your Heavenly Father's voice in the messages of this conference, you will discover that He has spoken to you to help you, to strengthen you, and to lead you home into His presence." - Elder Robert D. Hales

Last Saturday night was the first session of General Conference.  All three of my girls and I attended this session with my mom and my sister.  (I know my baby is technically not old enough to attend (you're suppose to be 8), but all the girls were going and she was feeling left out so we invited her along.) If you missed it, you can watch the session HERE. 

The Spirit was strong as truth was testimfied about the sacredness and importance of the family.  It was mentioned several times that The Family:  A Proclamation to the World is 20 years old this month.  In her talk, Sister Bonnie Oscarson said:

“The sanctity of the home and the essential purposes of the family are being questioned, criticized, and assaulted on every front . . .Little did we realize then (20 years ago when the Proclamation was read over the pulpit by President Gordon B. Hinckley), how very desperately we would need these basic declarations in today’s world as the criteria by which we could judge each new wind of worldly dogma coming at us from the media, the Internet, scholars, TV and films, and even legislators."

She called on the women of the Church to be defenders of the family and to use The Family:  A Proclamation to the Worlds as “our benchmark for judging the philosophies of the world.”

Boldly Stand Up for the Family.  

Be proud to be a Homemaker.  

Elevate the divine roles of mothers and fathers.

Foolish Virgins

Last Saturday, after a long day of shopping for a Homecoming dress (but that's another story for another day), my oldest daughter and I attended the General Women's Meeting.

art by Walter Rane

In that meeting, Sister Linda Burton, General Relief Society President, shared her thoughts on being prepared to enter the temple and keep our temple covenants.  She quoted Alma 49:8 

"Behold, to [the Lamanites’] uttermost astonishment, [the Nephites] were prepared for them, in a manner which never had been known.”   She followed up the sciputre with the question

"How can we better prepare ourselves for temple blessings today?"

Sister Burton likened the parable of the 10 Virgins to being prepared for temple blessings.

Just last week I had my own "Virgin" experience.  

Last Sunday members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah were invited to attend the dedication of the Ogden, UT temple.  I with #2 and #4 decided to attend the 10:00 am session and Clint and the two other boys would attend the 1:00 pm session so someone could be home with the two little girls who are not old enough to attend yet.  The three of us were ready and arrived at the church (in the pouring rain, no less) 10 minutes early to find all the doors locked.  WHAT?!  No one was in sight.  The chapel doors were shut, the cultural hall doors were too.  By this time there were a few other people attempting to get in too.  I decided to check my ticket just to make sure we had the right time.  That's when I noticed the Attendance Instructions on the back that stated, "Please be in your seat at least 30 minutes before the session begins.  No one will be admitted after the designated hour."  After explaining this to the others, one gentleman exclaimed, "Well, at least now we know how the 5 foolish virgins felt."  Yes, we did,  And it did not feel very good, having the doors locked, being turned away and having to go home spiritually empty.  Thank goodness, unlike the 5 Virgins, we had two other chances.

Sister Burton pointed out that "Sometimes we feel sad for the five unwise virgins. Can’t we just be kind and share our oil with them?" Her answer was simple:  No, "The oil of spiritual preparedness cannot be shared."

Just like the 5 foolish Virgins, no one could share their obedience of following the Attendance Instructions, nor their punctuality.  That was only something I could do myself.

President Spencer W. Kimball explained why it is impossible to “share oil” with others when he said, “Attendance at sacrament meetings adds oil to our lamps, drop by drop over the years. Fasting, family prayer, home teaching, control of bodily appetites, preaching the gospel, studying the scriptures – each act of dedication and obedience is a drop added to our store. Deeds of kindness, payment of offerings and tithes, chaste thought and actions … these, too, contribute importantly to the oil with which we can at midnight refuel our exhausted lamps.”

Sister Burton closed her talk by encouraging us to prepare to receive oil drop by drop and be prepared to keep sacred covenants made in Temples. Doing this will empower us and bless our lives.  

Be Prepared.  Add Oil to Your Lamps. You do not want to be left out!  Trust me, I know!