Love one Another

Today is Valentine's Day!! My family is everything to me. I love them all so much.  Even though we are ALL imperfect and have our moments, "I love them all".

 I have been preparing the Relief Society lesson for this coming Sunday.  The lesson is on the Holy Ghost.  I came across a talk by President Uchtdorf.  In his talk he asks, "What is truth?  Truth is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  He is the way the truth and the life."  He said that one of the reasons we were sent here to earth is to find the truth.  It is an obligation for us to discover the truth for ourselves. "Expecting that we search, ponder and evaluate and come to a personal knowledge of truth-through prayer and under the direction of the Holy Ghost," he said.  "As you accept the responsibility to seek after truth with an open mind and a humble heart, you will become more tolerant of others, more open to listen, more prepared to understand, more inclined to build up instead of tearing down and you will be more willing to go where God wants you to go," he said.

We need to live the gospel to have the Holy Ghost in our lives.  We are not perfect though and because of that we have our Savior, Jesus Christ, who invites us all to repent and he will forgive us because He loves us so much.  I am so thankful to be a member of the church and to have the Holy Ghost to guide me.  I have felt his influence in my life and in my  family's life.  I have much to learn and a lot of weaknesses to overcome, but I am trying my hardest.  I know my Heavenly Father loves me and is aware of me and my sorrows, trials and adversities.  I have felt His love for me!  

Ashley shared a talk by Elder Wirthlin with me, The Virtue of kindness.  That is the most wonderful talk I have heard. It starts out with a story about a man who when he was a young boy he was acting up in his class at church.  The teacher became angry and pulled him out of class and told him not to come back and he never did.  This made me sad.

I remember a time not long after we were baptized.  I was in my primary class and my teacher was doing a true and false questions game.  I did not know much about church history yet.  I did not know the answers.  She had given each of us  2 slips of paper one said true and the other false.  We were to show which one we thought was the answer.  I waited for the other kids to raise theirs before mine because I was not sure what to answer.  My teacher got mad and told me not to do that, she told me that I should know the answers.  I was embarrassed, I felt it was not my fault because I was new.  I was mad! After that I did not feel comfortable around that teacher.  I obviously did not stop going to church.  But I can see how you can get offended when things like this happen at church and specially to a little kid. To this day when I think of it, it still hurts. I am not mad at the teacher but I hurt because I think of how embarrassed I felt. My friends did not care, they felt they were helping me. 

Elder Wirthlin says in his talk;

Kindness:

Is the essence of greatness and the fundamental characteristic of noble men and woman.

Is a passport that opens doors and fashions friends.

It softens hearts and molds relationships that can last a lifetime.

Is the essence of celestial life.

It should permeate all of our words and actions at work, school, at church, and especially in our homes.

Kind words not only lift our spirits in the moment they are given, but they can linger with us over the years.

He said "The things you say, the tone of your voice, the anger or calm of your words-those things are noticed by your children and by others."

He said "Even when we think we are doing no harm by our critical remarks, consequences follow.  

He said "The church is a place where imperfect people gather to provide encouragement, support, and service to each other as we press on our journey to return to our Heavenly Father."

He said "Each one of us will travel a different road during this life. Each progresses at a different rate.  Temptations that trouble your brother may not challenge you at all.  Strengths that you possess may seem impossible for another."

This I like a lot, he said, "Never look down on those who are less perfect than you".  It frustrates me when others feel they are better than those who are struggling and don't go to church.  I know I need to work on that, but it is frustrating.  He said "We are all children of our Heavenly Father and we are here with the same purpose: to learn to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves."

I love this one too, "if you are criticizing others you are weakening the church. If you are building others, you are building the kingdom of God. As Heavenly Father is kind, we also should be kind to others. When we are filled with kindness, we are not judgmental."

I am guilty! I have a lot to learn and much to improve in my life.  I don't go around pretending that I am perfect, never have and never will.  I try to be fair to every one and to treat them with kindness. I don't go around criticizing people. I am a decent person. I have lots of wonderful friends that love me and like to be around me. My husband and children love me. Again I am not perfect!! My problem is that when I see others not doing the same is frustrates me and I want to change them.  I can't do that, they must want to do it for themselves.  I like things to be fair!! It bothers me when things are not fair!! Again, something else I need to work on because lets face it, Life ain't fair! All I can do is my best!

Elder Wirthlin said "Jesus, our Savior, was the epitome of kindness and compassion."  He said "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."

I am thankful for Jesus Christ and His example and love for me.  I am thankful that He is patient and loving towards me. He knows me and how hard I try and that is good enough for me!