The Thick of Thin Things

I heard a quote from the Ensign a couple of times at church today.  The quote from President Thomas S. Monson says:

"We become so caught up in the busyness of our lives.  Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we're doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the "thick of thin things."  In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of the things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things, neglecting those more important causes."

I was intrigued by the quote because I had planned on giving a quote in my Relief Society lesson by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf that said:  

"A wise man once distinguished between the noble art of getting things done and a nobler art of leaving things undone.  True wisdom in life consists of the elimination of non-essentials.  What are the non-essential things that clutter your days and steal your time?  What are the habits you may have developed that do not serve a useful purpose?  What are the unfinished or unstarted things that could add vigor, meaning, and joy to your life?" 

Gratitude

Last year I posted a gratitude for every day in November.  I would be very ungrateful if I did not make at least one post.

I am grateful for:

• The beauty of nature.  I took my mother for a ride.  We saw a large herd of antelope grazing in a field. The buck began moving his herd through the field and I thought he was nervous about us watching him when I saw another buck trying to find a way through the fence.   Ah ha.  Just protecting his herd from another male. 
  
• My Family.  How I enjoy seeing my children and knowing that they are doing those things that will bring them eternal happiness.  
  
• My Grandchildren.  How precious each of them are.  My mother lived so far from her grandparents that she only remembers seeing her grandfather once.  She was too scared to even talk to him. She never had the chance to talk to him on a phone.   How sad is that?  I can see or talk my grandchildren every day through the use of telephone, blogs, skype, and Facebook.  How cool is it to be a couple of hundred miles apart and still be able to talk to each other?  
• My membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I love learning about my Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ.  To know that they love me.  That they answer prayers.  Which reminds me of another gratitude.
• I am thankful that God answers prayers.  We had one answered this past week.  We started our day with family prayer and prayed that we would be protected and return home to our family safe that evening.  Our school went by bus to a nearby high school to watch the Wizard of Oz.  The bus I was on pulled up the the stop sign that enters the main highway from our small town.  The driver hesitated and then pulled on to the highway in front of a large water truck.  The driver of the truck had to slam on his brakes to keep from hitting us.  He came within a couple of feet of our bus.  While our driver seem unconcerned the rest of the adults on the bus were terrified!  Worst part was that on the way home from the play our bus driver pulled out in front of another large truck when she reached the highway.  I am thankful for answered prayers.

Showing Mercy

President Joseph Smith said, "If you would have God have mercy on you, have mercy on one another....  We are full of selfishness; the devil flatters us that we are very righteous, when we are feeding on the faults of other."  

"...Search yourselves--the tongue is an unruly member--hold your tongues about things of no moment--a little tale will set the world on fire."

OK, so I have been having some devil flattering going on in my life.  I have had a hard time holding my tongue.  I have had that self-righteous feeling and I don't like it.  I have had to really examine myself to see what my problem is.  I finally figured it out.  I am jealous.  My 'friend' knows how to maximize her resources and I either don't know how or I want to make myself a martyr by doing everything myself.  I need to get over it and learn from her instead of criticize her for being able to delegate authority.    

Get over it Mary!

Stake Conference

We had a great stake conference.  One of the things talked about was testimony.  We must each develop our own testimony.  We can not live on borrowed light.  I know I have heard that many times but then something else was said that I have either not heard or just not remembered.  Our light must be original not reflective.  The glory of the celestial is that of the sun.  The sun gives off original light.  The glory of the terrestrial is that of the moon.  The moon's light is reflective.  

So where do I want my testimony to be?  Do I want original or reflective?  I was outside the other night when the moon was full.  I remember thinking it was enjoyable to see the beauty of the night sky and be able to walk around by the light of the moon.  Then I stepped on a small stick and almost tripped myself.  Hum.  I'll go for original light.  There are just too many things out there that will trip you up if you don't have enough light.

One of the other talks that I liked talked about the foundation of the Salt Lake temple.  They used sandstone to build the foundation then covered it up when Johnston's army came in.  When they uncovered the foundation they found it was cracked.  They redid the foundation with granite and not mortar.  The stones were fitted closely enough that they did not need mortar.  Next, they talked about how the church has been established on the foundation apostles and prophets.  The third foundation we need to establish is our personal life on the firm foundation of faith.  I like how the three foundations related to each other.  

One of my favorite scriptures talks about foundations.  Helaman 5:12

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation:  that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

So, faith, foundations, testimony.  How do we build them?  

1.  prayer

2.  scripture study

3.  family home evening

4.  listen to the prophets

When are the prophets going to talk about something else?  When we get these right!

The Lord is willing to help those in need!

My mother went to church today.  It was fast and testimony meeting.  She is 93 and beginning to suffer from dementia.  Mom wanted to bear her testimony.  I was a bit worried about it because she has a tendency to  say things that may or may not be true.  She starts telling one story and before the sentence has ended she is telling a different story.  Sometimes it is hard to tell that the sentence is two different stories.  The stories all seem to be from her past and seem to be about things that have worried her at one time or another.  Some of the stories are a bit embarrassing.  Many times she hooks the names of people we know to the stories.  Once in a while she gets on a kick where she repeats the same story over and over.  I was a bit worried that she would tell an embarrassing story and hook the name of one of our ward members to the story which might hurt their feelings.

  Mom got up and bore her testimony.  As long as she was bearing pure testimony she was able to do so clearly and with conviction.  As soon as she would start saying something that was not testimony the Lord took care of her and made her forget what she was saying.  She could not finish her thought.  I know without a doubt that the Lord loves my 93 year old mother that is suffering mentally right now.  

I have a testimony that the Lord lives, Jesus is the Christ, the Son of a living and loving Father in Heaven.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is upon the earth today.  We have a living prophet leading the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The gospel is true.