Dan's Testimony of a Kite

Dan bore his testimony today "because it was time". He shared an analogy that he has used with the young men about kites. 

A kite is tethered and held down with a string. It may seem constraining, but if you let go of the kite string, the kite will flounder in the wind and soon fall to the ground. The kite string actually enables the kite to fly. 

Like a kite, the gospel has boundaries, rules that may seem constraining at times, but in essence allows us to be free from sin and to soar higher then we could ever imagine. We must learn to fly within the boundaries that the gospel provides. As we do, our kite will fly to its highest and greatest potential. 

Just a Pot of Dirt

Andrew was in his institute class when they were approached and were asked for volunteers to help with the St. George Temple renovation. Andrew and his friend Ryan Jones were the only ones to go volunteer. Andrew called Dan and he came over and helped. Their task was to dig crawl space tunnels under the oxen in the baptistery. They crawled around digging for three hours. 

Family friend, David Suttner, heard about it and wanted to help next time there was a need. The next time the job was to replace the light bulbs in the women's dressing room; not quite as dramatic, but good service none the less. David wanted some of the dirt that had been dug out from under the temple. He and Andrew asked and they were able to get some. Mindy wrote this poem and she and David planted pots with flowers and the temple dirt, and they took them around to their friends. Here is the poem about Andrew and his service.

Just a Pot of Dirt

Just a pot of weak red sand,

A lone spot of green

Yet so much more can be had

When you have the eyes to see.

This dirt its post many years it kept

beneath twelve oxen, from Napthali to Dan,

Until strong young men were called.

Just one heard and came.

Humble, true, his heart was sound

The nod to him was given

To take some of this hallowed ground

And share a bit with friends.

This is but dirt until you hear

The sighs of Saints from long ago

Who crossed the desert Sinai

To those who crossed the desert here,

Forsaking comfort, wealth, and ease

To follow God’s commands

To make the desert blossom as a rose

With nothing but their hands.

With blood and sweat and aching limbs

They gave this work their all

To build a beacon to the world

This temple firm and tall

Where those from round the globe

On both sides of the veil,

Come to covenant with God--

Their faith to never fail.

Just a pot of dirt you say

Until with eyes now opened

A symbol of the eternal plan

Held in one cupped hand.

                                                                                By Mindy Suttner

Andrew Flake, a descendant of James Madison Flake, was the Young Single Adult who responded to the call for volunteers to help dig out under the St. George temple baptistery to renovate the plumbing.  James Madison Flake, when he met the Prophet Joseph Smith, immediately freed all of his slaves, sold his large plantation, and dedicated his wealth to outfitting as many Saints as he could to trek west.  Andrew’s consecration to the Lord is reminiscent of the sacrifices of his forbears.

Repentance and Forgiveness

In last October conference, Elder Jorg Klebingat, gave us a list of 6 things to help us increase our Confidence with God. I’m a list maker and like to check things off so I liked his message about using the Atonement in our lives.

#4. Become really, really good at repenting thoroughly and quickly. Because the Atonement of Jesus Christ is very practical, you should apply it generously 24/7, for it never runs out.

He compares the Atonement of Jesus Christ as a prescription from the Great Physician, Jesus Christ. We go to the Dr. for a prescription medication to fix our bodies; in comparison we have the atonement that we can fix our spirits with, if “we apply it generously, 24/7”.

(Along with Repentance of course, comes Forgiveness)

#5. Become really, really good at forgiving. “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (D&C 64:10). Forgive everyone, everything, all the time, or at least strive to do so, thus allowing forgiveness into your own life. We shouldn’t hold grudges, or be easily offended, We need to forgive and forget quickly.

Another way to look at it: “We should forgive not because we are wrong, but because staying angry robs us of our happiness.”

The Prodigal Son is Me!

Last weekend we had a nice visit with Jon and Lesa, Darrell, Eve, Jonba, and William came down from Cedar City. I attached the pictures of Jonba and Willilam, embracing in a hug after not seeing each other for over seven years. It promted me to think about the Prodigal son and his embrace by his father when he returned. Now, neither William or Jonba are the Prodigal son; but we all are. We all have need for the atoning compassion of our Savior. 

I loved this talk by Brent H. Nielson given in 2015 April Conference Sunday morning session. Please take a few minutes and listen to it. I love the conclusion that I've highligted below in yellow. 

"Some of you, like the Nielson family, have family members who have temporarily lost their way. The Savior’s instruction to all who have 100 sheep is to leave the ninety and nine and go after and rescue the one. His instruction to those who have 10 pieces of silver and lose one is to search until you find it. When the lost one is your son or your daughter, your brother or your sister, and he or she has chosen to leave, we learned in our family that, after all we can do, we love that person with all of our hearts and we watch, we pray, and we wait for the Lord’s hand to be revealed.

Perhaps the most important lesson the Lord taught me through this process happened during our family scripture study after my sister had left the Church.Our son David was reading as we studied together Luke 15. As he read the parable of the prodigal son, I heard it differently that day than I had ever heard it before. For some reason, I had always related to the son who stayed home. As David read that morning, I realized that in some ways I was the prodigal son. All of us fall short of the glory of the Father (see Romans 3:23). All of us need the Savior’s Atonement to heal us. All of us are lost and need to be found. This revelation that day helped me know that my sister and I both needed the Savior’s love and His Atonement. Susan and I were actually on the same path back home.

The Savior’s words in the parable as He describes the father greeting his prodigal son are powerful, and I believe they may be the description of the experience you and I will have with the Father when we return to our heavenly home. They teach us of a father who loves, waits, and watches. These are the words of the Savior: “When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).

May you and I receive the revelation to know how to best approach those in our lives who are lost and, when necessary, to have the patience and love of our Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, as we love, watch, and wait for the prodigal. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/print/2015/04/waiting-for-the-prodigal?lang=en

I ask your forgiveness for anything I've done through out the years to hurt any of you. I love you all dearly and hope that we may all be more forgiving and loving to each other. 

That's it! Love you all and have a great weekend. 

Two Little Words, "I'm Sorry"

One of the first lessons that children learn in Primary, is Forgiveness. In Nursery they learn to say, "I'm sorry". May we learn to say them as quickly as our small nursery children. 

 If we are continually pressed down and kept from achieving our potential because of the wrongs that other’s have down to us; we need to do what our children would sing to us in their Disney Elsa voices, “Let it go, Let it go.” The gospel and our Savior’s atonement provide the way.

Sister Jean A. Stevens said, “The gospel is not weight. It is Wings. It carries us.” May we use the atonement to lift and carry us as we learn to forgive others.

As Christ was about to be crucified on the cross, he uttered: “Father, Forgive them”.

My challenge and homework assignment for this week: take a step to forgive someone: write a letter, leave a note, send a text or better yet, Pick up the Phone and call.

Don’t carry a misunderstanding or disagreement to the grave.

Latter Day Saints or Sinners

When we learn to accept and apply our Savior’s Atonement and Grace, we can forgive and move forward. We are, are we not Latter-Day Saints.

I Loved General Conference last weekend. I really enjoyed Elder Dale Renlund’s talk, “Latter-day Saints Keep on Trying."

He talked about Nelson Mandela’s remarkable Forgivness of those who had imprisoned him for 27 years.

Mandela received widespread acclaim and praise for this forgiveness. Mandela frequently deflected accolades by saying, “I’m no saint—that is, unless you think a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying.”

Elder Renlund remarks, “This statement—“a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying”—should reassure and encourage members of the Church. Although we are referred to as “Latter-day Saints,” we sometimes flinch at this reference. The term Saint is commonly used to designate those who have achieved an elevated state of holiness or even perfection. And we know perfectly well that we are not perfect.”

The gospel does teach us that “ we may be perfected by repeatedly “relying wholly upon” the doctrine of Christ: exercising faith in Him, repenting, partaking of the sacrament to renew the covenants and blessings of baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost as a constant companion.”

God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were. He cares that we keep on trying. In His mercy, God promises forgiveness to us, when we repent and turn from wickedness. 

Elder Renlund pointed out that, God’s desire that Latter-day Saints keep on trying also extends beyond overcoming sin. Whether we suffer because of troubled relationships, economic challenges, or illnesses or as a consequence of someone else’s sins, the Savior’s infinite Atonement can heal even—and perhaps especially—those who have innocently suffered. Christ understands perfectly what it is like to suffer innocently as a consequence of another’s transgression.

My invitation to all of us is to evaluate our lives, repent, and keep on trying. 

Elder Renlund said: If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners; if we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters; and if we don’t allow others to try, we’re just latter-day hypocrites.

  As we try, persevere, and help others to do the same, we are true Latter-day Saints. As we change, we will find that God indeed cares a lot more about who we are and about who we are becoming than about who we once were. 

The Parable of the Toilet Paper

One time on social media, I read a discussion on which way the toilet paper roll should be placed in the TP holder; so the paper comes over the top or under the roll. I’d never given this much thought. I just did it how my family did it in my home growing up; with the paper coming down under the roll. I decided to give it a test and tried it both ways trying to determine which way I thought was best.

After a few weeks, my unscientific study determined that it was easier to use if it came over the top! This is different that I had down my whole, entire life! I was wrong! I had an epiphany that there was another way, other than my way that was better. I needed to do some repenting and forgiving of myself and others.

Now the parable: I realized that I could be wrong about something.  I was humbled. What a blessing that I have such a patient husband who let me be right most of the time in our marriage! This experience changed my way of thinking and acting. What a great lesson for our kids to learn earlier than my older years.

It is no doubt that they will learn this lesson on their missions as they are placed with different companions, who have different ways of doing things. Hopefully, they will learn this before they get married and find out that there are two ways to do everything…and you may not always be right.

The age old advice, to never go to bed angry is still great advice! Be the first to say, you’re sorry.

I ask for your forgiveness for the many times that I may have offended anyone here today. I have a repentant heart.  I have been humbled.