MARCH 31, 2013 -- EASTER SUNDAY

EASTER SUNDAY

MARCH 31, 2013

It was a beautiful sunny day today!

A beautiful day to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Today, Rachel gave her first talk in Sacrament Meeting and she did such a fabulous job!  She had a faith promoting experience about a month ago, when she was asked to talk in church.  She had a bishopric interview for her "1/2 B-day" and dad told her the Brother Hassell had said that he was going to ask her to speak in church.  Rachel was not happy!  She stressed out, said she would NOT talk in church and did not want to go into the interview.

We had all ready arranged for Joseph to wait and bring her home.

I talked with Rachel and told her that this was part of growing up and I knew she could do it and she needed to have faith that she could do it.

Later, after Rachel came home, I finally asked her how her interview went.  She said "fine."  I asked what she told Brother Hassell. Rachel said that she said "yes" and would give a talk.  She said that she thought about it and she knew that Dad and I wanted her to do it and she knew we believed she could do it so she decided to say yes.

I was so proud of her!!! I told her that she just had "exercised faith!"  

Rachel got a big smile on her face as she realized that she had shown faith!

I explained that she had faith in Dad and Mom and relied on that faith even when she wasn't sure herself. She was wearing quite a nice smile at this point!  It was a great, growing, and life changing moment for Rachel.

A week or so later, we were talking about her talk and she said to me, "I'm sort of excited to give my talk!"

I stopped everything and said, "Do you realize what you just said?"

Rachel looked at me funny and I added --- "Do you realize that because you exercised faith and accepted to give this talk that Heavenly Father has now blessed you with strength and courage that you are actually looking forward to it?"  I was so excited for Rachel's growth!  I also told her that it was quite awesome how in just a week, she went from terrified and near "break down" over this talk and now she is a little excited for it????

I could tell that Rachel felt the Holy Ghost in her heart as I did.

She had had a real experience with faith and having her faith grow because she was willing to take one step out of her comfort zone and trust in God and then he lit her path and took away her fear and made her stronger.

That is exactly what we talked about in our Young Women lesson today.

The enabling power of the Atonement and how it can give us divine strength to increase our desire and our ability to do that we which we know is right and true.  Rachel shined today as she gave her talk.  

I am so proud of her and the Young Woman she is becoming!!!

Wow!

 **A copy of Rachel's talk is at the end of this post!

 COLORING EASTER EGGS!!
We had so much fun sitting around the table and chatting as we all waited for our Easter eggs to turn vibrant
colors in their mugs.  We even tried making some 2 colored eggs!

I had to have a picture of Joseph in his apron!!
6 months ago, he wouldn't have dared wear an apron, now he is easy going
and laughs and even gave me permission to take his picture!!!
He wore this lovely apron very manly!!!
Joseph, you make me smile!!!

RACHEL’S TALK – MARCH 31, 2013

PLAN OF SALVATION

President Thomas S. Monson wrote an article in the June 2010 Ensign called “Canaries with Grey on their Wings.”

He told a story about Sister McKee, a widow in his ward who had passed away.  She had 3 canaries and 2 of them she asked to be given to friends.  The 3^rd canary was left with a note for President Monson.  The note said: “Will you and your family make a home for Billie? He isn’t the prettiest, but his song is the best.”

President Monson then talks about Sister McKee and that she was not the most glamorous woman or had the fanciest home or clothes, BUT she helped and served others.  President Monson said that “her song” lifted other people’s burdens.  Which means Sister McKee knew how to make others happy.

Understanding the Plan of Salvation and having a testimony of it will help you and me to develop a beautiful song in our lives. 

There are a 3 important things to know about the Plan of Salvation:

1.       We are children of God and we lived as spirits in heaven with Heavenly Father before we came to earth, this is called our pre-mortal life.

2.      We are here on earth to prepare ourselves to learn to love and serve each other, to become more like Jesus Christ, and to prepare to live with God again someday.

In the Book of Mormon, in Alma 34:32 we read:

“For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.”

3.      Jesus Christ came to earth and atoned for the sins of all people and died so that we might live again after this earth life.

4.      After we die, our spirits will go to the spirit world and wait until it is time to be resurrected.  After the resurrection, if we have made careful choices while here on earth, we will be able to live forever with our families and with God.

Personally, I really hope there are lots of animals in heaven and that I will get to ride horses in heaven!

Because I know these 3 things and have a testimony that they are true, I really, really want to make careful choices in my life.

Sometimes it is hard, but it will be worth it.

Going back to President Monson’s story about the canary with grey on its wings, our lives are not going to be perfect.

We will all have hard things, we will all have problems with our physical bodies, we will all have “bad hair days”, we will all have our hearts hurt, and more.

BUT if we have a testimony of the Plan of Salvation and know that we are children of God, we can deal with the grey spots on our wings.  We can handle hard things and still sing a beautiful song even when things around us aren’t so beautiful.

3 Nephi 27:16 –

“And it shall come to pass that whosoever repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.”

I want to share my testimony that I know God lives and that He loves me!  I know that if I repent, endure and “stick to the plan” that God has laid out for me, then I will have joy and I will be able to live forever with my family, with my Savior Jesus Christ, and Heavenly Father.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen