morning questions

We had a very casual conversation about death moments before the girls walked out the door this morning. I know, not really the topic I would choose to send them out the door with, but it was such a wonderful teaching moment I almost didn't get anxious as I turned around, shut the door and walked back in the house alone.


[taken last night during dinner, but looked a lot like this morning]

It all started after reading in Alma 11 (book in the Book of Mormon) where Amulek is teaching the people about our temporal death and how Christ overcame it through resurrection and so will we.

Megan: So mom when I die my spirit can't get sick?
Me: Your body is what gets sick so no, after you die, you can't get sick.
Megan: laughing - That means I can eat all the candy I want and I won't get sick.
Me: Well if you don't have your bodies I don't think you'll need to eat.
Megan: But I'm going to want candy, I just know I will.
Tess: I want food. I can't live without food.
Bella: But your spirit won't need the food...see?
Tess & Megan: no.

There was some giggling at this point and then the conversation moved on from there.

Megan: Mom when I'm really old you'll be dead?
Me: Yep, I'll be in heaven.
Megan: Will you be there to meet me when I die?
Me: Yep, I'll be there and your dad will be there and grandma and grandpa and nana and papa and...
Megan: and grandma Dot?
Me: Yes grandma Dot too.
Tess: and your brother Alan?
Me: Yes, Alan will be there too. Even members of our family you didn't know like my grandma will be there, but you will know them after you die.
Bella: Megan we'll be together forever...all of us.
Megan: I will be sad when you die.
Me: I know, but I will be old and it will be time.
Megan: I love you mom....up to heaven.
Me: I love you, all the way back.

Of all the mornings the girls have been distracted while we've read scriptures and I've walked away discouraged wondering why I attempt to do it, it suddenly becomes crystal clear after moments like I had this morning why.

They are listening.
They are watching.
Our efforts are not in vain.

xoxo,
amy

sunday thought

We had a special Stake Conference today, which turned out to be a wonderful reminder of many of the things on my mind as of late...my purpose, spiritual growth, strength through the Lord, family, what matters most, temple worship, and missionary work. I love it when all the thoughts in my head come together in one meeting and I leave feeling edified with strength and courage to try harder and carry on.



It all started with our Stake theme which comes from Mosiah 24:14

"And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

This is a very comforting scripture because if I know one thing about life, it doesn't come without it's challenges and if it did, I surely wouldn't be the woman I am today. It has taken me some time and some maturing to finally be grateful for the things I have faced, grateful to know it's purpose, and where it has lead me up to this point. So if we think about it this way, the question is not when will we face adversity, but how we'll contront it and what we'll become in the process?

The how is the part that I need to work on the most. Choosing to accept my struggles. Choosing to ask for help. Choosing to face it with a good attitude knowing that it's for my benefit, knowing it's what will help draw me closer to the Lord. There is a lot of power in our gift of agency...I guess I picked my word for the year wisely :)

Other stand outs from the meeting:
--"Do not focus on the pain, but what we are becoming in the process." -President Crocker
--"Nothing is worth the making if it doesn't make the man." a poem by Edwin Markham and quoted by Elder Packer
--"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."
--"The key is to love and serve one another." -Sister Nixon.
I believe whole heartedly that this is key to life. I can't tell you how many times I've been in a dark place and when I take the focus off of myself, serve someone else, I see the light and everything seems right with the world again.
--"Each day we are building upon experiences that are needed for our growth." Sister Nixon
--"When you are thinking about missionary work experiences will happen." Sister Winn
--"Prepare your heart and the Lord will provide opportunities." Sister Winn
--"We cannot only live on spiritual experiences of the past." -Elder Snow

It was a lot of "good stuffs" all at onces, a lot to think about, but it was exactly what I needed as I start this week full of change and welcome in a new stage of my life.

xxox,
amy

sunday thought

This story was told today in Sacrament meeting and it really hit home.


"And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver..."
Malachi 3:3

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining Silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, 'How do you know when the silver is fully refined?' He smiled at her and answered, 'Oh, that's easy -- when I see my image in it.'

sunday stand out

Usually at church there is always something, even a very small thing, where I think that is the reason why I came today.

Here are two things that stood out to me today...

"The major work of the world is not done by geniuses. It is done by ordinary people, with balance in their lives, who have learned to work in an extraordinary manner”
-President Hinckley Apr. 1996

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Phillipians 4:13