LDS.org new look and Dec. 2013 Visiting Teaching Message.

Have you been to LDS.org and seen the new look of the home page?  There is so much information and so many things to view, it took me quite a while, but I loved every minute of it.  I hope you too will take a moment and go to LDS.org and spend some time seeing what the great folks that keep up this website are treating us to now.

It has been a while since I have posted on this site.  I have been very busy lately doing good things, but I have been thinking a lot about Christmas and what we can do to bless the lives of our sisters.  Relief Society is a sisterhood, and the watchcare that Visiting teachers provide, is powerful.  The message for December 2013 is found here:  https://www.lds.org/liahona/2013/12/the-divine-mission-of-jesus-christ-the-only-begotten-son?lang=eng

"In the New Testament we read of women, named and unnamed, who exercised faith in Jesus Christ, learned and lived His teachings, and testified of His ministry, miracles and magesty.  These women became exemplary disciples and important witnesses in the work of Salvation.  

For example, Martha bore a strong testimony of the Saviors divinity when she said to Him, "I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world"  (John 11:27)

Some of the earliest witnesses of the Savior's divinity were His mother, Mary, and her cousin Elizabeth.  Soon after the angel Gabriel visited Mary, she visited Elisabeth.  As soon as Elisabeth heard Mary's greeting, she 'was filled with the Holy Ghost" ( Luke 1:41) and bore testimony that Mary would become mother to the Son of God."

We are fast approaching the Christmas Season, where so much of the true message of the Birth of Jesus Christ, gets lost in the Black Friday sales, Christmas Shopping, Christmas Parties, and visits to Santa.  What if we focused our efforts of testifying of Jesus' birth, and his life and what His Atonement means in our life.  Would we be able to better serve others at Christmastime, if we kept those thoughts and feelings in our hearts? What if we were to give something away that really mattered?

I have recently written a Family Christmas book, which is now out, and doing pre-launch sales.  It is called, 'If you want to be happy, give something away. "  The message of this book helps to remind us, that when we serve and do things for others, we not only make others happy in the process, but we become happy too.  Hearts can change as we give to others, and not just the hears of those we give to.  Happiness is a natural byproduct of serving, and we don't need to only focus on material gift giving, but there are so many other kinds of things we can do to "give something away."  Now... back to LDS.org.... when I was looking at their homepage, I found a link to a darling video that shares some great ideas about things we can do at Christmastime, that don't involve spending money, but they are still gifts we can give away. That cute video is called "The Reason Behind Christmas."  The video is only alittle over 3 minutes, so please take a few moments, and watch it.  Get some ideas of what you can do to give away to others, but in a more Christlike way.  Then... go do it!

I hope you can be a Mary and Martha and testify of Jesus through your acts of service, love and giving away not just through the holidays, but all year thorugh.

Be of Good Cheer

Today, my day started out really hard, and as the hours progressed, they didn't get any better.  My mind was heavy laden with challenges, worries, and lots of unknown, as I tried to get myself dressed to go to church.  I wondered if I could hold back the tears in church, and keep it together and not give myself away.  I caught the glance of the Bishop, sitting on the stand, and he smiled at me, knowing full well what challenges I was going through. 

I was fine during the opening song, but when the sacrament song was sung, my eyes welled up with tears, as I thought about the Savior, His atonement, and how it could bless my life, if I would accept his offering.  Tears began streaming down my cheeks, and I quickly reached for my kleenex tissues inside of my purse. I made quick work from the first one, and replacing it with a second and third.  For some reason, my tear ducts have a direct connection to my nose, and I was so stuffed up, I grabbed for tissue number 4, 5, and six and also made quick work from those.  Embarassing to blog your nose that much from just a few little tears.   I told myself... "Get a hold of yourself, people are looking."  They probably weren't but I felt like all eyes were on me, especially when I blew my nose.

After the Sacrament, the member of our Bishopric who was conducting stood up and began to share his testimony.  He paused, and I could see his mind going in a different direction.  He then spoke and told the congregation, that he had prepared a message, which went with the theme for the new month, however he didn't know why, but he just decided that he would follow the inspiration he was receiving.  As I listened, a warm feeling covered me, almost feeling like someone had wrapped their arms around me.  I knew that I was receiving a tender mercy from my Heavenly Father. I knew that the new words that were being spoken, were meant for me, and that God had made him a messenger.  Once again, the tears welled up and began to drip down my cheeks.  This time, I knew I had wiped enough of my make up and mascara off, that everyone would know that I had been crying, but this time, they were tears of joy  and gratitude for the knowledge that Heavenly Father was blessing me through one of his servants.

After Sacrament meeting, I told the Bishop that I may go home because I didn't know if I could make it through the rest of the meetings.  He once again smiled, and didn't judge, but just told me that he understood.  As I walked down the hallway, toward the doors of the chapel, I felt like I would just try to stay a little longer, and I did.  Sunday school was great, but I knew that I couldn't  possibly make it through Relief Society, but somehow I stayed.

I was so glad that I stayed in Relief Society because the lesson today was another inspired lesson, and if I didn't know better, I would have thought it was written for me.  It was about dealing with adversities, and trying to be of good cheer, through them.  I needed that lesson and felt once again that a tender mercy had been sent my way for the second time that day.  After the lesson, I met eyes with my R.S. President, who had presented the lesson, and I gave her a thumbs up and motioned that the lesson was for me.  She smiled, and thanked me.

Is the Lord mindful of us in our affliciton?  Yes, and yes again.  He knows all that is going on, inside and outside of us.  He knows our troubled minds, our aching hearts, and feels the hurts that make us tremble.  He is a God of tender mercies, and works through His servants, to helpHis children to be of good cheer, as they all go through these challenges that afflict their lives. 

The R.S. President handed out this quote, that I retyped and added a lovely picture of Jesus Christ that I found at LDS.org images.  I wanted to share, and thought that you too might want to share this with someone who needs it.  You know, we need this message, from time to time.

Enjoy.  Katie G