Mothers Day.....

Mothers Day is just around the corner!!!!! I got the dreaded phone call yesterday afternoon, the one where you answer the phone and your not really sure who it is. When you realize it's a member of the bishopric and you wish you would have let it go to voicemail... your first thought is crap I'm getting a new calling, and then you realize NOPE it's WORSE. I have to speak in Sacrament meeting.... UGH! I don't know what it is about this time of year, but it always seems I get called on to speak on or around Mothers Day. So no surprise, I chose to use the talk "Mothers and Daughters" by M. Russell Ballard.

Preparing the talk has had me thinking a lot about my own mother and the other women in my life who have guided my path! I have a few I would like to thank!

MY MOMMA: She has an unshaken testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. She truly is the one person who held our family together through faith and prayer and sweat. We never had to question whether we had her love, respect and support! She has also carried me through many of my own trials. (love you momma, thank you :))

My Sister KELLY: Kelly has been through many trials that no woman should ever have to go through. Yet, she kept her head up, forgave and moved on with her life with hardly ever a word of complaint. Kelly is who I turn to for advice, because I know she will give it to me straight and put me in my place if it calls for it. Kelly is who I also turn to for a good friend and a fun time! (love you sis!)

My Sisters RUTH and FERNIE: You may not be my sisters by blood, but you have apart of my family for as long as I can remember! I turn to you for fun but appreciate the way you have both made me open my mind, look at the world around me and take myself a little less seriously. I also appreciate how you have always had my back :) (love you both sooooo sooooo much!)

Sister PATTY DURBY: Sister Durby taught me in the temple prep classes right before I went to the temple for the first time. It was just me and her and her testimony then has stuck with me throughout my life. Sister Durby truly is a woman of God!

LYNDSEY ESTES: (Sister Durby's daughter): has been one of my best friends throughout my life as a teenager and as an adult. As we grew up Lyndsey married and now has a beautiful family! However, she always took time to talk with me and give me advice and love me as her own sister! Her gentle kindness made her a valuable friend! (thank you Lyndsey)

SISTER RIRIE : My mission mom! You are a woman full of grace and quiet dignity. For the 18 month I was in the mission field she was there to give encouragement and hugs just when they were needed. At times those hugs felt like they came directly from my own mother! You are the kind of women I want to be! (thank you for your love!)

"MOTHERHOOD IS NOT WHAT WAS LEFT OVER AFTER THE FATHER BLESSED HIS SONS WITH PRIESTHOOD ORDINATION. IT WAS THE MOST ENNOBLING ENDOWMENT HE COULD GIVE HIS DAUGHTERS, A SACRED TRUST THAT GAVE WOMEN AN UNPARALLELED ROLE IN HELPING HIS CHILDREN KEEP THEIR SECOND ESTATE."

-ELDER MATTHEW COWLEY

Change Will Come

A wise man once said, "you can choose to be humble, or you can be compelled to be humble." Today, I was compelled. Their are a lot of things in my past that I am not proud of, especially in this past year. At times I have wondered why I do the things I do, or say the things I say... I don't know the answer to it yet, but maybe in time I will understand. My best friend in Utah, the one person who's opinion matters to me, who's approval is important put me in my place today by simply saying "STOP!" I am proud of her for doing that. I am proud of her for making me feel like I need to Stop, and evaluate, and change. THANK YOU!

This is what I know...

COUNT YOUR MANY BLESSINGS NAME THEM ONE BY ONE, AND IT WILL SURPRISE YOU WHAT THE LORD HAS DONE...

I don't often bare my testimony, but I was recently reading through a copy of an old journal and found an entry where I had made a list of the things I knew, I thought it might be fun to do that again...

1. We are children of God, and He loves us. I use to think as a child that if I were to sin that I would receive punishment for that sin. When I broke mom and dads rules I got a spanking or they grounded me... If I broke one of Gods rules he would give just punishment in physical form as well. ex.) I would be in a car accident, or hurt myself in some way. THIS IS NOT TRUE! Thank goodness our Father in Heaven dose not execute punishment in such a way. He loves us perfectly! He knows us personally! and He wants us to trust in Him and FOLLOW HIM!

2. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World. I AM A SINNER. I have never claimed to be a perfect person, but I know that through the Atonement, when truly seeked we can be forgiven and made clean and whole through the blood of Christ. I've recently began to understand the meaning behind the phrase "godly sorrow" I've come to understand that repentance and receiving forgiveness is not feeling guilt for wrong choices, it is not putting in time periods of sustaining from sin. It is having a change of HEART, It is recognizing that your sin caused our SAVIOR great pain and suffering. It is feeling remorse and sorrow for being a cause of such pain and a desire to change your actions and sin no more. "Now the Spirit knoweth all things: nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold this is the testimony which is in me" -Alma 7:13

3. Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, He restored the fullness of Christ gospel on the earth and Thomas S. Monson is the Lords prophet on the earth today! I had a special love for Gordon B. Hinkley he was the prophet of my childhood and much of my adult life. This past weekend as I listened to Thomas S. Monson speak in General Conference I gained this same feeling of love for him as a prophet of God and as the leader of the Lords true church.

4. I LOVE being in the temple. This past Sunday I drove to the Provo temple and watched missionaries take pictures and was reminded of a moment in a temple interview given by President Templin. He asked me "Sister Carrier, is a temple marriage important to you?" My response then was " I WILL SETTLE FOR NOTHING LESS!" I have at times lost sight of that conviction, and have almost settled for much much less... I am grateful for the atonement, and that through true repentance I will one day be able to have the full blessings of the temple and a temple marriage in my life!

5. The prieshood is Gods power on earth! I have seen and felt the miracles of the priesthood in my life countless times. I am grateful that the Lord has given this power to worth men to bless lives and homes! I am grateful that I grew up in a home where the priesthood was present and respected.

These are just a few of my blessings, just a few of the things that I know, but they are GREAT! I love the gospel, I am so grateful to have it in my life...

....the most important people in our lives accept us for who we are..not who they think we should be

The most important people in our lives accept us for who we are, not who they think we should be...

Have you ever been judged? Have you ever been judged by someone who had no right to judge you? This seems to be he topic starting out this week for me and my buddy. I was put in my place by someone who had no right to say a word because they have done much worse. Plus, they JUMPED TO CONCLUSIONS and didn't even know what they were talking about, AND I'M NOT GOING TO CORRECT THEM. Then one of my best friends was disowned by his family for coming out to them. The people in our lives who are supposed to accept us and love us for who we are judge us and make us feel tiny. THE BEST PART... It doesn't seem to bother them that they hurt you.

Well, here's a toast to you and me BOO! We will forever be each others family! Love You!

LOVE

This is conference weekend, a BIG deal for most LDS families. I sat down this morning to watch conference and was pierced to my very soul by the first talk in the Sunday secion. President Uchtdorf spoke on the subject of LOVE, a subject that has been heavy on my mind this past week.

I had an argument at the begining of the week about being to loving...I was told that I treated others to kindly, that I cared to much. I responded with "I won't apologize for being to kind" and then argued within myself or not for the rest of the week wondering if this person was right. I often do things for others, and at times I do get hurt because those things are unappreciated. After listening to conference this morning I realize that this person is wrong. THERE IS NOT ENOUGH LOVE IS THIS WORLD, and I will continue to give mine to those in need of it. IF it makes your uncomfortable DEAL WITH IT!