Life is full of love

The statement that God is love is so very true. I have witnessed great amounts of love recently. I want to begin with a video I watched this morning with my little girl. I was deeply moved by this video which tells the story of Abraham sacrificing Issac. I learned 2 things from this video the first was the point of it, which was the necessity of obedience and teaching our children to be obedient. Isaac does not struggle but willing obeys his father and is willing to give himself up to the will of the Lord.
The second thing I learned was how great love one can have for their children. I saw Abraham's struggle greatly with this commandment because he loves his son so much. Since this story is symbolic of the saviors sacrifice I felt the pain of God as he allowed his son to be killed for us. The reason being he loves us so much.
I thought about my little girl and cried at the thought of having anything ever hurt her. I love her deeply and I know that God feels the same for each of here on earth.

I also have been the witness of countless others loving examples for me and my family. My parents were willing to give up their car for us. They have worked hard and they did not need to give of their car but because I know that they love me and my family they made a huge sacrifice when our car died.
I saw another friend give of her time as she came and helped my wife finish a project when my wife would not be able to finish it by herself in time.
Today we had a great women that is a member of our church offer us of her resources and money because she knows that is one thing she has the ability to help us with as I am currently unemployed. I saw that love in her eyes as she offered to give of the hard earned money she has made over years of work. What an example of sacrifice and love.
I am grateful for love and pray that I may give of mine worthily, as I have seen so many other do for us of late. 

The peace that God can give us!

I just wanted to share my testimony about my experiences this week.  On May 14 and 15 there was an incredible stake conference where our local leaders truly shared inspirational messages. The first meeting was with leadership that I was fortunate to attend and we discussed President Dieter Uchtdorf's talk from the last General Conference.  It was about living below your privileges as priesthood holders.  It was an amazing talk but we had even more amazing instruction.  During that session I felt inspired to call two members in our ward (congregation) both of which were in need of contact, and I know that God truly works miracles through us.

Then that evening was the adult session of the conference where, even though I learned very little from the actual talks, the spirit was so strong and both Mari and I felt a great peace after the session.  Then Sunday morning was the general session of the conference where we heard from church leaders, and especially Elder Eyring spoke on being wisely optimistic.

Now a little background:  I have been looking for a new job since mid January.  My job at FranklinCovey was not working out and not paying nearly enough to support our family. So we had been praying and fasting about a new job.

Now back to our story: That Sunday evening we were both talking about the incredible peace we felt that things would work out soon.  I would find a new job and God was in control and not to worry.  This feeling of peace was incredible for both of us.  We also decided to have family scripture reading and prayer in the morning with Isabelle every day rather than at night with just the two of us, and we have given up a couple media choices that distracted from the spirit in our home.

Monday morning we had family scripture study and it was a really great morning.  Then as I walked into work my boss was there with a security guard and she asked for my key and told me that it was no longer working for me to be working there because I caused contention on the team, which anyone who knows me and even the other employees would agree I am one of the least contentious people they know.  It really came down to the fact that it was time for me to move on from that position.

As I walked out of the mall to my car and called Mari I felt that same peace we had felt the entire weekend and we both knew this was right.  This week has been incredible. We have spent time as family, we have been consistent with our scripture study; we have just felt wonderful all week.

I want to testify that God truly does love His children and when we put Him first and turn over our problems to him He will carry us through these times of trouble.      

My Savior and Redeemer

I know that my Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ lived on the earth and the atonement was the pinnacle of his life and human history.  Through his atonement I can be cleansed because Christ suffered all the demands of justice, for my sins which bring me further from God my Father. I know Jesus Christ truly lived and is the only begotten of the Father.  As his atonement was the pinnacle the resurrection was its apex.  Christ came forth to do the will of the Father.  He would come down in the humblest of circumstances.  He would be raised in a loving home learning as all children but as he learned he never disobeyed the laws of God. He then stepped forward at the age of 30 to teach and lead his people.  In 3 years he established his church, showed mercy and compassion as well as incredible power.  He taught his higher law and did this by word and action.  This is why he is known as the Prince of Peace, The Light of the World, The Word, The Lamb.  He is the great I AM, Jehovah.  He was perfect in his obedience and example.  All of this culminated in the 3 most important days in history where he took on our sins was crucified and than raised himself from the dead brining the gifts of overcoming physical and spiritual death to all people.

I love my Lord and have shared a couple of other testimonies on this page for your enjoyment.  

Christ is the Bread of Life.

This phrase has been with me recently as I studied John chapter 6 as Christ taught his apostles that is is the bread of life and the living water.  I know that when I come to Christ and rely on him things will go right but when I seek to take things upon myself without his help they fail.  At this point in time I am looking for a new job for many reasons.  I have done everything I can think of and now I need to rely upon the Lord to take me where he would have me go.  I know that God does look down with love upon his children and wants to bless them.  His blessings often come in the form that we learn something and that is a very hard lesson to learn some times.  I have to learn to go where he would have me go and understand it is not about money but providing.  I am learning that lesson through my three jobs since graduation that I need to seek one that brings the most blessings to my family which is not money but time and benefits for them.
Back to the bread of life. only by partaking of what he has to offer which is peace and love and guidance can we be filled.  I have learned that my body can go longer than I thought without food and be okay but my spirit needs Christ daily in order to stay healthy.  He is like bread and water in that as we seek him and obey his laws and commandments we will be filled with things we didn't know we had before.
So on at this Easter season as you partake of a great bounty please remember the bread of life is Christ.

A day of Miracles

The power of Fasting is real and wonderful.  God truly will grant unto us what we need when we need it.  Yesterday was a wonderful sabbath day.  To start at the beginning Saturday we started fasting for several different things and while I was practicing the piano I had an idea on how to go about paying off what we will owe in taxes. It was a peaceful evening. Then Sunday morning we had a truly wonderful sacrament meeting where many got up and shared amazing testimonies about prophets and the Savior.  I was greatly enriched.  I want to share the two stories that most impressed me.  The first Brother was able to attend general conference and he gave the example that when a high ranking official enters an area in the military everyone is called to attention or when the president of the United States enters congress he is announced and all arise.  But at conference when president Monson entered no one announced him but all of the sudden 21,000 people stopped talking and everyone arose until he ushered them to sit. What an amazing experience and what respect all these people have for the mantle of prophet.  The second experience was told about an experience after a particularly tough men's church basketball game.  Many people were upset, there were lots of hard fouls and the game was not filled with an atmosphere of love.  After the game was over a large player walked over to the audience and stretched forth his arms wide open and said, "The church is still true".  As soon as he said it a peaceful spirit settled over the gym and the rest of the tournament was much more peaceful.

Now on to our evening.  Mari, while playing the piano, received an answer to her prayer and she now has an idea of what she needs to do to help support our family.  She will begin teaching art classes next month dealing with painting, puppetry and acting. What a miraculous blessing.

Our last prayer to be answered last night occurred while we were outside on our deck enjoying a beautiful evening reading and working on projects.  Alex our cat jumped off the deck, which she frequently does, but she always goes under the deck and then comes back up.  Tonight she did not come back.  Mari worried so she got a flashlight and looked but Alex was not under the deck!  So we spent the next 2 hours calling for and looking in the dark for our cat Alex, who is not an outdoors cat and not the brightest either.  We prayed and prayed for help to get her home knowing she was lost somewhere in our neighborhood.  Then Mari went out on her bike at about 11:00 pm and for some reason she  rode the opposite way than where she really believed Alex might be.  While riding she saw Alex walking about a 1/2 a block away and she was running away from our house looking very lost.

We are grateful for spirit building days such as yesterday.  

The power of Fasting

A while ago Elder Bednar, one of the leaders of the LDS church, came and spoke to us and one thing he taught was that he had to travel across the world to a 3rd world country to learn about fasting.  A teacher in a class said that fasting was giving up eating when you have the choice to eat.  For these people they ate 1 very meager meal a day which means they would fast for 2-3 days.  Not like most of us that if we fast we do it from 8:00 pm after we ate snacks during a Saturday night movie to 3:00 pm in the afternoon on Sunday claiming we skipped breakfast and lunch.
I am a guilty party in this type of fasting.  So I decided to try to fast for real and to spend as much time thinking about my fast reason as I could.  I know not everyone can do this and luckily I had Monday off so I fasted for about 36 hours and spent a lot of time in prayer.  It was a great experience.  I felt very enlightened and for the first time in a long time actually got something out of my fast.  It was not the length of time that mattered but it was the first truly meaningful fast I fast I have tried in a long time.
I guess what I am saying is I am grateful for this opportunity to fast and what power it has for any of God's children. 

Church welfare.

I really love to read some of the things the church is doing around the world here is a n article about brining water to remote areas of Africa Africa Water Project Brings Happiness.

Here is an article about the churches presence in Haiti A Year Later, Church Continues to Provide Aid to Haiti.

A video of what local members do even in Brazil.

I love this video that the church helps even in small things.

http://lds.org/service/humanitarian/videos?lang=eng

The church is truly amazing in how it reaches out to people and offers service.

I will conclude with something that happened to my family over Christmas. We are not poor but by no means can we give each other really nice gifts. But this year someone from our ward left us a Kitchen-aid mixer by the front door. We still have no idea who it was and we are so blessed that someone thought about us and our need. The mixer has been a blessing when it comes to making homemade food during this year already. The church is full of wonderful people who know how to serve and help our home is furnished mostly from donated furniture and we are richly blessed that we have had to but Isabelle very few things.

For all those out there who serve so faithfully,

thank you.

The blessings I am surrounded by.

This week my back went out which gave me time to think about many of my blessings.  I have so many of them to be grateful for.  My testimony is strengthened every day by the witness that I have what matters most in this life.  My health is here for which I am grateful.  I have an amazing family.  My wife is talented, fun, smart, hot and the love of my life.  My little girl is so cute and fun she loves to walk and talk I just love her. Like Nephi I was born of goodly parents who worked hard and taught me much.  I have great siblings who love the Lord and I love them.  I have a beautiful home to live in that keeps us warm and allows the spirit to reside here. I have everything someone needs plus more.   I have a job and even if I am looking for a new one I am grateful that I have something to provide for my family while I am looking.  I have goals to reach towards and great friends to help me.  I have freedom and peace.
I also have the Church which helped me to learn and come to know Jesus Christ whom I am most grateful for.  I have a loving Father in heaven who knows me and cares for me in-spite of my rebellious nature.
I am richly blessed by the Lord and I wanted everyone to know that is ow I feel tonight.      

It's a new year!

A new year is a cause of reflection and a chance to improve oneself. The question for most people is how (besides getting in shape). The true litmus test is how each year we are growing closer to the savior and his example. I love my savior so very much and my ultimate goal is to become like him. I hope you try to do the same.