Taking the Bus to Kolob

  Note:  Hi.  I'm John Barney.  I interrupt my BOM Blog to bring you the following hiatus...


That's me with college friends Laura, Serena, Kelly & Jocelyn next to our newly built church building back in about '95.  I'm the one that ain't pretty.  I've since had to gain a few pounds and start dying my hair gray in order to remain humble.

Today I'm doing a guest post on Jocelyn's blog.  I know Jocelyn from college days at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio back in the mid-90s.  Jocelyn asked me and some others to write a little some'm about The Family Proclamation, which the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints published in 1995.  She left it up to each of us to do our own thing.  Here's mine...

Let's get it started....

It's only been in the last 3 years or so that I've started to really know my wife, Emilie.  At my age (45), you might be surprised at that, but considering the lillies of the fiel... er... considering Emilie and I only met a week before I turned 42, I think you'll understand. 

In the LDS subculture, being divorced has somewhat of a negative stigma attached to it, though that's becoming less so, which is actually sad because that probably has a lot to do with the growing number of divorces.  Nevertheless, that stigma is not nearly so stigmatic as being a life-long, single, LDS man of 42.  In the past, when people would ask me about my non-existent wife and kids and grand kids (that's the gray hair's fault) in my life, their reaction at learning of my "menace to society" status was always, "No way!"  This was taken partly complimentary, since I was happy that they saw me as marry-able, and partly devastating because it reinforced the loser self-image that was constantly trying to fight its way into my head. 

When accused of being too picky, I would tell people I had only 2 requirements in choosing a wife.  They'd say, "What are they?"  This was said in a very "expecting something unreasonable and/or funny" tone.  I'd tell them:

ONE

I must love her

TWO

She must love me

CATCH

They must happen at the same time

Glad that worked out for me

I can tell you from experience that it is not easy to remain steadfast in the gospel without being yoked to a supportive partner.  Lots and lots of people do it, but it ain't easy.  Enduring to the end was meant to be a team effort.  My testimony was never rocky ("Yo, Adrian!!"), but my enthusiasm lacked enthusiasm every now and again. I used to quote the giant turtle in "Neverending Story":  When Atreyu asked him if he cared about anything, he says, "We don't even care that we don't care."  I went innactive for 7 weeks once (a new record) and lost my calling as youth Sunday School Teacher.  I really felt bad about that one.  Nevertheless, I am still here.  I will always be here, inside the fence.  That's a promise I made to myself and to The Lord a long time ago when things got somewhat challenging.  My Heavenly Father and I would take some long walks together back then, and discuss the matters (like, what was the matters with me?).

A few years back I was asked to give a talk in Stake Conference (in front of a couple thousand people) on the topic "Enduring to the end in a non-traditional family."  There sure are a lot of people that fit into that label.  Singles, divorced, widowed, part member families, part active families, unable to have kids, not to mention (and we often don't) same sex attraction issues.  It's a long list.  People lined up after the meeting to let me know they appreciated me for representing them and giving them a voice.  One of those people was my friend Lynsie, who sat in the audience thinking that I would make a good match for her sister, Emilie.  You just never know The Lord's plan.  I honestly used to think that The Family Proclamation didn't so much apply to me.  Like the photographer in a family, I just wasn't in the picture.  I hate it when truth is only truth for somebody else. What a dumb thing to think. 

There are two doctrines (of many) contained in The Family Proclamation that have given me strength to lean on in order to be able to continue my activity in the Gospel of Jesus Christ when I'd start to feel paralyzed.

One:  Heavenly Father loves me.

I can't deny that there were times during my lonely sojourn that I felt some bitterness toward God.  I felt that I must have missed my opportunity to have a family due to some sin on my part, or maybe just because I was too shy at the wrong moment.  It ticked me off to think there was some point along the way that the person I was to marry was there, but for lack of being able to hear the whispering of the Spirit, missed her because of being somewhere between sin and repentance, especially being privy as I was to some of my happy friends' past dirty laundry.  I tried to not believe this was the case, but those unhealthy and unholy thoughts oozed through the fissures in my mind like lava, boiling my brain into a nasty batch of self-pity soup.



Two:  It's His Plan.  I accepted His Plan.  His plan is that I come to earth and obtain a huge physical body, and gain the earthly experience I personally need to progress toward perfection and Eternal Life.  And, it is also true that my wife Emilie needs to gain the experience that she personally needs to progress toward perfection.  Since Em and I were always meant to always be together, always, who the crap am I to say when our meeting should have taken place?????  Who am I?????

Jean Valjean knows who he is - From Les Miserables.

Ooooh, I'm driving my life away, looking for a sunny day...

-Eddie Rabbit, 1980

After graduating from Miami University in 1996 at the ripe old age of 29, and working here and there for a couple of years, it became necessary to move home and help my Dad take care of my Mom.  I landed a desperation job driving a city bus.  It was supposed to be a temporary job, but I stayed. 

Now, one doesn't need a BA Degree in History and Psychology from Miami University to become a bus driver, so it was difficult not to constantly question my life, especially when I struggled to pay my outrageous student loan payments.  BYU and UVU students who rode my bus would often try to encourage me to go to school so that I could get a real career.  They were trying to be encouraging.  They were being dumb.

The "I'm a loser" thoughts often used their CDL -Class B licenses to drive through my brain as I carried folks to and fro.  Refer with me once again to the 2nd doctrine above... "...gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection...and Eternal Life."  Can I progress toward Eternal Life in a bus?  You betchya!

Em's and mine's first date was actually on the bus.  She rode with me on my last northbound trip one night, and then came to my house to watch a movie.  In fact, one of our songs is that one by Norah Jones that says, "Come away with me on a bus."  Did I mention that Em lived in Cedar City, Ut at that time (200 miles south)?  Did I mention that her car had been totalled the day before she was to travel to her parents' house for Thanksgiving?  Did I mention that she rented a car to go, but then there was a big snow storm in the mountain pass between Cedar City and her parents' house?   So, Em drove the 200 miles up to where I live in Spanish Fork to ride with her sister Lynsie, and they left a day later than planned.  That's the day we went for our bus ride.  

I honestly don't know how to express, in a blog post or in any medium, the strength of my conviction that Heavenly Father loves me, that Jesus Christ died for me, that Jesus Christ now lives.  I'm grateful to know of my own Divine Nature and Destiny, as well as my wife's Divine Nature and Destiny.  I'm grateful that our two Destinies are sealed for Eternity.  I'm not really a loser; never was one, the Proclamation says so.  But, and this is a big but, Emilie is the proof that I needed in order to know for sure.  Sad, but true. 

This is me not falling for Emilie.  Taken at Cedar Breaks NM, Utah -by my brudder-in-law  Parker Grimes

In conclusion:



Em's and mine's date to Kolob Canyon (part of Zion National Park).

His plan doesn't necessarily match my plan

When I planned my life out as a young feller, I was quite sure of the following: 

1. I would go on an LDS mission to Japan at age 19 (I went to Kentucky at age 20)
2. I would go to BYU from age 21-25 (I went to Miami of Ohio from age 25-29)
3. I would marry in the Temple at age 23 and have 5 or 6 kids (Married at 43; she has 3 kids)
4. I would work for IBM, or someplace like that, and make over $50,000/year (Nope)

When things didn't work out like I planned, it was all I could do to maintain hope for family happiness until I was 41.  At that point I really and truly gave it up.  No kidding.  I gave up.  A year later I met Emilie and everything changed.  The Family Proclamation is alive and well and hanging on my wall. 

This is me and my family. The oldest got married in June. They are (L to R): Sydnie, Weston, Ashley, McKay, Emilie and yours truly.  This was also taken by Em's brudder Parker.  He's the guy I was telling you about that's never in the picture.

And so...

My advice for those of you getting close to, or having already passed, your "give-up point": 

• Your Heavenly Father loves you.

• It's His plan.  You accepted it.  You need whatever experience you need to progress toward perfection and obtain Eternal Life.

Closing hymn...

The wheels on the bus go round and round, unless you get a flat; it happens;

The driver on the bus says, "shut the heck up," or at least thinks it;

And that's how the bus took me to Kolob.



Thanks for stopping by...

Peace be with you.

Be sure to check out today's other insightful posts about the Family Proclamation on the following blogs:

    

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Personal Jesus

I always think its interesting to see how different people depict Jesus Christ in art.  I appreciate their talent in bringing to life their rendition of the Savior, when it is done with sincerity.  Some depictions jive with how I envision the Lord and others don't.  Personally, I appreciate my kids' depictions of Jesus, and how freely they express their love for and interest in him.

During scripture study this morning, Guy grabbed a pair of scissors and cut out the figure pictured above.  Then he announced quite matter-of-factly, "This is Jesus."

What he reminded me of this morning is something that has been weighing on my heart a lot lately...He reminded me that the Savior comes to and speaks to each of us in a way that is personal and unique.  Therefore, our view of the Savior, and how we understand him, tends to be uniquely personal to each one of us, as well.

And that's ok.  That's how he means it to be.  I am thankful today for a very personal Savior.

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A True Friend by MMM

I am completely hooked on the blog of today's guest writer: "Middle-aged Mormon Man".  
It all started when he blew the lid off of Satan's secret War Room.  Instant classic.  


Then he explained some other mysteries of life...like why you'll never hear about flowers in the Priesthood session of Conference.  And his post about failed family mottos still has me roaring.  You'll want to run over there and check him out...AFTER this guest post from the Middle-aged Mormon Man, himself.  Welcome to the Forum, MMM!

Thanks to Jocelyn for inviting me to write a guest post. She is a brave one, that Jocelyn.


Yes, I am probably the only person who would ever reference "The Emperor's New Groove" when discussing sacred texts. (If you haven't seen the movie, you are missing out - but I digress...)


Here goes...

As the Emperor Kuzco is introducing his advisor Yzma, he momentarily focuses on a piece of something that is wedged between her teeth. (I'm sure glad that has never happened to me.) It got me wondering about proper etiquette in this situation.

So I asked my lovely EC (eternal companion) a simple question that I pose to all of you:

If you are out to lunch with your friends, and something unsightly becomes stuck in your teeth, would you want one of your friends to:

     a)  Discreetly tell you ASAP.

     b)  Wait until you get in the parking lot and then tell you.

     c)  Not tell you at all, and let you discover it for yourself, later.

My wife immediately said "A". She told me that it would be embarrassing, but that a true friend would not make her wait to find out - and that she might even be a bit disappointed in a friend that left her hanging. Coming home from lunch and finding the offending piece of lettuce is not a good feeling.  (For guys it's a little easier - they would just point, laugh and say "Dude, that's disgusting" - leaving the offender wondering what they are talking about.)

Basically, the point I am trying to make, is that a true friend - the best kind of friend - is not willing to spare you a little discomfort in order to help you. We all need those kind of friends.

However, we live in a world where everyone is highly focused on telling each other that they are just fine. You are special just the way you are! *kiss kiss*. People love to excuse themselves by saying "If you love me, you'll accept me the way I am." That is so much nonsense! We excel at self-justification, and crave to be around people who indulge us. "Enabling" has become a common word in the vocabulary of modern relationships.

In the recent General Conference, the Apostle D. Todd Christofferson said:

"If we do not invite others to change, or if we do not demand repentance of ourselves, we fail in a fundamental duty we owe to one another and ourselves. A permissive parent, and indulgent friend, a fearful church leader are in reality more concerned about themselves than the welfare and happiness of those they could help." (Full address here)

Yikes! An Apostle telling us to step out of our comfort zones and to be true friends? Yup. But at the same time, we know that a true friend is there when we need advice, when we are struggling, and when we need comfort. No one wants a friend whose sole mission in life is to point out our flaws - just one who loves us enough to be willing to do it when necessary.

I would like to introduce you to a true friend:

This book is one of my best friends. It is there to:

-comfort me when I am grieving,

-counsel me when I am struggling,

-give me peace when I am in turmoil,

and

-call me out when I need it.

It is not a book that indulges me in my shortcomings, and when I think I am doing just fine *kiss kiss*, the Lord's prophets tell me things like this:

"And others he will pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea Zion prospereth, all is well - and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell." (2 Nephi 28:21)

Apparently I DO have something in my teeth! And my fly is down.

Some of the greatest examples of true friends were Book of Mormon prophets who were called to deliver hard messages to people that did not want to hear them. Samuel the Lamanite delivered his message as the arrows rained down around him. Do you think Nephi ever had a better friend?

Abinadi was burned at the stake for preaching to people who had no interest in what he had to say - except one. Alma. Can you imagine the great reunion between Alma and Abinadi in the next life?

The Book of Mormon is a true friend. It teaches us of our Saviors love, it teaches us how to follow him. It also calls us out and helps us as we try to become more like Him.

Isn't that what a true friend does?

Thanks, MMM.

Don't miss this week's Book of Mormon Blog Hop...Read many wonderful testimonies and link-up your own below:

A giveaway for this blog hop has been provided by the Etsy Shop
 Express Yourself Vinyl

The will be three winners of the following "I know the Scriptures are True" lip balm.  

(Makes a great stocking stuffer!)

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I feel a blog post coming on...

Hello, friends...for that is what you truly are.

If you've been hanging around here for at least a little while, hopefully you've figured out that I have a deep appreciation for things that are old, things that have a story.  I enjoy discovering the heart and soul behind everything that comes into my life--whether it be a new friend, a special dish or a unique piece of furniture.

I don't know if this is recent (since becoming a blogger), part of my training as a journalist, or if I have just always thought this way, but I tend to see small details in life, not as mundane or common, but as significant nuggets of discovery that intertwine to create the grand eternal story line that is my life...and the lives of everyone I know.

A few weeks ago, our family welcomed its newest member:  a 1927 Brambach baby grand piano!

I am so happy with it!  You wouldn't believe how much joy this piano has already brought into my life.  I feel like crying just thinking about how special this piano is...and the special way that it came to reside in our home.  

I had asked for a piano last Christmas.  We looked at one on Craig's list, and it had been badly abused, so we passed.  Then a few weeks ago, a neighbor of mine Facebooked me to tell me that she had seen a piano on Craig's list and thought of me.

When I checked online, I did not see the one that she mentioned, but I saw this one:

Isn't she a BEAUTY?  I mean, seriously.  And the price was nice as well.  I raced over to check it out that same night, and when I heard it play, I fell in love.  A rush of good memories flooded back to me of my mother's beautiful grand piano, the one that we all received lessons from her on as kids.

On the night that we were supposed to move our piano, our friend with the truck was unavailable, so I didn't confirm with any of our other friends about moving it and thought I'd try again the following week.  At about 8pm that night, I realized our friend was actually home earlier than he thought he'd be, so I raced home to get Steve on-board with moving a piano that evening.

Let's just say, he wasn't psyched.  He said, "We don't even know if our friend with the truck can really come, we haven't lined up anyone to help us, we haven't called the owners"...on top of that Steve was tired.  Just then, our doorbell rings, quite unexpectedly.  We open the door to find our new bishop standing on our front porch. He says, "I hear you've got a piano that needs to be moved?  My wife sent me over here...are you still doing that tonight."

Steve starts to send him away, since we don't have the truck lined up...and just as he's walking him out...our friend pulls up...with his long flatbed trailer.  Bingo!  About an hour and a half later the piano was ours!

The next morning, we decided to surprise the children with the piano.  Steve kept them upstairs while I ran down and started playing their favorite Primary songs. They were thrilled.  I find it relaxing personally to sit down and play hymns, and it brings a very noticeable added measure of the spirit into our home every single day.

When I play it, I think about my relationship with piano and with music in general.  I ponder things like why I was unable to really hunker down and practice the piano and to master it when I was young and when I was living with such a wonderful teacher (my mom).  I think about how I picked it back up again while I was in college. On Sundays, there wasn't much else to do in the dorms, so I would sneak down to the living room and practice hymns. (I'm not very good, don't get any ideas!)  I think about what a strength that was to me then and what a strength this piano is going to be to us now.

Before bed the other night, Steve quoted a scene from The Sound of Music when the father says, "You've brought music back into the house."  (Leave it to me to marry a man who can quote one of my favorite movies...and not even realize it until we've been married 7 years!)  We both laughed.  But it is so true.  And it feels so right to have the gift of music--real, live music that you create yourself, in our home.

The thing that struck me the most about the piano is its age.  It blows me away that in 1927, the Brambach piano company built an instrument of such high quality and standards that nearly 100 years later, it would still be just as valuable, bring just as much joy, continue to teach valuable life-lessons, entertain, enlighten, and bring beauty to the homes of families for generations...particularly my family and my home.  

As someone who has grown up in a "throw-away society" this just boggles my mind...and makes me love and appreciate this piano even more.

Steve decided to take it apart this evening to clean it and make some adjustments.  He uncovered this...Signatures from a previous owner or tuner.  It says "4/14/43, G. J. Smith" and is signed again in 1947.  You know I couldn't resist adding my name and date as well.  (I'm sure I just blew my chances of this thing making a killing on Antique Roadshow, but oh well! :)  Steve should have really been the one to sign it.  He's already leveled out most of the keys.  What a good and capable man, I have!

Here is Steve tinkering with the action.  (Remember how we acquired our kitchen table?)  Moments later, inside the piano, Steve discovered this:

A hairpin...just like the hairpin that I found while refinishing my Great-grandma's dresser many years ago.  Coincidence?  Perhaps, but a sweet reminder to me of loved ones passed, and that they are smiling down upon me.

So what is the moral of this story? I am still living it, so I'm not quite sure I can say definitively, but as I think about this piano and all that it and the people involved with bringing this piano to us means to me...I think about testimony.  Testimony is like having faith, but with understanding and a witness from the Holy Ghost sprinkled in.

Here are a few thoughts:

Testimony of truth cannot be borrowed.  My mother did her best to teach me to play, but try as she did, she could not transfer the musical knowledge and skill that she had acquired over a lifetime to her child in a series of basic lessons.

The desire to have a testimony...to believe...must come from inside and cannot be forced.  When I finally wanted to know how to play the piano, in college, I was willing to put in the time to learn.  Until I wanted to understand, I could not be forced to know anything.

Faith is the substance (or assurance) of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.  If you have ever tried to learn to play the piano, you might have discovered, as I did, that it takes a very different set of skills than are required to learn most other things.  In school, we learn by reading/seeing/hearing what we are to learn.  While playing a piano, one must learn by touch or feel which are the right keys to be played.  When we learn things of a spiritual nature it requires us to develop a very similar skill...to experience the world by trusting what we feel (by the Spirit) and trusting in things that we hope for but cannot see. 

In our lives, we receive a witness of our faith only after we act on that faith.  Just as, only after we strike the keys, do we receive a confirmation in our ears of the rightness (or wrongness) of the keys we have played. 

Our testimony of truth must be maintained or we will lose our faith.  I wonder  just how many times this piano has been tuned over the last 90 or so years.  It sounds pretty good for not having been tuned in ten years.  You wouldn't know it was out of tune by just looking at it.  I can even play a recognizable tune, but certain notes, when played send out a pretty horribly out-of-tune sound which destroys the melody.  When I hear these particular notes in a song, I back up in the music and try again, certain that it must be a mistake that I have made in playing an incorrect note.  Before I realize that it is just out of tune, I am discouraged and would prefer to switch songs to avoid the disharmonious note.

Like an untuned piano, having a testimony that has not been "tuned" or is out of use can lead us to doubt and even walk away from the great and beautiful opus that God has created for each of us.

This life is the time to prepare to meet God...our time to gain a testimony of Him.  How many people touched this piano?  How many little children sat for hours on its bench clumsily banging out a tune until their time for practice was up?  Although, signs of their association with this piano still linger, they are long dead and gone.  Their initials, that hairpin are distant reminders to me that they had their time with this piano...their time to learn from it, appreciate it, master it, love it...or not.  Now is my time.

This life is our time to gain the necessary understanding or testimony of who God is...of who we are, and to act on that understanding.  This life is our time to prepare to meet God.

Time will pass all too quickly.  And my opportunity to learn and become the person I am to become in this life will be over in the blink of an eye.

Let us make the best use of testimony and of time.

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"I want to believe in God again."

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In September, I asked my friends on Facebook to email me with any questions that they might have for me about The Book of Mormon or what we, as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe.

I was pleasantly surprised when I received a response from someone I knew in my teens.  


He had grown up as a devout member of a certain religion, but lost confidence in that faith after sex scandals rocked the church.  He started to wonder why God would allow innocent children to suffer in that way, at the hands of people who professed to be men of faith.  While struggling with these questions, he eventually lost his faith in his religion and God all together.  


He now describes himself as agnostic.  He believes that we came from a higher power, but isn't quite sure what/who that higher power is.  Although my friend considers himself to be agnostic, I thought his note actually displayed great faith and a sincere hope that God would make Himself known to him.  


My friend writes, "I want to believe in God again.  I want someone to pray to in difficult times...I want to believe again that I will see my Grandparents in Heaven.  I want to believe my wife and I will spend eternity together, and that I will always keep an eye on my children after I am gone."  He believes in the eternal nature of families so much that he had "till death do us part" removed from his wedding vows.


He ended his email with this question:  "How does your church view God?  How do other churches view God?...I know that if any of my friends can help it is you!"  


(Hello, pressure!!)


Could there be a more important question to answer in this life than "Who is God?"


I have been thinking about his questions and his email ever since he sent it.  But it wasn't until this morning that I found time to sit down and ponder the answer.  From 5-7am this morning, I read and studied.  I started with a prayer, then my mind was immediately lead to many of the answers that I was seeking.


I ended up with a list of 10 things that I know about God, which I will share with you in just a minute.  I know these things because of scripture (both from the Bible and The Book of Mormon) and because of modern revelation.  So to my friend I say: I will not go into detail about what every other religion teaches about God, but I do know that no other religion teaches what I am going to tell you right now.  


The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: "It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God."  Elder Bruce R. McConkie, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ in our modern day, has added, "[Knowing the character of God] is the rock foundation upon which all true religion is based."


Now these are my words:  This "rock foundation"...this clear knowledge of the true nature of God was destroyed during the centuries of apostasy that occurred when the apostles of Jesus Christ were murdered in the first century.


I believe that every Christian religion that exists today is doing their very best to pick up the pieces of truth left behind when Christ's church was taken from the earth.


Only The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims to be the original church of Jesus Christ--which has been restored to the earth by Jesus Christ himself.  He appeared to Joseph Smith, who was just 14 years old at the time.  He was just a boy, who was, like yourself, honestly seeking to know what he should do next...and which church he should join.


As a result, God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith, instructed him to join none of the churches currently on the earth, because none of them contained the fullness of the gospel.  


Through this uneducated, innocent boy of fourteen, the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ restored his true and full gospel, which includes a restored knowledge of the true nature, character, and form of God, the authority to seal on earth what is sealed in heaven (including sealing families together forever), and the translation of The Book of Mormon, which teaches more about Jesus Christ, in plain language, than any other book.

Bruce R. McConkie has said, "We know the truth about God, because of what God has said and done in our own day, and not because of the fragments of what he said thousands of years ago, which has been passed through the generations."


When Joseph Smith called The Book of Mormon the keystone of our religion, and promised that men would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book, he was also saying that by reading and living the doctrines found in the Book of Mormon, "we can know God more perfectly, more completely, more intimately, more thoroughly, and more profoundly than by any other means."


In our church, we learn about the nature of God from the very earliest age.  My daughter Autumn is only two years old, and she already knows a lot more about the true nature and form of God than most people in the world.


As you can imagine, this is a large topic to tackle in a blog post.  There are intricacies about coming to know God personally that would take a lifetime/an eternity to discover, let alone to explain to another person, but here is my best effort to share with you, what I know about God, and what we as Mormons know about him and the rest of the Godhead.  


As I mentioned before.  You will not hear these truths, compiled so completely, in any other religion.  These truths, however were known by people in past dispensations of time (starting with Adam & Eve).  They were revealed in each time period through God's prophets (i.e. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses on through Jesus Christ, and again through Joseph Smith).  


These truths are sprinkled all throughout the Bible and The Book of Mormon, and are free for all to study and search out for themselves.  Here are:

10 truths that I know about God:

1.  We all existed with God before we came to earth. (Abraham 3:22, Revelations 12:7-9)


2.  He knew us...and we knew him. (Jeremiah 1:5)


3.  We are literally his spirit children...his off-spring. (Hebrew 12:9)


4.  All human beings--male and female--are created in the image of God. (Moses 6:9)


5.  In addition to being all-powerful/omniscient, Our Heavenly Father is a personal being who hears and answers our prayers and cares about the details of our lives. (Alma 26:35, Alma 26:37)


6.  God has a body of flesh and bone, with all of the passions that such beings experience. (Ether 3:15-16, Luke 24:36-43, Read more about the fact that God has a body here.)


7.  The "Godhead" is actually made up of three separate and distinct beings that act as one in purpose. (D&C 130:22)


8.  In the meridian of time God sent his Son, Jesus Christ to earth: (2 Nephi 2:21-26)  -to Atone for our sins, to show us the way to return to our heavenly home, to manifest to the world the nature and kind of being that God is. (Read more scripture references about the mission of Jesus Christ here.)


9.  We are God's noblest creation. (Moses 1:39)


10.  It is our destiny, potential, and mission to become like our Heavenly Father. (1 John 3:2, 3 Nephi 27:27,  D&C 130:1)


Joseph Smith said that "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves." 


There is so much to know about God, and I believe, no, I know that He is willing to let us get to know him if we are humble, if we ask in prayer, and if we are willing to follow Him.  


My testimony comes from the truths that I have shared here, truths that I have been taught all of my life, but my real personal knowledge of God comes from my personal interactions with Him.  


He lives.  He loves us.  He is our Father in Heaven, and like a good father, he waits for us to return to him, to seek his advice, and to build a relationship with him that will last forever.

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The Lord Weighs Things Differently...

I found these points from President Uchtdorf's talk today, very comforting.

I am sure that anyone who has a love/hate relationship with the scale will appreciate his imagery too!

1.  God loves the humble & meek

2.  The Lord trusts the fullness of the gospel to be spread by the weak & simple

3.  No matter how ordinary...You are not invisible to your Heavenly Father.

4.  The loneliness that you experience now is not how eternity will be...

You can listen to more of conference this weekend here.

For us east-coasters, the next sessions begins at 4pm.

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You be you, she'll be Sister Dew

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Two wonderful things happened this evening, and I'm not sure which event I'm more excited about!

First, I received my first email from a reader who would like me to send her a copy of The Book of Mormon!  I am overjoyed to share my favorite book with her!

Second, which to many of you might actually be your first on the list:  I was honored to participate in a meeting with Sheri Dew, Emily Watts (also of Deseret Book) and a dozen of my very favorite bloggers.  

Among other things, we discussed the significance and power of blogging. (Sister Dew called it the new "backyard fence" where ideas are exchanged and things happen as a result!).  

We also heard about the new books that they have coming out including what sounds like a pretty amazing companion study for President Monson's biography called "The Teachings of President Monson".  You can read more about it here and order it here.

If you loved "To the Rescue", which I did, you are going to love this one even more.  It has a very useful index of key doctrinal teachings by President Monson listed alphabetically in the back of the book, making it easy to incorporate his teachings in church lessons, at home, or on your blog.

The meeting took place in Utah, and of course, I was at home in Pennsylvania at the time.  Isn't technology wonderful?

One other thought that Sister Dew shared, that I wanted to pass on to you this evening, is that "The Lord needs all of us."  She suggests that women by and large underestimate the power of their influence.   She said that she is "evidence that God will use anybody," despite short-comings.  

Sister Dew added, "I find myself in many situations where there is no model for what I am doing.  No one has done it before." Each of us is unique, but we each have something to offer.  We should ask ourselves what we have that we can place on the alter for God to use.  Then it is up to each of us to work hard to demonstrate to the Lord that we can be trusted.  Then when he knows that he can trust us, he will use us to do great things, in our homes, in our jobs, with our neighbors and friends, and online.

It was so great to participate in such a candid conversation with such a wise woman/group of women!  Thanks to everyone involved in organizing this meeting for inviting me!

Ok, that's all of the excitement that I have to share with you "over the backyard fence" tonight!  Two wonderful, beautiful experiences!  I will be back tomorrow with some of the best posts from our General Conference link-up and the giveaway winner!

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