When I sat down to eat breakfast and finally decided to free the September issue of the Ensign from it's mailing plastic, what was the first thing that caught my eye, right there on the cover? "How justice and mercy free us from bondage, pg 16" I had time to read this article written by one of my favorite apostles, Jeffery R Holland. One of the things he said was" I believe with all my heart that if we can repent of our sins, if we can be charitable with the sins of others, if we can take courage toward our circumstances and want to do something about them, the living Father of us all will reach down and, in the scriptural term, 'bear [us] up as on eagles' wings'"
I could hardly believe my eyes when I read that this morning. I thought, boy I must still be forgetting something or haven't learned enough...... or maybe all that I had been learning needed to be backed up (or in spiritual terms testified of) and that is why I keep running into this topic day after day. I brought the magazine upstairs with me and put it in my church bag because I had to know what else was in there.
While waiting to take the sacrament I pulled out the magazine again and read some more and came across "The lord never shouted at me." The thoughts I had been having reaffirmed there again in print. The little pull out emphasis to this article was give by another favorite apostle, Richard G Scott. "I offer some final thoughts for those who love a family member who is not making good choices. That can challenge our patience and endurance. We need to trust in the Lord and in His timing that a positive response to our prayers and rescue efforts can occur. We do all that we can to serve, to bless, and to submissively acknowledge God's will in all things...With faith we can know that this straying loved one is not abandoned but is in the watchcare of a loving Savior." "Recognize the good in others, not their stains. At times a stain needs appropriate attention to be cleansed, but always build on his or her virtues."
The crescendo was the topic of the sacrament meeting talks today given by my twin and my "daughter"..... SERVICE. Not such a surprising topic given the fact that my "daughter" leaves for her mission on Tuesday. What was surprising was the direction and again that straight line of experiences that I have been having on the subject.
My twins talk was superb and talked about everything that I have been trying and probably failing at saying. The difference between Charity and Service. The word Charity is what I have been trying to hone in on and all that encompasses in all my recent posts. She talked about how seeing good in people was having Charity and how that's harder than taking someone a casserole. And there it was, from Richard G Scott, just moments before, talking about seeing the good in people and not their stains. My favorite thing she said was taken from a book they had listened to on a trip home from Utah "when you have the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind." That one little phrase captures everything I have been trying to express. There it is, right there, and there were hardly any words used to say something so big.
She also quoted Marvin J Ashton, “Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.
None of us need one more person bashing or pointing out where we have failed or fallen short. Most of us are already well aware of the areas in which we are weak. What each of us does need is family, friends, employers, and brothers and sisters who support us, who have the patience to teach us, who believe in us, and who believe we're trying to do the best we can, in spite of our weaknesses. What ever happened to giving each other the benefit of the doubt? What ever happened to hoping that another person would succeed or achieve? What ever happened to rooting for each other?”
My "daughter" did such a good job and can I just say again what an awesome missionary and representative of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints she is going to make. What was the bulk of her message on service....kindness. One of my favorite things she said was how she had made a decision somewhere along the way in high school to thank each of her teachers after each class, even the ones that gave a crummy lesson or were mean. She chose kindness. What she reaped from that is that all of her teachers loved her. She knew that everyone deserved kindness. It is always harder to give kindness to those who aren't deserving, but it's also the most rewarding. For her missionary plaque she chose Alma 29:9 I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do anot bglory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy.
I add my own words and depth of desire to those of Alma's.
Because I love to laugh and find humor in all things......when we got home from church and I was discussing these things with my husband, he quoted the part of my twin's talk that he thought was my favorite. And it was, but he said "when given the choice between being right and being nice, be nice." Me, being a person struggling with the need to have things to be right and correct, said "kind, it was kind." That in turn erupted both of into roars of laughter. I obviously epicly failed my first go at being kind instead of right. buwhahahaha
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