Celebrating Womanhood: Happy Mother's Day!

Sisters,

 HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!  I missed you today and was so sad that I didn’t get to tell you all that personally! It has been an exciting weekend! I have been in Utah and came to surprise my Mom. And surprise her I did!  I showed up in her ward today and boy was she surprised when she saw my name on the program as the speaker in Sacrament and as the conductor of the Youth Choir as well.  It was so neat to honor my Mom that way today.  Since I wasn’t in the lesson with you all today I thought I would send you a sneak peak at the talk that I gave.  I am honored to be a Woman and to be striving just like you everyday to be worthy of hat divine endowment! Have a great week!

In April Conference 2006 Sister Elaine Dalton shared a poem that her grandfather used to say and I have loved it and repeated it since.

You don’t have to tell how you live each day;

You don’t have to tell if you work or play;

A tried and true barometer stands in its place-

You don’t have to tell, it will show in your face,

If you live close to God and His infinite grace-

You won’t have to tell, it will show in your face!

As Women of the church we are blessed with this light in our countenance.  It comes to us when we keep the covenants that we made with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ and you have made the choices which qualify for you to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost.  That light that comes to us is the Savior’s light.  It is the light of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.  By the way you live the gospel, you reflect His light.  Your example will have a powerful effect for good on the earth

Sister Dalton continues, “Can one righteous woman change the world? The answer is a RESOUNDING YES! You have the Holy Ghost as your guide, and He “will show you all things…you should do” It is the daily consistent things that you do that will strengthen you to be a leader and an example—daily prayer, daily scripture study, daily obedience, daily service to others.  Are any of us perfect at this?  NO! But we still try and this TRYING makes us worthy of that light!

As we do these things we become more like him and His light shines through us.  And when other’s see that light, they want to be around it!

Do any of you like to play the find a Mormon is the most random places game?  I don’t know if I am alone in this quest, but I LOVE to people watch.  Especially on vacations!  And my most favorite thing to do is find the Mormons!  You know the people with that special light in their eyes!  I have found them in airports all over the US, in shopping centers outside of the typical Utah towns, on cruises you name it.  Now I am pretty friendly person and after observing that light and watching a few of their mannerisms revealed, I have dared to say are you LDS?  And 99% of the times I have asked which have probably numbered in the 20’s they have said YES and I have an instant friend and bond. 

One such instance happened to me in Puerto Rico.  I went with a bunch of my friends there.  One early morning we decided to take an adventure to the island of Culebra.  To do this you have to stand in line by 6am and get a ticket for a one hour boat ride that takes you there for the a day excursion and brings you back that evening.  As we were standing in line I noticed a group of girls with that “Mormon light” within them.  I mentioned to my friends that they were for sure Mormon and they teased me about my theory.  We continued to watch them.  Another girl joined their group and when I looked over at the new arrival I saw she was wearing a shirt that said Old Nauvoo. I laughed told the Spanish speaking member of the group to read the shirt and He rushed over to communicate with them in Spanish and let them know that we too were LDS.  We spent the whole day on the island with them and had a BLAST! All because a glance at their bright light radiating from them. 

The one thing that we can know for sure is that Satan is very opposed to that light that is within us!  He has DECLARED WAR on Motherhood or Womanhood in general!  Sheri Dew in a talk entitled, “Are We Not All Mothers?”  Talked about this very thing. She says, “He knows that those who rock the cradle can rock his earthly empire. And he KNOWS that without righteous Mothers loving and leading the next generation, the kingdom of God will fail.”

I connect with Sheri Dew and feel her light and her understanding of Motherhood without being a Mother herself.  She explains things in such a way that it excites my spirit!  One thing that I learned from this talk that I never have thought about before is she shares this thought, “When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman’s most sacred role.  While we tend to equate motherhood solely with maternity, in the Lord’s language, the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve, “the mother of all living”—and they did so BEFORE she ever bore a child.  Like Eve, our motherhood began BEFORE we were born.  Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality, righteous women were ENDOWED premortally with the privilege of Motherhood. Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that.  It is the essence of who we are as women.”  

As that was not powerful enough to describe our roles of Motherhood President Hinckley declared, “Men have to have something given to them in mortality to make them Saviors of men, but not mothers, not women.  They were born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be saviors of human souls… and the regenerating force in the lives of God’s children.”

As we know, not all of us get to exercise the gift of Motherhood directly, that is in our own homes.  But the Father doesn’t take that away from us who fit in that category. We still have great opportunity to do so vicariously. We just simply have to find other ways. All around us are those who need to be love and led.

Nearly a century ago President Joseph F Smith said this to the Women of the Church,

““It is not for you to be LED by the women of the world; it is for you to LEAD the women of the world in EVERYTHING that is God-like, everything that is uplifting and... purifying to the Children of God.”

Sheri Dew makes this point,

“How will our young women learn to live as women of God unless they see what women of God look like, meaning what we wear, watch, and read; how we fill our time and our minds; how we face temptation and uncertainty; where we find true joy; and why modesty and feminity are hallmarks of a righteous woman? How will our young women learn to value women of God if we don’t show them the virtue of our virtues?”

Few of us will reach our potential without the nurturing of BOTH the mother who bore us and the Mother’s WHO BEAR WITH US!  Those Mother’s are in each of us.  I have been blessed with some of those adopted Mothers in my life who BEAR WITH ME and because of the sweet relationships I have with them it helps me TO KNOW that you don’t have to give birth to someone to LEAD them, to love them.  Infact, it is because I know they love me that I let them help lead me.  Their light is such a calming force in my life.

I wish that you could all know how blessed I was the day Our Father sent me into the arms of my own Mother.  When I was only 9 months old my parents got a divorce and my Grandfather moved my Brother and I along with all 11 of his own children from Marshalltown, Iowa to Provo, Utah.  Since that time my Mother raised us on her own with no help or support from my Dad at all.  My Mom is a true example of that light.  She has always been full of love, testimony and truth.  She has been my hero as long as I have known what a hero was.  I am thankful that I never had to question what side of the line my Mother was on.

Sheri Dew put it this way, “WE ARE THE LORD’S SECRET WEAPON!  Our influence and light comes from a divine endowment that has been in place from the beginning…  The world won’t tell you that, but the spirit will.”

Sisters, today is a special day of rejoicing in that endowment!  It isn’t a day to bring discouragement, frustration, or pity. It doesn’t matter whether we don’t have any kids, or we have 18 and counting we are ALL given that same endowment!  And it is up to us to use our light in ALL Ways to love and lead those, even each other, back to the one who blessed us with such a high honor!

Many of you have blessed me to live vicariously through your families and allowed me in small ways to love your children and to you I am so thankful.  I learn from you, I lean on you and I watch the magnificent job you do in bringing light to a world of darkness and confusion!

When you live close to God and his infinite grace-- You won’t have to tell, it will show in your face!  

That's what I LOVE about my church!

Sisters,

What a great day we had to learn, worship and feel the spirit together.  I absolutely loved the testimonies that were born and for the spirit that I felt exude from each of you.  Both those who shared experiences of Woman’s Conference and other’s who bore testimony of Sisterhood and the gospel of Jesus Christ, THANK YOU!

This week in Relief Society we had the privilege to have a combined meeting with the Priesthod as we were reminded how to be a member missionary’s . Sometimes we make it seem so much harder than it actually is.  Wade Whiting taught with such zeal for the gospel and the work that you couldn’t help but catch the fire! (Of course I am partial because he has been like family to me for 20 years now and I have always loved his contagious testimony!)

He gave us tools on how to open our mouths and just be us, not try to set up the situation perfectly. His teachings reminded me of lessons I learned as a missionary in Columbus Ohio.  They were so poignant to me that I still think about it with EVERY missionary type experience I have to this day!

Elder Kikuchi of the 70 came through my mission and met with us as missionaries to do some training and introduce a new tracking approach to us.  While he spoke he shared recent (as of 2000) statistics of the church with us.  He said that the church has found that on average it takes a non- member 7 experiences with hearing about our church to let the missionaries in their door.  Hearing about the church could be through just hearing about “mormons”, hearing a commercial or radio spot, seeing a pamphlet or book, having neighbors who are, having a friend who may be, being invited to an activity or class at church or in a members home etc. 

He challenged us that every time that we open our mouths and even just mention who we are, or what church we belong, we are puling off a number!  It might be that as missionaries we would knock on a door and Sally behind the door has heard about our church in 3 different ways and you might pull off that #4.  Or you may meet someone in the grocery store and get into a casual conversation with them and they have never seen nor heard about anything to do about our church and so #1 peels off.  But what about that time that you open your mouth to a neighbor and it is lucky #7 and they inquire and want to know more!

When he taught this to us it was an Ah ha moment for me!  I totally got it!  Why is it that we are so afraid to share something that we are so much apart of?!  Something that has blessed our lives and made us better people?! 

If we remember it as simple as “I will help get them one step closer to letting those missionaries in their door and pull off a number” how much easier than is it for us to share tidbits about the church. 

Wade offered us a great way to start into those conversations and I have personally used this time and time again and it works! It is not offensive and is a subtle way to share your feelings about the church with anyone from stranger to family. 

When having a conversation with someone about a particular topic, work in the words, “That is what I love about my church” as you talk about things that would relate to why we do what we do!  I promise you that it works!  It gets easier and easier the more you practice and you have more and more opportunities open up to you as you put it into practice.  It is as simple as that!

One thing that I like about my church is the close association that I have with all you women.  How great is it that we get to meet together often, that we have support in ways of visiting teachers, activities and great neighbors!  Thank you for being apart of my life.  I am a better person for knowing and associating with each of you, if only everyone in Gilbert was so blessed!

Have a great week!  Keep those lights shining before men!  I am going to Utah to surprise my Mom for Mother’s Day, but I will send you the announcements from Utah next week!  You are wonderful and are loved so much, don’t forget it!

TAKING HIS NAME UPON US

As I have been thinking of the great blessing of General Conference, the thought that keeps coming to me is what a magnificent blessing it is to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!  We each had the AWESOME opportunity to be baptized as members and take upon us His name.  While watching Toy Story the other day with young children, I couldn’t help but notice a parallel.  Andy, the little character in the show would engrave “ANDY” on the bottom of each of his toys to show that these were now his.  A similar thing takes place at baptism.  We choose to take upon us the name of Christ.  We literally take on his name.  Therefore we become the body of Christ.  Our eyes become the eyes of Christ.  Our ears become the ears of Christ and our Mouth’s the mouth of Christ.  What are we allowing to enter this holy body?  What are we allowing the body of Christ to see, hear, or say?  Are we forgetting this sacred covenant that we took upon ourselves? In October Conference of 2000 Elder Hales gave a wonderful talk about this very thing.  He reminded us of what we covenanted to at baptism.

 ” When we are baptized, we take upon ourselves the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Taking upon us His name is one of the most significant experiences we have in life. Yet sometimes we pass through that experience without having a full understanding.

How many of our children—how many of us—really understand that when we were baptized we took upon us not only the name of Christ but also the law of obedience?

Each week in sacrament meeting we promise to remember the atoning sacrifice of our Savior as we renew our baptismal covenant. We promise to do as the Savior did—to be obedient to the Father and always keep His commandments. The blessing we receive in return is to always have His Spirit to be with us.”

Unlike Andy in Toy Story we don’t have to write the name on ourselves and it won’t rub off.  We have covenanted to take His name upon us everywhere and in whatever thing we may be part of.  May this knowledge help us to Stand in Holy Places, speak holy words, and to walk in obedience to the commandments of the Lord. May the words of the prophets resonate with us as we watch conference this Month.  May we commit to live up to the name we have taken upon us and may the Spirit of the Lord continue to be with you today and always.

 Much Love, Meg

Broken Things

Greetings from Windy Iowa!!

Hello Sisters!

Just wanted to send you a quick email and let you know that I am thinking of you as I am away at my Grandmother’s funeral events.  This time for me has been a time of much reflection and healing broken relationships.  I am so thankful that God loves broken things and sent his Son, our Savior to atone for all those things both in and out of our control that hurt us and need mending.  I have been listening and singing in my head this song that I thought my touch someone out there tonight!!  

May you be comforted in any trials you might be enduring!!  I love you all and I am so excited to be back with you soon! 

With Love,

Meg

Prayer

Sisters,

Today is a beautiful  Sabbath day.  It was great to go to church and be taught about testimony and then end in Relief Society being taught about prayer which is the means to us gaining a testimony and knowing  it is true.  Sister Heidi Peterson helped facilitate a great discussion on why we pray, where we pray and why we need prayer.  The spirit was there and I was reminded of my testimony of prayer today.

While I was sitting there listening to all you Sister’s sharing such great thoughts I was brought back to remembering the last time I REALLY felt the spirit through prayer.  And even though this is a very personal and sacred experience I want to share it with you as an example that sometimes even when we want something so desperately, and we PLEAD and PRAY for that very thing, even when we think it is our time to receive the answer to that desperate prayer, we need to remember that ‘Faith in God, includes faith in his timing!”  When we keep that perspective in sight, the wait isn’t nearly as grueling as we thought.

I know I share a lot of stories about my dear friend Verna.  But this one is particularly poignant and taught me great perspective. One night she was feeling really sick and she was scared because she didn't understand what was happening to her and her mind. Around 3 am after I got her calmed down she looked at me with those innocent eyes and said, "Will you say a prayer for me?" I said, "I would love to say a prayer with you Verna. But I need to know what it is that you want me to pray for?" at that question Verna grabbed a hold of me and started to offer one of the most humble, faithful, tender and pleading prayers I have EVER been a part of.

I don't remember all the words that she said, but I do remember the words that touched my heart completely. " Heavenly Father, I have been praying to you every day since I was 10 years old. I have been righteous.... I have done everything that I was supposed to do and I am ready to come home..... I am asking you to please take me home." Both of us were crying and I held her in my arms for a few minutes and told her that I loved her. I thought she would go home that night after that heartfelt and humble prayer. It touched me so much. I felt like I was in heaven that night... the veil was so close. I tearfully related that story to her daughter Sherry a few days later and found out that when she was 10 yrs old her Mother died. Of course that is when she started to really pray to her Father in Heaven and have a personal relationship with him.. she needed that comfort and she knew where to go even at 99 for that comfort. Well even after that prayer she still remained for another 3 weeks on this earth. As I said before, I thought there was no way that Heavenly Father couldn’t answer the pleading of his faithful daughter.  But it was not time yet.  Did he eventually come to her rescue?  Yes!  In his time she was relieved of her suffering and was brought home as she requested. 

How many times have each of us felt desperate for that answer that we PLEADED for?  How many times was that answer given to us but it wasn’t in the instant… we may have had to wait awhile?!  I too testify to you Sisters that just as Verna prayed to her Father that early morn with such faith and humility, we too can have that personal relationship with our Father.  We too can plead for him to come to our rescue.  We are all worthy of that rescue.  But if that rescue doesn’t come right away, please don’t think he isn’t listening.. he is.  He is right there with us but sometimes he knows a better way, a better time, a better purpose for our struggling.  Keep the faith!  Be Believing!  Keep those prayers coming.

I will be forever thankful for that early morning example of dear Verna.  It awakened me to the sense of how much WE need our Heavenly Father.  We CAN’T do it alone!  We need his guidance! We need his rescue!

May the Lord be with you this week Sisters.   May you find the comfort you need through your own prayers to deal with the challenges that face you!  The Relief Society Presidency LOVES YOU so much!  Thanks for being you and being the answer to many of the prayers being offered.. you come in form of the answer many times!

Pray Always!

Meg

Good Morning Sisters!!

 I decided that I am going to post the message that I put on the RS newsletter this month for those of you who didn’t get it or didn’t get the chance to read it!!  Please make sure to read through the announcements none the less so that you know all that is going on!  Have a wonderful week!  Much Love, Meg

As I have been thinking of the great blessing of General Conference, the thought that keeps coming to me is what a magnificent blessing it is to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!  We each had the AWESOME opportunity to be baptized as members and take upon us His name.  While watching Toy Story the other day with young children, I couldn’t help but notice a parallel.  Andy, the little character in the show would engrave “ANDY” on the bottom of each of his toys to show that these were now his.  A similar thing takes place at baptism.  We choose to take upon us the name of Christ.  We literally take on his name.  Therefore we become the body of Christ.  Our eyes become the eyes of Christ.  Our ears become the ears of Christ and our Mouth’s the mouth of Christ.  What are we allowing to enter this holy body?  What are we allowing the body of Christ to see, hear, or say?  Are we forgetting this sacred covenant that we took upon ourselves? In October Conference of 2000 Elder Hales gave a wonderful talk about this very thing.  He reminded us of what we covenanted to at baptism.

 ” When we are baptized, we take upon ourselves the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Taking upon us His name is one of the most significant experiences we have in life. Yet sometimes we pass through that experience without having a full understanding.

How many of our children—how many of us—really understand that when we were baptized we took upon us not only the name of Christ but also the law of obedience?

Each week in sacrament meeting we promise to remember the atoning sacrifice of our Savior as we renew our baptismal covenant. We promise to do as the Savior did—to be obedient to the Father and always keep His commandments. The blessing we receive in return is to always have His Spirit to be with us.”

Unlike Andy in Toy Story we don’t have to write the name on ourselves and it won’t rub off.  We have covenanted to take His name upon us everywhere and in whatever thing we may be part of.  May this knowledge help us to Stand in holy places, speak holy words, and to walk in obedience to the commandments of the Lord. May the words of the prophets resonate with us as we watch conference this Month.  May we commit to live up to the name we have taken upon us and may the Spirit of the Lord continue to be with you today and always. (This was written prior to conference but President Uchtdorf talked about similar principles in Sunday morning of Conference.  To read his talk go here: “You are my hands” http://www.lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-1207-23,00.html 

That's what I LOVE about my church!

Sisters,

What a great day we had to learn, worship and feel the spirit together.  I absolutely loved the testimonies that were born and for the spirit that I felt exude from each of you.  Both those who shared experiences of Woman’s Conference and other’s who bore testimony of Sisterhood and the gospel of Jesus Christ, THANK YOU!

This week in Relief Society we had the privilege to have a combined meeting with the Priesthod as we were reminded how to be a member missionary’s . Sometimes we make it seem so much harder than it actually is.  Wade Whiting taught with such zeal for the gospel and the work that you couldn’t help but catch the fire! (Of course I am partial because he has been like family to me for 20 years now and I have always loved his contagious testimony!)

He gave us tools on how to open our mouths and just be us, not try to set up the situation perfectly. His teachings reminded me of lessons I learned as a missionary in Columbus Ohio.  They were so poignant to me that I still think about it with EVERY missionary type experience I have to this day!

Elder Kikuchi of the 70 came through my mission and met with us as missionaries to do some training and introduce a new tracking approach to us.  While he spoke he shared recent (as of 2000) statistics of the church with us.  He said that the church has found that on average it takes a non- member 7 experiences with hearing about our church to let the missionaries in their door.  Hearing about the church could be through just hearing about “mormons”, hearing a commercial or radio spot, seeing a pamphlet or book, having neighbors who are, having a friend who may be, being invited to an activity or class at church or in a members home etc. 

He challenged us that every time that we open our mouths and even just mention who we are, or what church we belong, we are puling off a number!  It might be that as missionaries we would knock on a door and Sally behind the door has heard about our church in 3 different ways and you might pull off that #4.  Or you may meet someone in the grocery store and get into a casual conversation with them and they have never seen nor heard about anything to do about our church and so #1 peels off.  But what about that time that you open your mouth to a neighbor and it is lucky #7 and they inquire and want to know more!

When he taught this to us it was an Ah ha moment for me!  I totally got it!  Why is it that we are so afraid to share something that we are so much apart of?!  Something that has blessed our lives and made us better people?! 

If we remember it as simple as “I will help get them one step closer to letting those missionaries in their door and pull off a number” how much easier than is it for us to share tidbits about the church. 

Wade offered us a great way to start into those conversations and I have personally used this time and time again and it works! It is not offensive and is a subtle way to share your feelings about the church with anyone from stranger to family. 

When having a conversation with someone about a particular topic, work in the words, “That is what I love about my church” as you talk about things that would relate to why we do what we do!  I promise you that it works!  It gets easier and easier the more you practice and you have more and more opportunities open up to you as you put it into practice.  It is as simple as that!

One thing that I like about my church is the close association that I have with all you women.  How great is it that we get to meet together often, that we have support in ways of visiting teachers, activities and great neighbors!  Thank you for being apart of my life.  I am a better person for knowing and associating with each of you, if only everyone in Gilbert was so blessed!

Have a great week!  Keep those lights shining before men!  I am going to Utah to surprise my Mom for Mother’s Day, but I will send you the announcements from Utah next week!  You are wonderful and are loved so much, don’t forget it!