Turn the Other Cheek

"Not only our eternal salvation depends upon our willingness and capacity to forgive wrongs committed against us. Our joy and satisfaction in this life, and our true freedom, depend upon our doing so. When Christ bade us turn the other cheek, walk the second mile, give our cloak to him who takes our coat, was it to be chiefly out of consideration for the bully, the brute, the thief? Or was it to relieve the one aggrieved of the destructive burden that resentment and anger lay upon us?"

--Marion D. Hanks, "Forgiveness: The Ultimate Form of Love", Ensign, Jan. 1974, 20

If I ask not amiss...

Another great letter from my Stake RS presidency on how and what to ask for in our prayers.
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Dear Sisters,

We are promised by God that when we ask, we shall
receive...
consider 3 Nephi 27: 28-29 ...

"whatsoever things ye shall ask the Father in my name
shall be given you. Therefore, ask, and ye shall
receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for
he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh,
it shall be opened."

Now, we should ask ourselves...Do I really believe
that? Do I really believe that God will answer my
prayers every time I pray? I have to admit I was
thinking ....well...sometimes that is true and
sometimes I am just not so sure. So I prayed about
having more understanding.

This is what I learned:

1. When God says something, you can count on it. His
integrity is above reproach and He does everything He
says He will do.

2. I researched several scriptures that clarified my
meaning of asking...

James 4:3 - "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask
amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."

2 Nephi 4:35 - "...God will give liberally to him that
asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not
amiss..."

Helaman 10:5 - "...all things shall be done unto thee
according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that
which is contrary to my will."


So...now I am beginning to understand. I thought
about my children. I have a great desire to give them
a good education, nutritious meals, good advice, all
of the love in my heart, and anything else I feel
would make them happy and successful. But, that does
not mean that I will give them everything they ask
for...what if they ask to skip school? eat pizza
every night? avoid brushing their teeth? watch TV
until midnight every night? That is what they would
LIKE to do...

Of course I would not grant those foolish requests.
Our loving and omnipotent Father in heaven will not
grant our often short-sighted requests either. He has
a plan for us...it involves getting out of our comfort
zone...experiencing pain, doubt, and discouragement
(just like our kids experience when we require them to
obey our rules and do what they feel are hard things).

So...the key to having every prayer of ours answered
is to ask for the right things. Here are a few things
I found that we should be asking for:
1. Wisdom (James 1:5)
2. Deliverance from enemies (Psalm 143:10)
3. Goodness to those who hate us and have "done us
wrong" (Matt 5:44)
4. Food for the day (Matt 6:11)
5. Forgiveness of our sins (Matt 6:12)
6. Protection from the Evil One; this includes His
evil promptings to
gossip, cheat, lie, steal, avoid praying, be
selfish, etc.(Matt 6:13)
7. A clean heart (Psalm 51:10)
8. A soft heart (1 Nephi 2: 16)
9. Understanding (1 Kings 4:29, Proverbs 2:2)

This list could go on forever! My son and I have
started writing down our request for the day in our
journal first thing in the morning. Then, we offer
our morning prayer and follow up on what happened in
the evening...recording how our prayer was answered
that day. VERY POWERFUL!

What will you ask for today? Father is waiting to
hear from each of us!

Love,
Sister L., First Counselor
Alexandria Stake Relief Society

Eye Single to the Glory of God

"Generally speaking, “an eye single to the glory of God” means sacrifice. It means that instead of endlessly doing what we want to do, we have to do what the Lord wants us to do, but we have to do it in his way when he wants us to do it."

--Hartman Rector Jr.,, "Sacrifice Still Brings Forth Blessings", Ensign, Dec. 1971, 64

A great letter from a great sister...

Hello Sisters, August 16, 2007
Recently I was thinking about trying to buy a home. I never had one of my own before and was kind of excited and yet really scared. I even went looking at houses and found one I really liked. Yet, no matter how I went over my finances I just couldn't manage to come up with all of the needed money right now. I was anxious and frustrated. This was not at all the "peacefull feeling from the Holy Ghost I expected to feel. After all, wasn't this a "good thing"? Didn't I do all of my "homework" and make a decision? So why wasn't I feeling that peace? Could it be I wasn't supposed to move yet? But that hardly seemed logical since the longer I wait the more difficult it will be to get a loan and move. I wanted that house. Still I felt unsure and anxious. But was that really the spirit or just the normal I'm going to owe on this for the rest of my life anxiety?
I was perplexed and asked for a blessing. In the blessing I was told that Heavenly Father knew of my desire for a home of my own but that he wanted me to wait for awhile. I seemed to feel some relieve but also disappointment that I would never attain this goal. Why am I telling you all of this? For two reasons 1) we all face every day delimmas in which we are sometimes uncertain if it is the spirit or our own feelings and anxieties. We all want to do what Heavenly Father wants us to do so we must really trust that when we have good calming feelings our answer is yes. The opposite is also true. We must trust that when we have strong anxiety and uncertaintly then we shouldn't do as we planned no matter how much we may think we want to. 2)As I was contemplating this very thing and wondering if some day I would have a home of my own and if so how, I came across a wonderful scripture that can help us all to increase our faith and patience Doctrine Covenants 5:34 "Yea, for this cause I have said: Stop, and stand still until I command thee, and I will provide means whereby thou mayest accomplish the thing I have commanded thee." There it is sisters, all we have to do is be obedient and He not us will provide a way for us to accompish what he commands us to do. This scripture has brought me much relief and hope in my everyday problems. I hope it does the same for you.
Sister H. M.
Stake R.S. pres.

Faith

Faith is not so much something we believe; faith is something we live.

Dead Duck

There once was a wealthy man who had a servant named John. This servant was very humble and tried to keepthe commandments and serve others. One day his master said to him, "John, why do you try so hard to be good, go to church and keep the commandments? It doesn't do you any good. You wife is ill, your children poorly clothed and you must work hard every day just to feed them. While I never go to church. I don't worry about others or try to keep the commandments. Yet I have a big fine house, lots of money and my family is healthy. Why does your god allow such things?" John shrugged his shoulders and said, "I can"t answer that right now but let me think about it."

A few days later John was hunting with his master. The master shot two ducks and sent JOhn to retrieve them. One duck was dead and the other wounded. John headed toward the dead duck. His master yelled to him, "No John, leave that one it is dead. It won't go anywhere. Get the one that is wounded before it gets away!" John retrieved both ducks and returned to his master. "I have an answer foryour question you asked the other day. Why is it I have so many trials while you seem to have none. Well sir, you're a dead duck! Satan has to worry about me getting away!"
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When it seems like so many things are happening to us or we can't seem to get a break just remember - don't be a DEAD DUCK! Make Satan fight to try and get you!

Trials

"Rather than simply passing through trials, we must allow trials to pass through us in ways that sanctify us."

--Elder Neil A Maxwell, "Enduring Well", April 1997 Ensign