December 2019 ~bookmark and ministering thoughts~

November 2019~Approaching The Throne Of God

This talk spoke to me recently. 

Our prophet counsels us to stay on the covenant path and this short but direct talk by Elder Klebingat (in October General Conference 2014) gives us some timely advice to do just that. 

I hope that as you and I keep these ideas clearly in mind and focus on improving in each area we will be able to approach our Savior with joyful anticipation.

May you feel love and gratitude for the Savior and those you meet as you minister this month.

                        
Link to the written talk:  here

"Savior Redeemer of My Soul" music video

"You Are Not Alone" music video

Link  (document to print) Approaching the Throne of God With Confidence

October 2019~Human Intimacy ~Of Souls Symbols and Sacraments~

"Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments" by Jeffery R. Holland

Read the message here: Of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments

Music videos by One Voice Choir:
Glorious
Symphony
Diamonds

September 2019 Bookmark and Talk- "Seeking Peace, Finding Joy"

Biography: Steve Davis

Steve Davis has been employed at BYU-Idaho for the past 32 years and has had management roles in enrollment services, fund-raising, and alumni relations.

He has served as a bishop, high counselor, elder's quorum president, and gospel doctrine teacher. He was a full time missionary in the Philippines. 

Steve and his wife, Cynthia, met at Ricks College and are the parents of six children and have four grandchildren. In all things their faith and children come first.  He also enjoys the great Idaho outdoors, including horseback riding, hiking, and photography. Steve has a passion for teaching students the principles of personal achievement, stress management, and the value of networking. He recently wrote a book on how to manage anxiety from a gospel perspective. 

Watch the video here:
 Steve Davis: "Seeking Peace, Finding Joy"

View the video and access this transcript here:
"Seeking Peace, Finding Joy"

View the talk given earlier at a devotional here
" Seeking Peace, Finding Joy"

Thoughts to ponder (excerpts from the talk):

Fact 1: We are all children of our Heavenly Father and He wants us, all of us, to have joy. When I say all of us, I mean members of the Church in Rexburg, and an indigenous tribesman in some remote jungle in the Philippines.

Fact 2: Over the history of this world, He has shared, with any person who seeks Him, the basic principles of happiness.

Fact 3: These principles are very simple. As Elder Matthew Cowley stated, “The gospel is simply beautiful, and beautifully simple.”

Fact 4: The adversary has tried and will try to bury these simple principles under mountains of information, distractions, and even falsehoods.

Fact 5: Understanding our powerful urges to seek happiness, the adversary will leverage our desires to draw us into behaviors and habits that are very gratifying, but potentially addictive.

*Productive people are happy people.

*Those who have a “reason” bigger than themselves are usually so busy acting on that thing they value, they don’t have time to worry.

*When our productivity, service, and efforts are focused on others rather than ourselves, we have peace.

*And when we put the Savior first and try to become like Him, we will have joy

Books suggested:
1.  The Happiness Trap, by Dr. Russ Harris
2.  Man’s Search for Meaning, by Dr. Viktor Frankl
3.  A Season of Life, by Jeffrey Marx
4.  Confronting the Myth of Self-Esteem by Ester Rasband
5.  Breaking the Chains of Worry and Anxiety, with the subtitle of “Lessons from Liberty Jail.”

Music:
Joy in Journey
Choose Joy

August 2019 Bookmark and Thoughts ~Angels Among Us~

God sends angels from heaven to help us.

 He also sends people on earth to act as angels to us.  

We too can be angels for others. 

I hope you have experienced loving angels in your life and are acting as an angel as you minister to those in your home, neighborhood and community. 

GO OUT AND DO GOOD!

Watch: Angels Among Us by Brett Cook; BYU Idaho devotional
Listen: Angels Among Us
Jeffery R. Holland: Angels Round About You

 

Short summary:
Brett Cook, auxiliary services managing director at BYU-Idaho, spoke to the students on the topic, angels among us.

He shared different scriptural accounts where prophets were visited by angels such as, Adam when he was in the Garden of Eden, Daniel when he was in the lion’s den, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego when they were thrown into a furnace and Joseph Smith during the days of the restoration of the gospel.

While many people associate angels with heavenly angels, there are many angels who assist us on Earth. Cook wanted to focus his talk on the angels we have in our midst.

“I’m not talking about heavenly angels, but mortal angels,” he said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio.

He had the students ponder about how they can be angels to other people.

In his devotional talk he asked the students to raise their hands if they had ever been helped by someone in a time of need or had acted on a prompting to help someone. Many people raised their hands. He then extended three challenges to the students.

Will you commit to live your life so you can have the Holy Ghost as your constant companion?
Will you commit to listen to the promptings of the spirit?
As you listen to the spirit will you commit to act upon those promptings?

“You can accomplish these three challenges; we each have what it takes,” he said.

“God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face,” Holland said.

We can be an answer to other’s prayers by attending to the promptings of the Spirit. Learning to put away distractions is an important aspect to recognizing the spirit so we can be on the Lord’s errand when He calls.

“The more you create opportunities to listen, you’ll learn how to hear it better and better as you go on,” he said. “As you get kind of tuned in, you’ll feel and you’ll hear those impressions in your mind more often.”

Angels Among Us music video by Firefly
Angel Among Us  music video by Alabama

July 2019- Bookmark & Talk -Arnold Thiebaud " Know you are loved"

Arnold Thiebaud " Know you are loved"   

video, radio & transcript

Story from talk:
Our young men’s group had planned an outing to go to a ranch and ride horses on a day trail ride. I was excited to go and fortunate my father was able to accompany me on my adventure with our ward. As they saddled up the horses and gave me mine, I wasn’t as thrilled as I noticed my horse was extremely spirited and stubborn. We went on a ride for several hours, where I constantly had to work to keep the horse with the group. We took a break and then started down the trail again. Not too long after, a nearby horse, that wasn’t part of the ride and was feeding in the pasture, took off in a gallop and ran in front of my horse. Immediately, my horse bolted and ran after that horse. With my limited experience and everyone behind me yelling commands, I tried pulling several times on the reigns to stop the horse, but to no avail. We were headed for thick brush I probably wouldn’t clear. At that time, I did what most people recommend you don’t: I closed my eyes. But then I proceeded to pray, saying, “Heavenly Father, help me.” I kept my eyes closed and felt the impression to put my hands together as if I was going to dive into a swimming pool. Later, I would learn from my dad that this helped me do a rolling somersault off the horse. A few seconds later, I was laying on the ground face down. As I got up, I noticed several rocks and a tree trunk near me. Miraculously, I had only a few small scrapes on my face, a small bruise under my chin, and my glasses had been thrown quite a distance.

They then brought my horse back, which I wasn’t too excited to get back on but had to so we could get back to the ranch. I was still surprised by what had happened as someone handed me my glasses. I put them on and couldn’t see very well out of one eye. I kept asking the riders near me if my eye was okay and they said it was. Finally, I reached up to move my glasses and poked myself in the eye. To my relief, I realized the rim had had broken and the lens had fallen out. My eye was completely fine.

That day, I could have easily had my feet stuck in the stirrups, or any number of other outcomes, but I came to a profound knowledge that my Heavenly Father heard and answered my prayer and He loved me.

Additional counsel:

2019 June Bookmark - Talk by Ronald A. Rasband

Talk: The Parables of Jesus by Ronald A Rasband: Talents

Scripture references: Matthew 24 and 25 (see also D&C 45:16-75; JS-M 1:5-55).

2019 May Bookmark -Talk by Neil L. Andersen-

This month I have chosen the talk "The Eye of Faith" by Neil L. Anderson to share with you . I chose it because it is very timely for our times. I've been having questions and after Conference they were answered. This talk reminds me that I can find the truth as I seek answers consistently and faithfully.

Summary points:

*  There are absolute eternal truths that are the same for every person on earth.

*  Truth comes from Jesus Christ alone and leads to eternal life.

*  Each individual has an eternal and divine identity as a child of God and accepted His plan in the premortal life.

Talk summary:

The question "What is truth?" can be answered a million different ways depending on the knowledge and perspective used. And in a world of "information and opinion overload," many people choose to believe that truth is simply a matter of personal perspective.

But with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, it becomes clear that "there are some things that are completely and absolutely true. These eternal truths are the same for every son and daughter of God."

Truth is a knowledge of things past, present and future and expands far beyond the perspective offered by a single point in time. "Truth shows us the way to eternal life, and it comes only through our Savior, Jesus Christ. There is no other way."

The restoration of the gospel provides a way to "learn and know essential spiritual truths" through the study of holy scriptures, personal prayer, individual experiences, the counsel of prophets and apostles, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Only through "the perspective eye of faith" can the spiritual truths of God be revealed and "bring us a clear spiritual perspective of truth necessary for our journey here on earth."

As children of God, each person on earth has a divine and eternal identity. "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" and other revelations shared by living prophets help clarify these divine identities. And while many individuals in their current circumstances may not fit neatly inside such teachings, "There is One who knows your burdens because of His sacrifice made in the garden and on the cross. … He will bless you and lift the burdens too heavy to bear alone."

2019 April Bookmark- Talk by Susan Bednar-

💝Hello blog followers. 

I am going to be away for the next few days...so I am blogging early. I'm hoping you can read and share this with those you minister to. (If it is something you feel they need.) Thanks for your love and support. I think of you often and love you deeply!💝

  

Listen to  talk: "Heart" by Susan Bednar Ricks College Devotional January 9, 2001

Read the talk: "Heart"

2019 March "Treasures"

This week in our "Come Follow Me" studies I will be teaching my primary class about  Matthew 6:19-21 which reads:

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

While studying I came across a talk that I found very interesting and share it with you.
Before listening to or reading the talk ponder this: 

What are the treasures of heaven?
"Generally, treasures of heaven are not only those things we may take with us when we die, but they are also the things that most enrich our lives in mortality."
What do you treasure?

Video & text: Truth and Other Treasures by Forest Gahn
Audio: Truth and Other Treasures

2019 February~Authentically Connected to Heaven

(I did not make this handout, I found it online and loved it, after listening to my grandson Luke give his Mission farewell talk in church I realized he will make a fantastic missionary because he is 

authentically connected to himself and God)

Talk: by Christian Mawlam 
                             Watch video: "Authentically Connected to Heaven” 
                              Listen to talk:  here

Quote from the talk.“We want fundamentally, deep down to be accepted, and to be loved and appreciated,” Mawlam explained. “But sometimes I think we chase the wrong idea of what successful actually looks like and successful in the eyes of our heavenly parents is probably closer to what matters most.” (The following is a 1 minute giving the above quote.) “When we choose to live according to the truths of His restored gospel, we will discover things about ourselves that cannot be learned anywhere else,” he said. “

"The end will always be better than the beginning."

2019 January's Gospel Thought and instruction from a prophet

 Talk: To the Elderly of the Church by Ezra Taft Benson in 1989  read by Thomas S Monson

This is an old talk but definitely applies still today. There is advice for the elderly, their adult children and members of the church.


1.  Work in the temple and attend often. We who are older should use our energies not only to bless our predecessors, but to ensure that, insofar as possible, all of our posterity might receive the ordinances of exaltation in the temple. Work with your families; counsel with and pray for those who may yet be unwilling to prepare themselves.

2.  Collect and write family histories. We call on you to pursue vigorously the gathering and writing of personal and family histories. In so many instances, you alone have within you the history, the memory of loved ones, the dates and events. In some situations you are the family history. In few ways will your heritage be better preserved than by your collecting and writing your histories.

3.  Become involved in missionary service. We need increasing numbers of senior missionaries in missionary service. Where health and means make it possible, we call upon hundreds more of our couples to set their lives and affairs in order and to go on missions. How we need you in the mission field! You are able to perform missionary service in ways that our younger missionaries cannot.

4..  Provide leadership by building family togetherness. We urge all senior members, when possible, to call their families together. Organize them into cohesive units. Give leadership to family gatherings. Establish family reunions where fellowship and family heritage can be felt and learned. Some of the sweetest memories I have are of our own family reunions and gatherings. Foster wonderful family traditions which will bind you together eternally. In doing so, we can create a bit of heaven right here on earth within individual families. After all, eternity will be but an extension of righteous family life.

5.  Accept and fulfill Church callings. We trust that all senior members who possibly can will accept callings in the Church and fulfill them with dignity. I am grateful to personally know brethren who are in their seventies and eighties who are serving as bishops and branch presidents. How we need the counsel and influence of you who have walked the pathway of life! We all need to hear of your successes and how you have risen above heartache, pain, or disappointment, having become stronger for experiencing them.

6.  Plan for your financial future. As you move through life toward retirement and the decades which follow, we invite all of our senior members to plan frugally for the years following full-time employment. Let us avoid unnecessary debt. We also advise caution in cosigning financial notes, even with family members, when retirement income might be jeopardized.

7.  Render Christlike service. Christlike service exalts. Knowing this, we call upon all senior members who are able to thrust in their sickles in service to others. This can be part of the sanctifying process. The Lord has promised that those who lose their lives serving others will find themselves. The Prophet Joseph Smith told us that we should “wear out our lives” in bringing to pass the Lord’s purposes (D&C 123:13).

8. Stay physically fit, healthy, and active. We are thrilled with the efforts being made by so many of the elderly to ensure good health in advancing years. We see many walking in the early mornings. We hear of others who use exercise equipment in their own homes. Some even enter marathons and do remarkably well. Still others have swimming programs to keep them fit. Until recently our own beloved General Authority emeritus, Joseph Anderson, now in his one hundredth year, would swim a mile every day. I am not quite up to that, but I do enjoy a vigorous walk each day, which refreshes me.