Dear Sisters,
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Join the journey. Week of January 21 2017 . . .
Write: Write about a time when you have heard the voice of the Lord.
We hope that you take the time to read in 3 Nephi this week about Christ's visit to the people of the Book of Mormon. It is beautiful, inspiring, and bears a powerful witness of Christ. And how is your personal history? If you haven't tried writing yet, this is a great week to start.
We have two beautiful reflections today. The first is from Patricia Bernasconi of the Discovery Park ward. Her reflection comes from the prompt to write about feeling challenged for holding on to faith. Thank you Patricia!
In today's world we live in, our faith is challenged everyday, with choices we can make. Peer pressure can cause us to rethink our faith. Ask ourselves questions like.... Is this really necessary....going to church? keeping word of wisdom? studying scriptures? Being temple worthy?
If we want to stay strong and inspired then these things are necessary. For us to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father, who only want happiness for us.
In Helaman ch. 16 v 15. The Nephites and Lamanites began to depend on their own strength and their own wisdom and (vs 17 ) began to reason and contend one with the
I am mindful that this "hardening of the heart "can happen to any of us. So when my faith is challenged I remind myself of Helaman ch 16 v 15.
The second is from Lisa Moncur, also of the Discovery Park ward, responding to this week's prompt to write about a significant birthday. Thank you Lisa!
In my family, birthdays were a big deal. Most of the time it consisted of lots of small things that made me feel special like: getting to eat all your meals on the “Today is your special day!” plate, getting to choose what (or where) the family ate for dinner, waking up in the morning to see a pile of presents waiting for you on the table, and--perhaps the most memorable--seeing how my mom decorated the cake. Each cake was detailed with whatever was happening in my life. I still remember the cake with a doll in the middle that was decorated to look like the cake was part of her dress, the sledding-hill-shaped cake with little lego guys going down the cake on gummy lifesavers (that year I had a sledding party for my birthday), and the cake shaped like a girl’s head with real earrings stuck into the ears (I pierced my ears for my birthday that year).
Another birthday that stuck out to me was the year that my husband (my boyfriend at the time) set up a celebration he called “12 Days of Lisa.” He contacted my closest friends and family members to each take a day of the twelve to write me a little note and do something for me or give me a small gift. I received everything from a picture frame to a bowl of soup and crackers (I was sick that day) to a decorated room with balloons and streamers. All of the gifts or acts of service I received in those twelve days were small but thoughtful and I have kept them (along with the notes that people gave me) because they meant so much to me.
As I have pondered on what made these things so special to me, I realized that none of these things were necessarily extravagant or expensive. It was simply the people around me doing things to show how much they care about me. I feel so grateful to have wonderful people in my life that do those “small and simple things” (Alma 37:6) to help remind me that no matter how hard life can be, there are people around who love me and remind me how much my Heavenly Father loves me.
