A Far More Important Choice

Art by Mary Cassatt

The following is from my friend, Cocoa over at Chocolate on My Cranium. It was posted on Facebook in a Large Families group I'm a part of, and it REALLY helped me today.

May we all remember today what is truly important!

"President Gordon B. Hinckley’s sister, Sylvia, lived in the small town that I grew up in. She was extremely brilliant and was the Valedictorian at BYU when she graduated. She could have done anything or been anything in this world. She was a shining example to me all of my growing up years. She had 11 children, married to a farmer, and she died of cancer in the late sixties when her youngest child was 8 years old."

"A neat and tidy, very kindly sister from the ward came over to Sylvia’s home to help out one day. She went to the kitchen and thought that she would start with the dishes. Milk buckets and strainers, piles of dishes were everywhere. Too discouraged to help with that, she went to the laundry, unbelievable amounts of dirty clothes met her. Then she thought that she could iron some clothes---yes, this was in the days of ironing! Piles and piles of unironed clothes! Too overwhelmed, she went to the mending. Again, too much to even contemplate. I am unsure how many chores overwhelmed her, but she left having done nothing to help. This has always been my favorite RS story about serving each other!"

"But at Sylvia’s funeral, both President Hinckley and President Kimball spoke. They told of what a perfect example of womanhood she was. They said that her reward was assured because she put having children and raising them with firm testimonies above all else. President Hinckley went so far as to say that other woman had not made that sacrifice and choice and had put lovely homes and calmer lives ahead of that greater and far more important choice. I don’t remember their exact words as this was a long time ago, but the message was clear."

"Choosing a large family is choosing chaos, and humility by being looked down upon, but it is also choosing life in a righteous family for Heavenly Father’s beloved spirit children. It is the same choice Adam and Eve made in the garden—perfect, orderly life vs. chaos and trials. They made the right choice and we do too, when we choose family first."

"Chin up, you are all doing a great work, the most vital work that we are ever to do during our life on earth. Family is what it is all about."

Love,

The Pure Love of Christ

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Thanks to my good friend, Britt, I was privileged to watch this beautiful talk today. It is ten minutes long, but is soo worth watching! To hear Elder Kikuchi tell the story below, start listening around seven minutes in until the end.

"Many years later, in 1873, Kitty, the wife of this great man, Jonathon Napela, contracted leprosy. She was a beautiful and noble woman in the early days of the Church in Hawaii. Today modern medical knowledge has advanced so that this disease is no longer fatal, but at that time, there was no cure for this dreadful disease. In order to prevent the spreading of this disease, once you contracted it you were forced to live on one of the seashores in the leper colony on Molokai. The lepers were taken there by boat. The sailors were so afraid of this disease that they pushed the patients into the sea, forcing them to swim to shore."

"Because his wife had to go to Kalaupapa, the leper colony, Jonathon, too, wanted to go. He took her hand and they went there together. Why would he do this? Because he loved her so much! He knew that life is eternal and love is eternal, even through days of 'sickness and health.'"

"Oh, how much do I love my wife? Oh, do I love her as a daughter of God, as Jonathon loved his wife? Would I be willing to go to a place like that to be with her? Would you be willing to demonstrate your pure love like Jonathon? Brethren, are we honoring our companions? Are we caring? Are we thoughtful? We must be, because God has joined us together (see Mark 10:9).History records that this valiant and giant man of God worked in the leper colony and fought to obtain government assistance for the lepers to have a more comfortable place to live. He was a giant in the pure love of Christfor his own people. Oh, I can almost hear the words of Paul to the Corinthians when he said, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal” (1 Cor. 13:1).This good brother later contracted that same disease and died even before his wife passed away. She followed him two years later. Husbands, do you love your wife as a daughter of God? Oh, “husbands, love your wives” as daughters of God, “even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it” (Eph. 5:25)."

May we all appreciate and cherish our husbands today, for all they sacrifice for us and our children every day!!!

Love,

Are LDS Women "Oppressed?"

We live in a world that is constantly misjudging the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for many reasons, but one in particular we hear all too often is that we LDS women are "oppressed."

Nothing can be further than the truth!

Sister Sheri Dew, formerly of the church's General Relief Society presidency, explains wonderfully how this is NOT true.

I hope you enjoy this short video as much as I have!

 

Love,