I recently read a book called "The Power of Everyday Missionaries" and basically it gave me clarity that I've been wanting for a realllllly long time. And that book led me to a couple blogs, one here and one here. Both are great. The latter, however, inspired me to inspired me (as did the book I referred to) to include my own talk on gratitude that I gave at the end of last year. The purpose is both to have as my own record and also in hope that someone who hasn't completely given up on this blog will read it and perhaps be granted some clarity in life as I have.
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I’ve been so excited to be the first one to wish everyone a Merry Christmas from the pulpit. I know that doing so before Thanksgiving is quite taboo, so when it dropped below 70 degrees outside I’ve been careful to keep my blaring Christmas music to a minimum.
But I recognize and appreciate that this month and this season are that of thanksgiving, and so I have focused my talk today on that which I am grateful for.
The last time I spoke in sacrament meeting was in this exact month in 2008. Cole and I were newly married and had recently moved to Phoenix into our second ward as newlyweds and into our first home right across the street from a beautiful park where dog walkers mingled every evening and bocce ball was played every Saturday morning. I am so grateful for that time in Phoenix together where we met the friends that would bring us to Mesa and eventually to our first home.
Cole and I met on a blind date, so despite what is said of those, I was the “sweet spirit” Cole agreed to go out with. He has always been a charitable person and did so as a favor to his mother’s boss, my bishop.
I should probably add that it was only one date, and the next day he started dating someone else. But alas, in the end I won, sweet spirit rising from the dating ashes victorious.
We’ve been married for nearly 5 years and have been blessed with two of the best little boys on the
planet.
planet.
When I was in college, I remember learning something in class that troubled me. It troubled me because it was something I felt like I should have known my whole life but didn’t. I spent many days struggling and pondering on what it was that I could do better, why I had been doing it wrong my whole life, and why I hadn’t already known it.
My mom was always the one who got us into school, the one who called us daily to make sure we had enough money, that we got along with our roommates, and had good food to eat. My dad, on the other hand, would call perhaps once a semester and ask how our grades were. On this particular call, I expressed my frustration and confusion, and asked my father what I was to do. He paused for a moment, and said “Rem, you’re worrying too much! You don’t need to worry about that stuff yet. Just wake up tomorrow, go outside, and watch the sunrise. And be grateful for another beautiful day.” I have forever remembered those words, and think of them often, especially when I get overwhelmed.
I am grateful for wonderful parents who raised me to love, respect, and be grateful for the Lord’s creations and the time we’ve been given here on earth.
Gratitude is finding pleasure in life’s circumstances, in realizing Father’s hand in it, in giving back what you’ve been given. “in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things.”-D&C 59:21 President Monson added to that scripture in conference by saying “if ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.”
It’s the simple things that I chose then to take pleasure in…..as the book my father gave me said (a short guide to a Happy life) “turn off your cell phone. Turn off your regular phone for that matter. Keep still. Be present. Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love, and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure, it is work…..send a letter. Kiss your mom. Hug your dad….Get a life in which you are generous . Look around at the azaleas making fushia star bursts in spring; look at a full moon hangin silver in a black sky on a cold night. And realize that life is glorious, and that you have no business taking it for granted. Care so deeply about it’s (and I add, HIS) goodness that you want to spread it around….all of us want to do well. But if we do not good, too, then doing well will never be enough.”
“love is not leisure, love is work”. In Elder Holland’s most recent conference address he said that “the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty” and loyalty in the kingdom of God is not a leisurely thing. It is being like our Savior. It is following him. It is serving others, it is loving, it is daily, it is consistency. Just as it is far more beneficial to your testimony to read from the Book of Mormon for a short time daily than for 3 hours once a week, so it is with gratitude, with service, and with discipleship. And so Elder Holland continued, “If ye love me, keep my commandments,”14 Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before. Discipleship is how we show our gratitude to our Father in Heaven. And as Elder Anderson said in April 2012 conference, discipleship is a daily duty. So we chose, each day, to be grateful. We choose, each day, to be a disciple of Christ.
I am grateful that I have been blessed with that life changibng encounter. I am grateful I can’t go back because I wouldn’t want to. I am grateful for service, for a chance to give back whaI;ve been given. I testify that finding gratitude and serving as a disciple go hand in hand, and that doing so will help us in our life’s lowest of lows.
Cole and I first saw each other at my seminary graduation….which would make me VERY grateful for seminary……I saw a man walk in with a beautiful white-haired little girl in his arms, diaper bag on shoulder, followed by a beautiful blonde woman, their love for each other indisputable. As he stood at the entrance of the chapel for a place to sit, I stood in line with the others graduating. I watched as this little girl kissed his face, giggled and the family went in together and I prayed silently, Father, I want a family JUST like that. I want a husband that is handsome, full of love, LOVES children, and has a strong testimony of the gospel JUST like that one. Well, five years later I met him on the blind date and met his sister and niece that were in attendance at the graduation with him. I am grateful for that great promise, ask, and ye shall receive.
3rd Nephi, chapter 14, verses 7-11
7 aAsk, and it shall be given unto you; bseek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
8 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.
9 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?
11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
I am grateful for a boy who had a question and who wouldn’t give up until satisfied with an answer. I’m grateful for the prophet Joseph, and for His example of selflessness and service, humility and obedience. I am forever indebted for His inquiry for truth and for the instrumentality that he was to the restoring of this gospel. I am indeed grateful for the restored gospel. That I belong to that same church as did the apostles of old. That we again have a prophet on the earth, that we AGAIN have twelve apostles, that we AGAIN have the power of God on earth found in the priesthood. I am grateful for the Book of Mormon. I know that it is true. I know that it is “the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.”- Joseph Smith- Introduction to the Book of Mormon
I am grateful for inspiration. I am grateful that the lord knows what each of you need, I am grateful that the Lord wants and needs us to each be a part of his army, and that I have the opportunity of being an instrument in his hands today, to say what He would have me say. Let me assure you that through much prayer in preparation for this talk, He is speaking to you through me…answering your prayers.
I am grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the opportunity He gives me to change. To start a new path. To try something new, to learn something new, and to be something better. I pray that we will listen to the counsel of the Prophet, who is inspired to make our lives better, and be one with Christ. Listen to the words of the Savior. As our beloved prophet counseled us, “He taught us how to pray. He taught us how to serve. He taught us how to live. His life is a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved…..Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His word. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude.” Nothing has effected my life more, or made it more beautiful, made the colors of the world brighter, and the love in my heart stronger, than the life and especially the Atonement of Jesus Christ did. “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”32 - John 16:33
I am grateful to have served a mission and to have seen so many people who exemplified the truth that anyone can change and that He has indeed overcome the world.
Let us, brothers and sisters, exemplify in our everyday actions our gratitude and thanksgiving for our Father in Heaven’s, and our Savior’s, love. Let us take pleasure out of the simple things in life. Let us laugh as much as our children, let us find joy in every day, let us serve to show our Father that we are thankful for His plan, and that we want to be with Him again. “write a letter. Kiss your mom. Hug your dad.”
At the close of her book, Anna Quidlen tells the story of man with some of the greatest words of wisdom I’ve heard. She says, “I found one of my best teachers on the boardwalk at Coney Island may years ago. It was December, and I was doing a story about how the homeless suffer in the winter months. He and I sat on the edge of the wooden supports, dangling our feet over the side, and he told me about his schedule, panhandling the boulevard when the summer crowds were gone, sleeping in a church when the temperature went below freezing, hiding from the police amid the tilt-a-whirl and the Cyclone and some of the other seasonal rides. But he told me that most of the time he stayed on the boardwalk, facing the water, just the way were were sitting now, even when it got cold and he had to wear his newspapers after he read them. And I asked him why. Why didn’t he go the shelter? Why didn’t he check himself into the hospital for detox? And he stared out at the ocean and said “Look at the view, young lady. Look at the view.”
And every day, in some little way, I try to do what he said. I try to look at the view. That’s all. Words of wisdom from a man with not a dime in his pocket, no place to go, nowhere to be. Look at the view. When I do what he said, I am never disappointed.”
Brothers and sisters, because the gospel is restored and we have a prophet today, we have a view that is broader and more eternal than anyone else in the world. Let us be grateful for it. Let us look at the view and be happy. Let us watch the sunrise and be grateful for another day. Let us remember who gives us that sunrise, and what we must give back.
Elder Holland also said, speaking as the Savior, “What I need.....are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world.
Jesus is the Christ, we are God’s children, and the gospel is back in its fullness. This I know by the power of the Holy Ghost, and by no other way.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
