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| Keely, Ana, Abby |
This post is dedicated to Ana's sweet friends who helped her shop and/or pack and/or watched The District episodes with her and/or I think had a Book of Mormon read-a-thon for a bit one day and/or came for her talk and/or came to the airport. :-) Love you guys <3
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| Maddy & Ana |
Also the Sunday before Ana left she spoke in church. The following are her talks plus the other two speakers:
My name is Kiera and I've been asked to give a talk on how faith is trust in our savior.
In Alma 32:21 it reads - "And now as I said concerning faith--faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true."
Last year, I did a project that tested my faith. I got to choose what I wanted to do for my project and I chose to grow a garden.
Gardening is an amazing way to test your faith because just like faith in anything else you have to have soil, or a desire to have it.
You have to feed it, by giving it water, or prayer and reading your scriptures.
Plants need light and warmth, just as we need the words of the prophets and teachers.
Something that has strengthened my faith and trust in the Lord is my being part of the Young Women Organization. One of the older girls in Young Women has a really strong testimony of the savior and has also helped me feel really included, and that in and of itself has strengthened my testimony and trust in the savior because I know that she loves Him and because I know that, I know that she loves me as well.
People like this are all around us, and lead by example, I would say that I would like to be just like her.
And just as plants need consistent light, warmth, and water, we need to be consistent with partaking of the sacrament, and all other activities, that would bring us closer to Christ and strengthen our trust and faith in him.
The more we exercise our faith in Christ the easier it becomes to trust in Him, and our testimony is strengthened and our roots become stronger and firmer so that when trials come our way, big or small, our trust in the Savior will keep us firmly grounded in those principles that will lead us back to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
In Proverbs 3:5-6 it reads - "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."
I'd like to bear my testimony that this is the true church, and that if we put your faith and trust in the savior, he will help us get through all of the trials in our lives. And I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Ana Faith Farewell
7/24/2016
Good morning. As you might have noticed this month each week
is a different value from the young women’s personal progress book. Personal progress is a program where the young
women work on value experiences for eight different values. To complete the value you need to do six
experiences then a 10 hour project. Each
value is designed to help strengthen your faith and strengthen you. This week’s value is faith. I was asked specifically to speak on how faith
and trust in our Savior is a reason to celebrate and rejoice. After contemplating how I wanted to do this I
decided to stick on the idea of the personal progress value and how doing each
of the parts to pass it off has helped me to strengthen my faith and trust in
our Savior. Above all of the value
experiences for faith there is a quote.
It says I am a daughter of Heavenly Father, who loves me. I have faith
in his eternal plan, which centers on Jesus Christ, my Savior. We believe that the first principle of the
gospel is faith.
For the first value experience you read some scriptures on
faith so you can learn more about what faith is. Then you are asked to exercise your faith by
establishing a habit of prayer. For
three weeks you pray morning and evening then write what you have felt in your
journal and what it has done to strengthen your faith. After this is over you continue to say your
prayers morning and night to continue the habit you made. I personally have gone through times when I
did not pray every day. I can tell that
there is a difference. A difference that
I didn’t always notice until I started saying them again. When I have a habit of saying prayers I tend
to be more confident and happy and I don’t get as stressed.
The second experience focuses on the ways that different
mothers have taught their children about faith.
One of the scriptures is the story of the stripling warriors. It is found in Alma 56:45-48
And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that
never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites.
46 For as I had ever called them
my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me:
Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we
should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would
let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of
Antipus.
47 Now they never had fought, yet
they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of
their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by
their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
48 And they rehearsed unto me the
words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.
The next experience is to ask three women that you look up
to. What are some important qualities
they think women need to be able to teach children about faith? After you write these qualities down you need
to think about how you can use these qualities in your life now and in the
future. By preparing yourself now you
can strengthen your faith so someday you can be an example to others and help
strengthen their faith. It is good to
know how to strengthen your faith now so you are not trying to help others
strengthen theirs when your faith isn’t very strong. Strengthening my faith when I was a young
woman has helped me prepare to go on a mission and help others to have faith in
Christ.
The third experience is to describe how living a gospel
principle requires faith. You choose a
principle to work on such as prayer, tithing, fasting, or keeping the Sabbath
day holy. After living a gospel
principle you write down why you think it takes faith to live it. I have realized that with faith you
understand why you are living the gospel principle. If you do not follow the Gospel principle in
faith then you are just kind of doing it. You might do it with a different attitude
and it could almost become a burden. If
you are doing it with faith then it will become easier and you will be blessed.
The fourth experience is learning about the sacrament. You are asked to read about the last supper
in Mathew Luke and Mark when Jesus first gave the sacrament to his
apostles. Over the next few weeks you
are to listen and ponder during the sacrament then write how you felt in your
journal. Even though I finished doing
this for the value a long time ago I still try my best to do this today. I find that when I think about the purpose of
the sacrament I tend to get more out of it and it is a much nicer more
meaningful experience each Sunday.
The fifth experience is about understanding the plan of
salvation. The more you learn about the
plan of salvation the more you can understand about your propose. The plan of salvation as stated in Preach my
gospel “maps our eternal journey through premortality, mortal life, death,
resurrection, and to our life in the eternities. The plan also explains what
our loving Father in Heaven does to help us make this journey successfully so
that we can return to His presence and become like Him. The plan focuses on the
mission and Atonement of Jesus Christ in overcoming the effects of the Fall and
making eternal life possible for us.” Your
faith can be strengthened in our savior and his importance and how he can
continue to bring us joy even after this life.
Our faith in this gospel will be strengthened as we come to understand
exactly what the plan of salvation is.
Since I learned about the plan of salvation when I was completing
personal progress that will help me to become a better missionary and help
others come to understand it.
The sixth value experience I created my own and decided that
I wanted to learn more about fasting and its importance. I tried to come up with a reason that I was
fasting and not just fasting. I still
try to come up with a reason for my fasting.
I have found that by having a reason it makes it more meaningful It also
helps you not think so much about just wanting to eat but also every time you
feel hungry you think of your reason why you are fasting helping you remember
that fasting is more than just not eating for two meals.
For my Faith project I took notes during general conference
and the general young women’s meeting.
General conference is when we listen to our living prophet, apostles,
and other leaders in the church. In the
past I had always just tried to listen maybe even do something else with it
playing in the background. When I would
do this I found that it was more background noise then what I was actually
focusing on at the moment I didn’t really gain much from it. This time when I was taking notes it was what
I was focusing on. I tried to write what
the speaker was talking about and if they said a good quote I would write it
down. It helped me to focus better and
listen I gained more from the experience.
I still take notes during general conference it helps to keep my mind on
what people are saying and not wander off as much. I found that when I was paying attention
there was room for my faith to grow. I
had greater faith in my savior and this could help me trust in him.
By doing personal progress my faith has grown and I have
learned to trust in my Savior. Since I
have more faith it also helps me to rejoice in everything that Jesus has done
for me. I know that He is always there
and can help with anything if we just let him.
When I went off to school at first I was sad to be away from
home and everything I knew and that is when my faith really grew. The church stayed the same. It was something that was always
constant. Everything else was changing
and different but the church stayed the same.
My faith helped me to rejoice and have more fun at college because my
ability to rely on the Savior and this gospel helped me to adjust. I feel like I prayed more and the prayers
where truly heart felt. This experience
strengthened my faith. It helped me to
realize how much I loved the gospel.
This was when I truly thought about serving a mission. I wanted to meet
people and help them come unto Christ because I knew how much it helped me. When people talked about being a missionary
while I was growing up I was not sure if I wanted to leave on a mission for a
year and a half. After my experience of
going to school and exercising faith it showed me that if I wanted to it would
be possible for me to go and leave my friends and family. When I had my interview with my stake
president before submitting my mission papers he talked about the fiery darts
of the adversary. He told me that he had
done a lot of research on fiery darts.
He found that there are a few different kinds in war fare that were
used. There are the kind that we usually
think of that have firey tips that you could usually see coming and put them
out really fast. However there was also
a different kind that people would use.
This kind was smaller and you would shoot a lot of them into the wood
that was around the fortress holding it up.
These ones had something combustible inside. Once there was a lot of them then the enemy
would have to just shoot one and all of them would go up at once taking down
the fortress. It was always a guard’s
job to be on the look out for the small ones since they were so easy to be
missed. My stake president then related
it to the different ways we are tempted or misled. Sometimes we are tempted with a thought that
we immediately notice and we can stop it.
Other times it can be a bunch of little thing that don’t seem so bad
that will take us down. He used the
example of a serving a mission. Satan
can cause little thoughts to pop into our head that don’t seem so bad but then
in the end there can be so many negative thoughts and you can lose your
confidence in wanting to serve and you will not go. I feel like this can also be related to many
aspects of our lives. He reminded me
that we have to trust our Savior and have faith that everything will work
out. We have to watch out for the little
thoughts that could be slowly taking us down and keeping us from being
happy. We need to constantly look out
for little thoughts even though they don’t seem as dangerous as the big huge
fiery darts they are even more dangerous.
Through faith I have come to know that this gospel is true, joseph smith
was a prophet and Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet today. I know that we have a Heavenly father who
loves us and that if we trust in our savior we will always have reason to
rejoice. I look forward to my
opportunity to share this message with the people of Colorado. I say these things in the name of Jesus
Christ Amen.
Bishop Dubois (not our current Bishop)
“The Danger of Fear versus the
Safety, Comfort, and Joy
that Come from Trusting in the
Savior and Our Father in Heaven.”
Maple Grove Sacrament Meeting
July 24, 2016
Introduction
My beloved brothers and sisters, I
am so happy to stand before you this morning. Because of
my Stake calling I don’t often have
the opportunity to attend our ward with each you that I love
and respect so greatly. I pray this
morning that our Heavenly Father will guide my thoughts and
inspire my words..
My purpose today is to describe how
fear can be replaced by the safety, comfort, and joy that
come through faith and by trusting
in in the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. I
earnestly pray the Holy Ghost will
bless each of us as we consider together this important topic.
Who among us can say that he or she
has not felt fear? In our daily lives, there are endless
reports of criminal violence, famine,
wars, corruption, terrorism, declining values, disease, not
to mention natural disasters that
can produce fear and apprehension. Surely we live in a world
foretold by the Lord in D&C
45:26: “And in that day ... the whole earth shall be in commotion,
and men’s hearts shall fail them.” I
know of no one who has been entirely spared from some
form of fear. Some, of course,
experience fear to a greater degree than others do. Some are
able to rise above it quickly, but
others are trapped and pulled down by it and even driven to
defeat.
In addition, to the physical fears
we can face on a daily basis, we may also suffer from the fear
of ridicule, the fear of failure,
the fear of loneliness, the fear of ignorance. Some fear the
present, some the future. Some carry
the burden of sin and would give almost anything to
unshackle themselves from those
burdens, but they fear to change their own lives. Let us
recognize that fear doesn’t come
God, but rather this gnawing, destructive element comes
from the adversary of truth and
righteousness. Fear is the opposite of faith. It is corrosive in its
effects, even deadly.
However, we have no need to fear as
long as we have the power in our lives that comes from
righteously living and the power of
faith in the Savior and Our Father in Heaven.
In 2 Timothy 1:7 we read “For God
hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind.”
Fear is the opposite of faith
Anciently the Lord spoke to Isaac,
as recorded in Genesis 26:24 saying, “Fear not, for I am with
thee.” The admonition to “fear not”
was clear and direct and meaningful. The promise that “I
am with thee” was equally plain and
direct and powerful.
Down through the ages the same
warning and assurance, has been extended to all of us who
are willing to qualify. Yet fear is
prevalent throughout the earth. It weakens faith, brings doubts,
and produces mistrust. Indeed, it
tends to hinder our lives in many ways.
But fear isn’t a new thing, or
something that is unique to our generation. Upon hearing the
voice of God after partaking of the
forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve hid themselves in the Garden
of Eden. Then as recorded in Genesis
3:9–10, God called unto Adam and asked, Where art
thou? And Adam answered, I heard thy
voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was
naked; and I hid myself.” Notably,
one of the first effects of the Fall was for Adam and Eve to
experience fear. This powerful
emotion is an important element of our mortal existence.
But there is an example from the
Book of Mormon which highlights the power of the
knowledge of the Lord to dispel fear
and provide peace even as we confront great adversity.
In the land of Helam, Alma’s people
were frightened by an advancing Lamanite army. In Mosiah
23:27–28 we read, “But Alma went
forth and stood among them, and exhorted them that they
should not be frightened, but ...
should remember the Lord their God and he would deliver
them. “Therefore they hushed their
fears.”
Notice that it wasn’t Alma that
silenced the people’s fears. Rather, Alma counseled the
believers to remember the Lord and
the deliverance only He could bestow. And knowledge of
the Savior’s watchful protection
enabled the people to hush their own fears.
So from this scripture we can learn
that faith in the Lord empowers us to hush our fears
because Jesus Christ is the only
source of enduring peace. He declared in D&C 19:23, “Learn of
me, and listen to my words; walk in
the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me.”
Trust and confidence in Christ and a
ready reliance on His mercy, and grace lead to hope,
through His Atonement. Then it is
this power of the Atonement which strengthens us to see,
do, and become good in ways that we
could never recognize or accomplish on our own. Then as
we live our lives in this way we are
able to receive great blessings of “the peace of God, which
passeth all understanding”.
It is the peace Christ gives which
allows us to view our earthly existence through the
perspective of eternity and supplies
a level of spiritual preparedness that helps us maintain a
consistent focus on our heavenly
destination. Thus, we can be blessed to calmour fears
because His doctrine provides
purpose and direction in all aspects of our lives.
However, you might ask is it really
possible to replace the fears that we so easily and frequently
face our world today with safety,
comfort and joy? The answer to this question is an
unequivocal yes. Elder Bednar taught
us that there are three basic principles which are central
to receiving these blessing of
safety, comfort and joy in our lives:
(1) look to Christ,
(2) build upon the foundation of
Christ, and
(3) press forward with faith in Christ.
1) Look to Christ
The counsel Alma gave to his son
Helaman in Alma 37:47 applies precisely to each of us today:
“Yea, see that ye look to God and
live.” We should look to and have our focus firmly fixed upon
the Savior at all times and in all
places.
Recall while the Lord’s Apostles
were in a ship, tossed in the midst of the sea. Jesus went to
them, walking on the water; but they
did not recognize Him, so they cried out in fear. Then in
Matthew 14:27–29 we read what
happens next.
27. But straightway Jesus spake unto
them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
28. And Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the
water.
29. And he said, Come. And when
Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the
water, to go to Jesus.
So here Peter was filled with faith
looking to the Savior then walked on the water. But as we
read further we can see what
happened next to Peter Matthew 14:30–31
30. But when he saw the wind
boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried,
saying, Lord, save me.
31. And immediately Jesus stretched
forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O
thou of little faith, wherefore
didst thou doubt?
I can envision Peter responding
immediately to the Savior’s invitation. With his eyes fixed upon
Jesus, he stepped out of the boat
and miraculously walked on the water. Only when his gaze
was diverted by the wind and the
waves did he become afraid and begin to sink.
I would suggest that we can be
blessed to conquer our fears and strengthen our faith as we
follow the Lord’s instruction in
D&C 6:36: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.”
2) Build upon the Foundation of
Christ
As we look to replace our fears with
safety, comfort and joy; ordinances and covenants are the
building blocks we use to trust in
the Savior and His Atonement. We are connected with the
Savior as we worthily receive
ordinances and enter into covenants, faithfully remember and
honor those sacred commitments, and
do our best to live in accordance with the obligations we
have accepted. As we are diligent in
making and keeping covenants they will be a source of
spiritual strength and stability
throughout our lives.
3) Press Forward with Faith in
Christ
In 2 Nephi 31:20 Nephi declared:
“Wherefore, ye must press forward
with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect
brightness of hope, and a love of
God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press
forward, feasting upon the word of
Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the
We can replace our fears with
safety, comfort and joy; as we receive the courage that comes
from learning and living gospel
principles and resolutely pressing forward with faith.
The Fear of the Lord
We've talked about some of the
worldly fears we all face; however, there is another kind of fear
which the scriptures refer to a
“godly fear” or “the fear of the Lord.” This fear is different from
but related to the other fears we
often experience. Unlike worldly fear that creates alarm and
anxiety, godly fear is a source of
peace, assurance, and confidence.
The righteous fear I am attempting
to describe encompasses a deep feeling of reverence,
respect, and awe for the Lord Jesus
Christ, obedience to His commandments, and anticipation
of the Final Judgment and justice at
His hand. Thus, godly fear grows out of a correct
understanding of the divine nature
and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, a willingness to submit
our will to His will, and a
knowledge that every man and woman will be accountable for his or
her own sins in the Day of Judgment.
Godly fear dispels mortal fears. It
literally helps us overcome the very real fear that we never
can be good enough spiritually and
never will measure up to the Lord’s requirements and
expectations. Because in truth, we
cannot be good enough or measure up relying solely upon
ourselves. Our works and desires
alone do not and cannot save us. However, after all we can
do, we are made whole through the
mercy and grace available through the Savior’s infinite and
eternal atoning sacrifice. According
to the 3rd Article of Faith, it says “we believe that through
the Atonement of Christ, all mankind
may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of
the gospel.”
Godly fear is loving and trusting in
Him. As we fear God more completely, we love Him more
perfectly. And “perfect love casteth
out all fear.” I am confident that the bright light of godly
fear will chase away the dark
shadows of mortal fears as we look to the Savior, build upon Him
as our foundation, and press forward
on His covenant path with consecrated commitment.
Be of Good Cheer
As we search for safety, comfort and
joy there is reason for us to be optimistic.
In Matthew 9:2, Jesus proclaimed to
the paralytic man lying helpless on a bed, “Be of good
cheer.”
As we discussed earlier, in Matthew
14:27, Jesus appeared to the frightened Apostles battling
the tempestuous sea, declaring, “Be
of good cheer.”
In 3 Nephi 1:13, the Lord said to
Nephi the son of Nephi, who was subject to an arbitrary law
threatening his life and the lives
of other righteous Nephites if the signs prophesied by Samuel
the Lamanite didn’t occur, “Lift up
your head and be of good cheer.”
As recorded in D&C 61:36, as
Joseph Smith met with ten elders about to be sent out, two by
two, to missions fraught with
trouble and danger, the Lord announced, “Be of good cheer”
In each instance the people had
every reason to be anxious, fearful, and hopeless, yet the Lord
directed them toward a reason to
rejoice.
What about for each of us, when
economic uncertainties, terrorist threats, and corruption
provide top stories for the evening
news; or when we experience personal loss in so many ways
How does the Lord’s admonition of
cheer sound?
In order for us to gain an
understanding of how it is possible to “Be of good cheer” when there
is so much fear in our own lives, we
need only to look to the Last Supper as an example of how
we can obtain safety, comfort and
joy. Speaking to the Apostles in His final moments before
Gethsemane, Jesus said in John
16:33, “In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world.”
As I think about that night and the days which followed I
wonder how was it possible for the
Twelve to be of good cheer?”
The unimaginable agony of Gethsemane
was about to descend upon Jesus; Judas’ betrayal was
imminent. Then would come Jesus’
arrest and arraignment; the scattering of the Twelve like
sheep; the awful scourging of the
Savior; the unjust trial; the mob’s shrill cry for Barabbas
instead of Jesus; and then the awful
crucifixion on Calvary. What was there to be cheerful
about? Just what Jesus said: He had
overcome the world! The atonement was about to be a
reality. The resurrection of all
mankind was assured. Death was to be done away with—Satan
had failed to stop the atonement.
I think it is important to note that
when Christ declared, “In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world.” He didn’t say you must overcome the world
or that He overcame the world just
for the weak ones who weren’t smart enough or strong
enough to do it on their own. The
Savior said, “I have overcome the world.”
So when Christ proclaims, “Be of
good cheer,” He is not requesting a naïve, Pollyanna-like
response to life’s cruel twists and
turns. However, He also is not promising a pain-free life of
constant bliss. Every one of us are
subject to our own trials and tragedies. There is opposition
among rich and poor, men and women,
the righteous as well as the wicked. And while the
world appears to becoming increasing
dishonesty and wicked, the Savior specifically prayed in
John 17:15 that God would not take
us “out of the world.” But He also taught us in D&C
101:36, “In this world your joy is
not full, but in me your joy is full.” How else do we learn that
true satisfaction is found only by
turning away from the world and coming to Christ?
I would suggest that the knowledge
that Christ has already overcome the world, gives us an
even greater insight into 2 Nephi
25:23 where it states that “It is by grace that we are saved,
after all we can do.” But to me the
next logical question is what does it mean “all we can do?”
The answer is given to us in the
Book of Mormon where we read of a group of converted
Lamanites, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies,
who recognized the answer to the question “what is all we
can do?” Their leader wisely taught
in Alma 24:11, “It has been all that we could do, . . . to
repent of all our sins . . . and to
get God to take them away from our hearts.” These humble
Saints desired to please God far
more than receive the acceptance of those around them. They
manifested their sincere repentance
by burying their weapons of war and making a covenant
with God.
We can do the same. We can admit
that we have sinned and need the Lord’s redemption. We
can confess His power and goodness
and our constant need for His sustaining and
strengthening influence. We can bury
our own weapons of war, which are the tools we are
prone to use to try and survive
without Him but that only serve to fortify our pride and self- righteousness.
And we can make and keep our covenants with Him.
Increase our faith
In closing I would like to read from
Luke 17:5 where we learn a simple truth about how can we
change our fear to the safety,
comfort, and joy that come from trusting in the Savior and Our
Father in Heaven It reads ”And the
apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.” It is my
prayer that the Lord will grant us
faith to look beyond the problems of the moment to the
miracles of the future. That He will
give us faith to put our trust in the Almighty, and that He will
open the windows of heaven as He has
promised.
I am confident that as we trust in
the Lord and in Our Father in Heaven and as we strengthen
our faith in the Savior through His
Atonement, we will invite into our lives, comfort, and joy
which will replace all our fears.
May God bless each one you that your
lives may be happy and productive, that you may realize
the desires of your hearts, that you
may walk in faith and faithfulness
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