~by Heather L.

I love the Book of Mormon.

I am so grateful that the young prophet, Joseph Smith, was given the assignment by God to translate the ancient American records we know as the Book of Mormon so that we could look to them for answers in our day.

I know that Joseph Smith must have received answers to his prayers as he did this important work. For example, Joseph faced a lot of persecution for his testimony that God and Jesus Christ appeared to him in a grove of trees. Imagine seeing such a vision and going to tell your pastor, then being ostracized from the very churches that the day before were vying for your membership. Here is how Joseph felt as recorded in his own words:

“I was led to say in my heart: Why persecute me for telling the truth? I have actually seen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God, or why does the world think to make me deny what I have actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it, and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it, neither dared I do it; at least I knew that by so doing I would offend God, and come under condemnation.” (Joseph Smith – History 1:25)

I imagine the comfort he must have felt as he read these words in the Book of Mormon about another prophet who went through similar experiences:

“And when the Jews heard these things they were angry with him; yea, even as with the prophets of old, whom they had cast out, and stoned, and slain; and they also sought his life, that they might take it away. But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance. (1 Nephi 1:19, 20)

Joseph was imprisoned over and over by mobs bent on his destruction, so I imagine the peace he gained reading the words of the Book of Mormon prophet Ether, or Mormon, or Moroni, all of whom were the last righteous men living of their people – the people they loved but who had forgotten God:

“My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.” (Moroni 9:25)

I, too, have found answers to prayer within the pages of the Book of Mormon – comfort at the loss of a child, God’s reasons for being modest, reassurance that God is there for us even in our darkest hours, inspiration on how to cope with difficult co-workers, etc. Even ideas on how to run a football program! I will share some of these answers I received in future articles.

But you don’t have to wait, or take my word for it!

The prophet Moroni closed his writings in the Book of Mormon with the following promise to all of us:

“Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

“And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.”

I invite you to request a copy of the Book of Mormon or you can read the Book of Mormon online, and begin your own search for answers. They are in there!

The post The Book of Mormon: An Answer to Prayer appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

A few years ago I realized something very important – that the story of Jesus Christ’s birth is about more than a manger – oh, so much more! The angels’ singing wasn’t just about a baby being born. They sang because they knew God’s promises were beginning to be fulfilled with that special birth. To understand their joy fully, we need to remember the rest of the story….

The story of Jesus Christ’s birth began before he was born, even before Adam and Eve were placed in the Garden of Eden. It began in a meeting in heaven, called by our Heavenly Father for all of His spirit children. You and I were there as He explained His plan for all of us.

We would each have the opportunity to come to earth, to have a physical body. During our time on earth, we would learn, and grow, and make choices. That agency, the freedom to choose, was one of Heavenly Father’s precious gifts to us. We would need to learn to use it wisely so we could return to his presence after our time on earth.

We were excited to go to earth, but worried as we realized that bad choices we might make would keep us from being able to live with our loving Heavenly Father forever.

Satan volunteered to go down to earth to be sure that none of us would go astray. He guaranteed that we’d all make it back to Heavenly Father. His plan, however, would take away our ability to choose for ourselves, taking away that precious gift Father had given us. And Satan sought for his own glory, not Father’s.

Jesus, on the other hand, offered his life as a payment for our bad choices. He would suffer for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to, if we would repent and forsake them. Jesus sought only to glorify Heavenly Father, and to help us all return safely home – if we chose to repent for our mistakes.

Heavenly Father chose Jesus’ to fulfill His plan, and Satan was angry. He convinced a third of Heavenly Father’s spirit children to follow him in open rebellion. Satan and his followers were cast out of heaven, without bodies.

It is Satan’s goal to keep those of us who chose to follow Heavenly Father from returning to his presence. He and his followers use what ever means they can: flattery, distraction, temptation, discouragement, lies. They only want to foil Father’s plan and have us be miserable like they are: unable to progress or receive Heavenly Father’s promised blessings. They don’t care about us; they just want to win.

Adam and Eve knew of Heavenly Father’s plan because angels came to teach them these important truths. They taught their children, and so on. Prophets have taught of the coming of Christ throughout history, reminding the people of Heavenly Father’s love for them, that he would send his Only Begotten Son to show them how to live worthy to return to his presence. People needed to know that they shouldn’t give up if they made a bad choice. Overcoming a mistake or a sin was not impossible, as Satan said, but with God, all things are possible – even overcoming mistakes if we will have faith in Jesus Christ and repent.

People needed to know of the promise of resurrection – that even though Christ would die, he would be resurrected, his body and spirit being reunited. And because Christ would overcome death, all of us would be able to be resurrected, too.

So on that starlit night, when the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, was born in a manger, I believe we were among those who rejoiced. We knew that because of his birth, we could repent and be forgiven when we made bad choices. And our body and spirit could be reunited and resurrected after we died.

Most of all, we rejoiced because, through Jesus Christ, we could return to be with our Heavenly Father again forever. If we would repent.

This is why the birth of Christ that we celebrate each Christmas is about oh, so much more than a manger!

The post My Testimony of Christmas appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

In one recent weekend, I had three headaches.

The first I was blessed to know was the kind I have regularly. I knew I just needed to endure it for a day or so. Sure enough, the next morning it was gone.

That evening, though, I ended up with a different headache that was so bad that I finally had to excuse myself from our visiting friends and go to bed.

As I lay there with this excruciating headache, I began to pray for relief. Instead of tensing up, worrying about how much it hurt, and how long it would endure (what I usually do), I prayed for faith, and began to remember the times that the Lord heard and answered my prayers in the past.

Thinking through those times, I fell asleep — a good, healing sleep, and when I awoke just an hour or two later the headache was gone.

Unfortunately a day or two later, Headache #3 arrived. Even though the third headache was painful, I was grateful it was not that awful headache again. I knew that even if Heavenly Father didn’t take it away, that He could help me survive it. And I did!
Many times I find myself praying about my headaches. I worry that I won’t be able to take care of my family, and the house. My prayers sound a lot like the prayers of Helaman’s army in the Book of Mormon:

Therefore we did pour out our souls in prayer to God, that he would strengthen us and deliver us out of the hands of our enemies, yea, and also give us strength that we might retain our cities, and our lands, and our possessions, for the support of our people. (Alma 58:10)

And, as I have reread my headache experiences, I realized that I have received answers very similar to the Lord’s answers to Helaman and his people:

Yea, and it came to pass that the Lord our God did visit us with assurances that he would deliver us; yea, insomuch that he did speak peace to our souls, and did grant unto us great faith, and did cause us that we should hope for our deliverance in him. (Alma 58:11)

Many times, like it or not, I have had to press on, praying for peace and faith and hope, and do what needed to be done, just like Helaman:

And we did take courage with our small force which we had received, and were fixed with a determination to conquer our enemies, and to maintain our lands, and our possessions, and our wives, and our children, and the cause of our liberty. (Alma 58:12)

I have seen again and again, that making it through headaches, and making it through life’s difficulties, is always best done hand in hand with God! Whether we must endure it, or we are helped through it, or have it miraculously removed, overcoming adversity is all made possible through our Heavenly Father and our Savior’s love and strength! I am so grateful for that!

Next time, I’d like to be reminded of these truths in a less painful way, though! 🙂

The post A Tale of Three Headaches appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

~by Heather L.

I always wanted to be a mother… and a detective, and a librarian, and a teacher. And I have always loved to learn!

From the time I was little, my mother was a great example to me of an educated woman – she completed her college degree even after getting married, and got her teaching certificate not too long after I started school. She loved to learn, and took every opportunity to do so, whether it was Friday night “Know Your Religion” classes or a “just because I want to learn” Hebrew class at a local college.

Reading was one of my favorite occupations, and I read voraciously growing up. I can remember my uncle getting frustrated because I was so absorbed in a book that I didn’t hear him calling me… again and again and again. I kept a dictionary in my desk at school that I would read during silent reading time if I didn’t have a novel. I really loved to learn!

Every subject in elementary and high school was exciting to some degree or another – science and dissecting a frog, math and puzzles, reading and writing, creating works of art, playing and appreciating music…. I was blessed with many great teachers who brought those subjects alive and made me want to learn more. Their excitement for learning set fire to mine, and motivated me toward furthering my education, both spiritual and temporal.

They taught as we are counseled in the Doctrine and Covenants 88:78-80, and helped prepare me for my mission in life:

78 Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand;
79 Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—
80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which I have commissioned you.

And college — college was like going to an all-you-can-eat buffet -– so many interesting choices, so much to learn, and so much to try! I found joy in geology, solace in singing, an outlet in art, the Spirit in the scriptures (I attended BYU, a Mormon university, so religion classes were part of the curriculum), and so much more. As a matter of fact, when I took a zoology class as part of my major requirements, I thought that if I could do it all over again, I might have chosen zoology as a major – it was like being that detective that I’d dreamed of becoming as a child!

In looking at this buffet, I felt much like Merlin the magician in T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, when he said:

“Look what a lot of things there are to learn…. You can learn astronomy in a lifetime, natural history in three, literature in six. And then, after you have exhausted a million lifetimes in biology and medicine and theocriticism and geography and history and economics, why, you can start to make a cartwheel out of the appropriate wood, or spend fifty years learning to begin to learn to beat your opponent at fencing. After that you can start again on mathematics until it is time to learn to plough.”

I struggled with deciding what to major in – I loved science, and reading, and writing, and history, and math (thanks to a great professor!). How could I choose just one?

So I chose elementary education, to become the teacher I dreamed of being, until I met my husband, and became the mother I had wanted to be all along.

Then, learning became like a torch to be passed to my children’s eager young minds – reading books, going to museums and science centers, doing homework together, mastering technology, passing on my one-handed piano playing skills…. It has been a joy to be able to be at home sharing what I have learned, and watching them surpass me! It is a legacy that we can pass on, and that can last eternally:

Doctrine & Covenants 130:18-19

18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

Are Mormon women encouraged to be educated? Yes, at every turn, and in both the spiritual and the temporal!

On the spiritual side, we are encouraged to learn from the time we are young, attending everything from Primary classes, to Young Women and Personal Progress, to Seminary and Institute, Family Home Evening, and Relief Society classes. Personal and family study of the gospel and the scriptures is also a key part of being a Mormon woman.

On the temporal side, we are encouraged to be literate and educated, to prepare ourselves for careers, motherhood, and life in general. No effort to learn is wasted –- I have used what I have learned throughout my life in so many ways: at home, in the schools, in the community, at church — and feel that continuing to learn is one of the best investments in my life.

President Gordon B. Hinckley counseled Mormon women to “…educate your hands and your minds. You belong to a church which espouses education. To you young women may I suggest that you get all the education you can. Train yourselves to make a contribution to the society in which you will live. There is an essence of the divine in the improvement of the mind.”

Even as a mother of adult children, I am constantly learning – learning to use my latest cell phone to keep in touch with friends and family; learning to use computer programs to write blogs and make presentations; learning how to research my family history via the Internet and FamilySearch; and my favorite, learning more from the scriptures every day! As I continue to “seek… out of the best books words of wisdom” (Doctrine & Covenants 88:118) I am becoming the librarian I dreamed of being, too.

As Mormon women – as all women “seek learning, even by study and also by faith” it is continual education, — eternal education, life-blessing education. As we share what we learn with our families, friends, and communities, as we learn from one another, our intelligence expands, and together we can do amazing things!

The post Mormon Women and Education appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

There is nothing better for your spirits than going to get a haircut! You know, when you’ve let your hair go for so long it is totally style-less? And every time you look in the mirror, you seem shaggier? You have to lift your bangs to eat?

A few weeks ago, I was feeling that way. And it was affecting my mood, my relationships, everything. So I promised myself I would go get a haircut.

My husband was feeling a little shaggy himself, so he jumped in and scheduled appointments for us at the local beauty school.

‘Great,’ I thought. But I was desperate, and he had a coupon, so I went.

When we arrived at the school, I hit rock bottom. I was wearing my slobby clothes with my hair pulled back in a pony tail, and I felt awful about myself.

But two hours and two inches later, I was “a whole new woman,” according to the receptionist. I felt that way too, as I saw my face in the mirror. A whole new me.

When I came home from my haircut, I immediately got out the camera. I had to capture this “new me.” And this was a “me” I was proud of. It showed in the pictures, too. My eyes were brighter, my smile truer, and my hair…!

Why would I spend the past few paragraphs detailing my bad hair/good hair day? I knew that somewhere in my experience was a gospel principle, and it came to me this morning:

Repentance.

Let me explain! There have been times when I have felt spiritually “shaggy” – after an argument, or when I did what I knew wasn’t right. I could hardly stand to look at myself in the mirror. I knew I was out of sync with God, and it affected my mood, my relationships, everything. I felt awful about myself.

And yet, when I finally got down to repenting – apologizing, repairing my wrong, overcoming my mistake, asking God’s forgiveness, and committing myself to try never to make that mistake again – it was like a magnificent haircut!

My eyes regained their brightness, my smile returned, and I felt like a “whole new me.” New because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who suffered for our sins so that, if we would repent, we could be forgiven.

When I let the Lord trim away my “split ends,” my “shagginess,” my sins through repentance, not only are my burdens lightened, but I feel one step closer to the eternal, internal beauty that comes from striving to live in sync with God. Paraphrasing my son’s favorite scripture, I am then closer to “receiv[ing] His image in my countenance” through that “mighty change in my heart.” (Alma 5:14)

Nothing’s better for my spirit than repentance and feeling like a “whole new me!”

The post Nothing Better than a New Haircut! — Thoughts on Repentance appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Our son recently lost three teeth in three days! Those new gaps can be challenging, although so can trying to eat when they’re loose. 🙂

If you get a tooth knocked out accidentally or have one pulled before a new one is ready to fill its place, the dentist often puts in what is called a spacer. It holds the teeth on either side of the hole in place until that new tooth comes in.

And for other problems, there are braces and retainers to help move, correct, and hold teeth in place. These measures may involve pulling teeth and uncomfortable wire/diet adjustments.

All of these efforts take work and patience, and all of these situations require an adjustment period as you get used to the way your “new” mouth works and feels. But each correction is made with the goal of a more beautiful you in the future.

Looking at my son’s gap-filled grin got me thinking about how we deal with other “holes” in our lives.

The process of learning about and trying to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ includes finding there are things we need to “pull out” of our lives. Step by step, we strive to eliminate behaviors and habits that are not in harmony with the teachings of the Savior (anger, unkindness, addictive substances or behaviors, immorality, etc.). This enables us to better live the teachings of our Savior Jesus Christ of loving, forgiving, serving, obeying and learning.

As we are making these changes, though, there is a gap created in our lives—a space that needs a “spacer” to keep those old habits from returning, to overcome former desires, and to enable us put positive things in their place. And just as with fixing teeth there is an adjustment period as we get used to our new life.

For example, Elder Boyd K. Packer counseled:

If you can control your thoughts, you can overcome habits, even degrading personal habits. If you can learn to master them you will have a happy life.

This is what I would teach you. Choose… a favorite hymn [or song], one with words that are uplifting and music that is reverent, one that makes you feel something akin to inspiration. … Go over it in your mind carefully. Memorize it. Even though you have had no musical training, you can think through a hymn.

Now, use this hymn as the place for your thoughts to go. Make it your emergency channel. Whenever you find these [inappropriate thoughts] have slipped …onto the stage of your mind, put on this record, as it were.

As the music begins and as the words form in your thoughts, the unworthy ones will slip shamefully away. It will change the whole mood on the stage of your mind. Because it is uplifting and clean, the baser thoughts will disappear. For while virtue, by choice, will not associate with filth, evil cannot tolerate the presence of light.

Once you learn to clear the stage of your mind from unworthy thoughts, keep it busy with learning worthwhile things. Change your environment so that you have things about you that will inspire good and uplifting thoughts. Keep busy with things that are righteous. (“Inspiring Music—Worthy Thoughts”)

Filling the time and space around us with uplifting activities, art, music, movies, books, hard work, etc. can help us keep our minds, hearts and hands filled with positive instead of negative – important when we’re trying to make a life change!

When we’re trying to replace more physical things, doing good physical things can help, too.

Hands once used to holding a cigarette can be instead used to hold a crochet hook and make washcloths for people in need, for example. My mother-in-law, sister-in-law and I spent hours one vacation crocheting washcloths for Humanitarian Services – it was an awesome feeling to complete even one washcloth (I think that’s all I did) and can imagine this could be meaningful for others as well.

Or how about putting those hands to work in family history research? A positive addiction! 🙂 Not only can one’s hands be busy, and one’s mind challenged, but one’s heart will be filled with love as well. And there can be help and encouragement of ancestors to strengthen resolve to leave old habits behind.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke of the need to stay away from the places, people, and things that tempt us and also talked of the importance of making new friends that will encourage us to stick to good habits. Taking daily walks with good friends can lift our spirits, busy our minds, and strengthen our bodies. It was amazing to me how uplifting a half-hour walk with my Visiting Teaching companion could be! We helped each other realize we weren’t alone in our desires to do better, and we always came away encouraged to face the day.

Regular exercise, service, scripture study, personal prayer, church attendance, and, when able, temple attendance — all of these things can help us fill the spaces in our lives to help the new practices become habits. As we seek the good, the Savior can change our hearts, and the old habits are forgotten. As we continue to do these things throughout our lives (and this is a life-long process!), we are better able to experience that “happy life” Elder Packer promised.

What are some favorite “spacers” that help fill “gaps” in your life with good?

The post Filling in the Gaps: Repenting, Changing, Improving appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

A few years ago as we were finishing up driving kids to school, my four year old piped up from the back seat:

“Mom, if I die, I’ll be with Jesus, and Elvis, and Donny Osmond’s dad, and Donny Osmond’s dad’s wife.”

It wasn’t a question — he had just explained with conviction what he had come to know (or always knew, or hadn’t forgotten yet) was true.

The Book of Mormon prophet Alma taught that same truth to his son Corianton in Alma 40:11.

Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life.

I know how it feels to wonder what happens after this life. My first experience with death came when I was 10 years old. We had lived with my grandparents for five years when my grandmother developed cancer and passed away. I wanted to know if she was okay, if she was really in heaven as I had been taught, and so I prayed.

As I walked through our apartment later, I smelled my grandmother’s perfume. I asked my mother if she had brought home any of Grandma’s clothes or anything. She said she hadn’t. I knew then that Heavenly Father had heard my prayer, and that He had sent that little miracle to let me know that Grandma was okay.

A few decades later my other grandmother started talking about her family and childhood each time we would talk on the phone. I could feel her great love for them, and her longing to be with them again – they had all died before her.

Not too much later, she suffered a massive stroke, and we were told it wouldn’t be very long before she passed away. My aunt called me from the hospice, and asked if I would like to talk to Grandma – she said she would put the phone to Grandma’s ear.

As I talked to her, reminding her of her family, it was as if I could see the great family reunion she would experience on the other side of the veil that separates this life from the next. I knew that her parents, brothers and sisters, and the ancestors she had told me about were excitedly awaiting her arrival.

I know that joyful family reunion happened when she passed on!

After experiencing the death of his wife, Robert Blatchford learned this truth, too. He explained, “Death is not what some people imagine. It is only like going into another room. In that other room we shall find the dear women and men and the sweet children we have loved and lost.”(More Things in Heaven and Earth: Adventures in Quest of a Soul (1925), 11, quote by President Thomas S. Monson in “I Know That My Redeemer Lives!“)

In late August, 2005, our neighborhood was deeply touched by the accidental death of a small boy. I know it was no coincidence that in the unusually early September issue of the Ensign magazine President Thomas S. Monson reassured us of God’s mindfulness of those who remain:

God in His infinite mercy has not left grieving loved ones to wonder. He has provided truth. He will inspire an upward reach, and His outstretched arms will embrace you. Jesus promises to one and all who grieve, ‘I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.’ (John 14:18)

There is only one source of true peace. I am certain that the Lord, who notes the fall of a sparrow, looks with compassion upon those who have been called upon to part—even temporarily—from their precious children. The gifts of healing and of peace are desperately needed, and Jesus, through His Atonement, has provided them for one and all.

The Savior Jesus Christ gave us this beautiful promise as recorded in John 14:1-3:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

In my Father’s house are many mansions: …. I go to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

At that beautiful family reunion!

The post That Great Family Reunion appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

~by Heather L.

As I was standing by my fence watching my son go by on his bike, a knothole caught my eye.

All I could see through it was a bit of dirt. Not very exciting.

I turned my camera and took a shot from the bottom of it – a little chunk of beautiful blue sky. [Unfortunately, the picture doesn’t do the sky justice, but you get the idea.]

I often feel like all I understand of life is the little muddy chunk.

How many times I’ve wished I could see more! Like the owner’s manual on my kids?! Or how long a particular problem was going to last? The end result of a cautious choice? How often I’ve wished I could see the beautiful blue end from the muddy beginning.

But life isn’t made to be that way.

God sent me here to learn to live by faith, obedience, diligence, patience, all of which I’d never learn if I knew the answers ahead of time.

Hard as it may be, not being able to see more helps me grow in faith, humility, strength, and gratitude. Ultimately I am more blessed as I become more willing to submit my will to God’s “big picture” view.

After all, He built the fence. He puts in the knotholes. He knows the end from the beginning. He wants me to succeed, and will provide a way.

All I need to do is go forward with faith, like Nephi of old:

“I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them.” (1 Nephi 3:7)

So maybe I can’t see the whole big picture right now.

But I can ask for help, listen to the Holy Ghost, and move forward with faith that God will “prepare a way.” He will put “holes” where I need them. I just need to look for them with hope, rather than focusing on the dirt. Then the light will shine through and brighten my journey through mud and meadow on the way to the beautiful blue end.

The post We Believe: Walking by Faith and Eternal Perspective appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Recently, I signed up to make a cake as one of the table centerpieces they needed for a Relief Society Celebration social.

The day of the event, I got home at one o’clock in the afternoon, pulled all the ingredients out, and began preparing my masterpiece.

I could see it all now – a cake covered with little flags representing the world-wide sisterhood of Relief Society!

I found a perfect quote to go with it, and printed everything out while the cake was in the oven. I just needed to get it all put together by four o’clock.

A piece of cake, right?!

At two o’clock, the phone rang.

An emergency errand, but that was okay, the cakes were out of the oven, and this would give them time to cool.

A piece of cake!

Ri-i-i-ght!

When I got back, I started to lift the cake out of the pan, and cringed, realizing that it wasn’t going to come out easily. Somehow our family’s cakes never do!

I said a quick prayer and smiled a little as I remembered my mom’s cakes.

I called her while I continued to try to remove the cakes from their pans.

We shared a good laugh about cakes past and present, then said good-bye, and I began trying to frost what had become a crumbly mess.

(This picture is of the “good” side!)

The other side kept falling apart, and finally I did, too.

Great wracking sobs shook my body as I looked at the disaster, and knew I couldn’t fix it.

My teenage daughter came downstairs, concerned at my crying, and put her arms around me – I felt her love and Heavenly Father’s in that tender moment.

Two cans of frosting later, I decided to just cut off that side, frost the rest as well as possible, and call it a Legacy Cake, in memory of our family’s legacy of flopped cakes.

As I did, I remembered that my mother had passed on an even more important legacy than the flops – a legacy of faith, service, and love!

Here is what I wrote to cover the missing cake:

“This is a Legacy Cake.

When I was young, my mother would be asked to bake cakes for Relief Society functions. Knowing her weakness of never being able to get a cake safely out of a pan, she still willingly volunteered as needed.

Sadly, I have inherited her cake-making skill.

But it is with deep gratitude I have also inherited her faith, her desire to serve, her love of the scriptures, her love of Relief Society, and of the Lord. “

Thanks, Mom!

The post Motherhood Series: Legacy Cake appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

It all started with two loaves of banana bread that turned out perfectly!

We ate almost the whole first loaf for breakfast. My plan was to take the second loaf to our church social that evening – I was so excited! Beautiful and delicious banana bread isn’t easy for me, and having it done ahead of time was miraculous.

Later that morning, I was working intently on a very important document on my computer when my five year old came and asked if he could have some more banana bread.

I uttered the fatal words, “Sure, just a second,” fully intending to finish quickly. We all know where good intentions lead! Mine led to a sweet voice at my elbow, “Look, Mom!”

I turned and gasped. “You’ve ruined my banana bread!”

As I grabbed what was left of the banana bread from his hopeful hands, my son’s face crumbled before my eyes, and he ran to hide in the pantry.

Turning to take my banana bread – my now mutilated banana bread — to the counter, a poster on the fridge caught my eye. It was a poster I made with a picture of this same little boy hiding behind a glass of spilled milk – a poster I made to remind me of President Thomas S. Monson’s counsel:

“Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.”1

Sobs were coming from the pantry, and I began to sob, too. I had let my anger over my “beautiful” banana bread – my temporal, temporary banana bread — become more important than my tender-hearted boy!

I knelt with him in the pantry, and apologized with all my heart.

“I love you more than banana bread!” I tried to reassure him – hard to do when a little one’s heart is breaking. Taking a deep breath, I asked, “What can we do to fix it?”

He looked up, hope returning to his eyes. “Well, we could…,” and he started listing ideas.

Going back to the banana bread together, I realized there was actually a lot left, despite the great abyss he had scooped from the middle. We got a knife, and a pretty bowl, and began to cut it into bite-sized chunks, like store samples. The bowl was soon filled, and thankfully, feelings were on the mend.

No one at that church social will remember that dish of banana bread.

Except for me – I’m trying to be sure that I never forget it!

The post First Person: “I Love You More Than Banana Bread” appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.