I’ve had my Real Estate Broker’s license for several years now. Even though I haven’t worked much since having children, I keep my license active as part of my family’s provident living plan. I want to be able at any time to provide for my family should the need arise. I take continuing education classes online and in person to keep my knowledge of the field fresh and on occasion I represent friends and family members in real estate transactions.

Even with the limited amount of work I do, I’m amazed at how many times I am faced with situations where ethical questions arise, where sometimes I have even been asked to do things that I have felt were dishonest.

When such situations arise, I always reflect on a story I once heard about Karl G. Maeser, one of the founders of Brigham Young University. He is quoted as saying,

I have been asked what I mean by “word of honor.” I will tell you. Place me behind prison walls — walls of stone ever so high, ever so thick, reaching ever so far into ground — there is a possibility that in some way or another I may be able to escape; but stand me on the floor and draw a chalk line around me and have me give my word of honor never to cross it. Can I get out of that circle? No, never. I’d die first.

The image of Karl inside that circle has accompanied me all these years as the standard of honesty and integrity. Sometimes I think of myself in that circle too.

We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints strive to be honest. This is hard and takes a lot of self-awareness. Sometimes it takes courage; honesty may not always be the easiest way in the moment.  The older I get, though, the more I see the freedom that lies within the circle of honesty and integrity.

In a letter written on March 1, 1842 to John Wentworth, then editor of the newspaper The Chicago Democrat, Joseph Smith outlined for the world the basic tenets of our faith. These are now referred to as the Thirteen Articles of Faith. The 13th article of our faith is as follows:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul – We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

We believe in being honest. We believe in being true. For me, it may take a lifetime to perfect this particular virtue, but I do know that when I have chosen the most honest route and have done my best to act with integrity, I feel what can only be described as freedom — freedom from guilt, freedom from worry, freedom from the burdens of telling more lies or doing more wrong to cover the original violation of conscience.

I don’t imagine I’ll have to die to defend my word of honor, but I do hope to live in an honorable way.

——

For more We Believe posts, please click here.

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by Hannah

On July 22 of this year, I commemorated an anniversary of sorts. Twenty years ago on that day, I was baptized, along with my sister, and became a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was something I had looked forward to for a while. Earlier that spring, my mom started coming back to church and my sister and I came too. We wanted to be baptized, so we started meeting with the missionaries. I can still remember some of our lessons with them, and being touched by the Holy Ghost that what they taught us was true. My aunt and uncle came out to San Diego with their family and my Uncle Ben baptized & confirmed both of us – he later would baptize my brother, and finally my dad. I had been at Girl’s Camp the week before my baptism and so many girls from camp came to support me. It is a day I will never forget, and I can’t believe 20 years have passed.

I don’t think I realized at the time how pivotal that day would be in my life. It helped set my whole family on a path that led to being sealed in the Los Angeles Temple. It helped set me on a personal path that got me through high school relatively unscathed. It led me to Brigham Young University – which was definitely the place for me. It led me to my wonderful husband and to the Salt Lake Temple, where we were married and sealed. It has made it possible for our two beautiful children to be ours forever. While the last 20 years have not been completely blissful, even in the difficult times, my membership in the Church has blessed me immensely, strengthened me when my strength was gone, provided me with an eternal perspective when my own was myopic, and helped me realize how much Heavenly Father loves me and has a hand in my life. That wonderful day, 20 years ago, truly has made all the difference! I can’t imagine my life without the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The post First Person: And it has made all the difference! appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

The dean of the college, Stephen Jones, collaborated with Emmy-award winning composer and producer Sam Cardon and vocalists Jenny Jordan Frogley and David Osmond to write and produce the song. The video on this site features images by University Communications photographer Mark Philbrick.

(You can see more about how the song and video came to be here.)

See what others have said about this video and about this season (and share your own thoughts) at the “Joy to Everyone This Christmas” blog.

Do you know of other uplifting content available on the internet? Have you created something you would like to share? Email us at ‘mormonwoman’ at ‘gmail’ dot ‘com’

The post “Joy to Everyone this Christmas” — a music video gift appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

This will only be available for a couple more weeks, so watch it while you can! It’s a great spiritual feast and also a wonderful exploration of some very important themes, including faith, womanhood, missionary work and preparation, modesty and chastity, equal partnership in marriage….

UPDATE: You can get part of Elizabeth Ricks’ talk as well as Barbara Thompson’s talk (both on the topic “Lay Hold Upon Every Good Gift”). Sister Thompson will have you laughing as she talks about her anti-gifts and then will inspire you as she turns to the scriptures, particularly Romans 12. The trick is to go to Thursday, May 15 on the Move Media player and slide the playback marker to about 53 minutes into the broadcast. It’s better than nothing, no?

The post 2008 Women’s Conference Rebroadcast Available Again! appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

For past years’ sharing stations, you can go here.

Also find handouts from some of the talks here. Topics covered include pornography, homemaking, children with disabilities, addiction and recovery, fire preparedness, living with chronic illness, faith, family reunions, fire preparedness.

(If you attended the conference and haven’t filled out an online survey, we discovered one at this link as well!)

p.s. If you are looking for talk transcripts or rebroadcasts, they are not currently available. They would usually be accessible via byutv online for a month (rebroadcasts were held last week and byu.tv has a player that usually includes archives), but the Move Media player is having difficulty. We called on that yesterday (we are anxious to listen, too!) and they are working on it. If you are interested in talks from the Conference from Sheri Dew, Sister Julie B. Beck, Sister Cheryl Lant, the Batemans, and, of course, our dear prophet President Monson (as well as others), keep checking the Move Media player’s archive. We’ll let you know, too, if and when we find out it becomes available.

2008 Virtual Sharing Stations

1. Topping Your Sunday’s With Spiritual Fun
2. Simplified Service
3. Family Home Evening—Keep it Simple
4. World Wide Quilts
5. LDS Humanitarian Center
6. Supercharge Your World with Story Telling
7. “A Fallen Leaf”
8. We Need Never Feel Alone “That they may always have His Spirit to be with them.”
9. Graced with Grandchildren
10. The Family that Plays Together Stays Together
11. Lets Go Dumpster Diving! Seek, Salvage, Polish, and Share Your Spiritual Gifts
12. What Your Children Want for Dinner is YOU!
13. Adoption: Another Way to Make Your Pathway Bright
14. Keeping Family Trees Rooted Through Traditions
15. Parenting Adult Children Now and Forever
16. Cheerful Hearts
17. Comforting the Children
18. The Best Time of the Day: Reading Aloud With Your Baby, Child, and Teen
19. Pornography: Satan’s Snare
20. Righteous Traditions: Wise and Worthwhile Words of Wisdom
21. Caring for our Aging: How to Help
22. Serve to Preserve
23. Life is a Test…good, Better, BEST!
24. Grandma’s Apron and Grandpa’s Hat
25. “In-laws not Out-laws”
26. Meals Even a Fifth Grader Can Make
27. Everyday Heirlooms: Preserving and Teaching Homemaking Skills
28. The Miracle of Adoption
29. Steadfast and Immovable in Faith: “Solid as a Rock”
30. Read for Delight to be Bright
31. Becoming a Noble Woman – One Step at a Time!
32. Have You Had Your Daily “FIX”?
33. Ready, Set, Start Your Family History!
34. Finding “U” in “M-U-T-H-E-R-H-O-O-D”
35. Incorporating LIFE into Your PRIORITIES
36. Finding Fun in the Family Tree
37. Grandmother’s Keep On “Going and Going and Going…”
38. Value-able Story Time-Early Childhood Literacy
39. Music at Noon
40. LDS Family Services Addiction Recovery Center
41. Supreme Unworldly Fuel for the Family Journey
42. Celebrate Your Unique “Genes”
43. Fiercely Modest
44. “Nothing New…Just a Review”
45. Embracing Media Technologies That Strengthen and Connect Families

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