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~by Rachel

I sketched this picture a few years ago while on the phone with a friend. I had this image pop into my mind as we discussed what it means to have the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.

This is what it means to me. It means I am not alone. It means I’m supported.

It means I am filled with Peace. I know that I have the companionship of the Holy Spirit with me, that Heavenly Father is simply a prayer away, and that Jesus Christ’s name is written on my heart.

I wish everyone could taste of this. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something more.

I will be listening to the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints today and tomorrow, and I invite all who feel lost, disconnected, sorrowful, or broken to listen too. I’ve been feeling those things pretty poignantly lately, but I can testify that God’s power and the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ are real, and the hope I feel because of them is life changing.

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What would life be like had the Savior not been born?

“Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and you cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ.

“When your desire is firm and you are willing to pay the ‘uttermost farthing,’ the law of restitution is suspended. Your obligation is transferred to the Lord. He will settle your accounts.

“[T]here is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ.”

~Boyd K. Packer

“Life is a school, a place for us to learn and grow. We, like Adam and Eve, experience “growing pains” through the sorrow and contamination of a lone and dreary world. These experiences may include sin, but they also include mistakes, disappointments, and the undeserved pain of adversity. The blessed news of the gospel is that the atonement of Jesus Christ can purify all the uncleanness and sweeten all the bitterness we taste.”

~Bruce C. Hafen

“We need not look upon death as an enemy. With full understanding and preparation, faith supplants fear. Hope displaces despair. The Lord said, “Fear not even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full.” (D&C 101:36.) He bestowed this gift: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27.)”

~Russell M. Nelson

“[T]he Savior’s grace can bless us, beyond its compensation for our sins, in our quest for divine perfection. While much of the perfection process involves a healing from sin and bitterness, the process involves an additional, affirmative dimension through which we may acquire a Christlike nature, becoming even as the Father and Son are.”

~Bruce C. Hafen

“It is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that provides both a cleansing and redeeming power that helps us to overcome sin and a sanctifying and strengthening power that helps us to become better than we ever could by relying only upon our own strength. The infinite Atonement is for both the sinner and for the saint in each of us.”

~David A. Bednar

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I love social media. And I hate it at the same time. I’m entering another Facebook fast for a couple of weeks because I find myself feeling overwhelmed at all that is there.

I’m particularly overwhelmed as of late by the tragedy and difficulty I see on my Facebook feed and in the news.

Perhaps I am more tender right now because a difficult trial has stared my family in the face this month. My mom was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer. She began a brutal schedule of multiple chemotherapy drugs. That will be followed by surgery and then radiation and then more surgery.

I know this story isn’t new to many people. But cancer has never hit this hard and this close for me. And I’m feeling it. I’m feeling the fear and the reality of how fragile life is. I’m wishing so much that my mom wouldn’t have to go through this. I’m terrified of my own mortality, too.

And then I think of my friend’s five-year-old daughter going through a bone marrow transplant.

Or my mission companion who found at the end of last year that her cancer had spread to several parts of her body. She just finished six months of experimental treatments.

I think of the many women I know (through this forum) who are facing the pain of their husband’s sexual addiction). [That forum was created because this site was becoming overwhelmed with such need and I wanted them to have a place where they could support each other.]

I think of those who are mourning the death of a loved one.

Nevermind the international headlines that are crushingly heart-breaking, frightening, and overwhelming.

I am sure you could add your own weight to the pile. I sometimes say that we all have our stuff. And sometimes I just plain don’t like that reality. It can be hard. It can be hard not to wonder why. Why does God let so many horrible and hard things happen? I am a woman of faith, and my faith gives me great comfort and perspective, and yet I wrestle sometimes with all my soul against these questions — not because I don’t know some of the answers we do have, but because sometimes in the moment I can’t feel the answers. I absorb so much of the hard that goes on around me that I lose space within myself to feel peace.

For me, attending 12-step meetings helps me learn to let God carry the weight in my life. In last week’s meeting, the scripture from Alma 7:11-12 was read:

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.

That scripture has always been one of my favorites. But last week, it hit me in a different way. I realized that that scripture can help me remember how I try too often to take others’ pains, sicknesses, and struggles upon myself. (I try to take on even my own stuff too much, too. I still struggle with the illusion that it’s my job to fix everything that is wrong with myself and my life. Oh, how damaging the illusion of control can be!)

I am grateful to have the opportunity on this Sabbath day to remember Jesus. Again. We have the sacrament every week for a reason. Because it’s so, so easy to forget that the Atonement really is big enough for all that we see and struggle, both individually and collectively.

He took it all upon Himself — not just sin, but somehow He experienced the actual, mortal weight of all that we experience.

When anxiety, sadness, or worry threaten to overtake me, I find that looking for tender mercies in my life helps me remember Him. He blessed me with a sweet tender mercy this week that was so clearly from Him. I am grateful.

Talking with and hearing from others also helps me remember.

So tell me. How do you let Him carry you? How do you lay your burdens at His feet? What helps you when life starts to feel overwhelming?

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Family history is a subject that interests people from all walks of life.  Learning about those who came before us tells us much about who we are.  When we record our own history, it can be just as useful and interesting to our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren as our ancestor’s histories are to us.  

Long ago, people wrote letters, recorded events in bibles and journals and kept scrapbooks to keep track of their personal histories.  These days, we have so many more options.  Blogging, the practice of keeping a personal record via an online web log, has become very popular and today’s version of scrap-booking is a way to preserve photographs using archival quality products as well as fun, artistic elements.  I have enjoyed both of these activities, as well as journal writing.  However, there is another way I keep my personal history that I find fun, informative and valuable. 

I received my first charm bracelet when I was about twelve years old.  It was a Christmas gift from “Santa Claus” and the gift included a sterling silver charm of Old St. Nick himself.  There was also a ballerina, a charm to represent my avid interest in ballet and the lessons I was taking.  The following summer, my family took a trip to Mexico and I added a charm of a Mexican sombrero to commemorate the fun time we had together. 

 I have continued to add to the bracelet over the past thirty plus years and love reflecting on the memories each charm represents.  There are charms that signify accomplishments, special events, vacations, hobbies and special memories.  One of the charms was a gift from my sister when I acted as Maid of Honor at her wedding reception.  A tiny handcart commemorates my pioneer ancestors.  For many years I wanted to learn to play the violin and when I finally did, I purchased a charm, a wee violin, to remind me of that accomplishment.

 The charms that represent the most meaningful events for me are the temple, commemorating my temple marriage to my husband, and the charms that represent my three children:  a baby shoe, a high chair and a rabbit.  I often explain the meaning of each charm to my children and look forward to adding more “history charms” to this bracelet as life unfolds.  It is a beautiful and tangible history that I hope my descendants will enjoy for generations to come.

In the end, it isn’t important how we record our personal history—it’s simply important that we do it.  Oral record keeping can be distorted and forgotten over time, whereas a written history, along with photographs and other artifacts (such as my charm bracelet) keep the story straight for all who choose to learn from what we have written.  How grateful I am for the scriptures, the Bible and the Book of Mormon in particular, both the result of people choosing to write down what they knew of Christ.  Without these cherished records, we would not know of Jesus Christ and His teachings.  When we choose to write what we know of Christ, we are recording the most valuable information our descendants could possibly have.  

I know that Christ lives.  I know that He is my Savior and my Redeemer.  I know that He knows me and that He loves me and that His gospel and His church  are true. 

The post A Mormon Woman Finds Charm In Family History appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

As a woman with a family and home to take care of, I often feel overwhelmed.  As a Mormon woman who has the words of the prophets, both ancient and modern day, to guide her through a confusing world, I am uplifted.  This is why I so look forward to General Conference every six months.

General Conference is not only an opportunity for my family to “attend” church in our pajamas while listening to the words of the General Authorities of the church from my living room (via the T.V. or computer), it is also a time when these voices fill my home with their spirit, strength, and power.  It is a time when I can count on hearing talk after talk that speak to my soul and at least one or two that will feel as if the speaker is directing his comments to me personally.  I always hear something that helps me with the current trial or challenge I am going through, the answer to a question, a puzzle . . . a prayer.

There were many talks that stood out to me in the most recent session of General Conference that was held this past weekend.  However, one in particular, the talk of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, a counselor in the Presidency of the church, was, to me, a tender mercy.

President Uchtdorf’s talk, “Of Things that Matter Most,” focused on the truth that, in nature, things must slow down in times of stress.  For example, the rings of a tree are thinner during times of drought, indicating less energy went into the thickening of the tree as opposed to the essentials, such as, feeding the branches and leaves and preserving the roots.  Another example he gave that demonstrates how we, as human beings, do better to slow down at times was that of the speed bump in a parking lot.  We must slow down to preserve the cars balance and the safety of those within.  If we go too fast over a speed bump, we can veer off course.

As a woman who has many challenges in her life, many of them common to most as well as many of them that are not, I often tend to fall into the trap of believing that I must keep up the pace and proceed as if all is normal when they just aren’t.  It is very difficult to have differences in your household that prevent you from enjoying the same lifestyle as those around you.  It sometimes makes me want things that I can’t have at this time in my life.  Even worse, I often feel like a slacker, a flake, a whiner and someone who is looked down on because I can’t keep up with my neighbors, friends, and family members who don’t deal with the same burdens I bear.  I struggle to find a balance between doing all that I am merely capable of in any given day and all that I feel I must be crossing off my “to do” list.   So often, the gap between the two is immense.

However, after listening to the words of a servant of the Lord, I felt the spirit confirm to me the truthfulness of President Uchtdorf’s message:  when we put our time, energy, focus and attention into those things that are most important—the varied needs of everyone in my household (including myself) as well as my relationships with my husband, children, my Heavenly Father, and my Savior–the incomparable blessings of the Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ will take care of the rest.

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