General Conference - An Epiphany

This last Sunday was the LDS General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I love this weekend that I get to relax and watch and listen to the words of the leaders of our church.  This time, I did something I've never done before - I wrote down questions that I needed answers to before Conference started.  My questions were:

How can I best help and support my missionaries?
What do I need to do to get Matthew ready for a mission?
What should Grant do about grad school, and how can I help him make his decision?
What does Heavenly Father want me to do with my business?
How do I help people - how do I find people to help?

In the very first talk my answer came, and it was reiterated with almost every talk that followed.  Of course, the answer is a no-brainer, and something that I already knew.  I just needed a gentle reminder.  Here was my answer - straight from Pres. Packer's heart to mine:

Live up to the ordinary acts of obedience required of the followers of Christ.

I've been remiss lately in remembering my prayers - not that I don't pray.  I do.  All day long.  But, to actually kneel down, and pour out my heart to my Heavenly Father... that is something that I need to work on.  Studying my scriptures is another thing I know I need to become better at.  I remember well that wonderful, spiritual time when I was a seminary teacher - feeling the spirit 24/7 as I studied and prayed about each lesson.  I would love to recapture that.  Those 2 things alone, will help me so much... I'm sure of it.  How can I expect or hope for answers to my prayers, or protection for me and my family if I don't do even the simple things required of the Lord?

So, this week, I've started to try to focus first thing on my companionship with the Lord.  I realize that if I put the most important things first in my day - things like scripture study - I'm setting myself up for personal revelation all day long.  I know, too, that if I ask for specific things in my prayers, I will receive specific instruction.  I'm just starting out, and haven't done it perfectly yet, but I know that this will work.  Why?  Because I know Heavenly Father WANTS to bless me.  He wants to guide me.  I just have to be receptive to that.

An interesting thing has happened this week.  As I've prayed about who I can help with my health program, asking specifically for Heavenly Father to send me people... in just the last 2 days, I've had 3 people come to me and ask about it.  It might sound weird, but I believe that they are being led to me.  I have something they need.  It will make their lives better.

I love these words from D. Todd Christofferson:  As disciples of Christ, we must care for others and relieve their sufferings.  And that is my desire for my business.

So... obedience is the way to prosper - I'm certain of it.  It's the way to bless others, too.  President Monson said:  The happiness, peace, progress, prosperity, and salvation of the Latter-Day Saints lies in their obedience.

So, there you have it... obey, and you'll be blessed.  Obey, and you'll bless others.  That was the answer to my questions - do the things the Lord requires of you FIRST, and then He'll pour out His blessings upon you and your family.  You'll know what to do, when to do it, and who to bless, and how.

President Monson: Are you willing to obey?  The answers we seek and the knowledge for which we yearn can be ours IF we keep the commandments.

An Update on the Fam

WOW!  It's been an incredibly LONG time since I updated this blog.  Lately, I've been thinking about all of the changes that have happened in the last year, and realized that I haven't recorded any of those life-altering changes anywhere!  So, I remembered this blog, and thought I'd hop back on and do an update!

First of all - in the last year, I've had some amazing opportunities.  Last January, right after my last post, I went to a Lifting Hearts (breast cancer support) meeting, and met a woman named Jan Paxman.  She is an R.N. and a health and weight loss coach for a company called Take Shape for Life.  She came to teach us about that company, and show us what it could do for us health-wise.  I was blown away, and signed up that night.  The program has 3 components: a food plan, a health program, and free support.  I'll write all about it in a different post.  For right now, it's enough to say that, in the 28 weeks following that meeting, I lost 87 pounds and 93 inches!!!!!!!  Seriously, this is the most exciting things that happened to me in a long time.  I feel so much better - almost ALL of the side effects from chemo have disappeared.  It's just a miracle.  Simple as that.  I'm now a coach with Take Shape For Life as well.  Over the last 10 months, I've helped over 50 people to lose weight and improve their health.  Together we've lost over 600 pounds! More later...

Another exciting thing that has happened:  Alex got his mission call in December to the Chile, Concepcion South Mission.  He left in January.  He's been in the MTC for almost 4 weeks now.  He is one of those 18 year old missionaries who took advantage of the age requirement change, and turned his papers in as soon as he finished filling them out!  More on that later as well...

Michael has about 6 months left in his mission - the time has flown by.  Matthew is in his first year of high school at Lone Peak.  And Grant is finishing up his last semester in Architecture school at the UofU.  He will graduate in April.  He was just accepted to and Ivy League - UPenn.  He is waiting to hear back from Utah and Berkeley as well.  Who know where he'll end up for Grad school??

Rick is pretty much the same - still works at L-3 Communications, still bikes with his friends.  He just turned 50!

That's it for now.  Let's see if I can continue to update this blog now. ;)