June 20, 2010

Over, and Over, and Over AGAIN!?!


Teachings of Elder Henry B. Eyring:

"When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention."

Let Go and Let God.....

From the book Simplify- A Guide to Caring for the Soul by Carolyn J. Rasmus

Nancy M. Christensen shared in an Ensign article that all of her life she had been worried about "what if?"..... As she grew.... she continued to have even more plaguing questions that resulted in anxiety attacks.... She became even more anxious when she realized such feelings were not "reasonable expectations for a mother of four young children."

Her answer came one fast Sunday.... As soon as the meetings were over, her 5 and 7 year old sons raced to see who could get home first. They each grabbed the door handle, trying to turn the knob of the locked door. When mom arrived home, she put the key in the lock, but because of the boys' strong grip, she couldn't turn the key. Out of her mouth tumbled the words, "If you would just let go for a minute, I could turn the key and let you in."

"As I said those words.... I imagined the Savior standing next to me, repeating my own words back to me. 'If you would just let go for a minute, I could turn the key for you. Let go. Let me help.' "

Gardening in the Gospel....




Elder Hugh B. Brown, member of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for many years told of purchasing a rundown farm. One day he noticed a currant bush that had grown more than 6 feet high. The bush had no blossoms and currants. Having been raised on a fruit farm, he recognized the problem, got his pruning shears, and went to work. He clipped it back until there was nothing left but stumps.


"It was just coming daylight, and I thought I saw on top of each of these little stumps what appeared to be a tear, and I thought the currant bush was crying.... And I looked at it and smiled and said, 'What are you crying about?' You know, I thought I heard that currant bush say this:

"I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as big as the shade tree and the fruit tree that are inside the fence, and now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me because I didn't make what I should have made. How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here."

"I said, 'Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn't intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, 'Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down, Thank you, Mr. Gardener.'"

Christmas Poem





It's Christmas time at our house
And we're putting up the tree
I wish I could find one simple way
To remember Christ's gift to me.


Some little sign or symbol
To show friends stopping by.
The little babe was born one day
But He really came to die.


A symbol of his nail-pierced hands
The blood He shed for me...
What if I hung a simple nail
Upon my Christmas tree?


A crimson bow tied 'round the nail
Like His blood that flowed so free
To save each person from their sin
And redeem as for all eternity.

I know it was His love for us
That held Him to that "tree"
And when I see this simple nail
I know He died for me.

Author Unknown