Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday again, so I am making my gratitude list for the week.

1. I am thankful to have been born into a family who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grateful to be born at this time, having the scriptures available to me. I am reading both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon right now and every day that I read I get this overwhelming gratitude to be born here and now. To know that the Savior has come. To have His words to read. To have His life as an example. I think it would have been hard to remember our Father in Heaven during the time when Christ had not come. There were so many people who had so much faith to believe something that had not happened yet.

2. I am thankful to have a wonderful job that allows me to work part time and to be able to take off time when I need to; whether it's for Girl's Camp, Youth Conference, vacations or any other time. I am thankful for my job because I am able to make money, so that I can help pay bills and put money away for our retirement and mission.

3. I am thankful for Gary (always) and his love for me. He is the greatest!

4. I am thankful for the many talents the Lord has blessed me with. I was finally able to start painting again. It took me many years, but I finally finished a painting. This painting is actually from a picture of the Italian forest.

My Painting

The Original Photograph

5. I am thankful that Lizzie's graduation announcements came. I would put one here, but that would take away her surprise. It was fun to make them and hope all her friends enjoy them. I am thankful she is three weeks away from being done with school. She is so great and I am so proud of her.

Well it has been a great Thankful Thursday!

Mondays

It's another Monday. It is actually a beautiful day outside with sunshine and everything. Last night Gary and I attended a beautiful fireside by Rob Gardner. He composed a musical production called "Lamb of God" that was recorded by the London Symphony. It is about the Savior from the time of His raising Lazarus from the dead through His resurrection. Rob spoke of how this production came about and of his love for the Savior. He had one of his friends sing some of the songs from the production and one of her own songs. It was a wonderfully spiritual experience. I felt so much peace as the music was sung and as he was speaking about his life and the life of the Savior. I was so glad I went. Lizzie was called to be in the Young Women organization in her ward (Miamaid Advisor). She will be such a good advisor. She will be able to help these 14 and 15 year old girls learn and know the Savior. I knew that she would be called to the Young Women Organization because she is such a great person and I know I would love to have her as one of my advisors. I cleaned my office. Gary had made a mess of it while changing light fixtures on Saturday, so I decided to a little bit of a deeper cleaning and even dusted (wow, I know). It looks great now. I am working on a painting (something I have not done in many years). I was thinking I couldn't do it, so I was struggling to start. I bought some canvases about a year and a half ago, but could not bring my self to start. At our Laurel Legacy, I painted on a pillowcase and it helped me to remember that I can paint. It is a work in progress. I will post it when it is finished. Knowing my perfection, it may be a while though. Have a Happy Monday. Make the most of each Monday you have!

Mondays

I think I like Mondays because it is not the start of the work week for me (usually). I only work one Monday a month. This way I get to do some fun things and make sure I am still relaxed when I start work on Tuesdays. It also helps me to get prepared for Young Womens.

I can tell you all about what happened on the weekend, too. Gary and I went to the Deseret Industries between conference sessions on Saturday. He was looking for some business books for his Columbia classes. I have been reading more because I love reading. (I had stopped reading for a while, but am now back into it and am glad I am.) Anyway, we found a lot of books. In fact we got $450 worth of books for only $36.50. Don't you just love the D.I.? I do! What great finds!!

My favorite talk for conference this year was probably Elder D. Todd Christofferson's talk about God's expectations for us. He wants us to be perfect and experience ultimate joy. He said that the Lord chastens those whom he loves. He said the Lord chastens us because He knows waht He wants us to do and be. He has special plans for us and we must be willing to listen to that chastening and then act on it so that we can become who the Lord knows we can be and do what He knows we can do.

Chastening pursuades us to repent, refines us and redirects our course and our lives. He chastens us through our prayers, through the remembrance of our deficiencies, through our leaders, family, friends and neighbors. We should be willing to listen and to take a look at the things they say to see if there is any truth to it. If there is, we should make the change (repent) and redirect our lives.

Elder Christofferson also said that we should be self-correcting. If we notice that something is amiss in us, we should change. Like the scriptures say about removing the beam from our own eye before we try to remove the mote from someone else. We must start with ourselves.

Sometimes I know we wish we would not be chastened, but I am grateful for the times He has done this. I have always ended up being a better person for it and come closer to Him. Conference is always a great time and I am glad on this Monday that I can reflect on the words of the Lord through His Apostles.