Coming Home

I had some personal business to take care of the past few days away from home. I am so thankful that the weather cooperated both days of travel for me. The days were gorgeous! I feel so blessed.

Honor

I received this email from the Superintendent today.

It is my privilege to forward this message from Ms. Oman today.  I too would like to thank you for your efforts and the impact they are having for the students of Duchesne County School District.  Your tireless approach is an inspiration to all you serve.  Your experience and knowledge are drawn upon daily and are impacting many.  Thank you for all that you do! I hope you are having the best year ever!!!

Thank you,

Superintendent Brotherson

I would like to celebrate Carol Snapp.  Carol is one of the most caring teachers I know.  She worries about each of her students and tries to find ways to reach each student as an individual.  She is always working to find new ways to reach her students.  Carol has dedicated her life to her students and has a legacy of love and knowledge that she's given to her students.  Thanks Carol for all you do!

Lori Oman

Valentines

Some of the cute items that came my way for Valentines Day! Thanks to everyone, especially my first graders.

Another rose

I think this rose is gorgeous. It, too, was a gift given to me thanking me for performing a favor. I didn't mind doing the favor so you didn't have to pay me back! I sure do love the flower though!

Roses

Why yes I have the best home teacher ever! Look at what he brought to me today. This was the best surprise and lifted up my spirits! Thanks so much!

The beauty of these flowers bring me so much joy!

Talk: Love Cast Out Fear

So glad to cross this one off from my long list of things to do - speak in Sacrament Meeting. I was assigned to talk on President Uchtdorf's talk from General Conference 'Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear." Speaking in church is really not my favorite thing to do.

At least I got to speak with the two ladies that I served with in the RS presidency. We were recently released. They are remarkable and amazing women.

I am grateful to have worked with some special ladies while in the Relief Society Presidency. Thanks to Kathy Oman and Suzzy Rowley for always believing in me, being my friends, and that we were able to face all challenges together. I wish them both luck in their new endeavors.

Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear

By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

President Uchtdorf started out by sharing a personal experience.  He says:  Years ago, when I was serving as stake president in Frankfurt, Germany, a dear but unhappy sister approached me at the end of one of our stake meetings.

“Isn’t it terrible?” she said. “There must have been four or five people sound asleep during your talk!”

He said: I thought for a moment and answered, “I am pretty sure that church sleep is among the healthiest of all sleeps.”

My wonderful wife, Harriet, overheard this casual exchange and later mentioned that it was one of the nicest answers I had ever given.

A few hundred years ago in North America, a movement called the “Great Awakening” spread across the countryside. One of its primary objectives was to awaken the people who appeared to be asleep regarding spiritual matters.

Joseph Smith lived while this was taking place. He was very much influenced by the things he heard from preachers who were part of this religious awakening. He had a great desire to know of the truthfulness and all of these messages confused him. These preachers had a dramatic, emotional preaching style, with sermons that were known for their heavy emphasis on the fiery terrors of hell that await the sinner.  Their speeches didn’t put people to sleep—but they may have caused a few nightmares. Their purpose and pattern seemed to be to frighten people into church.

Joseph’s confusion deepened.  This is one of the reasons he decided to seek earnestly the will of the Lord in private prayer.

Fear has often been used, through the years, as a means to get people to take action. Parents have used it with their children, employers with employees, and politicians with voters.

Experts in marketing understand the power of fear and often employ it. This is why some advertisements seem to carry the implicit message that if we fail to buy their breakfast cereal or miss out on the newest video game or cell phone, we run the risk of living a miserable life, dying alone and unhappy.

We smile at this and think we would never fall for such manipulation, but we sometimes do. Worse, we sometimes use similar methods to get others to do what we want.

President Uchtdorf said that his message has two purposes: The first is to urge us to contemplate and consider the extent to which we use fear to motivate others—including ourselves. The second is to suggest a better way.

So what’s the problem with fear? Who among us has never been compelled by fear to eat better, wear a seat belt, exercise more, save money, or even repent of sin?

Fear can have a powerful influence over our actions and behavior. If we change because of fear, that change tends to be temporary and shallow. Fear rarely has the power to change our hearts, and it will never transform us into people who love what is right and who want to obey Heavenly Father.

People who are fearful may say and do the right things, but they do not feel the right things. They often feel helpless and resentful, even angry. Over time these feelings lead to mistrust, defiance, even rebellion.

Sadly, this brings forth unrighteous dominion in some—whether in their homes, in their Church callings, at work, or in their daily interactions with others. Those take on bullying attributes without being able to recognize it in themselves.  When others don’t follow the rules they want, they chasten them verbally, emotionally, and sometimes even physically.

The Lord has said that “when we … exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, … the heavens withdraw themselves [and] the Spirit of the Lord is grieved.”

There may be moments when we are tempted to justify our actions by believing that the end justifies the means. We might even think that to be controlling, manipulative, and harsh will be for the good of others. Not so, for the Lord has made it clear that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance.”

The more we come to know Heavenly Father, the more we see how He inspires and leads His children. He is not angry, vengeful, or retaliatory.  His very purpose—His work and His glory—is to mentor us, exalt us, and lead us to His fulness.

God described Himself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.”  Our Father in Heaven’s love for us, His children, surpasses by far our ability to comprehend.

Does this mean that God condones or overlooks behaviors that run contrary to His commands? No, definitely not!

But He wants to change more than just our behaviors. He wants to change our very natures. He wants to change our hearts.

He wants us to reach out and take firm hold of the iron rod, confront our fears, and bravely step forward and upward along the strait and narrow path. He wants this for us because He loves us and because this is the way to happiness.

So, how does God motivate His children to follow Him in our day?

He sent His Son!  Yes, God sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to show us the right way.

God motivates through persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, and love unfeigned.  God is on our side. He loves us, and when we stumble, He wants us to rise up, try again, and become stronger.

He is our mentor.  He is our great and cherished hope. He desires to stimulate us with faith.  He trusts us to learn from our missteps and make correct choices.

This is the better way!

God doesn’t want His children to be fearful or dwell on the evils of the world. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

He has given us an abundance of reasons to rejoice. We just need to find and to recognize them. The Lord often reminds us to “be not afraid,” to “be of good cheer,” and to “fear not, little flock.”

Brothers and sisters, we are the Lord’s “little flock.” Inherent in our name is the commitment to look forward to the Savior’s return and prepare ourselves and the world to receive Him. Therefore, let us serve God and love our fellowmen. Let us do this with a natural confidence, with humility, never looking down on any other religion or group of people.

We are not ignorant of the challenges of the world, nor are we unaware of the difficulties of our times. But this does not mean that we should burden ourselves or others with constant fear. Rather than dwelling on the immensity of our challenges, would it not be better to focus on the infinite greatness, goodness, and absolute power of our God, trusting Him and preparing with a joyful heart for the return of Jesus the Christ?

We can move forward with faith, courage, determination, and trust in God as we approach the challenges and opportunities ahead. We do not walk the path of discipleship alone. “The Lord thy God … doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”

In the face of fear, let us find our courage, muster our faith, and have confidence in the promise that “no weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.”

We need to armor up.  We can visualize ourselves putting on the armor of God, grasping in our hand a gleaming sword of the Spirit and safeguarding ourselves with a shining shield of faith. Brothers and sisters, make the daily choices that arm you with spiritual power. No dark dart of fear stands a chance when you are protected with the Lord’s brilliant armor (see Ephesians 6:11–17).

Do we live in a time of peril and turmoil? Of course we do. God Himself has said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Can we exercise the faith to believe and to act accordingly? Can we live up to our commitments and sacred covenants? Can we keep the commandments of God even in challenging circumstances? President Uchtdorf answers that Of course we can!

We can because God has promised, “All things shall work together for your good, if [you] walk uprightly.”  Therefore, let us set aside our fears and live instead with joy, humility, hope, and a bold confidence that the Lord is with us.

If we ever find ourselves living in fear or anxiety, or if we ever find that our own words, attitudes, or actions are causing fear in others, President Uchtdorf  prays with all the strength of his soul that we may become liberated from this fear by the divinely appointed antidote to fear: the pure love of Christ, for “perfect love casteth out fear.”

Christ’s perfect love overcomes temptations to harm, coerce, bully, or oppress.  Christ’s perfect love allows us to walk with humility, dignity, and a bold confidence as followers of our beloved Savior. Christ’s perfect love gives us the confidence to press through our fears and place our complete trust in the power and goodness of our Heavenly Father and of His Son, Jesus Christ.

In our homes, in our places of business, in our Church callings, in our hearts, let us replace fear with Christ’s perfect love. Christ’s love will replace fear with faith!

His love will enable us to recognize, trust, and have faith in our Heavenly Father’s goodness, His divine plan, His gospel, and His commandments.  Loving God and our fellowmen will turn our obedience to God’s commandments into a blessing rather than a burden. Christ’s love will help us become a little kinder, more forgiving, more caring, and more dedicated to His work.

We need to think more about the welfare of others than you think about yourself. Martin Luther King Jr. noted on the parable of the Good Samaritan: “I imagine that the first question which the priest and the Levite asked was, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But by the very nature of his concern, the Good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”  Dr. King understood that service and selflessness could eradicate fear.

As we fill our hearts with the love of Christ, we will awaken with a renewed spiritual freshness and we will walk joyfully, confidently, awake, and alive in the light and glory of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ.

The Apostle John testified, “There is no fear in [Christ’s] love.”, God knows us each perfectly.

He loves you perfectly. He knows what your future holds. He wants you to “be not afraid, only believe” and “abide in his [perfect] love.”

We don’t know our future, but we do know our Father and if we trust in Him, if we stand by him each and every day it will all work out.

We are looking for our way back, for our way home and sometimes are paralyzed by fear.  Then we are rescued by the vision of a tiny spark of light—the fire of faith, the flame of testimony, the burning brilliance of divine strength, the shining gleam of spiritual armor, and the golden glow of selfless service. These will restore peace, provide direction, and eliminate fear.

May we turn to the Savior and His perfect love is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

VIP

I need to get out more. Checked in the hotel and went up to my room last night. There was a message with my name on the television and I had a bottled water and chocolate waiting for choosing that hotel. Had never experienced either of those things before.