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I love this video. I totally agree:
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Return Missionary Survival Kit
OK, so I can't take credit for this idea. One transfer on my mission both of our Zone Leaders were going home so a few sisters made them survival kits. I don't remember what was in them though, so for this kit I came up with my own ideas. This kit was also for and Elder as opposed to a Sister so it would be slightly different anyhow.
First I included a small teddy bear, and I labeled it "For when you miss your companion". This one was my husband's idea.
Now the next piece was chap stick, on the go floss, and breath mints. Each had a label so I put an elastic around them to hold them together. When they were side by side they read "For the . . . girls you . . . DO like!" but I didn't know at the time he has a girlfriend. Otherwise it would have said "girl" not "girls".
Of course since I thought he was single I added the little black "area book".
Then I went online a found some lists of pick-up lines. I was careful to select silly yet appropriate ones. There are some that are just not OK.
Next I found some information on what not to say on a first date, which again I edited so it would be appropriate. And then I found 50 marriage proposal ideas. He thought these were all pretty funny.
Then some serious stuff, I put in a New England Patriots tie since he's a football player and he served his mission here in the Boston mission. AND he just so happens to be a patriots fan which is good.
Then I put in a few serious articles for him to read on his journey home. Here are the links for those:
Church News: Transferred Home
Elder Perry: The Returned Missionary
Deseret News: Don't Return From Your Mission
The Room
Lastly I had to come up with a catchy slogan for the outside of the box. Since he's a football player I wanted to relate it to that. The other Elders came up with a great one:
Here is a shot of the district. We have some great Elders.
And here's Elder D saying "Yesssssss!!!" because he just got the coolest gift ever!
Now, as I said I can't take full credit for the idea. Feel free to use any of this and tweak as necessary!
First I included a small teddy bear, and I labeled it "For when you miss your companion". This one was my husband's idea.
Then I included a "Nerf" type gun labeled "For the girls you don't like".
Of course since I thought he was single I added the little black "area book".
Then I went online a found some lists of pick-up lines. I was careful to select silly yet appropriate ones. There are some that are just not OK.
Next I found some information on what not to say on a first date, which again I edited so it would be appropriate. And then I found 50 marriage proposal ideas. He thought these were all pretty funny.
Then some serious stuff, I put in a New England Patriots tie since he's a football player and he served his mission here in the Boston mission. AND he just so happens to be a patriots fan which is good.
Then I put in a few serious articles for him to read on his journey home. Here are the links for those:
Church News: Transferred Home
Elder Perry: The Returned Missionary
Deseret News: Don't Return From Your Mission
The Room
Lastly I had to come up with a catchy slogan for the outside of the box. Since he's a football player I wanted to relate it to that. The other Elders came up with a great one:
Here is a shot of the district. We have some great Elders.
And here's Elder D saying "Yesssssss!!!" because he just got the coolest gift ever!
Now, as I said I can't take full credit for the idea. Feel free to use any of this and tweak as necessary!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
The Law of Sacrifice or Leftovers?
Many times we hear about how we need to sacrifice a bit for the Lord. Just today in testimony meeting a brother was talking about how we need to sacrifice some things that we prefer, like alcohol or cigarettes, in order to obtain the full blessings from the Lord. We hear about missionaries who sacrifice 18 month or 2 years of their life to serve the Lord. Members sacrifice their time and talents all the time in order to serve others. In fact one of our hymns, Praise to the Man, has a verse that starts out with "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven . . .".
But when you get back more than what you put it it's not really a sacrifice, it's an investment. Just a side note to think about.
Christ asks that we live the law of sacrifice. But recently in a stake conference one of our leaders, President Monson (not the prophet!) posed a question to those of us present. He asked if we live the law of sacrifice or the law of leftovers. Meaning do we say "I will give the Lord what is left over after all else I have to do"? The word sacrifice used to mean to make someone, or something, holy. If we are truly living the law of sacrifice we are then striving to make ourselves holy. Which would mean we can't just give what's left over, we need to put the Lord first in our lives. The interesting thing about this is when we give of our time, or really when we invest our time in doing the things the Lord has asked, He blesses us immensely. If when the Lord asks "Whom shall I send?" we then stand and answer "Here am I, send me." then the Lord will bless us. In fact in Isaiah 58:9 it says "Then shalt thou acall, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. . .". That last part, where the Lord says "Here I am" to us, is translated from the Hebrew word hininee. Check out what Sherrie Mills Johnson said about this:
In the book of Abraham we read of the premortal council when God the Father presented His plan of salvation to us. During that council God said, “Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27).
The Hebrew word that is translated “Here am I” in these verses is hininee. And it means more than just “I’m here.” It is the kind of word a servant would say to a king when beckoned. It means “Whatever you want me to do, I will do. That’s why I’m here.” In the Old Testament we find the word hininee over and over again. Abraham says it to God (Genesis 22:1), Isaac says it to his father Abraham (Genesis 22:7), Jacob says it to the angel God sends to him (Genesis 31:11), Joseph says it to his father Jacob (Genesis 37:13), and Moses says it to God when God calls to him from the burning bush (Exodus 3:4). It is what Samuel said to Eli when awakened in the night (1 Samuel 3:4), and what Isaiah said to God when called to be a prophet (Isaiah 6:8).
All these examples urge me to turn to the Lord and say, “Hininee! Here I am ready to serve and do what you want!” But there is one use of the word in the Old Testament that is different, a usage that touches my heart very deeply. In Isaiah chapter 58 the Lord chastises the people who are complaining that God has refused to answer their prayers. He tells them that the reason He has not answered is because they are not resting from their own pleasures on the Sabbath day and that they are not caring for the poor when they fast. Then He says, if you will rest from your own pleasures on the Sabbath and care for the poor when you fast, “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here am I” (Isaiah 58:9).
Every time I read that my heart warms. The Lord is calling to me, “Hininee. Hininee! I am here to help you. What do you want Me to do?” As Isaiah goes on to explain, “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isaiah 58:11).
-http://sherriejohnson.blogspot.com/2011/10/here-am-i.html
The Lord is willing to do what we righteously ask of Him. He wants to bless us. His whole purpose is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (see Moses 1:39). He is wanting us to succeed and to come back to His presence having had the best earthly experience we could possibly have. Not everyone has the same experience here in mortality, but we are promised that if we strive to follow the Lord then all things will work together for our good (see D & C 98:3 and 122:5-7). When I look at how the Lord wants to and will bless me if I will sacrifice my will for His, it is so worth living the law of sacrifice as opposed to the law of leftovers. If we give Him only our leftover time we may find that we just get the leftover blessings!
But when you get back more than what you put it it's not really a sacrifice, it's an investment. Just a side note to think about.
Christ asks that we live the law of sacrifice. But recently in a stake conference one of our leaders, President Monson (not the prophet!) posed a question to those of us present. He asked if we live the law of sacrifice or the law of leftovers. Meaning do we say "I will give the Lord what is left over after all else I have to do"? The word sacrifice used to mean to make someone, or something, holy. If we are truly living the law of sacrifice we are then striving to make ourselves holy. Which would mean we can't just give what's left over, we need to put the Lord first in our lives. The interesting thing about this is when we give of our time, or really when we invest our time in doing the things the Lord has asked, He blesses us immensely. If when the Lord asks "Whom shall I send?" we then stand and answer "Here am I, send me." then the Lord will bless us. In fact in Isaiah 58:9 it says "Then shalt thou acall, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. . .". That last part, where the Lord says "Here I am" to us, is translated from the Hebrew word hininee. Check out what Sherrie Mills Johnson said about this:
In the book of Abraham we read of the premortal council when God the Father presented His plan of salvation to us. During that council God said, “Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27).
The Hebrew word that is translated “Here am I” in these verses is hininee. And it means more than just “I’m here.” It is the kind of word a servant would say to a king when beckoned. It means “Whatever you want me to do, I will do. That’s why I’m here.” In the Old Testament we find the word hininee over and over again. Abraham says it to God (Genesis 22:1), Isaac says it to his father Abraham (Genesis 22:7), Jacob says it to the angel God sends to him (Genesis 31:11), Joseph says it to his father Jacob (Genesis 37:13), and Moses says it to God when God calls to him from the burning bush (Exodus 3:4). It is what Samuel said to Eli when awakened in the night (1 Samuel 3:4), and what Isaiah said to God when called to be a prophet (Isaiah 6:8).
All these examples urge me to turn to the Lord and say, “Hininee! Here I am ready to serve and do what you want!” But there is one use of the word in the Old Testament that is different, a usage that touches my heart very deeply. In Isaiah chapter 58 the Lord chastises the people who are complaining that God has refused to answer their prayers. He tells them that the reason He has not answered is because they are not resting from their own pleasures on the Sabbath day and that they are not caring for the poor when they fast. Then He says, if you will rest from your own pleasures on the Sabbath and care for the poor when you fast, “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here am I” (Isaiah 58:9).
Every time I read that my heart warms. The Lord is calling to me, “Hininee. Hininee! I am here to help you. What do you want Me to do?” As Isaiah goes on to explain, “And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not” (Isaiah 58:11).
-http://sherriejohnson.blogspot.com/2011/10/here-am-i.html
The Lord is willing to do what we righteously ask of Him. He wants to bless us. His whole purpose is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (see Moses 1:39). He is wanting us to succeed and to come back to His presence having had the best earthly experience we could possibly have. Not everyone has the same experience here in mortality, but we are promised that if we strive to follow the Lord then all things will work together for our good (see D & C 98:3 and 122:5-7). When I look at how the Lord wants to and will bless me if I will sacrifice my will for His, it is so worth living the law of sacrifice as opposed to the law of leftovers. If we give Him only our leftover time we may find that we just get the leftover blessings!
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