Bringing the Spirit Into Our Home

Talk given Sunday, May 31, 2009 When Beck was born he brought with him the spirit of heaven and looking at him Ben and I were able to gain a strong testimony of the Father's love for us and His plan of salvation. For months our home was filled with love and the spirit that was exuding from our precious little boy. Since then we have fallen back into the habit of not always noticing the special feelings that come along with living gospel-centered lives. The Proclamation on the Family states,

"Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ." The principles necessary for happiness include prayer, forgiveness, and love to be taught and practiced in the home regularly. President Ezra Taft Benson said, "One great thing the Lord requires of each of us is to provide a home where a happy, positive influence for good exists. In future years the costliness of home furnishings or the number of bathrooms will not matter much...It will greatly matter whether there was happiness and laughter, or bickering and contention." Let's first focus on the importance of creating routine and consistency with the gospel in our homes. Whether your family is a star-example of daily individual and family scripture study and prayer or your family is more like ours where it's a daily struggle to accomplish just one thing that invites the spirit, the things we do need to be so regular that everyone in the family can recognize the spirit received from the actions. I can share a couple personal examples. Years before I had any interest in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints I would visit at the homes of friends who were church members. On many occasions I would be asked to join the family in their mealtime or nightly prayers. Though most of the time I would politely say no, the spirit in their homes spoke to me while I listened from another room. The family gathered together and recounted the things they were grateful or remembered people with special needs. It was quickly obvious to me the homes in which this was an important nightly ritual and the homes that were going through the motions to try and impress their guest. In Ben's parents' home the spirit is almost always strongly felt. They raised 15 children strong in the gospel and when the family gets together it's almost always a time of laughter and happiness. We gather together regularly for what we call "Sing Thing" to sing hymns and other silly songs as well as read the scriptures and share a family prayer. I've always felt comfortable there and have seen numerous non-members feel right at home as they've joined over the years. In contrast, shortly before my baptism several of my sisters had traveled to Utah during spring break. Ben's parents were excited to meet them and invited us all over for dinner. After dinner we gathered in the living room, but instead of the usual round of singing and stories, Ben's parents had decided to play a church video and have a short religious discussion. Though their intentions were extremely good, it was not something that happened in their home consistently and it felt quite obvious that the spirit was being forced rather than laying itself peacefully upon the hearts in the room. This was not the way the Spirit was normally invited into the Hiatt home and in that particular instance it reached the opposite effect to the one which had been desired. Trying to consistently teach Beck to say his prayers and read his scriptures has given us an additional blessing outside our home. When we travel to my parents home the spirit gently encourages us to do those things we regularly do at home. We invite anyone who is there to join in saying Beck's nightly prayers and so far they have never said no. In the gospel we are taught the importance of knowledge and learning. In my life right now, as a stay-at-home mom, I have the opportunity to witness learning in a special way. This leads me to second idea we should focus on. We need to take time to recognize and appreciate how the Spirit is in our homes each day. Beck is two-years-old and gaining new skills in every waking moment-New words, new songs, how to carry on conversations with his stuffed animals and how to get them to talk back, how to fix a toy that's broken and how to play by himself or get mama's attention when playing alone isn't fun anymore. It's too easy for me to get busy on the computer or reading a book or doing housework and miss everything he is learning. I have found one of the quickest ways to bring peace into my environment and a smile to my face is to just stop whatever I'm doing and watch him from a distance. It reminds me that even though his body is young and fragile, his spirit is strong and growing. Those small quiet moments while I'm watching him and smiling reassure me that feels and also contributes to the spirit that is in our home and he is receiving the blessings that come with it. I want to quickly mention another way we can be sure to notice and appreciate the spirit in our homes. At night after Beck is in bed and the sun has gone down Ben and I like to set out on the front step and lye in bed and look at the moon. Setting in the quiet, watching a breeze in the trees, and listening to the birds reminds us how small we are in the world. It helps us re-focus on the principles of the gospel which are so much more important than who's going to do the dishes or what's coming on tv. I'm grateful for the prompting to study this topic this week. While looking for ideas on lds.org I watched a video posted on the homepage. It was a clip of Henry B. Eyring at a recent church general conference. He was telling about a journal he has kept since the time his children were small. In it, at the end of each day, he records little things that happened during the day. He asks himself, "Have I seen the hand of God in my life today? Did God send a message that was just for me?" I'm going to try to add these two questions to the quiet time I have at the end of every day. I encourage you to do the same. Have I seen the hand of God in my life today? Did God send a message that was just for me?

The Second Coming and the Millenium

Sacrament Meeting Talk given September 28, 2008 My husband Ben came home last Sunday and told me we had been asked to speak in sacrament and the topic was to be “The Second Coming and the Millennium.” Right away I thought about how I never get a topic I feel confident and knowledgeable in like “Procrastinating Your Scripture Study” or “Perfecting One-Minute Prayers”. Honestly, I haven’t studied this topic much at all so it has been great opportunity for me to study the scriptures and the words of the living prophets. I read a fictional book series in high school about the rapture and end times. That’s pretty much the extent of my knowledge on the subject so first I decided to ask, “What is going to happen in the second coming?” I found an answer in D&C 88:87, 91-92, 95-97, 110. These scriptures read: “For not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig-tree…And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people. And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him…and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled; And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him. And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven…and Satan shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a thousand years.” I think it’s safe to imagine that the events and circumstances surrounding the Second Coming will be similar to when the Lord appeared to the Nephites in the Book of Mormon. The scriptures describe earthquakes, floods, calamities, and wickedness. Reading the accounts of these events taking place in an earlier time give a great example of how what we can expect and how we can deal with them as they come. When the Lord appears a lot of people will be filled with fear because they do not know what is happening. Indeed, it may be a scary time, but the righteous will see and know that what is happening if the fulfilling of promises. The Saviors return will begin the 1000 years of righteousness and peace known as the Millennium. Satan will be bound and Christ will be in charge of world politics and will head the government. He will not always be on the earth but will instead travel back and forth, with the other resurrected beings, doing work both here and in the immortal world where he resides now. These are a few of the other things which will happen during the Millennium: · The earth will be restored to its original glorified beauty as it was in the Garden of Eden. · Everyday life will continue to be the same as it is now-We will still eat, drink, garden, and go to work. Things will still grow and there will still be a need for things to be built. The difference will be that all these things will be done with a purpose in righteousness. · It’s important to know that the citizens of the Millennium will not all be members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The population will consist of all the good and just people who have inhabited the earth. This will give us a wonderful opportunity to further the work of the Kingdom. · During the Millennium it will be our privilege and responsibility to teach the gospel. Our two main goals will be missionary work and temple work. Temples will continue to be built and more family history work will be completed. · For anyone who gets discouraged with family history work, it is encouraging to know that the job of the resurrected saints will be to help correct mistakes that have been made in our research and help us, through revelation, find more information until our family lines have been traced all the way back to Adam and Eve. · The last thing I want to mention is that there will be no disease or death during the 1000 years-generations will live to an old age and then simply pass over to continue with furthering the work of the Lord. At the end of the1000 years of righteous living we will have gained the strength to conquer Satan and will have the opportunity to prove that to ourselves and to the Lord when Satan is released on the earth again. For this talk I have chosen not to say much about the signs and events leading up to the Second Coming of Christ to the Earth. When I do think of them, I choose to focus on the many positive things like the restoration of the Gospel, the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon, the coming of Elijah, the gospel being preached to all the world, and the building up of a righteous city. We can see that some of these things have already come to pass, and we will be able to put a quantitative finger on some of the others to know without a doubt that promises are being fulfilled and the end times are near. Also prophesied are the calamities, destructions, and horrors that we seem to be already seeing. We have to be aware of what is happening in the world around us, but it’s essential to be reading our newspapers and our scriptures hand in hand. Shortly before he passed away, Neal A Maxwell wrote: “Prophetically, President Gordon B. Hinckley said to us at a recent general conference that current events in the world did not constitute the ‘all-consuming calamity.’ President Hinckley also cautioned: ‘Peace may be denied for a season…We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another…Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God…This is the crux of the entire matter-obedience to the commandments of God.’”[i] Our church leaders encourage us to not get bogged down in the tragedies of the world. Many saints will fall away during the events leading up to the coming of the Lord. If we keep our eyes on the Savior and follow his commands we can use the events in the world as an opportunity for service. Elder Bernard P. Brockbank wrote: “The Church of Jesus Christ is never again to be taken from the earth. This is one of the great signs of the times-it shall continue to grow and flourish and cover the earth. The Holy Ghost and the priesthood of God will continue to be on the earth. There shall be in the last days living prophets and living apostles chosen and called by Jesus Christ.”[ii] We can find courage and hope in knowing that the days on earth without the priesthood power are past. From this point forward we will always have righteous servants of the Lord to follow and boost us up. My last thought on the Second Coming and the Millennium is that we each need to have courage to do our best to live righteously so that our children may live righteously. D&C 45:57-58 reads: “For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived-verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day. And the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance; and they shall multiply and wax strong, and their children shall grow up without sin unto salvation.” If I had the ability to bring about the Second Coming tomorrow, I would do it-not for me, but so that my son Beck would not have to grow up in our increasingly sinful world. Obviously, this is not in my powers and he needs to have the opportunity to grow and learn here. What we can do is try to live righteously in hopes of not only finding ourselves in the last days, or the ancestors whom we do the work for, but also the generations of our families yet to come who will have the opportunity to live in a world and a time without sin which is presented to them because of the choices we have made today. I bear you my testimony, brothers and sisters, that Jesus Christ lives and he will return to the Earth one day. I have a testimony of the plan that Heavenly Father has given us that enables us to live with our families eternally. I share these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.[1] [1] This talk was prepared from the Gospel Topics section on LDS.org. Search: Second Coming & Millennium. Material found there included references from the magazines listed below, Gospel Principles, and Gospel Doctrine manuals. [i] “These Are Your Days,” Ensign, Oct. 2004, 26-31 [ii] “The Leaves Are Commencing to Show on the Fig Tree,” Ensign, May 1976, 74