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"Everywhere there are [people] who are in the middle of their own stories, facing dangers and hardships. . . . There will be 'angels around about you, to bear you up' (D&C 84:88). They will sustain us as we carry our earthly burdens. Often in our lives, those angels are the people around us, the people who love us, those who allow themselves to be instruments in the Lord's hands. President Spencer W. Kimball said: 'God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom' (There is Purpose in Life, New Era, Sept. 1974, 5)"
(Susan W. Tanner, "All Things Shall Work Together for Your Good," Ensign, May 2004, 105-106)

A great reminder that God does hear and answer our prayers and as stated that answer often comes in the form of family and friends who help us. Let's continue to listen carefully for the answers and also to listen carefully that we might represent an answer in the life of another.

Each of you [brethren] has been endowed with unique talents and abilities. That, coupled with some special powers of the priesthood, will help you tremendously in any endeavor. It will be a great challenge to be in the royal army that takes the Church into the future under the guidance of the Lord and His leaders. It will also be a most rewarding and exciting experience. It will require great faith, sacrifice, discipline, commitment, and effort. I have every confidence that you are equal to it."
(President James E. Faust , "Pioneers of the Future: 'Be Not Afraid, Only Believe,' " Ensign, Nov. 1997, 44)

Let's make sure we are prepared and ready to do our part.

We all live in a very busy world with the possibility of lots of stess. I remember many years ago reading a statement about what we should pray for that imprssed me. As best I can recall it was "Do not pray for tasks equal to powers but rather pray for powers equal to your tasks then the accomplishing of the task is not the miracle but you become the miracle". I think the same could be said of stress. I'm not sure it is possible nor even good to not have decisions, challenges, etc in our lives. Opposition and agency are necessary to our eternal progress and happiness. The key is to not let these things create too much stress, anxiety, fear, discouragemnt, etc. The attached article which Hermana Moore shared with me has some good thoughts on dealing with stress. Que disfruten!!
Pte. y Hermana

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g . The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance."

"In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.

As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!"

Then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

• Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
• Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
• Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
• Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
• If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
• If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
• It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
• Never buy a car you can't push.
• Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
• Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
• Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
• The second mouse gets the cheese.
• When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
• Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
• You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
• Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
• We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
• A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

"Life's journey is not traveled on a freeway devoid of obstacles, pitfalls, and snares. Rather, it is a pathway marked by forks and turnings. Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed: the courage to say, 'No,' the courage to say, 'Yes.' Decisions do determine destiny. "The call for courage comes constantly to each of us. It has ever been so, and so shall it ever be."
(President Thomas S. Monson, "The Call for Courage," Ensign, May 2004, 54-55)

Opposition and agency are everpresent in our daily lives. That is as it should be. Periodically it is good to reread 2 Nefi 2:10-13 and remember that the great Plan of Happiness could not be carried out without these key principles. !Adelante con ojo de fe!

"Our scriptures and our history are replete with accounts of God's great men and women who believed that He would deliver them, but if not, they demonstrated that they would trust and be true.
"He has the power, but it's our test. What does the Lord expect of us with respect to our challenges? He expects us to do all we can do. He does the rest. Nephi said, 'For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do' (2 Nephi 25:23)."
(Elder Dennis E. Simmons, "But If Not . . .," Ensign, May 2004, 74)

This reminds me of the scripture in D Y C 82:10. It is all contingent on our doing our part. Let's make sure we do it each day!!!

"Avoid worldly wickedness. Know that God is in control. In time, Satan will completely fail and be punished for his perverse evil. God has a specific plan for your life. He will reveal parts of that plan to you as you look for it with faith and consistent obedience. His Son has made you free--not from the consequences of your acts, but free to make choices. God's eternal purpose is for you to be successful in this mortal life. No matter how wicked the world becomes you can earn that blessing. Seek and be attentive to the personal guidance given to you through the Holy Spirit. Continue to be worthy to receive it. Reach out to others who stumble and are perplexed, not certain of what path to follow."
( Elder Richard G. Scott, "How to Live Well amid Increasing Evil, Ensign, May 2004, 102)

This a great reminder that we need not fear the future. The scriptures are replete with examples of the obedient being blessed in times of wickness and turmoil. Keys for us are to maintain personal worthiness so the Lord can bless us ( D&C 82:10) and then to be seeking, sensitive to, and responsive to the promptings of the Spirit. If we do these two things the future will be bright and happy. That is not to say there will not be challenges or important decisions. Remember the Lord said " My peace I leave with you--not as the world giveth give I unto you Let not your be troubled neither let it be afraid" . He will be there to help and comfort in the times of trails. I know from personal experience that this is true.

"The cure for most marital troubles does not lie in divorce. It lies in repentance and forgiveness, in expressions of kindness and concern. It is to be found in application of the Golden Rule.
"It is a scene of great beauty when a young man and a young woman join hands at the altar in a covenant before God that they will honor and love one another. Then how dismal the picture when a few months later, or a few years later, there are offensive remarks, mean and cutting words, raised voices, bitter accusations.
"It need not be, my dear brothers and sisters. We can rise above these mean and beggarly elements in our lives (see Galatians 4:9). We can look for and recognize the divine nature in one another, which comes to us as children of our Father in Heaven. We can live together in the God-given pattern of marriage in accomplishing that of which we are capable if we will exercise discipline of self and refrain from trying to discipline our companion."
(Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Women in Our Lives," Ensign, Nov. 2004, 84)

May each of us rededicate ourselves to the commitments we have made to our wonderful spouses and to the Lord. It isn't always easy but it is always worth it. Adelante con ojo de fe!!!

"In the spring of 1820, a pillar of light illuminated a grove of trees in upstate New York. Our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. This experience began the restoration of powerful doctrinal truths that had been lost for centuries. Among those truths that had been dimmed by the darkness of apostasy was the stirring reality that we are all the spirit sons and daughters of a loving God who is our Father. We are part of His family. He is not a father in some allegorical or poetic sense. He is literally the Father of our spirits. He cares for each one of us. Though this world has a way of diminishing and demeaning men and women, the reality is we are all of royal, divine lineage. In that unprecedented appearance of the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove, the very first word spoken by the Father of us all was the personal name of Joseph. Such is our Father's personal relationship with each of us. He knows our names and yearns for us to become worthy to return to live with Him."
(Elder M. Russell Ballard "The Atonement and the Value of One Soul," Ensign, May 2004, 86 )

What a wonderful blessing we have to live in this dispensation and to know the true nature of God and our relationship with him as his literal sons and daughters. May we each strive harder to maximize the divine potential that is ours.

"In a sense all of us are in the middle of our own novels, our own life stories. Sometimes our stories feel very intense, and we would like to read ahead to know our own end, to make sure that everything is going to turn out all right. While we don't know the particular details of our life's experiences, fortunately we do know something about our futures, if we live worthily. "We are given this insight in Doctrine and Covenants 90:24: 'Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly.' This stunning promise from the Lord that all things shall work together for our good is repeated many times in the scriptures, particularly to people or prophets who are suffering through the trials of their own life stories."
( Susan W. Tanner, "All Things Shall Work Together for Your Good," Ensign, May 2004, 104.)

Life really is a great adventure and has all of the ebbs and flows of a high adventure novel. If we do our part ultimately things do work for our good. The challenge is not to give in or to give up before the final chapter of our lifes story has been written.

Adelante con ojo de fe!!