lessons

Those of you that know me , know that I work for the LDS church as a maintenance mechanic taking care of the various meeting houses within my Stake borders, 10 in all. Most members in our Faith do not receive any pay for their service, just like myself when I worship on Sundays and prepare talks or others do we are all based upon the principles of lay ministry and giving freely of our time to serve in the Lord's work. In any case the work that I perform requires many different types of skills, some are plumbing, others electrical and HVAC work, sometimes I am painting or even cleaning, but whatever the day en tales one thing is always needed for me to do my job and that is my handy Palm Pilot. It contains all the serial, model, and makes of every piece of equipment used in every application in all the different buildings. It also contains all the address's telephone numbers and contact info for any one or place, so it is a very helpful tool to have, or should I say was. Tuesday night someone took it upon themselves to pay our country home a visit in the dark, there by helping themselves to some items from inside my truck, one of the missing items......a Palm Pilot!

Can you believe that! I live on a road that within a mile literally holds five other homes besides mine, and I know each family! I called the local Sheriff"s Department and they came out and filed a report, but the chances of getting my stuff back is slim to none. You know when I was younger and lived in the city , my car had gotten broken into several times and I just learned to not leave anything in it and leave it unlocked, it was cheaper for repairs. When we moved to a small town someone stole some straps from the tool box on my work trailer so I put a padlock on it and never had anymore problems. I currently live in a remote area of the country were nothing ever bad happens..........almost never LOL .

A lesson from the life of understanding is something I must be supposed to learn, or how to appreciate the fact that all things in this world are not permanent. One or the other. Either way it reminds me of the time we lived in town and someone walked right up to our back door through the snow and took my LP tank off the outside BBQ grill, I was mad at first, then I talked to my Dad and told him what happened and he said " maybe those folks that took it needed it more than you, maybe they didn't have any heat or way to cook for their family." What a Saint Dad is. I guess the person that took my stuff will find something to get from it, I wish they would have stole the scriptures off the dash, maybe they could have gotten something from that.

A lesson for me perhaps, a laugh for them, they didn't take the charger and the battery in the Palm is so old it dies after about one hour.

Charity

Good morning Brothers and sisters, my talk today was given to me by my lovely wife, while being over stressed and over worked, felt unable to give this talk so I volunteered to help out and I must say that it is not only befitting for myself to give this talk but also a huge blessing to be able to speak on such a wonderful subject, The topic today is Charity. The first thing I thought of when I looked at the subject line on the talk sheet was , “I am charitable”, but after thinking about the subject matter more deeply and reviewing my own role in the charity towards others I found that perhaps I have some areas to improve upon myself.

Some of the greatest stories in the history of the Scriptures have charity in them, we all remember the story of the 10 lepers that Jesus so kindly healed or the woman who’s disease of the blood was healed at the touch of His robe, or one of my favorite were the woman being convicted at the steps of the temple for adultery was pardoned by the Savior with His soft spoken words “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. Those are just a couple of the very many that stem from a long list of so many examples of how Charity was overflowing from the Savior. As with so many of the other important Prophets and Apostles of both yesterday and today.

So my question to myself and also to all of you is “are we being Charitable to others, have we put aside our own concerns and focused upon another’s, are we consumed with self help books and c/d’s on how to fix our own lives and better ourselves in all aspect first and for most, and then we worry about our family, friends, or neighbors.

We as Latter day Saints have something that no other church in the world today has, we have the gift of restored truths with principles that allow us to not only excel l above normal expectations but be a light in the darkness of society today to set the example of the ever legendary commandment of “Love thy Neighbor” Something found amongst the Latter Day Saints that is our huge legacy that comes from the Relief Society as well as the Priesthood ,is the ever necessary need for service among the children of God. We truly are people who are willing to give of ourselves whenever we can and I am proud to be able to be a part of service.

From Corinthians comes the beautiful truth, “Charity never faileth.” A wonderful line from new testament that is so appropriately used by our beloved Sisters today in the Relief Society, the very motto found at ever ward or branch worldwide by these special examples of the Savior’s love.

What is charity? Moroni, in writing a few of the words of his father, Mormon, recorded, “Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever.”

Joseph B. Wirthlin once stated, when we reach out to assist the least of Heavenly Father’s children, we do it unto Him.

Paul’s message to this new body of Saints was simple and direct: Nothing you do makes much of a difference if you do not have charity. You can speak with tongues, have the gift of prophecy, understand all mysteries, and possess all knowledge; even if you have the faith to move mountains, without charity it won’t profit you at all 1 Corinthians 13:1–2.

Currently in my own life, I have looked at a few of my own personal trials, for some there have been struggles great , for others struggles light, both though can carry the burden of guilt, sometimes shame and, almost always regret. The true love of Christ is charity, by that charity we feel of His grace, something I have spoken of many times within my blog that I write, it is that grace that sets us free from the despairs of the world that I just spoke of. Not very long ago in a council with our dear Branch President , we spoke of personal trials and the struggles we sometimes face as men and women, and His words were that of the Saviors as he so Prophetically quoted , “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Words of our Savior testifying again of His eternal Charity.

True love lasts forever. It is eternally patient and forgiving. It believes, hopes, and endures all things. That is the love our Heavenly Father bears for us.

We all yearn to experience love like this. Even when we make mistakes, we hope others will love us in spite of our shortcomings—even if we don’t deserve it.

It is wonderful to know that our Heavenly Father loves us—even with all our flaws! His love is such that even should we give up on ourselves, He never will.

We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won’t, for He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of transformation. It takes us as men and women of the earth and refines us into men and women for the eternities.

I so bear my testimony that this is the true Church of Jesus Christ and that this work, the work of Charity is for all the Saints as well as all of mankind to be ever engaged in, I testify that as we adhere ourselves to the principles of living righteously and maintaining the covenants that we have made through baptism , that we will be able to live up to the expectations that Christ and our Father in Heaven has for us, and we will be Charitable in all our dealings, I bear witness that I know these principles are true and leave you this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.