We Are Promised.If...

We do not always know how or when blessings will present themselves, but the promise of eternal increase will not be denied any faithful individual who makes and keeps sacred covenants.

Your secret yearnings and tearful pleadings will touch the heart of both the Father and the Son. You will be given a personal assurance from Them that your life will be full and that no blessing that is essential will be lost to you.

As a servant of the Lord, acting in the office to which I have been ordained, I give those in such circumstances a promise that there will be nothing essential to your salvation and exaltation that shall not in due time rest upon you. Arms now empty will be filled, and hearts now hurting from broken dreams and yearning will be healed.

The Witness , BY PRESIDENT BOYD K. PACKER, ENSIGN, MAY, 2014 P 94

Its Inevitable... Hard Times.........

Because of the exceedingly great length of the war between the Nephites and the Laminites many had become hardened… and many were softened because of their afflictions, insomuch that they did humble themselves before God, even in the depth of humility.

Alma 62:41

It is inevitable that challenges and obstacles and traumas will come into our lives; they are the stuff of which mortality is made.  Hard times come to all of us whether such things will come but when and, more significantly, how we will respond to them.  The question so often asked by the weary or the downtrodden, the answer is simple:  This is what mortality is all about.  More profitable questions that might be asked during times of trial are, What can I learn from this experience? How would the Lord have me respond?  What action and attitude would bring me the greatest insight?  How can I draw lessons from these difficult times that may one day bless the lives of others?  Those who take such an approach find their hearts softened, their trust in the L

“Yes, in the next life we will have our wives, and our sons and daughters.........

It is immensely helpful to understand that the work goes on all around us and after we have done all we can do….  President Lorenzo Snow stated it so well in General Conference on October 6, 1893. “Yes, in the next life we will have our wives, and our sons and daughters. If we do not get them all at once, we will have them some time, … You that are mourning about your children straying away will have your sons and your daughters. If you succeed in passing through these trials and afflictions and receive a resurrection, you will, by the power of the Priesthood, work and labor, as the Son of God has, until you get all your sons and daughters in the path of exaltation and glory.

This is just as sure as that the sun rose this morning over yonder mountains. Therefore, mourn not because all your sons and daughters do not follow in the path that you have marked out to them, or give heed to your counsels. Inasmuch as we succeed in securing eternal glory, and stand as saviors, and as kings and priests to our God, we will save our posterity.” (4 November 1893, DW, 47:610.)  (Lorenzo Snow, The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, edited by Clyde J. Williams [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1984], 195.)

LOVE THIS, Detaching from the Addicit..

Detaching from the addict (or troubling problem or person) is extremely difficult to do, especially if he or she has just embarrassed you, hurt you, or stolen from you.  But keep in mind that what is most important to your salvation is what you do regardless of their  behavior.  Codependents can measure the level of their recovery by discovering their ability to act and to feel according to their relationship with God, whatever the addict’s or _______behavior.  Achieving some level of detachment (and that doesn’t mean that you don’t care) allows the codependent to add the additional ingredients to an effective strategy.

Hold on to Hope, p 124

Letting go or Detaching means:

Is not to enable but allow learning from natural consequences.

Is not to care for, but to care about.

Is not to fix, but to be supportive.

Is not to be protective, but to permit another to face reality.

Is not to regret the past, but to grow and live for the future.

Is to fear less and to love more.

Concerns About Parents and Spouses of those with addiction..

“We as leaders are also greatly concerned about the spouses and families of those suffering from pornography addiction. Elder Richard G. Scott has pleaded: “If you are free of serious sin yourself, don’t suffer needlessly the consequences of another’s sins. … You can feel compassion. … Yet you should not take upon yourself a feeling of responsibility for those acts.”3 Know that you are not alone. There is help. Addiction recovery meetings for spouses are available, including phone-in meetings, which allow spouses to call in to a meeting and participate from their own homes.”

Protection from Pornography—a Christ-Focused Home , BY LINDA S. REEVES, ENSIGN, MAY, 2014

Ministering of Angels//////

“Let us return to the matter of the ministering of angels.  In doing so, let it be remembered that we have but one gospel and its principles apply to all in the same manner.  If angels came in Bible or Book of Mormon times to aid parents in protecting, directing, and correcting their children, they must come in like manner today.  It is not required that they speak with thunder nor is it required that they cause the ground to quake.  But that they come and that they get the attention of those to whom they come is as much a part of the gospel as baptism, the sacrament, and long meetings.”

“The same principle holds for the Bible-believing world.  In the Book of Malachi (which should have been translated ‘The Book of Angels,’ because that is what Malachi means), we are told that Elijah the prophet is to come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers and that if this does not happen there was no purpose in creating the earth in the first place (see Mal. 4:5-6).

“Well Elijah came, and because he came the right rests with our righteous fathers on the other side of the veil to come and minister to wayward children today just as they did in Alma’s day.  If there is a God, a prophet named Elijah, and the word of the Bible is to be believed, then our pain is shared by our families on the other side of the veil.  They have been granted power, beyond that which we have, to do something about it.  Having made covenants that bind us to generations past and future, we are not going to be left to walk alone.”

Joseph Fielding McConkie, Professor of ancient scripture at BYU in and address given at the Evergreen International 20th Annual Conference, September 18, 2010

You Will See The Tender Mercies.....

The Holy Ghost is a prompter of good works. When opportunities to serve come, do not push them aside with thoughts of your busy schedule or feelings of inadequacy. We can each be instruments through whom the Holy Ghost functions. For example, you may be walking to or from class and feel an impression to call, speak to, or visit someone—perhaps your sweetheart. I have found that immediately acting on these impressions increases my ability to feel them more completely in the future and helps Heavenly Father change my life and the lives of those I love.

Following Heavenly Father's Plan, Larry M. Gibson, BYU, Mar. 11, 2014

“You will see the tender mercies of the Lord in your life as you learn to watch for them and as you come to believe that the power of God can indeed help you recover”.

Addiction Recovery Guide, Step 2 P 8

The Power of Hope......

The power of hope expressed in these examples is sometimes rewarded with repentance and reformation, but sometimes it is not. Personal circumstances vary greatly. We cannot control and we are not responsible for the choices of others, even when they impact us so painfully. I am sure the Lord loves and blesses husbands and wives who lovingly try to help spouses struggling with such deep problems as pornography or other addictive behavior or with the long-term consequences of childhood abuse.

Whatever the outcome and no matter how difficult your experiences, you have the promise that you will not be denied the blessings of eternal family relationships if you love the Lord, keep His commandments, and just do the best you can. When young Jacob “suffered afflictions and much sorrow” from the actions of other family members, Father Lehi assured him, “Thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain” (2 Nephi 2:1–2). Similarly, the Apostle Paul assured us that “all things work together for good to them that love God” (Romans 8:28).

Dallin H. Oaks, “Divorce,” Liahona, May 2007, 70–73

Excessive Expectations.....

“How many of my frustrations and disappointments come from expecting too much!  It is good to set our standards high, but only if we are prepared to accept, with unperturbed serenity, results that fall short of what we expect.

We expect more of the addict than a sick, confused human can deliver.  Once he is sober, we expect a complete transformation.  Above all, we make too great demands on ourselves.

Let me learn to settle for less than I wish were possible, and be willing to accept it and appreciate it.  I will not expect too much of anyone, not even of myself.  Contentment comes from accepting gratefully the good that comes to us, and not from raging at life because it is not better.  This wholesome attitude is by no means resignation, but a realistic acceptance.

“What you have may seem small; you desire so much more.  See children thrusting their hands into a narrow-necked jar, striving to pull out the sweets.  If they fill the hand, they cannot pull it out and then they fall to tears.  When they let go of a few, they can draw out the rest.  You, too, let your desire go; covet not too much….’  (Epictetus)”

Excessive expectations are the precursors to resentments.

If We Don't Forgive....Our Sin Is Greater........

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [Matthew 6:14–15]

That our own forgiveness should be conditioned on forgiving others can be a hard doctrine, particularly if the sin against us is horribly wrong and out of all proportion to any harm we’ve ever committed. Even harder, the Lord has indicated in modern revelation that “he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin” (D&C 64:9). This is a very strong statement: if we refuse to forgive, there remaineth in us the greater sin. How can this be? As I hope to explain, our salvation is conditioned on forgiving others because when we refuse to forgive, what we are really saying is that we reject, or don’t quite trust, the Atonement. And it is our acceptance of the Atonement that ultimately saves us.

Faith to Forgive Grievous Harms: Accepting the Atonement,

James R. Rasband, BYU, October 23, 2012

While Emotions are Churning, WAIT......

Have I ever accomplished anything good while my emotions were churning with hysteria?  Am I aware that reacting on impulse—saying the first thing that pops into my head—defeats my own purposes?  I couldn’t lose by stopping to think: Easy does It.  Wouldn’t any crisis shrink to manageable size if I could wait a little while to figure out what is best to do?  Unless I’m sure I’m pouring oil on troubled waters, and not on a raging fire, it might be best to do and say nothing until things calm down. Easy Does it.

Today’s Reminder

It may take a bit of self-control to back away from conflict and confusion.  But its wonderful protection for my peace of mind, unless I can say or do something to quell the storm, I’ll only be inflicting punishment on myself.  And each little battle I win—with myself—makes the next one easier.  Take it easy, for easy does it.  It will all seem much less important tomorrow!

“Quietness is a great ally, my friend.  As long as I keep my poise, I will do nothing to make bad matters worse?

Reach down DEEP...... Faith to answer the call!

“My appeal is that you nurture your own physical and spiritual strength so that you have a deep reservoir of faith to call upon when tasks or challenges or demands of one kind or another come. Pray a little more, study a little more, shut out the noise and shut down the clamor, enjoy nature, call down personal revelation, search your soul, and search the heavens for the testimony that led our pioneer parents. Then, when you need to reach down inside a little deeper and a little farther to face life and do your work, you will be sure there is something down there to call upon.

When you have your own faith, you are prepared to bless your family.

Faith to Answer the Call,  Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, July, 2011