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Light of the World

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I have always loved the lights of Christmas.  From the single light in each window of my childhood home to the lights draped on homes, parks and shopping centers, the lights of the season were welcoming and enchanting.   For a few years I had the privilege of singing with the Mormon Youth Chorus and on the day after Thanksgiving, we sang in the Tabernacle with the doors flung open as the switch was thrown and Temple Square was flooded with light.  In moments like those I could picture how the angels felt as they heralded the coming of the Light of the World.  

It is unlikely that I was one of the angels seen in the field on that holy night singing, but wherever I was on that sacred night, I am sure I was singing then as I sing now, “Glory to God, Glory to God, Glory to God in the Highest!”  He had sent His Son, “love’s pure light… the dawn of redeeming grace.”  In every “dark street shineth the everlasting Light.”  “Light and life to all He 

brings, ris’n with healing in His wings”.  “The heav’nly star its rays afar on ev’ry land is throwing, and shall not cease till holy peace in all the earth is growing.”  “Born to raise the sons of earth.  Born to give them second birth.”  “Fear not…Glad tidings of great joy I bring, to you and all mankind.”

The music of His light brings hope to the hopeless, strength to the weary, mercy to the weak and if there are “…moments when the melody of joy falters below our power of expression, we may have to stand silent for a time and simply listen to others, drawing strength from the splendor of the music around us. Many of us who are “musically challenged” have had our confidence bolstered and our singing markedly improved by positioning ourselves next to someone with a stronger, more certain voice. Surely it follows that in singing the anthems of eternity, we should stand as close as humanly possible to the Savior and Redeemer of the world—who has absolutely perfect pitch. We then take courage from His ability to hear our silence and take hope from His melodious messianic intercession in our behalf.” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, April 2017)
 
Come to Him, stand close, let His hope and light wash over you, let Him do His work of healing, refining and redeeming.  He is come!

Anticipate Miracles

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In 1915, while serving as a missionary, twenty one year old Lyman Holmes Rich recalled waking “as a hungry lad on the shores of the Pacific at Seaside, Oregon while traveling without purse or script.  The previous night we slept in a school house…with newspapers for coverings, as the people who attended our meeting had not seen fit to take us home.  The Lord must have prompted Sister Clara Stucki, for she had sent a nice fruit cake to the post office at Seaside and it was, I believe, the grandest cake I ever ate.” (Letter to Bill Rich, July 5, 1957)

His witness that the Lord was watching over him on “hungry” days was also a witness of the miracle of the anticipation of God who saw his hunger in advance and prompted Sister Clara Stucki in Paris, Idaho to put a fruit cake in the mail to a boy whose own mother had died when he was six days old. 
That fruitcake fed his body and brought him the care of an angel mother.  “I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be over thee” promises the Lord. (Abraham 2:8)
 
Whether great or small, “God has not ceased to be a God of miracles… neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.” (Mormon 9:15; Moroni 7:29).  In anticipation of the miracles each of us would need, God sent a tiny Baby to Bethlehem.  That Baby did not bring deliverance in the way those of His day expected, He brought much more. He brought strength for what we cannot do, light in the darkness, the ability to turn affliction for our gain and the miracle of making mere mortals become like Him with all that He has.  He knows your heart, He knows your needs, your desires, your hopes, your dreams and He and His angels will go before you anticipating all you require “to bear you up.” (D&C 84:88)
 

Healing

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In 1896, my eighteen year old great grandfather, William Henry Summerhays, began a two year mission to the Southern States Mission.  He and his companions were to travel primarily on foot, without purse or script.  As he departed to serve in the Florida Conference, the Sunday School presented him with a journal where he detailed miles traveled, lessons taught, the people he stayed with, those who protected him from those who wished him harm and so many events of his two years of service. He was diligent in keeping this record so when my parents were called to the Florida Tallahassee Mission in 2007 and our third son was called to serve in the Florida Jacksonville Mission in 2021, I pulled out William’s journal to compare some of the places he lived and served.  

Using a history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the South and William’s journal, I began to place his mission in a time when the church was so small, there were not even branches in most of the areas William served.  As I became acquainted with those William came to love, I began to attach scanned pages of his recorded memories to the Familysearch page of those who were included in his journal.  There I noticed that not one had received an ordinance beyond baptism and confirmation during their lifetime.  Temples were so far away.
 
Though there were many blessings those faithful members could not obtain in their time on earth, the fruits of their labors have continued to grow.  In the wisdom of God and by the infinite atoning power of Jesus Christ, all the blessings they desired are now theirs and the gospel they loved continues to grow in its reach including the dedication of three temples with two more announced in Florida. 
 
Those temples stand as a witness that while there is so much we cannot do in our lives, through Jesus Christ,  “Temple blessings can heal hearts and lives and families…God in His infinite capacity, seals and heals individuals and families despite tragedy, loss and hardship….You will find healing for that which needs healing.” (Elder Dale G. Renlund, April 2018). For all we cannot do, He can.

Infinite

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“Because you breathe and live and have part of God within you, you have the power to influence others for good…to bless, lift, inspire and strengthen,” was the testimony of a man who stood at the pulpit of a meeting in a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints unlike any I had ever been to.  The branch exists for inmates transitioning from prison to civilian life.   Their worship service does not include the sacrament, rather, once a month, the sacred sacrament prayers recorded in scripture are read from the pulpit and all are given a moment for reflection where there was a feeling of what it means to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” with the yearning of those who want to obtain that blessing.  
 
Gratitude was expressed to the Savior for His “help making it through each day.”  A brother testified, “As you go through struggles, you will see sandaled feet and crucified hands lifting you up.” Several bore gratitude for the teachings of their youth, “I thank my mom for teaching me to pray and read the Book of Mormon.”  Twenty years after turning from faith, one shared his witness that the doctrines he had taught on his mission were true and bore witness that “we worship the God of Plan B,C,and D” and we can exhaust the alphabet without Him exhausting His efforts and ability to help us.  
 
In that meeting we caught another glimpse of just what the infinite power of the atonement of Jesus Christ looks like.  Infinite means infinite for us and for those we love.  “We read of those who turned away from what they were taught or who were wrestling with God for forgiveness, such as Alma the Younger, the sons of Mosiah, and Enos.  In their moments of crisis, they remembered the words of their parents, words of the doctrine of Jesus Christ.  Remembering saved them.  Your teaching of that sacred doctrine will be remembered.” (President Henry B. Eyring, October 2024)
 
Remember, remember, He is reaching out so “cry unto God for all thy support;…let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.” (Alma 37:36).
 
His power is infinite.

All Things in Thankfulness

As a child, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday.  Mashed potatoes were my favorite food and there were always copious amounts of all kinds of yummy things but the thing I loved most was the gathering of aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins.  While the turkey cooked, we played two touch football, the kids against the dads.  One year, to add a little spice, the dads bought matching uniforms and a trophy with their names already inscribed as the winners. We were serious about our games.  We played, we ate and we shared the gratitude we felt for the blessings of the  year.  Over time, it has remained my favorite holiday.

 Then came Thanksgiving 2020 and Covid.  It was a year unlike any we had ever known, everything turned upside down.  Though we didn’t really know how to cook all our favorite traditional staples for just the five of us living at home, we all spent time cooking and preparing a lovely meal.  We went outside and played two touch football that only lasted about fifteen minutes.  It wasn’t quite the same.  In the afternoon we gathered with extended family on Zoom for a Kahoots Thanksgiving trivia game, talked to our missionary who was serving in Minnesota and shared our gratitude for the blessings of the year.  It was different in so many ways, still our blessings were many.    

Whether this Thanksgiving is full of joy and all our favorite things or we find ourselves missing those that we love, trying to hope for a result we desire, or struggling with burdens that seem heavy, we can trust in the promise of the Lord,  “…Ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you….be of good cheer, for I will lead you along.  The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours…and he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious.” (D&C 78:18-20)
 
Even as we wait for all the promises of God to be fulfilled, there is so much to be thankful for!
 

Strength of Unity

In fulfillment of prophecy, on April 25, 1839, after dark had fallen, members of the twelve apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints converged at the Far West, Missouri home of my fifth great grandfather, Timothy Baldwin Clark. Often referred to as “Father Clark”, Timothy had two months earlier buried his wife of 37 years, was a grandfather many times over from his six married children and had four sons and a daughter still at home along with a daughter and her three children whose husband was incarcerated with Parley P. Pratt in Columbia, Missouri.

The twelve gathered In the early morning hours of the next day, at the temple lot where  Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith were ordained apostles and the twelve began preparations for their mission to England.  As the apostles left Missouri, the Clark family followed, settling in Montrose, Iowa across the river from what would become the city of Nauvoo.  

In tenuous circumstances, Wilford Woodruff bade farewell to his wife, Phebe, who was expecting their second child, and their young daughter.   At what point “Father Clark” noticed Phebe’s need we do not know but by December of 1839, Phebe had moved into a small house on the Clark property. Phebe wrote to Wilford, “I am now at Father Clark’s…he has made me welcome to stay here until you return; would it not be for the best think you?  They are a very kind family…He says to tell Br. Woodruff that he will take as good care of me as he can and he wants you to get as many souls as [you] can…” (Letters of Phoebe Woodruff July 2, 1840, September 8, 1840)   As Wilford served as an apostle and missionary, the Clark family sustained him by caring for his family.  

On Sunday, two bishoprics sat on the stand in our sacrament meeting, one had just been released and one had just been sustained and I felt great gratitude for the gift of being surrounded by the strength of my ward family.  We each have different roles and different circumstances but we are all the same in our desire to serve God.  As we do so, He will bless us to learn to love each other “having [our] hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.” (Mosiah 18:21)

What shall we do?

In February of 1846, most of the residents of Nauvoo were making preparations to evacuate and abandon the city, their temple, and their homes in the face of intense persecution.  Just two days before their anticipated departure, Eliza Ann Graves Rich went into labor earlier than anticipated giving birth to a tiny, frail baby who was so small she was described as “no bigger than a pint of cider”.  (Sarah D. Pea Rich) Her husband’s responsibilities and obligations required his immediate removal and he didn’t know what to do. “I can’t take you; it would mean certain death to you and the baby.  What shall we do?” he asked.   Eliza replied, “Bless me…and if you promise me I will be safe, I am not afraid.” (Charles C. Rich, Leonard J. Arrington, 90)

Eliza’s mother came to care for Eliza and her new baby as the wagons began to roll across the frozen Mississippi. The baby was slow to gain health. Winter turned to spring and 

then summer and Eliza and her mother began to run low on provisions. There were those who rejoiced and contributed to her difficult circumstances so Eliza and her mother weren’t sure what to think when the wife of one of those in the mobs arrived with flour, sugar and other supplies. At first, Eliza feared the food was poisoned but in her desperation she chose to trust and the supplies sustained her, her mother and baby as they waited to rejoin their family heading west. (Letter from Sarah D. Pea Rich to Mary Bratton Rich)

Receiving unexpected, generous care in our need is a glimpse of heaven and a glimpse of how the Savior loves us. “One of the easiest ways to identify a true follower of Jesus Christ is how compassionately that person treats other people…His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire—no matter how difficult the situation…we can literally change the world—one person and one interaction at a time….the best is yet to come for those who spend their lives building up others.” (President Russell M. Nelson, April 2023)

We feel and reflect the Savior’s love as we walk in kindness and compassion for all of His children and believe the best is yet to come.

God of Hope

Over fall break, my husband and I went to the Manti temple to participate in an endowment session, see the newly renovated interior and remember the joy we felt and experienced in that temple.  Nearly twenty seven years ago, a storm that closed the Salt Lake airport brought snow, bitter cold, and wind.  My brother, a cousin, and an uncle and aunt never made it through but with those who were already here, we gathered in the largest sealing room of that temple, knelt at an altar, a symbol of the sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and made covenants making us husband and wife and binding us to God and each other forever.  

Many years and several children after our sealing,  sat in a sealing room of the Ogden Temple as a young husband and wife knelt across a similar altar to enter into covenants that would bring the blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ to their marriage and family. Once their sealing was complete, their two young children, dressed in white, were brought into the room and joined their parents at the altar. The scene was so sweet and I felt a twinge of jealousy that I would never have my children gathered around an altar like that. Then my breath hitched as a rebuke sounded in my mind, “I gave you this blessing before you knew how much you would want it.”  He had given me hope before life would test that faith and hope.

Our loving Father invites us to enter into covenants that bring promises we may not even now know how much we will desire in future days. It is His promise that “In the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“As we enter the Lord’s house, we feel the Spirit of God, verifying our hope…. the ordinances powerfully confirm that every righteous person will receive every promised blessing. There is sublime hope as a young couple kneels across the altar to be sealed, not just for time but for eternity. There is an immensity of hope for us in the promises made to our posterity, whatever their current circumstances. There is no pain, no sickness, no injustice, no suffering, nothing that can darken our hope as we believe and hold tightly to our covenants with God in the house of the Lord. It is a house of light, a house of hope…I testify that our hope is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Through Him, all our righteous dreams will be realized. He is the God of hope-the triumph of hope.” (Elder Neil L. Anderson, October 2024)

Every blessing we seek and hope for can be realized through Jesus Christ, the God of hope.

In Our Midst

In April of 1829, Oliver Cowdery arrived in Harmony, Pennsylvania at the home of Joseph and Emma Smith and offered his services as a scribe to the young prophet who was struggling under the weight of supporting his family, enduring persecution and translating the plates that held a record of the people of ancient America.  As Joseph and Oliver began to work together, the Savior repeated the words He had spoken to his disciples in the New Testament, “…where two or three are gathered together in my name,…behold, there will I be in the midst of them—even so am I in the midst of you.”  (D&C 6:32)


Sunday morning our ward gathered in the chapel, as usual, for sacrament meeting.  As I greeted friends and neighbors and found my seat, the easily recognizable face of President Dallin H. Oaks entered the room and with him came a spirit of reverence that exceeded that of our normal meeting.   The words of the song, “If the Savior stood beside me…” came to my mind as I felt the presence of one of His representatives.


The Savior is beckoning to all the children of God to gather to Him.  He has restored His church with authority to bestow His covenants and His promises.  The “swift messengers” of Isaiah’s prophecies are called and sharing this message throughout the world.  “And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in…And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I also will be in the midst.” (3 Nephi 21:24-25) 


“I pray that we will not miss the majesty of this moment!…Jesus Christ took upon Himself your sins, your pains, your heartaches, and your infirmities.  You do not have to bear them alone!  He will forgive you as you repent.  He will bless you with what you need.  He will heal your wounded soul…Your afflictions will be ‘swallowed up in the joy of Christ.'”  (President Russell M. Nelson, October 2024)

He is in our midst!

Reverent Joy

As a girl, I sang “Take me home, country roads…Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River…” to an eight track of John Denver songs my grandparents played in their car as we traveled to their mountain cabin.  Recently,  just like the song, my husband and I drove the Skyline Drive of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park.  The road was carved through the trees with occasional overlooks viewing the valleys below.  
 
Though the colors were just beginning to change, the four thousand plant species hosted by those mountains provided a beautiful display.I instinctively felt awe and reverent joy as I marveled at the genius of the Master artist Who works in so many different mediums.

From the rugged heights of the Rockies and its evergreen forests, to ocean beaches, desert red rock cliffs, dense foilage, and landscapes too numerous to list, the children of God retreat to His works for peace, solace and inspiration. Among His works we begin to sense His majesty, His power and the love He has for His greatest creation, His children. It is for us that all of His works were made, “both to please the eye and to gladden the heart.” (D&C 59:18)

As exquisite and awe inspiring as these creations are, they are only shadows of our “awesome wonder at the good news of the Father’s gift of His Son!” At our recognition of the immensity of this gift, “…We will feel to wonder with grateful awe at the ‘exquisite and sweet’ joy of what Jesus’s magnificent gift has made possible in our lives and in our eternities!” (Elder Patrick Kearon, October 2024)

Our Father is the God of creation, the God of beauty, the God of hope, the God of redemption, the God of joy.