Speech/Lesson on Charity

Last night I was privileged to speak at our wards enrichment night last night. I spent so much time on my knees pleading to my Heavenly Father to help me, to guide me to say what he needed these women to hear. I was incredibly nervous to be standing in front of them. But, when I got up there things seemed to flow well. I thought I would post my notes from last night here so I could preserve them. The quotes and scriptures I used are underneath. I also had a separate piece of paper with  more stories of charity from my family and friends to use if I did not get some participation. 

I want to ask you a question and have you write down our response, you don’t need to show it to anyone just keep it to your self and then we will come back tot he answers at the end of our discussion.

WHAT IS CHARITY?

 

One of the scriptures that I love the most is 1Corinthians 

I am so grateful to the saints in corinth and there struggles because we learn so much from them.  

Paul is writing to the church in Corinth,

Problems, immorality, schisms in the church, doctrinal questions, AND spiritual gifts were being misunderstood..

So in answer to this we get one of the most beautifully written passages I THINK in all literature. The gifts of the spirit chapters which comprise chapters 12-16 of first Cor.

We are going to focus on the 13th chapter

 

(I filled in the blanks before we began because I don't like calling on people who are not prepared)

____________ will you read it for us please Chapter 1 vs 2 

-Is faith all we need for salvation ---- not according to Paul!

_______________ will you please read the next verse for us verse 3

The language of the scripture get kind of intense at times. But it does teach us an awful lot. If You were to give away all your earthly possessions or be burned  (which I can only think he is relating this to animal sacrifices in some way,) It will do you NO GOOD unless you have Charity.

Paul goes on to define Charity for us

___________ will read verses 4-7

THESE BRING ME BACK TO THE BEATTITUDES we learn from Christ in his sermon on the mount.

In the life and teachings of Jesus Christ manual We get some other translations for the word Paul uses and we can get a deeper sense of the beauty in his meaning here.  

For example. 

vs 4 the word vaunt in Greek means "braggart"

vs. 5 easily provoked becomes irritable, or exasperated

vs. 5 thinketh becomes reckons or takes account of 

 Paul goes on to teach us that Charity never faileth, although prophecies may, but Charity never will.

So how do we get the deeper meaning of what Charity really is. 

I think as women we tend to judge ourselves pretty harshly 

-Remember Elder Uchdorfs. talk about his wife and the eggs and toast. We should be celebrating when we don't burn the toast!!

We judge ourselves sometimes so much that we in turn tend to think others must be judging us as well. And this becomes such a vicious cycle. in our lives that we don’t even see sometimes what we are doing. 

-Have you ever had someone knock on your door, maybe even a friend (a good friend) and you pretend your not home because maybe your house is no quite clean.

-Have you ever made delicious treats and wanted to take them to someone but, darn you are out of that pretty ribbon so instead you eat them all yourself.

-Have you ever seen someone in the grocery store and hid behind the bananas because you didn’t have your hair done or makeup on

----I then put up a measuring stick and we wrote down the things we judge ourselves one. Some of the answers I got were, Home, parenting ability, looks, spirituality,....

Then I took the measuring stick and put it under my feet. The only person we are to measure ourselves against is the Savior and there Is NO WAY we will ever be perfected until the next life. 

  

------ There is no  measuring stick. ---------

That’s is such a small step toward Charity, but until we stop judging ourselves we Can NEVER HOPE TO STOP JUDGING OTHERS!!

I want to tell you some stories and it you guys can think of any from your own lives let me know.....

 

-A story once in music and the spoken word was told about an elderly couple the women was going blind and could no longer paint her finger nails so , her husband would do it for her and he did.... every week for 5 years

-Joseph Smith, young boy... A boy was looking for his brother in Nauvoo he was invited into the prophets home and was taken care of for the night and then the prophet arranged for him to have a coach ride the next 8 miles to his brother.. It was not until later that this boy came to know he was helped by the mormon prophet

-Joe’s Grandmother was in a horrible accident which killed her husband. After she got out of the rehab center Joe got a letter from her on his mission. It opened with Dear Joseph  I felt good today so I got up and went visiting teaching and now I am writing you a letter

-My quilt, during a particularly hard Christmas the members of our ward took car of my family and made all of us beautiful quilts for Christmas. They took the time to think about what we would like and then matched accordingly the fabric they choose for each of us. 

QUOTE BY MARVIN J. ASHTON

We have the legacy of RS to help us get there!!

The relief society’s legacy 

-1842 began by helping men build the temple

-1843 visiting committees formed

break after death of J.S.

1854 Indian Relief societies formed under council of Brigham Young.

-1866 reorganized with Eliza R. Snow as President.

-1876 begin a grain storage program

-1882 Open Deseret hospital

1918 At the end of WW1 the relief society sells 205,518 bushels of wheat to the united stated government and establishes a fund to purchase more wheat in the future

1921 National concern for health care causes R.S. to take wheat storage interest to fund  hundreds of health care clinics for expectant mothers, babies, and preschool children. Sisters in European missions prepare maternity chests for needy mothers and home deliveries

1936 Church welfare plan established RS responsible for preserving food, providing clothing, and bedding and teaching welfare principles to the sisters 

1940-1845 send clothing, food, and thousands of quilts to help saints in Europe.

1978 RS transfers 266,291 bushels of wheat and nearly 2 million dollars to the first presidency for welfare program. 

1999 do you remember the service of the millennium project 1,999 hours of service to humanitarian aide in one evening. 

March 2000 there are more than 4 million members in over 160 countries worldwide. 

What a heritage we have!

In one meeting where lucy Mack smith was in attendance she was heard to say:

LUCY SMITH QUOTE____________________________

We can get there we can draw on the experiences of the sisters around us to help us guide our way to Turn our hearts so they are forever changed. So that we put aside the things that don’t really matter and get back to what does. 

---- Do we want to have others see us in a way that when they look at us they see their Savior Jesus Chirst.

I am going  to read the final quote from elder eyering at our last RS general meeting

TESTIMONY!!!

1 Cor. 13:2 

And though I have the gift of prophesy, and I understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

1 Cor. 13:2

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

1Cor. 13:4-7

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not;charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things

“Charity is, perhaps, in many ways a misunderstood word. We often equate charity with visiting the sick, taking in casseroles, to those in need, or sharing our excess withthose who are less fortunate. But, really, true charity is much, much more. 

Real charity is not something you give away; it is something that you aquire and make a part of yourself. And when the virtue of charity becomes implanted in your heart, you are never the same again. “

Marvin J. Ashton

“We must cherish [and] watch over one another, comfort one another and gain instruction that we may all sit down in heaven together”

Lucy Smith

“You pass the heritage along as you help others receive the gift of charity in their hearts.   Then they will be able to pass it to others. The history of Relief Society is recorded in words and numbers, but the heritage is passed heart to heart. That is why families are such beneficiaries of Relief Society. ...... You have a glorious heritage. I pray to God that he will inspire you to preserve it and pass it on as a legacy to bless and bring joy to those in the generations and the seasons to come. “

Henry B. Eyering

For Six Years...

I have been a mom!!

And it all started with this guy!!

Michael is the best big brother this family could have asked for. The day he was born my mom took one look at him handed him to me and said "Wow, good luck with him" He was born an old, OLD soul, we could feel it. Everyone in the room knew this little guy had been waiting for a long time to be here on earth. And boy, oh boy did he prove it. For the next 8 months he screamed. He did not wait this long for a body to be stuck inside of something he could not control at all. He absolutely hated being a baby. It was the funniest thing to watch. At the time, it was the hardest thing I had ever done, looking back it is comical. He would scream and then I would move him to a new place in the house, and five minutes later he would scream. And I would move him yet again... No kidding, for 8 months! It went so far that one day I was delirious, so dang tired that I pulled out the vacuum because that was the only thing that would stop the crying except for me constantly holding him which I could not do anymore because my arms were throbbing. I turned it on ,he quieted and I put him in his swing. He did not cry and I sat on the couch. The next thing I remember I woke up because my house was full of smoke... Yes the vacuum had caught fire and was burning away in the corner of the room. And he was sleeping away in the corner. I got the fire stopped and the day went on. At 8 months he walked and the rest as they say is history.

Six years later, here we are a family of six with Michael as our big proud big brother. He brings an air of life to this family that we could not do without. He is tender and strong and takes such good care of his siblings. Last year for his birthday he wanted to learn to read. And this year I just had a parent teacher conference with his Kindergarten teacher and he is reading at a first grade level. I took him to the book fair after his conference, and he seriously picked out the dictionary!! I had to talk him into a spongebob book. Only after we got a dictionary, a human body book, and a book on the solar system. He is the coolest guy ever!! And now he is six years old. And next year he will, I am sure, be smarter than me. 

I just really loved this cartoon of moses. I bet he felt like this all the time. And it's a great way to intro my post today. 

I bore my testimony in church last Sunday and shared an experience that I have had with my scriptures. I love reading in the Bible. The stories are just plain fun to me. I love thinking about this Earth and the things it has seen its creator do with the people he has sent to it. We have such a history, a link to each other that if you don't believe in God you can miss out on. I wonder about the roles between science and God. The bends in the scientific laws that we just cannot explain. The quantum physics of our human experiences we might say. Oh well I am getting off track ..... meanwhile  back at the ranch..... I have decided to read the Old Testament all the way through from cover to cover. I have set this goal for myself before and I tend to fall short somewhere in the middle. But I am trying again and it has been awesome so far. I was reading in Exodus chapter 17 when my Heavenly Father reached out and hit me on  the head. (Don't you just love it when he does that) Oh well, I was reading about the Israelite's and the journey they are taking out of Egypt. They have come to the wilderness and are in want of bread so the Lord sends them Manna and quail from the heavens. In chapter 17 the children of Israel are murmuring once again, so badly in fact that Moses goes to the Lord and says "What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me"  So the Lord tells him to smite the rock and they are given water. Moses decides to name the place where they received the water according to the hearts of the children of Israel. He calls it Massah (meaning testing, trying proving)and Meribah (meaning Strife or complaint) WOW!! That made me think. What would Moses name my home... Meanwhile right after this happens the people of Amelek come to battle with the Israelites. They are afraid I am sure but Moses sends his people out to battle with Joshua at the head and he stands high upon a hilltop. He holds the rod of God in his hands, and as long as he holds up his staff his people are winning the battle. But if his hands fall the people start to loose. So he stands there all day with his hands up  in the air holding the staff up. Of course this is a hard thing to do and he being human is weak, so his friends come to help him. They give him a rock to rest upon and then they hold up his hands for him. And the people are triumphant. 

I love this story, there are so any parallels to our lives that I can draw on. I love that even a prophet of God a man who walked and talked with him still got weighed down and was weakened by his trial. It is okay for me to get weighed down and weary. I can call on my friends for help. They will come and literally hold me up if they can. Also I love thinking of the way his hands are in thinking of prayer. With our hand raised in the air pleading with our Father in Heaven in our darkest hour, He will come to our aid.  At the end of this chapter Moses is commanded to write down what happened that day. And the final verse reads "And Moses built an alter, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi..." When you look down at the translation of those words it says IE The Lord is my banner. 

What banner am I flying, is it one of complaint because life is hard, or of always finding fault with others, or being sorry for myself and wishing I could trade with someone who I think has it better than me. OR When people look at me do they see that I am happy with what I have been blessed with. Do they see their Lord and Savior when they see me. Could they picture a beautiful golden banner fling in front of me leading me back to my Heavenly home. I hope so. I think more often than not lately I have been flying the former banner but, now than I have been properly taught (or hit upside of my head) through the words of my Father in Heaven I can learn and be more conscious of whose banner I am waving in front of my life. 

How it went

I know I was supposed to keep up with the whole dinner every night thing but we were crazy last week so I am now just going to give a synopsis of our week. We made it and it was so fun. We had good meals every night and even had some good little extras throughout the week. I made a couple of soups in our crock pot. A chicken tortilla, and a taco soup. They were so very yummy!! I made rolls a couple of times and we had left overs and stuff for lunch. It went well, so well in fact that I think we will keep it up for a while trying to be creative and cutting out budget. Who knows maybe we can recover from some of our hard days faster if we can keep this up.