Shower of Heavenly Blessings

God's commandments are meant to bless us, not hinder us!

Hope singing "Come Unto Christ"

Hope singing "Come Unto Christ"

You Can Endure Longer Than You Think

Sometimes we think our struggles will never end. If only we knew WHEN they would end we could pace ourselves, right?

One day while going for a run, I decided I would NOT look at the time to see how long I had been running. Instead, I set a timer on my phone. I would stop running when the timer went off. 

I ran and I ran and I ran. Surely, my time was up, I thought. But I knew I would hear the timer, and I forced myself not to look at the time. 

Finally, when I thought I would keel over, I stopped running and pulled out my phone to check how long it had been. Only then did I realize that, somehow, I had paused the timer just four seconds after I had started it and I had been running about seven minutes longer than I had planned. Those of you who run know that seven minutes can seem like an eternity. 

And then I had an epiphany: Our Father in Heaven doesn't usually let us know how long we will have a particular challenge in our life. If we did know, we might not gain the extra strength and endurance we need. And then, when it is finally over, we realize that we are stronger than we ever thought we could be. 

How kind our Father in Heaven is to help us grow and progress. He can make us into so much more than we could by ourselves. 

He Is There For You!

Have you ever had to wait a LONG time for an answer to a prayer? Maybe you are still waiting. For those of you who have experienced this waiting, you know how exhausting and difficult it can be. 

Weeks before General Conference, I had been praying and hoping I would receive an answer and help with several different struggles I have been having. I watched and listened to all six sessions and loved every minute of all of them. But, I couldn't help feeling discouraged at the end of it all when I still struggled severely with one particular challenge. Did my Heavenly Father not care about how I was feeling? Did I not have enough faith? 


I sat down to read my scriptures that evening and some council from my Bishop came to mind: "If you don't receive an answer, keep going back to Him in prayer." I've always known that was council from God, so I did just that. I went to my room and prayed, even though I had prayed about this countless times before. I prayed for a long time. My husband must have thought I turned to stone as he kept coming in and out of the room and finding me in the same position on my knees. 

As I was praying, I realized that I didn't need to know all the answers, but I DID need to rid myself of the anger that kept creeping back into my heart and mind. I pled with Him to take this and other bad feelings away from me, so I could be happy and at peace. I told Him I wanted to trust Him completely, but I needed to know how to do it. 

And then a thought came to mind—a phrase from Sister Neill F. Marriot, who had spoken in Conference on Saturday. "...but, this doesn't mean that things are good," she had said. Yes, THAT is how I felt. Instantly, I knew that I needed to watch and listen to that talk again. 

Listening to her inspired words a second time, I knew this talk was written for me. Even though Sister Marriot didn't know me, the Lord knew me. It was His message to me, through this heavenly woman. I wrote down the impressions that came to me. And as I wept and allowed myself to mourn, a sweet, profound peace filled my entire soul. It was more poignant than any other joy I have ever felt, with the exception of the joy of my children. The Lord loved me! He WANTED to help me. 

I know this sweet, joyful feeling was the Holy Spirit touching, even grasping, my soul. I know this for a fact because there is no possible way that ANYTHING from this world of shallow sophistication could produce such a beautiful stirring and remarkable healing of my soul. Only God could do this!

I was reminded of President's Uchdorf's statement: "We don't believe in God because of what we don't know, we believe in God because of what we DO know!"

I believe in God because He has answered my prayers. I believe in God because the Holy Spirit has testified to me that He is there! I believe in God because I have received strength and wisdom and persistence and patience from Him greater than my own ability. 

I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has His true and complete gospel. I know He speaks to our current prophet, Thomas S. Monson. 

I also know that God is truly our Heavenly Parent. He and His Son, Jesus Christ, care about EVERY one of His children. He takes us how we are and molds us to become better and better if we let Him.  

Watch Sister Neill's F. Marriot's talk in Conference

Beauty Among the Weeds

I drove into my driveway and groaned at the plethora of weeds that filled my yard. It's just like they say: "A messy house/yard indicates a messy life." Was that really true? That's how I felt. My life was definitely full of weeds, with less than a miniscule hope of getting rid of them.  

I had just spent over ten hours driving in the car with my children after a much-needed vacation and I dreaded coming back home to "real life."


I forced my stiff body to walk to the mailbox before entering the house. Just then, something caught my eye. It was my roses. Before I had left on my vacation, they had nearly been choked with a foreign vine. "Those are as good as dead," I had thought. But, now they were thriving and in full bloom! I could hardly believe it! Someone had completely removed the detested vine and watered and nurtured the roses with great care. 

Of course, I knew this "someone" had been my husband, who had stayed home to fulfill some work obligations. I glanced around my yard further and found my petunias looking lush and full. My grass, though untrimmed, was green and healthy. 

"Even among all the weeds, my husband sure knows how to make things beautiful," I thought. 

It was then that I knew how I was going to make it. I just needed to stop looking at the weeds in my life and find the things that were beautiful. And the more I thought about it, the more I could see. 

Now I can tell you that my life truly is a flourishing garden! Yes, there are weeds, but when I number all the gorgeous things, I hardly notice them. 

The Sabbath Day is a Delight

My husband and I both love to have family time together on Sunday, but considering he is agnostic, we each have different views of what activities are appropiate on this day. It was for this reason that I had been praying for weeks prior to General Conference that someone would speak on the subject of the Sabbath day so I could gain more insights on how to keep the Sabbath day holy and still spend quality time with my family--and have it be something that my husband would participate in.

Well, my prayers were answered directly through the very last talk! I knew in that special moment that my Father in Heaven had heard my heart's desire. Through the words of the Apostle It was like He was speaking to me personally.

Now I can always go back and read/listen to Elder Nelson's talk when I have a question on how to proceed on His Holy Sabbath Day.

Click on Sabbath Day is a Delight-Elder Nelson for the entire talk. 

He is the Gift – Christmas Video

I believe the Lord is pleased when we give gifts to others in lieu of His birthday. But, I am sure He also wants us to know of and remember the gift He has already given us. He wants you to feel His love this season and always!