Welcome is Thy Dawning

What a beautiful Sabbath day it has been today!  Our meetings were inspired and inspiring.  One of the speakers was one of our YSAs, the stake president's son who came home from his mission nearly 3 months ago.

He is a good young man who loved his mission, and shared several stories of individuals who stepped forward in faith to be baptized or to live a difficult commandment and were blessed.  He was emotional as he told about people he has come to love and respect.  One man had very little and was without work...and over the course of just a few weeks lost what little he had.  But he paid his tithing in faith, and miraculously - wonderful things happened to help him see the Lord's strengthening presence in his life.

I believe those little miracles occur more often than we realize.  Life wasn't meant to be easy, but there is always help available if we have eyes to see.

I have had time to do some studying today.....what a blessing!

Here is a small quote from Clayton Christensen's book about the power of everyday missionaries that I enjoyed: ( He was telling about an experience he had with a friend who was investigating the Church)

After reviewing the assignment to be sure Brian understood it, we read Moroni 10:3-5 and said, "Now we want to teach you how to give that prayer in step 7."  We pointed to the first sentence of verse 3 and asked, "Brian, why does God want you to take a few minutes before offering this prayer to think about how richly He has blessed you?"
After a pause Brian answered, "I guess it will help me feel how much God loves me, and how much I love him."
"That's exactly right," we agreed.  "So please remember to do this."  We then continued reading and paused again toward the end of verse 4, asking, "What does it mean to pray with real intent?'
Brian responded, "I suppose it means I need to be sincere about it."
"Not exactly," I said.  "Sincerity is covered in the prior phrase.  Praying with real intent means that you need to tell God what you intend to do if He answers your prayer."

Wow!  I love that.  It changes how I look at that verse.

The great thing about being able to hear others' testimonies and read others' experiences strengthens me and gives new perspectives. I love the fact that spiritually we have the possibility of growing - always.  That is exciting.