Seeking Happiness and Joy

A dear sister shared the most beautiful tribute to motherhood today at church. I will do my best to record the words she spoke. Sister Harker said, A few weeks ago, my youngest daughter had her first baby. My emotions were very close to the surface. I repeated over and over that I couldn't believe my baby was having a baby. After the baby's birth, the nurse was doing what she's supposed to do: scrubbing and cleaning and pricking. Ellie was doing what a newborn is supposed to do: crying at the top of her lungs. I decided to reach out and touch Ellie's hand in hopes of making her first few minutes of life more comforting. Ellie wrapped her little hand around one of my fingers. Holding hands is one of the greatest ways we connect with one another. As I thought about these hands, I reflected on the hands of my mother. She used her hands to hold me and comfort me as a baby. She held my hand as I experienced the new things in life. She used her hands to clap for me a...

This is a talk I gave at the baptism of a boy I used to babysit. He asked me to speak on the Holy Ghost . He was baptized shortly after his 8th birthday. After graduating from Dixie College, I decided to transfer to Utah State University in Logan. I was entering the real world. I didn’t know anyone attending school there and I didn’t have any relatives living there. I would be going about this alone. My mother, who faced a similar situation years before, knew this would be a challenging and sometimes troublesome process. She, by divine nature, wanted to provide for me what she could so I would be taken care of and adjust easily. She knew she couldn’t go with me, so she provided the next best thing. My mother had a dear friend who was instrumental in her conversion and growth in her early years as a member of the church. Her name was Wanda. I knew Wanda as the woman whose nostrils made me giggle. Wanda and her husband, Frank, just so happened to live in Logan. ...

I spoke in church today. My assigned topic was a talk given by Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander in the April 2008 General Conference . I gave my talk immediately after singing "Close Enough to Touch" by Kenneth Cope. This woman, whose story is told briefly in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, had an issue of blood for 12 years. She had sought out numerous physicians and used all that she had to seek a cure. None had cured her; her condition was now worse. Her faith brought her to seek out Jesus. “For she said within herself, if I but touch his garment, I shall be whole.” 1 She pressed her way through the crowd that was following Jesus to touch the hem of His garment. Elder Neuenschwander in his recent conference talk described this crowd. “I picture the crowd itself. It must have been fairly large, as people were pressing in on Jesus. It might have even been a noisy crowd, as people pushed and shoved trying to get a better look at Him. I wonder why they were there. Most, I think, cam...

My grandmother used to say to my mother, "It doesn't matter what anyone else says or does as long as you know what you're doing is right." My mother would in turn share that with me. This truth that my grandmother taught was exercised by my mother when she met the missionaries as a 17 year-old young woman. She immediately recognized the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and desired to be baptized. Her desire to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was not accepted by her immediate family. Her baptism was openly mocked by her own mother. However, it was the truth that her own mother had taught her, "It doesn't matter what anyone else says for does as long as you know what you're doing is right," that contributed to her decision to follow the promptings of the Spirit and to be baptized. This decision put stress on her relationship with her family. During my grandmother's last weeks on earth, my mother visited her. My g...

In my ward today, we opened the meeting by singing " Joy to the World ". Yes, you are thinking of the right hymn. As the music chairperson, I was meeting with my Bishop a month ago. I wondered out loud why we don't sing certain songs all year long. During that meeting, he decided for Mother's Day he would assign talks about Mary, mother of Jesus, Lucy Mack Smith, the Prophet Joseph's mother, and about modern day mothers. He suggested we sing "Joy to the World" for the opening hymn and " Jesus Once of Humble Birth " as the Sacrament hymn to remind us that Jesus was born and was raised as was every child. During the talk about Lucy Mack, I was pondering the hymn that I knew was coming up, " Joseph Smith's First Prayer ". Joseph's parents, particularly his mother, raised him to be God-fearing, to read his scriptures, and to pray. Had he not been taught these principles growing up, he may have never read and pondered the scripture...

Growing up my mom always sent us off by saying, “Be good. Learn all you can. Have fun.” It is evident by this statement and her life that she values education and learning. My mother went back to college when I was in elementary school to become a registered nurse. She received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing the same semester I graduated high school. A couple years ago, she received dual Masters Degrees. She was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints her freshman year of college. She is the only member of the Church in her family, and it is no coincidence that she is also the only member of her immediate family who has received advanced college degrees. She is truly converted and her testimony and eternal perspective has increased her drive for learning. At the end of my freshman year of college, I attended a CES broadcast with President Henry B. Eyring who was then a member of the quorum of the twelve apostles as the speaker. He gave a talk that has...