I am grateful for it all

I have had an interesting few days. My goal last year was to be grateful in all things. And I had several opportunities that helped me to be able to accomplish that. But the weirdest thing happened.

I'll preface by saying, there have been several things I really wanted to change in my room. A previous water leak, with a pucker on the ceiling. The carpet needed to be re-stretched. And lately, I have been wanting to redecorate, change colors actually. I also have really wanted a new washer. Be careful what you dream about.

So, I called a friend recently and we had not talked in awhile. I was loading the washer and actually told her I thought I needed a new one because I had been finding water on the floor in the laundry room, but we have a drain in the floor so I wasn't too worried.

I ate my lunch and went in the family room to sit while talking and after about 20 minutes she needed to answer a call from her hubby. I headed back toward my room and heard the water pouring out of the drain outside and ran upstairs to find my washer overflowing, which it probably had been doing for at least 20 minutes.

Well, long story short, lots of damage. The drain couldn't drain it all. I had called the Bish and talked to him at least five minutes before it even occurred to me to check the bedroom. The "rain" was pouring out of the vent over our bed. The laptop was open on the bed. And all I could think of, was singing "raindrops are falling on my head" or bed as the case was. I felt very relaxed. I felt it would all be all right and I just had a rush of many things to be grateful for.

The water mitigation people came and ripped out my ceiling and put fans and dehumidifiers and heaters everywhere. The adjuster came, wrote me a check. The contractor came and fixed it all. We slept on the family room floor on our mattress which completely dried out, for ten days. The carpet guy came back and cleaned and stretched the carpet. The new washer and dryer are in and put to good use. And new colors in my room. New laptop and only need to transfer files. All in all a quick and positive outcome. How can I complain when tens of thousands are hurting in another part of the world? (Haiti) I wish I could figure out a way to make people better there.

The lesson for me in this was gratitude at all times and in all things. The Beast came in at one point and said, "mom, should't you be a little upset about this?" To which I replied, "why? with all the horror in the world, what difference does it make?" (Little joke from What About Bob?) And we both laughed and realized it was nothing to get upset about. God provided a way and we are back up and running. What a blessing!

December 2009

Merry Christmas from the Nortons!

It's been a wonderfully busy year in our house, and I am sure it has been in yours too. Everyone seems to be so busy. Here is a little of what is going on in our little corner of the world.

    Bret is probably the busiest in the house. He works full time for our church teaching high school and college aged students religious classes. Also known as Seminary and Institute. His Institute classes are taught almost an hour away across from the local Jr college twice a week. Seminary is taught for three periods every day locally. Bret is also serving as the Bishop in our local church, which keeps his Sundays and Wednesday nights busy. But along with that is a lot of unseen service many people never know about. We are thankful for the good example he sets for our family. He's a great also a great husband and dad and son to his mom who lives a few miles away. Spare time is spent as mechanic, builder, and general fix-it man. I'm sure we'd be in the poor house without his handyman skills. 

    Andrew just passed his one year mark in November as a missionary in the Ogden, Utah mission. He has served the last few months in Bountiful, just north of Salt Lake City. He loves learning, studying, and teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is very happy with what he is doing and his most recent letter told us he did not want to come home in 11 months. He wants to stay 2 more years. Yeah, sure. Not happening! But we are grateful for the great spirit he brings into our home with his weekly letters. You can follow his adventures here: www.missionsite.net/elderdrewnorton

    Chris began the year playing basketball for Eastern Arizona College and continuing as a student. He loved the experience and hopes to return to it after his mission. In May, he moved to Northern California and spent the Summer installing security systems in homes there. He enjoyed the experience and loved meeting new people and making some new friends. It was a great learning experience for him and he was able to save some money. In September, Dawn took Chris up to Utah for training at the Missionary Training Center. He was able to spend a day and a half with Andrew as a missionary before entering. They had a WONDERFUL experience together and they were so happy to be able to spend that time, so that it would not be three years, but only two before they saw each other again. Chris is in the Kentucky, Louisville mission. He has been serving on the U of L campus teaching singles. He has a lot of exposure to athletes and is really enjoying it so far. He is also extremely happy and regularly tells us how grateful he is to be having this experience. You can check his adventures out at : www.missionsite.net/elderchrisnorton

    Joseph (17) has had a rough year. But, he continues to bounce back and be happy anyway. In February, he tore the ACL in his knee, just before the state basketball playoffs. He had to sit out the tennis season. On April 1st, he had it repaired with surgery and began a six month recovery. He had lots of physical therapy and was able to start running in July and began getting ready for basketball again. Unfortunately on the third day of practice he twisted it. It took a few weeks to get an answer that he just needed to keep strengthening the muscles in his leg to support it. Another attempt at returning to play ended the same, so he is taking a whole month off this time to see if he can get it strong enough. Joseph is a senior this year. Besides his knee, he was Mr. Wildkat again for Homecoming week, Homecoming Royalty, and we have been pleasantly surprised that he has a beautiful singing voice and is enjoying choir very much. Joseph is a true comedian and keeps us rolling along life's merry highway. We are hoping he will finish his Eagle Scout project this year and earn his award before he graduates. 

    Jefferson (15) entered high school this year. He is still playing the piano very well. He is making strides in Freshman and JV basketball. He does well in school, has a very happy attitude, and is a big help to me when I ask for just about anything. If I am not home, I usually call him to make dinner because he does such a great job at it. Jefferson has braces this year and is not enjoying that experience, but his smile has already improved greatly. He started an FFA dairy goat project. He is also in choir and having a great time with his older brother before he graduates. We are hoping Jefferson will earn his Eagle in the next few months, to avoid the last minute rush his older three brothers have all done.

    Emily (12),  graduated from Primary at church and is now a part of Young Women's. She has grown into a lovely girl and we hope she will continue to be as beautiful on the inside as on the outside. That's way more important anyway. Emily is involved in lots of activities. She plays piano well. She takes dance and helps teach a younger class. She is in 6th grade but the Jr High girls basketball team did not have enough players, and so she is playing ball with the 7th graders. She's tall, so she may have a future ahead. Emily has lots of friends and is very social. She has a happy spirit about her except when being pestered by older brothers. She is considerate and inclusive of her younger sister and is a big help to me. 

    Noah (9) is growing like a proverbial weed. He is very smart and enjoys plant club and recently basketball. Jefferson is teaching him piano and he is a fast learner. He really likes computers and hand held games. We keep our younger kids activities to a limit so we will have more time as a family. Noah is a really funny boy like Joseph and keeps us laughing.

    Olivia (6) is the resident sweetheart. I am including in our letter, a copy of a picture she recently drew. She really is our budding artist. And she goes through a lot of paper every month. She is constantly drawing pictures for family and friends. She recently told me she wanted to have an art show "like when you put the pictures up and everyone comes." We are looking for ways for her to develop her talent. Other than that, she is in first grade, is reading well, and loves all of her little friends. She is also in dance and seems to be a natural leader in dance and other areas. She really brightens our lives and charms everyone who knows her. 

     Dawn has hoped all year it would slow down. I started off the year sitting at a subdivision three days a week. That ended in August when I just felt the time constraints were too much for our family. After over two years with Long Realty, I switched to a smaller company (Maclay Real Estate), and am enjoying more control over my hours. It has not seemed to hurt my business one bit, and it's been a good year for me in real estate. But, that is really not my true love, and so I have begun moving in a new direction. I will continue real estate until I get going in the direction I want. I am getting certified in EFT (www.dailyabundance.net) and will pursue training as a Whole Health Educator. I love learning and teaching about how to be healthy. I hope to be doing that more as the year goes on. I have begun teaching EFT classes locally and hope to be able to do some longer seminars soon. I have learned this year that I can be grateful and happy in all things. It's my choice. I love serving now in the Yong Women's at church and get to be in Emily's class each week.

    This year as a family, we vacationed in San Francisco so that Chris could be a part of our vacation. We spent three days with him in the city seeing all kinds of fun and new and interesting things. We were surprised to find out how cold it is there in July. As native Arizonans it was funny to discover that we should have brought coats. We could not imagine the temps being that low when ours are so high. We laughed at ourselves as we waited in line to ride the trolley and drank hot cocoa to keep from freezing. On our way home, we were able to stop and visit my uncle and he shared some lovely memories and item from my Granny who passed away a few years ago. We enjoyed our time with him.

    We feel blessed beyond measure. To have faith, a family, a home, and a job, when so many suffer from lack, is truly humbling. The Christmas season is our favorite time of the year. We hope that the spirit of hope that it brings will be with you this season and throughout the next year.

Love, The Nortons, Bret, Dawn, Drew, Chris, Joseph, Emily, Noah, and Olivia

                                                                                                            

The 70 yr old picture that made my day/week/month

This was Gracie three years ago.



Gracie came into my possession through my cousin, from my aunt, but she was really my Granny's. I don't know how my aunt got her. But when my dear auntie passed away, her daughter came into possession of the doll. She sat in a plastic bag somewhere for a couple of years. And then the CUZ came for a visit and brought her with her. She asked me if I wanted her. Oh yes, I really did want her, even though she was in a pair of boys shorts and a boy shirt and had tube socks on to help keep her surface from falling off. I just knew some day, I would figure out what to do with her.

And one day, I read an ad in the Sunday magazine that comes in the paper about a lady who had a doll hospital in Texas.

http://www.aaadollhospital.com/dallas_morning_news.php

I emailed the lady and contacted her to find out if she could do anything with my doll. She said I would have to send her in to find out. So, I held my breath and sent her off to Texas. Before I did, I named her Gracie. The lady told me she could fix her. She took the picture of her there at the doll hospital. You cannot see in the picture that her face was very cracked as were her arms and legs and a good portion of her finish had broken off. Her hair was dirty and matted. And I told you about her clothes.

It took almost a year for Gracie to be finished. The nice lady at the hospital spent months putting each layer on one by one and letting it dry and cure and whatever else it had to do after each application. And then she sent her home to me. How do you think she looks? With a pretty new dress and her hair all done. Little black shoes and rosy lips. Her eyes still work and she even had a new momma box inside.

This is Gracie now.



From the day I got her, I made a wish. Oh how I wished I could find/have a picture of my Granny with her dolly. I told a couple of people here and there how I would love to have a picture. And the little magic fairies began working. A few months ago, I was at my uncle's and he mentioned his cousin, my Granny's niece, had sent him a whole bunch of old family photos. Oh, I would really love to see those, but he does not DO email. Even though that is how he received them. And then a few weeks ago, my dad mentioned that the same cousin had sent the same pictures to him. Oh, I would really love to see those. I asked him to send them, and today, he finally did. They were in the form of a slideshow that was going by way too fast to see the pictures and read who was in each picture. So, when it was finished. I went back through them one by one, enjoying each picture. When what should my eyes behold? I literally gasped as I saw the picture below.

This is Gracie in 1930.



There were many treasures in the slide show of old photos and family. Dates and a few people I had never seen pictures of. But the greatest treasure of all, to me, was the picture of my Granny with her dolly.

Faith and works, thought and action

I had a couple of nice pictures to post, but try as I might, they won't post today, so maybe I will add them later. I'm a big fan of positive thoughts, gratitude, and other helpful techniques to make my life happy. A few weeks ago, I received a lovely 8 page letter from the Superstar aka The Mish 2. I was so happy to read of what he felt I had taught him and his encouragement to me to do those things necessary to receive the life I am seeking. His wisdom touched my heart. His basic message is faith without works is dead. And works without faith isn't worth much either.

"You taught me that if I believed in myself, did what God asked of me, and then put in the effort, He would do the rest. Well, I put that to the test and it worked. I never thought it would take me as far as college ball...you helped me believe in myself, to gain confidence, and then to learn that if I went to God with my desires and believed it would happen, they would. They have come true so far and I know they will continue to come true as long as I believe...Our purpose here on earth is to be happy, and God wants to give us what makes us PERSONALLY happy. I know you have many goals, dreams, and desires because you've told me many of them. Well why haven't they come true? I think it is because you are doing the same thing I did. You attract and believe and put forth the effort, but when the results don't come right away, it's hard not to quit. (me: ouch!) I know where I got it from now. :-) It's so easy to get discouraged when success doesn't come right away, but like you helped me to see, your time is on it's way. You helped me to see our thoughts control everything that happens to us...If we do the small and simple things, God will give us anything we desire and ask Him as long as we have faith that He will.

God blessed me with opportunites that I wanted, but I then left it at that. I know I could have performed better and played more ball if I just would have asked and let God know these were my desires. I could have made 10 times as much money for my job this summer if I would have let God know that's what I wanted. I attracted those things and once they came, I left it at that. I was happy I made the team, but I left it at that. I was happy God blessed me with that job, but I left it at that. That's two examples I was given the opportunity to be extremely successful, but because I settled for just being on the team, lucky to have a job, God left it at that."

I thought he expressed it eloquently. What is our heart's desire, that we take only so far and leave it at that? Why don't we ask God to bless those desires? Anytime we combine our faith with God's purposes and will, we cannot lose. What are you leaving at that?

Not long after I got this letter, I took some action I had been putting off forever and had such wonderful, blessed, pleasing results that I think I will do it again. I don't want to leave it at that anymore. How about you?

*I'm* the MOM--just me

So, here's a little funny. See that worried look on the arteest's face. I accidentally put it there. Last month, the Bish performed his second wedding. He married a couple, one of which goes to our ward. But I have been walking around saying, he "married" them. The bride forgot her dress and I have had it in the back of my van. I finally asked if the Bish would take it and put it in his office last week.

The kids then all wondered why I had this wedding dress in the back of my van. So, I explained how their dad had married this couple. After several minutes of quiet coloring in the back of the van, Olivia exclaimed a litte exasperated, "Wait! Does this mean we're going to have two mommies?" Whoa! Oh no. I had to do a little explaining. And I now refer to her dad's responsibilities as PERFORMING a wedding. Haha.

In the THICK of THIN things

I have a motto. "Life gets in the way of living." We walk down our path with a plan and then something unexpected throws us off course. The question is, how do we handle it? Do we learn from it? Or do we just throw a big fat tantrum? I have been blessed to learn many things to help me deal with life's interruptions of living. But recently I realized something was very wrong. I had a week that sidelined me. And normally when these kinds of things happen, I find a way to be grateful and I plow forward.

But this week, a whole bunch of things got together and collaborated against me. Professional, personal, and family challenges all mounted and I responded unhappily. Still clinging desperately to gratitude, I began asking myself some questions. Some of the experiences were in truth of my own making. Others just completely sidelined me. But if I truly believe in you reap what you sow, and I do, then I guess they were all of my own making, in the thought seeds that I had previously planted.

Time to start weeding the weed patch, because I either planted them, or they drifted in when I wasn't paying attention or delibearately planting flower and vegetable seeds. Ouch! It's hard to take responsibility for that. But I realized some things this week. For one thing, I have been attempting to run faster than I have strength. I can either embrace it and plant seeds to help me handle it happily or make a change, which seems so much easier.

So, I have been pondering how best to do that and I am excited about the possibilites. Because, in the end, I will begin to pursue the things that make me happy, not just the things I think I have to do. And I have realized I am not having any fun anymore. Oh sure, there are rare moments. But I am not living my life intentionally. I am letting the millions of little details get in the way of true joy with those I love. And it's all about relationships in my book. Because I truly believe that, I had to humble myself and apologize to someone who really wronged me. Why would I apologize? Because the relationship, no matter how small, is more imporant than the shared experience and I had a part in it.

So, I am planning to have some planning time and find ways to sieze the day, live in the moment, laugh and enjoy the precious gifts in my life. And to heal the wounds of the week and move on with happiness. Life is so short. "Note to self" Live it.

RS Retreat

About a month ago I was asked to speak at our annual Relief Society retreat. Here are the thoughts I shared this morning.

Standing Strong and Immovable in Families

There was so much good information I came across this month while pondering the assignment I was given from Juie Beck’s talk in General Conference in Oct 2007. I was walking one morning last week and just asked if I could be inspired what to focus on. And a question and an image came to mind. The question was, how do you stand fast and immovable in families if you are not strong yourself. And the image below came to mind with the words (spiritual, physical, emotional, social).



In this month’s First Presidency message in the Ensign, I found the following quotes.

President Heber J. Grant (1856–1945) said, “Without the devotion and absolute testimony of the living God in the hearts of our mothers, this Church would die.” Think about that.

President Gordon B. Hinckley counseled the women of the Church: “It is so tremendously important that the women of the Church stand strong and immovable for that which is correct and proper under the plan of the Lord. …

Matthew 22: 37-39, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Implicit in the two great commandments is the commandment to love THYSELF! There is no way we can stand strong and immovable in families if we don’t have what approaches self-worth. Satan would have women of our day believe we are anything but a child of God, a daughter of God. As my dear husband would say, and did in his testimony recently, “if momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. “The strength and success of your family is directly proportional to your own inner strength which comes from faith in Christ.”

Spiritual, physical, emotional, social. These closely parallel, wisdom, stature, favor with God and with man.

Spiritual- faith, obedience, covenants. Sister Merrill focused on faith this morning. The only thing I will add is a question. Are you a woman of faith or a woman of fear? Elder Kevin Pearson in his excellent talk in conference on Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, pointed out. “We get what we focus on consistently.” What are you focusing on? He said some of the forces that erode our faith are self-imposed “personal tendencies, attitudes, and habits we can learn to change.” And he gave the 6 destructive d’s. “ Doubt, discouragement, distraction, lack of diligence, disobedience, and disbelief.

Obedience- the older I get, the more I learn that the key to blessings is obedience. If I want more blessings, I need to be more diligent as a follower of Christ. In the Doctrine and Covenants section 130, we learn

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

Wouldn’t it be great to know which commandment brought which blessings, so that when we see a lack, we can just beef up our obedience in that area and get the blessings? Well we can do that without knowing. I think the story of the stripling soldiers and their mothers is one of my favorite in the Book of Mormon. And for a long time I wondered, what did their mothers know? One day I got tired of asking myself that question and read the story thoroughly to find out and here is what I found. In Alma 57,

21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.

I want to be like the stripling warriors and their mothers. And this is the advice I give my sons as they enter the mission field. Obey with exactness and you can ask the Lord for His blessings with confidence. When we are obedient we can as in Hebrews 4, “come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” I know I need that.

Covenants—I wish I had more time to discuss the importance of obtaining and keeping our temple covenants. There is so much power in doing so. In Elder Christofferson’s talk in conference, he gave three ways that keeping our covenants can help us “smile through hardships, convert tribulation to triumphs, be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and bring to pass much righteousness.” 1) keeping covenants provides "a continual flow of blessings promised by God in His covenant with us, 2) they produce the faith necessary to persevere and to do all things that are expedient in the Lord, 3) come what may, we can face life with hope and equanimity, knowing that we will succeed in the end."

Physical- exercise (15 min a day is better than nothing), eat right (less sugar, less fat, less meat, less junk, less prepackaged food, more fruits, more veggies, more fiber, more whole grains—unless you are retired. Like Sister Hinckley ), relieve stress. Get a massage, go for a walk, listen to uplifting or happy music, read a good book, call a positive friend, spend time with a little person, hold a baby (preferably sleeping), laugh, cry, forgive. Take 3 deep breaths, tense and relax, let muscles go head to toe.

Emotional- mental too. Thoughts, gratitude, personal proclamation.

Some of this is a repeat for Duncan ward sisters. We can control our thoughts. Over four years ago I read As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen. It had a powerful impact on me.

"MAN'S mind may be likened to a garden, which may be
intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether
cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful
seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will
fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.

Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds,
and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man
tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and
impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and
fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts."

First fill our minds with good things, good music, tv, reading, computer time, etc. Next erase bad thoughts and replace with good. When a negative thought appears and I recognize it, I immediately reverse it. So, when I started this, I often had thoughts like, “I’m a bad mom, I’m so stupid, what an idiot, and so on.” (Not to mention all the judgmental thoughts about others) At first I started just noticing how often I was quietly voicing these kinds of thoughts and then I began waging war on them. I often found myself arguing with myself. I’m a bad mom—oh no I am not. I am a good mom. I’m stupid—I am not, I am smart. And so on. When you argue enough with yourself, you lose, and then you win!

One day while going through a self help book I have on how to reverse negative emotions, I read this affirmation. “I am God’s gift to the world.” And it sank deeply into my heart as truth. And I share it with others whenever I can. Just like we pour our hearts and souls, hopes and dreams into our children and send them out to kindergarten and later college, job, mission, marriage, our Father has sent us here to be a gift and a blessing. I rarely criticize myself anymore. Sisters, YOU are God’s gift to the world. More importantly, you are God’s gift to your families. Embrace it, and know it is true.

As I have tried to integrate positive thought and gratitude in my life, one day I was reading the Relief Society Declaration (read here) and was very moved by its statements. I compared it to the Young Women’s Theme (read here) and found that these were the kinds of things I wanted to be and do in my life. I decided to write my own “Personal Proclamation.”

A personal proclamation is a statement of who you are and what you want to be. It is all written in the present tense as if it were already accomplished. It’s been proven that writing goals enables us to better accomplish them. A goal not written is just a dream and while the Personal Proclamation is not a goal it is a direction or focus for your life. It can cover any and all areas of your life. Mine covers ten and I will share a few of them. Here are a few topics that could be covered in a Personal Proclamation. Self, life (role), attributes, education, finances, blessings, ideas, goals, worth, physical/mental health, relationships (divine and other) and so on.

1-I am a precious daughter of God (who loves me and I love Him) and my life has meaning, purpose, and direction.

4-I am faithful, joyful, peaceful, pure of heart, and compassionate.

8-I share my ideas and feelings in a way that supports my thoughts, goals, and self worth, while recognizing the same in others. 9-I am a peacemaker.

10-I enjoy vibrant health, positive emotions, wonderful relationships, and meaningful spiritual experiences.

Gratitude- The Doctrine and Covenants (59) tells us: 21 And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments.

If you want to get on the wrong side of God, forget to thank him and forget to keep His commandments. 1 Thess. says to give thanks in all things because it is the will of God. Gratitude is another attribute I have sought after the last couple or years. At times I have kept a gratitude journal. I try in the worst of circumstances to find something to be grateful for. And I have found that over time, I am happier because I am focusing on what I have and not what I don’t. Most recently I have begun to attempt to be grateful truly for all things. Positive or negative. And in that practice, I have found that because I am still grateful even if I am stressed, or angry, or disappointed, or grief stricken, that I am so much more able to see my Heavenly Father’s hand and to move much more quickly through that trial and receive needed answers because I am not wallowing in those negative emotions. Sometimes the answers are obvious but we are so bogged down in the thoughts and emotions that we cannot see them right in front of us. Elder Eyring said in a conference talk some time ago,

You could have an experience with the gift of the Holy Ghost today. You could begin a private prayer with thanks. You could start to count your blessings, and then pause for a moment. If you exercise faith, and with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you will find that memories of other blessings will flood into your mind. If you begin to express gratitude for each of them, your prayer may take a little longer than usual. Remembrance will come. And so will gratitude.

Social-spend more time with those you love (including your Heavenly Father) and less time with those you don’t. Less time with media. Spend time in real life not pretend computer life. Face to face contact. (Elder Bednar) Serve others, think less of yourself, reach out. Don’t participate in gossip. If you have all the appeal of a corpse, the person trying to share the information, will get the message and stop sharing.

Sister Beck— In a recent talk to seminary and institute teachers said, Anything anti-Christ is anti family and any message the world has that is anti family is anti-Christ.

She also taught that the creation/fall/atonement were all for the establishment of eternal families. Without these blessings,

D&C 2: 1-3
1 Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
2 And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
3 If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.

Elder Uchtdorf: “As you live up to this mission, in whatever life circumstance you find yourself—as a wife, as a mother, as a single mother, as a divorced woman, as a widowed or a single woman—the Lord our God will open up responsibilities and blessings far beyond your ability to imagine.”

“You are the real builders of nations wherever you live, because strong homes of love and peace will bring security to any nation.”

It is my testimony that as we place our faith in Christ and seek to be stronger in our own self-worth that we will also create stronger families. Our families are only as strong as we are. If we are a weak link, then it is more difficult for our families to have the strength they need. Some children do find a way to rise above their environment and resolve to be successful in their family life, but outcomes are generally better in families grounded in gospel principles. May you be blessed in your efforts to strengthen your selves and your families whatever your circumstances.