As I was working in the kitchen today, I turned on BYU TV and listened to an amazing talk by Elder Dean M. Davies, given at a BYU devotional in November, 2015. The talk is called God Will Use You, God Will Bless You. It is no coincidence that I turned on the TV at just the right moment to hear this talk. I attended the temple last night, praying that my children would be directed by the Lord in the decisions they are making in their lives. Some have expressed concern and confusion about making the big decisions that are looming on their horizons. This talk gives reassuring comfort and advice, reminding us that the Lord is at the helm and will guide us as long as we are striving to follow his commandments.
Here is the link: God Will Use You, God Will Bless You
Enjoy!
My Family
About Me
- Andrea Nelson
- I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I start this blog in an effort to pass on the legacy of light that I have been blessed with because of the gospel of Jesus Christ to my children and their children. I hope that others will benefit as well.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Zero Fatalities
I was profoundly affected by the messages that I heard in our stake conference this weekend. In the Saturday evening meeting, our stake president, President Timothy Taylor, spoke on a topic that I have taken the liberty to call, "Zero Fatalities." I have also taken the license of mixing his words with mine. I hope he won't mind.
As a traffic engineer, he receives reports from the Utah Department of Transportation about the deaths on Utah roads. There have been over 200 deaths on the roads this year and of those, over 80 were the result of the victims not wearing a seat belt. UDOT's zero fatality goal emphasizes the question, "How many deaths are acceptable?" and in an even more personal way, "How many deaths are acceptable in your family?" Of course, the answer is an emphatic zero; hence, the "Zero Fatality" slogan.
The question that came into my mind as our president spoke was, "How many spiritual deaths are acceptable in my family?" To illustrate, he told the true story of a young man who wanted to spend the night at a friend's house. He called his parents for permission, but they wanted him to come home by his curfew of 12:00 am. When 12:15 rolled around and her son had not yet returned home, the mother became worried and started to drive the route that her son would have taken home. After driving for a few minutes, she saw a police car pass her with his lights on, and shortly after that, she came upon the scene of a horrible accident and saw the family car in the middle of a field. Her son had swerved to miss a deer and had rolled the car. Because he was not wearing his seat belt, he was ejected and the car rolled on top of him. Her wonderful son, who was known for always wearing his seat belt, had, for whatever reason, not put it on that night and had lost his life as a result. In his case and many others, it did not matter that he had worn his seat belt all of the previous times. What mattered was the decision to leave it off that night.
Like seat belts that keep us physically safe when we choose to wear them, we can develop small and simple habits that will keep us spiritually safe if we practice them--not sometimes, not most of the time, but always. Here is another rhetorical example that illustrates the importance of developing habits that maintain our spiritual health.
Eating is an "always" activity. Our bodies get hungry and we eat. What if we chose not to eat? Someone might ask us why we are looking so sickly and thin. We might answer, "Oh, I eat most of the time but sometimes I don't because I just don't have the time, and eating is so boring. It's just the same thing over and over again--put something in your mouth and chew it up." Of course, this answer is nonsensical. Yet, how often do we use these excuses for the spiritual essentials in our lives? Just like "most of the time" cannot and should not exist when it comes to "always" activities like eating and seat belts, it should not exist for things that contribute to our spiritual health.
Why, when we are crying out for peace in much the same way that our bodies cry out for food, why are we not ALWAYS doing the things that will bring us peace? Like eating and seat-belt wearing, the following spiritual essentials need to become fundamental habits: family home evening, family and personal prayer, family and personal scripture study, and regular temple attendance. As we do these things on a regular basis, we should remember that "always" is less about the quantity or the time we spend each day and more about the quality of how we do them. They should deepen our relationship with and understanding of our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ.
God is an "always" God and we must be "always" Saints--not "most of the time" Saints. If we are doing the small and simple spiritual essentials most of the time, then we will receive the help that we seek and need from God most of the time. I don't know about you, but I want and desperately need that help all of the time, as I seek to keep myself and those I love from becoming spiritual fatalities.
There is a great promise found in the Book of Mormon to those who always build their foundations on these small and simple essentials: And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall (Helaman 5:12).
As a traffic engineer, he receives reports from the Utah Department of Transportation about the deaths on Utah roads. There have been over 200 deaths on the roads this year and of those, over 80 were the result of the victims not wearing a seat belt. UDOT's zero fatality goal emphasizes the question, "How many deaths are acceptable?" and in an even more personal way, "How many deaths are acceptable in your family?" Of course, the answer is an emphatic zero; hence, the "Zero Fatality" slogan.
The question that came into my mind as our president spoke was, "How many spiritual deaths are acceptable in my family?" To illustrate, he told the true story of a young man who wanted to spend the night at a friend's house. He called his parents for permission, but they wanted him to come home by his curfew of 12:00 am. When 12:15 rolled around and her son had not yet returned home, the mother became worried and started to drive the route that her son would have taken home. After driving for a few minutes, she saw a police car pass her with his lights on, and shortly after that, she came upon the scene of a horrible accident and saw the family car in the middle of a field. Her son had swerved to miss a deer and had rolled the car. Because he was not wearing his seat belt, he was ejected and the car rolled on top of him. Her wonderful son, who was known for always wearing his seat belt, had, for whatever reason, not put it on that night and had lost his life as a result. In his case and many others, it did not matter that he had worn his seat belt all of the previous times. What mattered was the decision to leave it off that night.
Like seat belts that keep us physically safe when we choose to wear them, we can develop small and simple habits that will keep us spiritually safe if we practice them--not sometimes, not most of the time, but always. Here is another rhetorical example that illustrates the importance of developing habits that maintain our spiritual health.
Eating is an "always" activity. Our bodies get hungry and we eat. What if we chose not to eat? Someone might ask us why we are looking so sickly and thin. We might answer, "Oh, I eat most of the time but sometimes I don't because I just don't have the time, and eating is so boring. It's just the same thing over and over again--put something in your mouth and chew it up." Of course, this answer is nonsensical. Yet, how often do we use these excuses for the spiritual essentials in our lives? Just like "most of the time" cannot and should not exist when it comes to "always" activities like eating and seat belts, it should not exist for things that contribute to our spiritual health.
Why, when we are crying out for peace in much the same way that our bodies cry out for food, why are we not ALWAYS doing the things that will bring us peace? Like eating and seat-belt wearing, the following spiritual essentials need to become fundamental habits: family home evening, family and personal prayer, family and personal scripture study, and regular temple attendance. As we do these things on a regular basis, we should remember that "always" is less about the quantity or the time we spend each day and more about the quality of how we do them. They should deepen our relationship with and understanding of our Heavenly Father and His son, Jesus Christ.
God is an "always" God and we must be "always" Saints--not "most of the time" Saints. If we are doing the small and simple spiritual essentials most of the time, then we will receive the help that we seek and need from God most of the time. I don't know about you, but I want and desperately need that help all of the time, as I seek to keep myself and those I love from becoming spiritual fatalities.
There is a great promise found in the Book of Mormon to those who always build their foundations on these small and simple essentials: And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall (Helaman 5:12).
Friday, September 9, 2016
Only One Needful Thing
I have been so busy over the past month that I have neglected my blog, but today I came across a thought-provoking article by Patricia T. Holland that is a must-read for every woman. I thought about paraphrasing it and adding some words of my own in an effort to not cop out on writing today, but I cannot do justice to what she writes. Hopefully, the following paragraph from the article will tantalize you to read more:
We must have the courage to be imperfect while striving for perfection. We must not allow our own guilt, the feminist books, the talk-show hosts, or the whole media culture to sell us a bill of goods--or rather a bill of no goods. We can become so sidetracked in our compulsive search for identity and self-esteem that we really believe it can be found in having perfect figures or academic degrees or professional status or even absolute motherly success. Yet, in so searching externally, we can be torn from our true internal, eternal selves. We often worry so much about pleasing and performing for others that we lose our uniqueness--that full and relaxed acceptance of one's self as a person of worth and individuality. We become so frightened and insecure that we cannot be generous toward the diversity and individuality, and yes, problems of our neighbors. Too many women with these anxieties watch helplessly as their lives unravel from the very core that centers and sustains them. Too many are like a ship at sea without sail or rudder, "tossed to and fro," as the Apostle Paul said, until more and more of us are genuinely, rail-grabbingly seasick."
Click on this link to read the rest of the article:
"One Thing Needful": Becoming Women of Greater Faith in Christ
We must have the courage to be imperfect while striving for perfection. We must not allow our own guilt, the feminist books, the talk-show hosts, or the whole media culture to sell us a bill of goods--or rather a bill of no goods. We can become so sidetracked in our compulsive search for identity and self-esteem that we really believe it can be found in having perfect figures or academic degrees or professional status or even absolute motherly success. Yet, in so searching externally, we can be torn from our true internal, eternal selves. We often worry so much about pleasing and performing for others that we lose our uniqueness--that full and relaxed acceptance of one's self as a person of worth and individuality. We become so frightened and insecure that we cannot be generous toward the diversity and individuality, and yes, problems of our neighbors. Too many women with these anxieties watch helplessly as their lives unravel from the very core that centers and sustains them. Too many are like a ship at sea without sail or rudder, "tossed to and fro," as the Apostle Paul said, until more and more of us are genuinely, rail-grabbingly seasick."
Click on this link to read the rest of the article:
"One Thing Needful": Becoming Women of Greater Faith in Christ
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Small and Simple
. . . by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise (The Book of Mormon, Alma 37:6).
It is interesting to me that the smallest organisms created by God can cause the greatest damage to mankind--humans who are 100 times their size. Nature continues to teach me object lessons. I was "confounded" by one this week. A small, unnoticeable tick somehow bit me. I never knew I had a bite, but I became infected with a disease that has a high mortality rate should it go untreated. Luckily, man has created a way around these little buggers, and I was able to get on an antibiotic, which after 5 days of absolute misery is now treating the illness.
While it is a little disconcerting to me that lives can be changed by such small means, I also realize that if God created these small creatures with such great, albeit harmful potential, the potential of his noblest creation, mankind, must be exponentially greater. We have seen the realities of man's misuse of their capacity for greatness in more ways than one over the past several months, even days, but what about our capacity for good? What unharnessed, unacknowledged potential for good do we have inside us? What can we create that would change lives for the better?
In an address to women, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. You might say, 'I'm not the creative type. When I sing, I'm always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.' If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe.
So I say, even though we may feel small and simple, let's make great things happen! God created us to do just that.
It's amazing what you can learn from a tick!
Watch this beautiful 2 minute video:
Create
It is interesting to me that the smallest organisms created by God can cause the greatest damage to mankind--humans who are 100 times their size. Nature continues to teach me object lessons. I was "confounded" by one this week. A small, unnoticeable tick somehow bit me. I never knew I had a bite, but I became infected with a disease that has a high mortality rate should it go untreated. Luckily, man has created a way around these little buggers, and I was able to get on an antibiotic, which after 5 days of absolute misery is now treating the illness.
While it is a little disconcerting to me that lives can be changed by such small means, I also realize that if God created these small creatures with such great, albeit harmful potential, the potential of his noblest creation, mankind, must be exponentially greater. We have seen the realities of man's misuse of their capacity for greatness in more ways than one over the past several months, even days, but what about our capacity for good? What unharnessed, unacknowledged potential for good do we have inside us? What can we create that would change lives for the better?
In an address to women, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before. You might say, 'I'm not the creative type. When I sing, I'm always half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler. And the only practical use for my homemade bread is as a paperweight or as a doorstop.' If that is how you feel, think again, and remember that you are spirit daughters of the most creative Being in the universe.
So I say, even though we may feel small and simple, let's make great things happen! God created us to do just that.
It's amazing what you can learn from a tick!
Watch this beautiful 2 minute video:
Create
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Age 50 Rant
On June 18, I turned 50 years old. Suddenly, I look at myself in the mirror and think I look 50 years old. Suddenly, my body feels 50 years old. What is happening to me!?! I really didn't think it would be that big of a deal and on June 18, it wasn't! I had a blast playing with my family. My two out-of-state children surprised me by flying in for my birthday. It was an awesomely wonderful weekend, but now . . . I feel it. I really hope this is just a state of mind I can talk myself out of . . . SOON, but just in case, I have a doctor's appointment scheduled to see just how far the hormones have gone out of whack. I really think at 50, hormones should give us women a break. I mean REALLY, haven't they tortured us enough over the years . . . pregnancy hormones . . . baby blues . . . postpartum depression . . . premenopause . . . menopause . . . post menopause. COME ON! ENOUGH ALREADY! And just when you think acne is a thing of the past, it comes back and accentuates all the liver spots! By the way, will someone please explain why the word "men" shows up in "menopause"?! Shouldn't it be called "womenonpause"?! Because that is what it feels like . . . everything that used to make me feel like a women is on sabbatical . . . a very saggy, long sabbatical!
In all seriousness, my birthday was fantastic, and when I have time, I will post an awesome video recapping the wonderful time I spent with my family. Each of them wrote me beautiful letters and notes that meant so much. I will end with a quote my mom gave me:
Age 3: She looks at herself and sees a queen.
Age 8: She looks at herself and sees Cinderella.
Age 15: She looks at herself and sees an ugly duckling (Mom, I can't go to school looking like this today!).
Age 20: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but decides she's going out anyway.
Age 40: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but says, "At least I am clean," and goes out anyway.
Age 50: She looks at herself and says, "I am what I am," and goes wherever she wants to go.
Age 60: She looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can't even see themselves in the mirror anymore. Goes out and conquers the world.
Age 70: She looks at herself and sees wisdom, laughter, and ability and goes out and enjoys life.
Age 80: Doesn't bother to look. Just puts on a purple hat and goes out to have fun with the world.
The moral is, maybe we should all grab that purple hat a little earlier.
(Elder M. Russell Ballard)
I think I'm going to buy myself a new hat.
In all seriousness, my birthday was fantastic, and when I have time, I will post an awesome video recapping the wonderful time I spent with my family. Each of them wrote me beautiful letters and notes that meant so much. I will end with a quote my mom gave me:
Age 3: She looks at herself and sees a queen.
Age 8: She looks at herself and sees Cinderella.
Age 15: She looks at herself and sees an ugly duckling (Mom, I can't go to school looking like this today!).
Age 20: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but decides she's going out anyway.
Age 40: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" but says, "At least I am clean," and goes out anyway.
Age 50: She looks at herself and says, "I am what I am," and goes wherever she wants to go.
Age 60: She looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can't even see themselves in the mirror anymore. Goes out and conquers the world.
Age 70: She looks at herself and sees wisdom, laughter, and ability and goes out and enjoys life.
Age 80: Doesn't bother to look. Just puts on a purple hat and goes out to have fun with the world.
The moral is, maybe we should all grab that purple hat a little earlier.
(Elder M. Russell Ballard)
I think I'm going to buy myself a new hat.
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
A Broken Vessel
Please click on this link and watch the 11 minute video before reading this blog:
Like a Broken Vessel
I have been a broken vessel. I have known what it feels like to be in the pit of depression with little hope or means of climbing out of its dark and crumbling walls. I have felt the fog of despair and chest crushing anxiety that often go with it, and I have seen people close to me suffer the same. I do not understand why mental illness strikes some families and not others. I guess for the same reason diabetes or heart disease does or does not. Mental illness is a battle with your own brain that sucks solace out of your soul and leaves you feeling numb and in pieces. You long for a wholeness that you do not think possible to attain. Some have to find the courage to live with the fact that they may be fighting it for the rest of their lives, but as they fight, they find a strength within themselves that they did not know was there. They find that they can do hard things--very hard things.
There are those who misunderstand and misdiagnose mental illness as a spiritual disease. They say things like, "If you would just read your scriptures more, pray more, serve more, etc. etc., life would get better and you would be healed by a power greater than yourself." Well, I believe in that power with all of my heart, but I also believe that we are all destined to carry some burden(s) in life to school us and mold us into someone better. I know that God can and does make those burdens lighter to carry, but He does not always take them away. Mental illness, sinks us to our knees, begging for the anchor of our soul to stabilize us through the deep waters, and in due time we catch glimpses of love's light illuminating a few steps in front of us. Sometimes that is all we see, but it is enough to give us hope.
I believe that our brokenness is an opportunity for us to notice how the Savior fills in the cracks in our souls slowly but surely as we seek His help. That help may come in the form of medication that I believe God inspires men to make. It may come in the form of therapy, physical exercise, or self-help books. It surely comes through fasting and prayer--perhaps not immediately, but gradually.
I cannot say that I and others that I am close to will ever be completely healed in this life, but I can say that joyful living is possible through the atonement of Christ. Though dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us, and threaten our peace to destroy; there is hope smiling brightly before us and we know that deliverance is nigh (We Thank Thee O God for Our Prophet, LDS Hymn).
Like a Broken Vessel: Talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Like a Broken Vessel
I have been a broken vessel. I have known what it feels like to be in the pit of depression with little hope or means of climbing out of its dark and crumbling walls. I have felt the fog of despair and chest crushing anxiety that often go with it, and I have seen people close to me suffer the same. I do not understand why mental illness strikes some families and not others. I guess for the same reason diabetes or heart disease does or does not. Mental illness is a battle with your own brain that sucks solace out of your soul and leaves you feeling numb and in pieces. You long for a wholeness that you do not think possible to attain. Some have to find the courage to live with the fact that they may be fighting it for the rest of their lives, but as they fight, they find a strength within themselves that they did not know was there. They find that they can do hard things--very hard things.
There are those who misunderstand and misdiagnose mental illness as a spiritual disease. They say things like, "If you would just read your scriptures more, pray more, serve more, etc. etc., life would get better and you would be healed by a power greater than yourself." Well, I believe in that power with all of my heart, but I also believe that we are all destined to carry some burden(s) in life to school us and mold us into someone better. I know that God can and does make those burdens lighter to carry, but He does not always take them away. Mental illness, sinks us to our knees, begging for the anchor of our soul to stabilize us through the deep waters, and in due time we catch glimpses of love's light illuminating a few steps in front of us. Sometimes that is all we see, but it is enough to give us hope.
I believe that our brokenness is an opportunity for us to notice how the Savior fills in the cracks in our souls slowly but surely as we seek His help. That help may come in the form of medication that I believe God inspires men to make. It may come in the form of therapy, physical exercise, or self-help books. It surely comes through fasting and prayer--perhaps not immediately, but gradually.
I cannot say that I and others that I am close to will ever be completely healed in this life, but I can say that joyful living is possible through the atonement of Christ. Though dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us, and threaten our peace to destroy; there is hope smiling brightly before us and we know that deliverance is nigh (We Thank Thee O God for Our Prophet, LDS Hymn).
Like a Broken Vessel: Talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Friday, June 3, 2016
No More Strangers
For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? (The Book of Mormon, Mosiah 4:19)
Recently our church leaders encouraged us to reach out to those in our communities who are in need, specifically the many refugees who need help acclimating to a new life. Because my son is planning on going to medical school in a few years, he had been planning on doing some volunteer work while he is home for the summer, so I thought I might as well jump on the service bandwagon with him. He decided to attend an orientation for volunteers at a homeless shelter called The Road Home in downtown Salt Lake City, and I nervously made the decision to go with him. We approached the building with some trepidation as there were people covering the sidewalk and spilling into the street. They were refugees in their own right--having lost a place to call their home, with no family or friends to depend on. Many, desperate for social communication, were improvising by talking to themselves--a creative way to keep from going crazy. I was overcome by the sheer number of homeless refugees that surrounded us. They were strangers to me in every sense of the word, with strange mannerisms, strange clothing, strange speech--much like the foreign refugees who are pouring into our cities around the country. Yet, somehow these refugees had been judged and sentenced before even having the chance to tell their story. They were outcasts, nameless street citizens, but I was struck with an overwhelming understanding of who they really are beneath all of their dehumanizing dust. They are children of God, my brothers and sisters, and I could not ignore them any longer. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself . . . . Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. For . . . I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (The Holy Bible: Hebrews 13:2, Leviticus 19:34, Matthew 25:35-36, 40). I decided I would throw my starfish into the ocean one at a time.
My first volunteer experience was sort of a baptism by fire. Josh and I went to help out at the preschool/playgroup that is held for children at the Midvale Road Home, which accommodates over 300 parents and children. When we arrived, the volunteer coordinator was in a meeting downtown, but the kids came anyway--over 20 of them from age two to around six. Crazy does not even begin to describe our experience! However, layers of misjudgment were peeled away that day as I interacted with parents who love their children as much as I love mine. A young father brought his son to us. I had him pegged from the get go as not the best of dads based on his appearance, but I felt humbled as he lovingly explained to me his son's emotional and medical problems so that we would know how best to care for him. He seemed hesitant to leave him alone and even checked on him a little later through the window. This father taught me two valuable lessons: The only home love requires is an open and willing heart, and love is love, no matter what package it comes wrapped in.
But Jesus said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14). After serving at the homeless shelter preschool twice now, I have learned some beautiful lessons and look forward to learning more. These children are desperate for play, and they can entertain themselves better than kids who have roofs over their heads. They do not need TV, video games, or Ipads to be happy. They find enjoyment in the simple things--PlayDoh, dolls, cars, and dress ups. They love to use their imagination. They have creative minds with just as much potential as children who attend school consistently. Many of them have been taught to share, to help clean up, and to say, "Thank you." Most have not lost the light of hope in their eyes, but some have. They know how to love and want to be loved in return, and most of them have parents who love them but do not have the means to take care of their physical needs adequately. Many are being raised by single mothers, but a surprising number of fathers are still doing their best to care for their children as well. Their smiles melt your heart and make you cry when you leave to drive to a home that has everything you need and then some. The plight of their families overwhelmed me with sadness at first and made me wish more could be done, but as Mother Teresa so wisely said, What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean, but if we didn't do it, the ocean would be one drop less [that it is]. Perhaps the most important lesson I continue to learn is that service does more for the giver than for the receiver.
One important thing to note:
While I whole-heartedly support helping where and when we can, I am not promoting the support of pan-handling. I learned something valuable during my Road Home orientation. The volunteer coordinator told us that when a pan-handler tells people that he or she needs money for food or other basic needs or says that the homeless shelter is full, he/she is either misinformed or not being completely honest. If this happens to you, refer them to The Road Home or other homeless shelters. The volunteer coordinator assured us that the shelter has everything individuals or families need to care for themselves and if they don't, they will find it. They also never run out of beds. They have many empty buildings across the street from the shelter to house those in need of shelter. Knowing this may relieve you of guilt the next time you are confronted with pan handling. The best thing you can do for them is to talk to them. They need to know that someone cares.
"Foxes have holes, and . . . birds . . . have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Apparently, the Creator of heaven and earth "and all things that in them are" was, at least in His adult life, homeless (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Are We Not All Beggars, October 2014 LDS General Conference). Let us not judge another until we know their story and even after we know their story. We all depend on that God who gave us life for all that we have. We all need His grace for the mistakes we make everyday. While our mistakes may not leave us physically homeless, they still make us unworthy of all the blessings He gives us anyway. Let's not deny others our service and love just because we think they have brought their condition upon themselves. After all, don't we all do this in one way or another by our own misguided steps. I have performed in a prison where I have seen men who have made serious mistakes but have a strong desire to feel and share the love of the Savior. They had the light of hope in their faces despite their circumstances. May we carry this same light to those, who like us, may not always be able to help themselves.
To my children, I echo Elder Holland's words: I don't know exactly how each of you should fulfill your obligation to those who do not or cannot always help themselves. But I know that God knows, and He will help you and guide you in compassionate acts of discipleship if you are conscientiously wanting and praying and looking for ways to keep a commandment He has given us again and again. I also know that although I may not be my brother's keeper, I am my brother's brother, and "because I have been given much, I too must give."
Articles, videos and websites on this subject that I highly recommend:
Anges We Have Heard on High--Jamesthemormon Music Video
Are We Not All Beggars? By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
I Was a Stranger: Love One Another
I Was a Stranger by Linda K. Burton
Refuge from the Storm by Elder Patrick Kearon
The Road Home
Recently our church leaders encouraged us to reach out to those in our communities who are in need, specifically the many refugees who need help acclimating to a new life. Because my son is planning on going to medical school in a few years, he had been planning on doing some volunteer work while he is home for the summer, so I thought I might as well jump on the service bandwagon with him. He decided to attend an orientation for volunteers at a homeless shelter called The Road Home in downtown Salt Lake City, and I nervously made the decision to go with him. We approached the building with some trepidation as there were people covering the sidewalk and spilling into the street. They were refugees in their own right--having lost a place to call their home, with no family or friends to depend on. Many, desperate for social communication, were improvising by talking to themselves--a creative way to keep from going crazy. I was overcome by the sheer number of homeless refugees that surrounded us. They were strangers to me in every sense of the word, with strange mannerisms, strange clothing, strange speech--much like the foreign refugees who are pouring into our cities around the country. Yet, somehow these refugees had been judged and sentenced before even having the chance to tell their story. They were outcasts, nameless street citizens, but I was struck with an overwhelming understanding of who they really are beneath all of their dehumanizing dust. They are children of God, my brothers and sisters, and I could not ignore them any longer. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself . . . . Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. For . . . I was a stranger, and ye took me in: naked and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (The Holy Bible: Hebrews 13:2, Leviticus 19:34, Matthew 25:35-36, 40). I decided I would throw my starfish into the ocean one at a time.
My first volunteer experience was sort of a baptism by fire. Josh and I went to help out at the preschool/playgroup that is held for children at the Midvale Road Home, which accommodates over 300 parents and children. When we arrived, the volunteer coordinator was in a meeting downtown, but the kids came anyway--over 20 of them from age two to around six. Crazy does not even begin to describe our experience! However, layers of misjudgment were peeled away that day as I interacted with parents who love their children as much as I love mine. A young father brought his son to us. I had him pegged from the get go as not the best of dads based on his appearance, but I felt humbled as he lovingly explained to me his son's emotional and medical problems so that we would know how best to care for him. He seemed hesitant to leave him alone and even checked on him a little later through the window. This father taught me two valuable lessons: The only home love requires is an open and willing heart, and love is love, no matter what package it comes wrapped in.
But Jesus said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14). After serving at the homeless shelter preschool twice now, I have learned some beautiful lessons and look forward to learning more. These children are desperate for play, and they can entertain themselves better than kids who have roofs over their heads. They do not need TV, video games, or Ipads to be happy. They find enjoyment in the simple things--PlayDoh, dolls, cars, and dress ups. They love to use their imagination. They have creative minds with just as much potential as children who attend school consistently. Many of them have been taught to share, to help clean up, and to say, "Thank you." Most have not lost the light of hope in their eyes, but some have. They know how to love and want to be loved in return, and most of them have parents who love them but do not have the means to take care of their physical needs adequately. Many are being raised by single mothers, but a surprising number of fathers are still doing their best to care for their children as well. Their smiles melt your heart and make you cry when you leave to drive to a home that has everything you need and then some. The plight of their families overwhelmed me with sadness at first and made me wish more could be done, but as Mother Teresa so wisely said, What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean, but if we didn't do it, the ocean would be one drop less [that it is]. Perhaps the most important lesson I continue to learn is that service does more for the giver than for the receiver.
One important thing to note:
While I whole-heartedly support helping where and when we can, I am not promoting the support of pan-handling. I learned something valuable during my Road Home orientation. The volunteer coordinator told us that when a pan-handler tells people that he or she needs money for food or other basic needs or says that the homeless shelter is full, he/she is either misinformed or not being completely honest. If this happens to you, refer them to The Road Home or other homeless shelters. The volunteer coordinator assured us that the shelter has everything individuals or families need to care for themselves and if they don't, they will find it. They also never run out of beds. They have many empty buildings across the street from the shelter to house those in need of shelter. Knowing this may relieve you of guilt the next time you are confronted with pan handling. The best thing you can do for them is to talk to them. They need to know that someone cares.
"Foxes have holes, and . . . birds . . . have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Apparently, the Creator of heaven and earth "and all things that in them are" was, at least in His adult life, homeless (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Are We Not All Beggars, October 2014 LDS General Conference). Let us not judge another until we know their story and even after we know their story. We all depend on that God who gave us life for all that we have. We all need His grace for the mistakes we make everyday. While our mistakes may not leave us physically homeless, they still make us unworthy of all the blessings He gives us anyway. Let's not deny others our service and love just because we think they have brought their condition upon themselves. After all, don't we all do this in one way or another by our own misguided steps. I have performed in a prison where I have seen men who have made serious mistakes but have a strong desire to feel and share the love of the Savior. They had the light of hope in their faces despite their circumstances. May we carry this same light to those, who like us, may not always be able to help themselves.
To my children, I echo Elder Holland's words: I don't know exactly how each of you should fulfill your obligation to those who do not or cannot always help themselves. But I know that God knows, and He will help you and guide you in compassionate acts of discipleship if you are conscientiously wanting and praying and looking for ways to keep a commandment He has given us again and again. I also know that although I may not be my brother's keeper, I am my brother's brother, and "because I have been given much, I too must give."
Articles, videos and websites on this subject that I highly recommend:
Anges We Have Heard on High--Jamesthemormon Music Video
Are We Not All Beggars? By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
I Was a Stranger: Love One Another
I Was a Stranger by Linda K. Burton
Refuge from the Storm by Elder Patrick Kearon
The Road Home
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