The First = Bravest, Strongest, Happiest

The first to apologize is the bravest. 

The first to forgive is the strongest. 

And the first to forget is the happiest.

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Parable of the Pencil

Parable of the Pencil

• You will be able to do great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held by someone higher than you. 
• It is ok to experience a painful sharpening from time to time. 
• The most important part of you will always be what’s on the inside. Be men and women of honor, relying on your inner core values and morals. 
• You will make mistakes. Everyone does. That is why pencils have an eraser. 

Make your mark. Make a difference wherever you go.

Courage

Courage does not always roar, sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 

“I will try again tomorrow.”

~Mary Anne Radmacher~

A Single Minute

The Call for Courage

Thomas S. Monson:

"Life's journey is not traveled on a freeway devoid of obstacles, pitfalls, and snares. Rather, it is a pathway marked by forks and turnings. Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed: the courage to say, 'No,' the courage to say, 'Yes,' Decisions do determine destiny. The call for courage comes constantly to each of us. It has ever been so, and so shall it ever be."
"The Call for Courage," Ensign, May 2004, 54-55

Never Give up in Life - A Moving Video

Knowing She Has Wings

Victor Hugo:

"Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings." 
Isaiah 40:31:
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;..."

Whirlwinds

"What to do when adversity strikes? There is only one thing to do. Stand steady and see it through. Stay steadfast, constant, and true. The real tragedy in the whirlwinds of life comes only when we allow them to blow us off our true course."

David S. Baxter - Oct. Gen. Conf 2006

Reconciliation

Anne C. Pingree:

"I remember a time when, without any intent to do so, I offended a sister in my ward. I needed to reconcile this issue, but I must admit that my pride kept me from going to her and asking for her forgiveness. Family, other commitments, on and on--I found ways to postpone my repentance. I was sure things would work out on their own. But they didn't.

"In the stillness of not one night but several, I awoke with a clear realization that I was not taking the course the Lord would want me to take. I was not acting on my faith that His arm of mercy was truly extended towards me--if I would act aright. I prayed for strength and courage, humbled myself, and went to the sister's home and asked for her forgiveness. For us both, it proved to be a sweet, healing experience."

"To Look, Reach, and Come unto Christ," Ensign, Nov. 2006, 114-15

Nova Scotia Discouragement

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared:

"Never get discouraged. . . . If I was sunk in the lowest pit of Nova Scotia and all the Rocky Mountains piled on top of me, I'd . . . hang on, exercise faith and keep up good courage and I should come out on the top."
(George A. Smith, Memoirs of George A. Smith, pp.81-82.)

Pain & Progress

"Yes, there is pain in change, but there is also great satisfaction in recognizing that progress is being achieved. We need not feel that we must forever be what we presently are. When change is thought through carefully, it can produce the most rewarding and profound experiences in life."

—Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, Nov. 1979

My Thoughts on Fishing - Part 1

Peter, James and John had worked through the night trying to catch some fish, but had caught nothing.

The Saviour then comes to them and says:

"Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught (or catch)". (Luke 5:2-11)

Simon Peter replies that they had tried all night to catch fish, but have been unsuccessful, nevertheless they will try again, because He has asked them to.

As they followed the Saviour they caught a great multitude of fish, that filled two boats, so much so that the boats were in danger of sinking.

The miracle that happened wouldn't have been so great, and Simon Peter's faith in the Saviours instruction to cast their nets again wouldn't have meant so much, if success had not been witheld from them previously.

Sometimes the Lord witholds blessings from us, not because He doesn't love us, but so that He can show us HOW MUCH He loves us, and sometimes it takes us to 'launch out into the deep' to find those things which have been hidden from our view previously, and to really find ourselves.

I hope that you have a great day, and if things don't seem to be working out the way that you had hoped despite your best efforts, then take courage, the blessings are just around the corner waiting to be found. Things always work out when we exercise faith.

Setting Ourselves Free

I love this little bit from the article by Elder Holland in March 2005's Ensign on Elder Uchtdorf:

"Elder Uchtdorf’s son, Guido, remembers a German phrase his father often used when there was a problem or a difficulty in their lives. “Man könnte sichdarüber ärgern, aber man ist nicht verpflichtet dazu,”he would say, which roughly translated means, “You could be upset about it, but you are not obligated to be.” Dieter Uchtdorf feels that with agency and self-control, with the gospel of Jesus Christ and power in the priesthood, no one has to be victimized by circumstance. Terrible things can happen—and they have happened in his life—but with our hand in the hand of God, we can still chart a course that will set us free, that will eventually bring triumph. It requires courage, patience, optimism, and faith in God, but things can come out right if we stay with the task and stay in control."

Seek Faith, Dispel Doubt

The Saviours disciples were on a boat one night and they saw a man walking across the water to them. The Saviour told them, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.”
“And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
“And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith,wherefore didst thou doubt?
(Matthew 14:27 - 31)

Like Peter, we desire to come closer to the Saviour, and the Saviour always says "Come". Often when we make the initial decision to make a concerted effort to come closer to Him we step out with all confidence in our actions and direction. More often than not the sea we cross to reach Him isn’t calm, usually, as Peter found, it is ‘boisterous’. The movement of the waves shook Peter’s faith, and He cried out for the Lord to save him. I think that is beautiful. And how long did it take the Saviour to save him? It says,‘immediately’ he stretched forth His hand, and caught him. The Saviour taught him that despite the external forces around him, that faith can overcome all obstacles in our journey to Him.

We will all have times when the vastness and immensity of what we are to cross seems greater than us, at those times when we reach for the Saviour He will reach for us, but He will also teach us that we don’t need to doubt, only increase in faith.

President Thomas S. Monson shared this:
"President Stephen L Richards, who was a counselor in the First Presidency many years ago, was a profound thinker. He said, 'Faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other.' My advice is to seek faith and dispel doubt."
(Thomas S Monson, "Pathways to Perfection," Ensign,May 2002, 99)

Seek faith, dispel doubt.