Service

"And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." - Mosiah 2:17

How many times have you walked by someone that was in need but didn't stop to help or thought should I help them? I know I have and have regretted that decision later, thinking to myself, why didn't I stop? Most of the time it's out of fear on our part or not sure how that person will react to your help.

I'm bringing this up as I prepare our Family Home Evening lesson. With the new school year in full swing I feel that my son is now old even to understand the importance of service. So here are some of my notes from my lesson that I wanted to share.

- Why should we serve?
It's a commandment, Love Thy Neighbor

The Savior is the perfect example of service, that we can draw from

Not only is it a commandment, but we are blessed when we serve. Our love for our neighbors grows. We shouldn't just serve our neighbors but also our family. I've learned this principle in marriage. There were times when I was not happy with my marriage, and it was because I was to focused on me and not serving my husband. When I learned to put him first I found a greater deeper love for him than I could ever imagine!

I found a talk from President Monson in where he gives 3 simple steps to serve.

1. Decide to serve
2. Reach out
3. Look to the Savior

We should all strive to be like the Good Samaritan in the Luke. He didn't care that the man laying on the side of road was of a different race, belief or color. All he saw was someone that needed to be taken care of. We shouldn't care of what other will think, only what the Lord will think.

After mentioning that story the Hymn Have I Done Any Good comes to mind.

Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need?

Have I cheered up the sad or made someone feel glad? If not I have failed indeed.

Has anyone's burden been lighter today because I was willing to share?

Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?

When they needed my help was I there?

Then wake up and do something more than dream of your mansion above

Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure

A blessing of duty and love.

So I challenge each of you to find that someone to serve and I promise you feel the love of the Savior in your life.

Temples

Yesterday our Home Teachers came over to visit and share a message with us. For those of you who don't know, Home Teachers are a pair of priesthood holders assigned to a family to make sure the family is doing well and share the monthly message from the Ensign. This months message is about Temple Blessings. I had the opportunity to read this message a few days prior to their visit and was touched by the simpleness of it.

President Uchtdorf says "For those who cannot attend the temple now for whatever reason, I encourage you to do everything in your power to hold a current temple recommend. The temple recommend is a symbol of our faithfulness and determination to serve the Lord. It is a symbol of our love for the Lord. . . "

I just love this because we are all busy with our life. My husband and I try hard to attend the temple as often as we can. Just a couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the Temple with my parents to do some family sealings. It was such a neat experience to seal the parents to the their children, you could feel their presence as if they were saying finally we are an eternal family!

Back in May my husband and I took advantage of the open house for The Gila Valley temple and took our 6 year old son to see it. What an great family experience it was for us, to be able to share it with our son and show him the special rooms of the temple and to simply explain to him what each room represents. I don't know if he will remember what he saw on the inside but I know for a fact that he remembers what it looked like on the outside.

I'm so grateful for the Temples and what they represent. I'm especially thankful that my husband and I made the decision to be married in one 7 years ago so that we can have an eternal family and receive the blessings that come from it.