Heber J. Grant - 7th President of the Church - Set Goals

FHE Lesson - Achieving Goals - (How Heber J. Grant Did It)

Every year when I get ready to make New Year's Resolutions, I can't help but remember the living and past prophets and the influence they have had on my life. One of the past prophets, Heber J. Grant, was especially known for his ability to set goals and achieve them.

For a Family Home Evening lesson with the grandchildren, it would be worthwhile to tell a few of the stories of Heber J. Grant and his accomplishments. This is not only motivational, but helps us learn a little more about this prophet. President Heber J. Grant often quoted the following statement, which is sometimes attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson:
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do. Not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our ability to do has increased”.

The following stories that President Heber J. Grant or others have recorded about his youth illustrates his determination to overcome obstacles:

Learning to Pitch A Baseball

“Being an only child, my mother reared me very carefully. Indeed, I grew more or less on the principle of a hothouse plant, the growth of which is ‘long and lanky’ but not substantial. I learned to sweep, and to wash and wipe dishes, but did little stone throwing and little indulging in those sports which are interesting and attractive to boys, and which develop their physical frames. Therefore, when I joined a baseball club, the boys of my own age and a little older played in the first nine; those younger than I played in the second, and those still younger in the third, and I played with them.

“One of the reasons for this was that I could not throw the ball from one base to the other. Another reason was that I lacked physical strength to run or bat well. When I picked up a ball, the boys would generally shout:

“‘Throw it here, sissy!’

“So much fun was engendered on my account by my youthful companions that I solemnly vowed that I would play baseball in the nine that would win the championship of the Territory of Utah.

“My mother was keeping boarders at the time for a living, and I shined their boots until I saved a dollar which I invested in a baseball. I spent hours and hours throwing the ball at Bishop Edwin D. Woolley’s barn, which caused him to refer to me as the laziest boy in the Thirteenth Ward. Often my arm would ache so that I could scarcely go to sleep at night. But I kept on practicing and finally succeeded in getting into the second nine of our club. Subsequently I joined a better club, and eventually played in the nine that won the championship of the territory and beat the nine that had won the championship for California, Colorado, and Wyoming. Having thus made good my promise to myself, I retired from the baseball arena” (Gospel Standards, comp. G. Homer Durham [1969], 342–43).

Reading the Book of Mormon

President Heber J. Grant wrote about his experience in first reading the Book of Mormon:

“I can remember very distinctly when Uncle Anthony Ivins . . . said to me and to his son, Anthony C. Ivins:

“‘Heber, Anthony, have you read the Book of Mormon?’

“We answered, ‘No.’

“He said, ‘I want you to read it. I want you to pledge to me that you will not skip a word, and to the one who reads it first, I will give a pair of ten dollar buckskin gloves with beaver tops.’

“Any boy of fourteen who had a pair of those gloves thought he was ‘it.’ I remember that my mother had urged me to read systematically the Book of Mormon, but I had not done it. I determined to read the book, say, twenty-five pages a day and get the benefit of its contents. I believed its contents were true because my mother and many others had told me so; and because of the testimony of the teacher of the class that Richard W. Young and I attended, I thought that to win the gloves I would have to read the book so rapidly that I would get no benefit; and therefore decided to let Anthony win the gloves.

“I met my cousin, Anthony C., the next morning, and he asked, ‘How many pages have you read?’

“I said: ‘I have read twenty-five pages.’

“He said: ‘I have read over one hundred and fifty. I sat up until after midnight.’

“I said: ‘Good-bye gloves.’

“I went on reading twenty-five pages a day and occasionally I got so interested that I read fifty or seventy-five pages, and, lo and behold, I got through first and got the gloves. He got such a good start he did not bother to read any more until after I got through with the book” (Gospel Standards, 350–51).

Learning How To Be A Fine Penman

“One day Heber was playing marbles with some other boys when the bookkeeper from the Wells Fargo Company Bank was walking down the other side of the street. One of the boys remarked, ‘That man gets $150.00 a month.’ Heber figured to himself that not counting Sundays, that man made $6.00 a day and that at five cents a pair, he would have to black 120 pairs of boots to make $6.00. He there and then resolved that some day he would be a bookkeeper in the Wells Fargo and Company’s bank. In those days all the records and accounts of the bank were written with a pen, and one of the requisites of a good bookkeeper was the ability to write well. To learn to write well was his first approach to securing this job and the fulfilment of his resolve; so he set to work to become a penman.

“At the beginning his penmanship was so poor that when two of his chums were looking at it one said to the other, ‘That writing looks like hen tracks.’ ‘No,’ said the other, ‘it looks as if lightning had struck an ink bottle.’ This touched Heber’s pride and, bringing his fist down on his desk, he said, ‘I’ll some day be able to give you fellows lessons in penmanship.’ . . .

“He secured a position as bookkeeper and policy clerk in an insurance office at fifteen. About this he said: ‘I wrote a very nice hand, and that was all that was needed to satisfactorily fill the position which I then had. Yet I was not fully satisfied but continued to dream and scribble when not otherwise occupied. . . . I learned to write well, so well, that I often made more before and after office hours by writing cards, invitations, and making maps than the amount of my regular salary. At nineteen I was keeping books and acting as policy clerk for Henry Wadsworth, the agent of Wells Fargo and Company. My time was not fully employed, and I was not working for the company but for the agent personally. I did the same as I had done in Mr. White’s bank, volunteered to file a lot of bank letters, etc., and kept a set of books for the Sandy Smelting Company, which Mr. Wadsworth was doing personally. My actions so pleased Mr. Wadsworth that he employed me to do the collecting for Wells Fargo and Company and paid me $20.00 a month for this work in addition to my regular compensation of $75.00 from the insurance business. Thus I was in the employ of Wells Fargo and Company and one of my day-dreams had become a reality’” (Bryant S. Hinckley, Heber J. Grant: Highlights in the Life of a Great Leader [1951], 39–42).

“When Heber, still in his teens, was working as a policy clerk in the office of H. R. Mann and Co., he was offered three times his salary to go to San Francisco as a penman. He later became teacher of penmanship and bookkeeping at the University of Deseret (University of Utah). . . .

“At one of the territorial fairs in which he had not competed, he noticed the exhibits of four professional penmen. He remarked to the man in charge of the art department that he could write better than that before he was seventeen years of age. The man in charge laughed and said that nobody but a cheeky insurance agent would make such a remark. He handed the gentleman three dollars which was the fee necessary to compete for a diploma and sent for the specimen which he had written before he was seventeen and hung it up with the remark, ‘If you judges know good penmanship, when you see it, I will get the diploma.’ He walked away with a diploma for the best penmanship in the territory. He encouraged the art of good penmanship among the youth of Zion and offered many prizes for the best specimens” (Hinckley, Heber J. Grant, 40–41).

Teaching Himself How to Sing

As with baseball and penmanship, Heber J. Grant was determined to learn to sing, despite the negative opinions of others. Years of practicing brought moderate success. He wrote:

“My mother tried to teach me when I was a small child to sing but failed because of my inability to carry a tune.

“Upon joining a singing class taught by Professor Charles J. Thomas, he tried and tried in vain to teach me when ten years of age to run the scale or carry a simple tune and finally gave up in despair. He said that I could never, in this world, learn to sing. Perhaps he thought I might learn the divine art in another world. Ever since this attempt, I have frequently tried to sing when riding alone many miles from anyone who might hear me, but on such occasions could never succeed in carrying the tune of one of our familiar hymns for a single verse, and quite frequently not for a single line.

“When I was about twenty-five years of age, Professor Sims informed me that I could sing, but added, ‘I would like to be at least forty miles away while you are doing it.’ . . .

“Upon my recent trip to Arizona, I asked Elders Rudger Clawson and J. Golden Kimball if they had any objections to my singing one hundred hymns that day. They took it as a joke and assured me that they would be delighted. We were on the way from Holbrook to St. Johns, a distance of about sixty miles. After I had sung about forty tunes, they assured me that if I sang the remaining sixty they would be sure to have nervous prostration. I paid no attention whatever to their appeal, but held them to their bargain and sang the full one hundred. One hundred and fifteen songs in one day, and four hundred in four days, is the largest amount of practicing I ever did.

“Today [1900] my musical deafness is disappearing, and by sitting down to a piano and playing the lead notes, I can learn a song in less than one-tenth the time required when I first commenced to practice” (Gospel Standards, 351–52, 354).

Gaining A Burning Testimony

“Before I was twenty-four I was made the president of the Tooele Stake of Zion. I announced in a speech that lasted seven and a half minutes that I would ask no man in Tooele to be a more honest tithe payer than I would be; that I would ask no man to give more of his means in proportion to what he had than I would give; I would ask no man to live the Word of Wisdom better than I would live it, and I would give the best that was in me for the benefit of the people in that stake of Zion.

“That night I heard in the dark a man say in a contemptuous way: ‘It is a pity if the General Authorities have to send a man out here to preside, . . . that they could not have sent one with sense enough to talk at least ten minutes; and that they had to send a boy to preside over us.’

“When I heard this, I remember thinking: ‘The boy is the only one who has any right to complain.’ . . . However, I was not able during the next three or four Sundays to talk as long as I did the first one. I ran out of ideas in five, six, and six and a half minutes.

“At the lunch table after my first short speech which lasted seven and a half minutes, President Smith said: ‘Heber, you said you believe the gospel with all your heart, and propose to live it, but you did not bear your testimony that you know it is true. Don’t you know absolutely that this gospel is true?’

“I answered: ‘I do not.’

“‘What, you! a president of a stake?’ said President Joseph F. Smith.

“‘That is what I said.’

“‘President [John] Taylor, I am in favor of undoing this afternoon what we did this morning. I do not think any man should preside over a stake who has not a perfect and abiding knowledge of the divinity of this work.’

“I said: ‘I am not going to complain.’

“Brother Taylor had a habit, when something pleased him excessively, of shaking his body and laughing. He said, ‘Joseph, Joseph, Joseph, he knows it just as well as you do. The only thing that he does not know is that he does know it. It will be but a short time until he does know it. He leans over backwards. You do not need to worry.’

“I went to the little town of Vernon in Tooele County, took two others with me to do the preaching, and I got up to say a few words and spoke for forty-five minutes with perfect ease under the inspiration of the Lord. That night I shed tears of gratitude to the Lord for the abiding, perfect, and absolute testimony that came into my life of the divinity of this work.

“The next Sunday after speaking at Vernon, I was at Grantsville. I told the Lord I would like to talk forty-five minutes. I got up to speak and ran out of ideas in five minutes, and I was sweating.

“After the meeting I walked out past the farthest house in the west part of Grantsville, I am sure nearly three miles, and I got down behind a haystack and I shed some more tears. But they were tears of humiliation. I made a pledge to God there upon that occasion that never again in my life would I stand up before an audience with the feeling that all I needed to do was just stand up and talk; but that I would get up upon all occasions with a desire to say something that might be of benefit to the people to whom I spoke, and not with the spirit of pride, such as I had that day when I stood up in Grantsville. And I have never failed from that day until now—fifty-odd years ago—to have any desire in my heart when speaking except that I might say or read something that would be of lasting benefit to those who listened to my voice” (Gospel Standards, 191–93).

Activity:

1. Have each child tell one of the Heber J. Grant stories.

2. Play the name game of the Latter Day Prophets:

(Draw A Line Between the First Name and the Last Name of Each of the 15 Prophets of this Dispensation.)

John Brigham Howard W Lorenzo Harold B Joseph Fielding George Albert Gordon B Joseph F Spencer W Ezra Taft Heber J David O Joseph Wilford			Smith Grant Kimball Woodruff Mckay Snow Smith Taylor Smith Lee Young Hinckley Smith Hunter Benson

Abraham Lincoln Set Goals

FHE Lesson for the Grandchildren: What Can We Learn about Abraham Lincoln?

(Why have a lesson about Abe Lincoln at this time of year? Think about what he accomplished. Note how he did not succeed in every one of his goals.)

Background: Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in Kentucky into extreme poverty but eventually became President of America. During the American Civil War Lincoln gave the now famous Gettysburg Address and his decision to appoint General Ulysses S. Grant as Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Armies was probably one of the significant turning points of the war. Although it cost him his life, he was fanatical that slavery should be abolished in his country. Lincoln was assassinated In Washington on 14^th April 1865.

When I was in grade school in Billings, Montana as a little boy, I heard an inspiring story about "Honest Abe" ” that to this day I still remember.

The story took place during Abraham Lincoln’s early-teenage years while he was working as a store clerk. It is said that he accidentally overcharged a customer a few extra cents because the scale was not working properly. When he realized the mistake, it was too late, and the customer had already left. He knew the right thing was to return the cents to the customer, so he decided to close the store and go find the customer.

At that time, he couldn’t just jump into a car and drive over there like are able to do today. Instead, it is said that Abraham Lincoln walked several miles to the customer’s house and returned those cents.

Though the story of Abraham Lincoln, the honest shop clerk, is memorable, the less familiar story of Abraham Lincoln, the honest shop owner, is even more impressive. While living in New Salem, Lincoln and a partner bought a general store and attempted to run it as a profitable business. But owing to unwise investments and general mismanagement, the store finally "winked out," to use Lincoln's own phrase.

Not long thereafter his partner died, leaving the unfortunate Lincoln with what he called the "National Debt." But unlike many others who went bankrupt in frontier ventures and skipped town to escape their creditors, Lincoln promised to repay every cent he owed. He fulfilled this promise even though it took him more than fifteen years to retire the debt. When Abraham Lincoln made a commitment, his word was good as gold. No matter what those around him were doing, his life and his words were filled with honesty. (Dare to Be True, pp. 57-58)

Throughout his life, his most striking characteristic was his determination to succeed in the face of continuing failure. He did have successes intermingled with his list of failures, but it is helpful to compile the list of failures.

Consider the following:

Lincoln "Failures" List

• Lost job in 1832
• Defeated for state legislature in 1832.
• Failed in business in 1833.
• Elected to state legislature in 1834.
• Sweetheart died in 1835.
• Had nervous breakdown in 1836.
• Defeated for Speaker in 1838.
• Defeated for nomination for Congress in 1843.
• Elected to Congress in 1846.
• Lost renomination in 1848.
• Rejected for land officer in 1849.
• Defeated for U.S. Senate in 1854.
• Defeated for nomination for Vice President in 1856.
• Again defeated for U.S. Senate in 1858.
• Elected President in 1860.

Quotes from Abraham Lincoln about Goals:

• A goal properly set is halfway reached -
• Things may come to those who wait, but only left by those who hustle.
• Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.
• To believe in the things you can see and touch is no belief at all; but to believe in the unseen is a triumph and a blessing.
• Be sure your feet are in the right place. Then stand firm.
• My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.

Family Activity:

1. Make a log cabin out of "lincoln logs" and use it on the table as a center piece (best on President's Day in February).
2. Color a picture of Abraham Lincoln
3. Make a list of the accomplishments Abraham Lincoln had in his life
4. Tell the story of the shop clerk in your own words and then share an experience you have had when someone undercharged you at the grocery store. What did you do?

5 Tips To Setting New Year's Resolutions

Family Home Evening Lesson on Tips to Seting Goals

"I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life." (Elder Ballard, page 146 Preach My Gospel)

Goal Setting Tip 1 - Follow the Spirit

Goal setting and planning are acts of faith. Prayerfully set goals that are in harmony with the Savior's commands for us. (page 146, PMG)

Goal Setting Tip 2 - 7 is the magic number

George Miller, a 1950's psychologist, suggested that we can only deal with 7 pieces of information at any one time. If you need to remember any more information, you need to group things into more memorable, manageable chunks. So when you make your New Year's Resolutions, keep goals down to a manageable number and group similar areas.

Goal Setting Tip Number 3 - Be Specific

A common mistake when setting goals, is not enough detail. This could raise concern when you need to spell out the goals to family members, friends, people at work or even to ourselves. As an example of why this is important when goal setting, think of renovating your kitchen.

I have a particular kitchen in mind, which is probably entirely different to the kitchen you're picturing. Does your kitchen have tile or hard wood floor? Are the appliances white or have steel-covered fronts. How large is your kitchen? Is your kitchen full of people or are you the only one that will use it? Imagine the differences of opinions if we had the joint goal of renovating a kitchen together!

Keep New Years resolutions by writing your goals in enough detail for everyone to clearly understand and agree what's meant. So if your goal is to renovate your kitchen, put some flesh on the bones by saying your goal is to renovate your kitchen with putting down hardwood floor, with an island, with big windows, for no more than $20,000.

Goal Setting Tip 4 - Keep it real!

You are more likely to achieve realistic goals. That's not to say you can't shoot for the stars and dream big; break up your mega goal into smaller, more manageable mini goals, and you're more likely to achieve your dream. (Remember Abraham Lincoln lost in everything he tried for until the biggest of goals to be president of the United States. - Don't set that as a goal, by the way. (grin)

Goal Setting Tip 5 - Fantastic Exagerations - The Pretend Game

Here's an unusual game to play. Start a conversation with a family member or a friend. Tell them they are going to help achieve your new year's goals and all they have to do is ask a few key questions.

Start by telling them the story of, for example, your New Years resolution to find and start your dream job. Tell them what it's like in that company, the people you work with and meet as part of your job, what your daily schedule looks like. Get them to ask you questions about how you got there e.g. how did you get the interview, who spotted your business card, how you got the loan to create the company, how you got into that graduate school, etc.

Now this is the test for you to be put on the spot and come up with real answers. Aim to "keep it real" with your answers, e.g. don't rely on a sudden "financial gift" to fund your plans! Try to keep this conversation going as long as you can, with as much detail as you can give.

This might sound insane, to exaggerate or dream like this in telling how you achieved your New Years resolution. The fact is is that the questions people ask will create links in your mind, forging a map that make it easier for you to attain your long term goal. Just make sure you write down specific action steps you took to achieve your goal! (As a side note, when you publicly express a goal to a close friend or family member, you have a greater chance of achieving that goal. It becomes affixed in your mind as something you think about to "save face.")

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

Remember: Set weekly action step goals to achieve your New Year's Resolution.
Ask: Are the goals specific?
Ask: Are the goals realistic?
Ask: Will the goals make me stretch?
Ask: Are you committed to the goal?

"When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates." (President Monson, p 150 PMG)

Family Home Activity:

1. Have every member of the family write a list of New Year's resolutions.
2. Record your resolutions in your journal.
3. Post your resolutions on the mirror.
4. Play the imagination game (Tip 5)
5. Talk about how you are doing with your goals and write the detailed action steps in your calendar.
6. Dream big!
7. Take your goals to Heavenly Father for confirmation. If you get a stupor of thought, stop. If not, continue.

Stop Doing List (New Year's Resolution Time)

Best New Year's resolution? A 'stop doing' list
By Jim Collins

Each time the New Year rolls around and I sit down to do my annual resolutions, I reflect back to a lesson taught me by a remarkable teacher. In my mid-20s, I took a course on creativity and innovation from Rochelle Myers and Michael Ray at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and I kept in touch with them after I graduated.

One day, Rochelle pointed to my ferocious work pace and said, "I notice, Jim, that you are a rather undisciplined person."

I was stunned and confused. After all, I was the type of person who carefully laid out my BHAGs (big hairy audacious goals), top three objectives and priority activities at the start of each New Year. I prided myself on the ability to work relentlessly toward those objectives, applying the energy I'd inherited from my prairie-stock grandmother.

"Your genetic energy level enables your lack of discipline," Rochelle continued. "Instead of leading a disciplined life, you lead a busy life."

She then gave me what I came to call the 20-10 assignment. It goes like this: Suppose you woke up tomorrow and received two phone calls. The first phone call tells you that you have inherited $20 million, no strings attached. The second tells you that you have an incurable and terminal disease, and you have no more than 10 years to live. What would you do differently, and, in particular, what would you stop doing?

That assignment became a turning point in my life, and the "stop doing" list became an enduring cornerstone of my annual New Year resolutions — a mechanism for disciplined thought about how to allocate the most precious of all resources: time.

Rochelle's challenge forced me to see that I'd been plenty energetic, but on the wrong things. Indeed, I was on entirely the wrong path. After graduate school, I'd taken a job at Hewlett-Packard. I loved the company, but hated the job. Rochelle's assignment helped me to see I was cut out to be a professor, a researcher, a teacher — not a businessman — and I needed to make a right-angle turn. I had to stop doing my career, so that I could find my real work. I quit HP, migrated to the Stanford Business School faculty and eventually became — with some remarkable good luck along the way — a self-employed professor, happily toiling away on my research and writing.

Rochelle's lesson came back to me a number of years later while puzzling over the research data on 11 companies that turned themselves from mediocrity to excellence, from good to great. In cataloguing the key steps that ignited the transformations, my research team and I were struck by how many of the big decisions were not what to do, but what to stop doing.

In perhaps the most famous case, Darwin Smith of Kimberly-Clark — a man who had prevailed over throat cancer — said one day to his wife: "I learned something from my cancer. If you have a cancer in your arm, you've got to have the guts to cut off your own arm. I've made a decision: We're going to sell the mills."

At the time, Kimberly-Clark had the bulk of its revenues in the traditional paper business. But Smith began asking three important questions: Are we passionate about the paper business? Can we be the best in the world at it? Does the paper business best drive our economic engine?

The answers came up: no, no and no.

And so, Smith made the decision to stop doing the paper business — to sell off 100 years of corporate history — and throw all the resulting resources into the consumer business (building brands such as Kleenex), which came up yes, yes and yes to the same questions.

The start of the New Year is a perfect time to start a stop doing list and to make this the cornerstone of your New Year resolutions, be it for your company, your family or yourself. It also is a perfect time to clarify your three circles, mirroring at a personal level the three questions asked by Smith:

1) What are you deeply passionate about?

2) What are you are genetically encoded for — what activities do you feel just "made to do"?

3) What makes economic sense — what can you make a living at?

Those fortunate enough to find or create a practical intersection of the three circles have the basis for a great work life.

Think of the three circles as a personal guidance mechanism. As you navigate the twists and turns of a chaotic world, it acts like a compass. Am I on target? Do I need to adjust left, up, down, right? If you make an inventory of your activities today, what percentage of your time falls outside the three circles?

If it is more than 50%, then the stop doing list might be your most important tool. The question is: Will you accept good as good enough, or do you have the courage to sell the mills?

Looking back, I now see Rochelle Myers as one of the few people I've known to lead a great life, while doing truly great work. This stemmed largely from her remarkable simplicity. A simple home. A simple schedule. A simple frame for her work.

Rochelle spoke to me repeatedly about the idea of "making your life a creative work of art." A great piece of art is composed not just of what is in the final piece, but equally important, what is not. It is the discipline to discard what does not fit — to cut out what might have already cost days or even years of effort — that distinguishes the truly exceptional artist and marks the ideal piece of work, be it a symphony, a novel, a painting, a company or, most important of all, a life.

Jim Collins is author of Good to Great and co-author of Built to Last.

Nativity 2006

Robison Annual Nativity Production - 2007

Ye shall find the babe....lying in a manger!

Babies! What wonderful news to learn that new babies will be born in 2008 to the Robison posterity. Jenny and Karenin (and perhaps another sibling soon) have announced great news.

Christmas is a time we think about a new born baby in particular, even our Lord and Savior. I hope each of our grandchildren will sit by the fire and have read to them the words from Luke 2: 4-17

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem.
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manager; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shown round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddelnly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made know abroad the saying whcih was told them concerning this child.

Let's talk about the wonder of a baby coming into the world. A favorite poem of mine about babies was penned by William Woodsworth:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting
The soul that rises with us, our life's star
Hath had elsewhere its setting
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forget fulness,
And not in utter nakedness
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God who is our home.

In a tribute to the birth of the prophet Joseph Smith, I came across a quote about babies that intrigued me from F.M. Bareham, written about sixty years ago:

"A century ago (in 1809) men were following with bated breath the march of Napoleon and waiting with feverish impatience for news of the wars. And all the while in their homes babies were being born. Who could think about babies? Everybody was thinking about battles. In one year between Trafalgar and Waterloo there stole into the world a host of heroes: Gladstone was born in Liverpool; Tennyson at the Somersby Rectory; and Oliver Wendall Holmes in Massachusetts. Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky, and music was enriched by the advent of Felix Mendelssohn in Hamburg." (We might add, and Joseph Smith was born in Vermont, four years earlier.) The quoting F. M. Bareham further:"But nobody thought of babies, everybody was thinking of battles. Yet which of the battles of 1809 mattered more than the babies of 1809? We fancy God can manage His world only with great battalions, when all the time, He is doing it with beautiful babies."

President Kimball quoted that in his tribute to the birth of Joseph Smith, and then in that same speech spoke of babies in this context:

"When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants discovering, God sends a baby into the world to do it. While most of the thousands of precious infants born every hour will never be known outside their neighborhoods, there are great souls being born who will rise above their surroundings.....one mother gives us a Shakespeare, another a Michelangelo, and other an Abraham Lincoln. When theologians are reeling and stumbling, when lips are pretending and hearts are wandering, and people are running to and fro, seeking teh word of the Lord and cannot find it--when clouds of error need dissipating and spiritual darkness needs penetrating and heavens need opening, a little infant is born."

What a wonderful way to conclude 2007 - to celebrate the birth of the Savior and Joseph Smith and anticipate the births of new grandchildren in 2008.

Family Home Evening Activity:

1. Read Matthew 2: 1-12 (or memorize) while sitting by the fire and the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.
2. Act out Luke 2:4-17
3. Tell the story of what is was like for the family when the previous babies were born and how happy everyone was.
4. Look at the baby pictures of each of the grandchildren
5. Bear each other your testimony about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

6. Bake some cookies together that you can give away on Christmas Day to a neighbor

Praise to the Man!

December 23, 2007. Two hundred and 2 years ago, the prophet Joseph Smith was born. He was born on December 23, 1805 in Sharon, Vermont.

They Named Him Joseph. "When theologians are reeling and stumbling, when lips are pretending and hearts are wandering, and people are 'running to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord and cannot find it"--when clouds of error need dissipating and spiritual darkness needs penetrating and heavens need opening, a little infant is born. Just a few scattered neighbors in a hilly region in the backwoods even know that Lucy Smith is expecting. There is no prenatal care, nor nurses, no hospital, no ambulance, no delivery room. Babies live and die in this rough environment and few know about it.
Another child for Lucy! No trumpets are sounded; no hourly bulletins posted; no pictures taken; no notice is given; just a few friendly community folk pass a word along. It's a boy! Little do the brothers and sisters dream that a prophet is born to their family; even his proud parents can little suspect his spectacular destiny. No countryside farmers or loungers at the country store, no village gossips even surmise how much they could discuss, did they but have the power of prophetic vision.
"They are naming him Joseph," it is reported. But no one knows, not even parents, at this time, that this infant and his father have been named in the scriptures for 3,500 years, named for and known to their ancestor, Joseph, the savior of Egypt and Israel. Not even his adoring mother realized, even in her most ambitious dreaming and her silent musings, that this one of her children, like his ancestor, will be the chief sheaf of grain to which all others will lean and the one star to which the sun and moon and other stars will make obeisance.
He will inspire hatred and ambition; he will build an empire and restore a church--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions will follow him; monuments will be built to him; poets will sing of him; authors will write libraries of books about him.
No living soul can guess that this little pinkish infant will become the peer of Moses in spiritual power and greater than many prophets before him, He will talk with God, the Eternal Father, and Jesus Christ, His Son; and angels will be his great instructors.
"We fancy," said F. M. Bareham, "God can manage His world only with great battalions, when all the time He is doing it with beautiful babies."
Oh foolish men who think to protect the world with armaments, battleships, and space equipment, when only righteousness is needed!
Having read the pages of history, six thousand years of it, can we not see that God sent His babies to become the teachers and prophets to warn us of our threatening fate? Cannot we read the handwriting on the wall? History repeats itself.
Oh mortal men, deaf and blind! Can we not read the past? For thousands of years have plowshares been beaten into swords and pruning hooks into spears, yet war persists.
The answer to all of our problems--personal, national, and international--has been given to us many times by many prophets, ancient to modern. Why must we grovel in the earth when we could be climbing toward heaven! The path is not obscure. Perhaps it is too simple for us to see. We look to foreign programs, summit conference, land bases. We depend on fortifications, or gods o stone; upon ships and planes and projectiles, our gods of iron--gods which have no ears, no eyes, no hearts. We pray to them for deliverance and depend upon them for protection. Like the gods of Baal, they could be "talking or pursuing or on a journey or peradventure sleeping" when they are needed most. And like Elijah, we might cry out to our world.
"How long halt ye between two opinions! if the Lord be God, follow him...(I Kings 18:21)
My testimony to you is, the Lord is God. He has charted the way, but we do not follow. He personally visited Joseph Smith in our world, in our century. He outlined the way of peace in this world and eternal worlds. That path is righteousness. The Prophet Joseph Smith with all the successor prophets proclaiming the ripening of this world in iniquity and the solution of all vexing problems. The Book of Mormon which he translated relates the story of 200 years of peace in the old days, which was the greatest era of happiness of which we have any complete record. (They Named Him Joseph, by Spencer W. Kimball, December 1966)

Praise to the Man! Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's annointed in ancient times,, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood." (D&C 135:3) Praise to the Man!

Family Home Evening Activity:

1. Color a picture of the prophet Joseph Smith
2. Have your mom or dad tell what it was like living at the Hill Cumorah for three summers and participating in the Pageant.
3. List the things that Joseph Smith accomplished that you can remember.
4. Study the prophesy of Joseph Smith from 2 Nephi 3:15.
5. Tell a story about what Joseph Smith was like as a little boy. Perhaps tell the story about when he had an operation on his leg.
6. Share your testimonies with each other about Joseph Smith.

Robison Family Christmas Traditions

Joelle . Here are a couple of my favorite Christmas memories. Every year Mom would say that she is going to keep this Christmas a small one, but every year there were a mountain of gifts ... more than we could think to ask for. Now that I am a parent I see how much joy it brings to find the perfect gift for one of the girls and be more excited about giving that than anything I could possibly receive.

I love the big breakfasts dad would make. I have bought everything right down to the blueberries so that John can do the same.

Here is one funny memory. I can clearly remember laying in bed trying to sleep, but just being way too excited. Justin tip-toed into my room and said that he had "accidently" snuck into your closet sometime during the day and he had seen some cabbage patch kids, one with a pacifier.

I want you guys to know how much I enjoyed everything about Christmas when I was young. I remember everything being just perfect, and now I know how much work it takes to make a perfect Christmas. I hope we can spend a holiday with you guys soon." Love Joelle

Justin . "Mom's Christmas Eve dinner feasts (it was like having a 2nd Thanksgiving every year), and here are the others:

• Opening a present or two on Christmas Eve

• The thousands of white lights on our house on south drive
  

• Driving around to see the lights

• Making the rounds to ward members homes on Christmas eve

• Singing carols, eating treats (Mary kay cookies/ Nanaimo bars- yum)
  

• The Musson's Christmas lights & their Christmas parties

• Our late night appetizer & present party the past couple of years
  
  
• Christmas 'cracker' (popper) things for dessert
  
  
• Santa's footprints
  
  
• Lining up to go see what Santa brought
  
  
• Fun stocking stuffers (oranges, chocolate, Toblerone, magazine..)
  
  
• Entenman's coffee cake or cinnamon rolls while waiting for the action on Christmas morning
  
  
• Dad's famous breakfast with blueberry pancakes, eggs, sausage
  
  
• The present piles with different wrapping paper for each person
  
  
• The little kids/babies the past few years

Jennifer . "I think our Robison family Christmas Eves are the best in the world. I especially miss being with you on Christmas Eve. My favorite memories were when we would go and deliver goodies and visit with different people in the ward. Dad would dress up as Santa and sometimes the Gilmours would come over to sing 12 days of Christmas. That was always my favorite song to sing because we each got a part.

I loved having Christmas dinner and opening the Christmas Crackers. I also loved visiting the Mussons. I really miss those Christmas Eves. I hope we can find some fun traditions like you did for us.I also love mom bringing up cream cheese coffee cake while we waited at the top of the stairs."

When we lived in Millcroft, and when it was a white Christmas, it was fun to go to the golf course and sled or cross country ski as a family.


Jeremy: Our Traditions - On Christmas Eve, we are opening 1 present each of the givers choice, and tonight we open our family PJ's to wear.... Some time today we want to read the christmas story in LUKE.... and maybe watch the LDS Christmas dvd that was made a few years ago (i love that one)....
We would also like to sing Christmas hymns/carols.... and lie down under the tree with Sylie and read some fun Christmas stories...
Maybe tonight we can also discuss what we would each like to give to the Lord in a spiritual sense....
In the morning we will have a Christmas breakfast (blueberry pancakes, eggs, sausage, cinnamon rolls, fresh squeezed OJ)...
We will then go to our stockings that are already filled and hanging.... We will also open presents taking turns.

My Christmas Memories. I thought it was awesome how Santa's foot prints were made of magical snow that wouldn't melt... and how he would eat and drink the milk and cookies we left out for him... I remember Justin and I trying to scientifically convince Jamie that santa was real... we even pointed out the window of our room in Millcroft at some lights in the sky that were blinking, and said it was the rain deer.
I loved waiting at the top of the stairs in our birth order, being frustrated when Jamie would only walk slowly down the stairs as a little child...
Even though sometimes we would be stuck waiting at the top of the stairs for "unknown reasons" ...it was fun to be entertained by orange juice while waiting.... (which kid started that request/tradition?)
I loved the anticipation to open the gifts by having to wait my turn... most of the time I would have the gift already unwrapped secretly while waiting so all I would have to do is pull off the paper... (sometimes Jamie would catch me and try and tell on me)...
The Santa Clause concept is amazing... I can't wait to see Sylie's reactions.

Jameee's Memoires. The things that I remember go right along with the rest of the siblings. Every year we expected it to get smaller and smaller due to mom's "we are making this one small" but they were HUGE. so many presents around a beautiful, huge tree. I have no idea how much time mom and dad put into that room, but it always looked so good. I remember one year we had the great idea to ask mom and dad to put up a paper wall in the entry to the big room, so that we could rip through it like a high school football team. I remember it was there, but that it wasn't as cool as we all imagined. but props to mom and dad for doing it, it looked like a lot of work.

I really don't remember when I stopped believing in Santa. I think it was when I was really young, because I don't have any Christmas memories of believing in Santa. I bet Jer would tell everyone that I always believed, but as we all know from the power-wheels incident, I am a sucker for the crowd psychology, whatever they would tell me I would at least pretend that I was game.

A few of my favorites -

• Ppening presents one at a time; taught me patience and I loved seeing what everyone else got. (Plus it made Christmas last like 80 times longer)
• someone told me that in their family they all just rush to the tree and open and it sounded so gay. So thanks ma and pa for not homosexualizing us to those traditions
• Musson's house, - I would always feel kind of out of place but it was fun
• Our Christmas lights in Roseland on South Drive
  
• Dads breakfasts... mmm.
• Christmas naps
• We saw the "preachers wife" on Christmas once at a Movie Theatre, that was cool
• Christmas crackers! and then trying to trade each other for the small deck of cards
• Stockings being sooooo packed
• Me at the front of the Christmas line every single year!
• I dont know, it was all soo good.

Remember last Christmas (2006)

Joelle and John Traditions :

Joelle and John have John's mother nearby. They have a great tradition of having a Christmas gathering with her and then plan to have their own gathering on Christmas morning. The big crisis that loomed in the family last year was the fact that Santa's bags were packed and Grace had changed her mind that she wanted something different from Santa than she asked for up until (December 23 ^rd). " So Christmas eve, they had the traditional fancy dinner at Jeane's house. The kids always have brand new pajamas to open, and they read and acted out the Christmas story from the bible. Christmas morning Santa left magic snow footprints (Grace asked about 5 times if the magic footprints would be there again this year). They had a big breakfast of blueberry pancakes, sausages and eggs." (Joelle)

Justin and Lisa Traditions

Justin and Lisa are far away from both sets of grand-parents. They had Christmas on their own and then headed out to Lisa's home in Minden, Nevada the day after Christmas. " We went to church on Christmas Eve Day (long sacrament program, nothing else). They had crepes for breakfast. Then they made a snowman and played board games. They had prime rib dinner Christmas eve at 5:30 then chocolate pie dessert. then they opened 2 presents each (1 PJ's, one random). Then went on a drive to see the lights. Then they read our last Christmas book and drank Vita-mix hot chocolate, then it was off to bed. Santa came and the kids got up early and lined up and saw what Santa brought. They then had a big blueberry pancake breakfast with eggs, sausages and then play with toys, eat leftovers." (Justin)

Jenny and Jason Traditions

Jenny and Jason have the luxury of having Jason's parents close by. (Christmas eve), they had a cozy day watching a nice DVD, having hot chocolate, reading stories, and they even built a Mo and Bumpas pair of snowmen. Christmas morning they will celebrated Christmas in a big way with Jason's family. " On Christmas Eve they went for a drive to see the lights, just like I (Jenny) used to do when I was younger. We also let Taylor open one present. I wish we could do the magic footprints, but Santa is coming to Jason's parents house, so I will decided to try and do that next year. (Jenny)

Jeremy & Karenin Traditions

"Today (December 24, 2006) we opened one present each of the givers choice, and at night we opened our family PJ's to wear.... During the day, they read the Christmas story in LUKE.... and watched the LDS Christmas DVD that was made a few years ago (I love that one)....
We also like to sang Christmas hymns/carols.... and laid down under the tree with Sylie and read some fun Christmas stories...

Christmas Eve we also discussed what we would each like to give to the Lord in a spiritual sense....

On Christmas morning, we had a Christmas breakfast (blueberry pancakes, eggs, sausage, cinnamon rolls, fresh squeezed OJ)...
We will then went to get our stockings that were already filled and hanging.... We also opened presents taking turns." (Jeremy)

Mom and Dad Christmas Memories

Mom. We always had A big Christmas at my Grandparents house (Mamaw and Papaw - Barbara's parents). Mom and I lived nearby, her sister Nancy and her family did too. The Worls would drive in from Indiana on Christmas Eve. We would have a big turkey dinner on Christmas Eve - turkey with all the trimmings. Each year there would be a debate on what stuffing went in the turkey - regular or oyster. Regular always won (thank goodness). There would be 15 of us (at least) for dinner. We always sang the 12 days of Christmas while washing the dishes.

Mom and I would go to our apartment to sleep, sometimes with an extra cousin to sleep over, and we would go to Mamaw and Papaw's house first thing in the morning. Papaw always had some of his special sausage cooked for us. He owned a meat packing company in downtown Chicago and would make a special recipe to give out for Christmas. Grandchildren had to stay out of the large living room where Santa had left mounds of presents. This involved blindfolds and other creative solutions since the living room lay between the bedrooms and the kitchen. The presents surrounded a gorgeous white Christmas tree. My grandparents liked HUGE Christmases. Mamaw would shop all year in what she called her 'sucker' magazines for unique gifts. About a fourth of the large living room would be full of packages with elaborate unwrapped toys for the 6 grandchildren. We opened presents all at once so there was lots of noise and calling out of 'Thank you's". For the rest of the day we would play with our toys, eat leftovers, nap, and visit. My Grandparents loved to play games - so we always did that. Christmas was such a big deal. I remember papaw's invention for wrapping presents - he outfitted a card table with stands for ribbon, tape and paper so he could do all the wrapping efficiently.

Christmas was a wonderful time for our family. We loved the spirit of generosity and the special feeling of being all together. But it was all about Santa Claus. We never talked about religion or the birth of the Savior. I loved the feelings of those Christmases but I have learned there is so much more when we celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

After my Grandparents' death, my mom continued the big Christmas tradition. She loved to find fun presents in catalogs or on the internet. I will always treasure the beautiful necklace she bought for me before she died. She joined our family every Christmas and saw that we did it right. I loved the feeling of preparing the perfect Christmas experience for the 5 Js. My favorite moments were setting up the wooden German nativity once piece at a time, sitting under the Christmas tree reading stories, acting out the nativity, and, of course, the procession down the stairs on Christmas morning.

Dad's Childhood Memories. When I was a little boy growing up on Christmas Eve, we would always recite from memory the Christmas story from Matthew and from Luke. After our family hour Christmas program, we would drive around and look at the lights. We would also leave out a plate of cookies and a glass of milk for Santa. I loved to lay under the Christmas tree and listen to my Mother read stories. It was such a secure feeling being in that room with just family, and enjoying the lights on the tree. Christmas eve was the longest night of the year. I could normally fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, but not on Christmas eve.

It was so fun to get up around 6 a.m. when it was still dark and gather around the Christmas tree for opening presents. When we were younger, the presents from Santa were not wrapped. We would always open the Christmas stocking first. It was a tradition to have an orange in the bottom of the stocking because during the war they were such precious commodities. My father would make sure that we opened the presents one at a time and enjoyed the experience of giving. After opening the presents, we would go to the kitchen and have a traditional breakfast of blueberry pancakes and sausages. On Christmas afternoon, the boys and Dad would go to the Church gym for a game of basketball with another family of sons in the Ward.

Dad's Memories of Christmases with the 5 Js. One of the beauties of marriage is the blending of two cultures into one. I believe we took memorable traditions from the Robisons and combined them with memorable traditions from the Schultz family. A great tradition within the Schultz family was celebrating Christmas with the grandparents and all of the cousins. In your mom's family, the cousins would likely have Christmas a day or so early and then drive to Oak Brook to celebrate the real day with the grandparents. Their big dinner was on Christmas Eve, so they could enjoy every minute of Christmas Day without the fuss of a big dinner.

I still think of a stocking with an orange, a blue berry pancake breakfast after presents, a recitation of the Christmas stories from Matthew and Luke, and opening presents one at a time. When the children were younger, every Christmas eve Diane and I would stay up late assembling toys and making certain the room looked perfect. Over the years, we expanded our traditions such as putting up 3,000 little white lights in front of South Drive, or caroling to various member homes on Christmas eve, always ending up at the Christmas house of all houses...the one that looked like Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation...the Musson's home. I loved the tradition of collecting nativity scenes once most of the children were married and using that as our primary home decoration style. I loved "saving Christmas" for when we could all be together when it was the inlaw turn for Christmas. And I loved leaving a wonderful Christmas surprise on the steps of families who might really need something extra special on Christmas and then ringing and running or driving a way. It was wonderful, the year we postponed Christmas for Joelle, to host the single adults for Christmas dinner in our home. We also discovered what fun it was to have two Christmases rolled into one...the first would be late at night on Christmas eve when all the adults exchanged presents and the other on Christmas morning where we enjoyed watching the children open their presents.

While working for O. C. Tanner Company, a Christmas tradition for their officers was expanded to include Diane and me for several years. We would fly down to Salt Lake, stay at the Inn on Temple Square and at a wonderful dinner at the Salt Lake Golf and Country Club would get a bonus in cash under our plates as well as a beautiful piece of Jewelry for Diane. Every Christmas Eve, Obert Tanner would arrange for an elegant gift to be delivered to the home such as a suit or a cashmere coat. Obert C. Tanner loved Christmas and the experience was magical.

Over the years, I have come to appreciate Christmas based upon the following observations: 1) the incredible feeling of family and unity that occurs; 2) the way the world seems to pause and really want peace on earth even if but for a fleeting moment; 3) the special spiritual feeling that comes through music; 4) the extra attention given to the life of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and 5) the happiness that comes from being able to give in order to make someone else a little more happy.

Come Follow Me

Come Follow Me

As an opening hymn, for Family Home Evening, you could sing Hymn Number 116.

"Come Follow Me," the Savior said. Then let us in His footsteps tread. For thus alone can we be one, with God's own loved, begotten Son.

"Come follow me," a simple phrase, yet truth's sublime, effulgent rays, are in these simple words combine, to urge , inspire, the human mind.

Is it enough, alone to know, that we must follow Him below, while traveling through this vale of tears? No, this extends to holier spheres.

Not only shall we emulate, his course while in this earthly state, but when we're freed from present cares, if with our Lord we would be heirs." (Hymn 116)

Scriptural Application

The Savior teaches us very clearly in terms of every day experience that all can understand. You all have read the admonition of the Savior in Matthew 4:18 "And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers."

Verse 19. "And he saith unto the, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Verse 20. "And they straightway left their nets, and followed him."

Practical Application - St. Lucia - same beach where Dallin was baptized

The photos taken here in St. Lucia by our area Doctor, Elder Otto, are fascinating. Note the muscles on the backs and shoulders of the fishermen. These men were used to working hard every day and using every muscle to pull in their nets.

Note the picture of the fishermen, who cast their net beside the boat as the Savior encouraged Peter to do in Luke 5:4. And verse 6 shows they "inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake." (see the picture of the full net)

Grandpa's Personal Experience (December 14, 2007)

How can we apply the scriptures to our every day lives? How can we make the Savior's teachings come alive? A week ago, I had the experience of teaching a discussion with two of our missionaries in Guadeloupe along with the District President. When the mother, who has 7 children (6 of whom are baptism age) responded that it would be fine for her sons to be baptized, but that she and her common law husband would wait three years to get legally married, the missionaries gulped. This is what the woman had told them a few days prior.

President Gamiette opened up his scriptures and referred to the story of Peter and Andrew in Matthew 4, who were invited by the Savior to "come follow Him". He asked the good woman, "what was their response?" Before she could answer, I told her I knew the answer - "They waited three years until they could get the boat paid for until they could take care of other things." Immediately, it dawned on this sister that she needed to do as Peter and Andrew did..."and they straightway left their nets, and followed him." (Matthew 4:20)

When I visited with the missionaries a few days later, they were excited to report that the Sister and her husband are getting married next month (it takes 30 days in Guadeloupe) and preparing for baptism after that. Two of her sons will be baptized next Saturday.

What a great example of "straightway" leaving their nets.

Discussion:

Do we straightway leave our nets and follow the Savior? Are there things in our lives that are holding us back from following Him?

Closing Hymn:

"We must the onward path pursue, as wider fields expand to view, and follow him unceasingly, whate'er our lot or shere may be."

"For thrones, dominions, kingdoms, pow'rs, and glory great and bliss our ours, if we, throughout eternity, obey his words, "come follow me."

Desire, Decision, Determination

Alma 26:27. “Now when our hearts were depressed and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success.”

• The Lord told Alma and the Sons of Mosiah to "bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success." So at their low point, when they were about to throw in the towel, the Lord "comforted them" and then gave them some counsel.

• The word "comfort" in this case has nothing to do with feeling at ease. The root meaning is to "strengthen" so the Lord strengthened them and then counseled them to "bear with patience" that means without complaining, without talking negatively in any way, without downplaying one's own ability to succeed.

Desire. In the preceding verse, verse 26, the missionaries had “the intent that perhaps we might save some few of their souls.” The had the desire to do the work.

Decision. The work was hard, they had thoughts about turning back, but the Lord strengthened them and counseled them. In verse 28, it says “they have come, and been forth among them; and we have been patient in our sufferings”. This shows they were resolute in their decision

Determination. Finally, verse 30 reads “and we have suffered all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul” demonstrating their determination.

When you are down and when you think it is rough going out there…remember the desire, decision and determination of the Alma and the Sons of Mosiah.

The Promise. Alma 26:22 - “He that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.” Repent, exercise faith, bring forth good works and pray continually without ceasing. You will know the mysteries of God in your personal studies and as you testify to others, you will teach the people things that never have been revealed to them, and you will help thousands join the Church.

Stand still to see the salvation of God

Doctrine of the plan of happiness: In order to qualify for eternal life, we must "repent, all ye ends of the earth and come unto me and be baptized in my name that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day." (3 Nephi 27:20) This is the doctrinal foundation of missionary work. Repent means change. Being sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost means being purified and standing spotless before God in the last day is the challenge. We must listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and do what He says.

Principle of Prayer and Fasting: To receive promptings of the Holy Ghost we must ask with real intent. (Moroni 10:3-5). Alma gives us a wonderful example of this in Chapter 5:46 - "I say unto you that they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God., Behold I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirt; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me." We can and should be specific in our prayers. In Alma 34: 19-27, Alma's missionary companion Almulek counsels us about praying for our fields, our flocks, our houses, our enemies, our crops, our welfare and for the welfare of those around us.

Application - The Story of the Missing Martinique Elders: On Monday December 3, 2007, Grandpa Robison received a phone call from Elder Beck, a zone leader serving in Martinique. Elder Beck reported that two missionaries, Elder Tyson Gray and Elder Thomas Swain had not returned home that evening. This is the first time Grandpa and Grandma Robison had received this type of message in the 18 months that they have been serving. The next morning Grandpa and Grandma boarded a plane and flew from Trinidad to Martinique to direct the search for the missing elders.

The week prior to the disappearance of the elders, Martinique had been hit by a serious earthquake and on August 16th of this year, the island had been plastered by Hurricane Dean. (See Section 43:25 of the Doctrine and Covenants.) The Lord is speaking to the people of Martinique, which has the lowest rate of baptisms in the mission.

Grandpa did not know for sure where the elders were lost. They had been very vague in their report to their zone leader the night before preparation day. The two elders had also been warned about how difficult a hike up Mount Pelee would be because of the difficulty in getting transportation back to their proselyting area by 6 p.m.

Grandpa organized the members and missionaries in their search efforts. He flew in the two elders who had trained the two missing elders from French Guiana. He flew in 4 members from Guadeloupe to search and put 4 missionaries from Guadeloupe on a ferry with their van to assist in Martinique on the search. Members distributed flyers all over the island at every hospital, taxi station, city hall and market place in every village in Martinque. Everything that was possible to do to find the elders was done. Search parties were organized on Mont Pelee and the police had dozens and dozens of men hiking through the woods in search of the two elders. The elders and members were counseled to pray specifically for inspiration as to exactly where to find the elders.

The newspaper put a picture of the elders on the front page. Everyone Martinique was talking about the missing elders. It was at that point on Thursday morning, that the words of this scripture came to mind: "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie within our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." (D&C 123:17)

After it it was all said and done....we had done everything within our power...the missionaries and members had held a mission-wide fast...members and leaders throughout the world had fasted and prayed for the missing elders as did their families and the wards of their families...it was a Hindu man who had a vision Wednesday night that he would find the elders on his property in the dense vegetation....and Thursday morning he found them.

The missing elders told us that they had started off the volcano in search of a little village they saw in the distance so they would be home in time to proselyte. They quickly found that there were unseen dangers (crevices, cliffs, etc) for having strayed from the path. They were protected from wild animals such as snakes. They were not exposed to severe weather conditions such as the rain that fell before they left and after they were found. They found an irrigation pipe that gave them clean water. They found an abandoned refrigerator that held some flat coke and a bottle of rum with soaked apricots. By not touching the rum, the media learned about the word of wisdom. Who else would the Lord provide an old refrigerator other than two lost missionaries....is this all a coincidence? Do you see the hand of the Lord every step of the way?

Prayers had been answered....we had done everything in our power to find the elders and the the salvation of God was made manifest.

Family Home Evening Discussion Questions:

1) What is the importance of the Holy Ghost in our lives?

2) What are the things that we should pray for?

3) Why is fasting important and what is its purpose?

4) What is Heavenly Father telling the people in Martinique?

5) What must we do in order for Heavenly Father to show us His miracles?