President Turk and I were reading our Patriarchal blessings
this morning. We each wiped tears from our eyes
as we were filled with gratitude
for the personal guidance and inspiration
these blessings have given to us
throughout our lives and are still giving to us.
We talked about phrases in our patriarchal blessings
meaning different things to us at different stages in our lives.
They have been a witness of our Heavenly Father's
personal concern and love for us.
We testify that God knows us and loves us.
We testify that what we do on this earth really matters.
He wants us to succeed.
We are all given tools that will help us
in our personal journey back to our Heavenly Father
but we have to pick up the tools and use them.
The tools I am talking about are:
Following the Spirit, Personal sincere Prayers, Profound Fasting,
Searching the Scriptures, worthy Priesthood Power and Blessings,
Listening to a living Prophet, and Keeping our Covenants.
And there are so many more...
We have to make sure that our priorities
are in the right order.
Wouldn't it be sad to throw away Celestial Glory
because we couldn't see it all in front of us right this minute.
President Turk and I were also reminded of our family mission statement
that comes from the scriptures.... and from our patriarchal blessings.
Matthew 6:33 with the Joseph Smith Translation
"Wherefore, seek not the things of this world
but seek ye first to build up the kingdom of God
and to establish his righteousness.
and all these things shall be added unto you."
We have found that our lives have been
the happiest, the most fulfilled, the most blessed
when we put our Heavenly Father first
and Live and Share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Fullest.
