We have been asked to post the talks we gave in our meetings today. Here is mine and Carter’s will post tomorrow.

It was a good, good day!

My parents are going on a mission too! We gave our farewell talks on the same day. They are going to San Diego!!

 

There is a work of music written by Rob Gardner titled Joseph Smith the Prophet. If you were to listen to one of the songs in this work, you would hear a beautiful alto voice sing these words:

“O how great the goodness of our God. O how great his wisdom and his mercy. O how great his works, his wondrous plan. O how great the love of God.”

Ashton’s death, 3 years ago, has brought the greatest heartache I have ever known. But with that heartache, I have also been FLOODED  with that “great, goodness of our God”, as the song says. I interpret that to be evidence of God’s LOVE for me.

That LOVE has come in many different forms. It has come through my family members, ward members and other good people on this earth, in church meetings, from the scriptures, through music, in the mountains, in the temple and through the whisperings of the Holy Spirit.

At Christmas time my granddaughter, Hannah, gave me a Christmas card and she wrote, ” Hope you feel the LOVE this year!” Well, Hannah, I’m glad to report to you that I have!! More than just this year.

I felt God’s LOVE one morning in 2014 when Heavenly Father wanted to teach me. Carter was listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir app on his phone. I remember thinking, “There’s one song I don’t want to hear, “Bring Him Home” from Le Miserable. It’s too much. I can’t listen to that one.” Well, what song came on next? “Bring Him Home”.  Not a coincidence. But this is what I heard….”God on high, hear my prayer, in my need, you have always been there.” I didn’t hear the rest of the song. I only heard those words that morning… and a light went on for me. He HAS always been there. When ever I desperately needed him, he has helped me. From then on, I could listen to that song, and remember that great blessing.

I felt the Love of God through a High Priest group leader who came to our home to check on Carter. He said to him, “You take care of so many people…. Who takes care of you.” He shed tears with us, gave Carter a blessing and left a calming spirit in our home. I had been wondering  at that time how I could help Carter with his grief when I was so deep in my own. Heavenly Father sent that good, faithful man.

Quote by Charles Spurgeon – I don’t know who he is but I love what he said:

“Thank God then if you have been led by a rough road. It is this which has given you  your experience of God’s greatness and loving kindness.”

 I felt His LOVE as we camped or hiked in the mountains. I felt it when we visited a lake or the ocean.

There’s a hymn in our hymn book titled” God is LOVE”. It used to be called, “Earth with Her Ten Thousand Flowers” in the older hymn book . This hymn has never been one of my favorites, but now I understand it. I now, really see and understand the beautiful words in that hymn.

Earth, with her ten thousand flow’rs

Air with all its beams and showers

Heaven’s infinite expanse

Sea’s resplendent countenance

All around and all above

Bear this record: God is LOVE.

I now feel His LOVE whenever it rains or there’s a beautiful sky or sunset.

I felt the LOVE of God in a park in Sierra Vista. I was there with my grandchildren that day. A normal looking older man walked up to us at our picnic table as we were eating our lunch. He said that he comes to this park to bring God to people who need it. He asked me if anything had happened in my life and if I needed prayer.  I was trying to gauge how I felt with him there and it felt peaceful so I told him about Ashton. He prayed for us right there and said some very comforting things. He was a good man doing God’s work. My grandchildren felt his good spirit. They sat still and listened too. When he left, I remember thinking… “God knows and loves me.”

Quote by Deiter F. Uchtdorf:

God does not look on the outward appearance.  I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.

He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

I felt God’s LOVE as Carter and I were able to sing in the Community Christmas Celebration this year. We like to do that, but haven’t been able to the past few years.  One song we sang was Beautiful Savior. There’s a part in the song that says:  “He makes the sorrowing spirit sing.” I can testify that He does.

 Looking back on our 2 years in the Winchester Branch, I can see how God was showing his LOVE to me by planting us there. It didn’t feel like it at first. It was a struggle and  I learned to say, “Estoy Aprendiendo” (I am learning) whenever someone asked, “How is your Spanish?” I am still “Estoy Aprendiendoing!!!! But I can see now how this calling has been preparing me for this mission.  For one thing, the Spanish in Peru will not be such a shock.  When we first started attending that branch 2 years ago, we were weary. It has been a healing 2 years. The sweet people there have been part of that “great goodness of our God” that we needed so badly and I love them  all dearly. I miss them. One significant thing happened December of 2015. Our branch president, Pres. Whetten challenged each of us to choose something we would do to help us better keep the Sabbath Day holy. I decided to start doing family history and I started that January. Much of the main lines had been done on both sides of my family but I felt like there had to be something I could do. I found out about descendency and I now have more names and more work to do than I can keep up with. Looking back at that time when I started doing Family History, I can see that’s when the weight of constant grief started lifting.

I recently listened to part of the Roots Tech conference which is the Family History Conference the church puts on every year. Elder and Sister Nelson were speaking. I heard this and quickly wrote it down:

Sister Nelson –

“It is my testimony that however fabulous your life is right now or however discouraging and heartbreaking it may be, your involvement in family history and temple work will make it better. It is my testimony that when we show the Lord we are serious about helping our ancestors, the heavens will open and we will receive all that we need.”

That happened to me! I started doing Family History and the heavens WERE open for me! God poured out his LOVE and healing began.

Oh How Great the Goodness of our God!

I have felt God’s LOVE for me as I have been made aware of those who have offered to help our children while we are away. Just recently, another family member offered their help to Candace. Thank you so very much! I love you all for that!

I have also felt the LOVE of God as I have been able to venture out and help other people. One big, glaring void in my life these past few years is that I have not felt very useful. When I was able to go out and bring some light to others who needed it… Looking back on that…. I see how that feeling in my heart was God’s LOVE.

Song: I Feel My Savior’s LOVE

verse 4

I’ll share my Savior’s LOVE

By serving other freely

In serving I am blessed

In giving I receive

One of Ashton’s missionary companions told us of one of Ashton’s favorite scriptures:

1 Nephi 11: 17  “…..I know that he loveth his children, nevertheless,  I do not know the meaning of all things.”

Well, Ashton, I too do not know the meaning of all things, but I do know that God knows and loves me. I trust him and his plan for our family, and I am so grateful for his “great goodness”, the LOVE, he shows to me as I continue to live on His beautiful earth.

Written by Faye