Eric's Talk

This is Eric's Talk that he gave. I think that he did a wonderful job. He started with a poem about Thanksgiving since it was the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

T’was the night of Thanksgiving,

But I just couldn’t sleep.

I tried counting backwards,

I tried counting sheep.

The leftovers beckoned,

The dark meat and white.

But I fought the temptation,

With all of my might.

Tossing and turning,

with anticipation.

The thought of a snack

became infatuation.

So I raced to the kitchen,

Flung open the door,

And gazed at the fridge,

Full of goodies galore.

I gobbled up turkey,

And buttered potatoes,

Pickles and carrots,

Beans and tomatoes.

I felt myself swelling,

So plump and so round.

‘til all of a sudden,

I rose off the ground.

I crashed through the ceiling,

Floating into the sky,

With a mouthful of pudding,

And a handful of pie.

But I managed to yell

As I soared past the trees

Happy eating to all,

Pass the cranberries, please!!

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump.

May your potatoes and gravy

Have nary a lump.

May your yams be delicious,

May your pies take the prize

And May your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off of your thighs!

by Lauren

Every week when we come to church and partake of the sacrament we promise with God that we will “always remember him.”  This promise is so important that it is specifically written in both the sacrament prayers.  It is clearly stated in the prayers that in order for us to “have his spirit to be with us” we must first “always remember him.” In essence it is a commandment from God to “Always remember him.”  Why would God have us promise each week to always remember him?  How is that connected with us obtaining the Spirit?  Remembrance is the seed of Gratitude.  Gratitude brings Humility and Charity.  Humility and Charity bring the Spirit.

I don’t know if I would be to far of by stating that remembering God and all that he has done for us will lead us to guidance by the spirit. Remembrance of Jesus Christ always  brings about gratitude.

What is Gratitude?

Gratitude is a feeling of thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. Grateful people are quick to acknowledge the kindness and help they receive from our Heavenly Father and others around them.

To have gratitude we must first recognize the blessings that God gives us.  To recognize the blessings we must 

How will developing a deeper level of gratitude effect my life?

A grateful heart is the beginning of greatness. Gratitude builds humility as we recognize an act of kindness, service, or caring from someone else. True gratitude is a foundation for faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being. Being grateful leads us to look outside ourselves and turn to the bestower of the blessings.

“Gratitude is an uplifting, exalting attitude.” (True to the Faith)

Gratitude is not something we DO, it is something we BECOME.  I can’t just do gratitude like I can pay my tithing or go to church.  Gratitude is who I am.  I have to be grateful not do grateful.  

Being grateful is so much more that just words.  Gratitude is a feeling, or an attitude within us.  In True to the Faith we learn that we need to “Work at being grateful.” It is an attribute that we develop and work at just like faith and humility.  Gratitude is not something that we can be just once a year around thanksgiving time.  

Get into a habit of expressing gratitude. (Alms 34:38) To be truly grateful we must be grateful daily and not yearly. 

How can we daily develop a habit of Gratitude?  I think that the best way for us to develop gratitude is to recognize the hand of God in our lives or ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM. We need to recognize the Hand of God in our daily lives and then thank God for what he has done for us. But how can we recognize God’s hand in our lives?  President Eyring found a way that worked for him to recognize for yourself. Write them down.”

I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.

I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: “Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?” As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.

More than gratitude began to grow in my heart. Testimony grew. I became ever more certain that our Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. I felt more gratitude for the softening and refining that come because of the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ. And I grew more confident that the Holy Ghost can bring all things to our remembrance—even things we did not notice or pay attention to when they happened.the blessings of God in his life. From this he learned to develop gratitude and testimony.

“When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property.

He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences

The years have gone by. My boys are grown men. And now and then one of them will surprise me by saying, “Dad, I was reading in my copy of the journal about when …” and then he will tell me about how reading of what happened long ago helped him notice something God had done in his day.

My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness. It will build our testimonies. You may not keep a journal. You may not share whatever record you keep with those you love and serve. But you and they will be blessed as you remember what the Lord has done. You remember that song we sometimes sing: “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.” 2

“You could have an experience with the gift of the Holy Ghost today. You could begin a private prayer with thanks. You could start to count your blessings, and then pause for a moment. If you exercise faith, and with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you will find that memories of other blessings will flood into your mind. If you begin to express gratitude for each of them, your prayer may take a little longer than usual. Remembrance will come. And so will gratitude.”

Recognizing the blessings of God in our life help us develop gratitude.  Gratitude leads to Humility and Charity. Humility and Charity lead to Guidance of the Spirit.  

Recognizing the hand of God has helped me in my life to understand how the spirit works.  By recognizing the hand of God in my life my testimony of the Holy Ghost grew.  I began to see specific things - very specific things - that God helped me with in my day. I recognized when the spirit guided me, which other wise I would not have recognized.