New Beginings.

It is a time of new beginnings. January 1st is coming around. We will all make some new year’s resolution. Eat less exercise more, work harder, spend more time with loved ones, make more money, get out of debt, read the Book of Mormon, etc. So we set a goal-somewhat. How well will we really do? Are our hearts genuinely into it? This is a new year to be better to improve ourselves. How much effort do we really give? Normally I start off really well. Eventually I get discouraged, I lose hope, or I think,” will it all really matter? Who cares? I quit!”
Sometime we have so many things that we would like to start a new that we do not know where to begin.
So let us take Elder Packer’s counsel from Feb 1972 Ensign.
Begin where you are-At home!
Everything starts there.
May 2000 President Hinkley said, “It is a time of new beginnings. It is a “training time where we learn to shape our actions towards others and our attitudes toward ourselves. He said,”
1.“I hope that each one of us will be a better husband or wife, kinder to one another, more thoughtful, more restrained in criticism, and more generous with compliments. I hope that as fathers and mothers we will strive more fully to rear our children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4), treating them with respect and love, giving encouragement at every opportunity and subduing our critical remarks. I hope that as sons and daughters we will be more respectful than we have been, that we will look to our parents with the knowledge that they love us, and that we will try to be more obedient in following their counsel.”
So let us 1. Love one another. Do not criticize.
I have been listening to some cd’s borrowed from Brother and Sister Brock called “For All Eternity” by John Lund. They are about relationships and improving them. One thing that has really been driven home is that I need to be less critical. Lund pretty much challenges the listener to go 24 hrs without criticizing anyone; not even in the car. Try it! And if you fail before you leave the building you get to start over that instant you don’t have to wait until the next day.
GB Hinkley also said
“Let us as Latter-day Saints reach out to others not of our faith. Let us never act in a spirit of arrogance or with a holier-than-thou attitude. Rather, may we show love and respect and helpfulness toward them. We are greatly misunderstood, and I fear that much of it is of our own making. We can be more tolerant, more neighborly, more friendly, more of an example than we have been in the past. Let us teach our children to treat others with friendship, respect, love, and admiration. That will yield a far better result than will an attitude of egotism and arrogance.”
2. So let us Reach out to others serve!
We do not need to wait for the ward to have some huge service activity in order to serve. We can find our own.
.GB Hinkley said,”
“Let us study the ways of the Lord, reading His life and teachings in the sacred scripture He has given us. Let us take a little time to meditate, to think of what we can do to improve our lives and to become better examples of what a Latter-day Saint should be.”
3. Study the ways of the Lord. Elder Packer says,” Begin where you are-At Home”. (Feb. 1972 Ensign)
How can we do that? Have FHE, have family scriptures study, set goals as a family, put someone in charge of going over the family goals every Monday. Have PPI’s, have family prayer, pray as a couple, I always struggle with that one.
GB Hinkley said,”
“Let us reach out to the world in our missionary service, teaching all who will listen concerning the restoration of the gospel, speaking without fear but also without self-righteousness, of the First Vision, testifying of the Book of Mormon and of the restoration of the priesthood. Let us, my brothers and sisters, get on our knees and pray for the opportunity to bring others into the joy of the gospel.”
4. Let us do more Missionary work. Let us reach out. But how? If we learn how to share the gospel in our home first we may be able to do it outside of our protective place. We can practice during FHE. We can have people over for FHE monthly if this helps us make time to try. It helps our family.
Now Elder Pinnock of the Quorom of the 70 has said,” Lately, I have watched with deep concern a number of instances that have unfolded into frustration, heartache, and seeming hopelessness. I speak today to those who suffer with pain and who are aching with grief, anger, and guilt. What I say applies also to those who will yet pass through periods of anguish and difficulty.
When we were little, many of us repeated a verse that began:
I wish that there were some wonderful place Called the Land of Beginning Again, Where all our mistakes, and all our heartaches And all of our poor selfish grief Could be dropped like a shabby old coat at the door, And never be put on again. (Louise Fletcher, “The Land of Beginning Again,” in The Best Loved Poems of the American People, sel. Hazel Felleman, Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Co., 1936, p. 101.)
The “Land of Beginning Again” does not exist in a geographical location, but there is a specific spiritual position from which we can all start anew, shedding our pains, guilt, and sorrows.
The ancient prophet Jeremiah was in his house one day and heard the word of the Lord saying:
“Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
“Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
“And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
“Then the word of the Lord came again to me, saying,
“O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? … Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.” (Jer. 18:2–6.)
The Lord explained to Jeremiah that when we make mistakes, as ancient Israel was making, we can take what we have marred and begin again. The potter did not give up and throw the clay away, just because he had made a mistake. And we are not to feel hopeless and reject ourselves. Yes, our task is to overcome our problems, take what we have and are, and start again. “
We can start a new or make a new beginning. I have recently tried a new way. Going to Gospel Doctrine has helped me. That challenge of dedicating each day unto the Lord in the name of Christ has helped me. I feel like I have accomplished “miracles”; some days I am just not frustrated like I would normally be or angry. I have recently learned that being angry is a sin. I can get frustrated but I have to choose to be angry. I have found that when I put the Lord first he helps me to do it all! It is almost like just remembering Him all day long is enough, and he in turn takes care of me all day long. It is way cool!
Take the challenge dedicate your day unto the Lord and have him guide you. We can be like the potter’s clay and be formed in ways that we would never be able to be like without him.
So let us take Elder packer’s counsel. Begin where you are-At home!
If you are not doing some of these things I have mentioned think about this.
It’s Child’s Play. This was an article I came across.
Dianne Dibb Forbis, “It’s Child’s Play: How to Help Your Child Begin a Journal,” Ensign, Jan 1977, 29
If you’re not keeping a personal journal, your children will most probably follow your example. But even if you are keeping a journal, there is still no guarantee that they will do likewise.
What is needed is for you to take your child by the hand and say, “Let’s do this fun thing together!” It doesn’t matter if you have never been a keeper-of-records. Take the time to help your children establish a legacy that will bring heartfelt joy to them, their children, their children’s children. No special skills are required to begin. Muster a desire; then get started.
So think about it like this:
“If I’m not doing anything that has been mentioned, my children or my spouse or family will not either. But even if you are, and I know there is still no guarantee that they will they may do likewise.
“Let’s do this fun thing together!” It doesn’t matter if you have never done FHE or family prayers or etc. Take the time to help your children establish a legacy that will bring heartfelt joy to them, their children, their children’s children. No special skills are required to begin. Muster a desire; then get started.
In 2000 I was baptized. I am joyful that I go to conference now. I am thankful that I can begin again too. Let us take time to meditate to think of what we can do to improve our lives and to become better examples of what a Latter-day Saint should be. Let us really do our best effort to have a new beginning. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.