Thoughts for Today

I have been reading this morning as I walk on the treadmill and a few things I have read really struck me. First I was reading the Priesthood and Relief Society lesson for this Sunday.  I like these thoughts from President Ezra Taft Benson: "We have no cause to really worry. Live the gospel, keep the commandments. Attend to your prayers night and morning in your home. Maintain the standards of the Church. Try and live calmly and cheerfully. . . . Happiness must be earned from day to day. But it is worth the effort." and "Be cheerful in all that you do. Live joyfully. Live happily. Live enthusiastically, knowing that God does not dwell in gloom and melancholy, but in light and love.". He closed the lesson with this testimony, "We will never be alone if we live as we should, because our Father will always be with us to bless us. He wants us to be successful. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to achieve the good goals we set. He will do His part if we do our part."

Then I thought of our Southern Alberta winds when I read this thought from Elder Holland.  "Be true and faithful. Live your religion. Stand straight and be firm—and if there’s a little wind blowing, just put your face into the wind and go forward. And when you can’t go forward, just stand. Just plant your feet and stand immovable for a while if that’s all you can do. Be faithful and be true and love the Lord, because He loves you." Standing steadfast and immovable in the wind. What a great visual.

Some wonderful thoughts to think about during the day.

Our Personal Lifesaver

Our Personal Lifesaver

In the New Testament during the Savior's life on the earth, he and his disciples were on a boat. The Savior was tired and went to sleep but while he was sleeping a terrible storm came up and the disciples became afraid. They woke the Savior saying, “carest thou not that we perish?” The Savior gently asked, “Where is your faith?” and then calmed the seas.

We are often thrown about in life's stormy seas and there are times when we call out “carest thou not that I perish?” The Savior is always there if we just show faith. He is our “lifesaver” in the storms of life. He throws out the lifesaving device of the atonement to help us overcome the stormy seas and we need to grab a hold of His lifesaving device. He offers to buoy us up, strengthen and help us and He has made resurrection and eternal life possible all through the atonement.

There was a certain man whose son was very sick to whom the Savior said that all things are possible if you just believe. He cried out “Lord, help my unbelief.” When those stormy seas come and our faith begins to falter we can also reach out to the Savior begging for help with our belief and faith. Then we can hold on to the lifesaving blessings of the atonement. It is only through the Savior and his atoning sacrifice that we will be able weather the storms of life. The Savior in every sense of the word is our “lifesaver.”

I saw this on the wall in the resource room at the Relief Society building on Temple Square. It really impressed me because I feel that with September coming it is time to reorganize my life and adjust my priorities. This is a guide that helps me to know where to start. The ideas are from Sister Julie B. Beck, former General Relief Society President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

 In the Book of Mormon in Alma chapter 5 Alma is speaking to members of the church in Zarahemla. He says:

19 I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?

21 I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins. 

22 And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you?

27 Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?

After reading these verses and picture came to my mind:

 Imagine yourself in the temple. You are sitting, waiting to go into the Celestial room where you will have the opportunity to meet the Savior, Jesus Christ. You have dressed in the most beautiful white dress possible and have dressed very carefully for this special time. As you are waiting you look down lovingly at your dress and find to your horror that it has somehow been soiled with big spots of mud. You desperately try to rub the mud off but it only gets ground deeper into the fibers of the dress and all your actions seem to make the mud spots worse. Tears sting your eyes and you want to run and hide. You don’t want them to call your name when it is your turn to meet the Savior.

Your name is called and slowly, reluctantly, and shamefully you enter the room. The tears are freely flowing down your face and your eyes are downcast. You can’t bring yourself to look into the eyes of the Savior. Gently and lovingly the Savior lifts your chin and kindly looks into your eyes. His hand softly touches the soiled places on your dress and where the mud spots used to be a brilliant white fabric is seen. Your dress has “ been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ.”

The atonement of Jesus Christ gives us the chance to repent of those things that we do wrong so that we can stand blameless before God with a pure heart and clean hands. 

Have you ever been sitting in a conference and it was like the speaker was talking directly to you? That happened to me today. We were at Stake Conference but part of the conference was a broadcast from Salt Lake. President Boyd K. Packer was the last speaker. Right at the end of his talk he said something that was kind of like an after thought, but it was just for me. He said that if you were worrying about this or that remember that if you have faith, the Lord will let you know what to do and that you will know what to say in the very hour that you need it. He also said that the Lord will help and bless us. Those words were so amazing because for the last few days I have struggled with my calling as a Relief Society President. I have felt like I am just not able to do all that is required of a Relief Society President. There are times that I am afraid of not knowing what to say or I am afraid of saying the wrong thing. Then the challenges of being a wife and mother and still having time to take care of over 100 women is so daunting. What President Packer said this morning is exactly what I needed. It is wonderful that the Lord sends these "tender mercies" to us just in the hour that we need them most.

Planting A Garden

We just planted the garden tonight. When we plant the garden I always think about Alma 32 and planting the seed and the last three verses. We always think of planting the seed and nourishing it but the last three verses are interesting because they repeat themselves and whenever something in the scriptures is repeated three times that means it is important. It tells us three times how we nourish things. Lots of things need to be nourished besides testimonies. But look at the words nourish by you faith, diligence and patience in verse 41. In verse 42 it’s diligence faith and patience and in 43 it’s faith diligence and patience. 

Faith is something that you must have in order to accomplish anything. You need to have faith that you can do something. Take learning a new skill, you need to have faith to just begin. Then you need to have diligence - you need to work at it. But the most important is that you need to have patience. Patience is probably the most important and the hardest to do because we want something now. There is a little thought that says “Faith in God includes Faith in his Timing” (patience.). All these things we are experiencing will require patience and patience is a great virtue to develop. 

You can use this formula with every trial that you will have in life. Have faith that things will work out for your good - be diligent in your prayers, scripture study and keeping the commandments and the have patience in the Lord’s timing. And you notice in the very end of verse 43 it adds the words “long-suffering, and waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you. There again have patience and wait for the blessings. The blessings of the Lord are there and miracle can happen everyday of our lives if we just have faith, be diligent and have patience.

Visiting Teachers - Angels of the Lord

As a new Relief Society president I have struggled with how I was going to be able to know the needs of all the sisters in my ward and then help them. I just didn't know how I was physically and spiritually going to do this. A wise Bishop counselled that I can't be everywhere and that there are limitations on my time and my physical abilities. That is why the Lord put in place Visiting Teachers. I am so grateful for good visiting teachers who care for the sisters in our ward. I could not do the calling of Relief Society president without them. We need each other as sisters, to help and strengthen each other. I have often thought about the pioneer women in the early days of the church. When their husbands were gone on missions, or they were widowed, they were all right because they had other sisters to help them. I know that I will always have the sisters in Relief Society to help me through the hard times. They are angels doing the work of the Lord.

http://www.lds.org/service/leadership/relief-society?lang=eng#responsibilities-of-visiting-teachers

Cleaning Up For Spring

The first crocus of the year

 The first signs of Spring as just starting to show here in Glenwood and I am looking forward to getting into my flower beds, pulling out all the dead plants, trimming back perennials, turning the soil and getting everything ready for new life and a new growing season. The cleaning up and cutting back makes for a healthy and beautiful garden.

Our lives are much like a flower garden. We also need to pull out all the dead stuff that is holding us back whither it be bad relationships, grudges, sin or whatever it may be that keeps us from finding joy. Sometimes it is just a matter of cutting back on the activities that we are doing. I love Elder Dallin H. Oaks famous conference talk on “Good, Better or Best.” Most of the things that we do are good things but our time is so limited that we need to choose the best things for us. 

Everyone will have their own list of best things that need to be done, but there are some areas that as women we tend to neglect. We need to ask ourselves if we are taking care of our own spiritual, physical and emotional needs. Are we studying the scriptures and taking the time to pray and develop a personal relationship with our Father in Heaven and with our Savior Jesus Christ? Are we taking the time to eat right, exercise and to get enough rest? Are we taking the time to build relationships with others, develop talents and engage in creative activities that recharge our batteries? I have always loved the saying that an empty cup cannot give to others. Our cups (or in the case of a women) our buckets need to be full so that we can serve and help others.

At this time of Spring and renewal may we each take time to make changes in our lives to do those things that are “best” that we may find more joy in our lives and that we may become a healthy and beautiful daughter of our Heavenly Father.

Genealogy Fan Chart

Genealogy Fan Chart

I am going through the family history class for Sunday School. The teachers told us about this site that will show your family history as a fan chart. It is really interesting to see where the research needs to start.

Developing a Personal Relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ

This week I have been thinking about the last general conference and trying to finish the conference issue Ensign before the next one comes out. Going through it so fast with a highlighter was really amazing. Do you know there was a major underlying theme in most of the talks? It was that Heavenly Father knows and notices us. He knows our trials, sorrows and our joys. He remembers us and wants to help and bless us. He is waiting for us to develop a personal relationship with Him and to come to Him in prayer to ask for the things that we need. Those ideas were in almost half the talks in the November 2011 General Conference.

I talked to my husband about it last night and about how it was such a reoccurring theme throughout the conference. He said that in our minds we know that it’s true that Heavenly Father loves and cares about us but sometimes it is hard to feel it in our hearts. I had that problem once and then I was called into the stake. I found that in order to serve the Lord, I had to have that personal relationship because it was a calling that I was unable to do on my own. It seems that it takes going through times of difficulty and hardship that forces us to develop a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father

As I read through the talks it seems there are steps to developing this relationship. First you must have sincere prayer. Like any relationship communication is so important and when we communicate with Heavenly Father we do it through prayer. Sometimes we think that we can only pray for big things but if you go to Alma 34:17-27 it says to pray for your houses, flocks, fields, crops and basically everything. Things may seem small and trivial to others, but what is important to you is important to the Lord.

Another thing we need to do is study the scriptures. That is were we find revelation and where our Heavenly Father can speak personally to us. I love reading the Doctrine and Covenants because the Lord seems to speak to me through the Doctrine and Covenants. I can put my name in the place of whosever name is mentioned. D&C 6 has become a special section to me because as I was reading it, it was if the Lord were saying the same words to me. It is through the scriptures where we really learn about our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon too. I love Nephi, Moroni, Alma, all the wonderful prophets and their teachings. I think if I were on Survivor, my personal item would be the Book of Mormon with a picture of my family taped inside.

Then finally you need to keep the commandments and serve others. We tend to be drawn to people who like the things we do, and who are like us. If we are like our Heavenly Father or if we are trying to be like Heavenly Father we will seek Him more. When I think of the Savior I think of his love, care and compassion. He took time to bless those in need. He called children to come unto him and he blessed them. He taught, rebuked with love, and cared for each one individually. He still does that now! The personal relationship you develop with your Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ will help you to overcome any trial or adversity that may be in your way.

"A Hair of His Head Shall Not Fall to the Ground Unnoticed" D&C 84:116

The other day I was reading in the Doctrine and Covenants. A scripture popped out at me, as scriptures tend to do sometimes. It was such a random scripture and one that you would usually pass over in your reading. The scripture was; "Let him trust in me and he shall not be confounded; and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed" D&C 84:116. I thought about a hair from your head. Have you ever noticed the amount of hair that you pull from your hairbrush after brushing your hair? You really don't miss them from your head and you wouldn't know they were gone if you didn't find them in your brush. But the Lord notices, a hair is such a little thing but He notices when it falls. That thought stuck in my mind for a few days and every time I would see a hair I would think that the Lord has noticed this hair.

Yesterday just as we were sitting down to dinner the phone rang. The call display said the call was from Utah but I didn’t recognize the number. When I answered, it was an Elder Lund calling from Lisbon, Portugal. At first I was worried about Sister Thomas. She has been serving a mission in Lisbon and has been there for only two weeks. Elder and Sister Lund are also serving a mission in Lisbon. They told me that they had spent the evening with Sister Thomas and what a wonderful sister she was. Sister Lund had given her a hug and fed Sister Thomas and her companion brownies. They also told me that she looks good and has a sweet spirit about her. Sister Lund also asked about what kind of cake Sister Thomas likes because she wants to make a cake for her and make sure that she gets her birthday parcel on her birthday next Tuesday. The joy that filled my heart after talking to the Lund’s was indescribable. I had been so worried about my daughter, in a new country, learning a new language and being alone. There in the mission field was a senior couple from Utah with loving hearts taking care of my daughter and the other missionaries in Lisbon.

I thought again about the lost hairs in a hairbrush. The Lord notices us; He knows when we need a little help or comfort. Having someone in Lisbon who would love and care for my daughter may have been just a little thing in the eyes of the world, but to me it was a big concern. I am so grateful for senior missionaries who serve around the world and the love and support that they offer to young missionaries.  “A hair of his head will not fall to the ground unnoticed.”

2011 Thomas Family Christmas Poem

The Thomas Family November 2011

Merry Christmas! To friends and family we send our cheer,

As we tell you what our family has been up to this year.

Kelly is still busy at the school every day,

Teaching and leading and helping kids on their way.

Records from the past he’s been indexing in his free time, 

And as long as he does more than his mother he’s just fine.

 Kathy has had a crisis mid-life,

For all she’s even been is a mother and wife.

So she’s taken the plunge into childhood again,

And is taking piano lessons which she quit way back when.

Matt, Sharelyn, Cassell, Paige and Macy

Matt and Share moved into a beautiful new home,

Now they’ve got lots of room for more kids to roam.

Matt works helping people that are put on probation,

While Share has made being a wife and mother her vocation.

 Cassell is in grade one and is beautiful, bright and sweet,

Watch out Dad because she is going to knock the boys off their feet.

Paige gives the best hugs and loves and she has just turned three,

In Grandma’s treat cupboard is the place she likes to be.

Share got a special Birthday present but she came one day late,

But having Macy Lynne Thomas join our family is just great.

Joe works in Lethbridge as an engineering tech,

Joe, Krystle and Chuck

And it’s water pipelines he draws supervises and inspects.

He tried something new that kept him busy this fall,

He was the head coach of the Magrath High School JV volleyball.

Krystle has her hands full keeping Joe and Chuck in line,

And she has made their home in Magrath beautiful and fine.

A new addition to their home will bring her lots of fun,

For now she can play her new piano when all her work is done.

 Chuck is very busy and at two is into everything is seems,

We should nickname him after his hero Lightening McQueen.

He doesn’t like Grandma or Grandpa but at their house he has fun,

Because he likes to do turkeys and loves his Uncle Tyson.

Matt, Sadie and Kaia

Matt and Sadie are the traveling kind,

Matt graduated from university and a job in Red Deer he did find.

Matt and Sadie were not happy and didn’t want to stay,

Then they found out that a baby was on the way.

So they came back to Southern Alberta where their hearts will always be,

Close to all their friends and especially their family.

 Kaia is sweet and beautiful as well,

She’s going to be another heart breaker I can tell.

Of course her parents can’t wait for the day,

When she gets a basketball in her hands and starts to play.

Elder Casey Thomas

Sister Emily and Elder Casey are our missionaries we have out.

And that we look forward to their letters there is no doubt.

Elder Thomas has been out for 19 months in the sun,

Serving the Lord in Las Vegas and having way too much fun.

He loves the gospel and is actually maturing,

Which for his parents is very reassuring.

 Irma Thomas went to the Missionary Training Center in November,

Irma Emily Thomas

And all those new Portuguese words she is trying to remember.

On January 3rd^h, to Portugal she will go,

Far away from Canada’s winter ice and snow.

She is learning a lot but is a little homesick,

Hopefully lots of letters and parcels will do the trick.

Tyson, Heidi and Julie are our children that keep us young,

Because from our home they have not sprung.

Emily, Heidi, Julie and Tyson

Tyson is sixteen and now can drive and go on dates,

Being kind, caring and responsible are his traits.

He’s started to notice that girls are pretty neat,

And one may have actually swept him off his feet.

He would rather play basketball than eat lunch,

But everyone sure loves him a whole bunch.

 Now Heidi has hit the great age of fourteen,

And is one that likes to be noticed and be seen.

Whither it’s in the latest fashion or driving the car.

Her hair and makeup is done perfectly for she is the star.

She does really well in piano and school and loves to create,

But it’s the sports she plays that she thinks are great.

 Julie is our author and she loves to write,

In fact writing her stories keeps her up late at night.

She is growing up fast and is ten years old,

And she loves to be creative if the truth were to be told.

She plays the piano and loves arts and crafts,

But she is a big tease and always makes us laugh.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

May your lives be filled with comfort and cheer.

Our Missionaries

After two months in the MTC Sister Emily Thomas will be leaving for Portugal on Tuesday. Here is what she wrote, "Jan 3, 2012 - We leave Salt Lake at 8:35 am. Then at 2:20 pm we arrive in Atlanta. In Atlanta we have a 4 hour lay-over so that is where we will hopefully be calling! Our plane leaves at 6:05pm from Atlanta to Paris. SO be expecting a call hopefully between 12-4 your time on Jan.3. We then have an overnight flight and will get into Paris at around 8:35 in the morning on the 4th. Well we have a 5 hour layover in Paris and then leave at 1:25pm and are supposed to get to Lisboa at 2:55pm their time. So I will then be about 7-8 hours ahead of you! That's crazy to think about. We have 15 missionaries in our traveling group. Our district and then another district who came same day." 
We are going to stay close to the phone on January 3rd! The address of the mission home in Portugal is: 

Portugal Lisbon Mission
Apartado 40054
1500 Lisbon Portugal
351-217-620-832
When she finds out where she is going to be she will let us know her new address.

On Christmas Day Elder Bednar and his wife came to speak to the missionaries in the MTC. I wish I could of been there: "One really neat thing that happened yesterday was during Elder Bednar's talk. He talked a lot of characteristics of Christ and how He would always turn outward when the rest of us would turn inward. He likened the "natural man" to the cookie monster... and even did impersonations of the "missionary cookie monster" saying, "I want baptisms now! I want investigators now!" It was really funny and interesting to see an apostle doing cookie monster impersonations... he was really good!


Then she had a great experience of cleaning the Provo Temple on Boxing Day.
"Today, of course, is p-day and we got to go clean the temple. I didn't know this but I guess once a year they renovate some part of this temple because it is the busiest so they are repainting and doing different things in it but since it's Boxing Day (did you know America doesn't call it Boxing Day!? Sometimes I don't get this country) all the people weren't working and so they had the Elders scrub the grout with toothbrushes to make it all nice and white and us 3 sisters got to help this lady named Sharon clean the temple presidency offices. Talk about intimidating! Apparently, if even the slightest thing is moved the Temple President will notice and then Sharon will get reassigned to a different area of the temple. So we were scared about touching anything but she does this every single night and has been doing it for 2 years! She was a great lady. Not only is she on the custodial staff for the temple, she is also a cook here at the MTC. She told us some really great stories about her conversion and what would happen when she didn't listen to the counsel of the Lord. What else was really interesting was that she knows, it seems, almost everything about the paintings in that area. So she had us stand in front of them and asked us different questions about what we noticed or what the faces looked like. There is this one where Jesus is confirming one of His disciples and the guy is kneeling. She had us look at all the faces of this painting until we realized that if you take off all the facial hair of every person. They all look the exact same. She said she thought that this was the way that the artist intended it to be. To be all in God's image. It was really neat."


It is exciting to see her learning and growing. I know that she will be a great missionary in Portugal.

We also got to talk with Elder Casey Thomas on Christmas Day as he is serving in Las Vegas. The fun thing was that we got to talk through Skype. It took me awhile to figure how to run Skype but wow is it worth it. We could see and talk to him and he could see us. He looks good and he is doing well. I can't believe that he has only five months left on his mission. He doesn't write the great letters that Sister Thomas does but then he's a boy. What a great blessing it is to have two missionaries serving the Lord.

When we took her to the MTC I didn't start to cry until we were leaving Provo. That's very brave for a Mom. We were met at the sidewalk by a bunch of Elders. I don't think Emily has been greeted by so many young men at one time. Two Elders took her and her luggage to the building where she would be spending the next two months. We watched her walk away and part of me walked away too. I know that this is the best thing for Emily and that she and our family will be so blessed by her and Elder Casey serving a mission. Two missionaries out at once WOW!!

Here she is Sister Emily Thomas. It is so different sending a daughter out on a mission. With your sons you are so glad that they are going. When it is your daughter it is liking she is taking a piece of your heart with you. She will be in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah until January and then will head to Lisbon, Portugal

Lethbridge Fires

Well I'm back. Fires have been raging around Lethbridge tonight and my first concern was the safety of my children. We could actually see the glow of the fires from our house. It is a little scary to look out your window and see the ridge glowing with fire. Julie was frightened, but as we knelt in prayer as a family and asked the Lord to bless Share and the girls in Lethbridge and to bless those who were fighting the fires, a peace came into our home. Our children were safe and I hope that not many homes were lost. I am so grateful for those men and women who work in emergency services that keep us safe. I was actually listening to an emergency radio on the Internet (and enjoying it) and heard the conversation between the police and fire departments. (Kelly says that is the first sign of becoming a red neck :-). These people put their lives on the line to fight fires and keep people and property safe. I don't think that they get many thanks. When was the last time you thanked a police officer for giving you a ticket? I think that they need our thanks more often.

The fires also made me wonder just how prepared my family is. Would we be able to evacuate within minutes in the case of a wild fire? I think that will be a good topic for a family home evening lesson.