The New Era, The Friend and The Ensign

"The Future is as bright as your faith."

"Faith builds on the past but never longs to stay there.
Faith trusts that God has great things in store for each of us."

"Live to see the miracles of repentance and forgiveness,
of trust and divine love that will transform your life today,
tomorrow and forever."

"The Lord expects us to inquire, study, and act
even when we lack perfect knowledge"

"Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed:
for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest" (Joshua 1:9)

"Prayer is your personal key to heaven.
the lock is on your side of the veil."

RS Lesson From Church

Today in RS, we talked about and learned, that even the prophets who were on the earth before Christ was, knew how important it was for Him to be our Savior. They knew that because of Him, we would be able to be free of our sins. These are just two of a few testimonys that were shared in class.

Alma's Testimony (alma 5:48)
" I say unto you, that I know of myself that whatsoever I shall say unto you, concerning that wich is to come, is true; and I say unto you, that I know that Jesus Christ sall come, yea, that Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth. And behold, it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world, yea, the sins of every man who steadfastly believeth on his name."

Nephi's Testimony (2 nephi:25,26,29)
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Chirst, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins...and now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strengh, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out."

(thanks rachel for a wonderful lesson!)

Gifts from the heart.

"Our Heavenly Father gave us the greatest gift of all when he sent His Son to earth. During the Chrismas season we remember our Father's great gift to us-the Savior-by happily giving and greatfully receiving gifts of our own. Many presents are brightly wrapped and ribboned, others are simple yet sincere, and some are just meant to exchange deep feelings. Looking back, we often find that gifts from the heart are what we remember and love the most. Here are some of the best Christmas gifts that these yound people have received."

Warm Memories: "The greatest Christmas present I ever received came early one Christmas morning. At some point during the night the furnace in our house had gone out, and there was not heat for us on that snowy morning. We huddled in blankets close to the Christmas tree and opened presents. While it wasn't physically the warmest Christmas together trying to keep each other warm and enjoying each other's company". ~Kasen Christensen.

The Gift Of Music: "The best gift I have ever received was my own hymn book, because music is a huge part of my life. Music lifts me up when I am down." ~Cody Gunnell.

(From New Era, December, 2009)

A few years ago, in my own family instead of buying our gifts, we made them! I made my brothers pj's, while they made me two dressers and a vanity. These gifts and that Christmas will be the one we will always remember! I hope all of us will remember the true meaning of Christmas. It is not always lots of gifts, but remembering our Savior, and all he has done for us!

Merry Christmas!!