I love General Conference! It was so beautiful! Thank you loving Father for kindness and mercy. Thank you for guidance! Thank you for speaking to us and sharing your light and direction so we can make our way along this covenant path and not lose our way.The world would like us to believe that we are left here on this earth to walk alone. Satan wants to keep us in darkness alone. That is not the covenant path to our Father in Heaven. Heavenly Father called a council in Heaven to gather His children! He gathers, includes, lifts and inspires!
Today I want to record how and where I see love - oh I see Love in so many ways!
I just got an email from our Sister Liesl! She is so amazing! I am so grateful for her! Love overflows from her words as she expresses concern, asks questions about others of concern and is mindful of her companions, investigators and members who she associates with!
Often in the morning Stephen is one of the first to wiggle. He calls "Mama" from his bed, or sometimes he does his own little yodel (wooohooowooooohoooo) to call me (love that!) When I peak in, he has this cute lift of both hands up to ask me to lift him. He does it frequently - not just out of bed. When I see those hands, they remind me of covenant hands. B & I called them that one time, and now everytime he does that I see them that way. Something more than just a beg to please pick him up. They are submissive, willing to serve, ready to give. I want to be that submissive! He shows love with every look!
Sophia has learned to wink. She shares her darling wink so readily saying "I love you something special!" I am so grateful for her!
Oh there is such love all around me!
An opposite of Love is blame. I loved this quote from President Monson's message yesterday.....
Blame doesn't say love, it says it's your fault! It says you owe me something, you hurt me so I'm going to hurt you back worse! It is ugly! It doesn't heal. How can one see blood and not want to wrap it in love? I don't know! Nurturing means to care. Isn't that love? Isn't that wanting to heal and care for... to love and make well, however we can do that! In our humanity of pain, hurt and suffering, sometimes we can not make it better. There are some wounds so deep and complicated that we don't yet know how to heal them. I am helping with a Relay for Life happening here in St. George soon. We don't just suffer, we try to help, try all we can to make it better! We raise funds, we run, we volunteer, we support, we take meals, we make quilts, we reach out with a call and a smile when there is hurt. Nurturing. I think that is what Mother means! Most of all, I pray! I know that my Savior can Heal! He can raise the dead, he can restore life, he can stop the blood, and restore the skin. He can heal a wounded heart that can't be seen but is hurt. I want to be that always!
There seem to be some that believe that when the Savior says "My Hand is stretched out still" means the Wrath of God will go on for eternity! As if God in wrath will continue endlessly with punishments, silent treatment, destruction, through eternities! This is NOT TRUE! Our Savior is Love. He extends His love and forgiveness. He wants us to learn and grow! He is not about endless misery. He is about learning, climbing, growing.
I can't even stand to write more about punishments. His work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. He wants us to be "encircled about eternally in the arms of His love! That is not what I feel from my mother. I want to be a different kind of mother to my children and my children's children. I long to feel that love identified so frequently as "a Mother's love." Love is NOT punishment, disappointment, silent treatment and blame. That is the opposite of encircled about eternally in the arms of His love!
Our charge as women is to "nurture." Nurture, what does that word mean? Defined as "the process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something." Do we do that with punishment and justice? No. I can't look at this photo of the hurt finger without wanting to wrap it in a cloth and care for it. Nurture - to make well, to care for. Not to leave it there bleeding. Not to ignore it and hope it will go away. Not to yell at it and blame the person for cutting their finger open! Help. Care. Love. Feel concern or interest, to look after and provide for the needs of with serious attention and consideration.
"I believe that it should be the blessing of every child to be born into a home where that child is welcomed, nurtured, loved, and blessed with parents, a father and a mother, who live with loyalty to one another and to their children."
"You are they who nurture them and establish within them the habits of their lives. No other work reaches so close to divinity as does the nurturing of the sons and daughters of God."
"Love there is none other commandment greater than this. Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. We can not truly love God if we do not follow our fellow travelors on this mortal journey... This commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God, loveth his brother also."
"Love is the very essence of the Gospel. Jesus Christ is our exemplar. His life was a legacy of love. The sick he healed, the downtrodden he lifted, the sinner he saved. At the end the angry mob took his life, and yet there rings from Golgotha's hill, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do."
"There are many attributes of love such as kindness, patience, selflessness, understanding, forgiveness. These and other such attributes will help make evident the love in our hearts. Usually our love will be shown in our day to day interactions in another. All important will be our ability to recognize someones need and then respond."
Yes respond! Don't just stay silent or worse blame, accuse, torture, inflict your version of mortal justice as you view the accident! That is not nurturing. That is not the way of our Savior. "It will do us little good to speak of the general botherhood of mankind if we cannot regard those who are all around us as our brothers and sisters!"
"Some of our greatest opportunities to demonstrate our love will be within the walls of our own home, love should be the very essence of our lives."
President Gordon B. Hinckley said "Why is it that the ones we love most become so frequently the targets of our harsh words? Why should we sometimes speak as if daggers that cut to the quick?"
President Monson continued: "The bottom line - the reasons do not matter. We must treat each other with respect. Be compassionate and encouraging. Let us be careful that we do not disturb another's confidence.
Hurt feelings - again it doesn't really matter how small the issue was, it can not and should not be left to can cor and to destroy. Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these "What might have been."
How can we show love? President Monson listed some including a kind wave, a compliment, interest in another's activities, visiting, these words and actions and many others can communicate love.
"May we begin now this very day to express love to all of God's children. As we arise each morning, let us determine to respond with love and kindness to all that may come our way. Beyond comprehension is God's love for us! He sent his son to give his life for us that we might have eternal life. As we come to understand this incomprehensible gift, our hearts will be filled with love for our Eternal Father, for our Savior and for all mankind. That such will be so is my humble prayer. Heavenly Father I am glad that you're always here and there!"
This was just for me! I want to show love in all that I do! 
Here is current evidence of love in my home... as I have been typing, struggling, learning, searching, my beautiful girls have washed the car inside and out! Thanks girls for showing love in word and deed! 
This beautiful talk by Sister Bonnie Parkin titled Eternally Encircled in His Love:
"The greatest evidence of our Savior’s love for us is His Atonement. His love overflows with grace, patience, long-suffering, mercy, and forgiveness."
"We must strive to manifest the love of Christ, who always sought to please His Father by doing His will. Sisters, we must make every effort to follow His supreme example—to demonstrate such love through our thoughts, our speech, our actions—in all the things we do and are. We must not allow pride or vanity, selfishness or personal agendas to displace our reaching out to others in love. Quite simply and profoundly, we must first allow ourselves to be encircled by God’s love. We do this best by embracing the Savior’s eternal Atonement. Then we can expand that circle to include our family and all others. Such a circle is indeed heaven."
Off to give Love! Thanks for filling my bucket so I have much to give!