A Path Already Walked

The Worth of EVERY soul is Great!

(The Tree of Life represents The Love of God-which is most desirable to His Children)

(The Rod of Iron represents The Word of God[scriptures]-which guide us to Him)

A Talk Given By Paul H. Dunn-General Authority For The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

“Once upon a time, there was a little red schoolhouse with one big room for 27 children. The teacher sat with an American flag on one side of her and a blackboard on the other. The children sat in rows facing her, the littlest ones in front. The youngest was seven, and she was very little. The biggest was 16, and he was six feet tall. The youngest was smart, and she could read with the other children. The biggest was dumb, but he was strong and could help the teacher carry in wood. In bad weather, he carried the littlest girl across the puddle in front of the schoolhouse. And sometimes she helped him with his reading.“Then one day the state built a big highway, right past the schoolhouse door. And the State Education Department came by and said, ‘Great things are happening in education. There are special teachers for arithmetic, reading, art and music. If you combine with other schoolhouses, you could have a great big school where your children could have all the advantages. And big yellow buses could carry your children over the new highway right up to the school door.’ So the parents voted to consolidate, and the little red schoolhouse was abandoned.“At first things went well in the big school. But after a while, the State Education Department said that it wasn’t providing the children with enough meaningful experiences. And some parents complained that the children were not learning to read and write and figure as well as they had in the little red schoolhouse. ‘We will try some new things,’ said the educators. So they tried the ungraded primer, where fast readers were not slowed down by slow readers, and where children who had trouble with numbers did not get moved on to the next grade before they could add 3 and 5. This helped, but not enough.“‘We will try something more,’ the educators said. ‘We will tear down some walls at the new school, so the children will be working together in one big room. That way, there will be less peer-group competition.’“Finally, an important educator came along, looked at the school and said, ‘This is good, but it is not good enough. It is too big, and the children are losing their identity. There are not enough interpersonal relationships in the infrastructure. What we really need is a one-room schoolhouse. And since red is a cheerful color, I think we ought to paint it red.’” (From Mt. Kisco, N.Y., Patent Trader, in Reader’s Digest, March 1973, p. 68. Used by permission.)The educator in this story did not mean that the consolidated school, the special teachers, or the ungraded primer were not advantages. The point of the story is that along with the wonderful new discoveries in education, the emphasis must still be placed upon the individual and upon his needs and relationships with others.This philosophy applies just as importantly to Church organizations as it does to the little red schoolhouse. In a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith just prior to the organization of the Church, the Lord said:“Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;

“For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.

“And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.” (D&C 18:10–12.)

Our Lord’s response to the Pharisees’ question, “Why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?” was, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.” (Mark 2:24, 27.)

I understand from what the Lord has revealed to us through the prophets that people are his greatest concern. We are his children. We are somebody, as Elder Ashton so wonderfully stated this morning. We are his children, and he continually reveals himself through the prophets so that one day we can be like him.

We are important to our Heavenly Father. Every soul is precious in his sight. Have you ever wondered if He hears your prayers? Or if you even matter to him?-As a representative of Jesus Christ I can tell you with the most assurity & sincerity-He does LOVE you. He KNOWS you. And he HEARS you. And I know it, because He has given us His Gospel here on the Earth & The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints, to help us draw closer to him. 

It All Begins With FAITH

Secure Anchors

In the Book of Mormon-Jacob 7:23

23 And it came to pass that peace and the ^alove of God was restored again among the people; and they ^bsearched the scriptures, and hearkened no more to the words of this wicked man.

Our Savior knows the difficult obstacles in which we face in life. Alma 7:11-12 ( 11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and ^aafflictions and^btemptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will ^ctake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. 12 And he will take upon him ^adeath, that he may ^bloose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to ^csuccor his people according to their infirmities.)-Our Savior, Jesus Christ, took upon himself afflictions and temptations of every kind, so that he would know how to lead us and help us on our journey. He has given us a key(The Atonement) and a map to life(Gospel of Jesus Christ & the scriptures) to help us along in our journey as we follow HIM we can find peace and comfort in this world-As we follow the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we will feel Gods love for us & purpose. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it means everything to me. It is my secure anchor in this world, that is so often changing. Through, the Gospel of Jesus Christ I have come to know my Savior, and I know as I follow him; I will be lead and
guided through the obstacles of life. 

Let Christ Be Your Foundation

In The Book of Mormon: Helaman 5:12
12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the^arock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your ^bfoundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty ^cstorm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

http://www.youtube.com/v/Tuwid8_O8dk?version=3&autohide=1&feature=share&showinfo=1&autohide=1&attribution_tag=q5Bl5uwjPevx4yGrX0Xo2A&autoplay=1

The Season to be Grateful:
Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. As we cultivate a grateful attitude, we are more likely to be happy and spiritually strong. We should regularly express our gratitude to God for the blessings He gives us and to others for the kind acts they do for us.

Mosiah 2:19-22 in The Book of Mormon:

19 And behold also, if I, whom ye call your king, who has spent his days in your service, and yet has been in the service of God, do merit any thanks from you, O how you ought to ^athank your heavenly ^bKing!

 20 I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the^athanks and ^bpraise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and ^cpreserved you, and has caused that ye should ^drejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another—

 21 I say unto you that if ye should ^aserve him who has created you from the beginning, and is ^bpreserving you from day to day, by lending you ^cbreath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own ^dwill, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your ^ewhole souls yet ye would be ^funprofitable servants.

 22 And behold, all that he ^arequires of you is to ^bkeep his commandments; and he has ^cpromised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth ^dvary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do ^ekeephis ^fcommandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

I CHALLENGE YOU TO CEASE TO BE IDLE

Its been a little while since I last posted my challenge of the week. Okay more like 4 weeks of challenges :) But at least I'm trying. Life gets busy...sometimes it can be hard not to get caught up in it. Anyway the challenge this week is to CEASE TO BE IDLE-Well i definitely have some work to do. Id like to say it will be a piece of cake...but that would be a lie :) The challenge explains that we need to do more than just dream. To develop tenacity and stick-to-it-ive-ness! Love the word!-stick-to-it-ive-ness. We must go further than just dream. We need to do! But a dream that matters. I guess you could dream to reach your goal at getting a high score on Xbox, but seriously! There's got to be more than that to life, stretch your dream a little further :) Everyone's got a dream-The Movie Tangled sung it best. "I've Got  Dream!" In return your life will open up, you will have a feeling of involvement, and vitality that will make your life three-dimensional instead of flat, and colorful instead of black an white. And when you feel like you dream is being crushed, or there's no one who really cares-you're wrong. There is always that one person who has HIS hand stretched out still and who is rooting for YOU-Jesus Christ our brother and Savior.