I know it’s been a while, life has been very busy lately for our family, this morning I said farewell to my brother and his new wife who had come to stay with us for a week, it gave me another opportunity to reflect on my belief that families are one of the greatest gifts we have on this earth. I have not seen my brother for about four years, so I was really looking forward to catching up and meeting his new wife, whom I haven’t met before, we spent the week talking and spending time together, as we did this I noticed my brother and his wife and their great affection for each other, they would take every opportunity that they could to cuddle and be affectionate, me and my wife would smile to each other from across the room, sitting in our comfortable, but single chairs, smug in the knowledge that this affectionate stage would soon be lost to the mundane chores of work and family life, to be resurrected occasionally for brief moments in between dirty nappies, financial dilemmas and taxi driving services. It was not until today after I had bid them goodbye, that I really began to reflect on the week and the things that I had experienced, it was then that I realized, after watching the newly weds all week long, that I wanted to go home and cuddle my wife, I began to remember our first year of marriage and some of the really special times that we spent together, just enjoying each-others company. I went home and lay on the couch with my wife and we just held each other for a while, we didn’t speak really, we just held each other like we used to, when we were first married, before the house began to fill with children and time began to be filled with ‘more important’ things. I really enjoyed it…. I love my children, and could not imagine life without them, but the time I spent just holding my wife today, refreshed me like no other activity has in a long time, the children were still there, and there was still plenty of important things we could have been doing to fill that time, but just holding my wife and sharing that contact today was time that I will never regret, and am very grateful to have had, I think in the future as, Monday rolls on, and work, and life, continue to grind forward in their unrelenting way, I will ‘make’ time to be a more loving and affectionate husband, I believe it will improve my quality of life and also strengthen my relationship with my wonderful wife. I am so grateful for a church that teaches me to be humble and learn from my experiences, as I served a full-time mission for the church I was taught to always evaluate your experiences and look for ways to grow from them, and once you have done this to share this experience with others, this lesson has stayed with me, and I continue to try and live by it.
A few weeks ago, during a Monday night Family Home Evening (FHE) we committed ourselves to get up together and bear testimony, during fast and testimony meeting. This is a meeting which is held once a month, usually on the first Sunday of the month, in which the members of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints have an opportunity to get up, if they want, and share testimony about principles of the gospel that they have a testimony of.
We completed that commitment today, we felt wonderful afterwards, it is always a challenge to get up in front of a large group of people and talk. I felt really close to my wife, she finds it even more difficult then I do, and yet she got up and did it anyway, because she believes in the importance of testifying of truth. In a world full of spiritual uncertainty, it is a special thing to be able to say ‘we know’ that God lives, and ‘we know’ he speaks through a living prophet , we have this knowledge ‘first hand’ through direct experiences, experiences which have come by experimenting on the ‘word’ of Christ. My testimony of faith was strengthened today by watching my wife exercise the principles of faith, Nicole today hoped for strength from the Lord, to help her speak, a blessing she knew could come to those seeking it righteously, and by acting on this knowledge she was blessed with the strength she needed. In doing this she fulfilled the requirements of faith that Paul spoke of when he said “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews 11:1 Alma also spoke of faith, when he said, “If ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true” (Alma 32:21) because faith is a principle of both action and power Nicole first had to act, before she received the power that she required to complete her commitment. It was just a small experience we had today, but one that added to a lifetime of others, and it’s these many small experiences, which build, piece by piece, a firm and unmoving testimony of truth.
I am always amazed when I take the time to really look at the world around me and see the beauty of what we have been given to live in, It always surprises me to realize the similarities and symbols that nature holds to our spiritual life’s and our Heavenly Fathers plan for us. I remember when I first realized how close ‘The Sun’ was to ‘The Son’ the former being our source of light and life in the physical world and the latter being our source of light and life in the spiritual world, is it any wonder then, that ‘The Sun’ an object that cannot be denied, 
is set above us each day, to warm and give light, and that if we follow this same example in our spiritual lives by setting the son of God above us ( In our minds) we will in turn be warmed spiritually and given life?There are so many other fascinating and inspirational parallels in nature for us to deny it’s divine origin.
all images © copyright 2008 Aaron Viljoen
Last night I got a call from two of the missionaries serving in our ward area, they asked me to help them teach a lesson to a person who has been investigating the church for a while now, I accepted, because I always have a great experience when I get the chance to go out with them to teach.
One of the things that I love about being a member of the church is the fact that we are constantly being asked to go out of our comfort zone, I am a naturally shy person and so when being asked to go and do things like this, I have a chance to break through some of my barriers and do things I would otherwise not have done. I value my membership in the church and the many things it has bought into my life, but I would have had a hard time telling people about it, if it had not been for the programs of the church which teach in a loving way the importance of sharing what we have with our fellow man. I also found through missionary service my fears grew smaller and my faith in Jesus Christ heightened, so that I am now able to say yes without fear, to things that would have been difficult to do otherwise.
We taught a man ( I’ll call him John, for privacy, this is not his real name) my age about prayer, and the importance it plays in our lives, we got to share experiences from our own lives with him, it was great to reflect on all the times that prayer has been a strength and help to me. I loved to listen to the missionaries as they talked about other principles like faith, and repentance, for their age it is always a wonder how powerfully they teach.
After a while John told us he had just recently discovered that a close relative had been diagnosed with a terminal illness, we consoled him and assured him he could take comfort in sincere prayer to our Father in Heaven, before we left John tonight, we asked if we could say a prayer together with him, he consented and then astonished me by asking if he could offer it, in all my experience with John, he had always been very vocal in his refusal to offer prayer out loud in our presence, and so with a little nervousness in his voice he gave a prayer in his native language, I did not understand a word of the prayer that was offered, but I could feel Johns concern for his relative come out in the way that he prayed to our Heavenly Father tonight, I know that his prayer was heard.
It has been many years now since I came home from my full time service as a missionary, but I still remember fondly hundreds of similar experiences as the one I had tonight, I’m pretty glad that I can continue doing missionary work, it brings me allot of joy, to share things that have helped me so much.
Well today was Christians first birthday, it is hard to believe he has been with us for a whole 365 days. We reflected tonight during our family ‘Spiritual Time’ ( A time we set aside each night as a family, and read a chapter of Scripture, and talk about it) about some of the things that he has learned during his short time here, we wondered at the speed with which he has picked up some things and the difficulties he has with others, I personally thanked our Heavenly Father that he has come into our family and given us so much joy, I also thought of what a great responsibility it is to be entrusted with one of our Heavenly Fathers children. To nurture and love him has been an awesome experience, but I know that there is more to fatherhood then that.
As I think of the things that Christian has learnt over the past year, I wonder if he has benefited by the things I have taught him, and, despite his age, have I taught him things that will prepare him for life and all of it’s many trials, I think with the aid of my lovely wife we have done a good job so far, I can see many areas for improvement, and so I am grateful to celebrate the day Christian was born into this world, because along with the celebration, I get an opportunity to reflect on my role as his father, and to evaluate what I can improve on in the coming year, I have faith that my Heavenly Father can help me to be a great father, and I know it will take humility and faith on my part to qualify for this help.
(This post has been edited… due to copyright issues)
Hello World…
July 2, 2008 in Comments on LDS addresess | Leave a comment
This is the first post to this blog and I will start with an introduction, I started this blog after reading in the latest Ensign (July 2008) There is an article in it called “Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet” adapted from an address given at BYU Hawaii on December 15, 2007, by Elder M. Russell Ballard.
The article outlines some of the things we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints can do, to use the Internet in sharing the message of Christ and his restored church with a larger group of people, and how we can “Join the conversation” that is taking place all over the world on the Internet. I have started this ‘conversation’ in the hopes that it may serve as a record of my dealings with God and his son Jesus Christ and how they have affected and inspired me to change, I hope that it may have some impact for good on those who stumble upon it.
(This post has been edited… due to copyright issues)