For the Strength of Youth: A Brand New Year

A Brand New Year

Sisters,

On New Year's Eve, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints broadcast via satellite from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, "A Brand New Year". This was a special production of music, dancing, and inspiration by and to the youth of the Church all over the world, during which the new YM/YW theme for 2009 was introduced. Any of you who have seen it know how uplifting and enlarging it was, as well as the Spirit that prevailed as both youth and leaders of the Church bore their testimonies of the truthfulness of the Gospel and their love for our Savior, Jesus Christ. More than 500 young people participated in the orchestra, choir, and stage crew, and truly dazzled all with their talent.


In conjunction with the program, the Church has launched a new website called "A Brand New Year". Chock full of the latest web effects and widgets, the Church has made it the Youth's site on lds.org. I highly recommend it to all of you, whether or not you have teenagers. Here are some of the features:

• Read: Read current or past New Era Magazines, as well as search for articles or key words.
• Photo Gallery: Lots of pictures taken during the rehearsal and performance of "A Brand New Year".
• Listen: Download MP3's from "A Brand New Year", as well as ring tones, a great way to keep the music and the message fresh in anyone's thoughts. Also really great is the 'print music' feature, which allows members throughout the world to make "A Brand New Year" music their own songs.
• Watch the Videos: Recording of the production in several three- to five-minute segments. Full of catchy tunes, amazing production values, and uplifting messages, each individual piece or taken as a whole can provide an excellent addition or focus of your Family Home Evening.
• Commit: A place to print out personal commitment cards, as well as to subscribe to the site's e-newsletter.
• Share: This is the comment section where youth are encouraged to share their own experiences as they keep their commitments to pray daily, read the Book of Mormon daily, and to be happy, as well as read the thoughts of others.
• Resources: A great place for young people to go to read the scriptures online, watch, listen, or read messages from General Conference, learn about a specific gospel topic, access the New Era Magazines, and a terrific set of activities to help memorize the Scripture Mastery scriptures. Other sites on their links list include: LDS.org, Mormom.org, JesusChrist.lds.org, and Especially for Youth.
• Widgets: This is a tool which can be used to embed music and video on personal sites and blogs, such as the one in the right-hand column of this page. This is a great way for teenagers to share what matters to them with their friends, and can be a terrific missionary tool.
  

Visit the site, watch the video, surf through the different features, and find new ways to inspire your family with the joy that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Link of the Week: gethuman database from Paul English

gethuman database from Paul English

Bookmark this site. It is a simple list of phone numbers to call and how to react to prompts to get through the automated phone systems of hundreds of US companies and actually talk to a human being. There is no advertising and is absolutely free.

Categories of companies listed include:

credit

finance

government

hardware

insurance

internet

mobile

pharmacy

products

shipping

software

stores

telco

travel

tv/satellite

Blog of the Week: Dr. Laura’s Blog » Blessings in Disguise

Dr. Laura’s Blog » Blessings in Disguise

I don't listen to Dr. Laura, but my sister sent me this article posted on the radio host's blog, and I thought it was very cool and you'd enjoy the read. It's good to hear people talk well of Mormons, but it's even better to see that some actually 'get' us as a people, if not our religion. Dr. Laura seems to be one. In speaking of the Welfare system of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, after touring the main facility, she explains the concepts of those in need donating whatever service they can in exchange for the help they receive:

The basic concept is to preserve a sense of dignity and pride in those who have temporary need by giving them an opportunity to use their skills in the service of others. Walking around the premises, I felt the uplifted attitude of all who were there: smiles, waves, and straight backs.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints provides for people all over the world – not only with goods and goodwill, but with the opportunity to not lose a sense of self when “things” are lost.

I probably sound like an advertisement for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I am not a member of their religion, but I am impressed with their charitable philosophy, because I believe it teaches our children their real value, while motivating and uplifting them at the same time.

This article also brings to mind an article in the February 2008 Ensign by Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. In 'A Band of Brothers', he states:

If someone were to ask you who we are as a people, what would you say? Who are we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

The answer, I believe, is a simple one given to us by the Savior Himself. We are a people who love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, and minds. And we are a people who love our neighbor as ourselves. (See Matthew 22:37–39.)

This answer satisfies many of the questions asked about why we do what we do. Why does the Church ask so much of its members? Because we love the Lord, and we love our neighbor. Why do we do temple work? Missionary work? Welfare work? Because we love the Lord, and we love our neighbor.

These are the roots of all that we do. We do not send our missionaries out into the world to collect statistics. We send them into the world because we love our Heavenly Father, and we love our fellowmen.

That is who we are as a people. That is why we do what we do.

Especially at this Christmas season, when so many of us 'do what we do' in expressing our love for one another with gifts, caroling, parties, and help for the needy, let us remember why we do it. Let us make our love for our neighbors our gift to the Savior in celebration of His birth.

Food for Thought: Invisible Mothers

This one comes from Lucy Stern who thought it should be posted. Some of us have seen it before, but it's always a good reminder when we feel we're starting to fade into obscurity or have become entirely irrelevant.

Thanks for sending this, Lucy.

Invisible Mother.....

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please..'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it t o me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it here.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

Share this with all the Invisible Moms you know... I just did. The Will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you. This is beautiful and makes a ton of sense. To all the wonderful mothers out there.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am in much debt to my invisible Mother

FYI: A Timely Exhibit in this Christmas Season

On KUHF yesterday, I heard about a new exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural History called 'the Birth of Christianity: a Jewish Story'. It features, among other things, a stone tablet newly discovered containing what they're calling 'Gabriel's Prophecy' in which the Angel Gabriel tells of the Messiah who will die and then rise from the dead after three days. The KUHF feature on the stone tablet can be found here.

From the Houston Museum of Natural History site:

Explore the cultural, political and personal events that shaped Jerusalem and the surrounding region more than 2,000 years ago in The Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story. View the earliest known manuscript containing the story of Christ's birth in the oldest known copy of the New Testament Book of Luke. Examine other ancient manuscripts including the prophetic Old Testament Book of Isaiah - one of the original Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran. Witness history first hand and be among the first to view a host of other authentic artifacts from this fascinating time and place, which to this day remains one of the world's most important and influential cultural intersections.

The exhibit runs from December 13th through April 12th, so there's plenty of time to get down and see it. Museum hours and admission prices can be found at the site. I hope to make a family outing of our visit.