Thankfulness Through a Child's Eyes

This past Sunday was my daughter’s turn to give a talk during our church's Primary program. She was excited and pretty much wrote the talk all by herself. All I did was help her find a passage in the scripture that coincides with the chosen topic and then typed it up so it would be legible enough to read.

When I told my daughter she could choose any topic for her talk (per the message that I received from the Primary secretary), she knew immediately what she wanted to speak about.

These are copies of my daughter’s talk, written on three separate pieces of paper. As you can see, she used a couple different writing tools; a pen and a marker. The talk started out with a scriptural reference, which says, "Doctrine and Covenants 136:28-- 'If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music, with dancing, and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.'  

 

Then it continued with, "Thanksgiving is a special day when all my family is here to celebrate and to play but when it is time to share [what I'm thankful for] all that I am thankful for is God and Jesus and my family, and friends. Thanksgiving is when families get together. We are thankful for food and water, books, a bed, the temple and church."

Even though my daughter called for me to stand beside her at the podium, she did great on her own. I guess all she needed was moral support. And I was more than happy to be there.

It didn't dawn on me until later in the day that the list of things my daughter was thankful for, were what most people would consider the essentials; family, friends, food, a bed, church, etc.

To me, this is a testimony that young children can understand what is truly important in life. They can learn that we don't need material things to be happy. Family, friends, food, and the gospel are what's important and the source of true happiness.

For the record, my daughter is not at all deprived. She has a room full of toys and a closet full of clothes. But the fact that she chose to list only what matters most to her, was what touched my heart so deeply.

Love. Desire. Courage. Faith.

"What parent would postpone looking for the child until a handbook was written?" ~ Russell M. Nelson

This past Sunday I watched one of the most inspirational broadcasts put forth by leaders of the church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; also known as “Mormons”). In a nutshell, the worldwide broadcast was about missionary work, and how every (church) member should do their part in sharing the gospel with their non-Mormon friends and family. As I listened to the speakers, I kept thinking about the biblical commandment that says “…Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 22:39).

To me, the two hour long program was more than about church leaders urging us to share the gospel with our non-Mormon friends and family. To me, there’s a deeper meaning. To me, the messages were about love, desire, courage and faith.  LOVE for all mankind; without prejudice. With LOVE, comes the DESIRE to share the things that we feel are precious to us; which, in this case, is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Next on the list would be COURAGE. It takes COURAGE to speak up about our religious beliefs. And it takes COURAGE to extend invitations to our non-Mormon friends and family (and to complete strangers). It's not easy to ask someone if they would be interested in learning about the "Mormon" faith and to attend church meetings/activities/functions.  Finally, to have enough FAITH that positive things can and will transpire as a result of our efforts.  

With that said, aside from the time when I was a full-time missionary (many moons ago) where I actually enjoyed knocking on doors and invited strangers to hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ, I think I can essentially count on one hand the number of times when I truly conversed with my non-Mormon friends and family about my religion. My first “missionary” experience was when I was 16 years old. I don’t remember how the conversation got started. But I do, however, vividly recall the part where I was talking to my friend on the phone and read a few verses from The Book of Mormon.  

  

As I read the scripture, I could feel the Holy Ghost; that warm and calm feeling inside my heart. The most amazing part was that my friend felt the same thing. We continued talking for a while (about the church, Joseph Smith, the scriptures, and life in general). I invited him to attend church with me. And I am most certain he said he’ll attend. But as the days drew nearer to the weekend, something came up and he wasn’t able to make it to church. I was sad, of course.  However, I also understood that sometime things don't always go the way I had hoped.  And I was okay with it because I knew that things will work out in the end. After all, the Lord has a plan for each of us. We just need to have faith and continue on with purpose in our lives.