Amazing Grace, Amazing Love!

This is another sacrament meeting inspired post. A very talented flutist played a medley of hymns today and the first one was "Amazing Grace". The hymn brought the Holy Spirit into the meeting with intensity, in spite of the kids' energetic efforts to thwart any sacredness. Why is Amazing Grace such a touching hymn to so many people? Amazing Grace is played at funerals, parades, in sacred places, and in other places. This hymn has brought tears to so many eyes and anyone familiar with the words has a place in their hearts for Amazing Grace, which somehow explains perfectly the plan of salvation in its verses. When I heard this hymn today, I also heard the words "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God". This is a connection that all mankind can have with Heavenly Father. Even those that have strayed far from the straight and narrow path can feel Heavenly Father's love for them, which is more than any of us can comprehend. When viewing others, we should always "remember he or she is also a child of God, that very God who dearly wants that person to qualify for eternal life and return to Him one day" (Elder Russel M. Nelson). Because no language on earth has an accurate word or words to describe our Heavenly Father's grace, "amazing" will have to suffice.

Our Savior's Love

I served more than 9 months of my mission in the same area, which was a little branch in South Central Houston. I think the mission president figured that if he found elders that could survive in the area, he would leave things alone. I was companions with one elder for over 6 months there. We met in a rented baptist church in possibly one of the most dangerous areas in this country. So many things were different, but during sacrament meeting the Holy Spirit felt the same. One Sunday, a Sister Franklin got up during sacrament meeting for her musical contribution to the meeting. She had an old cello. The case looked well worn. She opened the case, stood up the cello, and began to play "Our Savior's Love" (page 113). I had a lot on my mind at the time, but the beautiful music of the cello immediately caused me to forget about anything except the Savior, Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit touched me personally and with great strength, because I thought of the words of the song as she played. This song immediately became my favorite hymn and I have remembered this little cello performance clearly for all these years. This experience added to my testimony of the Savior in a tremendous way. Sister Franklin has no idea how this hymn touched me and that I will probably remember this forever. This experience also shows the importance of attending church. Many experiences that have built my testimony have come in little ways like this. What if I had missed this? "Our Savior's Love" and those feelings of the Spirit would simply be missing from my testimony.

We Shall Be Like Him

While listening to Elder Jeffery R. Holland's most recent conference talk (I have heard October's talks numerous times now), it finally hit me about some things he said. He said his dad "never wore a new suit or a new shirt or a new pair of shoes for two years so his son could have all of those for his mission" and that his "mother, who had never worked out of the home in her married life, took a job at a local department store so that (his) mission expenses could be met." While Elder Holland was talking about how his parents had paid for his whole mission at their own personal sacrifice, these words came into my mind: "When He shall appear we shall be like Him" (1John 3:2). Why would these words come to mind during Elder Holland's talk. I wondered this for a moment, but then it became obvious. Those who have seen the Son have seen the Father and I am certain that we have a Heavenly Father that would make the very same personal sacrifices in those circumstances. Our Heavenly Father almost certainly did make these type of personal sacrifices in His mortality. There might not be a better way for us to "be like Him" than to make personal sacrifices for our kids. I am grateful for parents that have made personal sacrifices for me and my brothers and sisters. There are too many of these personal sacrifices to count.

Savannah And The Hot Surface Ignitor

NEVER underestimate the faith of a child. When we came over to the new (at the time) house, we were shocked to find that the temperature in the house was about 40 degrees and dropping. Clearly, the furnace had stopped functioning. I went down and tried to figure out what was wrong with the furnace, but only managed to get very frustrated. I came back upstairs after trying every thing I knew. Jen instantly reminded me that the pipes were going to freeze if I didn't do something. Even though her statement was obvious, it didn't do much for my frustration level. It was Sunday, so I figured calling a company to come fix the furnace would be about as expensive as just buying a new furnace. Plus, I had just had a bad experience with an HVAC who guessed wrong on an $800 manifold in the old house. I was not going to call a company, but things were getting desperate. It was about that time that Savannah suggested saying a prayer "for the furnace to get fixed", so we all knelt down and she said the prayer. I then went back downstairs and when I removed the furnace cover once again, my flashlight immediately shined on the problem. I didn't even know what the part was called, but I could see a crack in it and I knew that was the problem. A guy at Home Depot told me that the part was a hot surface ignitor. We tracked one down and I installed it and the furnace then functioned properly and hasn't failed since.