For Me

What is the most important thing in life?  People.

President Monson said we should be more interested in PEOPLE than in things.

What brings true happiness?  Striving to make other people happy.  (David O. McKay)  "Man's greatest happiness is found in doing good to others."  Pres. Monson

What brings peace?  Having good will towards all men.

What are the best gifts I can give?  Myself.  Understanding, compassion, service, friendship, kindness and gentleness = A tender caring heart.

Seek the "bright star" to guide me in all that I do.


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Always remember:  No one is perfect.  Just love them.  Be gracious = kind, courteous, generous of spirit, merciful, compassionate.

Beauty Within

Josh and I were asked to speak at YW in Excellence about Inner Beauty.

What Makes YOU Beautiful?

Hello!  I am so excited to be with you tonight! Do you know that I love to see you and be with you girls? Do you know that I watch you and admire you and think of you and what you are experiencing in life right now? The time of life you are in right now is a most exciting time! There are so many different experiences and opportunities that you are having and will have in these critical formative years of young womanhood! It was during my teenage years when I had some of my biggest challenges and inner struggles, but it was also when I had some of my most spiritual, life changing experiences, that have become a sure foundation for me in my life. 

At your age is when I gained my own testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ, and learned who I really am, both of which, has changed my life forever.  I am so excited for you and for what lies ahead in your life’s journey!

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Tonight my husband and I have been asked to speak to you about true beauty!

I want you to think to yourself:  (Point to mirror)

 “What Makes You Beautiful?” 

Don’t we often think of the physical attributes we have… our eyes, great hair or our smile… the things we see in the mirror, right?  But did you notice what’s at bottom of this mirror?  I think all mirrors should have this on them! Because a mirror does not give us an accurate reflection of who we are.  A mirror does not show us our true worth and beauty!  J

I want to share a personal story with you, that was a defining point in my life, when I discovered the first truth about beauty.  I learned this first lesson when I was your age…

At the time, I was very busy and consumed with school and my social life and friends and I wanted to be beautiful and admired by those around me.  Oftentimes I felt like I succeeded and other times I felt like I was failing.  Basically you can say that my social-life was like a rollercoaster… does your social life ever feel like a rollercoaster?  Well, at this point in time, I was at a low and feeling very alone and down about myself.  Heavenly Father was the only one I could turn to and I prayed daily for his help.

One Sunday morning, I was sitting in Sunday School class at church like any other Sunday, when Heavenly Father spoke to me for the very first time.  He sent me a text message.  I received this text message in the scriptures.  (Hold up the scriptures)  Did you know the scriptures are like HF’s cell phone?  They are one of the best ways He speaks to us.  The more you pick your scriptures up and read them, the more messages you can receive personally from your Heavenly Father!  So, back in class, we were reading in D&C 3 when HF’s text message came to me in verse 7.  It literally jumped off the page and was blaring right at me.

This is what it said,  “Behold, Kim, you should not have feared man more than God." 

Yes, it was a very short and simple message, but it filled me with complete understanding and peace. 

HF was telling me where I could find my happiness and direction again.

From this scripture HF taught me this truth: There are different standards and opinions out there that will try to define your worth and how beautiful you are.  There is man’s view or the world’s opinion of who you are and how you measure up, and there is Gods view and opinion of your beauty and worth.  

I had been too wrapped up and focused on the wrong one, on what my friends thought of me

and that is why I was so miserable.  My relationships and priorities were in the wrong order.

I could hear HF saying to me, “Kim, what are you doing worrying so much over what others think of you?  Why are you trying to please them so much?  Don’t you want to please me?”

As I continued to read into verse 8, I was taught further about God’s feelings for me… How  He already loved me and would always be there to support me!  There was no rollercoaster ride with him!

What peace and comfort we can have when we know that there will be many different opinions of what our beauty and worth amounts to… but the only opinion we need to worry about is Gods. We need only strive to please Him and live up to his standards.

He loves us and HE can see our true beauty, the beauty he gave us, and he wants us to let it shine!

WHO I AM / MY WORTH

Each one of us is like a diamond.  And it is crucial for US to gain a correct understanding of

who we truly are to the core, and to know where our true value and beauty comes from…  Just like a gemologist needs to know and understand the intrinsic value and special characteristics of a diamond in order to reveal and magnify it’s inherent brilliance.

There are 3 truths about ourselves that if we understand and believe:

#1:  You are a divine heir, and daughter of God.

The song “I am a child of God” was probably one of the first lullaby’s your parents ever sung to you as a baby.  “I am a child of God” was the theme you grew up learning in Primary and now you say this truth every week in your YWs Theme, “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who loves us, and we love Him.”

In “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” The prophets testify of your divinity, saying:  “All human beings, male and female, are created in the image of God.  Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.”

I love this quote from Tad R. Callister.  He says, “Prior to your mortal existence here on earth, you lived with God.  God is your father … the father of your spirit.  You are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven. (D&C 93)  However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent physically, the pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line.  You are a child of God!”  (END QUOTE)  -Tad R. Callister “Our Identity, or Destiny”

Have you come to know for yourself that this is true about you?  If not, please don’t go another day without seeking your own testimony of your true divinity and destiny. 

  

“You were born in the image of God your Father.  There is the nature of deity in the composition of your spiritual organization; in your spiritual birth Heavenly Father transmitted to you the capabilities, powers, and faculties which he himself possessed, although in an undeveloped state.”  Your great future, destiny and purpose, is to grow into the fullness of these Godlike attributes and become like Him and to receive all that He has.  (Lorenzo Snow Book)

You are a divine heir, and daughter of God.

#2: is the sacred nature of both your body and spirit, which constitute the soul.  Your body is a gift to you from God, and is necessary for your progression to becoming a Queen and Goddess in His Kingdom.  Having a body is “a sign of your royal birthright.”  Your body is a temple, a sacred sanctuary, because of what it holds inside… it houses your precious spirit. 

Do you see your body as such a special gift and blessing to you and treat it as such?

Your body and spirit are sacred, and both emanate from God.

#3:  Is that you are of great worth.  You are so very precious to God!  The evidence of this is shown by both, HF and Jesus Christ.  God loves each one of us so much and knows of our great worth, and so He sent His only begotten Son to die for us.  Jesus Christ, our brother and Savior, suffered death, and the pains of all men, to provide the cleansing and enabling power of the atonement for us, because he loves each one of us so much. They have given us their all because You are of great worth!

These three truths are crucial to know because they can become a great power in our lives and

they show us who we truly are! 

When we come to believe these truths, that we are daughters of a heavenly King with a divine nature, that our body and spirit are sacred, and that we are each of great worth just as we are, we can rise above the falsities of the world, which suggest that our physical characteristics are our greatest attributes and that only through our physical attractiveness and worldly achievements can we gain our worth and happiness. 

When we believe that we are daughters of God, and have His divinity within us, no longer do we feel we need to create our worth and prove ourselves to those around us.  We can rise above the shallow standards of the world and with courage, stand tall and set the example of what true greatness and beauty is.  

When we feel God’s love for us through the atonement, no longer do we feel the need to compete and compare ourselves to others, for with his love we are whole.

When these truths have become your foundation, when you have this correct perspective of who you are, you will know it, because you will start to feel a tremendous peace and gratitude for life.  You will find you have respect for yourself and respect for others.  You will begin to feel secure in who you are and you will be able to see the goodness and divinity in others.  Your life will feel lighter and your energies will be turned outwards, finding ways to give and bless.  You will find great joy in creating and making all things around you good and beautiful because of the goodness, beauty and peace that you feel inside. 

So as we actively keep God as our Focus, and keep these truths as our Foundation, we now have a correct perspective of who we are and can now discover and reveal our true value and our deep, inner beauty.   

We each have more value, power and beauty deep inside us then we could ever fathom!  We just have to discover it and let it out.

Testimony

I want to ask again the same question we started with… “What Makes YOU Beautiful?”

YOU NOW KNOW that Your beauty comes from WHO we are on the inside, the purity, divinity and light we have within.  Our beauty comes from How we use our unique gifts and talents and godlike attributes and Lastly, our beauty comes from What we stand for.

What do you stand for?  Have you defined for yourself what you ultimately want to become and achieve in life?  What will the purpose of your life be?

I want to share one last experience I had at your age, when I decided what I wanted to stand for, what I wanted my purpose in life to be. 

It came as a result from attending EFY.  Who here has been EFY before? I love EFY!  After an amazing week of being spiritually fed, and my testimony strengthened so much, we were all given a CD to take home that was filled with inspiring music focused on the theme from EFY. 

I took home my CD listened to it in my room over and over and over.  I loved the songs, they were so uplifting and inspiring and Beautiful because they were filled with truth! 

One of the songs on the CD was called, “A Window to His Love.”  I want to play the song for you.

The song says:

I want to be a window to Gods love,

so when you look at me, you will see Him.

I want to stand so straight and tall,

that you won't notice me at all, 

'cause His love will shine brightly through me.

This was my most favorite song!  It completely resonated with me and I committed to myself at that point to make it my motto for life—“To live to be a window to God’s Love.”  Because I knew then and I still know now, that nothing makes me feel more beautiful, more loved or more valued then when I do the things that bring God’s light into my life and when I become a window to God’s love. 

I do this as I keep my relationships and priorities in order. When God is #1 in my life, when he is the focus of my thoughts and actions, he helps me magnify the godlike attributes and unique gifts and talents I have within.  As I have daily prayer and scripture study and strive to follow Jesus Christ by being humble, obedient, kind, submissive, selfless, courageous, seeking to bless and serve others and by being the best person I can be, I receive an abundance of God’s light and love in my heart and it can’t help but radiate in my outward appearance and shine to others.  Now isn’t that what is truly attractive and captivating?

It is my prayer that we will each seek to receive our own testimony of our divinity and greatness and commit to ourselves to only do the things that will bring Gods light and love into our life. 

As we let His light in, it will naturally enhance, radiate and beautify everything about us.  This is where we find our true beauty and greatness.