Write at the Heart

There are certain expectations I have from my dishwasher. I put dishes in, push Start, hear humming, swishing, sloshing, draining, and when I open it up again, voila! Clean dishes! Except lately they are NOT coming out clean! Come on, it has ONE JOB! (First world problems.) But seriously, if it’s NOT cleaning, WHAT is all the noise? What is going on in there? It ACTS like it’s cleaning! It SOUNDS like it’s cleaning! But apparently it’s all for show. Those dishes don’t lie. After a period of AMAZING love, unity, & happiness comes the second half of 4th Nephi, and it’s really a downer. How does it start? Division and pride. People forgot Christ. “There were many churches which professed to know the Christ, and yet they did deny the more parts of his gospel, insomuch that they did receive all manner of wickedness...” (27) Key word PROFESSED. They CLAIMED to know Him. It sounded good on the outside, but the inside proved otherwise. “People draw near me with their mouth, and with their ...

I’m really trying to “redouble” my efforts in prayer, as Elder Ballard counseled, and while I’m probably closer to “re-quartering” my efforts, at least I’m trying. This morning while on my way to meet a friend, I offered up a prayer out loud. Anyone else pray aloud while driving? This friend has some very difficult trials, and I’m trying to be more thoughtful and specific in my prayers, so I prayed that I’d know what to say to help and encourage her. I prayed to be an instrument in His hands. As she told me of her struggles, I tried to be helpful. During our conversation, at one point she looked at me and said, “You are just nailing it in your words today!” I immediately felt God in that moment! Later, after making another comment to her, she told me with emotion that it was an answer to her prayer. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, how simple my car-prayer was, but how sweet that I received a tender manifestation that it was answered!  You see, I KNOW how I hear Him! I LOVE seeki...

These chapters in 3rd Nephi are some of THE most beautiful! THIS is Jesus Christ! His compassion, His teachings, his personal ministering to the One, & His prayers to the Father! Yes, the scriptures give us snapshots of utter evil and darkness- and it’s recorded for a reason. These are the last days. We can relate, learn, & prepare. But the scriptures also give us glimpses into the extraordinary light and goodness of the gospel, & what it will be like when Christ comes again. Christ IS coming again! We HAVE this account of Christ’s visit to the Americas because “the multitude did see and hear and bear record” 3 Ne. 17:25 That phrase, “they did bear record,” is in these chapters AGAIN and AGAIN in one form or another! -They did bear record when Christ prayed to the Father for them They did bear record when Jesus wept They did bear record when angels encircled them They did bear record when Christ ascended into heaven They did bear record when the disciples received the Holy ...

Since we weren’t able to have an “official” tour of the Sacred Grove when we walked the grounds a few weeks ago, we signed up for a virtual tour last week! I’ve been there twice and had the “tour,” so I knew this would be great for the kids to hear stories and see inside the Smith homes. In my mind, this Zoom call was mainly for THE KIDS. What I didn’t expect was the Spirit hitting me like a TON of bricks as I listened to the missionaries testify. I was in tears! I feel it again right now as I write this.  I’d had a beautiful experience at the grove a few weeks ago. I love that sacred place! But, Isn’t it interesting that the Spirit was JUST as powerful, if not MORE, sitting in my living room watching a computer screen of the Sacred Grove as actually sitting IN the Sacred Grove?  I keep thinking about this! Pure testimony invites the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost testifies of truth. He can testify of truth no matter where we are, what we have seen, or HAVEN’T seen with our ow...

Seeing is believing.  Isn’t it?   As Nephi preaches to the people and prophesies about the murder of the chief judge, we have three kinds of people: -Those who believed without seeing. They knew all of Nephi’s words were true. -Those who believed only after seeing with their own eyes Nephi’s prophesy was, indeed, true. -Those who never believed, even after seeing. “Notwithstanding that great miracle which Nephi had done in telling them concerning the death of the chief judge, they did harden their hearts and did not hearken unto the words of the Lord." We see these types of people, don’t we? -People with amazing faith, who believe and follow the prophet, the scriptures, the Spirit, without question. They act in complete faith. They simply believe, and this exercise of faith allows them to “see.” -People who wonder and doubt, who need to see some things with their own eyes. Who say IF this, THEN I will believe. And they do! -People who, “notwithstanding so many evidences w...

There was a time in my life where I could not comprehend life without babies and toddlers. And as exhausted as I was, the thought of the next stage of life scared me. I’d think, “HOW can I live in a world where things aren’t solved with timeouts and hugs? Where forgiveness doesn’t come easily, where consequences aren’t simply ‘no popsicles today!’ Will they trust me and love me like they do now? Will they believe in themselves the way they do now?” I KNEW how to parent little ones. What happened when they turned into, like, PEOPLE?! Well, guess what, I have people now. BUT, you know what? This stage of life is kinda awesome. Getting to KNOW them, their interests, their fears, their successes, their failures, their sense of humor, their dreams. They’re PRETTY GREAT people. With a lot less jam on their hands. Now they all start school tomorrow. Three different schools. Three different buses. 36 glue sticks and like 100 masks. We moved in right before the shutdown, so some are really nerv...

I sat down at the piano the other day.  I tried to play songs I once knew by heart, and I couldn't quite figure it out.  The thing is, my fingers KNEW it.  They instinctively grabbed for the keys, but one little note would throw me off. And I'm like- you KNEW this, SO WELL at one point.  But when you don't practice... ya get a little rusty. Whenever I sit and play music, I remember why I loved it so much.  I remember how good I once was. It's like a part of my soul is awakened that I’d neglected, nearly forgotten. But if I don't sit and play once in awhile, it quietly starts slipping away. Those songs will always be part of my soul, my memory, because I spent so much of my life in front of a piano, playing with my heart.  It doesn't all get erased.  It can't.  It may be dormant, but it is there.  Etched in my very foundation. We all forget things sometimes. It takes just a few notes to stir the memories.  The emotion.  The desire. W...

After some SERIOUS strategy, Moroni successfully tricks, traps, and surrounds the Lamanites. And then, don’t you love that Moroni gives credit where credit is due?? “The Lord is with us; and ye behold that he has delivered you into our hands. And now I would that ye should understand that this is done unto us because of our religion and our faith in Christ.” Alma 44:3 He recognizes God’s hand. And boldly declares it to Zarahemna. To which Zarahemna replies, “We do not believe that it is God that has delivered us into your hands; but we believe that it is your cunning that has preserved you from our swords. Behold, it is your breastplates and your shields that have preserved you.” And wouldn’t it have been easy for Moroni to say that, too? Like riiight... I WAS pretty smart there, and we did have WAY more armor than you. Hmm... But he doesn’t. He gives thanks to God. He knows how he got to where he is. There will always be someone who scoffs at faith. There will always be someone who te...

I just had a post all written and it just now got erased!!! Dang. And since I’m running out of time to post today and I don’t want to lose my streak already, I’ll just say: I love my Savior, Jesus Christ. Like I heard Elder Holland say so powerfully and earnestly in a training meeting, standing at the front of the same room I was in, “I did not give my life to a fairy tale.” It’s not a fairy tale to me. It’s not a myth. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is my Redeemer. There is an eternal plan. We are children of God. I can feel it. And it makes me happy.

In Alma 37, Alma entrusts his son Helaman with the brass plates, also instructing him to keep his own record of the people, and to “keep all these things sacred which I have kept, even as I have kept them; for it is for a wise purpose that they are kept... which purpose is known unto God... that he may show forth his power unto future generations.” Then comes a warning: “If ye transgress the commandments of God, behold, these things which are sacred shall be taken away from you by the power of God, and ye shall be delivered up unto Satan...” And a promise: “But if ye keep the commandments of God, and do with these things which are sacred according to that which the Lord doth command you... behold, no power of earth or hell can take them from you, for God is powerful to the fulfilling of all his words. For he will fulfil all his promises which he shall make unto you, for he has fulfilled his promises which he has made unto our fathers.” I have a lot of thoughts, but the main ones are th...

I made peach freezer jam yesterday, and I gotta say, I am feeling pret-ty darn proud of myself! It turned out amazing! Just call me Suzy Homemaker! While I know freezer jam is actually kinda easy, it IS time consuming. The peeling, pitting, lots and lots of stirring, waiting, more stirring, more waiting. My 8-year-old was super excited to help me, and she did some great stirring in the beginning, but after so much she got bored and gave up. But then came the reward for my efforts- delicious jam! I think about the process it took for those peaches to become jam, and I think about Alma the Younger’s amazing conversion. His story is one of my favorites!! I love any story where someone chooses to completely change for the better. “And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, tha...

When I was a teenager I remember someone bearing their testimony about faith. How faith is not a perfect knowledge- it starts with a hope and a desire, and that’s all! I remember feeling a sense of relief! I had been struggling with the idea of a testimony- did I have one? I didn’t know everything and I didn’t know for sure! BUT I DID have a desire. I could work with that! This is exactly what Alma taught. If ye have no more than a DESIRE to believe, let THAT work in you. Exercise a PARTICLE of faith! “Give place that a seed may be planted in your heart.” As I made space for my testimony to grow, as I let Him in, as I humbled myself and was ready to hear, truths came, they swelled, they bloomed. My experiences with the Holy Ghost are indescribable. They keep me all in. They “enlarge my soul” and “enlighten my understanding.” That’s truly what it feels like! It’s transcendent. And I can’t deny it. It is “most precious” and “sweet” to me. As I have planted seeds of faith again and again,...