We believe in God the Eternal Father and in His son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
This is our first Article of Faith because it is the most important. All of our other beliefs depend on our faith in God. God, the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, together, are called the Godhead.
In the movie 17 Miracles, there is a story about a little girl who died along the trail. Her name was Betsy. Her family buried her in a shallow, frozen grave and continued on their journey with the other Saints. They were devastated, but what other choice did they have? Later that day, after walking probably four or five hours, Betsy's mom remembered that she had been given a blessing that if they kept the commandments, their whole family would arrive safely in Zion. She had faith that Heavenly Father would keep His promises, so she turned around. The whole family went back, walking and walking until they reached Betsy's grave. They built a little fire to warm up some water. When the water was warm, Betsy's mom told her husband to put some warm water on a cloth and put it on Betsy's head. While he was pouring the water on the cloth, some water fell on Betsy's frozen foot and she came back to life. The family continued back on their journey, and they all eventually reached Zion safely. Betsy would become the mother of fourteen children.
Betsy's mom had faith that her whole family would reach Zion safely because of the priesthood blessing she was given. I believe the Holy Ghost prompted her to remember that blessing and to have the faith to go back when it seemed impossible. We believe in miracles, but we also know that Heavenly Father doesn't always answer our prayers with miracles.
In 2012, my grandpa, Bill, took us to visit the place where his ancestors were sent by Brigham Young to start a settlement. It is a tiny town in Southern Utah called Kingston. We also visited the graves of our ancestors, Thomas Rice King and Matilda Robison King. Here is what my mom wrote on her blog about the experience: Quote:
"Our next stop was the Antimony cemetery, where we knew Thomas and Matilda were buried. We let the kids search the tombstones for names of Kings, and we found quite a few. We also found a sobering number of babies' graves. Throughout the trip, Dad read excerpts from the Kings of the Kingdom book. My favorite talked about the trek across the midwestern plains. After bearing five boys, Matilda Robison had had a baby girl, named Matilda Emily. At one year of age, while the family was struggling across the prairie, the baby died of Scarlet Fever. They took the footboards off their wagons to fashion a tiny casket, wrapped the baby in a blanket and buried her as best they could in the frozen ground. The book talks of how they burned the brush all around the grave to destroy the scent and keep the wolves away. At the end of the day's journey, Matilda looked back across the land and could still see the grave site of her little namesake in the distance. It was all she could do to keep from running back to her baby's grave, but she had to carry on." Close quote.
Thomas and Matilda's baby wasn't saved by a miracle, but they still knew that they would see her again because of their faith in a loving Heavenly Father and their knowledge of the atonement. I'm sure the Holy Ghost was there to comfort them as they continued on the trail.
The day we saw the graves, my mom also wrote, quote, "Seeing Thomas and Matilda's tombstone in the corner of a rocky, desolate, roadside cemetery was sad. After all their toil and sacrifice, to end up there, it didn't seem fair. But again, the pioneer hymn came to mind. "Why should we think to earn a great reward? With the just, we shall dwell." The lonesome, craggy, rocky place of their burial is not where my ancestors are, and not what their lives were about. Still, thinking of the lush, green valleys of England from whence they came, to end up in a windswept desert...I hope they had great faith that what they did was worth it." Close quote.
I know my ancestors had faith because they kept going when it was hard. Because of their faith, I can think of my ancestors when I have hard things to do. I know that they believed what the First Article of Faith says. "We believe in God the Eternal Father and in His son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." And I believe it, too. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
This is our first Article of Faith because it is the most important. All of our other beliefs depend on our faith in God. God, the Eternal Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, together, are called the Godhead.
In the movie 17 Miracles, there is a story about a little girl who died along the trail. Her name was Betsy. Her family buried her in a shallow, frozen grave and continued on their journey with the other Saints. They were devastated, but what other choice did they have? Later that day, after walking probably four or five hours, Betsy's mom remembered that she had been given a blessing that if they kept the commandments, their whole family would arrive safely in Zion. She had faith that Heavenly Father would keep His promises, so she turned around. The whole family went back, walking and walking until they reached Betsy's grave. They built a little fire to warm up some water. When the water was warm, Betsy's mom told her husband to put some warm water on a cloth and put it on Betsy's head. While he was pouring the water on the cloth, some water fell on Betsy's frozen foot and she came back to life. The family continued back on their journey, and they all eventually reached Zion safely. Betsy would become the mother of fourteen children.
Betsy's mom had faith that her whole family would reach Zion safely because of the priesthood blessing she was given. I believe the Holy Ghost prompted her to remember that blessing and to have the faith to go back when it seemed impossible. We believe in miracles, but we also know that Heavenly Father doesn't always answer our prayers with miracles.
In 2012, my grandpa, Bill, took us to visit the place where his ancestors were sent by Brigham Young to start a settlement. It is a tiny town in Southern Utah called Kingston. We also visited the graves of our ancestors, Thomas Rice King and Matilda Robison King. Here is what my mom wrote on her blog about the experience: Quote:
"Our next stop was the Antimony cemetery, where we knew Thomas and Matilda were buried. We let the kids search the tombstones for names of Kings, and we found quite a few. We also found a sobering number of babies' graves. Throughout the trip, Dad read excerpts from the Kings of the Kingdom book. My favorite talked about the trek across the midwestern plains. After bearing five boys, Matilda Robison had had a baby girl, named Matilda Emily. At one year of age, while the family was struggling across the prairie, the baby died of Scarlet Fever. They took the footboards off their wagons to fashion a tiny casket, wrapped the baby in a blanket and buried her as best they could in the frozen ground. The book talks of how they burned the brush all around the grave to destroy the scent and keep the wolves away. At the end of the day's journey, Matilda looked back across the land and could still see the grave site of her little namesake in the distance. It was all she could do to keep from running back to her baby's grave, but she had to carry on." Close quote.
Thomas and Matilda's baby wasn't saved by a miracle, but they still knew that they would see her again because of their faith in a loving Heavenly Father and their knowledge of the atonement. I'm sure the Holy Ghost was there to comfort them as they continued on the trail.
The day we saw the graves, my mom also wrote, quote, "Seeing Thomas and Matilda's tombstone in the corner of a rocky, desolate, roadside cemetery was sad. After all their toil and sacrifice, to end up there, it didn't seem fair. But again, the pioneer hymn came to mind. "Why should we think to earn a great reward? With the just, we shall dwell." The lonesome, craggy, rocky place of their burial is not where my ancestors are, and not what their lives were about. Still, thinking of the lush, green valleys of England from whence they came, to end up in a windswept desert...I hope they had great faith that what they did was worth it." Close quote.
I know my ancestors had faith because they kept going when it was hard. Because of their faith, I can think of my ancestors when I have hard things to do. I know that they believed what the First Article of Faith says. "We believe in God the Eternal Father and in His son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." And I believe it, too. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
5 comments:
Fantastic!
Love it Ari. I love seeing the youth give talks in church!
Not gonna lie. Your talk made me teary. What a beautiful talk, Ari. You are so lucky to have such a strong mom (and dad) who teaches you correct principles. We're so lucky to have rich heritage and parents who "knew" so that we too could have the blessings of the gospel in our lives. Love you guys!
Beautiful blog, beautiful talk Ari, please tell her for me. Loved the stories she told of your trip to Kingston and other gravesites. So grateful for our ancestors and their example and testimonies of the Gospel. Loved reading your blog entry of the trip. We are blessed, thank you Ari for sharing your talk and thank you to our ancestors who had such a strong testimony under such conditions, true test of faith and courage. Our Heavenly Father is always there for us and the spirit to guide us. xo Tricia
She is great. What a good family. Way to go Ari!
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