Conference weekend and my thoughts on the Ordain Women group

We enjoyed this Conference Weekend a lot! It was very inspiring and life changing, as always. I have a lot of work to do during this coming six months to read, study and ponder, the magnificent talks given in conference. I don't know if any of you followed my suggestion to write down your questions before conference and listen to the talks attentively to find the answers to your questions, but I did it. I wrote down my questions before conference. However, I realized as I was listening to the talks were really directed to me, not because they were the answer to my questions but because they were the answers to the questions I should have asked but that I didn't know they were a problem or that I needed to ask about. Does it make sense? For example, I am a little impulsive in communication, including communications with my husband and talks like President Monson and Elder Zwick's were directed to me. I didn't realize how impulsive I am until I heard these talks. Anyway, what I want to say with this is that, conference can be life changing if we listen with an open heart and mind!!!

Next, I have heard a lot about the Ordain Women group lately. I don't want to open any discussion, but here are my thoughts and why. I love my LDS and non-LDS sisters. There is no doubt about that. However, I DON'T support the cause of the Ordain Women group. That's it! In this church I feel valuable and appreciated. In my home my role as a woman is respected and loved and I feel I am equal to my husband, we have different responsibilities, but we are equal. So, I personally don't have any reason to join/support your cause. 

My husband listened to the Priesthood session of the conference at home, so I had a chance to listen to it too. I don't know how much of the talk to include here, because it was all so great and it explained deep doctrine, but here are some of the quotes from Elder Oaks talk titled "The keys and authority of the priesthood".

In an address to the Relief Society, President Joseph Fielding Smith, then President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said this: “While the sisters have not been given the Priesthood, it has not been conferred upon them, that does not mean that the Lord has not given unto them authority. … A person may have authority given to him, or a sister to her, to do certain things in the Church that are binding and absolutely necessary for our salvation, such as the work that our sisters do in the House of the Lord. They have authority given unto them to do some great and wonderful things, sacred unto the Lord, and binding just as thoroughly as are the blessings that are given by the men who hold the Priesthood.”

The greatest power God has given to His sons cannot be exercised without the companionship of one of His daughters, because only to His daughters has God given the power “to be a creator of bodies … so that God’s design and the Great Plan might meet fruition.”¹² Those are the words of President J. Reuben Clark.

He continued: “This is the place of our wives and of our mothers in the Eternal Plan. They are not bearers of the Priesthood; they are not charged with carrying out the duties and functions of the Priesthood; nor are they laden with its responsibilities; they are builders and organizers under its power, and partakers of its blessings, possessing the complement of the Priesthood powers and possessing a function as divinely called, as eternally important in its place as the Priesthood itself.”

Lastly, Elder Oaks made a great point:

Latter-day Saints surely recognize that qualifying for exaltation is not a matter of asserting rights but a matter of fulfilling responsibilities.

As women, I feel like we have many responsibilities. Let's give 150% of ourselves to accomplish those responsibilities for which we will be held accountable one day to our Father in Heaven.

And lastly, as this conference has passed, let's try a little harder to be a little better, and most importantly, let's be more OBEDIENT to what our leaders have told us.

What did you enjoy the most from Conference weekend? Wasn't it great spending all day with your family? I loved that part as well! :)

Warmly,

Juliana 

How to prepare for General Conference

The General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is a big deal to all the latter-day saints. General Conference happens twice a year, on a weekend, and lasts for ten hours. During General Conference The Prophet, his counselors, the twelve apostles, and other general authorities and leaders speak to all the world.

Elder Uchtdorf told a story in one of his talks titled "General Conference-- No ordinary blessing".

A fine member of the Church was talking with a neighbor who was not of our faith. When the topic of discussion turned to general conference, the neighbor asked, “You say you have prophets and apostles? And twice a year in a worldwide conference they reveal the word of God?”

“Absolutely,” the member replied with confidence.

The neighbor thought about that for a moment. He seemed genuinely interested and then asked, “What did they say in the last general conference?”

At this point the good member of the Church went from feeling excited about sharing the gospel to feeling embarrassed. Try as he might, he couldn’t think of the details of a single talk.

His friend found this troubling and said, “You mean to tell me that God speaks to man in our day and you can’t remember what He said?”

The brother felt humbled by this exchange. He vowed that he would do better to remember the words spoken by the Lord’s servants in general conference.

Now, we don't want to be in that situation, for this reason it is important to prepare for General Conference. So I have some tips for you and for myself. 1) Before the Conference, a week or a couple of days before, write down the question that you have and that you are hoping to find the answer during General Conference. 2) During General Conference, take the paper with your questions and write next to the questions the answers that you hear during Conference. You may find your answers in one talk or several talks. We will not be able to remember what was said in every talk. However, there are messages in each General Conference given as a gift and a blessing from Heaven specifically for our personal life situation. All the talks are important to listen to, to read and to ponder but there are specific talks that touch us more than the others. Using these tips, I feel that it would be easier for us to remember what was said in those talks.

Next week, I will share with you what I learned from the Conference, and I hope to hear your experience as well.

Warmly,
Juliana

All that matters is what I think

The title of this post maybe a little misleading. As much as I believe that all that matters is what I think, I am aiming to convey something else with this title of this blog :). For Christmas, all the children of our ward received a book titled "You are special" by Max Lucado. I think this book is a must have in your children's library. The first time I read it, I started crying and I am sure you too will be touched by its message. The story talks about some wooden people carved by a woodcarver named Eli. Each of them had a box of gold star stickers and grey dot stickers. The wooden people were called Wemmicks. They went around the village sticking stars or dots to each other. The prettier ones, and the most talented ones got stars the others less pretty and less talented got grey dots. One of them was Punchinello.

Punchinello was not pretty, his paint was peeling off, and he wasn't very talented either, so he got lots of dots. After a while he started to believe that he wasn't a good Wemmick. One day he met Lucia, she didn't have any stars or dots. He asked Lucia why the stickers didn't stay one her, and she told him that she visited the woodcarver, Eli, every day. Punchinello decided to do the same, however, he was a little timid and didn't believe that it would be a good idea. NOW the story gets really interesting. Eli called Punchinello by name as soon as Punchinello entered his shop. Punchinello was surprised that Eli knew his name. But Eli responded "Of course, I made you". When Punchinello started to justify himself for the "bad marks" he was given, Eli responded, "Punchinello, I don't care what the other Wemmicks think. You shouldn't either. What they think doesn't matter. ALL THAT MATTERS IS WHAT I THINK. AND I THINK YOU ARE PRETTY SPECIAL." But Punchinello was a little hesitant to believe it because he wasn't neither pretty nor talented. After Punchinello's question, "Why do I matter to you", Elia responded, "Because you are mine. That's why you matter to me. Every day I have been hoping you would come". Eli continued explaining that the stickers only stuck if Punchinello let them. Eli told Punchinello that, "The more you TRUST IN MY LOVE, THE LESS YOU CARE ABOUT THE STICKERS". Eli insisted that Punchinello visited with him every day so he could remind him how much he cared.

As Punchinello left, Eli reminded him one more time, "REMEMBER, YOU ARE SPECIAL BECAUSE I MADE YOU. AND I DON'T MAKE MISTAKES". As Punchinello walked out he thought that Eli really meant what he said, and when he did, a dot fell to the ground.

I love this story. Eli to me is Our Father in Heaven (do you see similarities with their names too, Eli and Elohim, :)) who always loves us. And that we are special to him and that is ALL THAT MATTERS! We are all His children. We are all talented and beautiful to Him. We need to visit with Him every day, so He can remind us through the Holy Ghost that we are special, and how much we matter to Him.

Did you like the story? I hope this story inspires you as it has inspired me!

Warmly,

Juliana

What I love about being stay-at-home-mom

Before I had Perla, I wasn't thinking to be a stay-at-home-mom. Somehow, I thought I could manage doing both full-time work and full-time mom. I knew I would sacrifice a little bit, but I thought it would be worth it so I could get some work experience. When Perla came, and she stole my heart, I realized that she needed me. She needed me to be there with her all the time. Not only that, but I realized that I wanted to be there with her more than anything else in the world. I love spending time with my little baby. When people would say "She has grown so fast", sometimes I would answer, "I think she has grown normally, and I have been there with her every moment to assist her growth". It has been a blessing! I am so grateful I haven't had to work all this time. I miss my newborn baby, but I have enjoyed every stage she has been in. I have been the first one to notice her milestones, I have been there for every cry, for every diaper, for the first smile, for the first roll-over, and for the first teeth.(Don't get me wrong, I have left my baby when I was going to school or when I went to the store, but you get what I am talking about)

I love being able to serve my husbands as well. He loves seeing me and the baby waiting for him when he gets home, a clean apartment (not all the time, but most of the time), and a warm dinner on the table. This is one of my biggest satisfactions. I love when he compliments my food, or he tells me that he is so happy to be home. Because I am home, I have time to take care of everything else in the home before he comes, so that when he comes home from school and work he can relax and enjoy time with us.

I love having time to dedicate to my passions. Even though a baby keeps me pretty busy, I make time to do things I enjoy doing. Right now I am dedicating time to this blog, I am learning Spanish, I am studying about herbal remedies, and I am making time to work out every day(at least 30min). The list of things I want to learn and do is long, but for right now, I can't focus on more.

I know that this is what God wants me to do right now and I know that being a full-time mom and a full-time wife is my most important role and duty. Elder Chrsitofferson, in the talk "The moral force of women" has said, "There is no superior career, and no amount of money, authority, or public acclaim can exceed the ultimate rewards of family. Whatever else a woman may accomplish, her moral influence is no more optimally employed than here."
Lastly, the joy I feel every day, can never compare to any kind of satisfaction I could feel outside of the home. My family is my greatest joy, and serving them gives me a profound joy and closer relationship to them.

Warmly,
Juliana

What do you stay-at-home moms enjoy the most about your role?

A word to all wives...about your husbands

From the title you may have thought that I am some kind of "men expert". Well, that would be very funny if you thought so. Because I am not anything close to a "men expert". When my husband and I got married, we would fight often, as many new couples do. I had very high expectations and was very critical to most things my husband would do. For some reason, I thought I could change my husband and make him the way I wanted him to be by continually critisising him. Oh, I was so wrong!! Unfortunately, it took me a while to understand that the only person I could change was myself! A really good friend of mine recommended that I read a book (she has a book about almost anything).
The book was titled, "The proper care and feeding of husbands" by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. The book was very eyeopening to me and it changed my perspective in many things.
One of my favorite quotes from the book, which best summarizes the whole book according to me, says, "Remember, men are simple creatures and very dependent upon their wives for ACCEPTANCE, APPROVAL, AFFECTION. When those three A's are restored, all in well in their world."

Now, this quote is not to make men sound weak. I value men for being "simple" and not complicated as some women are. I value them for needing to be loved because it is amazing that inside a strong man is a tender spirit. And we women are blessed to see the soft side of our husbands, that side that no one can see. For this reason, I believe that we need to nurture our husbands with love and tender care.

I have picked a few quotes that I believe will answer some of the questions we women have or some of the frustration we as women feel in regard to our husbands. I want to use her direct quotes because they are just so great!

1. When our husbands make a mistake or when we think they are making a mistake.
"Wives need to love their husbands as though they have never been hurt before, otherwise, they destroy today"

2. We get caught up on small and unimportant things
"One small step toward a wife's taking responsibility is to keep lips buttoned over things that do not really matter"

3. We criticize our husbands by the way they do things or by how they spend their time etc.
"My advice is that if you continue to nag, control, and be an unpleasant person to be around, then your husband is not going to want to be around you or treat you how you want to be treated.

4. We hold grudges. (I believed that this was my secret arm to make my husband feel guilty. That is so mean of me, right?)
"The cruelest thing a wife can do to a husband is to never be happy and don't forget. Being happy is more and attitude than a reality."

I hope you keep these quotes in mind and try to apply them in your lives.

Do you have a favorite quote or lesson that you have learned which has helped you in your marriage? Please share it with me.

May God bless all your marriages!!!

Warmly,
Juliana

"In the morning the sun will rise" FHE Lesson and dessert recipe

It is again Monday! I am scheduled to give the message for our Family Home Evening tonight. I read the article from Pres. Dieter Uchtdorf in the January Ensign "The best time to plant a tree" and it was beautiful. As we made goals for this New Year, we should know that those goals will help us grow and progress. Some may have already broken one or two resolutions, but that is ok. As long as we keep going, and trying, and never giving up, we are still growing and progressing. The beauty of Monday morning is that it is a new day and a new week. We can always start fresh, not only in the beginning of a new year, or a new week or a new day, but any moment. In the message, Pres. Uchtdorf said "With every new day, a new dawn comes--not only for the earth but also for us. And with a new day comes a new start--a chance to begin again.
In closing, I fully agree with this proverb, "The best day to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best time is now".

Now, the treats I am making tonight for our FHE are very simple and cheap. We tried a couple last night and we really loved them. So here you go.

Apple Pie Tacos

Click here to get the recipe.

I hope you all have a great week!

Warmly,
Juliana

FHE Lesson: Missionary work message from the Book of Mormon

Tonight for Family Home Evening, my husband shared a message from the Book of Mormon about missionary work.
Opening Hymn: Called to serve (#249)
Closing Hymn: I'll go where you want me to go (# 270)
The scriptures we discussed are Alma 17 and 26

Alma 17:3 The Sons of Mosiah were very successful in their mission due to much prayer and fasting. This behavior gave them power and authority. (Hard Work)

Alma 17:4 This verse shows us that they had served a mission among the Lamanites for 14 years and brought many people before God. (Good Results)

Alma 17:5 However, the mission brings a lot of challenges as well, challenges which tested the sons of Mosiah in both body and spirit. (Endurance)

Alma 26:35  In this verse the sons of Mosiah state that no other men had experienced such a great joy as they had. (Blessings)

When they returned from their missions, they had much joy even unto boasting because many had been converted and come unto God. Ammon states that this gospel is his light, his life and his salvation. 
In Alma 26:36 we read
Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from it body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.

These powerful stories once again reminded us of the great blessings that come from missionary work. I hope that it will inspire you as well!

What was your Family Home Evening lesson tonight? Share it with me!

Warmly,
Juliana

New Year's Resolutions

As the New Year approaches, in our family (the adults) start to think about New Year's Resolutions. On the New Years Eve, my husband and I sit down and review our goals for the present year and write our goals for the New Year. Of course we haven't kept all of our old goals, but we are hopeful and determined that we will do better the next year. Here is a quote from Elder Joe Christensen from the Seventy regarding the importance of having goals despite of past performance, "We must not overlook the power that making good resolutions can have in helping make our lives happier and more successful- regardless of our past performance."

This is the guideline we follow to set our goals:
In Luke 2:52 we read, Jesus increased in wisdom and statue, and in favor with God and man.
We set one big goal or three small ones in the following areas based on this scripture:
Wisdom= Intellectually (example "Get a GPA of 3.7 in school" or "Read five books outside of school books")
Statue= Physically (example "Exercise three times a week" or "Lose five pounds")
Favor with God= Spiritually (example "Personal scripture study for 30 minutes daily" or " Attend the Temple every month" or "Do something for someone else daily")
Favor with man= Socially (example "Go on a date every week" or "Make three new friends")
 Thomas S. Monson has said about setting goals "When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates"

Remember to set SMART goals:
S--> Specific
M--> Measurable
A--> Achievable
R--> Result driven
T--> Time specific

Happy New Year and may all your wishes come true!!
Warmly,
Juliana

What do you think about New Year's Resolutions? How do you set goals? Have they worked for you? Share your comments with me!!