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October 2016

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/i-will-bring-the-light-of-the-gospel-into-my-home?lang=eng

I Will Bring the Light of the Gospel into My Home

By Jean B. Bingham

First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency

We can bring the light of the gospel into our homes, schools, and workplaces if we look for and share positive things about others.

In response to Sister Linda K. Burton’s invitation at April’s general conference,1 many of you have been involved in thoughtful and generous acts of charity focused on meeting the needs of refugees in your local area….

We never did this. We need to! I found a cool app today that I read about on KSL that was developed to find refuge projects in your area.

One of the most significant ways we can develop and demonstrate love for our neighbor is through being generous in our thoughts and words. “The greatest form of charity may be to withhold judgment.”4

4=(Sandra Rogers, “Hearts Knit Together,” in Hearts Knit Together: Talks from the 1995 Women’s Conference (1996), 7.)

 

We sometimes look at others with an incomplete or inaccurate understanding. We may focus on the differences and perceived flaws in those around us whereas our Heavenly Father sees His children, created in His eternal image, with magnificent and glorious potential.

 

We want to use the light of the gospel to see others as the Savior does. The day will come when we will have a complete understanding of others’ hearts and will be grateful to have mercy extended to us—just as we extend charitable thoughts and words to others during this life.

 

President Thomas S. Monson put it this way: “We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.”7

 

Story   (Greed)

A girl who lived on a hill on one side of a valley. Each late afternoon she noticed on the hill on the opposite side of the valley a house that had shining, golden windows. Her own home was small and somewhat shabby, and the girl dreamed of living in that beautiful house with windows of gold.

One day the girl was given permission to ride her bike across the valley. She eagerly rode until she reached the house with the golden windows that she had admired for so long. But when she dismounted from her bike, she saw that the house was abandoned and dilapidated, with tall weeds in the yard and windows that were plain and dirty. Sadly, the girl turned her face toward home. To her surprise, she saw a house with shining, golden windows on the hill across the valley and soon realized it was her very own home!8

The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Repentance: Righteous Living 

We are not only allowed to change for the better but also encouraged, and even commanded, to continue in the pursuit of improvement and, ultimately, perfection.