I speak today to all of you, but I would like to specifically speak to someone in here that is physically in attendance but invisibly present.
I would like also to speak to my primary today, and I hope they will understand me…
I have shared this story while I was on my mission. In a book entitled, The Aesop for Children, there was a story about
THE CROW AND THE PITCHER
In a spell of dry weather, when the Birds could find very little
to drink, a thirsty Crow found a pitcher with a little water in
it. But the pitcher was high and had a narrow neck, and no matter
how he tried, he could not reach the water. The poor bird
felt as if he must die of thirst.
He decided to try different idea. He tried to hit the pitcher with his beak, to no avail, he tried to bump his head and body to somehow knock the pitcher until he almost lost his breath.
Then an idea came to him. Picking up some small pebbles, he
dropped them into the pitcher one by one. With each pebble the
water rose a little higher until at last it was near enough so he
could drink.
I don't need to remind you that this is the best season of the year, we will be having a week holiday for the Haj, and celebrating the Christmas season in a couple of weeks from now. This coming birthday of the prophet Joseph Smith we will be celebrating our first wedding anniversary. They said that the first year of marriage is the hardest part, we didn't think so. And yet we are grateful to God that me and my wife lasted happily and lovingly for a year now, and our love towards each other still grows each day.
I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Anthony, to Phat, to Conrad, and to Leo and Danny, and of course my brother Carl, they have a big role in my courtship with Shie. They add spices and seasonings so we will blend well. Thank you.
But the greatest of them all, brothers and sisters, a child who was born along time ago in Bethlehem.
Luke 2:11 -16 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Luke 2:13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
I was walking along the highway near Sydney Hotel in Gensan City a long time ago, when I read a big banner draped through the hotel wall that says
LET US CELEBRATE THE GREATEST GIFT WE EVER RECEIVE – JESUS CHRIST
Before I end my short talk, and play to you this song, let me comeback to my story a while ago.
After all the trials and challenges we been through from January to this December, we are grateful that we overcome them and we will be comforted by the God of Heaven if we still have trials and sufferings.
JOHN 3:16 He said,
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.
We can slowly fill the pitcher with small stones, and pebbles, until the water went up and we drink and quench our thirst. For some of us, the water might be overflowing, its time to share those blessings, and to those who still had a lot of pebbles to put in the pitcher, that includes me, hehe, we can still share by helping putting pebbles to others pitcher too. A little hi or hello, a short call of kumusta and how are you, a little kindness and bati will do, hugs or tap on the shoulder, today and the coming days is Christmas, let us live the spirit, let us keep the spirit, and let us be joyful. For God so loved us, that He gave his only begotten Son, to whom we have faith, and we will not perish, but everlasting life…
Mary's Boy Child…by Jose Mari Chan
Faith in America
Text of Republican presidential hopeful
Mitt Romney's speech Thursday on Faith in America at the
George Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.
Mr. Romney was introduced by the Former US President George HW Bush.
ROMNEY: Thank you, Mr. President for your kind introduction.
It is an honor to be here today. This is an inspiring place because of you and the first lady and because of the film that's exhibited across the way in the presidential library. For those who have not seen it, it shows the president as a young pilot, shot down during the Second World War, being rescued from his life raft by the crew of an American submarine. It's a moving reminder that when America has faced challenge and peril, Americans rise to the occasion, willing to risk their very lives to defend freedom and preserve our nation. We're in your debt, Mr. President. Thank you very, very much.
Mr. President, your generation rose to the occasion, first to defeat fascism and then to vanquish the Soviet Union. You left us, your children, a free and strong America. It is why we call yours the greatest generation. It's now my generation's turn. How we respond to today's challenges will define our generation. And it will determine what kind of America we will leave our children, and theirs.
America faces a new generation of challenges. Radical violent Islam seeks to destroy us. An emerging China endeavors to surpass our economic leadership. And we're troubled at home by government overspending, overuse of foreign oil, and the breakdown of the family.
Over the last year, we've embarked on a national debate on how best to preserve American leadership. Today, I wish to address a topic which I believe is fundamental to America's greatness: our religious liberty. I'll also offer perspectives on how my own faith would inform my presidency, if I were elected.
There are some who may feel that religion is not a matter to be seriously considered in the context of the weighty threats that face us. If so, they are at odds with the nation's founders, for they, when our nation faced its greatest peril, sought the blessings of the Creator. And further, they discovered the essential connection between the survival of a free land and the protection of religious freedom. In John Adams' words: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. ... Our Constitution," he said, "was made for a moral and religious people."
Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom opens the windows of the soul so that man can discover his most profound beliefs and commune with God. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone.
Given our grand tradition of religious tolerance and liberty, some wonder whether there are any questions regarding an aspiring candidate's religion that are appropriate. I believe there are. And I'll answer them today.
Almost 50 years ago another candidate from Massachusetts explained that he was an American running for president, not a Catholic running for president. Like him, I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith nor should he be rejected because of his faith.
Let me assure you that no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. Their authority is theirs, within the province of church affairs, and it ends where the affairs of the nation begin.
As governor, I tried to do the right as best I knew it, serving the law and answering to the Constitution. I did not confuse the particular teachings of my church with the obligations of the office and of the Constitution — and of course, I would not do so as president. I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law.
As a young man, Lincoln described what he called America's "political religion" — the commitment to defend the rule of law and the Constitution. When I place my hand on the Bible and take the oath of office, that oath becomes my highest promise to God. If I am fortunate to become your president, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause and no one interest. A president must serve only the common cause of the people of the United States.
There are some for whom these commitments are not enough. They would prefer it if I would simply distance myself from my religion, say that it's more a tradition than my personal conviction, or disavow one or another of its precepts. That I will not do. I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. My faith is the faith of my fathers. I will be true to them and to my beliefs.
Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they are right, so be it. But I think they underestimate the American people. Americans do not respect respecters — excuse me — believers of convenience.
Americans tire of those who would jettison their beliefs, even to gain the world. There is one fundamental question about which I often am asked. What do I believe about Jesus Christ? I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God and the savior of mankind. My church's beliefs about Christ may not all be the same as those of other faiths. Each religion has its own unique doctrines and history. These are not bases for criticism but rather a test of our tolerance. Religious tolerance would be a shallow principle indeed if it were reserved only for faiths with which we agree.
There are some who would have a presidential candidate describe and explain his church's distinctive doctrines. To do so would enable the very religious test the founders prohibited in the Constitution. No candidate should become the spokesman for his faith. For if he becomes president he will need the prayers of the people of all faiths.
I believe that every faith I have encountered draws its adherents closer to God. And in every faith I have come to know, there are features I wish were in my own: I love the profound ceremony of the Catholic Mass, the approachability of God in the prayers of the evangelicals, the tenderness of spirit among the Pentecostals, the confident independence of the Lutherans, the ancient traditions of the Jews, unchanged through the ages, and the commitment to frequent prayer of the Muslims. As I travel across the country and see our towns and cities, I am always moved by the many houses of worship with their steeples, all pointing to heaven, reminding us of the source of life's blessings.
It's important to recognize that while differences in theology exist between the churches in America, we share a common creed of moral convictions. And where the affairs of our nation are concerned, it's usually a sound rule to focus on the latter, on the great moral principles that urge us all on a common course. Whether it was the cause of abolition, or civil rights, or the right to life itself, no movement of conscience can succeed in America that cannot speak to the convictions of religious people.
We separate church and state affairs in this country, and for good reason. No religion should dictate to the state nor should the state interfere with the free practice of religion. But in recent years, the notion of the separation of church and state has been taken by some well beyond its original meaning. They seek to remove from the public domain any acknowledgment of God. Religion is seen as merely a private affair with no place in public life. It's as if they are intent on establishing a new religion in America — the religion of secularism. They are wrong.
The founders proscribed the establishment of a state religion, but they did not countenance the elimination of religion from the public square. We are a nation "under God" and in God, we do indeed trust.
We should acknowledge the Creator as did the Founders in ceremony and word. He should remain on our currency, in our pledge, in the teaching of our history, and during the holiday season, nativity scenes and menorahs should be welcome in our public places. Our greatness would not long endure without judges who respect the foundation of faith upon which our constitution rests. I will take care to separate the affairs of government from any religion, but I will not separate us from 'the God who gave us liberty.'
Nor would I separate us from our religious heritage. Perhaps the most important question to ask a person of faith who seeks a political office, is this: Does he share these American values — the equality of human kind, the obligation to serve one another and a steadfast commitment to liberty?
They are not unique to any one denomination. They belong to the great moral inheritance we hold in common. They're the firm ground on which Americans of different faiths meet and stand as a nation, united.
We believe that every single human being is a child of God — we're all part of the human family. The conviction of the inherent and inalienable worth of every life is still the most revolutionary political proposition ever advanced. John Adams put it that we are "thrown into the world all equal and alike."
The consequence of our common humanity is our responsibility to one another, to our fellow Americans foremost, but also to every child of God. It's an obligation which is fulfilled by Americans every day, here and across the globe, without regard to creed or race or nationality.
Americans acknowledge that liberty is a gift of God, not an indulgence of government. No people in the — No people in the history of the world have sacrificed as much for liberty. The lives of hundreds of thousands of America's sons and daughters were laid down during the last century to preserve freedom, for us and for freedom loving people throughout the world. America took nothing from that century's terrible wars — no land from Germany or Japan or Korea, no treasure, no oath of fealty. America's resolve in the defense of liberty has been tested time and again. It has not been found wanting, nor must it ever be. America must never falter in holding high the banner of freedom.
These American values, this great moral heritage, is shared and lived in my religion as it is in yours. I was taught in my home to honor God and love my neighbor. I saw my father march with Martin Luther King. I saw my parents provide compassionate care to others, in personal ways to people nearby, and in just as consequential ways in leading national volunteer movements. I am moved by the Lord's words: "For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me in. Naked, and ye clothed me."
My faith is grounded on these truths. You can witness them in Ann and my marriage and in our family. We're a long way from perfect and we have surely stumbled along the way, but our aspirations, our values, are the self-same as those from the other faiths that stand upon this common foundation. And these convictions will indeed inform my presidency.
Today's generations of Americans have always known religious liberty. Perhaps we forget the long and arduous path our nation's forebears took to achieve it. They came here from England to seek freedom of religion. But upon finding it for themselves, they at first denied it to others. Because of their diverse beliefs, Ann Hutchinson was exiled from Massachusetts Bay, Roger Williams founded Rhode Island, and two centuries later, Brigham Young set out for the West. Americans were unable to accommodate their commitment to their own faith with an appreciation for the convictions of others to different faiths. In this, they were very much like those of the European nations they had left.
It was in Philadelphia that our founding fathers defined a revolutionary vision of liberty, grounded on self evident truths about the equality of all, and the inalienable rights with which each is endowed by his Creator.
We cherish these sacred rights, and secure them in our Constitutional order. Foremost do we protect religious liberty, not as a matter of policy but as a matter of right. There will be no established church, and we are guaranteed the free exercise of our religion.
I'm not sure that we fully appreciate the profound implications of our tradition of religious liberty. I've visited many of the magnificent cathedrals in Europe. They are so inspired, so grand and so empty. Raised up over generations, long ago, so many of the cathedrals now stand as the postcard backdrop to societies just too busy or too 'enlightened' to venture inside and kneel in prayer. The establishment of state religions in Europe did no favor to Europe's churches. And though you will find many people of strong faith there, the churches themselves seem to be withering away.
Infinitely worse is the other extreme, the creed of conversion by conquest: violent jihad, murder as martyrdom, killing Christians, Jews, and Muslims with equal indifference. These radical Islamists do their preaching not by reason or example, but in the coercion of minds and the shedding of blood. We face no greater danger today than theocratic tyranny, and the boundless suffering these states and groups could inflict if given the chance.
The diversity of our cultural expression, and the vibrancy of our religious dialogue, has kept America in the forefront of civilized nations even as others regard religious freedom as something to be destroyed.
In such a world, we can be deeply thankful that we live in a land where reason and religion are friends and allies in the cause of liberty, joined against the evils and dangers of the day. And you can be — You can be certain of this: Any believer in religious freedom, any person who has knelt in prayer to the Almighty, has a friend and ally in me. And so it is for hundreds of millions of our countrymen: We do not insist on a single strain of religion — rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith.
Recall the early days of the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia, during the fall of 1774. With Boston occupied by British troops, there were rumors of imminent hostilities and fears of an impending war. In this time of peril, someone suggested that they pray. But there were objections. "They were too divided in religious sentiment," what with Episcopalians and Quakers, Anabaptists and Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Catholics.
Then Sam Adams rose, and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot.
And so together they prayed, and together they fought, and together, by the grace of God, they founded this great nation.
And in that spirit, let us give thanks to the divine "author of liberty." And together, let us pray that this land may always be blessed, "with freedom's holy light."
God bless this great land, the United States of America.
CHRIST and the CHILDREN
Prepared Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation Talk by Shiela A. Solis
For the whole year of 2007, the primary children's theme is "I'll Follow Jesus Christ in Faith". In the Primary the kids are taught the stories of life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The purpose is for the children to better know Jesus Christ, what He did that is good, uplifting and even divine that little children can follow or believe and gain testimony with. The more they know about how good Jesus is, the more that they will gain a testimony and a strong desire to follow HIM.
Teaching the Children about Jesus Christ is not only to be conducted every Friday, but specifically and most importantly in the home. Children who grow up and know Jesus Christ, who prays to our Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ and who has a desire to serve Him are those taught by their mothers. Remember that stripling warriors of Helaman…in chapter 56 of Alma, Helaman told Moroni in his letter and he said and I quote in verse 47 "now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives: yea, they had been taught by ther mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them" and after that the stripling warriors told helaman once again saying " we do not doubt our mothers knew it. They believe the words of their mothers? What about the Fathers? The mother teaches the kids, the father sets the example by being good, caring, respectful and good provider. The father honors the priesthood that he holds, as well as he love and cares their mother. A long time ago, I heard a quote that says, CHILDREN LEARNS MORE FASTER TO WHAT THEY SEE THAT WHAT YOU DO, RATHER THAN HEAR WHAT YOU SAY. So the talking should be reinforcing with doing.
Before I got married, I'm so concerned about which ward we would be staying at, and it never entered my mind that my husband will be bringing me in this very far away and strange land of Saudi. I always hoped and prayed that I'd be able to bring up our children well, in a strong ward or branch, that the testimonies of the members will also inspire them to gain their own testimonies, receive the ordinances of the gospel, be married in the temple, and do the things which their Heavenly Father has planned for them. That is the same hope and prayer I have for the children in this branch. Sometimes I wonder, do they really get the message we are trying to impart them, do they understand are they trying to apply it to their lives. If not I hope they heard it, and someday they will remember and learn from it if not now. But we, teachers and most importantly parents, we are called to do it, we have the responsibilities, no matter how hard. I would always be grateful for the support of the primary leaders, sis Luz, sis Malou, bro. Beda, bro Manny, and my husband for their faith and testimonies to magnify this calling. I know that each one of us is a child of God; each one is precious to the Lord.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said in the recent Leadership Training " If you can't teach the kids now, just love them. If you love them now, perhaps you can teach them tomorrow."
