Belen Ivey's Baptism

My 8 year old granddaughter was baptized on Saturday morning in Sandpoint Idaho at the Stake Center. It went like this:
Opening Song: A Child's Prayer
Opening Prayer: Jordan Ivey
Talk on Baptism: Cathy Gillice
Musical Number performed by Belen and her friends: When I am Baptized.
The Baptism: Belen's blond hair was in a neat braid that fringed her head. She wore white and a beautiful smile.
Talk on the Holy Ghost: Britt Ivey
Welcome into the Clark Fork Branch: President Fluckiger
Closing Song: I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus
Closing Prayer: Beth Ivey
Piano played by Andrea Hudson
Conducted by Kevin Lowrey


This is the short talk I gave before she was baptized. It is short and to the point.

Today, Saturday June 4, 2011, we are here to witness the baptism of Belen Elizabeth Ivey. Belen has chosen to be baptized. She is being baptized in obedience to the commandments and ordinances of the Holy Priesthood, and in obedience to her Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. She is being baptized by immersion in water by one having authority from God, one who holds the Priesthood, her father.

Baptism, the first saving ordinance of the gospel, is necessary for anyone who wishes to receive eternal salvation and to become a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Immersion in water is symbolic of the death of a person's sinful life and the rebirth into a spiritual life dedicated to the service of God and His children.
Romans 6: 3-4 says, “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
Those who are baptized enter into a covenant with God to take upon themselves the name of Jesus Christ, to keep His commandments, and to serve Him to the end. Church members renew this covenant each time they partake of the sacrament.
You may wonder why we need to be baptized. If we are followers of the Lamb of God, then we must do as he has done and as he tells us to do. He, who was without sin, was obedient to his Father and was baptized by immersion in water, not because he needed forgiveness from sin, for he did not; but he did it to fulfill all righteousness. He did it out of obedience to his Father in Heaven. If He was baptized, then how much more we have need to be baptized.

The scriptures and our Prophets promise us that if we keep the commandments and if we fulfill His ordinances, of which baptism is the first, then He will remember us and we shall have eternal life.

In Alma 7: 15-16 it says, “Yea, I say unto you and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism. And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

Our Heavenly Father is please today with the obedience of Belen. He is pleased that she has decided to obey Him by being baptized by one with the authority to baptize. She has chosen to follow Him, be baptized just as He was baptized. And she has chosen to live her life as His obedient child. She has fulfilled this first ordinance of the Holy Priesthood.  She has made a covenant with Him to keep His commandments, and to serve Him to the end. She will renew this covenant with Him each Sunday when she partakes of the sacrament. She has taken the first steps to returning to live with Him.

Heavenly Father is proud and pleased with the choices that Belen has made today, and so are her family and friends. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Self Esteem, do we need it?

One term that is over used and misunderstood is “self esteem”. It is something that we are told that we need to have, yet very few people feel that they have it. Like me, many are not even sure what the term 'self esteem' truly means.

When I was a recent convert to the Church, my calling was to be the Spiritual Living teacher in Relief Society (remember those days?). In one class I remember asking the class, “who has self esteem?” Only two women out of 20 raised her hand; One-tenth? Something was wrong with this picture. These twenty were women that I looked up to and respected, many of whom were raised in the Church and were talented, had affluent husbands, beautiful children, good educations, and all of things that I desired to have. Yet most of them lacked self esteem.

At the time my mind focused on the two who professed to have self esteem. I wondered how their lives had been different than the rest of ours. What did they have that gave them self-esteem?

Now, almost two decades later I realize that it was not what they had but rather who they realized they were. The world has a skewed picture of the concept of self esteem. Things, accomplishments, looks, money, these are not the true way to develop self esteem.

First, we need to determine what we mean when we say self esteem. I am referring to that something inside of a person that tells them that they have value, that they are an important part of the whole. Self esteem is that elusive quality that many of us strive for, yet most of us never really acquire.

I believe that the reason for this failure is that we do not understand totally that which we seek. Having a positive self esteem is not the same as thinking we are better than others nor that we are more talented or prettier or anything better than someone else. In fact self esteem has zip, nada, nothing to do with other people. It is how we see ourselves through the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

When my son was a pre-teen in the sixth grade he had difficulty in school. At that time we were not members of the Church and had no true foundation in our lives. I remember his school counselor telling me that he was failing in school, but that after massive testing, they had determined that he had no learning problems or disabilities, no emotional or mental problems, he just had no self-esteem.

As a confused young parent, trying to raise my children as a single mother, I was at a loss as to how to help him. Like all mothers I love my son deeply but I felt overwhelmed in this job of parenting. How could I help him to have good self-esteem?

To tell you the truth, I never did figure this out. But thankfully, the Lord knows our deepest problems, desires, and concerns. Because of the concern I had for my son’s adjustment in life, when he was thirteen I agreed with his request to live with his father. While it broke my heart to have him live hundreds of miles away from me, I now know that my Heavenly Father had a plan.

It was during these years, that he lived with his father, that my son became friends with two Mormon boys. My son and another friend from a non-Mormon family began attending the LDS Church for Sunday services. They also went to Seminary every morning and youth activities with their friends. Because of this association with their friends and their friends families, both of these boys have joined the Church, served missions, married in the temple, and continue to serve in their Wards. My son knows who he is because he knows that he is a child of our Heavenly Father, and he was sent here for a purpose. I doubt that he would be diagnosed with low self esteem today.

And because of my son’s association with these Saints, I welcomed the missionaries into my home, listened to their discussions and also joined the church. I have been baptized, became a temple recommend holder, and have held various callings in the Church. Aren’t member missionaries wonderful!

But still, almost two decades later, I find myself once again revisiting this issue of self esteem. And I have found the answer.

First I want to be clear about what it is NOT. Self esteem is not feeling good about yourself because of something you have done, or something you have accomplished or even something that you were born with, such as singing talent. Self esteem is not something that can be found in your self.

Self esteem is the knowledge that you are of value to Heavenly Father. That He made you and that He loves you. He made you just the way he wants you, and he loves you just the way you are. Yes, he does expect us to use those talents that he has given each of us. Yes, he expects us to take a bath, and wash our hair. Yes, he expects that we will take care of other things he has given us. But he does not love us because of anything we have or do, in fact he loves us in spite of those things that we do.

Self esteem is acknowledging that we are made by the creator of ‘worlds without end’. We are loved so much that he sent his Son, Jesus Christ to suffer and die that we might be reunited with Him in the eternities. This is called the atonement.

Our claim to self esteem must be based on this alone. We are children of our Heavenly Father who loves us. We have value because he gives us value. We are much like a dollar bill in that way. A dollar bill is but a piece of paper, yet it has value because our government gives it value. Just like with a dollar bill, we may be new, smooth and crisp or we may be wrinkled, dirty and worn but we have value.

We must see ourselves through the eyes of God. Not just as sinners, wrinkled and dirty, but as Sons and Daughters of our Heavenly Father, born with a divine nature. We can be made crisp and new. We can be cleansed. But our value is in the value that He places upon each of us individually.

Self esteem is not something we are, or can become. We will never be as pretty, or as good, or as rich or as smart as someone else. There will always be someone who is better than us in something. We must not compare ourselves to others.

Look to the story of the laborers. The first were hired for a penny a day and they worked all day. But some came later and worked for only part of the day but the Lord paid them a penny also. The first workers were upset but the Lords said to them, I have paid you what I promised. Why are you upset? From this story I see that the Lord has different expectations for each of us. But we still have the same value. Each of us is of immense value to Him.

When you look at yourself, and compare yourself to others, you are not pleasing to Him. We must each look at only ourselves and see what he sees. We must know that he has made us as he wants us to be. We must love what he has made and what he has given each of us.

He wants us to develop those talents (meaning a lot more than just the ability to sing), we must become the best that we can be. But our value is not in doing those things. Our value is in who we are in relation to the One who created all things.

I know that when I see myself through His eyes, feel the love that He has for me. Then is when I truly feel my self worth, my self-esteem.

Followers of Christ

From conference talk given by Elder Walter F. Gonzalez

According to Elder Gonzalez, members of the LDS church from all over the world have a desire to follow Christ, but he also states that millions who are not members of the Church also have a desire to follow Him. I agree wholeheartedly with his assessment. Before I joined the church I was a Christian in the sense that I wanted to be a follower of Christ. And I was, in so far as I knew how to be.

By joining this church I have found more than I was able to find in the various churches that I had attended. I agree with Elder Gonzalez that it is our duty, as Latter-day Saints, to invite these millions to come and see what our church can add to the good things that they already have.

The Savior promises, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

As a follower of Christ I try to pattern my life after Him, I try to walk in the light. The test to know if I am accomplishing my goal to follow Christ can be seen in two ways. One, am I a loving person (as Christ was), and two do I make and keep covenants with my Heavenly Father?

Elder Gonzalez stated that when we follow Christ out of love, we follow His example. As Jesus Christ was obedient to the will of the Father, so too we must be obedient to the will of the Father.

Christ was obedient when it meant great physical and emotional pain, when it meant being whipped and tortured. He was obedient when his friends abandoned Him and even denied that they knew Him. Are we obedient when we are in pain, when we feel tortured and tormented, when we are abandoned by our friends, and sometimes family?

Just as Christ followed the Father under any circumstances, we should also follow our Savior, His son. If we do so, we are not alone. Christ will be with us, He will make us mighty in any circumstance.

When we follow Christ some of us, much as Ruth the Moabite, may be asked to forsake many dear things. Ruth, a convert, left everything that she knew and loved to follow Naomi because of her love for God.

It may mean withstanding adversity and temptation, like Joseph who was sold into slavery. He was taken from everything and everyone that he loved. He resisted temptation and did not sin. His love for God was greater than the adversity and temptation that he endured.

If we truly love Christ, he will provide the required strength needed to follow Him. Our love for our Savior will inspire us to keep His commandments, to live righteously and to continue to follow him through adversity and temptation.

A characteristic of Christ’s followers is making and keeping covenants just as He did. The Savior Himself is our example. He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness, thus demonstrating His willingness to be obedient in all things. Making covenants is an expression of love. This is how we say to Him, “Yes, I will follow Thee because I love Thee.”

We as Christians must know that “all things work together for them that are called according to his purpose.” (my paraphrase)

The power of our covenants is greater than any challenge we have faced, now face, or may face. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

We need to ask ourselves daily, is my love for my Savior reflected in my actions and my obedience to Him? We must determine to live by the power of our covenants, and refuse to let the challenges of life, of mortality, defeat our potential as followers of Christ.

Just a short thought for today.

     I just wanted to share a concept that I read about in a book by Dr. Caroline Leaf called Who switched off my brain? controlling toxic thoughts and emotions.

    She says "God gave us the gift of choice - this is a Scriptural and scientific fact."  She goes on to explain that the new science of epigenetics teaches that our perceptions and life experiences remodel our genes, not the other way around. In other words, we need to take responsibility for our choices and subsequent words, actions and behaviors because they are what make us who we are or who we will become.

    Genetic expression means proteins are made according to the gentic code (within DNA). But genes are turned on and off by an external source (our thoughts and our actions) from outside the cell. My favorite saying applies here, "To become who I want to be, I must be who I want to become."

    The thoughts we think switch our genes on, causing genetic expression and making proteins synthesize and memories grow. You can switch your behavioral and emotional genes on and off with the choices you make. The choices you make of your own free will, literally flip the switch for memory building.

    This is why it is crical that we desire to know God's thoughts through His Word. We can make choices that bring life, or death both spiritually and physically.

     I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the human brain, and human behavior and especially to anyone who wants to change their brain and behavior to be more Christlike.

    

     Have you ever noticed that while we may have the best of intentions, we often seem to "miss the mark"? Well I, for one, can identify with this statement. No matter how I try to be perfect, or at least as good as I can be, it seems that somehow my weaknesses and imperfections always interfere.

     While this may be true, or at least seem true. I refuse to give in to these weaknesses! Some people may say "the devil made me do it", but the devil can not make me do anything. I have that wonderful gift called FREE WILL. So do you.

     It would be so easy to hide behind this worldly excuse. It would be so easy to just give into my weaknesses and human frailties. It would be so easy to just give up. But giving up is the road to misery. This is the road that I have traveled at various times in my life, just as many of you may have also traveled this road that leads only to pain, suffering, loneliness and despair.

     Is this why I was born? Is this why I was made by my Heavenly Father. NO! I am a child of God. I have a divine nature.

     I choose to be like my Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. I have a choice and I do not have to give into my weaknesses and my sinful, mortal nature. I am not saying that it is or will be easy. I am not even saying that I will be successful all of the time. But then I have never known anything of worth or value to be easy to achieve.

     Could you earn a paycheck without effort? No. Could you lose weight without effort? No. Could you give birth to a healthy baby without effort? Of course not. Nothing of value comes without effort.

     Didn't it take effort for Jesus Christ to die on the cross? Didn't it take effort to go to school and earn good grades? Didn't it take effort to make dinner last night? Yes!

     Anything that is worth having, is worth working toward. Therefore, what are those things of value that you want to have in your life? What are you willing to do to earn them?

     I will share one thing that I am implementing in my life to bring about my goal of "becoming like Christ". I am searching the scriptures and praying. While this is not a new concept for any of us, it does involve effort. And I will admit, I have not always been good at putting out the effort needed to accomplish my goals.

     I am sending out a challenge to myself and to you. Let's search the scriptures. Let's look to the One who has the answers that we are seeking. Let's not blame Satan or others for our own lack of effort. We have free will, and we have the desire to make our lives better. Who can stop us?

     I mimic the Apostle Paul when I say, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Christ is the answer. Being guided at all times and in all places by the Holy Spirit is the answer. Won't you join me on this journey. Won't you also make an effort to reach your spiritual goals?

     Let me ask you, "Are you in life where you want to be?" If not, why not? If not, then how can you change your situation? You have the FREE WILL, and the power to change your situation, to change your life here on earth and  your eternal life.

     Let's make this journey of change together. Let's become daughters and sons of the great "I AM".

    
    

Come follow me, the Savior says to each of us...Let us follow together.

Hello friends and family,

   I am starting on a new journey today and I hope you will come along with me. You see, I teach a "spiritual living" class once a month to the women in my church. I have been doing this for awhile now and I am learning so much that I wanted to share with you.

   I want to start by sharing a little about myself. I am a single woman (divorced for over 20 years now), and I am a registered nurse by trade. I have had many ups and downs over the years, and at this time in my life I am the healthiest and happiest that I have ever been.

   The Lord has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams. I want to share my blessings with you. I am not sure that this can be done via a blog but I will try. I hope that you understand that I am only sharing and that any spiritual growth that you may experience will be only accomplished as you personally build your relationship with the Lord.

   I will try to make the things that I share non-denominational so that whatever you may believe, you can understand and possible learn something that will be a blessing to your spiritual growth.

   I will take a moment here to share my personal testimony: I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of our Heavenly Father. I know that the third member of the godhead, the Holy Spirit, is the one who can touch each of our hearts and teach us those things that we need to know, and desire to know. I have no desire to "shove" my beliefs down your throat. I am just sharing those things that the Lord has taught me so that possibly the Spirit can use these experiences to also teach you.

   I want to state once again, that today I am the healthiest and happiest that I have ever been in my life. I owe this present state of being to the grace of God. Just two years ago I was physically and mentally SICK. Today I am in the process of being healed, both physically and mentally.

    Today for my first blog I want to share with you one of the most important lessons that I have learned over the last two years and have now begun to see the results. This is the lesson that our Heavenly Father teaches when he says "Be still and know that I am God".

    BE STILL. Because I am a person who likes fun, and people and lots of activity I have not always followed this admonishon. I have not been still in body or soul. For the last two years I have been learning to "be still".

    I have been and still am learning to "stop and smell the roses". This is an apt saying for me, since I love the smell of roses. My favorite fragrance. During the last two years, first out of necessity because of poor health, and now out of desire, I have had to slow down my life. I am learning to "Be Still" and know my God.

     There are four basic relationships that have contributed to my present position of health and joy. They are my relationship with my Heavenly Father, my relationship with my family, my relationship with my fellowman, and my relationship with myself.

    Let me be clear on this. I have not got a perfect relationship in each of these areas but I am working on these relationships. That is the key for me. I am now aware of their importance and am seeking to strengthen myself in each of these areas.

    I am writing this blog for me. I pray that this blog might also be of value to others. My goal is to learn from my friends and family who have already learned those lessons that I have still to learn. I am praying that this will be a journey that many of us can take together.

   Please leave comments. Please pray for me and let me know how I can pray for you. Please come take this journey with me. Let us follow our Savior together. Let us become women of wisdom.

Sincerely,  Cathy