He Does Pour Out His Spirit if We Have Eyes to See!

Last week something came up that had me thinking about Debbie Garcia. I served with her in the Primary Presidency way back when I only had two tiny babies and we were living in San Diego, California in the 70's. It was my first church service in a presidency. She was amazing. When the Bishop called me he said that she was a very spiritual person, and that he trusted her completely. He said he would give her ANYONE she ever asked him for, to serve in the primary, because he knew she would know the Lords will in the matter first. He said that if she asked for the Stake Relief Society President to be Sunbeam Teacher he would request it from the Stake.

While we only lived in that ward for about a year, as a presidency, we had the opportunity to call several new teachers. The Bishop told me I would have an extraordinary experience working with her and he was right! We would go over the list of ward members and come up with a few names, then she sent us home to pray about them. If we didn't ALL have the same name, she would send us home again to pray. Not until we ALL felt right about it would we ask for that person, and the Bishop would always approve it because of his confidence in Sister Garcia. When Debbie prayed I would often peek, just to see if I could see the Lord standing in the room. The next time I served in a Presidency was such a letdown, I thought this was just standard operating procedure for every organization in the church. Don't get me wrong, I loved the women I served with, but I could never help them understand what it had been like with Sister Garcia. It's sad that through the years, I have never had quite the same united, sacred experience while working with others in a calling.

The children adored her. It was back in the days (you know when we walked ten miles to school in terrible blizzards :) and when we had primary during the week. I have never experienced reverence like she generated, before or since. You could hear a pin drop in our opening exercises. She taught the children that Jesus would be with them if He could feel their love by their reverence. He was! That chapel had a holy feeling that I've only experienced since in the temple! The children loved her so much they wanted to be near her or just touch her. In the foyer she would greet them and I can still see her cup their little faces in her hands, and see the love shining in her eyes and in theirs, because she truly had "His image" in her countenance! When I remember this I always think it had to be very much like it was when the Lord greeted each child of the Nephites!

Later when I read of how the twelve apostles conduct their business, I was amazed because I truly had experienced the same thing in an ordinary ward primary! It reminds me of this scripture:

Numbers 11:29 "And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!"

And, we are living in a day when we are witnessing this prophecy:

Joel 2:28, 29 "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit!"

In other words even the lowly, those who do not hold high position, can receive the spirit in greater abundance than we ask for and expect to receive! As I remembered my experiences with Debbie Garcia, I thought about my own current calling. I'm one of three gospel doctrine teachers for the adults in our ward, and I do pray about my calling, but this week, because of Sister Garcia's example I prayed more earnestly. I had intended to have a class member review the story of Elijah passing his mantle on to Elisha to be the next prophet. I tried to think of people who haven't had as much opportunity to participate, but didn't feel right about any of them when suddenly our new Bishop's name popped into my head. Of course, he has just received the new mantle of Bishop. I felt the spirit of confirmation wash over me so completely. (I must admit to feeling surprised that it could come so strongly over something so simple.) So I immediately called him on the phone and got his answering machine. I left the message but didn't hear back from him. I tried his number several more times with the same result. Then I became worried that he was still out of town, so I asked my sweet husband to review the material and be prepared to give it. I worried about the experience I'd just had, I questioned my ability to receive inspiration, but hoped for the best.

Then on Sunday the Bishop was there and willingly accepted my invitation and shared the story, his testimony and feelings, and then his testimony and witness of watching President Hinckley (who is his uncle) personally as a man, and then with the mantle of prophet! It was so powerful! It was wonderful! It was a witness to little ole' obscure me, that God does hear and care about even the smallest details of our lives and of our callings. I knew this before, but what a wonderful reminder! And, what a wonderful reminder that we all really do need to reach higher, and ask for and expect greater direction and power in every aspect of our lives and callings!

2 Kings 6:16-17 "And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And and the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw; and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha."

Lord let me have eyes to see, ears to hear, and use my mouth and heart more earnestly to ASK!

Le Shanah Haba-ah b, Hadash Yerushalayim

Over forty years ago I first learned of the New Jerusalem in seminary. For some reason my interest was instant, and I wanted to know everything I could find out about that promised city. My heart just swelled with longing to be there — to be part of that future righteous gathering of saints. I thought my heart would burst when I read Moses 7:62-64 " . . . and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. And the Lord said unto Enoch; Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other; And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest."

At that time in my young life I longed for such peace, because my home-life was filled with contention and strife. I longed to love and be loved. How I longed to be there when the holy city of Enoch comes down from heaven and is joined with the New Jerusalem and for a thousand years the Lord will reign and peace will be on the earth! To be in a place where children will grow up without sin unto salvation and there will be no poor among us. Every few years this desire just starts to well up in my heart, and it's here again this year! About thirty years ago I heard the phrase "Next Year In Jerusalem" and immediately I adopted it. When we moved from Denver twenty-two years ago I longed to go east to Missouri, but I had to turn my face to the west. After we'd moved, for several years until it became faded and curled, I had a note on my bathroom mirror that said, "Next Year In Jerusalem!"

After reading scriptures in the temple last Friday, that phrase started playing in my head again, and I got the most unreasonable, but strong desire to know what it is in Hebrew. I researched and found the Hebrew phrase: Le shanah haba-a b,Yerushalayim or Next Year in Jerusalem. At the Jews yearly passover feast, they fill their glasses with wine, with one for the prophet Elijah with his empty chair, and for the last two millennia, at the end of the feast they raise their glasses and repeat together "Next year in Jerusalem!" All during their long dispersion in the world they spoke these words with the passionate longing to go back home to their holy city. Now that Jews are once again in Jerusalem, they speak these words with longing for the prophet Elijah and their Messiah to come! It's with that same longing that I added "hadash" or "new" to the phrase and lately it's been like a mantra to me — Le shanah haba-a b, hadash Yerushalayim, as I give thanks that the prophet Elijah has already come and as I long for the Savior Jesus Christ to come again!

And so I pray — "Next Year In New Jerusalem!"

For The Beauties of the Earth

On Sunday I taught my gospel doctrine lesson on the Sermon on the Mount! All last week I played the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's "Consider The Lillies" CD. Ever since, I have been absolutely filled with "the beauty of the earth!" I played the music as prelude music with a note on the board asking everyone to look up the corresponding scriptures to items I had placed on the table. All items I found in my own home---salt, a picture of lillies that Ron gave me that I had printed, a rock from the yard, bread, a picture of my newest little bride, a beam of wood, a picture of my neighbor, and many many more things.

This idea came to me so clearly as I prayed for guidance in teaching. Before prayer, I had no idea how to present so much absolutely wonderful material in half an hour! We really didn't have time to discuss each item, but they got the message before class even started. The wonderful thing was how reverent it became even before starting class! The power of sacred music has always been wonderful to me. It never fails to bring the spirit! After my son Robert died it was the ONLY relief and comfort I could find. Several of my friends who knew how much I love reverent, spiritual music gave me new CD's and they were, and still are my lifeline to the Lord and to hope!

I spent most of that class time talking of the Beatitudes and of their progressive nature as outlined in the Bible Dictionary! It is worth reading, really worth reading! I have pondered so much since preparing and then giving this lesson. We all have to go up the steps---line upon line---from being poor in spirit and finally learning to love ourselves, to then mourning for our sins enough to repent, being meek enough to submit to the prophet and thus to the Lord, which leads us to actually hunger and thirst after righteousness! Those steps teach us to love the Lord! Then on to being merciful, in other words, treating others with patience, kindness, and long-suffering, while always remembering our OWN weaknesses. This leads to our becoming pure in heart---being purged of all desire to do wrong by the Holy Ghost---till we become peacemakers. A person wanting to live in unity, law abiding, pleasant agreeable and generous. (Doesn't that sound like Ron? He's pretty wonderful!) These three beatitudes teach us to love others! And, then---the hard one---learning to love our enemies, by being willing to suffer trials and NOT compromise our ideals to win approval of the world! And, I think even harder, to do this without offense to man or God (Well, some men will take offense no matter what) but even when they do, the Savior actually commands us to pray FOR our enemies.

I am so thankful that He judges us by the intent of hearts. He is so merciful when we fall short! He just wants us to get back up and try again! I think I realized after studying these principles this time around, that we can go through all of these steps in certain times and phases of our lives, and then boom---we are right back to having to learn to love ourselves all over again. Life gets more challenging. We find ourselves at the top of the ladder only to discover that it is, in fact, the bottom of the next ladder, and so on I suppose to the end of our lives and even beyond until we have become perfect!

I pray that the Lord will help all of us. I think if we just find ourselves going up ... just keep going up we can make it! But, even when we slip down, the minute we reach for Him, our Father in Heaven is there. It has always amazed me that when I turn to Him, He just overwhelms me with his love!

And, I believe that things will always get better. They always will! The world is indeed beautiful. Like this picture I took while Ron and I were in the canyon on Saturday! It was a beautiful, beautiful autumn day! The big rock in this picture reminds me of the "rock of our salvation" Jesus Christ. Ron is also a rock for me---strong, steady, safe and kind!