Week 39: Charity Never Faileth

Hello Friends,


This Week's talk is President Monson's talk from the 2010 General Relief Society Meeting. As I watched this talk, I realized how much I have come to love and revere our Prophet. It is amazing to me that he can bring us all to laughter without saying a word as he begins his talk. I am grateful for his powerful reminder of something I need much improvement with. He is a master teacher. His visual parables have given me much to ponder as I seek to apply his counsel. What powerful stories he shared! I appreciate his quote from Mother Teresa that "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." I also appreciate his insights about charity as it applies to how we look at each other.

How blessed we are to have a Prophet of God who speaks to us of things significant and applicable today. I think the Relief Society meeting is the perfect segway to prepare our hearts and minds to receive more direction from the Savior this coming weekend. I know as we prayerfully consider and prepare, answers will come and testimonies will be strengthened. Truly, we have the opportunity to sit at the feet of the Savior and be taught by the Spirit as we listen to Prophets and Apostles.

A wonderful Conference weekend to you,

Charity Never Faileth

President Thomas S. Monson

MP3 Link

Our souls have rejoiced tonight and reached toward heaven. We have been blessed with beautiful music and inspired messages. The Spirit of the Lord is here. I pray for His inspiration to be with me now as I share with you some of my thoughts and feelings.

I begin with a short anecdote which illustrates a point I should like to make.
A young couple, Lisa and John, moved into a new neighborhood. One morning while they were eating breakfast, Lisa looked out the window and watched her next-door neighbor hanging out her wash.
“That laundry’s not clean!” Lisa exclaimed. “Our neighbor doesn’t know how to get clothes clean!”
John looked on but remained silent.
Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry, Lisa would make the same comments.
A few weeks later Lisa was surprised to glance out her window and see a nice, clean wash hanging in her neighbor’s yard. She said to her husband, “Look, John—she’s finally learned how to wash correctly! I wonder how she did it.”
John replied, “Well, dear, I have the answer for you. You’ll be interested to know that I got up early this morning and washed our windows!”
Tonight I’d like to share with you a few thoughts concerning how we view each other. Are we looking through a window which needs cleaning? Are we making judgments when we don’t have all the facts? What do we see when we look at others? What judgments do we make about them?
Said the Savior, “Judge not.”1 He continued, “Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”2 Or, to paraphrase, why beholdest thou what you think is dirty laundry at your neighbor’s house but considerest not the soiled window in your own house?
None of us is perfect. I know of no one who would profess to be so. And yet for some reason, despite our own imperfections, we have a tendency to point out those of others. We make judgments concerning their actions or inactions.
There is really no way we can know the heart, the intentions, or the circumstances of someone who might say or do something we find reason to criticize. Thus the commandment: “Judge not.” Read the rest HERE.



Week 38: When My Prayers Seem Unanswered

I have shared this talk before but recently I have been hearing about this topic again. I wanted to share this talk once more because of its wonderful counsel and help in understanding the way the Lord answers our prayers.

I recently experienced an answer to a prayer that I have been asking for more than 18 years! While traveling alone from an appointment. In the solitude of my van the Lord answered my hearts prayer peacefully and quietly. I felt overwhelmed by the simplicity of the answer. Then as if to prove further the answer was true, my mind was filled with memories of experiences I have had over the past years that have prepared me to receive and accept the words sent to my heart and mind at this time. Little did I know that over the years, my prayers were indeed being answered by the Lord. He was preparing a "holding place in my heart to put the answer". I will never be able to look at my past again without deep gratitude and humility.

I know the Lord Jesus Christ lives! I know He loves us. I know that more than anything He wants to rescue us from our mortal strife and He has through his atoning sacrifice. Never ever give up. When things get to where they seem to hard to bear remember that somewhere somehow He is answering your prayer and that you are deeply and personally known and loved.

All my love,

MP3 Link

When My Prayers Seem Unanswered

S. Michael Wilcox

No Text



Week 37: Blessings Upon our Heads

Hello Friends,

This week's talk is "Blessings Upon our Heads" by John S. Tanner,
husband of Susan W. Tanner and author of the text for Hymn 138 "Bless
Our Fast.". The start of the school year is a second new beginning for
us. We set goals in January, but also enjoy a new start in the Fall as
our family returns to a bit more of a schedule and we try more
diligently to incorporate things we hope will bless our family. I love
the Hymns and have a testimony of their power to lift, inspire, and
comfort. Now we are striving to use them even more frequently to bless
our family. Throughout my days, it is often the words of hymns that come
to mind as I ponder solutions to challenges or seek encouragement. I
know of no faster way to invite the Spirit than through listening to
sacred music.

Our family enjoys singing a Hymn as we begin our scripture study. This
consistently gives me a spiritual and emotional boost. We sing through
the Hymn book and it has been wonderful to become familiar with each of
the Hymns. They are powerful teachers of truth. I love the promise that
the song of the righteous is a prayer and will be answered with a
blessing upon our heads. (D&C 25:12) I feel those blessings!

I am grateful for the medium Hymns provide us to worship as they best
communicate my feelings for our Father and His Son. I appreciate
Brother Tanner's teaching that "music doubles the delight and deepens
the power of words to teach...music brings the message home to our
hearts." Truly the Hymns do bring blessings upon our heads.
How grateful I am for the them--for their power to teach, elevate and
edify.I am especially grateful for the medium they provide for us to
express our adoration for Our Heavenly Father and for the Savior.

Love and Blessings,

Note: Hymns can be downloaded on-line at THIS link or CD's of the Hymns can be

purchased through distribution centers. Giving a Hymnbook and the Hymn

CD's have become my favorite wedding gifts to share.

NO MP3 link

Blessing Upon our Heads

John S. Tanner

In the Doctrine and Covenants the Lord declares that He delights “in the song of the heart” and that He will answer “the song of the righteous … with a blessing upon their heads” (D&C 25:12). The Lord has surely showered blessings upon me and my family as we have sung hymns to Him with all our hearts. Through hymns, I have taught and been taught lasting and life-changing gospel lessons. The hymns have moved me to “repentance and good works,” strengthened my “testimony and faith,” comforted me, consoled me, and deepened my determination to endure. 1 I have felt the Spirit through the hymns in powerful ways. Indeed, some of my sweetest and most tender spiritual experiences are associated with hymn singing.


I recall a precious family experience on a Sunday evening not long ago, when my wife, Susan, and I spontaneously gathered around the piano with our teenage children and a few of their friends to sing the songs of Zion. This scene has been repeated often in our family. On this occasion, I went to the living room by the piano and started to sing. Soon I was joined by Susan, who sang with and accompanied me. One by one our children joined us. One daughter brought her friends. As we sang, the Spirit came tangibly into the room, filling our hearts with love for the Lord and for each other. We each chose favorite hymns. The texts let us speak of truths that lay close to our hearts, while the music let us express tender feelings of testimony and joy which, in contemporary culture, parents and teenage children rarely share so openly or without embarrassment.

As I looked around the room, my heart swelled with joy, and I felt the urge to seize this precious moment in time, for “the fugitive moment refuses to stay.” 2 So I fixed the scene in my mind as a treasure for future reflection, like Wordsworth’s jocund daffodils, 3 and will remember always that tender tableau of loved ones gathered around the piano, fervently singing hymns from our hearts as the sun cast its soft, fading glow on a peaceful Sabbath. Surely this moment was a taste of heaven on earth and a foretaste of what joys await us in heaven when we shall sing a new song before the throne of God (see Rev. 5:9; Rev. 14:2–3). We lifted our hearts in song to God, and He answered with a blessing upon our heads.
Read the rest HERE.