Conference & Putting God First

 Dear Kids, 

We just finished conference ... I LOVE conference weekend! So much! There are so many talks that always have something to do with what my heart needs and what our family needs as well. I feel like this years theme was "Get Jesus In YOUR HEART NOW because you are going to need HIM with the times we have ahead of us."

I can't count how many times I heard working for the kingdom of God and not have contention in your heart. There has been so much contention in our day and time. So much. It is just everywhere and it's over EVERYTHING. There were so many talks about getting rid of contention and cleansing your heart. 

I have felt that a lot as well. That my heart needs to be completely pure. Get rid of contention in my own heart first. To get rid of my own beam in my eye before trying to solve it for everyone else. The secret to any successful relationships is when we love God first. When we put God first in our marriage then our marriage will be successful. When our family puts God first, then our family will be successful. IN order to be a Zion like people we have to learn how to put GOD FIRST, before anything else. 

The only way to do that is on my knees. It is in my own heart. It is cleansing my own thoughts and my own intentions. It starts with me and radiates out. It will radiate out to my family and to my children. Then they will be able to radiate it out from their hearts as well. The LOVE OF GOD FIRST. 

We are getting closer to the time coming to go down to Guatemala. God has pointed us in that direction and we have kept our eyes on it. I feel like part of the reason is to really truly learn how to put God first in our lives. Completely. And if it takes going to Guatemala to do that, then so be it. But I also think that a huge part of the mission that we have in Guatemala is having the space and time to work on the podcasts. The world, specifically members of the church, need the principles of spiritual focus. They must be done. God is getting rid of everything in our lives so we can focus on them and finish them. 

It feels big and it feels a bit scary. But we can do it with God. He is the one pointing us this way, it isn't us. I can have confidence in that. My confidence in God is what will come first. Period. 

I will be studying the talks from today throughout the next few months and making sure that I get the messages clearly. 

I love you kids. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is what gets us through. It is only in HIM that we are able to do anything. remember that. Don't ever forget it. 

I love you ,

Your Mom