For those of you who don't know, Josh and I had to speak in church today. I think we did okay, and for the first time so did Huntyr (after a shopping spree to walmart to pick up everything I could think of to keep him entertained) He did fabulous, I think my mom and josh's parents should come every Sunday and sit with us. For those of you interested. Here is a copy of my talk. Enjoy.
Good afternoon brothers and sisters. I’ll start with our introductions first. We are the Nyman’s. My husband Josh and I’m Kristina. We moved into this ward about 2 months ago. We built our home in the Max Atkinson subdivision and are excited to be here. We absolutely love the area, which is the main reason we moved up here. We sold our home in Nibley and lived with my parents during construction. Josh and I have been married for 8 years this month. We were married in the Logan Temple on a very cold but beautiful sunny November day. 5 ½ years later we were blessed with a beautiful little boy Huntyr. He is the joy of our life, the stressful part of life and the love of our life.
Josh Grew up in North Logan and graduated high school in Monticello Utah. Josh is a journeyman plumber full time and also teaches the plumbing class at Bridgerland in Logan. Josh is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys hunting, camping, fishing and any type of sports. I know when we first moved into the ward he was worried if they were going to have a basketball team or not J
I grew up in Smithfield, and graduated from Sky View High School. I work full time at Thermo Scientific which was formely HyClone Labortories in Logan. I am very blessed to be able to work a few days a week out of my home, which allows me to spend more time with Huntyr.
I am very certain Josh and I are soul mates, either that or he is very lucky guy to have me as I share the same love for the outdoors as he does. During hunting season you can usually find me dressed in camo as well ready to hit the mountains. I love the outdoors, we are a camping family and love to spend as much time as we can in the mountains. I also enjoy, biking, and of course Scrapbooking.
I do think Huntyr will follow in our paths of loving the outdoors, he already knows where is bed is in the camp trailer, and where we keep all the snacks. He is always talking about shooting a big deer and instead of telling you what the cow or the pig says, he will tell you what the elk says.
I am so thankful for the blessings that I have in my life. This time of year it’s hard not to focus on those things we are most thankful for.
We were asked to speak on anything thanksgiving which for me was a broad subject, so I hope the talk I prepared meets the criteria.
How can we live in thanksgiving daily? In the book of alma chapter 34 verse 38 it states “ live in thanksgiving daily for the many mercies and blessings which he gives us”
Can you imagine for a minute how our lives would change if we lived in thanksgiving daily.
President Joseph F. Smith stated: quote “The grateful man sees so much in the world to be thankful for, and with him the good outweighs the evil. Love overpowers jealousy, and the light drives darkness out of this life. Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place. How much happier we are in the presence of a grateful and loving soul, and how careful we should be to cultivate, through the medium of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward God and man!”
Think for a moment, if you will of someone you know who is truly happy. We’ve all met those who seem to radiate happiness. They seem to smile more than others; they laugh more than others – just being around them makes us happier as well.
Now think of someone you know who isn’t happy all the time. Perhaps they seem older than they are, drained of energy – perhaps they are angry or bitter or depressed.
What is the difference between them? What are the characteristics that differentiate the happy from the miserable? Is there something that unhappy people can do to be happier?
Let me tell of a story that illustrates this.
A long time ago in a faraway village lived a man who everyone did their best to avoid. He was the type of person who believed that there was only one competent person in the world, and that one person was himself. Consequently, he was never satisfied with anything. His shoes never fit right. His shirt never felt comfortable. When his food wasn’t to cold, it was too salty, and when it wasn’t to hot it was too bland.
If a field wasn’t’ sowed by himself, it was not sowed well. If he didn’t close the door, the door was not closed properly.
In short, he made a career of frowning, lecturing, criticizing, and mumbling about the incompetence’s of the every other person in the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, the man was married, which made matters all the worse. No matter what his wife did, in his eyes it was wrong. No matter what the unfortunate woman cooked, sewed, or cleaned – or even when she milked the cow – it was never satisfactory, and he let her know it.
She tried very hard to be a good wife, but it seemed the harder she tried, the less she pleased him. Finally, one evening she could take no more.
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” she told him. “Tomorrow I will do your chores and you will do mine.”
“But you can’t do my chores,” the man replied. “You don’t know the first thing about sowing, hoeing, or irrigating.”
But the woman was adamant. And on top of that, she was filled with a righteous anger that frankly astonished and frightened the man to the point where he didn’t dare disagree.
So, the next morning the wife went off to the fields and the man began the domestic chores. After thinking about it, he actually convinced himself he was looking forward to it. Once and for all, he would demonstrate to his wife how things should be done.
Unfortunately, not everything went according to the plan. In fact, nearly everything the man touched turned to disaster. He spilled the milk, let the pig get into the house, lost the cow, burned the dinner, and ultimately set the house on fire, narrowly escaping with his own life.
When his wife returned, she discovered her husband sitting on a pile of ashes, smoke still rising from his clothes. But the woman wasn’t the type to rub things in. She helped him up, wiped the soot from his beard, fixed him a little something to eat, and then prepared a bed of straw for them to sleep on.
Form that day forward, the man never complained about anyone or anything else for as long as he lived.
In this story, it is the absence of gratitude that made this man miserable. His inability to appreciate others caused him to be critical of their efforts. Not only did he not empathize with people, he couldn’t allow himself to acknowledge their contributions.
The disasters that confronted him surely made him humble, but, more particularly, they made him appreciate and be grateful for his wife.
Earlier I asked you to think of someone you knew that was truly happy. Think of that person again. Does that person live in thanksgiving daily?
What about the person you thought of who is unhappy. We have all had times in our lives were we unhappy, no one can predict happiness.
However, living in thanksgiving daily is a habit that will enrich our lives and the lives of those we love. I think if we were to all start to make a list of the things that we are grateful for, we might all be surprised.
For instance:
I am thankful for a strong marriage, when divorce and infidelity are so comman I am thankful everyday for my marriage and eternal families.
I am thankful for my health, for my family’s health
I am thankful for a nice home that I have, a place my family can feel peace, comfort.
I am thankful for my husband and for his love for both Huntyr and I
I am thankful for this nation that we live in and the freedoms we have
And the list goes on and on and on. And as you think of the things that you are grateful for you will see your list go on and on also
Now, how can we live in Thanksgiving Daily? I would like to suggest three things that will help us strive to do this
First: We must open our eyes:
I encourage you to look around you. Notice the people you care about. Notice the fragrance of the flowers the song of the birds. Notice and give thanks for the blue of the sky, the color of the leaves, and the white of the clouds. Enjoy every sight, every smell, every taste, and every sound.
As I mentioned earlier I enjoy biking. Last year I took part in an 80 mile bike tour across the valley. That is a long time to be on a bike but it was so fun. Most of the time I was alone in the ride, which allowed time for my mind to wonder, along those valley roads, I saw many things I was thankful for. The mountains, the trees, this very place that we live and are able to raise a family. I was truly blessed this day, not only to finish the race but to have my eyes opened to things that I am thankful for.
In Luke chapter 17 verses 12-17 it says:
I hope that we will not forget to show our thanks to the One that does give us all things
When we open our eyes and give thanks for the bountiful beauty of this life, and what we truly have been given, we live in thanksgiving daily.
Second: We must open our hearts
We must let go of the negative emotions that bind our hearts and instead fill our souls with love, faith, and thanksgiving.
Anger, resentment, and bitterness stunt our spiritual growth. You don’t have to harbor thoughts and feelings that drag you down and destroy your spirit.
The Lord has said “Drink deeply of the living waters of the gospel. Pray with all of your heart. Fill your heart with those things that are noble, encourage and inspire you.
Most of us know Rulon Gardner. Rulon grew up in a small town of Afton, Wyoming. He is one of nine children. His mother and father are faithful members of the Church and instilled proper values in their children.
But because Rulon was so large, his classmates teased him. The taunts and name calling troubled Rulon, but he never became angry or resentful. He could have withdrawn and become bitter. Like so many others, he could have counted all the things that were going wrong and simply given up.
Instead he used the insults as motivation. He was determined he would use his size to his advantage. He would make something out of himself.
He milked cows twice a day, often in subzero temperatures. He lifted frozen bales of hay to feed the cows. At times he would carry a newborn calf into he safety of a warm barn. After school he either went to wrestling or football practice and then back to the barn for more chores.
Rulon found that his size wasn’t a disadvantage for him as an athlete in fact, it was an asset. Wrestling particularly came easy for him, and he became the Wyoming state champion. After graduation from high school, he decided that perhaps he might be good enough to compete in the Olympic Games.
In Atlanta in 1996, due to a miscommunication, he arrived at the weigh-in 22 seconds too late and missed his chance to compete. Again he could have despaired. He could have become resentful and bitter.
But instead he worked harder, after four years of hard work he wanted to compete again in the Olympic Games in the year 2000 he went to Sydney. This time he did not miss the weigh-in. He advanced through the preliminary rounds until he reached the final obstacle to his gaining a gold metal.
That obstacle was a man the world called the Siberian Bear, Alexander Karelin. This Russian bear was considered by most as the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler. Not only had he not lost a match in thirteen years, no one had scored a point on him in more than a decade. Karelin had won the gold metal in the previous three Olympic Games, and he was favored to win.
We all know how it ended Rulon took home the Gold metal that night. In a letter written to his stake president, Rulon said “The Lord has given me the chance to work for all my dreams. I feel the church has helped me to focus and live my life in the ways that have helped me to train and become an Olympic Champ.
That day Rulon knew what it was like to be grateful.
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Third: We must open our arms
One of the best ways to show gratitude is by blessing the lives of those around us. Every time we cheer another’s heart, every time we ease another’s burden, every time we lift a weary hand, we show our gratitude to that God to whom we owe all that we have and all that we are.
As we strive to open our eyes, our hearts, and arms our own step will become a little lighter, our smile will become a little brighter, and the darkness that sometimes hangs over our lives will become a little lighter.
I know that he Lord doesn’t give us promises that he is not willing to fulfill. Choice blessings await those who live in Thanksgiving daily. In the Doctrine and Covenants section 78 verse 19 It states And he who receiveth all things with “thankfulness shall be make glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea more.
A few words really stick out to me we will be made Glorious, and a hundred fold. Can you imagine the things of this earth that we desire times one hundred. With a promise like that we need to start today to live in Thanksgiving Daily.
Brothers and sisters I have a testimony of being thankful for what we have. I am blessed to be a part of this church, to know that families are forever. I love my family, Josh and Huntyr for the great blessings they bring into my life. I love my parents, and Josh’s parents, for the blessings that both of them give me and my family. I am forever in their debt for giving me life, for giving Josh life, so that we could raise our little man in this true church. I have a testimony of families, that they are the center of God’s plan. I hope as this season draws nearer that we can all remember to be thankful, to give thanks to the Lord for all he has blessed us with, and I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
