Happy Pioneer Day!

My Heart Sings

  In response to the advise of doctors and health experts, I spend hours training and exercising to keep my heart healthy and strong. And as expected, my heart has strengthened over the years and my efforts seem to have paid off. It is a great feeling to be able to run up a flight of stairs without standing there drooling and panting like an overheated sheepdog. Fitness helps me to lessen the stress and strife that life chucks at me.

 But, you know, I have found there are many challenges, which cannot be fixed with a few barbell lifts. There are those unseen struggles and questions that lurk like thieves in the chilly caverns of my soul and they insist on popping up like weeds on a sunny day. How do I rip those up and build spiritual strength to block their effect? Ah, there’s the rub.

 It must be something both effective and quick. The answer was easy. Hymns. Their message is scripture carried effortlessly into the soul with soothing sounds. Music speaks gently and opens the heart to the spirit. Sing at church, sing in your car, sing at home. You will be amazed at the change in your heart and mind. Think that you cannot sing. Think again. No one says you have to be Whitney Houston to obtain every benefit the hymns offer. If nothing else, try singing in the shower. It will lift up your day. And, if your kids think you have lost your mind, maybe just maybe, they will make you a chocolate cake. Worth it, no?

with love,

The Stake Relief Society Presidency

"Through Relief Society [and Visiting Teaching], we practice being disciples of Christ. We learn what He would have us learn, we do what He would have us do, and we become what He would have us become."   

— Sister Julie B. Beck