"Christmas" when our thoughts are turned to thee

                                     Reflections of Christ


     One day I was sitting in our family room reflecting on our Savior and the many blessings that I had received from him or because of him. My heart was so full of gratitude for my Savior Jesus Christ and my mind began to speak these words, when I soon realized that what I was doing and thinking was bearing my testimony to myself. I thought I should write these words and thoughts down on paper.

     At this time of year when I am reflecting on our Savior and his birth, I think back to the thoughts that I had that day.

                           My Personal testimony of Jesus Christ

"I bear witness of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His life and his mission here on earth.

I know He came voluntarily to this earth, because He loved us so much. He is the Son of God, our eternal Heavenly Father and bore witness of this fact. His gospel is left to us in full, in the scriptures, that we might be able to have direction and personal revelation in our lives.

I bear testimony of the scriptures and the importance of reading them daily in our lives.

He taught the gospel in word and in deed, or by example, that we might know how to act and how to treat others and how to love others unconditionally.

He was and is the example of perfection;
He overcame the world-all things
He loved unconditionally
His mercies know no bounds
His arms are outstretched always waiting for us to ask for his help
He is one whose compassion heels the broken heart and body of all who would believe on him
And whose purpose iss to bring to pass the eternal life and glory of us all.

I LOVE Him! He is my protector, my comforter, he soothes my troubled heart. He leads me, and guides me, and walks beside me.

His spirit goes out before me daily and prepares the way for me. He stands as a witness before God in my behalf as my mediator and petitions our Heavenly Father to have mercy on my soul."


I know our Father lives and loves us! I love Him too. I am thankful for Jesus Christ, for all that he suffered on the cross for me, that I might, if I live worthily, return to live with my Heavenly parents again. These things I humbly bear witness of in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

    
 My wish at this time of year is that we all remember our Savior and His gifts to us and in turn try to emulate these gifts in how we treat others.

     I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

  "Come and Learn of Me"



We are studying the New Testament this year in our Sunday School classes. So I decided that I would study about Christ from the set of books written by Bruce R. McConkie, an Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints or LDS Church, or commonly known as the Mormons.

The second book in this set, The Mortal Messiah, and actually printed as Book 1, is where I have taken most of my thoughts and quotes from today.

This invitation is always issued when the Lord has a people on earth; to "Come and Learn of Me". In every dispensation people have been invited to learn of Christ. In our day the invitation is,

"Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me, I am Jesus Christ; I came by the will of my Father, and I do His will." D&C 19:23-34

We are told in 1 Corinthians 12:3, to "Come unto me and receive my spirit, THEN shall ye have power to learn of me." Joseph Smith taught us this "No man can know that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost,"

Everyone learns from someone else. Bruce R. McKonkie said,

"If all instruction and education ceased, if all patterns of living were taken away, civilization would cease in one generation, and all of earth's inhabitants would sink to a state of barbarism. Because of this, our merciful Heavenly Father endows his children, when they come to this earth, with the Light of Christ, a righteous power and influence which proceeds forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space."

It is the Spirit of Christ that allows us to learn and understand the truth of all things. We just need to
live so that we are worthy to have his spirit with us. We can pray to our Heavenly Father to know the truth of all things. When we have hard decisions to make in life and we don't know which way to turn--we can turn to our Father in Heaven who will tell us in our hearts and minds what is the right course to take. Even if we have to step out into the darkness, the Lord will not let us get too far into our decision without letting us know whether or not we have made the right choice. But we must always be listening so we can feel and hear that still small voice.

These answers often come to me in the early morning hours, when things are peaceful and when I am not distracted by earthly matters. I have learned when I hear the words in my mind, "I should" or "I wonder if" then the Lord is telling me that I need to go and do the things I was thinking of. I might have a feeling inside of heaviness or uneasiness about something. Or I might doubt or have hesitations about something. I have learned that the Lord is telling me that whatever it is, it is not for me, or the timing might not be right. It takes a long time to learn these feelings and what they mean. I have learned by trial and error, as we all must. But we are all here to learn from life's experiences that we might know the good from the evil. These experiences will make us grow closer to our Heavenly Father.

He wants us to be happy! He is very aware of us and what is going on in our lives. He will prepare the way for us if we just ask him to. He loves us. He loves you. He wants us to Come to Him.

Love, Nanna

The Peace this Season brings,


I woke up this morning to a most peaceful scene. SNOW! Lots of snow! Did I ever tell you how much I love snow? Well I do. And today was one of those moments I wait for all year.

I hurried and bundled myself up and ran outside and just listened, yes, listened!: not with my ears, but with my heart!

When the snow comes down there is a peace that you cannot hear but only feel. It is the most beautiful feeling. It always make me want to jump in my car and go driving in it, or just walk through the neighborhood in my boots.  I want to be the first person to leave their mark in the snow. I know it sounds crazy, but there is just something inviting about the snow.

There aren't very many things in this world that can fill us with peace. Our Savior Jesus Christ brings us the only true peace! Christ said,

         "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth,
          give I unto you." 

When I feel the Lord's spirit, it is such a personal thing. I know at that moment, what I am feeling is only between me and Christ. It is the same feeling I get when I am out in the snow by myself; just me and the Savior, as I take in the beauty of His creations! It is the closest thing this world can bring to the true feeling of the spirit of Christ; For His spirit is in His creations!

At this special time of year, when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, I pray that we will all feel the Peace that only Christ can bring! I hope that you can look for those moments of peace when it is just you and Him and you can feel His peace.  I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!


                                                                      Love, Nanna

"It is Finished"

"It is Finished"


A little over a year ago as we were approaching Easter, I started having the feeling that I wanted to paint a picture of the Garden Tomb, where Christ was buried. I don't know what prompted the idea, but I felt a great interest in the site and what it might have looked like while Christ lived.

As I researched the area and looked on line to find the oldest picture of it I could, before all the renovations were made to bring it up to the standards of a fine tourist attraction, with all the added hand rails and beautifully potter flowers every where. Much of the surrounding area had been built up and repaired with stones to make it a more enveloped and secured area for people to gather and to protect it from those who's intent was to destroy or defame it.  Many of the paintings I had seen were of this modern new place.

That is not what I wanted. I wanted to be able to look at my painting as if I were the only one there and had just arrived after Christ had risen and be able to feel his presence there with me as I pondered the great event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ my Redeemer, who suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross for me, and for my sins. I wanted to give thanks as I reflected on this merciful gesture that would enable me to be forgiven and through His mercy be allowed to return to live once again with my Heavenly Father and my Savior.

Once I felt I had the vision of what I wanted the painting to represent, I began the process of drawing the picture with the symbolism I wanted in it, that would make it more meaningful to me and for those whom I would be sharing it with.

I put in red flowers, representing the blood that was spilled in Gethsemane because of your and my sins; purple flowers that represented His royalty, a Son of His Father who lives in Heaven; Pink Geraniums, my favorite color of flowers, in an earthen clay pot formed and envisioned by man, representing you and I being formed and shaped through His forgiveness allowing us to become like Him and  as He has asked us to, in Mathew 5:48  "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.".  And last the Easter Lily, a modern reminder of the living Christ and our Father which is in Heaven.

I titled the picture "It is Finished."  It was the final act that Christ needed to perform to complete what the father had asked him to do.

I am not a seasoned water colorist, and was very apprehensive when I started the painting. I though if I started on the right, where there is very little interest, if I were to make an error I could more easily fix or repair it without it being so noticeable. I began and immediately was disappointed with what I had done. I quickly ran in and washed the paint off, scrubbing as I went. And naturally it is almost impossible to wash all the paint out. I sat and stared at my painting almost in tears.I had taken such care to get to this point and felt I had ruined it practically before I started. As I stared at the mess, as I thought it was, I noticed colors fading and washing in together and before my eyes I began to see the face of Christ forming right before my eyes on my paper.

And as I stared, I was overcome with the spirit of the Lord and the reassurance that Christ really does 'fix' our mistakes. Now when I stare at my painting, I can thank the Lord for the tender mercy he gave to me that night as I began my painting, and that he gives me every day as I walk with Him through this life.

"It is Finished"

                                                                               by

Deborah Parr