Attitude of Gratitude

Sister Fulton and I just got the November Ensign of conference and looked up President Thomas S. Monson's talk from the Sunday Morning session where he talk's about Gratitude. I just wanted to put some things on that i loved about his talk.  Since it is the time of Thanksgiving what a more perfect opportunity than this to share an amazing talk on just the thing?
    "To express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to touch heaven."

     A grateful heart, then, comes through expressing gratitude to our Heavenly Father for His blessings and to those around us for all that they bring into our lives. This requires conscious effort—at least until we have truly learned and cultivated an attitude of gratitude. Often we feel grateful and intend to express our thanks but forget to do so or just don’t get around to it. Someone has said that “feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”¹²

     "This is a wonderful time to be on earth. While there is much that is wrong in the world today, there are many things that are right and good. There are marriages that make it, parents who love their children and sacrifice for them, friends who care about us and help us, teachers who teach. Our lives are blessed in countless ways.
We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that “gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.”⁸
How can we cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude? President Joseph F. Smith, sixth President of the Church, provided an answer. Said he: “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 light drives darkness out of his life.” He continued: “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!”<sup>9"

  I'll just leave you with my testimony about gratitude! I am so greatful for this opportunity i have to teach the gospel! and to learn so much! I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ, for his loving sacrifice and his life that he gave for me and for everyone that will accept him and follow his teachings! i'm grateful to be in the California Santa Rosa Mission! Its the best mission on earth, in my opinion.  I'm grateful for President Bunker and Sister Bunker and the love that they have for us and accepting us at there own! I'm grateful for my wonderful companion Sister Fulton! she is such a blessing to me! She teaches me so much!</sup>

TOUGH TIMES

"Let the Tough times DEFINE you, not DEFEAT you."
i was first introduced to this by a former missionary Elder Korey Fras.  he was my district leader and always had good quotes to start out district coucil.  I often think of this quote, being a missionary we go through very tough times, but more than just us, our people! the People of the California Santa Rosa mission go through tough times and its our job to lead them to Christ, who suffered for all our sins, weaknesses, failures, everything! Elder Fras also said that adversity is a gift from God, this is how we experiance joy, love, peace, happiness.  we cant experiance any of these things without feeling the opposite.  in Mosiah 23:20-21 the people are prospering and they had built a city and everythings, sometimes the Lord see's fit to chasten us, he chasten them.  he tried there patience to help them in all things.  In Mosiah 23:22 it says that whosever puteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day.
   We all have trials, how we deal with them is what the Lord is looking at.  Do we always wonder "why me?" or "couldnt this happen to anyone else but me?" or do we think: "what can i learn from this?" "what is the Lord trying to teach me?" this is how we learn to bare our trials.  God promises that if we endure all things well, we shall be lifted up! that's a great promise.  I know that this church is true, i know that God is loving and will never give us anything we cant handle.  May God bless us in all that we do, and may we all rely fully on Jesus Christ.