Treasures in Heaven

Over the weekend of September 13th and 14th, two major financial services firms underwent massive change.  Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch agreed to be purchased by the Bank of America. They had fallen victim to the excesses associated with the sub prime mortgage meltdown.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted over 500 points.  The next morning, the headline on the USA Today financial section screamed, "Dow Tumbles 504 ... over $750 billion in wealth obliterated."

The following scriptural references immediately came to mind:

Helaman 13: 31

"And behold, the time cometh that he curseth your riches, that they become ^aslippery, that ye cannot hold them; and in the days of your poverty ye cannot retain them"

Matthew 6: 20

"But lay up for yourselves ^atreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor ^bsteal:

"For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

In these times of economic uncertainty, I pray that we will recognize that real safety and security come only through the gospel of Jesus Christ. We do need to provide for our families. We should definitely follow the prophet and store food to help in time of need. But most of all, our real treasure, that which we hold most dear, must be our families and testimonies of Christ.

Love,

Dad/Mark

Safe Place Traditions

I really love Sister Cheryl Lant's talk about righteous traditions from the last conference. I was particularly impressed with her comments on how righteous traditions can help us build "safe places" for our families.

I would invite all of us to take a moment to reflect on the traditions in our lives and how they might be affecting our families. Our traditions of Sabbath day observance, family prayer, family scripture study, service and activity in the Church, as well as patterns of respect and loyalty in the home, will have a great effect on our children and on their future. If our parenting is based on the teachings of the scriptures and of the latter-day prophets, we cannot go wrong. If every time there is a challenge our hearts turn first and always to our Father in Heaven for direction, we will be in a safe place.

If our children know where we stand and we always stand on the Lord’s side, we know we are where we need to be. Now, the important thing is that we consistently work to do these things. We will not be perfect at it, and our families will not always respond positively, but we will be building a strong foundation of righteous traditions that our children can depend on.

Cheryl C. Lant, Primary General President, Righteous Traditions, April 2008 General Conference, Saturday Morning Session

Love,

Dad/Mark