Such a Great Message!

Tami Morby gave our lesson today on Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk – “Your Happily Ever After.” Elder Uchtdorf began as follows:

“Aren’t those wonderful words to begin a story? ‘Once upon a time’ promises something: a story of adventure and romance, a story of princesses and princes. It may include tales of courage, hope, and everlasting love. In many of these stories, nice overcomes mean and good overcomes evil. But perhaps most of all, I love it when we turn to the last page and our eyes reach the final lines and we see the enchanting words “And they lived happily ever after.” Isn’t that what we all desire: to be the heroes and heroines of our own stories; to triumph over adversity; to experience life in all its beauty; and, in the end, to live happily ever after?”

Our Relief Society declaration tells us that

We are beloved spirit daughters of God,

and our lives have meaning, purpose, and direction.

As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion to

Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar.

We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who:

Increase our testimonies of Jesus Christ through prayer and scripture study.

Seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Dedicate ourselves to strengthening marriages, families, and homes.

Find nobility in motherhood and joy in womanhood.

Delight in service and good works.

Love life and learning.

Stand for truth and righteousness.

Sustain the priesthood as the authority of God on earth.

Rejoice in the blessings of the temple,

understand our divine destiny, and strive for exaltation.

These words are true! They are not made up in a fairy tale! Our eternal Heavenly Father knows us, hears us, watches over us, and loves us with infinite love. We are daughters of a king (we are princesses!). God has granted us this earthly life as a precious gift of “once upon a time,” complete with our own true story of adventure, trial, and opportunities for greatness, nobility, courage, and love. He also offers us the greatest gift of all—eternal life—and the opportunity and infinite blessing of our own “happily ever after.”

This gift does not come without a price. All of the heroines in fairytales had to overcome adversity. Why do we have to go through trials?

• We must have opposition in all things so we can learn to discern the bitter from the sweet.
• It helps us learn to have faith.
• Adversity helps us develop character and learn wisdom, and experience joy.

It is our reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that determines how our life’s story will develop. The Savior understands our suffering. We are not alone.

We must be faithful to find our own “happily ever after.” God knows the way and has created a map for us. All we have to do is trust Him enough to follow His plan. And he will help us--we are never alone.

Who is fairest of all? It wasn’t the wicked queen—it was Snow White. Snow White with high standards and who was a hard worker, kind and service oriented. Be strong and of good courage. We are truly royal spirit daughters of Almighty God. We are princesses, destined to become queens. Our own wondrous story has already begun. Our “once upon a time” is now—and the day will come when we will live “happily ever after.”

I Love This! I was not even in RS.

I teach the Sunbeams.

But I read it in the Silverstone NewsLetter

That comes out every week.

Thanks to Jill Hardman!

My little Grandaughters need to know this is true!