Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak in my singles ward and the what I talked about is very important to me and I wanted to share it with all of you guys! So enjoy!
I was asked to speak
on a topic that is actually very dear to me, being a daughter of our Heavenly
Father. Now brethren I know this topic isn’t directly about you but I hope that
by listening you may be able to use some of these words to help uplift a sister
or a family member or even one day your own daughters.
I want to begin by asking you girls to ask yourself this
question right now. What does being a daughter of our Heavenly Father mean to
you? I want you to really think about this question throughout my talk and then
we will come back to it a little bit later.
Most of my talk will be from two talks from amazing ladies
one from Elaine S. Dalton and the other from Susan W. Tanner. Both of their
talks are on the subject of being a daughter of our Heavenly Father.
Sister Tanner says, “All over the world and in almost every
language, young women ages 12-18 declare the same thing: “We are daughter of
our Heavenly Father, who loves us and we love Him”. Yet as they grow up, they
often grow away from the confident knowledge that they are special. Youth often
experience an identity crisis, wondering who they really are. The teenage years
are also a time of what I describe as “identity theft” meaning that worldly
ideas, philosophies, and deceits confuse us, buffet us, and seek to rob us of
the knowledge of our true identity.”
Now she speaks of this for the youth, but I also think that
it can apply to our age. Most of us are in college or working full time. Some
of us are living away from home and trying to manage living independently. We
are the age of missions and marriage and we have so many choices and decisions
to make at our age. And I think that these alone can cause “identity theft”
like Sister Tanner speaks of. It can cause us to wonder what in the world we
are even doing or suppose to be doing. Make us wonder and doubt who we really
are and who we belong to. When we were young we had the faith of a child and
never doubted. But as we get older sometimes we doubt God’s love for us. I
personally have had these doubts. I have had them when I was overwhelmed with school work, they
came when I was lonely and didn’t have my family nearby, they came when I had
hard decisions that I had to make on my own, and they came when things didn’t
work out like I had hoped for. These
doubts came and I know that I am not the only one who has had these doubts. I
strongly believe that every single girl in this room has had that doubt before,
wondering if our Heavenly Father really does love us, if we really are a
daughter of such a Heavenly Being. And
while all of us have had these doubts I am here today to reassure all of you
that we are daughters of our Father in Heaven, and he is aware of every single
one of you and he does love you. You are daughters of a Heavenly King, you are
born of royal birthright, never forget that!
Now how can each of us know and feel that we really are
daughters of God? Sister Tanner says, “There is a veil between heaven and
earth, a sleep and a forgetting when we are born. This is necessary for us to gain
earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize our
divine destinies as heirs to eternal life. Heavenly Father loves us and wants
to help us remember Him, so He provides for us glimpses into eternity. The
Apostle Paul taught that the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are children of God. The spirit gives us glimpses into who we are.
Often the spirit speaks to us when we pray, read the scriptures, ponder the
Lord’s mercies to us, receive priesthood blessings, serve others, or feel loved
and affirmed by others.” And from the words of our past prophet Gordon B.
Hinckley, “You are second to none. You are daughter of God”.
Once we recognize that we are in fact daughters of a loving
Heavenly Father, we must act the part. In years past, whenever my siblings or I
would leave the house to go somewhere or to go hang with friends, before we
walked out the door we would get told, remember who you are. This would remind
us that we are children of God and people are watching us and we must act
accordingly. We must take upon us Christ’s name and remember our baptismal
covenants and not only always remember him, but act in his name.
My roommate this last year is one of the most generous
people I know. She has gone through things that I never wish to happen to
anyone, more specifically abuse. But last year there was never a day that she wasn’t
baking for someone or personally asking me if she could do anything for me to
help. Amid all that she has gone through by her actions I knew that she knew
that she was a daughter of God and she held on to that as she struggled to
regain her life.
My Mom, she not only gives up so much of her time, money and
love to us kids, but she also does the same for the members in her ward. By the way she treats us and loves us and her
sister in Christ; I know that she knows that she is a daughter of God.
One of my good friends, she has a boyfriend that isn’t a
member of the church. I have watched her as she has struggled with this and has
done all that she can to share the gospel with him. She wants a temple marriage
so bad and I know that she won’t settle for less. Through this trial of hers
and how she handles it, I know that she also knows that she is a daughter of
God. And I hope she continues to remember how much that he does love her.
These are just a few examples that I have seen recently of
women who know who they are and whose they belong to. And like them we must all
act in this knowledge.
1 Samuel 16:7 says “Look not on his countenance, or on the
height of his stature;… for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on
the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh in the heart.” If we truly believe
that we are daughter of Heavenly Father, then we would treat all other people
as children of God as well.
Now for us girls, let’s be honest here for a moment. We
sometimes gossip, we sometimes judge other girls by how they act or look. This
is a worldly thing to do but ALL girls struggle with not doing these things. I
found a quote on pinterest that I think goes with this problem perfect. It says
“Why do we, as girls, bring down other girls, knowing how hard life can be… for
a girl.” How true is this?! Girls, life can be hard for us and only we girls
can understand what we go through. The insecurities we have, trying to measure
up to other girls, the competition we feel with other girls. These are real and
they are hard to face. So why do we make it so hard for other girls to feel
excepted or welcome or loved when we too go through it? That doesn’t make sense
to me! WE are all daughter of the same Heavenly Father! These girls all around
us, they are our SISTERS! We wouldn’t treat our earthly sisters this way, so
why do we treat our heavenly sisters this way?
C.S. Lewis says, “It is a serious thing to live in a society
of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most
uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you
saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship. There are no ordinary
people… your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.”
As we let this sink in, that not only are we personally
daughters of Heavenly Father, but so are all women of the world, I truly
believe that this can help us be more loving and accepting of all people.
From the magazine The Liahona it says, “There has come to
you as your birthright something beautiful and sacred and divine. Never forget
that. Your Eternal Father is the great Master of the universe. He rules over
all, but He also will listen to your prayers as His daughter and hear you as
you speak with Him. He will answer your prayers. He will not leave you alone.”
So now sisters, let’s go back to that question that I asked
at the beginning of this. What does it mean to you to be a daughter of a
Heavenly Father?
To me, nothing is more important than this. This knowledge
gives me the strength and courage to live in this wicked world. It helps me to
find a purpose and reassures me that I am not alone even when I may feel like
it. Sometimes it is hard for me to believe that I really am a princess and one
day can be a queen and a goddess. But sisters, we can! We must remember our
royal birthright. We must remember who we are!
As I was writing this talk to give to you today, I felt such
immense emotions. I not only felt love for me from my Father in Heaven but I
felt it for all of you sisters as well. And
I know that my Father in Heaven wants me today to testify to all of you, to you
sisters in here who may feel alone, or unloved, or worthless, or maybe just
struggling with something, that he is aware of all your needs and desires. That
he hasn’t forgotten you and he never will. That it pains him to see you
suffering or doubting his love because it is there. He does love all of you! I know it and I feel
it for all of you! So if you don’t feel it right now, please believe me when I
say that I feel it for you and that you may feel it too if you just ask for it.
This I say in the name of my Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
