We are Daughters of Heavenly Father!

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.