A Letter From Mom...

As I studied and prepared this last week for my lesson in Relief Society  (having a Testimony of Jesus Christ), I once again came across Mom's letter that she wrote to me when I was 16.  That summer our ward was attending a Youth Conference - the most memorable one that I can remember.  It was one that as youth, we were organized and separated  into "families"(given a set of parents to guide each group) and we camped in family groups given challenges throughout the week.  One of our challenges as a family was to hike into a wooded area, find a quiet spot, and stop to think about our own personal testimony of our  Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  Within a little while, one of our leaders gave each of us a letter, written before the conference, by each one of our parents, bearing their own testimonies and telling each one of us how much we were loved. I did not realize at the time how profound this letter would be in my own life.

I have referenced it many times in my lessons in Releif Society.  More important to me now, is the knowlege that my mother had such a strong testimony of the gospel.  Now that she has passed away, it is one of my most prized posesssions, reading it over and over knowing that what she wrote would be exactly what she would tell me if she were still here in times of wavering strength and struggling faith.  Along side my partiarticle blessing, this letter gives me the motivation and determination to return to my  Heavenly Father and desire to have an eternal family.  Someday I will see her smiling face, and will thank her for writing

 that letter to me 23 years ago.  She will probably never know the

eternal effects she had on my life when she sat down, probably at the end  of a

 bustling busy day, with a task given to write a letter to her teenage daughter.   

Just one of my favorite pictures of Mom.......