Service

I remember hearing this quote from President Dieter F. Uchtdorf about a year or so ago at a Relief Society general meeting of the LDS church:

"Disciples of Christ throughout all ages of the world have been distinguished by their compassion. … In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance. Let us open our eyes and see the heavy hearts, notice the loneliness and despair; let us feel the silent prayers of others around us, and let us be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to answer those prayers.”

I love it! I love the fact that if we are "in tune" and looking for ways to help those around us, we truly can be an instrument in the hands of the Lord.

However, it's come to my attention lately that I could be a lot better at this. I feel it's something I used to be more aware of in my life, but with the busyness of my own life and raising my own child, I've got caught up with that and neglected to look outward toward others the majority of the time.

I mean, how often am I really that busy? How often am I really just sitting in my own home, trying to figure out how to occupy our time and make it meaningful for the little miss? Why not go out and serve? And wouldn't that be one of the most meaningful lessons I could teach my daughter, especially at an early age?

I hope this is a quality I can always be working on in my life, and that as I work on it, my family will see that serving is a blessing both to the one being served and the one doing the service. It truly does make me happy when I know I'm making someone's life a little brighter, even if it's something seemingly small.

President Thomas S. Monson, "The Savior taught His disciples, 'For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it' (Luke 9:24)."I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their lives."

I don't know about you, but I don't want to shrivel up and lose my life all because I was too concerned about myself. I pray that I will continually have a desire to serve others throughout my life, that I might grow and flourish as well.