I had to give a talk on gratitude this past week and i think its perfectly fitting for this wonderful holiday! Being away from home has made appreciate and love my family so much more. This is the only time i have missed being home. I miss home so much. much more than i would ever expect!
Gratitude
Brother and Sisters ALOHA
Hi for those who don't know me, my name is Ekaterina Herrod, I was in this ward last semester. I'm from Provo Utah.
Today I have been asked to talk about Thanksgiving and Gratitude. Brother Smith asked me to give a short outline on the History of Thanksgiving and what this Holiday is kinda all of about.
After the Fourth of july, Thanksgiving day is our most observed national holiday. The traditional harks back to the colonists of Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts, who after their first harvest, a celebratory feast in the fall of 1621. a three day celebration in which local Native American chiefs and tribesmen participated. But the first national Thanksgiving, authorized by the federal government took place in 1789, the first year of George Washington’s presidency.
This holiday is supposed to be about appreciating our blessings in our lives because of the sacrifices of those who made this country. It includes a large feast which includes turkey,mash potatoes, and stuffing. most americans enjoy thanksgiving that carries a spirit of gratitude.
Into fuller depth, Gratitude is a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness for blessings or benefits we have received. As we cultivate a grateful attitude, we are more likely to be happy and spiritually strong. I might add that gratitude is also a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness for the struggles, trials, obstacles and hardships that we are faced with in this life.
Having Gratitude is a commandment. In D&C 59:5-7 It States “Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.”It is evident in this scripture that thanking the Lord is not merely a courtesy, it is a commandment like any other commandment we are given.
Not being grateful leads to Pride, which is one of the worst sins you can have. The opposite of gratitude is having pride.
In order to show gratitude you have to recognize the many blessings and enjoyments in your life.
There are many things we can be grateful for including friends, family, this beautiful earth, having a healthy body, but i would like to emphasize the importance of the gratitude we can have for adversity.
If you think about it, adversity can humble us, help us become stronger and grow to becoming the person God wants us to be. “ A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor” and “the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees” are what come to my mind. I would like to share a quick story Elder Faust shared.
“I am grateful to have lived long enough to have known some of the blessings of adversity. My memory goes back to the Great Depression, when we had certain values burned into our souls. One of these values was gratitude for what we had because we had so little. We had to learn provident living in order to survive. Rather than create in us a spirit of envy or anger for what we did not have, it developed in many a spirit of gratitude for the meager, simple things with which we were blessed, like hot homemade bread and oatmeal cereal and many other things.” As another example, I remember my beloved grandmother, Mary Caroline Roper Finlinson, making homemade soap on the farm. Her recipe for homemade soap included rendered animal fat and wood ashes. The soap had a very pungent aroma and was almost as hard as a brick. There was no money to buy soft, sweet-smelling soap. On the farm there were many dusty, sweat-laden clothes to be washed and many bodies that desperately needed a Saturday night bath. If you had to bathe with that homemade soap, you could become wonderfully clean, but you smelled worse after bathing than before. Since I use soap more now than I did as a child, I have developed a daily appreciation for mild, sweet-scented soap.”
In Experiencing difficulty you always have two options; to become become grateful or hard, to become bitter or better. I have a personal testimony of this principle as I have learned to have a positive attitude on trials. Last semester, i was playing on the soccer team and tore my ACL a second time. The first time was just a year previous. I was immediately faced the trial of getting surgery on my own in the middle of the semester without my family and at the same time of being a full time student on a teeny tiny island. After i had surgery being on crutches i soon realized that it was much harder than i had anticipated. I could barely do any simple tasks such as putting my shoes on, walking to places, getting food, taking a shower, and so on. I prayed so so hard every day that the people around me would recognize when i needed help. Simple favors such as holding the door for me, helping me get food from the caf, cheering me on as i crutched to class, where all the answers to my prayers that may have seemed miniscule to those who performed those favors but for me testified of God's love for me and that he answered my prayers. I grew to have a greater appreciation for these small deeds that i could not do and realized how simply incredible all the things that we do in our day that we take totally for granted like walking to class. i learned to focus on the things that i still had instead of the things i couldn't do. One of my favorite hymns is Count Your Blessings, and i would like to just share a few verses with you.
When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings; name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. …
So amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged; God is over all.
Count your many blessings; angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
Thomas S. Monson suggested when experiencing difficulty to “think to thank” which creates a course for a happy marriage, enduring friendships and a pattern of personal happiness. I encourage you all whether you are facing trials today or not, to always remember to think to thank. He also said and i quote “ it is difficult to develop a spirit of gratitude if our thankfulness is only proportional to the number of blessings we can count. True, it is important to frequently “count our blessings” and anyone who has tried this knows there is many, but i dont believe the Lord expects us to be less thankful in times of abundance and ease. In fact, most of the scriptural references do not speak of gratitude FOR things, but rather suggest an overall spirit or attitude of gratitude.” end of quote.
A grateful heart is the beginning of greatness. An expression of humility. A foundation for development of virtues such as prayer, faith, love and happiness. THINK ABOUT IT. Most things that are good all come from being grateful. One of my favorite books is called the Tao of Pooh and one of the quotes that has stuck with me is this: “do you really want to be happy?You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you've got”
In addition to personal gratitude as a saving principle, especially in our trials, I would like to express a feeling for the gratitude we ought to have for the many blessings we enjoy. Like living in one of the most beautiful places on earth. I try to thank God everyday for living in such a wonderful place where i so often feel his love for me amidst His simple creation of nature. Yes we have our families, we have our friends, we have this church, but the one person we must always strive and be eternally be grateful for is God and Jesus Christ. We should thank our Heavenly Father for His goodness to us by acknowledging His hand in all things, thanking Him for all that He gives us, keeping His commandments, and serving others. We should especially thank Him for His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, for the Savior's great example, for His teachings, for His outreaching hand to lift and help, for His infinite Atonement.
“He taught us how to pray. He taught us how to serve. He taught us how to live. His life is a legacy of love. The sick He healed; the downtrodden He lifted; the sinner He saved.Only He stood alone. Some Apostles doubted; one betrayed Him. The Roman soldiers pierced His side. The angry mob took His life. There yet rings from Golgotha’s hill His compassionate words, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
How can we show gratitude for our Savior? By using the atonement alot. It never runs out, so why delay is repenting and use its power to its maximun potential. By praying daily and night and expressing our gratitude to God through our prayers. By keeping his commandments. Let us follow Him. Let us emulate Christs example. Let us obey His word. By doing so, we give Him the devine gift of gratitude.
I would just like to close with the scipture Alma 37:37 “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day”
