Sacrament talks

<p>In October we were asked to speak on veterans day for sacrament. Our topics were about gratitude. It was pretty amazing that Jake didn't say no. I sure am proud of that boy! So here is what our talks were. Maybe one day we will need to be inspired again&#160; :-)</p>
<p>I started off with a few jokes. Doesn't sound like me does it. Lol. I told the story of how when the bishopric member called that I told Jake to tell him we would be sick the day he wanted us to speak, but he must have felt like we would be ok since our names were still on the program. I also joked about how if acted loopy it was because I stayed up writing two talks. Ha ha. I at least felt like I was funny!</p>
<p>I talked about how Jake and I had tried to have a baby for quite a long time and how bitter I was toward the people I felt didn't deserve to be parents.&#160; It wasn't until I changed my attitude to be grateful for the things I had that we found out we were expecting. It was very hard for me to be grateful during that time, but I sure tried my best.</p>
<p>Gratitude is defined as a feeling of appreciation for blessings we have received. It's more than just saying thanks and being on our way. I feel like gratitude makes us want less and be truly grateful for what we have. It's an exalting attitude we should seek after. It will make us less angry in our hearts, less bitter in our lives, and gives us a me cheerful outlook on life.</p>
<p>Times in my life I have given gratitude. We have had hard times just like anyone else. We had hard times when we haven't had much, but it's when we have had the least of things we've been the most grateful.we saw all the things that truly mattered. Over the summer we had to sell our brand new car so we could start paying tithing. That was really hard because it had all the bells and whistles you could ask for.&#160; Yet by doing this it opened or eyes to arete we were lucky to have a dependable car. In ways I feel like we traded our car for temple blessings.</p>
<p>When we moved into our first apartment, we didn't have much. We were both starting over in our lives. We didn't have couches, our a kitchen table, or even chairs! These were our most simplest times, yet we were so grateful for being able to eat"Chinese style" even if we had to. We were still blessed to have food in our bellies and a home to sleep in.</p>
<p>How do we start having gratitude? Do something for someone that can't repay you. Don't let bitterness enter into our hearts. Continually count our blessings! Write them in a journal, we forget to easily, just like Laban and Lemuel. Live through hardships or trials and come out grateful for what you have, even though it has been hard.</p>
<p>I'm sure some are aware it's veterans day. It's not a holiday I have really thought about, until I was given a copy of a memoir my great uncle Gordon wrote his WW2 experiences.&#160; So what is veterans day? It's a federal holiday honoring all that have served our country. There is a celebration on 11/11 at 11am to celebrate the signing of the armistice that ended WW1.</p>
<p>Not many veterans speak of their experiences. Many feel guilt, or were ashamed of what they had to do. I am truly grateful for my uncle Gordon to have written his experiences.&#160; While reading his stories it had made me hold tight and be truly grateful for the comforts we have.&#160; I will read some stories that have made me forget about poor me and the silly things I complain about or take for granted.</p>
<p>With Thanksgiving just around the corner I know food is on or minds.would you be willing to give up your unlimited choice of food? Uncle Gordon wrote,"The food.&#160; There was a kitchen crew for each company.when we could get to the kitchen tent, the food was ok except there were no fresh eggs. (he grew up on a farm.) We had so many powdered eggs that even now it is hard to eat scrambled eggs.what I want to tell about is the food we had when couldn't get near the kitchen for a week our more at a time.</p>
<p><i>C Rations</i><br>
Most of the time we had all the C rations we wanted.a meal consisted of two cans, each about 3 1/2 inches by 2 1/4 inches.&#160; One can had three biscuits and three pieces of candy or three cigarettes, instant coffee, or chocolate mix. We didn't know what was in them except the biscuits-they were always there.&#160; In the other can we had a choice of meat and beans, meat and vegetable stew, or meat and potato hash.&#160; I never did like the meat beans, so it was hash or stew for me.&#160; I don't remember missing a meal, but on occasion it was postponed for a day or two.<br>
<b><i>K rations</i></b></p>
<p>K rations were more concentrated.&#160; There were three wafers,a fruit bar, some gum, or candy, and three cigarettes.&#160; These were packed in a water proof box.&#160; We soon got tired of them.</p>
<p>D <b><i>rations</i></b><br>
D rations were the most concentrated.&#160; They consisted of one chocolate bar with lots of calories. No one liked them after the first one.&#160; They were emergency meals.&#160; </p>
<p>Usually in our packs we carried one blanket,a shovel,a mess kit, and four to six cans of C rations.</p>
<p>Once in the Huertgen forest we had been in the same position for some time.&#160; The kitchen crew had been getting a meal to us each day.&#160; We didn't have a chance to wash or mess kits so we wiped them out with grass or pine boughs. After several days of this the kitchen crew said that we should leave our mess kits in a pile and that they would wash them before the next meal. Things didn't Work out as they had planned. The mess kits weren't washed so for the next meal we dug someone else's dirty one out of the pile, wiped it out with pine boughs, and ate."</p>
<p>How would you feel if you had the privilege of eating cold turkey for Christmas dinner? Uncle Gordon wrote," Turkey for Christmas. we were in a secondary position. other outfits were on the front line ahead of us. the Germans have been stopped but we had lost a bunch of ground during the Battle of the Bulge. Both sides were well dug in and just holding. We had been promised turkey dinner for Christmas. It was well after dark when the cold turkey and dressing arrived. The worst Christmas dinner ever, but the one I remember the most. Some of our guys had to eat spam, the GI steak."</p>
<p><i><b>Comfort</b></i><br>
There have been times that I have wished for nicer, even more comfortable furniture. Once I read these next stories, it let me know how truly comfortable I am. Uncle Gordon wrote,"40 &amp;8 box cars. We went in box cars back to Germany. I imagine it was the same 40 &amp; 8 box cars of works war 1 fame. They each held forty men and eight horses. However, in this particular box car there were 26 men and no horses. It was cold. There was three inches of new snow on the ground. The car was small enough that we couldn't all lay down at once and there were no seats. So some had to be sitting on the floor, some standing, and some lying down. Occasionally we would change around.</p>
<p>Nearly all the men on the train were new-fresh from the states. Just a few of us old birds going back for seconds. I think we were about 70 hours on the train and covered about 100 miles so this would indicate that the thing was stopped most of the time.</p>
<p>We tried to have a fire on the wood floor in the train. I don't remember much heat but it smoked plenty-everyone cried a lot. I remember one of the new guys saying that he sure wished we would get there. He said that anything would be better than this. I told him I was willing to spend the rest of the war right on that train as I figured that where we were going would be worse than where we were right then. I think I was the only one in that car that didn't complain about three accommodations." Doesn't sound comfortable? How about sleeping in a hole with a wet blanket?</p>
<p>Uncle Gordon wrote,"the next night there were four of us. We had two shelter halves and two blankets. The blankets were wet and smelled moldy but were warm. I was one of the two that had a blanket and we got to sleep in the center. It was pretty hard for four men to stay under a GI blanket, but that was better than what we were used to.<br>
When we were on the line, sometimes we each had a blanket. Sometimes one for two men and sometimes no blankets at all. When we were in a rest area we would get our bed roll, one blanket, and one shelter half. Two of us could then put up a tent. Quite often in rest areas we would call for someone else's bed roll who wasn't coming back. Then we were able to get comfortable." The next part he wrote about the civilians and how war was hard for them too. <br>
"The civilians (German, French, our Belgians) wherever we were, usually knew when we were going to move out of a bivouac area. They would line up across a field where we were camped and then as soon as we moved out they would cross the field picking up everything that we had left. It wasn't easy for them. I was glad my family didn't have to go through what they did. When ever we had a chow line, there was always a garbage can. Our guys would scrape out the mess kits-bits of food, orange peels, cigarette butts, and coffee. The natives would dip up the garbage with their clean buckets to take it away. I don't think they used it to feed pigs."</p>
<p><b><i>Safety</i></b><br>
I don't know about you guys, but when Jake has been gone I freak out. I hear noises, check doors to make sure they are locked, even though we live in safe little Nibley. I definitely wouldn't have made a good soldier. Gordon faced many times, not knowing if he would live one minute to the next in battles he was in.
Gordon wrote,"I initially served a few days as a rifle man. A rifle company should have 178 men. At one time we were down to 28 men in the company. We received 50 replacements. We made an attack that day. The next morning, there were again only 28 men in the company. Many replacements never got up to the front lines.
9th division history books tell us that in those days a rifle company averaged 100% turn over every 30 days. Obviously it didn't take long to become an old man. I fought in France, Belgium, and western Germany."

Another story from Gordon,"we had been in combat for two or three days when a lieutenant came by and says,"you're a new man aren't you?" "yes sir, I've been here two days."
He said, "you're an old man." He was right. One day a lieutenant Smith cane along and said,"what do you know about a machine gun?" My answer was nothing. He went on.
The next morning I saw him again and he said, "Don't you know anything about a machine gun?" This time I said I could takeone apart and put it together again. He said to come with him. From then on I was a machine gunner (30 caliber air cooled). There was no one in the machine gun section at that time. It should have consisted of three NCO's, one staff sergeant, two buck sergeant, two squads of a first gunner and a second gunner, and three ammunition bearers. Being with a machine gun was more risky. Automatic weapons would draw in artillery when rifles usually wouldn't. When advancing, people thought that the machine gun should be in front to keep the enemy down while the rest came up. It took some doing. I soon learned to move away (if possible) from the area after shooting the machine gun. If we were stopped, we started digging in.
It was about this time that we spent 21 days wet. It rained at least once each night, sometimes all night, and sometimes during the day, and we were never able to get completely dry. Clothes and blankets smelled moldy. Here I developed a life long appreciation for wool clothing. Wool, even if wet, will keep you warm."
Another story, "I decided that I better get in town so I started running again for the houses. I had gone just a little way when I came upon 8 to 12 Germans in a trench. I waved them out with the machine gun. I hoped I knew something that they didn't. I didn't have one round of ammunition for the machine gun. I am sure there wasn't one round within 200 yards. After they were all out of the trench,I pulled the 45 automatic out of my holster. It was loaded. Then I waved and pointed for the Germans to go back to where I had come from. They nodded their heads and I went on into the nearest house."

The lord has promised,"He who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious." d&c 78:19

I have a testimony of the gospel. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet a well is president Monson.  I am truly grateful for all we have been given. Amen.

I finally found Jake's talk amidst all of the moving stuff that has been crammed into my old bedroom that we now share at my parents' house. "Gratitude" Gratitude is said to be the memory of the heart. We can lift ourselves and others when we cultivate within our hearts the attitude of gratitude. Let us show gratitude for our mothers, fathers, friends, home, prophet, and Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. There are so many things this type of person does for us. She trades girl's night out for dirty diapers, she trades carefree living for constant worry over her children, receives spit up on new clothes. We call her Mother. She is the one that we could count on in situations where we would need a fighter on our side her bond is so strong that we can always count on her and she would fight until she knew her kids were safe. Here is an example of a mother's unconditional love for her children. Our family had moved to an older home out in the country where box elder bugs came in handfuls and overwhelming numbers. Our only heat source was a burning stove. I swear that by having a wood burning stove it multiplied the bugs' numbers. For example you could look at a wall and count half a dozen or so climbing all over. On one particular night after thoroughly and repeatedly checking my blankets to make sure there were no box elder bugs to snuggle with, my sister Heidi, who was 15, wasn't convinced that we had ridden our bedding of the bugs, so she decided to go sleep with our mom. Me being 16 at the time, I joked and made fun of her for doing so. After some contemplation and frustration I decided she had a good idea. Needless to say, we both slept with our mother that night, to escape from the bugs. Years later our mom told us that on that night as she was sleeping in bed, a box elder bug happened to climb on her leg-and she didn't want to move or to alert us to something we were certain we had just escaped from. It's truly amazing what mother's do for their families that we take for granted. The next type of person wipes his wife's tears when she has had a rough day, makes everyone laugh, races with his children, shares special treats, trades sports cars for the family sedan, trades snowmobiling for sleigh riding, and trades the remote control for story time. I always have to have some sort of snack before I go to bed; however, since Reese came into our lives it seems I have had to add more of whatever I have so my two year old can have the rest. This poem describes the next group of people and why we should show gratitude for them. A smile or a tear, laughter or fear. In the darkest of days, or most glorious nights. Our friends show us love, even when we aren't right. When we needed help and didn't ask, they are always there to accomplish the task. They support us to the end. We have much gratitude for our friends. (by Katie Hamblin :) ) Let us show gratitude for our home. We are so blessed above many other people who have so little. In Nibley, we are blessed to feel so safe and content with our day to day life, lacking nothing and always wanting more. Does a disaster need to happen to truly appreciate the simple things in life, like a home that's in order, heat, a hot shower, and not to mention a hot meal? It's wonderful because all we have to worry about are our weekend plans, we don't have to worry about survival or terror attacks. We live in a sheltered lifestyle. Next, he sees things ahead of time and warns us of what to come, he loves all unconditionally, has whole faith in Jesus, we call him the prophet. Born December 23,1805, in Sharon, Vermont, Joseph Smith Jr. was the 5th of 11 children of Joseph Smith and Lucy Mack. He worked on the family farm in Vermont and later in Western New York. A series of remarkable spiritual experiences prepared him for his prophetic calling. Beginning in 1820 at Palmyra, New York, Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a vision, through revelation, he translated and published the Book of Mormon, organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints on April 6, 1830, and received revelations to guide the church. By inspiration, he called Apostles, and other church leaders, defined doctrines, and taught the principles and ordinances that would lead to exaltation. Under his leadership, Latter Day Saints founded communities in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. He was sustained as 1st Elder of the church on April 6,1830. On June 27, 1844 at Carthage, Illinois, Joseph Smith died a martyr to his faith. It's amazing how when I think about our own brothers and sisters we sometimes don't show them the same kind of love Jesus did for us. In the Friend magazine 2002, it says this about Jesus: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16) Jesus Christ is my Savior. DO you ever feel peaceful when you pray? Do y9ou feel grateful when you think of your blessings? When you sing a reverent song, do you feel close to Heavenly Father and Jesus? These spiritual feelings are the beginning of your testimony. An important part of a testimony is to believe that Jesus Christ plays a central role in Heavenly Father's plan for us. He was born to Mary. He increased in wisdom and stature. He was baptized as an example for us. He organized the church, called twelve Apostles, and taught the gospel. He healed the sick and raised the dead. And He suffered for our sins, died, and was resurrected. Because of Him, we can repent and return to live with him and Heavenly Father again. Your own testimony of the savior will be strengthened as you learn about Him and read the testimonies of the prophets. You can read some of these testimonies in the scriptures. President Gordon B. Hinkley shared his testimony with the children. "Jesus is my friend. He is my exemplar. He is my teacher. He is my healer. He is my leader. He is my Savior and my redeemer. He is my God and my King. Gratefully and with love I bear witness of these things."