The Touch of the Master's Hand

I'm sure some of you have probably already heard it and are probably quite familiar with this poem but I love it so much and I really wanted to share it! :)

Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer

Thought it scarcely worth his while 

To waste much time on the old violin, 

But held it up with a smile: 

“What am I bidden, good folks,” he cried, 

“Who’ll start the bidding for me?” 

“A dollar, a dollar”; then, “Two!” “Only two? 

Two dollars, and who’ll make it three? 

Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice; 

Going for three—” But no, 

From the room, far back, a gray-haired man 

Came forward and picked up the bow; 

Then, wiping the dust from the old violin, 

And tightening the loose strings, 

He played a melody pure and sweet 

As a caroling angel sings. 

The music ceased, and the auctioneer, 

With a voice that was quiet and low, 

Said, “What am I bid for the old violin?” 

And he held it up with the bow. 

“A thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two? 

Two thousand! And who’ll make it three? 

Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, 

And going, and gone!” said he. 

The people cheered, but some of them cried, 

“We do not quite understand 

What changed its worth.” Swift came the reply: 

“The touch of a master’s hand.” 

And many a man with life out of tune, 

And battered and scarred with sin, 

Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, 

Much like the old violin. 

A “mess of pottage,” a glass of wine, 

A game—and he travels on. 

He’s “going” once, and “going” twice, 

He’s “going” and almost “gone.” 

But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd 

Never can quite understand 

The worth of a soul and the change that’s wrought 

By the touch of the Master’s hand. 

We are so blessed for the opportunity that we have to take advantage of our Savior's Atonement. He has suffered the pains of the world so that we can be cleansed from all sorrow. We may be 'battered and scarred with sin' and feel as though we are hardly worth a dime but with the aid of our Savior we have the opportunity to change ourselves into the priceless instrument in His hands that He would have us be. What changes our worth?

The Touch of the Master's Hand.

Love, Sister Petersen

What Will Your Monument Be?

Today while at a member's home for dinner, we got to talking about good books that we have read. The book Charlie's Monument, by Blaine M. Yorgason was mentioned and that took the conversation a little further. I love this book but I love the poem included in the book even more!

The Monument

God,
Before He sent His children to earth
Gave each of them
A very carefully selected package
Of problems.

These, He promised, smiling,
Are yours alone. No one
Else may have the blessings
These problems will bring you.

And only you
Have the special talents and abilities
That will be needed
To make these problems
Your servants.

Now go down to your birth
And to your forgetfulness. Know that
I love you beyond measure.
These problems that I give you
Are a symbol of that love.

The monument you make of your life
With the help of your problems
Will be a symbol of your
Love for me,
Your Father.

Blaine M. Yorgason

I love that so much! My loving Heavenly Father 'carefully selected' the problems that I would have in my life and knew that only I could do it! I am so grateful for the knowledge I have that my Father in Heaven loves me! He loves me so much that He took the extra care to assure that the problems and trials that I face in this life are specially fitted for me and for my growth!

The same goes for all you. God carefully selected the trials that you face in life because He knows that no one will handle it better than you! What we make of our lives is how we show our love and gratitude to our Father in Heaven. For us to take these problems God gave us and to truly overcome them and to 'make these problems [our] servants' makes our Father in Heaven so happy. And I can't imagine a better motivator, than to make someone I love proud of me!

As I sit here typing this, I am reminded of one of my favorite LDS musical numbers. Its called The Test, written by Janice Kapp Perry. Its about a man asking his blind friend why Jesus Christ doesn't heal him. And I just love the blind man's response;

Didn't He say, He sent us to be tested?
Didn't He say the way would not be sure?
But, didn't He say, we can live with Him,
Well and whole, if we but faithfully endure?
After the trials, we will be blessed.
But this life, is The Test.

Our Father in Heaven has given us these beautiful blessings in the form of tests, and trials, and problems. It's really hard to feel this way in the heat of a trial, but I truly feel honored that my Heavenly Father trusts me with my problems because they are hard! I struggle with them and I want to give up, but when I don't, I can truly feel the loving and protecting arms of my Savior Jesus Christ enfold me and I know that I can carry on because my Father in Heaven knows that I can!

I am truly grateful that I have the opportunity and the responsibility to share this glorious gospel with the people of Oregon. I hope you all have a wonderful day and please take a little extra time in your prayers and thank God for your problems! :)

Love-Sister Petersen

God Answers Prayer...So Give Him A Call!

While I was reading one of the Conference Editions of the Ensign (cause you know there are hundreds of them in any missionary apartment), I came across a poem that I really liked and a prophet of God quoted it so it must be pretty great right? Right, so here it is.

I know not by what methods rare,

But this I know, God answers prayer.

I know that He has given His Word,

Which tells me prayer is always heard, 

And will be answered soon or late.

And so I pray and calmly wait. 

I know not if the blessing sought

Will come in just the way I thought;

But leave my prayers with Him alone,

Whose will is wiser than my own,

Assured that He will grant my quest,

Or send some answer far more blest.

     President Thomas S. Monson quoted this poem in one of his addresses at the October 2013 General Conference. I read that and I just thought that that was such a beautiful way of saying such simple truths. We don't know how God answers us. It doesn't really matter either. What does matter is that He is our Loving Father and He does answer when we call on Him. We may not like the answer we get either. But I know that He knows us better than we could ever know ourselves and He knows what we need, and when we need it. 

I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have of my loving  Heavenly Father who is always watching over me. I love the phrase, 'We are the offspring of Deity.' because it's totally true! We are daughters and sons of an infinite, all-knowing, all-powerful, God! Even better, He is waiting, WAITING to shower us with help and blessings and answers to all of our questions we just have to ask! So oh ye few that actually read this blog, I challenge you to right now, get on your knees and ask your Father in Heaven a question, the right way as outlined in Moroni 10:3-5, and I promise that you will receive an answer! 

Have a Wonderful Day! :)

Love-Sister Petersen

Let's all be 'Great People'!

I just recently watched the new Mormon Message about bullying and loved it so much that I wanted to focus on it for this post! :)

"Brothers and sisters, there is enough heartache and sorrow in this life without our adding to it through our own stubbornness, bitterness, and resentment."  -Pres. Dieter F. Utchdorf

When studying this topic, I came across a quote that I absolutely love! It goes like this;

"Average people talk about people. Good people talk about things. But it's the great people, who talk about ideas, and how to help others!"

I love that!!! Imagine what kind of place the world would be if we were all the 'great people' that the quote defines! Let us all strive our hardest to be great people! Let us all strive to not only talk about ideas, but about how to help and to build others! 

Bullying can take all kinds of forms, and sometimes we may not even know that what we say or do has hurt someone! Let us all be 'great people' and there won't be anything to worry about!

Love, Sister Petersen

I Can Handle It All!

I was pondering the meaning of life a couple days ago (psshh I crack myself up :) and was reminded of a comparison I had made when I saw a TV commercial a couple years ago.

The commercial is of a mother sitting at a table with various people sitting around the table with her. A very Boardroom type feel. Some of the people at the table included one of her children, the principal of her child's school, her boss at work, and her child's after school baby sitter. Each person was there to tell her about different things that they would do that would inevitably make her day a little harder. The woman's child told her that he decided to throw a fit over getting dressed, so she would be late for work. The principal of the school said that he would be calling her to tell her that her child was in a fight. The woman's boss was going to tell her to stay late because she wasn't on time. The babysitter is going to call and tell her at the last minute that she can't come that day. After sitting quietly a moment the woman looks up and says to the party, "Well, I can do it. So long as I have my [insert Brand Name] orange juice, I can handle it all!" 

Look at that statement and lets swap some things out.

"So long as I have [my Savior, Jesus Christ there with me], I can handle it all!" What a true statement. 

We may not have the luxury of people sitting around the board room to tell us how they plan on influencing our lives that day but we can have the help of the Savior in all aspects of life. No matter how long or hard the trials may last so long as we remember that one statement, everything (believe it or not) is going to be okay! :) 

I can do it!

 So long as I have my Savior,

Jesus Christ,

 here with me,

 I can handle it all!"

Love, Sister Petersen

MCV: Members Capturing the Vision!

When I first arrived here in Oregon, my mission president said something that I thought was oober profound and so I must share!:)

He said "You(talking to us missionaries), are not the full time missionaries. You are not from here. You only live here for 18-24 months. You may be serving a full-time mission, but you are not the full-time missionaries. The members are. The members in the wards and branches where you serve are the full-timers! They live here! They are raising their children here! They have non-member and less-active friends here!"  

I LOVE  THAT!!! Yes, I spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 18 months doing the Lord's work, but I will go home. And the same applies to missionaries everywhere. They will go home. So it is the member's job to help bring the people that they know and love the knowledge of the restored gospel! 

And as more amazing evidence that our beloved mission president is inspired, he has - through revelation from our Father in Heaven - come up with 4 steps to help members in their missionary efforts! We call it Members Capturing the Vision or because here in the OEM(Oregon Eugene Mission) we like acronyms, MCV. :)

1.) Pray! 
Pray for a missionary experience! Pray for the guidance to know what to say when that missionary opportunity comes(because it will come), pray for the Holy Ghost to be with you, pray for your less-active/non-member friends and family. Pray for a missionary experience! :)

2.) Faith!
You have the faith that Heavenly Father will help you when that missionary experience comes, because trust me, that is one prayer that Heavenly Father will grant a yes to! :) Have faith that Heavenly Father is going to guide your words and help you to know that you are doing the right thing! Faith that God will grant you the courage to talk to your friends about the gospel. Have faith in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

3.) Talk! 
Talking is the easy part! ;)  Talk to your friends, your family, your co-workers, your classmates. Just open your mouth! :) So many people (myself included) when their friends ask what they did that weekend, they say, "oh, nothin' just sat around my house..." and similar comments. WHY ON EARTH ARE WE DOING THIS!!! :) We are all given a beautiful, golden opportunity to share the biggest most important thing in our lives (it should be the biggest, most important thing in our lives...) and we totally flush it down a drain! It is just as easy to say, "Oh well I had a pretty cool discussion about eternal families at church on Sunday."  That's all there is to it. You don't have to teach them the 5 lessons, that's my job (hehehe :). Just share a little bit of the amazing knowledge we have about Christ's restored gospel.  

4.) Invite! 
We as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the opportunity to be a part of such an awesome organization! We have worship services, we have Relief Society, we have Primary, we have the Young Men/Young Women program, we have Activity Days, we have Cub Scouts, we have Boy Scouts of America, we have sports activities, we have craft activities, we have singles activities, we have couples activities, we have family activities, we have events for young men and women, old men and women and all the in-between men and women!!!! We are truly blessed to have a plethora of different things that we can engage in and it's all because we are members of an amazing church organization and yet we are hesitant to share it! Gah!!! Share the wealth of love that we have in the church with your friends and families and invite them to different activities that you go to.  The success is in the invite, whether they say yes or not is just a bonus! :)

Alright, now I'll get off my soap box, and you all will go out and share this amazingness with those you love! :) Good night!

Love, Sister Petersen

Gratitude for the Refiner's Fire

So, as I'm sitting here trying to decide what I want to post about, I was flipping through my study journal and one of my many doodles stuck out to me and I felt I should share.

Its a doodle of what I visualize the Refiner's Fire looking like. 

(Yeah, you could say I was a little bored when I drew it but its an important principle!)

As it shows in my doodle :) choosing the right is hard.  It is hard work! There are a lot of flames that come with trials. I know what it feels like to give up. I've been down that black hole and I can promise you that the Refiner's Fire is HOT and very VERY hard to endure, but it is nowhere near the pain and torment that is waiting in that black hole. I am so grateful that my Savior sacrificed Himself for me so that I can use that ladder of Repentance and I can return to live with my Father in Heaven.

I encourage all who see this to truly reflect on the times in your lives that you have faced difficult trials that have been a blessing to you, and to take a moment and to truly thank our Heavenly Father for them.

I want to bear my testimony and express my gratitude for the times that I have had to endure the Refiner's Fire in my life. I know that life is hard, we were sent here to be tested. I know that I will be blessed for enduring my trials and I am so grateful for the lessons that I learn from them! I wouldn't be where I am today without my trials through the Refiner's Fire.  

Love, Sister Petersen