Dear Children & Grandchildren

                                                                                       September  15, 2009

Like the apostle John in 3 John 1:4 I can echo that "I have no greater joy than to know my children walk in truth."  And by truth I mean, as I think John meant, the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  What a comfort it was to Dad and me last weekend to know that Steve and Rick were worthy to give our precious Levi a priesthood blessing of healing as he lay in the hospital. We are so thankful he is home again, and feeling better.

What a blessing it is to us, when people ask about our family to be able to say that all of our sons, sons in-law, and one daughter served full time missions, and that all of you were sealed in the temple, and that all are active and serving in the Church.  We rejoice to visit in your homes and see you carrying on the traditions of FHE, family prayer and scripture reading.  And we congratulate you on doing those things better and more faithfully than we did.  We know that our dear grandchildren are being blessed as they observe the righteous examples of their cousins, aunts, uncles and read about the histories of their ancestors. 

May I recommend again byu.tv.org along with the radio.lds. org.  I especially enjoy the round table discussions of the scriptures.  If you can't listen when they are live you can go to them later on byubroadcasting.org

Although I took the class at BYU, the writings of Paul to Revelations have always been difficult for me to understand and enjoy.  Today I finished studying Revelation (it is not Revelations as we sometimes refer to it) and thanks to the insights from these discussions I now can say I really love these scriptures.  They, like the temple, testify of Jesus Christ and his atonement so beautifully.

It is no surprise to any of you that I sometimes struggle with impatience, pride, judging and selfishness, especially, I'm sad to admit in my relationship with your dear Father.  For years I have, worked, worried prayed and tried to master these faults on my own only to fail when little irritations or differences of opinion have arisen.  During this mission and our service in the temple, and more recently in studying the scriptures from Acts to Revelation, I have realized that I can never overcome these shortcomings on my own.  I need the Savior's atoning grace, which He is not only willing to bestow, but anxious to give me.  All He asks is that I have faith in Him, and keep His commandments.

Not long ago I heard a quote on the byu.tv.org station that really hit home: "If you want to improve your relationship with your spouse, improve your relationship with God."  The next morning I lay in bed before dawn pondering the situation and two clear impressions came:

1.       I need to have faith in Christ that with His help, I can one by one overcome bad habits, and become more like Him.

2.       I need to go to the scriptures and study Christ like characteristics as numerated in 1Corinthians 13, D & C 4:5 & Moronic 7:45 and other places.

3.       Then I need to work on these one at a time, and in bite-size pieces I will be able to, if not master, at least make progress on these qualities.

When I was 17, and a senior in high school Elder Howard W. Hunter, then an apostle of the Church was our visiting authority at Stake Conference.  During his talk Elder Hunter turned towards the choir and Said,

"Would the young woman in the red suit, on the second row please come to the podium?" 

I was sitting on the second row of the choir wearing my mother's red knit suit.  With legs shaking I stood and made my way to the podium.   Elder Hunter reassuringly put his arm around my shoulder and asked me some questions, and then he invited me to share my testimony of Jesus Christ.  Thirty-one years later, sitting in the office of President Gordon B. Hinckley, I would be asked that same question.  I would like to share it now with you:

 I know Jesus Christ is the son of God.  I know that He was the creator of this world.  That He was the great Jehovah of the Old Testament.  That He came to earth as a babe in Bethlehem, lived in humble circumstances, organized His church and set the example for us to follow.  I can't explain how He did it, but I know that because of His love for us, He willingly took upon Himself all of our sorrows, sickness, suffering and temptations, sins and wickedness.  There is nothing any of us will ever endure that He hasn't experienced.  He is our personal Savior, our friend, our advocate with the Father and it is only through His saving grace that we can overcome our sins and failings to be worthy to return to the presence of our Heavenly Parents, and be exalted as an eternal family.  I bear this testimony humbly in His holy name, Amen

May we all keep striving to live True to the Faith.

Your loving Mother and Grandmother, Wendy Josinette Whiting Bentley