Have you received revelation? Moments in my life have been touched by God's hand and spirit through revelation. It was revealed to me how and when I should join the Church. It was revealed to me through answered prayers if my choice in a husband would lead me to righteous living. I have had many revelations. Some given through a deep burning of the spirit, others through powerful moments during prayer, and some have been through dreams. The most personal and powerful however, is when revelation is given to me through an Apostle of the Lord.

Revelation: Revelation is communication from God to His children. This guidance comes through various channels according to the needs and circumstances of individuals, families, and the Church as a whole.

What is a Revelator?

According to JosephSmith.lds.org it is "One who reveals the will of God to His children. Members of the First Presidency and the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators."

Tonight, I recieved revelation from a revelator, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. For those who watched the General Relief Society Broadcast, you know of what talk I am speaking of. For those who haven't yet watched or listened to it, I encourage you to do so.

This month, since the relaunch of Modern Molly Mormon, I have pondered and prayed, asking Heavenly Father how we as sisters can help one another avoid the discouragement we bring into our hearts. Molly Mormon has long since been thought to be a perfect woman, and as we have aspired to be her, we often feel we fall short because of one lacking talent or another. We may not be able to bake bread from scratch, speak in front of groups eloquently, or keep the tidiest and most beautiful of homes.

Tonight, President Uchtdorf said, "It appears that our splendid sisters sometimes under value their abilities. They focus on what is lacking or imperfect, rather than that which has been accomplished and who they really are."

Words never hit me so hard. Had my husband not been sitting nearby, I might have shouted out, "That's what I've been saying! But how can we fix it?!"

President Uchtdorf explained that the path to peace, hope and joy involves two major actions. Firstly he asked, "What is the greatest happiness?" To which he answered, "God's happiness." But what is God's happiness? He is our creator, who is full of compassion and we should follow in His example to us and be creators and show compassion to others.

1. Create. I never thought myself to be a creative person. At least not later in life. As a child I had a wild imagination, and there weren't moments during the day when I wasn't singing or dancing. Even through high school I dove into art, dance, and acting. As I grew up and married, I took to writing. However, I never imagined myself to be a creator of anything.

President Uchtdorf gives us examples of how we as women can create:

He encourages us to start small. See how many smiles you can create. Learn a new skill. Make an empty space into something of beauty. This struck home with me. My empty space was a blog. I worked diligently to fill it with colors (mostly purple), information, and I prayed that it would be filled with sisters who would find relief, inspiration, friendship and love here. My prayers have been answered, and I am surely blessed for it, and for all the contributors, and readers that we have here. Thank you all, for helping me in my creation (that is also now your creation to be shared with others.) Afterall, as President Uchtdorf said, "You improve not only the world around you, but the world within you."

2. Compassion. We are distinguished by the compassion we show to others. Service and sacrifice opens the windows to heaven. As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we find true happiness. I've recently found this to be true while I've been teaching the 12-14 year olds in my ward, who I have grown to love. However, I don't want to talk about how I've shown compassion and service to others, because I cannot see the result. I have however seen how compassion and service can change a life forever.

Just over a year ago, my husband and I were inactive and had been for about three or four years. We stopped going to Church nearly months after our temple marriage, and slowly, we fell into the world letting it corrupt and weigh down upon us. We wanted to go back to Church, but felt that we no longer belonged. We were different and were not worthy. I prayed constantly, read my scriptures and asked for help. I asked it of my Heavenly Father, and of random strangers I met in LDS Chatrooms and forums across the internet. My prayers were answered one day in a MySpace LDS message board, when a girl contacted me and said, "We live in the same city, how about you and your husband come over for dinner?" This was an act of compassion on her part, especially since we were complete and total strangers. But after speaking with her over emails and instant messages, we agreed to meet for dinner. She and her husband have been a blessing to our family, and I strongly believe that their friendship is what eventually gave us the courage to seek counsel with our local Church leaders, and come back to Church. Within months of our firm return in April, we were issued callings, Visiting and Home teachers, and have even once again enjoyed the blessings of the temple.

If only we all reached out a hand to others who are in need as our Church Leaders instruct us to do. Everyone has some sorrow in their life. I hope that through friendship, compassion and service I can help change lives as mine has been changed as well.

So now I want to know . . .

What have you helped to create?
How has someone else's compassion helped you?

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