Because of my Mother

This is my Mother, Lucy Servellon

Lately, I have been thinking about my mother and the great impact she has had on my life. I am not trying to sound biased or anything, but my mother is the best mother that I could have ever asked for. To me, she is the best mother in the whole entire world, no the whole entire universe. Because of her, I am who I am today. So this blog post is dedicated to her.
My mother came from humble circumstances in El Salvador. There she was prepared to hear the message of the restored gospel and both her and my Grandmother Cruz were baptized. My mother, has not had an easy life, she has had to work her whole life to be where she is at today. She now works as a Social Worker for CAPSA.
Ever since I could remember, she has had a job, she even missed several Christmas's to be able to along with my Dad put food on the table. Although, she has had to do this she never once has failed to be at her children's side! She always signed up to volunteer in school programs, school functions, and church functions. Even though she would come home tired, she somehow made room to do all of these activities. I always wondered how she had so much time and how she had so much energy to help us. I remember one particular night, I had a school report due the next day and of course my responsible 12 year old self left it until the night before it was due to do it. I had to showcase a piece from one of the books that I had chosen to read and of course I had none of the materials to do this. I then felt very impressed (notice the word) to have the cover of the picture drawn on the back of my jacket to take to school to showcase. My mom is a wonderful artist and I begged her to help me do this. So after she finished dinner and cleaned up she sat right down and helped me to start the project. She stayed up till midnight doing this for me even though she had to be awake the next morning at 6:30.  I remember walking upstairs the next morning and finding on the table my jacket with the book cover drawn on the back of it.  I will never forget that. She always worked hard and even harder for us kids and I always felt like I fell short of giving back to her.
Just as my mother is a hard working woman, she is also a loving, nurturing, great listener, always rendering service, always bringing comfort, and strong and immovable testimony in the gospel.
Recently released General Relief Society President Julie B. Beck said on mothers, "However, mothers need not fear. When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children."
I don't doubt that, that is true. In fact, I know it's true. This always reminds me of the story often told about the 2,000 Stripling Warriors. How valiant, courageous, strong, and true they were to their testimonies. It reads in Alma 56:47-48:
"Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

"And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it."

 Notice the words that they used, "We do not doubt our mothers knew it." How powerful. They knew it because their mothers knew it and they had been reared in the ways of the Lord. 

I love my mother. I truly do. She is my guardian angel, my support, my guide. She taught me to not doubt and to trust in God, regardless of the situation or circumstances I may face in life. Because of my Mother and because she knows and trust in God. So do I. I

I have always looked up to my mother her courage, her love, her example. She stays strong regardless of any stumbling block that comes her way and I want to emulate her. I am grateful that she made that decision long ago in El Salvador to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Because she made that decision it changed her life and has now changed my life. I know that if she can trust in God with all her might, mind, and strength, I can too. 

I know that God lives. That Jesus Christ did in reality die for you and for me. He knows you and me both our weakness and our strengths. He loves you and me and is always there to extended a loving hand to lift us up to heights we never dreamed were possible. 

Mothers who Know

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The impact of kindness

Lately, I have been thinking about compassion, kindness, and love. This last week Sister Cluff and I had an encounter that shocked us and brought a new level of compassion into our missionary work. We were headed to an appointment when we felt impressed to take a different road. As we headed that direction we had to stop at the stoplight and right in front of us was a Patriot Gas Station and there lying on the gravel parking lot was a man face down. We both looked at each other and wondered if he was even alive! We saw that plenty of people would walk up to him, look down at him and then walk away. The Store Manager even walked by and didn't do a thing. When we arrived we asked around if anyone had called 911 and no one had! The first thing we did was try to get a response from him and then once we had established some form of communication we called 911. The 911 response in Eureka described to us that they would not send an ambulance out regardless of Kenny's situation, they had to send a police unit out first then the police determined if the person's situation was good enough to call an ambulance. While waiting for the police to show up we asked Kenny what had happened to him. At this point in time the Store Manager walked over to see what all the commotion was over a man that had been beaten and was heavily bleeding. The police showed up and immediately they called the ambulance. They then proceeded to talk to Kenny and because of they way he looked like they immediately disregarded what Kenny was saying and officially stated that he was a drunk man. Because of what he looked like they immediately assumed that he was a drunkard. They treated Kenny so cold like he was worthless. After they arrived they dismissed us without saying a word to us. The rest of the night I thought about what happened to Kenny and how there are days that we don't always treat others kindly or love them the way the Savior loves them.
Regarding kindness Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin stated,

"KINDNESS is the essence of a celestial life. KINDNESS is how a Christlike person treats others. KINDNESS should permeate all of our words and actions at WORK, at SCHOOL, at CHURCH, and especially in our HOMES.

Jesus, our Savior, was the epitome of kindness and compassion. He healed the sick. He spent much of His time ministering to the one or many. He spoke compassionately to the Samaritan woman who was looked down upon by many. He instructed His disciples to allow the little children to come unto Him. He was KIND to all who had sinned, condemning only the sin, not the sinner."

In Moroni 7:45 it reads, "And charity suffereth long, and is KIND, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

It continues on in Moroni 7:47, "But charity is the pure love of Christ"

In this video that is portrayed below, there is a woman that tries a civility experiment. It was interesting to see that when we are kind it pays it forward, it continues to incircle others and to help others. No one is perfect, we are all different, we are all unique but we are all children of God who loves us for who we are and wants us to all be Christlike and love others as Christ loved us.

Elder Wirthlin continues in his address by saying, "In the scriptures Jude taught, “And of some have compassion, making a difference.

Who can tell what far-reaching impact we can have if we are only KIND."

Truly, you never know what impact you will make when you are kind. I don't know what happend to Kenny after that incident but all I know is that Sister Cluff and I were meant to be there and where meant to help him. It taught me the measure of God's love for each of his children even Kenny. He loves us all and wants nothing more than our happiness.

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
John 13:35

 You can Read Elder Wirthlin's talk: The Virtue of Kindness

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