I remember as a teenager reciting the
Young Women theme each Sunday. I think at that time that I didn't
appreciate the theme as much as I could have. All through my teenage
years and on into my adult years, I struggled with thoughts of not
being good enough and thoughts that what I did really didn't make a
difference or matter in the long run. These thoughts at times became
debilitating and even kept me from doing good things at times. It wasn't
until I was an adult that the Young Women theme literally changed the
course of my life.
Many of you know that I write
cookbooks. I started by teaching cooking classes all over the state
of Utah. Women attending my classes begged me to
put my recipes in a book. The debilitating thought would immediately follow, “Who
would EVER be interested in something that you do?” With Christmas
approaching and with no money for gifts, I compiled my cake mix
recipes into a book titled “101 Things To Do With A Cake Mix” to
give as presents to our family and friends. Word got out that I had
finished my book, and women from my classes started ordering them
like crazy.
We self published the book which
means that we were printing the book on our printer in our bedroom of
our 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment and assembling and binding the
books in the living room.
We had assembled and distributed 5,000
books to stores in the Mountain West region when I started to worry that this hobby gone out of control was
going to start taking me away from my family. I started to pray to
know what Heavenly Father wanted me to do with this book. During
this time that I was praying, I went to teach a cooking class at
Thanksgiving Point in Utah. At the class, a lady stopped me and
asked if she could share my book with her good friend, Jane Clayson,
who at the time was the co-host of the CBS Early Morning Show.
As I drove home, my first thought was
how would this give me more time with my kids. My second thought was
“She won't be interested. Who would be interested in anything that
you do? Don't even try.” The lady from the class contacted me with Jane's address,
and I sent off the book. Her response was good. She encouraged me
to find a national publisher so they could feature it nationwide.
Again the thoughts returned. “You are a nobody. Who would be
interested in anything that you do? Don't even try.” It was
then that I heard the still small voice say, “Stephanie, YOU ARE A
Daughter of your Heavenly Father. He LOVES you, and you LOVE him.
He has a plan for you. Now get on the phone and start calling
publishers.”
We were guided after much prayer to a
national publisher. I knew walking into their office that I was to
turn my book over to them. I followed that prompting and within
weeks of it being released nationwide it hit the New York Times Best
Sellers List with no publicity. When my editor called to tell me the
news, the Holy Ghost whispered that there was a reason. Heavenly
Father knew that it would open doors for me to share my testimony and
testify to thousands of women in Chile, Utah, Idaho, and now Arizona.
I've been able to use my experience to help others.
Now I know those thoughts that I wasn't
good enough were from the adversary. Satan would have us believe
that our life and the decisions that we make are not that important.
I testify that your life is of vital importance to the Lord. He has
a plan for each of you. I testify that the decisions that you make
to choose good over evil are vitally important. Each choice we make
to live the gospel takes us closer to the Savior. Each decision we
make to push aside the standards of the church in order to follow the
crowd or the world takes us farther away from our Heavenly Father and
Jesus Christ.
I can vividly remember a Sunday lesson in Young Womens
that touched me so deeply as a teenager that I have never forgotten it. In the
lesson the teacher, my young women's president, taught about the
importance of our decisions. She challenged each of us to decide
then and there that we would not drink, we would not smoke, and that
we would save ourselves for the person that we would marry. She told
us that if the decision was firmly made in our minds that when the
occasion arrived that it would be easier to say no and to stay
strong. The Spirit testified to me that what she was saying was
true. I went home and made a promise to myself that I would not do
these things. As opportunities and peer pressure arose, it was easy
to say no because in my mind YES was not an option. Keeping that
promise to myself brought great blessings to my life. I was able to
attend BYU, serve a mission, and marry in the temple without any
regrets.
I have learned in my life that as I
strive to keep the commandments and to stay close to the Spirit, the
Lord blesses me with ample opportunities to "put my shiny on" in
regards to sharing the gospel with others. One day as a
missionary, my companion, Sister Burgess, and I were knocking on
gates trying to find families to teach. We had just seen something
extremely funny that happened in the street, and we were happily
laughing as we knocked on the next gate. An elderly gentleman, the
head of a soccer federation in the area, opened the gate to us. We
were the first missionaries that he had ever let inside his home. He even admitted to throwing things at Elders in the past. Why did he let us in? He
said, “You two are so happy. What is it that makes you so happy?”
We were able to teach him the gospel and to share with him what
brought us the greatest joy- the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was
baptized, and to this day he is the only one that I have ever heard
shout “GOAL” after he was baptized. People see the light in
our eyes and want to know what makes us so unique and happy.
I have also learned that Heavenly
Father has a plan for each of us to make a difference in the world
for good. It's up to us whether or not we live up to that mission.
As we heed the promptings that come from the Holy Ghost, the Lord
will guide us to where He wants and needs us to Shine the most. Following the
promptings in regards to my cookbook led me to writing 20 more books,
to doing hundreds of media interviews around the United States, and
sharing my testimony with thousands of Relief Society Sisters in both
Chile and the United States. I was even able to share my testimony
on BYU TV's Latter-Day Profiles. I've learned that Heavenly Father
had a reason that he needed me to develop these skills. Recently I
was called to be the Assistant Public Affairs Director over Media for
our stake. As I have risen to the challenges of this new calling, I
see how the Lord prepared me over the last 15 years to be able to
communicate positive and accurate messages and project a positive
image of the church. Through my service on the Police Commission and
my relationships with people in our local media, the Lord has opened
doors to me to help share publicly what good the Church is doing in
our area of the world with the media and community leaders so that
others can see the shiny Light of Christ that radiates from the faces
of those who love their Savior and are trying to live as he would.
President Ezra Taft
Benson taught this important truth that applies even more to your
generation today:
“For nearly six thousand years, God has held you in
reserve to make your appearance in the final days before the Second
Coming. Every previous gospel dispensation has drifted into apostasy,
but ours will not. … God has saved for the final inning some of
his strongest children, who will help bear off the kingdom
triumphantly. And that is where you come in, for you are the
generation that must be prepared to meet your God. … Make no
mistake about it—you are a marked generation. There has never been
more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time as there
is of us.” President Dieter Uchtdorf
stated: “The Lord will bless you as
you follow His counsel and guidance given through prophets. Go
forward and become the valiant men and women of Zion you were
prepared to be. The Lord has a great work for each of you to do.
“Arise and shine forth,
that thy light may be a standard for the nations”. He trusts you,
and He calls and relies on you to stand taller and shine brighter
in these challenging but wonderful days.” Prophets and apostles
have testified of your divine potential.
I too testify that as you take a righteous
stand to Arise and shine forth that Heavenly Father will open doors
of opportunity to you to become the valiant women that you were
prepared to be. He will bless you with opportunities to share the
gospel light that shines in each of you as missionaries, as future
mothers, and as righteous women. The Savior taught,
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”. As you strive
to follow his example and let your light so shine, your life will be
blessed as your light touches the lives of countless others. Of this
I testify, In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
