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Thursday, August 2, 2012

Look into the Mirror of Eternity


"No one has described the teenage years as being easy. They are often years of insecurity, of feeling as though you just don’t measure up, of trying to find your place with your peers, of trying to fit in. This is a time when you are becoming more independent—and perhaps desire more freedom than your parents are willing to give you right now. They are also prime years when Satan will tempt you and will do his utmost to entice you from the path which will lead you back to that heavenly home from which you came and back to your loved ones there and back to your Heavenly Father." (Pres. Thomas S. Monson)
the world wants you to  believe that you are not significant — that you are out of fashion and out of touch.  That you must dress like all of the fashion on Pinterest.  That you must have all of the fun everyone else is having on facebook.
"The world calls to you with unrelenting, noisy voices to 'live it up,' 'try everything,' 'experiment and be happy.' Conversely, the Holy Ghost whispers and the Lord invites you to 'walk in the paths of virtue ... lay aside the things of this world ... and cleave to your covenants' " (Doctrine and Covenants 25:2, 10, 13).

I Love the Chronicles of Narnia - For those who are not familiar with the Chronicles of Narnia, Narnia is an imaginary world that children enter through a wardrobe, or a picture, a gate, a doorway.  There they meet Aslan, the great lion, the Lord of Narnia, who is a symbol for Jesus Christ.

 In the most recent film Voyage of Dawn Treader - 

Remember Lucy? she has always felt inferior to her beautiful older sister Susan.   A major theme of this movie is the temptations each of the characters must overcome.   Lucy was the first to be seriously tempted by the mist when she finds a book of spells.  One spell would give her great beauty   when she thinks of the words -  "Transform my reflection, Cast into perfection, Lashes, lips and complexion, Make me she, Whom I'd agree, Holds more beauty over me." 
In a mirror's reflection, she saw herself transformed into her more beautiful sister Susan. She fantasized or envisioned herself at an outdoor garden party with Peter and Edmund escorting her for a photograph. They knew nothing of Lucy or Narnia and called her Susan. Fearful that Lucy or Narnia no longer existed, she yelled: "Stop this!" and was brought back to her normal self.
 Aslan appeared in the mirror to caution Lucy about doubting herself:
You wished yourself away, and with it much more. Your brothers and sister wouldn't know Narnia without you, Lucy. You discovered it first, remember?...You doubt your value. Don't run from who you are.
 Lucy is tempted to see herself in the wrong mirror. 


 Aslan reminds Lucy what true beauty is. In a “spell ‘for the refreshment of the spirit,’” she reads “about a cup and a sword and a tree and a green hill” . 
(If you think of each of these words they are symbols of Christ and the atonement)  
In Lucy's mind she’s overhearing the events at the Stone table in the book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Lucy must be reminded of who Aslan is and what he did for Narnia. She must be reminded of his sacrifice. In this is true beauty.

Sister Dalton has asked the young women to focus on "deep beauty" — the kind of beauty that shines from the inside out. "It is the kind of beauty that cannot be painted on, surgically created or purchased. It is the kind of beauty that doesn't wash off. It is spiritual attractiveness. Deep beauty springs from virtue. It is the beauty of being chaste and morally clean. It is the kind of beauty that you see in the eyes of virtuous women like your mother or grandmother. It is the beauty that is earned through faith, repentance and honoring covenants."

 "look into the mirror of eternity."    

Remember who you are. See yourself as our Heavenly Father sees you. You are elect. You are of noble birth. Don't compromise your divine inheritance. You were born to be a queen. Live so you are worthy to enter the temple and there receive 'all that the Father hath'. Develop deep beauty. There is no more beautiful sight than a young woman who glows with the light of the Spirit, who is confident and courageous because she is virtuous.

In the last chapter of "The Dawn Treader", the children are afraid that it is going to be quite a while before they can come back into Narnia. They wish they could return soon. In their final conversation with Aslan they hear distressing news. Lucy says, "Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?"
"I shall be telling you all the time," said Aslan. "But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder. And now come; I will open the door in the sky and send you to your own land."
“‘Please, Aslan,’ said Lucy. ‘Before we go, will you tell us when we can come back to Narnia again? Please. And oh, do, do, do make it soon.’
‘Dearest,’ said Aslan very gently, ‘you and your brother will never come back to Narnia.’
‘Oh, Aslan!!’ said Edmund and Lucy both together in despairing voices.
‘You are too old, children,’ said Aslan, ‘and you must begin to come close to your own world now.’
‘It isn’t Narnia, you know,’ sobbed Lucy. “It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?’
‘But you shall meet me, dear one,’ said Aslan.
‘Are– are you there too, Sir?’ said Edmund.
‘I am,’ said Aslan. ‘But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.’”
  I testify that The temple is where you will learn even more deeply your Saviors Name.  I pray you will desire to go there  And realize as Lucy did that you can go back and live with your Father In Heaven - The King of the Universe and His Royal Son.

I testify that if you will be worthy to enter the temple that one day, sooner than you can believe, you will kneel across an altar from your soon to be husband, and you will have the sacred privilege  to look into the mirrors of eternity.



Each of you has a divine heritage. You are literally the royal daughters of our Father in Heaven. Each of you was born to be a queen

This is a magnificent time to be on the earth and to be a young woman.  Remember you are a daughter of your Heavenly Father who loves you.  And I know you love Him    Remember your  goal is to be worthy to make and keep sacred covenants and receive the ordinances of the temple.  Our Heavenly Father loves you so much that He sent His Son to show you the way to live so that you could return to Him someday.


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