On Saturday I met my nephew Simon for first time! He's even cuter in real life than all the cute pictures. I didn't think it was possible for him to be any cuter, but then again pictures don't show all of his facial expressions and you can't hear his cute baby cues. Plus, in the pictures he wasn't smiling at me, he's way cuter when he's smiling at me :) Anyway, I went to Las Vegas this weekend for his blessing. After the blessing everyone was planning on going back to Janet's house. My mom decided that she wanted to stay for all three hours but she didn't want to be alone, so she asked me to stay with her. I told her that I didn't really want to... because I was tired and I didn't know anyone in the ward anyway. She said, "Please just stay with me. If you stay you won't regret it".
It was confirmed, once again, that my mom is always right! The Relief Society lesson was so good and I was grateful that my mom asked me to stay with her. Ever since this lesson I've been thinking a lot about it.
We started out by singing this Primary song.
MY HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES ME
Words and Music by Clara W. McMaster, b. 1904
Whenever I hear the song of a bird
Or look at the blue, blue sky,
Whenever I feel the rain on my face
Or the wind as it rushes by,
Whenever I touch a velvet rose
Or walk by a lilac tree,
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world
Heavenly Father created for me.
He gave me my eyes that I might see
The color of butterfly wings.
He gave me my ears that I might hear
The magical sound of things.
He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:
I thank him reverently
For all his creations, of which I'm a part.
Yes, I know Heavenly Father loves me.
I love this song. Even more now than I ever have. Everything around me testifies that there is a God. A few years ago I went to my last girls camp with my home ward. A guy in our stake came and taught us about the stars. I was in heaven! Afterward, my friend Heidi and I were talking about how cool it was and we concluded that that it all testifies that there was indeed a God.
It's like in Alma when Korihor asks for a sign. Alma tells him that he doesn't need a sign. Everything around him is enough and that all things denote there is a God. "...the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator" (Alma 30:46)
Speaking of the planets... the teacher read this quote about Isaac Newton and an atheist friend. This is a great story!
This was found in The Truth: God or evolution? Marshall and Sandra Hall describe quoted this exchange between Newton and an atheist friend. (I don't have a page number).
Sir Isaac had an accomplished artisan fashion for him a small scale model of our solar system, which was to be put in a room in Newton's home when completed. The assignment was finished and installed on a large table. The workman had done a very commendable job, simulating not only the various sizes of the planets and their relative proximities, but also so constructing the model that everything rotated and orbited when a crank was turned. It was an interesting, even fascinating work, as you can imagine, particularly to anyone schooled in the sciences.
Newton's atheist-scientist friend came by for a visit. Seeing the model, he was naturally intrigued, and proceeded to examine it with undisguised admiration for the high quality of the workmanship. "My, what an exquisite thing this is!" he exclaimed. "Who made it?" Paying little attention to him, Sir Isaac answered, "Nobody." Stopping his inspection, the visitor turned and said, "Evidently you did not understand my question. I asked who made this." Newton, enjoying himself immensely no doubt, replied in a still more serious tone, "Nobody. What you see just happened to assume the form it now has." "You must think I am a fool!" the visitor retorted heatedly, "Of course somebody made it, and he is a genius, and I would like to know who he is!" Newton then spoke to his friend in a polite yet firm way: "This thing is but a puny imitation of a much grander system whose laws you know, and I am not able to convince you that this mere toy is without a designer or maker; yet you profess to believe that the great original from which the design is taken has come into being without either designer or maker! Now tell me by what sort of reasoning do you reach such an incongruous conclusion?"
Like Newton, it's hard for me to understand how someone doesn't believe in God, especially a scientist or astronomer. I'm taking a couple biology classes right now. The more I study plants and cells and DNA, I gain a better understanding of who God is. Everything is so organized and complicated. These things did not come to existence through a big bang! There's no way. There's something more and I know it.
I'm glad that I live in this beautiful world! It's such a blessing! There was a time in my existence when I wasn't here on this earth. Right now I am, and I'm grateful to be here. I just read in my D&C class in section 76. In verse 89 it says this "And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestrial, which surpasses all understanding." We have a lot to look forward to!
Oh and here's a picture of Simon. He's so stinkin cute!
