I Am a Child of God by Elder Donald L. Hallstrom

<Quotes>

Earthly Identity: "Here on earth, we identify ourselves in many different ways, including our place of birth, our nationality, and our language. Some even identify themselves by their occupation or their hobby. These earthly identities are not wrong unless they supersede or interface with our eternal identity - that of being a son or a daughter of God."

Trials in Lives: "In real life, we face actual, not imagined, hardships. There is pain - physical, emotional, and spiritual. There are heartbreaks when circumstances are very different from what we had anticipated. There is injustice when we do not seem to deserve our situation. There are disappointments when someone we trusted failed us. There are health and financial setbacks that can be disorienting. There may be times of question when a matter of doctrine or history is beyond our current understanding."

Our True Identity: (Elder Hallstrom sharing story about the conference in Liberia - after referring "How Firm the Foundation"...) We live in a world that can cause us to forget who we really are. The more distractions that surround us, the easier it is to treat casually, then ignore, and then forget our connection with God. The Saints in Liberia have little materially, and yet they seem to have everything spiritually. What we witnessed that day in Monrovia was a group of sones and daughters of God who knew it!"

<Scriptures>

Hymn 85: How Firm a Foundation
Hymn 301: I Am a Child of God
The Family: A Proclamation to the World

<Thoughts>

Here are a few thoughts I had as I was reading this talk:

1. I am a son of God
2. Understanding eternal identity of ourselves help us overcome obstacles in our lives
3. Knowing who we are help us serve others
4. Learning our true identity that we are children of God helps us gain our faith and testimony that we say "I'll never, no never, no never forsake!" 

A Child’s Guiding Gift by Sister Mary R. Durham

<Quotes>

The roll of the Holy Ghost: "How do we follow the example of this father and kick off some of the weight of the world we carry, so we can keep our children's hands and our own worried minds above the water? How can we, as Paul counseled, "lay aside every weight"? How can we prepare our children for the day when they can no longer cling to us and our testimonies - when they are the ones swimming?

An answer comes when we recognize this divine source of strength. it is a source often underestimated, yet it can be used daily to lighten our load and guide our precious children. That source is the guiding gift of the Holy Ghost.

Help Children's Spiritual Capacity to Increase: "First, we can bring to our children's attention when they are hearing and feeling the Spirit... Second, w can prepare our homes and our children to feel the still, small voice...Third, we can help our children understand how the Spirit speaks to them." (read the actual talk with scriptural references.)

Recognize the Spirit by Experience/Reputation: Feeling and recognizing the Spirit will bring spiritual capacity into our children's lives, and the voice they come to know will become clearer and clearer to them. It will be as Elder Richard G. Scott said: " As you gain experience and success in being guided by the Spirit, your confidence in the impressions you feel can become more certain than your dependence on what you see or hear."

<Scriptures>

Preach My Gospel Chapter 4

1 Samuel 3:4 - 10

<Thoughts>

While the speaker was aiming her talk towards current or future parents to raise small children, this talk is very much applicable to adults at any stage in their lives. The things I learned or reminded are the following:

1. The Holy Ghost is our primary source of guidances in our lives
2. In order to recognize the spirit, we have to try and experience the feelings of him
3. The Holy Ghost visit secret places - we should keep our home tidy and clean, so that we can create home to have the Spirit
4. We need to consistently study to understand how the Spirit speaks to us