Dear Sisters,
We have thought of you all so often over these past few weeks. Please know you have been in our constant prayers. We have asked each of the wives of the members of our Stake Presidency to share a brief message with you along with that of our Stake President, Blaine Evanson. We hope you all have a wonderful Mother’s Day weekend!
Thank you for mentoring and nurturing our children and young people in your individual roles as teachers, Mothers, sisters and friends. Your influence for good will be felt for months and years to come!
We love you! The Laguna Niguel Stake Relief Society Board
You can also listen to all these messages, read by the authors, on our Laguna Niguel Stake podcast.
Patrice Miller
Aliso Viejo Ward
I have been blessed to have three mothers: my mom, my stepmom and my mother-in-law. I love each of these mothers and am so grateful for each of their unique strengths and talents. All of my moms have helped me when each of my children were born, when I had two major surgeries and in many other countless ways. Although my moms are all very different, they have been an example of selfless service to me. They have taught me “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” (Mosiah 2:17) I am a better person because I have these women in my life. Thank you moms! ❤️
Steph Neff
Laguna Beach Ward
Years ago when I was a young mother, I boarded a train called the Mother’s Day Martyr Train and rode that for a couple of years. I let an opportunity to have a fabulous day with my family become derailed with my expectations of what I thought my perfect day should be. Despite my good husband and children’s sweet efforts, I ended up feeling unhappy, under appreciated, and sorry for myself.
Luckily I got off this train quickly and learned a few things that have helped me look forward to and really enjoy Mother’s Day. Over the years, it has become a great day of celebration and gratitude for the amazing people who have had an influence for good in my life and for the abundance of life’s goodness. Things turned around for me when I focused on others instead of myself.
One year on Mother’s Day I wrote a gratitude letter to my own mother, mother-in-law and grandmothers. Another year, I wrote a heartfelt letter to each of my children. I took flowers and a note to the women in my life that had influenced me to be a better woman, sister, daughter, friend, wife, and mother. My kids and grandkids were excited one year recently, when I gave them each a gift on this day.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to be spoiled on Mother’s Day. But I’m more excited as I think of a way each year, that I can brighten someone else’s day!
Robin Evanson
Wood Canyon Ward
As Mother's Day approaches, I've been thinking about the wonderful women in my life. Starting with an incredible mother, and including relatives and friends, who have loved me and taught me just about everything I know. Most of what I've learned has come from the women in my life. I think Heavenly Father knew his daughters would hold that place for most of us.
I've also been reflecting on Eve, our first earthly mother, and what we can learn from her. Eve made a wise and courageous choice to leave the garden. She could have stayed there, safe and certain of what it had to offer. But instead she chose to gain experience. This included risk and uncertainty, and was probably scary. But along with uncertainly she chose Faith in Jesus Christ. Faith that he could fix whatever she messed up. Faith that he could help her to overcome her shortcomings and weaknesses. Faith to find forgiveness, including the ability to forgive herself. Faith that through Him it would all work out and she could find real joy.
It's hard to imagine all of the women I admire being hard on themselves, but as women we tend to do that. It's sort of a part of our nature. But I believe it's a condition of mortality, of the fall, chosen by Mother Eve. And that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can overcome those feelings. If we put our faith in Him, we will feel assured that he knows us and we are exactly who we are meant to be, learning exactly what we need to learn.
I am so grateful to the wonderful women of the Laguna Niguel Stake. I love you all and I know that you are a blessing to the world around you. Elder Craig C. Christensen once taught: "...your Heavenly Father knows ALL about you—your strengths and your weaknesses. He knows perfectly who you are, but He also knows who you can become. And with all of that knowledge, He has placed you here, right now, at the exact time and place where you can do the most good with the talents and gifts He has blessed you with."
Blaine Evanson
Stake President, Laguna Niguel Stake
Church of Jesus Christ
Happy Mother’s Day Sisters. I miss so much gathering with the members of our stake. Somehow the daily Zoom calls and FaceTime interviews don’t quite cut it. I miss the handshakes and the hugs. Our amazing stake relief society president, Beth Garlock, asked me to share a few comments for Mother’s Day. I am grateful for some incredible women in my life -- my mother, my wife, and the sisters with whom I serve shoulder-to-shoulder in this stake. And as I have reflected on this opportunity to share a message, I have been reminded of some of the extraordinary women in scripture and church history who have taught me about the Savior through their examples.
I’ll start with Mother Eve. Next to the Savior, I suspect no one person has made a more significant sacrifice for our salvation than Eve did. Eve partook of the fruit not out of weakness or by mistake, but of insight and courage. It was Eve who recognized that leaving the garden was necessary for her and Adam to have a family, to know good and evil, and to qualify for eternal life. It was also Eve who knew -- even as she was partaking -- that by doing so she was introducing evil and suffering into the world. That not only would she suffer the consequences of that action, but also her children and her grandchildren and all of her posterity.
Imagine the gravity of that decision, and imagine the mental suffering of knowing what flowed from it. But she had the courage to make it, because she recognized that there was no other way. And we all are indebted to her for doing it.
The second woman is Abigail, wife of Nabal in the Old Testament. We all know the story of David, who slew Goliath and became the king of Israel. Well, after David slew Goliath, David was living in the wilderness, and with a group of men, one of his jobs being to protect Nabal’s shepherds and flocks. There was a famine, and David sent his men to Nabal to ask for help. Nabal refused, and David was angry. So David and 400 men marched towards Carmel, where Nabal lived, ready for battle. Well, Nabal’s wife Abigail hears what is about to occur, and what does she do? From 1 Samuel 25:18 “Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ..., and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.” Abigail rides to meet David and then bows before him, saying (v. 24): “Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be.” Now, Abigail did nothing wrong. She did not deserve the blame for the impending bloodshed. But because of her goodness, her charity, and her humility, she freed these men from the contention and enmity that would have destroyed them.
Verse 32 And David said to Abigail, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me:
33 And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. Abigail is the great mediator, the ultimate peacemaker, and a type and symbol of the Savior and his ability to heal our relationships.
The third woman is Emma Smith. There is no restoration of the gospel without Emma Smith. When Joseph hiked the Hill Cumorah in September 1827 to retrieve the gold plates, he was not alone. He had tried the previous three years to obtain the plates, and had failed. But in January 1827, he married Emma. And with her at his side, he was finally ready to receive the plates. When Joseph began translating the Book of Mormon, who was his first scribe? Emma. She suffered immensely as a result of Joseph’s call as the prophet. She had children die as collateral damage from mob attacks. While Joseph was locked in Liberty Jail, Emma had to walk from Missouri to Nauvoo with her four children in tow, carrying two of them across the frozen Mississippi River, with Joseph’s bible translation sewn into her dress. As Joseph’s mother Lucy described her: “I have never seen a woman in my life who would endure every species of fatigue and hardship, from month to month, and from year to year, with that unflinching courage, zeal and patience ....”
When I look at the women in my life, I see elements of Eve, Abigail, and Emma. My mom devoted her life to making sure that I had a testimony and understanding of the gospel. She was beyond patient with me as a teenager. And to this day, she always knows when to call to cheer me up and give me advice. The women I get to serve with in this stake are remarkable. When I am struggling with an issue or a decision, without fail, I call Beth Garlock, and she gives me absolutely inspired counsel -- every time. Much of the inspiration I’ve received in this calling has come through her, Sister Ossola, Sister Budd, and so many other inspired sisters. The sisters on the stake council are to a person some of the most impressive, dedicated, and faithful women I have known in my life. They lead this stake shoulder to shoulder with the stake presidency and high council. And my wife Robin is the best person I know. She’s better than me in every way. She has Eve’s insight, Abigail’s charity, and Emma’s perseverance. Everything that is good in our life, everything that we’ve built or accomplished, has been because of her. She deserves the credit for everything.
I express my gratitude for every one of you sisters. Whether you have children or not, and whether your children are keeping their covenants or are far from the path, know that your Heavenly Parents love you. They are pleased with the way you strive to follow them, and for the example you are to the rest of us. Your effort will be enough, because the Savior’s sacrifice is perfect. And a loving God will compensate for every ounce of unfairness, every unfulfilled expectation, and every undeserved slight or suffering you are called to endure. You are His daughters, and He will seal you His. I know these things to be true, and bear testimony of them. And wish you a Happy Mother’s Day. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.