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You have probably noticed that my gratitude posts have been quite personal and not necessarily forage-related. That has been intentional, as I wanted to share a little more about myself and the things that are important to me. This week, I’m going to get as personal as I ever have, and I hope you will receive it in the spirit it is intended.

As you may or may not know, I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The teachings and beliefs are something I have grown up with all my life, but I don’t go to church or do what I do simply because of “tradition” or just because it’s what my parents did. At some point, we all have to make a decision for ourselves about the way we choose to believe and behave, and because I made a choice many years ago that this was the church I wanted to belong to, my life has been greatly impacted by the things I have come to know as truth.

I’m not here to preach or try to tell you how to live your life. I know many good people and have many good friends that are not a member of our church, but I did want to share something I was grateful for this week with you.

The leadership of our church is comprised, in part, of a Prophet and what we call the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. They are not paid, nor are they voted into office by the general church membership. We believe that these men are called of God to give guidance and direction to the members.

In the early days of the church,  it was more common for the church leaders to meet directly with the members, but as the church has grown, it isn’t as likely that we will hear from one of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve in person. Although we hold a semi-annual General Conference that is broadcast over satellite and television where we hear sermons by the leaders, having one come to to a local meeting is pretty rare.

But this past weekend, we were blessed in our small Idaho congregation to hear from Elder Jeffry R. Holland, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, as well as another member of general church leadership and our local church leaders and members.

I was so grateful to be in attendance at that meeting. No matter what church you belong to, you can certainly understand what I mean when I say that I felt inspired to be a better person and to do more to become the person I want to be after hearing his address.

We were not able to record the message he delivered that day, but I found a video I wanted to share with you. Even though it was from an speech he gave several years ago, I thought the topic was especially appropriate with Valentine’s Day coming up next week. He talks about love and the way we can and should show love to the people we care about.

I hope you will enjoy it and share just a little bit of the gratitude I feel for an inspired leader that is encouraging me to become a better person.

And if you want to watch the entire speech, “How Do I Love Thee?” where this video comes from, you can click here. And, by the way…he has a great sense of humor, too!