A Love Letter to My Daughter

I have had a few people ask for my talk for Katie's Young Woman Recognitionhood award. Here it is.

Dear Katie,

You are a beloved daughter of Heavenly Father, prepared to come to the earth at this particular time for a sacred and glorious purpose. You have a noble responsibility to use your strength and influence for good. Your loving Heavenly Father has blessed you with talents and abilities that will help you fulfill your divine mission. As you learn to accept and act upon the Young Women values in your life, you will form personal habits of prayer, scripture study, obedience to the commandments, and service to others. These daily personal habits will strengthen your faith in and testimony of Jesus Christ. They will also allow you to recognize and develop your unique gifts. This is quote from the front of your Personal Progress book.

Katie, I am so proud of you. You have accomplished something that not all young women do. I am happy that you have made personal progress such an important part of your life. You are an example to the other girls in your ward. Katie you are a beautiful young women and you will go far in your life.
Katie you have been born in a time that is very troubling. When I was growing up there were no cell phones, the internet was something that wasn’t invented, and all of my friends were members of the church. It was a different time. You are one of the chosen few to come to earth at this time. This means that you will be tested to prove yourself worthy to live with your Father in Heaven again.

I thought I would focus on the young women values in this talk and how you have learned from these goals and what you can learn in the future.

Faith: Faith is not a perfect knowledge it is a hope or desire to know something. You might not have a perfect testimony of all of the gospel principles right now but with increasing faith and prayer you will. Think about how much your testimony has changed in four years since you started young women. You do have a testimony of the Savior and His role on Earth and with increased scripture study and prayer it will grow. Remember you have to work on your testimony.

Divine Nature: Divine Nature is knowing that you came from a Father in Heaven. There are so many people in this world that don’t even know they have a Father in Heaven and you know this and that he is the Father of your spirit. Remember that you not only have a Father in Heaven but parents here on earth that love you. I don’t know what my life would be like if you were not in our family. You are an example of your Divine Nature to those friends you have that don’t know where they came from.
Individual Worth: I think this is one of the most important values. You are an individual and unique, you are not like the other girls. You have had trials that most of the young women won’t ever have to go through. Your Heavenly Father loves you for who you are! He knows Katie Fallis and He wants you to accomplish what you set out to accomplish. Remember that you are different and stand out in a good way. Be an example to others and make sure that they know what you stand for.

Knowledge: This is so important to gain knowledge. You need learn some worldly things and also gain knowledge of the spirit. By learning how the spirit speaks to you, you can gain further knowledge from our Father in Heaven. You also need to gain knowledge when it comes to school. Continue to learn and grow. Finishing high school is just the beginning, you need to go to college and get that degree.

Choice and Accountability: This is my favorite value because I think it is easy to see how it works. This is like in science when Mrs. Chava is trying to explain what happens when you do certain things. If you drop a raw egg off a building it will break. That is what is going to happen. Just like in nature Heavenly Father gives us choices and when we chose the right we will receive blessings, when we make poor choices we will be given consequences. Now, this does not mean the blessing we get will be immediate; sometimes they will take years to receive. This also doesn’t mean that when we make a wrong choice we cannot go back and repent and fix the problem. We have been blessed with the atonement in our life and we can be forgiven and our sins will be there no more. What a wonderful gift our Father in Heaven has given to us.

Good Works: Good Works doesn’t have to be anything big. It can be a simple act of service. It can be helping around the house, taking Noelle or Tyler where they need to go. It can be big things but it doesn’t have to be. Remember that when we do things for others we will be forget our own problems. Think of the Mary at the nursing home and what an impact she had in her life when your life felt like it was crashing down. Her sharing her life story made your life seem not so bad. Remember sometimes giving someone a smile makes their whole day.

Integrity: When I was growing up I knew this was important, but as I have gotten older this has become a value that means more to me. Think of President George Albert Smith having a dream about his Grandpa and in the dream the grandpa asked him what he had done with his name. The young George Albert Smith replied, “ I have never done anything with your name of which you need to be ashamed.” Integrity is your personal promise or word. Protect your name and what it stands for.

Virtue: Katie keep yourself clean in the eyes of your Father in Heaven. Show virtue by doing what you need to do. The value experience for virtue is reading the Book of Mormon. Read it many times in your life. It will mean different things each time you read it. There might be verses in it that you might not know are there the first few times you read it. You will get closer to your Heavenly Father by reading the Book of Mormon than any other book. There is no question why this is the value project for this value. Be like the 2000 Stippling Warriors!

Now that I have your attention I would like to give you some advice from your mother. Before you roll your eyes listen. First, keep yourself worthy to go to the temple. Your life will be blessed if you get married in the temple. This doesn’t mean you won’t have trials, but there has never been a time I was disappointed knowing that if I live worthy and you kids do too that we will be an eternal family. Second, go to college and get your degree! That piece of paper might be very expensive but again what a blessing my degree has been in my life. Third, remember that you can help others and be a good example to others. Fourth and most importantly remember to say your prayers and read your scriptures daily. Talking to your Father in Heaven is important. Don’t just call on Him when you need a life boat, call on Him all the time. You will be blessed if you have a good relationship with him. You can receive personal revelation through him. You need to know you can always count on Him.

I love you more than you will ever know, or at least until you become a mother. You have blessed my life and the lives of those people around you. Thank you for being an example to your younger sister, your female cousins, and to the rest of the young women you know in accomplishing this goal.

Love,
Mom