Each of us comes into this world with gifts, talents and skills. Society holds the actress/actor, singer, writer, athlete or politician high as a standard of talent which has been groomed and perfected. But there are other talents, not as evident, which are of greater value in the world.

God gave all His children talents that, if developed and utilized properly, will aid Him in bringing all the children of God back home . . . where He anxiously awaits our return.

In the book of Matthew we read of a group of men who were given the same number of talents and then we learn what each did. Some grew their talents, others buried them in the earth to protect them. Guess which ones the Master was happiest with? Oh yes, the one who grew his talents. Equate those with the talents you have been given.

Have you the gift of listening? Caring? Loving? Learning? Teaching? Preaching the word of God? There are untold and unheralded numbers of talents in the world. Perhaps you may have the gift of looking out at the world and seeing her majestic mountains, her jungles teeming with life, her desert sands with rock formations rising high above, all the earth with her many beauties. It is possible you have the gift of seeing beyond the wars, rumors of wars, crime, poverty, illness and sorrow to the eternities which we are reminded of in the smile of a baby. The more overt gifts were mentioned at the beginning. But these subtler gifts are the glue that holds society together.

If you pull them into your heart, never sharing these marvelous gifts, you will be as the one who buried his talent. Elder Ronald A. Rasband, of the Seventy, said:

Every person comes to earth as a unique individual. Similar threads may run in families, but each of us has a tapestry all our own. Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote: "Each person in this life is endowed with those talents and capacities which his pre-earth life entitle him to receive. Some by obedience to law acquired one talent and some another.” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. (1966–73), 1:688)

The Lord made it clear that it is not good enough for us simply to return to Him the talents He has given us. We are to improve upon and add to our talents. He has promised that if we multiply our talents we will receive eternal joy.

In modern revelation the Lord affirmed the principles in this parable: “But with some I am not well pleased, for … they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. … Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent that it may not be known.” (D&C 60:2, 13) - (Ronald A. Rasband, “Parables of Jesus: The Parable of the Talents,” Ensign, Aug 2003, 32–35)

We, as the children of God, were sent to earth to grow. We grow by developing the skills and talents given us by God in order that we might help others to develop their talents and remember who they are.

Learn what yours are, develop them until you have become the master of those talents and then use them to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Above all, acknowledge Jesus Christ in your successes, for all our talents and abilities come from God. As you do so, the day will arrive where you too will hear, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

Today, as my husband and I were driving home from the gym, I heard Rush Limbaugh ask his listeners to think of the things about America that made us proud. I've had time to contemplate that throughout the afternoon.

My father, Fritz, was born in Amsterdam and was four-years-old when Hitler's armies filled the skies and streets of Holland. He remembers, at four years of age, awakening to the sounds of the bombers overhead and soldiers goose-stepping through the cobblestone streets. There began year after year of unmitigated hell in my father's life.

He vividly recalled the lines for food, hours upon hours of waiting to receive one egg for the month to feed their little family. He recalled the need for a permit from the Nazis to travel from one block to the next. His nightmares are filled with the Nazis piling out of their trucks lining up all the men and boys in the neighborhood and gunning them down. After meting out unspeakable horror upon the Dutch, the Nazis would pile back into their trucks and speed away. And yet another memory took him back to his mother fighting hand-to-hand combat with her Dutch neighbors to get to their top floor apartment.

All these things were spoken of many times in the last years of my father's life. My parents instilled in me a deep and abiding love of America as well as the rights, privileges and responsibilities of being a citizen of this country.

We are coming up on an election in America . . . a hotly contested election. In Proverbs 29:2 we read:

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

My parents taught me wisdom, gave me knowledge and encouraged me to seek more, instilled courage deep within my soul and molded me into the woman I have become today. It is with these qualities I make an informed, and hopefully wise, decision when casting my vote.

There are many negative comments coming forth in this election about America which brings me back to the beginning, what is it about this country of which I am so proud.

Number One: I deeply enjoy the political process established by the Founding Fathers of America that allows one voice to be heard and counted.

Number Two: I enjoy the privilege of being able to express my opinions freely without fear of retribution or death from my government.

Number Three: I enjoy the right to pursue my dreams and work at any job I desire.

Number Four: I love the peaceful transfer of power every four years, a powerful example to the world.

Number Five: I love that America was the launching place of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it was established at the meridian of time by the Savior Himself.

Number Six: I adore the fact that no one, let alone my government, tells me how many children I may have.

Number Seven: I love that I can travel anywhere within the United States without the need to report to each city and state my whereabouts.

Number Eight: I love that we prosper as a nation and share with the world our bounty, strength and courage . . . although it is not as appreciated as I believe it should be.

Number Eight: I love that we value life, no matter what race, creed or culture.

We may not be a nation of perfect people, but we espouse these beliefs and I hold them dear.

On July 4th of 1776, the 13 colonies of America gathered together and these words were written:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. (The Declaration of Independence)

This is the core of what America is about. And it was in this climate in 1805 when the prophet of the restoration, Joseph Smith, Jr., was born into the world. As the religious furor grew great Joseph sought after and found the truth as God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. It was only in a free nation that the Gospel of Jesus Christ could be restored. And it was in this free country where man retained the right to worship according to the dictates of his conscience that this gospel took root and flourished spreading across the world to over 13,000,000 members.

My father knew the difference between a complete lack of freedom and the freedoms we enjoy in America. He was the fiercest patriot this nation has ever seen. He has now shuffled off this mortal coil and passed the torch of freedom and righteous to his children. I have picked up that torch and am politically involved, religiously devoted to my God and my family, loyal to my country and avail myself constantly of the freedoms of this nation as I fight to protect them.

I am my father's daughter and could not be more proud of that fact. So yes, Rush, I love my country with all her growing pains, weaknesses and imperfections. Because this is still the land where the Gospel was able to grow, dreams were fought for and achieved and a country established on the basic principles and rights given by God to every human being on the earth. It is in America we continue to fight for those rights.

As have the men and women who sacrificed their all to bring us this nation, I have dedicated my life to God and my country. The legacy given to me by my parents.

The history books say that Christianity was introduced among the Mayans by the invading Spaniards. I do not think that this is necessarily true. If you look at their artwork and traditions, you can see that they knew Christ. They did not always understand Him, but he was present among them long before the Catholic priests came. In this blog I will share a few of the things I learned from my guide Helaman about their beliefs in Christ that many do not understand or choose to overlook. The Book of Mormon adds a great dimension to understanding who these people were, where they came from and how they knew of Christianity when Christ was born and lived on the other side of the world.

Let's start with their temples. They are fashioned after King Solomon's temple, and with the same layout as Moses' tabernacle in the wilderness. There was a progression of worthiness associated with the areas around the temple which itself consisted of two rooms: the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies where the priest could go once a year to be in the presence of God, or Gods, depending on their level of righteous at the time. In the workmanship of the adorned temples are symbols of Christ and God. The most significant one is found over many doors. It is the image of a man descending from the sky. He has been identified as everything from a myth to an alien when in fact; this represents one of the most sacred experiences among these people. It represents a visit of Christ. Jesus Christ spoke of other sheep that he must attend to after leaving his disciples. The people of the Americas were among these other sheep. 3 Nephi 11 shares this sweet experience when Christ descended from the heavens to administer to these people. This also explains the red hand prints found on many of their buildings. They are not the signature of the builder; they represent the healing hands of Christ as they remember the miracles He performed among them.

They believe He will one day come again, this time from the east, because this is what He promised them. That belief in a beloved "White God" is what allowed the Spaniards to conquer them.

There are other representations of His gospel, of the Godhead, of a resurrection from the dead, and many other gospel principles adorning these once sacred buildings. The alters of the temple were first used for animal sacrifices, just as they were performed among the Jews on the other side of the world. Much later, when the gospel had been corrupted, the methods became twisted but the underlying tradition was still there. A human sacrifice offered up a slit beating heart, then the priest would drink the blood and eat a piece of the flesh. They remembered the instructions of the White God, to no more offer animal sacrifices because He had fulfilled the law. They remembered that instead, they were to offer Him a broken heart and a contrite spirit. They remembered they were supposed to partake of the sacrament in His remembrance, but they had lost His spirit, the presence of the Priesthood and the written records of how and why these things should be done. It was confused, but the White God was still honored.

They believed in resurrection. Their graves were made in the form of a cross, because they knew Christ had died on a cross in order to break the bands of death. They provided steps at the foot of the cross, facing east, for the loved one to rise up when Christ came again.

Their stories and legends contain a feathered serpent who is the bringer of all good and his fallen brother the serpent without wings, who brings evil. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ we understand the relationship between Jesus Christ and Satan.

They also tell of the earthly mother of Jesus Christ, who picked up the feathers of a dove and placed them by her heart, thus becoming pregnant with the Great God's child through His spirit.

Yes, when the Spaniards arrived, they were desperately lost to the true gospel of Jesus Christ, but it had been there, and still manifested itself in their traditions. The Mayans had known Jesus Christ, the Spaniards just reminded them.