There isn't anyone you couldn't love...

Yesterday I read the book "A Heart Like His" by Virginia H. Pearce (Pres. Hinckley's daughter). It is such an amazing book. She basically teaches how to individually feel God's love. She says that in order to be receptive to feeling His love, first we must open up our own hearts to others. She goes through and gives some personal examples of how we can open our hearts and show charity and love to others in our everyday interactions. She gives the rules to the "Awareness Experiement" which are as follows;

1. To be more aware of the condition of our hearts and with that awareness to keep them more open toward others.

2. To do this in the normal course of our lives, in other words, not put any extra activities into our day--no extra visits, no preparing of casseroles, etc. Above all, people were not to become "projects", and our lives were not to be filled with more things to do!

3. Notice the Spirit, and be willing to come together and honestly report what happened or hadn't happened. (she had a group of sisters/friends that she did this "experiment" with)

I have learned so much from reading this book. There are so many things that I am determined to change and improve upon in my own relationships and in the way that I interact with people (whether I know them or not) in my everday life.

She says that once we learn to open and soften our hearts towards others, consequently we make the necesssary adustments within ourselves in order to feel God's love towards us. One of my favorite quotes in the book is from Elder John H. Groberg. He said the following...

"When filled wtih God's love, we can do and see and understand things that we could not otherwise do or see or understand. Filled with His love, we can endure pain, quell fear, forgive freely, avoid contention, renew strength, and bless and help others in ways suprising even to us."

One of my favorite parts in the book is when she is teaching how to open our hearts up to others. She says, "If I honor the Diety within others and my divine connection to them--brothers and sisters who sat together in the grand council, pledging to help each other--it seems that I have to be willing to assume a certain amount of goodness in every person right away."

..."THERE ISN'T ANYONE YOU COULDN'T LOVE ONCE YOU'VE HEARD THEIR STORY."
I wonder how many people in my life I would've or could 've loved if only I had listened to their story and honored their Diety within.