Forget Me Not: Second, forget not the difference between a good sacrifice and a foolish sacrifice.

From the talk Forget Me Not by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"An acceptable sacrifice is when we give up something good for something of far greater worth.

Giving up a little sleep to help a child who is having a nightmare is a good sacrifice. We all know this. Staying up all night, jeopardizing our own health, to make the perfect accessory for a daughter’s Sunday outfit may not be such a good sacrifice.

Dedicating some of our time to studying the scriptures or preparing to teach a lesson is a good sacrifice. Spending many hours stitching the title of the lesson into homemade pot holders for each member of your class perhaps may not be.

Every person and situation is different, and a good sacrifice in one instance might be a foolish sacrifice in another.

How can we tell the difference for our own situation? We can ask ourselves, “Am I committing my time and energies to the things that matter most?” There are so many good things to do, but we can’t do all of them. Our Heavenly Father is most pleased when we sacrifice something good for something far greater with an eternal perspective. Sometimes, that may even mean nurturing small but beautiful forget-me-not flowers instead of a large garden of exotic blooms."

We may have immersed ourselves in the thick of thin things, overlooking worthy and meaningful sacrifices. I would encourage us all to take an inventory of our lives and to contemplate removing sacrifices that are of little worth.  I know that Heavenly Father's choicest blessings will come into our lives as we make meaningful sacrifices and follow the council of His prophets and apostles in our daily lives. 

Forget Me Not: First, forget not to be patient with yourself.

From the talk Forget Me Not by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect. Let me add: God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not. And yet we spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others—usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths. This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet. As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does.

 Everyone has strengths and weaknesses.

It’s wonderful that you have strengths.

And it is part of your mortal experience that you do have weaknesses.

God wants to help us to eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal. He wants us to become perfect, and if we stay on the path of discipleship, one day we will. It’s OK that you’re not quite there yet. Keep working on it, but stop punishing yourself."

I testify along with President Uchtdorf that our loving Heavenly Father is much more patient with us that we can even imagine.  Ether 12:27 says "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I know for myself that if we put our faith and trust in the Lord that He WILL help us change our weaknesses into strengths!