Thus, when we plead for the gift of charity, we aren't asking for lovely feelings toward someone who bugs us or someone who has injured or wounded us. We are actually pleading for our very natures to be changed, for our character and disposition to become more and more like the Savior's, so that we literally feel as He would feel and thus do what He would do.

Am I the woman I think I am, the woman I want to be? More importantly, am I the woman the Savior needs me to be?

The Lord has set no limits on what He is willing to teach us and give us. We are the only ones who set limits--through our neglect our disobedience or ignorance. We are in large measure the ones who determine what we will learn and experience in mortality, and what we will receive eternally.

If we don't have a clear sense of our identity and purpose, we are much more vulnerable to Lucifer. He of course knows this and accordingly attempts to blur our vision. He lies. He shades and obliterates truth. He makes evil look good and good look unenlightened and unsophisticated. Make no mistake about it: Lucifer will do anything to derail, disappoint, dishearten, discourage, and deceive us—and particularly those who have made and are seeking to keep sacred covenants. His motives are entirely self-centered, selfish, destructive, and evil.

Happily, though we must each walk through life on our own, we don't have to do it alone.

No woman is a more vibrant instrument in the hands of the Lord than a woman of God who is thrilled to be who she is.

Think about what there is to learn from your heritage, good and bad, and about what you want to cultivate and not cultivate.