An Idea

My third area in the mission field was an especially challenging one. At one point, my companion and I went to the bishop of the ward and asked him for suggestions to get the members to help with the work more. He made a suggestion, and we pretty much ignored it. I'm not sure why... Maybe because we didn't think it would work, or maybe we just forgot. At any rate, several weeks later we were still struggling to get the members involved. We went to the bishop again, and he asked if we'd implemented his original advice. No, we hadn't. He didn't chide us for it, but I had the thought: "You already asked him for advice, and you haven't implemented it. Why are you asking again?"

That was a teaching moment for me. I think that sometimes we (or at least I) go to Heavenly Father asking for answers or help. We receive revelation but we don't give it the heed we should. Then down the road a little way we turn to Him again hoping for help. But how can we expect more assistance when we haven't heeded that which we have already received?

Here's my point: General Conference is a month away. A lot of times we approach Conference as an opportunity to receive personal revelation and answers to questions or concerns. But how can we expect Heavenly Father to give us answers or assistance if we haven't already paid heed to that which we've been given in the past? In order to prepare for this upcoming Conference, I'm setting the goal to study one General Conference talk a day between now and October 5. That is 33 talks in 33 days--quite manageable. If you want to join me, you are quite welcome to do so. :o)

(Of course, you are all so awesome that you have probably been studying the talks all along over the past five months. In that case, at least this post will make me accountable for my goal.) :o)

Women's Roles in The Church of Jesus Christ

This talk was given by Elder Ballard last month at BYU's Education Week. Elder Ballard does a good job talking about women and the priesthood--a topic that is sometimes misunderstood by individuals both within the Church and outside it. I think it's important to understand the principles here, because we'll all probably have the opportunity to explain them to others at some point: http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=2133.

Family History

I need to catch-up on my reading here, you all recommend such good talks and with school starting this week I'm getting behind on the blog reading. But I did want to share these gems with you :) Love me some family history!

Change

We have stake conference this weekend, so I looked up some notes that I wrote down from stake conference a year ago. One of the talks was a talk by Elder Hallstrom about change. He told about an experience that he had as a bishop. He met with a man who had a bad temper. The man said, "I have a bad temper. I can't do anything about it. That's never going to change." This made Elder Hallstrom sad to hear him say that. The essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that the Atonement can change us.

Elder Hallstrom also told a story of a man in India who was born with serious physical disabilities. As a young man he met the missionaries, was baptized, and served a mission himself. Years later, he and his wife and children traveled to Hong Kong to be sealed in the temple there. In his community, his potential was to grow up to be a beggar, but his membership in the Church of Jesus Christ taught him of his eternal potential.

Elder Hallstrom's invitation was to make one change to improve.

I wanted to do a little more study on the subject of change, so I searched lds.org and came across something pretty neat--an article that President Faust was preparing before he passed away in 2007: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/the-power-to-change?lang=eng&query=change. It's a good read.

Must See!

I recommended this BYU Devotional in my response to Allison's last post. I take back my recommendation and upgrade it to a "must see." I just re-read it, and it is awesome. It impacted me when President Packer gave it just a month after I got home from my mission, and it is just as powerful now:

Exactness vs. Perfection

A sister missionary I correspond with posed the following question in a recent email:  "What are your thoughts about perfection vs. being exact?"  I thought it was a great question and have started pondering and studying it out.  So far I've read the talk Perfection Pending and have been pondering Moroni 10:32.  

It got me thinking about a few things:

1. What does it mean to become perfected in Christ?
2. Is it possible for a pursuit of exactness in obedience to distract us from coming unto Christ?
3. How should I have responded when I had companions whose lack of obedience limited my own ability to be exact in obedience?
4. What is the relationship between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law?
5. Why does it seem that some who pursue obedience with exactness end up stressed out and overanxious?  

I'll try to record some of my insights as my studies progress, but was curious about what y'all thought or things you've learned as well.  So, if you have questions or answers to consider, please share!

Day In Day Out

Here are two graduation speeches I have enjoyed recently. Let me know what you think!

http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/31/george-saunderss-advice-to-graduates/?src=me&ref=general&_r=2

My favorite part here is this paragraph,
"Most people, as they age, become less selfish and more loving.  I think this is true.  The great Syracuse poet, Hayden Carruth, said, in a poem written near the end of his life, that he was “mostly Love, now.” And so, a prediction, and my heartfelt wish for you: as you get older, your self will diminish and you will grow in love.  YOU will gradually be replaced by LOVE."


In the following speech I love that he teaches us that we choose what we think, and we choose how we see things. Do you know of any talks/literature on this subject?

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/sep/20/fiction

The video link wasn't working, so this is the written talk. I haven't read it (I watched a video version) but I believe there are two swearwords, fyi.