Thy Kingdom Come by Neil L. Anderson

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/thy-kingdom-come?lang=eng



   I was excited to see that today's talk was by Elder Anderson. While not my favorite to listen to, in studying I find that Elder Anderson is one of my favorites. He leaves great gems hidden all along his talks. I may end up quoting more than writing today.
   While studying, I actually was reminded of several of the other talks I have read this week. He seems to bring them together quite nicely and I am glad I read them in this order. He starts out by talking about our day. It is a tough day, with wars and rumors of wars, and the Earth in constant commotion. Yet, it is a great day because we live in the time of the restored Gospel. He says "We rejoice in these days and pray that we will be able to courageously face our struggles and uncertainties. The difficulties of some are more severe than those of others, but no one is immune. Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said to me, “If everything is going perfectly for you right now, just wait.”" That's fun. Remember how I said I live in constant fear of trials. Elder Maxwell, through Elder Anderson, just reaffirmed all my fears. Gotta love that. Maybe I should do a talk on preparedness next...
    Like the last talk this one reminds us to keep an eternal perspective and submit to the will of the Father. But he does it in a way that I really like. He talks about the many miracles the Lord has worked in bringing the church forward in these days. I won't recount those here. His main point in doing it was, "seeing and believing the Lord’s miracles in establishing His kingdom on earth can help us see and believe that the Lord’s hand is at work in our own lives as well." That makes perfect sense to me. Perhaps it is Elder Anderson's use of logic in his talks that I understand. Heavenly Father doesn't need our help. He could bring the church to the Earth in a moment if He wanted. He lets us help so we can grow. I think of it like prayer: He knows what we need. He doesn't need to hear it from us, but prayer is a tool given to us for us, not for Him.
   Sometimes it's hard to see His hand in our lives. Maybe when those times come it is because we stop looking. I know if I look for Him, He's right there staring at me in my kids' health, in my marriage, in Kyle's job. His hand is all over my life and I am so grateful for it.

    Again, time for a quote, though in this case it is Elder Anderson quoting scripture. He says "Remember the young man who cried out to the prophet Elisha as they were surrounded by enemies: “Alas, [what] shall we do?” Elisha answered:
“Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
“[Then] Elisha prayed, … Lord, … open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord [did open] the eyes of the young man; and he [did see that] the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire.”"
   That is such a beautiful story to me. Really, it should be a cross stitched pillow somewhere. If we could see the way our Father's hand is in our life, we would be amazed, I think. Amazed and given a peace and an unearthly power to submit to the Lord.
   And all of this isn't even the point of the talk. This is just the part of the talk to spoke to me. The actual point is that the Second Coming is at hand and it is going to be glorious.   

If you will be Responsible by Elder Jorge F. Zeballos

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/if-you-will-be-responsible?lang=eng


   This talk starts with a great anecdote. Personally, I love a good story to illustrate a point or to impress the message on me. He talks about when he was a child in a non member family. He went to church everyday for six months with no family support or anything. When he was asked whether he was ready to be baptized, he was a minor and had to receive permission from his father. His father, having seen his commitment, tells him he can be baptized" if he will be responsible for his choice." This speaks to me personally, because of Kyle. Kyle was raised in an inactive home, but with parents who supported him. I love the idea of a father who says, "If this is your commitment, just follow through." That is a lot of trust to place in a child, especially when it is a big commitment like religion. I am grateful that my husband has followed through on his commitment, even going on a mission with support that perhaps didn't understand the need for it. That's a whole other post though. I could write an epic on all the ways I am grateful for Kyle.
   Elder Zeballos gives us four principles to be responsible for our choice to come unto Christ. If you will be responsible: you will learn your duty, make a decision, act accordingly, and accept the Father's will. But I really think his talk is a lot simpler than that. It seems to me that his talk is really just telling us to be men or women of our word. If you make a choice to be a disciple, follow through. End of talk. Easy peasy.
  Well, except accepting the Father's will. That one calls for a second look, for me. Sure it should come naturally to a disciple, but does it? I often find myself praying like this, "Heavenly Father, please help me so and so, but don't give me any trials, thank you. I don't want to grow right now. I am happy right where I am, I will humble myself, just please please in the name of all that is holy don't change anything in my life or take anything away from me." Perhaps that is because I constantly live in fear that I am too happy. My trials tend to be knock down, drag me through the mud ones, and I just don't want more. But isn't that why we are here? If I am a true disciple, wouldn't I just float along with peace in my heart knowing that if everything was taken away I'd just be all that closer to Jesus, who suffered so much? You know... I really don't think so. Even Jesus asked Heavenly Father to remove the bitter cup. But when the trial came he didn't shrink. He talks about a couple on the verge of losing a child and the peace they had. That to me is craziness. If I am given the trial of losing a child, I will accept it only after it is over. I would not be bedside calm and submissive. I would be fighting and praying and bargaining. Say what you want, I'm pretty sure our Heavenly Father takes the bribes occasionally.
   All in all, a good talk, though I do have one criticism. (If anyone cares of my lowly opinion of conference talks.) When writing, you are supposed to keep it simple, don't use overly flowery words and complicate a simple message. That is what I feel Elder Zeballos did. By giving us four steps, he took away the simplicity and beauty of the lesson that his father taught him. To sum up a talk that wanders (in my opinion), I would just give this thought: If you will be a disciple, be one. If you want to come unto Christ, do it. We know where He is and how to go about finding Him. Be a true disciple. Period.

Comment

I really don't think there is anyone out there reading this, which is totally okay. I am really writing it for my own benefit. But, if you are out there, anyone, leave a comment so I know you are here. =)

Be Fruitful, Multiply, and Subdue the Earth - Joseph W. Sitati

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/be-fruitful-multiply-and-subdue-the-earth?lang=eng


I hesitated this morning when I saw the title for the next conference talk. I thought about skipping it. I have multiplied and been fruitful. My fruits woke me up at seven this morning. That's how I know I've done my part. Any more fruits and I would be a nut. Get it? Cause I'd be insane. =) Four fruits are all my sanity can handle.I didn't want to hear about having children. I've already done my part. Nevertheless, I went ahead and read the talk.

I was actually surprised to find it wasn't about having kids at all. Elder Sitati takes a lovely interpretation of the command to be fruitful. He takes it to mean the fruit of our labors, rather than the fruit of our loins. He talks about going about doing good and having charity one with another. He also speaks of missionary work, though he doesn't come right out with it, but leads us there instead. "All of us can and should become fully engaged in the work of salvation. The Savior has given us the following responsibility with a promise: “I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit". I guess it makes sense that the greatest charity we can have is to care enough to bring others to the Gospel. This also makes me think of temple work. He doesn't talk about it, but bringing people to the Gospel isn't something we just do here.

I don't feel that I am well equipped to bring people into the church. I don't have a wide network of friends and I am not great at speaking publicly. I am rather shy with people with whom I am not comfortable. But I can do temple work. I can do Family History work. If the worth of all souls is great, I can bring the ones who have already passed and "great shall be my joy", right?

There really isn't another way to interpret "multiply". It is what it is. Heavenly Father wants us to have children. His sacred work can't go forth without the opportunity for all of His spirit children to come to earth and experience it. He says the best way for souls to get the most out of their earth experience is through good parents. A man and a woman who love each other. I may have already had my children, but that doesn't mean I am done with this work. I have to be a good parent to them and a good wife to Kyle. There is always room for improvement.

Subdue the Earth was a tricky part. I didn't really understand it the first time and had to re-read the section. The second time I understood. It isn't actually about subduing the Earth, it's about learning to live in it. We face challenges and temptations everyday. Our technology increases those temptations exponentially, by putting them at our fingertips. Subduing the Earth is really about overcoming the natural man. Becoming a master of oneself allows us to be in the world and not a slave to it.

In the end this talk was a wonderful surprise. I didn't know there was more to the command to be fruitful. I am still working on getting my act together in terms of visiting teaching and fulfilling my callings. Maybe keeping this in mind will help me.

The Sabbath is a Delight- Russell M. Nelson

  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/the-sabbath-is-a-delight?lang=eng


   I didn't have a particular topic in mind this morning, so I chose to go to the most recent conference and start there. I have listened to all of these talks however, and the first ones more than the last. And so the last came first.
   There has been a lot of talk about the Sabbath recently. A lot of emphasis is being given to keeping the Sabbath and to Sabbath day activities. In the spirit of transparency, I will you tell you what a typical Sunday looks like around here: We get up and scramble to get read for church. Or we don't. I can't make this fully transparent without admitting to the occasional lack of drive in the morning. If we've had a particularly late Saturday night, we may roll over and keep on sleeping. Not often. But sometimes.
   Once we are ready we pile in and go to church. In sacrament meeting we wrestle our four children into behaving. Does it work? No. Do I get to hear the messages? Rarely. After closing prayer, the kids run off to primary and I head to my favorite part of church. Nursery, where I drop Lily off. A great feeling of relief comes over me and I collapse into a chair in Gospel Doctrine. Next to my husband. In the corner. Where we both play on our phones for the next hour. Sometimes we'll participate in the discussion or read a scripture, but for the most part I just don't know what is being talked about. Probably because I am not trying very hard.
   Relief Society goes one of two ways: if I am sitting next to a chatty woman, I spend the hour listening to her instead of the lesson. If I am by myself I am probably on my phone still. Giving myself some credit here, Relief Society is actually where I listen the most. I generally like the lessons and Spirit of the class.
  Once home we make nachos for lunch and eat them while watching a recorded episode of the Tonight Show. Pretty sure that isn't what Elder Nelson has in mind in terms of Sabbath worship. Next we'll go our separate ways. Kids will watch a movie upstairs, and we'll watch TV downstairs or in our room. If it's football season, Kyle will watch football and I'll take a nap. I can't even pretend I will be changing the napping part. It isn't going to happen. Best part of the Sabbath.
   Elder Nelson asks if the Sabbath is truly a delight in our homes. Is it? I don't think so. It's kind of an excuse to be lazy, because we can't go anywhere. So, how do I change that? Not just for me, but for my family. He goes on to talk about a few things we can be doing to make it count. One was teaching our children. I actually did this on Sunday. Not that I spent a great deal of time on it, but we are working towards Adam's Faith in God award, so we talked a little bit about the articles of faith. We can do family history. Third is quality family time. I like the non-specificity of that. Perhaps quality time to us is taking a nap in the same room, or watching a movie together. I kind of think he means a little more bonding type activities,
   Last was service. I have a hard time with this idea. I don't like Kyle leaving to do Home Teaching on a Sunday. I think anything that pulls him away from us on a day off isn't necessarily good. However, I was talking to Kyle about how we could get our Home and Visiting teaching done together. I was wondering if we all went in the car together to visit our families, if it would work. Maybe just being in the car would give our kids the vision of their parents serving and caring for others. And we could involve them before hand in making a treat or a hand out. I don't know. I am still workshopping that idea.
  In closing, at the beginning of the talk, Elder Nelson said he had an easy time figuring if an activity was Sunday appropriate by asking himself one question: "What sign do I want to give to God?" Do I want him to see that my own laziness is more important than the one day he asks be devoted to Him? If I can't spend one day doing what He asks of me, can I expect Him to answer my prayers? I ask a lot of my Heavenly Father, I'd hate for Him to treat me the way I sometimes treat Him. Maybe my Sundays need a makeover.

Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority- Richard G. Scott

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/make-the-exercise-of-faith-your-first-priority?lang=eng#watch=video


I began this journey with a hope of doing better by my own testimony. However, any mother can tell you that if she is not doing all the nuances of her discipleship, it is likely she is failing in her stewardship of her children. I carry a lot of mom guilt. It isn't just the natural feelings of not doing enough, that all mothers carry. I'm actually a pretty lazy person and my mom guilt is totally deserved. My kids wear their everyday clothes to bed because I know if they wear pajamas every night, my laundry load doubles. Are you understanding my motherhood yet?

Relief Society yesterday was, of course, on the Sacred Calling of Mothers. I love the way these things are worded. We get "The Sacred Calling of Mothers" and the men get "Father, Consider Your Ways." Moms are put on such a pedestal for all we do, but sometimes, I think we need the hash wording reserved for fathers. Maybe that is just me. Maybe there should be a lesson titled, "Christina, Consider Your Ways!" Exclamation point.

This lesson, by Ezra Taft Benson outlines 10 things mothers (and fathers) need to be doing. Ten specific ways I am failing. Man, I love church some days. So, when considering what talk I wanted to read this morning, I focused on one particular failure of mine: Family Home Evening. It's not that we don't ever have FHE, but our batting average is around .100. So, I went to lds.org and searched for conference talks on Family Home Evening. This talk by Richard G. Scott was the most recent one that came up, so he's my winner.



   I knew from the title of this talk that it was going to be a little bit more stern, I like that. I need some sternness in my life. He starts by talking about the Fall of Adam and Eve and how opposition in all things came to be and how it is necessary for our happiness. While interesting, I had no idea how this applied to the principle I was trying to study and I'll be honest, my eyes glazed over a bit. He talked about challenges and how life is hard. We came to be tested and made strong. We know these things. We've heard them since primary. I guess repetition is good for the soul. He brought me back by saying "Our Father in Heaven has given us tools to help us come unto Christ and exercise faith in His Atonement. When these tools become fundamental habits, they provide the easiest way to find peace in the challenges of mortality."

   Okay, so now I see the tie in. We are going to talk about exercising faith as a way to meet the challenges we will face.

   He outlines four essentials. While Sunday School-ish in simplicity, the reminder is that these things are there for our use. They are there to help us overcome. Not as another thing our Heavenly Father counts to make sure we are good disciples, but tools that helps us survive mortality.

Prayer: I had two favorite lines from the part on Prayer. "Parents, help safeguard your children by arming them morning and night with the power of family prayer." I am not great at this. I pray by myself, on my knees, at night. And sometimes we pray together. A few times a week. Not enough. And "Family prayer should be a nonnegotiable priority in your daily life." Boom. Sternness. Richard G. should drop the mike.

Scripture Study: He connects scripture study to prayer by saying (paraphrasing) that we speak to God in prayer, He speaks back through scriptures. It is important to read scriptures with our children so they can understand that voice of God. Wow, right? I don't think I've heard a reason for scripture reading put so succinctly. It makes me understand why it is so important.

Family Home Evening: Don't make it an afterthought. Have a grand time together. Nothing new. No mike drops.

Temple Attendance: Last year Kyle and I went 12 times in 12 months. We were so proud of meeting our once a month goal. Perhaps we felt it was exhausting, or just that one year was good enough. in 2015 we didn't get to the temple until July. Yikes and Shame! In a talk about exercising your faith to feel peace, this one stands out. Where do you feel more peace than at the temple? Elder Scott says that by doing these four things we are accepting Christ's invitation to come unto Him, and isn't He after all the Prince of Peace?

   I am going to try a lot harder to do all of these things. I have plenty of time in the day and really all of these things should be nonnegotiable. I'm going to fail. I know because I've tried before. And I'll try again.

   I can't close better than he did. "I testify that as we actively come unto Him, we can endure every temptation, every heartache, every challenge we face, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Something New

    Summer is an interesting time for my family. We are able to spend so much extra time together. We travel, we do fun activities, we laugh together. However, I found this summer to be difficult for me. We spent 6 Sundays away from church for various reason. They were all legitimate reasons, we weren't just sleeping at home, but 6 weeks is a rather long absence.

   I was shocked to feel the influence of this departure from church. I've always assumed I'd kind of made it. Not that I'm celestial bound just yet, but that I was doing fine and didn't really need the weekly fortification. This was also about the time we stopped reading the scriptures together every night. We had just become "too busy". Slowly, I began to lose some of my steadfastness. I'm not admitting to any bad behavior, more of a lazy, nonchalant feeling about that gospel and about choosing the right.

   There have been times in my life where I was able to quote scripture and conference talks to lift friends from their hard places. I'm not at the other end of that. I'm not spiraling toward defection or inactivity, but I'm not as strong as I know I can be or as strong as I have been.

   I had an idea yesterday in church. I like to think it was inspiration, but I sometimes have a hard time deciphering my voice from that of the Spirit. It is a talent I am still working to develop. I am going to read a church talk every morning and record my thoughts about it. I can't imagine anyone is out there reading. If you are, welcome! If not, well, someday maybe my kids will wonder what their mom's testimony looked like. Maybe they will find that they are not in a place of major strength and be able to see some value in studying everyday. Or maybe they will just need ideas for a talk and steal something from me. 

   I am pretty excited about starting this. I already have my first talk picked out and everything. Don't hold me to everyday, because life, but I will try my best.