We are responsible for our own discipleship, and it has little—if anything—to do with the way others treat us.
Dear sisters, dear friends, to begin general conference with a worldwide sisters’ session is significant and wonderful. possible meanings... "indicative; having a covert or implied meaning; suggestive; important, notable, momentous; of consequence; significant; a sign"... 'a sign' is interesting since the 'sign' of Revelations 12 was on the day of the conference with the sign being of a 'woman' who gives birth to something. What are we to give birth to at this time in the history of the world? Why are the women spoken to first? What should be its impact on our experience with the remaining sessions? Just imagine: sisters of all ages, backgrounds, nationalities, and languages united in faith and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. I think he's pointing out here, right at the beginning of his talk that we are not divided like the rest of the country/world. What unites us? It is faith in and love for the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot be his disciple and participate in any kind of division. "If ye are not one...ye are not mine." This oneness doesn't require others to be one with you, as he will go on to explain...
As we recently met with our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, he expressed to us how much he loves the Lord. In this one thing, we should 'follow the prophet'!! And I know that President Monson is very grateful for your love, your prayers, and your devotion to the Lord. These 3 things will keep us united: love, prayer, and devotion to the Lord. Devotion is 'profound, dedicated loyalty; consecration'. It is not a surface, shallow, outward only, checklist kind of love. We are to give our whole heart, might, mind and strength to God and pray from that place for charity until we have it bestowed.
A long time ago in a distant land lived a family of three sisters. Interesting, that he's grouped us in to three groups. In the premortal world there were three groups as well. I don't know if there is an intended correlation but if I were to make one, I'd say the third part cast out were the 'mad' group and the third part that shouted for joy were the 'glad' group. We never talk about the other third part....were they the 'sad' group? Did they 'walk away' from the conflict because they worried about what 'the other side' would say? If we are being asked to look, as a whole, at any one group, I would say it is the 'sad' group....
The first sister was sad. Everything from her nose to her chin and from her skin to her toes seemed not quite good enough to her. I have heard it said that Salt Lake City is the 'plastic surgery capital of the world'....When she spoke, her words sometimes came out awkwardly, and people laughed. she was not 'articulate'...When someone criticized her or “forgot” to invite her to something, she would blush, walk away, and find a secret spot where she would let out a sad sigh and wonder why life had turned out to be so bleak and cheerless. Satan loves it when he can get us to withdraw because then the only voice we have to listen to is his, and he loves to rant! "Neutralized" is what he calls it. "Asleep" is what I call it. For this sister life is unfair and she feels can't do anything about it.
The second sister was mad. She thought of herself as very smart, but there was always someone else who scored higher on tests at school. She considered herself funny, fair, fashionable, and fascinating. But always, there seemed to be someone who was funnier, fairer, more fashionable, or more fascinating.
She was never first at anything, and this she could not endure. Life was not supposed to be this way! Someone once said, "how would you feel about yourself if there was no one around you to compare yourself to? Why, you'd think you were just fine; wonderful; even perfect. So many of our problems come from comparing...up or down...it doesn't matter. This sister added entitlement to her judgment feeling things were not as they were 'supposed' to be.
Sometimes she lashed out at others, and it seemed that she was always one breath away from being outraged by one thing or another. When I am around people who feel they have a moral obligation to let me know what my sins are in an 'outraged' way, my heart just wants to say, "this passion you have for voicing your opinion is a good thing. It probably came from the premortal life when you spoke passionately about agency. God let you bring that passion here for a purpose. Right now, you're expressing your feelings in that agency that you surely fought passionately for...but you are condemning me for using that same agency to choose. Get on the Lord's side and become an articulate defender of truth and learn to do it by and with His Spirit and you will be a mighty warrior in His latter day army."
Of course, this did not make her any more likable or popular. Sometimes she clenched her teeth, tightened her fists, and thought, “Life is so unfair!” For this sister life is unfair and she's determined to do something about it...by force.
Then there was the third sister. Unlike her sad and mad sisters, she was—well, glad.And it wasn’t because she was smarter or more beautiful or more capable than her sisters. No, people sometimes avoided or ignored her too. They sometimes made fun of what she was wearing or the things she was saying. They sometimes said mean things about her. But she did not allow any of that to bother her too much. He's pointing out here, that the circumstances of this sister are no different than the other two, so we can't point to them for her happiness. I love that he said she didn't allow any of that to bother her 'too much'. In reality, it did bother her a little or maybe a lot, but not for very long. When she noticed she was bothered...she did something different. SHE did not allow it any longer. How?
This sister loved to sing. She didn’t have great pitch, and people laughed about it, but that didn’t stop her. She would say, “I am not going to let other people and their opinions stop me from singing!” Why did he choose "singing" as the thing the sister chose to do in spite of opposition? Singing is words that come out of your mouth accompanied by a special additional vibration, we call music. Because this originates from within her, no one has the power to make her stop. People can express their opinion, but opinion has no power to actually bind her voice. I will call the music the addition of the spirit to her words...and extra power/vibration that adds emotion to mere words. When we have the Spirit with us, we feel love. Why would we ever want to stop 'singing'?
The very fact that she kept singing made her first sister sad and her second sister mad. I think both sisters were really just jealous and covered it with being sad and mad. They were frustrated that their sister, who lived in the same circumstances as they did was not bothered "too much" by them and that she had the power to rise above them. The greatest truth they fought to embrace was that they themselves were responsible and had the power to do the same. They didn't want to exert the energy or make the sacrifice to submit, repent, become as a little child. They lived by the title of my 'unwritten' book - "Will you please change, so I don't have to"...
Many years passed, and eventually each sister reached the end of her time on earth.
The first sister, who discovered again and again that there was no shortage of disappointments in life, eventually died sad.
The second, who every day found something new to dislike, died mad.
And the third sister, who spent her life singing her song with all her might and a confident smile on her face, died glad.
Of course, life is never so simple, and people are never so one-dimensional as the three sisters in this story. But even extreme examples funny, how they didn't seem extreme. There are lots of people that live in this 'extreme' way of seeing life. like these can teach us something about ourselves. If you are like most of us, you may have recognized part of yourself in one, two, or perhaps all three of these sisters. Let us take a closer look at each one.Here is the invitation for us to look closer at ourselves. Find the part of you in the mad and sad and figure out how to repent, how to 'change your mind' about the beliefs you hold that keep you mad or sad. Ask the Lord what you need to believe instead to be 'glad'.
The Victim
The first sister saw herself as a victim—as someone who was acted upon.1 I can't hear the words 'acted upon' without thinking of Elder Bednar. He has a book about it and I love this talk about it....It seemed like one thing after another kept happening to her that made her miserable. Notice she believed her circumstances MADE her miserable....With this approach it's a choice...to life, she was giving others control another choice...over how she felt and behaved.I think we can easily see our behavior as a choice, but it's harder to see our feelings as a choice. They just seem to pop up out of nowhere and so quickly. We rarely take the time to ask what thought or belief is behind the emotion...where did it first come from? When we do this, we are driven about by every wind of opinion—and in this day of ever-present social media, those winds blow at hurricane intensity.Satan has really messed with the world's understanding of agency. He's got people screaming about their right to choose whatever they want with any opinion other than acceptance called 'hate speech', all the while standing on what they think is a platform of total love and acceptance. The father of all lies who sought to take away our agency is actually using the premortal passion for agency certainly found in profound numbers by the spirits who've been saved for over 6,000 years to come and fight FOR agency...for the exact opposite. He's got them believing they have the right to choose, but those who disagree with them don't...because we can't allow 'hate'. And they have no 'choice' but to be hurt by the 'hate speech' of others who disagree with them. And while they rail at the idea of anything that would limit their own agency, they have no problem imposing limitations on others. Yes, we live in a world that is very confused.
Dear sisters, why should you surrender your happiness to someone, or a group of someones, who cares very little about you or your happiness? We surrender when we feel we are outmanned, outgunned, outsmarted....we have no defenses and no aid coming...so we give up. Ahh....but remember "they that be with us are more than they that be with them." How can you tap in to this divine aid? Why would you go it alone when you can yoke yourself to the creator of the universe? Can't you see that Satan only has power here by permission of his own creator? That ALL THINGS Satan inflicts on us are allowed and can be turned for God's purpose and our good? Never forget who is really in charge here. Satan says he is the god of this world. He is not. Unless you make him your god.
If you find yourself worrying about what other people say about you, may I suggest this antidote: remember who you are. Remember that you are of the royal house of the kingdom of God, daughters of Heavenly Parents, who reign throughout the universe.and I would add....remember it until you feel it and know it.
Memorize this next part! You have the spiritual DNA of God. You have unique gifts that originated in your spiritual creation and that were developed during the vast span of your premortal life. You are the child of our merciful and everlasting Father in Heaven, the Lord of Hosts, the One who created the universe, spread the spinning stars across the vast expanse of space, and placed the planets in their appointed orbits.
You are in His hands.
Very good hands.
Loving hands.
Caring hands.
And nothing anyone ever says about you can change that. Their words are meaningless compared to what God has said about you.
You are His precious child.
He loves you.
Seriously...memorize it.
Even when you stumble, even when you turn away from Him, God loves you. If you are feeling lost, abandoned, or forgotten—fear not. The Good Shepherd will find you. He will lift you upon His shoulders. And He will carry you home.2 If you know anything about God, you know His promises are sure and all His words will be fulfilled. Know what those words are and treasure them up in your heart and let them sustain you when the storms come.
My dear sisters, please let these divine truths sink deeply into your hearts. And you will find that there are many reasons not to be sad, for you have an eternal destiny to fulfill.Sit with THESE words when you want to withdraw into a corner. Do not sit with Satan. Ponder upon the promising, comforting words of a Savior who will come and find you and carry you home on his own shoulders. Like cinderella, when you find yourself "in your own little corner, in your own little chair"...dream about the day when you will "be whatever you want to be"!
The beloved Savior of the world gave His life so that you could choose to make that destiny a reality. Let that truth sink into your heart. The Savior gave HIs life so you could choose! Receive that sublime and magnificent gift! Choose! You have taken upon you His name; You already Chose to receive His name...you are His disciples. You've already made a covenant to follow Him and witness for His name....And because of Him, you can clothe yourselves with robes of eternal glory. If you've been to the temple you have already Chosen to be clothed in 'robes' of eternal glory. Now...keep choosing. Choose to repent. Choose to turn from your 'inherited lies' and false beliefs and traditions and follow the Son.
The Hater
The second sister was angry at the world. Like her sad sister, she felt that the problems in her life were all caused by someone else. also a victim like her sister...She blamed her family, her friends, her boss and coworkers, the police, the neighbors, Church leaders, current fashion trends, even the intensity of solar flares, and plain bad luck. And she lashed out at all of them.Her way of dealing with being a victim was not to withdraw in resignation like her sad sister, but to try to make everyone and everything change who were inflicting pain on her.
She didn’t think of herself as a mean person. To the contrary, she felt that she was only sticking up for herself. Everyone else, she believed, was motivated by selfishness, pettiness, and hate. She, on the other hand, was motivated by good intentions—justice, integrity, and love.
Unfortunately, the mad sister’s line of thinking is all too common. This was noted in a recent study that explored conflict between rival groups. As part of the study, researchers interviewed Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East, and Republicans and Democrats in the United States. They discovered that “each side felt their own group [was] motivated by love more than hate, but when asked why their rival group [was] involved in the conflict, [they] pointed to hate as [the other] group’s motivating factor.”3
In other words, each group thought of themselves as the “good guys”—fair, kind, and truthful. By contrast, they saw their rivals as the “bad guys”—uninformed, dishonest, even evil. Oh how we need to see the reality and truth in this teaching. My first thought is that we should try to find common ground with the 'other' side and at least seek to understand how they see themselves as fair, kind and truthful. It reminds me of this youtube video of a woman talking with Byron Katie who hates, hates, hates Trump, but by the end can see what her feelings are doing to her world. It is quite powerful and shows quite well how we demonize the other side, all the while ignoring that at the core, we are very much the same!
In the year I was born, the world was immersed in a terrible war that brought agonizing grief and consuming sorrow to the world. This war was caused by my own nation—by a group of people who identified certain other groups as evil and encouraged hatred toward them..
They silenced those they did not like. You know you're on the wrong side of the debate when you seek to silence the other voice. There's a reason that speech is protected in this country. Don't let anyone change that! They shamed and demonized them. See Elder Christopherson's last talk where he talks about our shame culture...They considered them inferior—even less than human. Once you degrade a group of people, you are more likely to justify words and acts of violence against them. You also know you're on the wrong side when you dehumanize and turn to justified violence...
I shudder when I think about what happened in 20th-century Germany. And we should shudder to think about it happening again. And yet it is...right before our eyes. Only this time, we have a chance to do it differently. Will we? Can we?
When someone opposes or disagrees with us, it’s tempting to assume that there must be something wrong with them. And from there it’s a small step to attach the worst of motives to their words and actions.This is my great sadness when I'm in conflict with someone else...that they have assigned motives to my words and actions that make me seem intentionally mean and hurtful and refuse to hear my heart and say, "oh, I see that if you believed 'that'...that you might then do 'this' and then it wouldn't seem hurtful to you." Instead, they think that I believe what they do and then go against that belief in what can only be rebellion and meanness.
Of course, we must always stand for what is right, and there are times when we must raise our voices for that cause. Notice that standing for what is right does not ALWAYS mean that we raise our voice for that that cause. He said 'there are times'...meaning there are times to remain silent. How do we do that and still stand for what is right? How did Christ remain silent at times while standing in truth? However, when we do so with anger or hate in our hearts—when we lash out at others to hurt, shame, or silence them—chances are we are not doing so in righteousness.Only a chance? I think he phrases it this way to allow it to enter our hard heart by even a small crack by asking the question, "is there even a 'chance' that I'm not acting in righteousness?"
What did the Savior teach? We are, afterall, His disciples. If we are to follow Him we must know what He taught and then DO IT.
“I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
This is the Savior’s way. It is the first step in breaking down the barriers that create so much anger, hatred, division, and violence in the world. He is asking us to break down the barriers that Satan is so quickly putting up through anger, hatred, division and violence. But we must do it in the Savior's way. Love.
“Yes,” you might say, “I would be willing to love my enemies—if only they were willing to do the same.”
But that doesn’t really matter, does it? We are responsible for our own discipleship, and it has little—if anything—to do with the way others treat us. We obviously hope that they will be understanding and charitable in return, but our love for them is independent of their feelings toward us.We live in a world controlled by feeling! We must love even when we don't feel like it. We must love even when we don't feel loved by others. We get to choose our actions independent of our feelings and then pray for the feelings to follow. My mother's favorite scripture was Proverbs 16:3 "Commit thy works unto the Lord and thy thoughts shall be established." She took this to mean that you don't wait for the feelings to be right to act right. You commit your 'works' or actions and then the thoughts or feelings come after.
Perhaps our effort to love our enemies will soften their hearts and influence them for good. Perhaps it will not. But that does not change our commitment to follow Jesus Christ.'Choose the right...LET the consequence follow'. We don't say if the consequence is good or bad. We choose the right and just LET whatever follows happen. We don't determine our actions by what we believe the reaction will be. This is a huge one to take in when we fear the reaction will not be favorable.
So, as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we will love our enemies.
We will overcome anger or hate.
We will fill our hearts with love for all of God’s children.
We will reach out to bless others and minister to them—even those who might “despitefully use [us] and persecute [us].”5 Can he be any more clear? If you claim membership in the Church of Jesus Christ, then this is what you WILL do; this is who you WILL be. Anything less and you might as well take the name badge off.... no exceptions. There is no group, religion, gender, race, or political party that we will not love and reach out to bless. Period.
The Authentic Disciple
I love that he chose the word "authentic" since I hear it tossed around social media by those who are leaving the church who desire to be "authentic" or true to their real feelings. Because they have questions and aren't sure about some things, they feel like they aren't being honest if they go to church and aren't 100% all in. The third sister represents the authentic disciple of Jesus Christ. An 'authentic' disciple has a genuine and real testimony of the Savior; their faith has been 'authenticated' and their lives are committed to acting in harmony with their faith. She did something that can be extremely hard to do: she trusted God even in the face of ridicule and hardship. Why is this so hard to do? Because, as Sister Marriott taught, we hardwired to love and be loved. Somehow she maintained her faith and hope, despite the scorn and cynicism around her. She lived joyfully not because her circumstances were joyful but because she was joyful.What is this 'somehow'?? Notice she didn't just ignore the scorn and cynicism...she lived joyfully in less than joyful circumstances. It reminds me of the story Elder Nelson told in October 2016 that is worth repeating here:
"Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind. Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us. Yet we are here to have joy?
Yes! The answer is a resounding yes! But how is that possible? And what must we do to claim the joy that Heavenly Father has in store for us?
Eliza R. Snow, second General President of the Relief Society, offered a riveting answer. Because of Missouri’s infamous extermination order, issued at the onset of the grueling winter of 1838,7 she and other Saints were forced to flee the state that very winter. One evening, Eliza’s family spent the night in a small log cabin used by refugee Saints. Much of the chinking between the logs had been extracted and burned for firewood by those who preceded them, so there were holes between the logs large enough for a cat to crawl through. It was bitter cold, and their food was frozen solid.
That night some 80 people huddled inside that small cabin, only 20 feet square (6.1 meters square). Most sat or stood all night trying to keep warm. Outside, a group of men spent the night gathered around a roaring fire, with some singing hymns and others roasting frozen potatoes. Eliza recorded: “Not a complaint was heard—all were cheerful, and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us to be pleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles.”
Eliza’s report of that exhausting, bone-chilling evening was strikingly optimistic. She declared: “That was a very merry night. None but saints can be happy under every circumstance.”8
That’s it! Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!
My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.”9 And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!"
None of us makes it through life’s journey unopposed. With so many forces trying to draw us away, how do we keep our vision fixed on the glorious happiness promised to the faithful?
I believe the answer can be found in a dream that a prophet had thousands of years ago. The prophet’s name is Lehi, and his dream is recorded in the precious and wonderful Book of Mormon.
In his dream, Lehi saw a vast field, and in it was a wondrous tree, beautiful beyond description. He also saw large groups of people making their way toward the tree. They wanted to taste its glorious fruit. They felt and trusted that it would give them great happiness and abiding peace.
There was a narrow path that led to the tree, and alongside was an iron rod that helped them stay on the path. But there was also a mist of darkness that obscured their vision of both the path and the tree. And perhaps even more dangerous was the sound of loud laughter and ridicule coming from a large and spacious building nearby. Shockingly, the mocking even convinced some people who had reached the tree and tasted the wondrous fruit to begin to feel ashamed and wander away.6
Perhaps they began to doubt that the tree was really as beautiful as they had once thought. Perhaps they began to question the reality of what they had experienced.
Maybe they thought if they turned away from the tree, life would be easier. Maybe they would not be ridiculed or laughed at anymore.
And actually, the people who were scoffing at them looked like people who were quite happy and having a good time. So perhaps if they abandoned the tree, they would be welcomed into the congregation of the great and spacious building and be applauded for their judgment, intelligence, and sophistication.
Stay on the Path
Dear sisters, dear friends, if you find it difficult to hold fast to the iron rod and walk steadfastly toward salvation; if the laughter and ridicule of others who seem so confident cause you to waver; if you are troubled by unanswered questions or doctrines you don’t understand yet; if you feel saddened because of disappointments, I urge you to remember Lehi’s dream.
Stay on the path!
Never let go of the rod of iron—the word of God!
And when anyone tries to make you ashamed for partaking of the love of God, ignore them.
Never forget you are a child of God; rich blessings are in store; if you can learn to do His will, you’ll live with Him once more!7
The promises of praise and acceptance by the world are unreliable, untrue, and unsatisfying. God’s promises are sure, true, and joyful—now and forever.
I invite you to consider religion and faith from a higher perspective. Nothing offered in the great and spacious building can compare with the fruit of living the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Indeed, “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”8 The focus of this dream, for Pres. Uchtdorf's purposes seem to focus on the influence of the great and spacious building. Pres. Packer taught that we are actually living "in" the great and spacious building....how much harder to ignore and escape the mocking and shaming fingers of those all around us!
I have learned for myself that the path of discipleship in the gospel of Jesus Christ is the way to joy. It is the way to safety and peace. It is the way to truth. Safety and peace. Soon we will seek for nothing else. Elder McConkie warned "For the moment we live in a day of peace and prosperity but it shall not ever be thus. Great trials lie ahead. All of the sorrows and perils of the past are but a foretaste of what is yet to be. And we must prepare ourselves temporally and spiritually."
I testify that by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, you can learn this for yourself. And I testify that by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost we MUST learn this for ourselves....
In the meantime,until you have the sure knowledge and witness you seek... if the path becomes difficult for you, I hope you will find refuge and strength in our wonderful organizations of the Church: Primary, Young Women, and Relief Society. They are like waypoints on the path, they are not ends in and of themselves. They are waypoints "a place or point between major points on a route"....where you can renew your confidence and faith for the journey ahead. The journey is to ZIon and our Heavenly HomeThey are a safe home, where you can feel a sense of belonging and receive encouragement from your sisters and fellow disciples.
The things you learn in Primary prepare you for the additional truths you learn as young women. The path of discipleship you walk in your Young Women classes leads to the fellowship and sisterhood of Relief Society. With each step along the way, you are given additional opportunities to demonstrate your love for others through acts of faith, compassion, charity, virtue, and service.I don't know if this is what you heard, but I felt like he was saying, that the organizations are preparatory to something else, not stopping points. He didn't say what comes after Relief Society because we never leave that for another 'waypoint', but it is preparatory to additional truths found in the temple and the scriptures...even the mysteries of God. It's important to demonstrate our love, because we are taught clearly that if we love God we will keep His commandments!
Choosing this path of discipleship will lead to untold happiness and fulfillment of your divine nature.
It will not be easy. It will require the very best that you have—all your intelligence, creativity, faith, integrity, strength, determination, and love.These would be good questions to ask yourself when faced with a challenge....Does this require my intelligence? or my creativity? or my faith? or my integrity? or my strength? or my determination? or my love? Then pray for the gift of the Spirit that will enable you to succeed. But one day you will look back upon your efforts, and oh, how grateful you will be that you remained strong, that you believed, and that you did not depart from the path. My own great great grandmother testified of the power of this vision when she said, after recounting a life of extreme hardship, "I could pass through more than this for the Gospel's sake". Will those be my own last words?
Press On
There may be many things about life that are beyond your control. Count on it...But in the end, you have the power to choose both your destination and many of your experiences along the way. May I say, that your "experiences" are defined more by your choices and attitude then what is happening. Yes, you can choose actual 'experiences', but how you experience your experience is totally up to you. It really is. Repent of believing that it isn't and choose to embrace the beliefs that will shape your experiences the way you want them to. The people freezing in Sister Snow's story understood this well. So must we! It is not so much your abilities but your choices that make the difference in life.9 This is such good news!
You cannot allow circumstances to make you sad.
You cannot allow them to make you mad."in the last days, mens hearts shall fail them for fear" (Luke 21:26) Don't let this be you...
You can rejoice that you are a daughter of God. You can find joy and happiness in the grace of God and in the love of Jesus Christ.
You can be glad. Choose it. Choose to believe. Choose to follow Jesus. Choose to believe in your Divine Nature and potential. Choose to believe in Plan of Happiness. Choose to be an authentic disciple!
I urge think urge-ncy!!! you to fill your hearts with gratitude for the abundant and limitless goodness of God. My beloved sisters, you can do this! We must do this! I pray with all the affection of my soul that you will make the choice to press on toward the tree of life. Make the choice! In spite of the winds of opinion from the great and spacious building...I pray that you will choose to lift up your voice and make your life a glorious symphony of praise, rejoicing in what the love of God, the wonders of His Church, and the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring to the world.Notice we are not just lifting up our voice with no thought for what comes out...we are lifting up our voice in praise, rejoicing, love, gratitude and faith and encouragement without regard for circumstances. This is surely the "distinct and different in happy ways" that President Kimball saw.
The song of true discipleship may sound off-key or even a little loud to some. Since the beginning of time, this has been so."the things of the Spirit are only understood by the spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:14)
But to our Heavenly Father and to those who love and honor Him, it is a most precious and beautiful song—the sublime and sanctifying song of redeeming love and service to God and fellowmen.10
What is this song 'of redeeming love'? Elder Holland's talk spoke of this last conference...
"Brothers and sisters, we live in a mortal world with many songs we cannot or do not yet sing. But I plead with each one of us to stay permanently and faithfully in the choir, where we will be able to savor forever that most precious anthem of all—“the song of redeeming love. Alma 5:26 says that this song has to do with "a change of heart". Have you experienced this mighty change of heart and felt to sing this song? I leave you my blessing as an Apostle of the Lord that you will find the strength and courage to joyfully thrive as a daughter of God while gladly walking each day on the glorious path of discipleship. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."
We must learn to find joy in our gospel living and sincerely testify of it to others. I think the youth of the church (as a whole) have not had this joy conveyed to them by their parents (as a whole) who have been neutralized into sleepwalking their way through their 'gospel lists'.
What are we being invited to do/understand/become?
What are the promises we should hold fast?
Talk
INVITATION:
PROMISES:
"Brothers and sisters, we live in a mortal world with many songs we cannot or do not yet sing. But I plead with each one of us to stay permanently and faithfully in the choir, where we will be able to savor forever that most precious anthem of all—“the song of redeeming love. Alma 5:26 says that this song has to do with "a change of heart". Have you experienced this mighty change of heart and felt to sing this song? I leave you my blessing as an Apostle of the Lord that you will find the strength and courage to joyfully thrive as a daughter of God while gladly walking each day on the glorious path of discipleship. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen."
We must learn to find joy in our gospel living and sincerely testify of it to others. I think the youth of the church (as a whole) have not had this joy conveyed to them by their parents (as a whole) who have been neutralized into sleepwalking their way through their 'gospel lists'.
What are we being invited to do/understand/become?
What are the promises we should hold fast?
Talk
INVITATION:
- Don't be a victim - ("acted upon")
- don't give others control over how I feel and behave
- Let these divine truths sink deep into my heart:
- of the royal house of the kingdom of God
- a daughter of Heavenly Parents who reign through the universe
- I have the spiritual DNA of God
- I have unique gifts developed during a vast premortal life
- I have an eternal destiny to fulfill
- I am the child of a merciful and everlasting Father
- I am in His very good, loving, caring hands
- I am His precious child and He loves me
- nothing can change any of this
- He will find me if I am lost and carry me home
- Because of the Atonement I can clothe myself with robes of eternal glory.
- Don't hate the world
- don't blame others
- don't lash out to hurt, shame or silence
- don't justify bad behavior as "sticking up for myself", just, honest
- don't judge other's motivations as selfish, petty, hateful, uniformed, dishonest or evil - anything that degrades them.
- Love and bless my enemies; pray for them, do good to them
- I am responsible for my own disciplesip
- Love independently of other's feelings towards me
- Be an authentic disciple
- Trust God even in the face of ridicule and hardship
- Live joyfully no matter the circumstance
- Keep my vision fixed on the glorious happiness promised the faithful
- Stay on the path and hold fast to the iron rod
- Walk steadfastly toward slavation
- Ignore anyone who tries to make you feel ashamed for partaking of God's love
- Find refuge and strength in the organizations of the Church.
- Give the very best I have in intelligence, creativity, faith, integrity, strength, determination, and love to staying on the path of discipleship.
- I have power to choose my destination and many of my experiences along the way.
- Rejoice that I am a daughter of God.
- Find joy and happiness in the grace of God and in the love of Jesus Christ.
- Fill my heart with gratitude for the abundant and limitless goodness of God.
- Choose to press on toward the tree of life.
- Choose to lift up my voice and make my life a glorious symphony of praise, rejoicing in what the love of God, the wonders of His Church, and the gospel of Jesus Christ can bring to the world
- Sing the most precious, sublime, sanctifying and beautiful song of true discipleship, redeeming love and service to God and fellowmen.
PROMISES:
- "The promises of praise and acceptance by the world are unreliable, untrue, and unsatisfying. God's promises are sure, true, and joyful - now and forever."
- "Nothing offered in the great and spacious building can compare with the fruit of living the gospel of Jesus Christ."
- "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
- "The path of discipleship in the gospel of Jesus Christ is the way to joy. It is the way to safety and peace. It is the way to truth."
- "By the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, you can learn this for yourself."
- "Choosing this path of discipleship will lead to untold happiness and fulfillment of your divine nature."
- "One day you will look back upon your efforts, and oh, how grateful you will be that you remained strong, that you believed, and that you did not depart from the path."
- "It is not so much your abilities but your choices that make the difference in life."
- "You will find the strength and courage to joyfully thrive as a daughter of God while gladly walking each day on the glorious path of discipleship."
SNAPSHOT:
Invitation:
- Don't be sad
- Don't be mad
- Be glad
- Embrace my divine identity
- Give my best to staying on the path and find joy in it
Promises:
- Trust God's promises over the world's
- Find joy, safety, peace, strength, courage and truth on the path to discipleship
- I'll never regret it
- Choices matter more than ability
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