O to Grace how Great a Debtor Daily I'm Constrained to be!
This past weekend was conference weekend. This is known as the great and terrible weekend for many college students of the LDS faith. It is great because we get to be uplifted by God's Prophets on the Earth today, but it is terrible because we get no homework done in the process. At least, that was always my experience with Conference weekend. However, I graduated last July, and the last two conferences have been amazing. I have not had homework to do, and I have gotten to just enjoy conference, the way I should get to. It's been awesome. I love it.
This weekend, all the men of God seemed to be talking directly to me. This always testifies to me of the truthfulness of the Church and the knowledge that I know the men leading the Church are called of God. We should listen to their council. It is not advice, it is a warning. Do it and be blessed. Don't act like you are too good for God and his council. Your life depends on God's mercy. One of my favorite quotes this weekend was by Elder Holland (of course). He said "The joy of being God is to be merciful." How wonderful is that knowledge? I remember in a marriage prep class I took in college we discussed the goal of Celestial marriage. While doing so, I could not help but comment that it is a wonder that anyone in this world, LDS or non-LDS alike would not want to be with their spouse for eternity, especially when it included eternal progression. My teacher's response was to have a look at the world today. It is a mess. Throughout history there has been so much suffering, many people would not want to face that in the next life, as they watch the worlds they create battle it out as we have and are currently doing. However, with Elder Hollands words, we know that the joy of being a God is to be merciful. We want to be merciful. We will want to serve and bless our children. How wonderful to be like that. How terrible to be selfish and full of entitlement. Is that who we want to be forever? I also loved how Elder Holland reminded us that "we are in a race against sin." This being said, we should not let envy enter the race. We need to keep our thoughts full of love, and not envy, or entitlement of others things. We need to be happy when good things happen to others. Do not look at this as a time to gossip and look down on others- look at it as a time to praise the Lord in his great mercy.
Elder Hales was another apostle who really touched me this weekend. He talked about the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Something that I had never really thought about was that when the Prodigal Son had decided to return home, and when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and ran to him and embraced him. The reason that hit me so hard was because it shows God's love for us. Yes, we sin and we go astray. But we just need to make the change and turn towards God. He is willing and waiting for us. He is watching for us to come home to him. He wants to help us. Yes, we have to repent, but that is what he wants. He wants us to be forever happy, and where better than in His house? I feel like a lot of times when we are in the repentance process it is hard to think that the Lord is embracing us. But He is! If we are doing repentance right, He is there every step of the way. He has to be. We need to turn and let Him embrace us. We need to be always turning towards God. That is where our true blessings will come from.
President Uchtdorf spoke of forgiveness and not holding grudges. We need to be open to forgiving others, and accepting forgiveness on our side. He asked us a series of questions:
1. Do you harbor a grudge against someone else?
2. Do you gossip?
3. Do you exclude others on purpose?
4. Do you envy another?
5. Do you wish to cause harm to someone?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, President Uchtdorf challenged us to "STOP IT." No one is perfect. We are only hurting ourselves by holding grudges. We need to stop being selfish, and become more Christ like.
Elder Nelson spoke of being more grateful to Christ. We have so much to be grateful for- the Atonement, the Scriptures, the Earth, our bodies... those are just generals. That does not even include our everyday lives. One of my favorite quotes from his talk was when he was addressing the theory of a big bang that created the world, with the theory that God had nothing to do with it. He said "Could an explosion in a printing shop produce a dictionary?" How true are those words. How can people not see God's hand in everything, from the creation of the world, to our everyday lives? We need to be more grateful towards the Lord for all He has given us, because He has given us everything.
Finally I just wanted to end with a quote from our beloved Prophet, President Monson. What an amazing man. I look at him and I think of how great men can be. It is discouraging being in a world where virtues seem to be disappearing daily. It can be hard to look forward with faith knowing the hardships that will be very present in my future children's lives. However, when I see amazing men like President Monson, I am reassured that my life can be happy. The world does not have to affect us in a negative way. We just need to keep our hearts turned towards the Lord. President Monson said "In this fast paced world do we ever pause for moments of meditation- even thoughts of timeless truths?" How needed were these words, especially for me. I think it is so easy to just get caught up in the world and keep the gospel as an after thought. I know I needed to be reminded of this precious principle. We need to mediate more on eternal truths, because those are the ones that really matter.
I know I only touched a few of the powerful talks given at conference, and so if you missed any of the talks, or you wish to listen to any of them, you can visit here to listen to them. I would encourage all people to listen to these great men of God. They are truly leading us in the right direction. I know they are called of God. I know this is the true church of Christ. I know that the scriptures are true. I know that Christ lives.
This weekend, all the men of God seemed to be talking directly to me. This always testifies to me of the truthfulness of the Church and the knowledge that I know the men leading the Church are called of God. We should listen to their council. It is not advice, it is a warning. Do it and be blessed. Don't act like you are too good for God and his council. Your life depends on God's mercy. One of my favorite quotes this weekend was by Elder Holland (of course). He said "The joy of being God is to be merciful." How wonderful is that knowledge? I remember in a marriage prep class I took in college we discussed the goal of Celestial marriage. While doing so, I could not help but comment that it is a wonder that anyone in this world, LDS or non-LDS alike would not want to be with their spouse for eternity, especially when it included eternal progression. My teacher's response was to have a look at the world today. It is a mess. Throughout history there has been so much suffering, many people would not want to face that in the next life, as they watch the worlds they create battle it out as we have and are currently doing. However, with Elder Hollands words, we know that the joy of being a God is to be merciful. We want to be merciful. We will want to serve and bless our children. How wonderful to be like that. How terrible to be selfish and full of entitlement. Is that who we want to be forever? I also loved how Elder Holland reminded us that "we are in a race against sin." This being said, we should not let envy enter the race. We need to keep our thoughts full of love, and not envy, or entitlement of others things. We need to be happy when good things happen to others. Do not look at this as a time to gossip and look down on others- look at it as a time to praise the Lord in his great mercy.
Elder Hales was another apostle who really touched me this weekend. He talked about the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Something that I had never really thought about was that when the Prodigal Son had decided to return home, and when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and ran to him and embraced him. The reason that hit me so hard was because it shows God's love for us. Yes, we sin and we go astray. But we just need to make the change and turn towards God. He is willing and waiting for us. He is watching for us to come home to him. He wants to help us. Yes, we have to repent, but that is what he wants. He wants us to be forever happy, and where better than in His house? I feel like a lot of times when we are in the repentance process it is hard to think that the Lord is embracing us. But He is! If we are doing repentance right, He is there every step of the way. He has to be. We need to turn and let Him embrace us. We need to be always turning towards God. That is where our true blessings will come from.
President Uchtdorf spoke of forgiveness and not holding grudges. We need to be open to forgiving others, and accepting forgiveness on our side. He asked us a series of questions:
1. Do you harbor a grudge against someone else?
2. Do you gossip?
3. Do you exclude others on purpose?
4. Do you envy another?
5. Do you wish to cause harm to someone?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, President Uchtdorf challenged us to "STOP IT." No one is perfect. We are only hurting ourselves by holding grudges. We need to stop being selfish, and become more Christ like.
Elder Nelson spoke of being more grateful to Christ. We have so much to be grateful for- the Atonement, the Scriptures, the Earth, our bodies... those are just generals. That does not even include our everyday lives. One of my favorite quotes from his talk was when he was addressing the theory of a big bang that created the world, with the theory that God had nothing to do with it. He said "Could an explosion in a printing shop produce a dictionary?" How true are those words. How can people not see God's hand in everything, from the creation of the world, to our everyday lives? We need to be more grateful towards the Lord for all He has given us, because He has given us everything.
Finally I just wanted to end with a quote from our beloved Prophet, President Monson. What an amazing man. I look at him and I think of how great men can be. It is discouraging being in a world where virtues seem to be disappearing daily. It can be hard to look forward with faith knowing the hardships that will be very present in my future children's lives. However, when I see amazing men like President Monson, I am reassured that my life can be happy. The world does not have to affect us in a negative way. We just need to keep our hearts turned towards the Lord. President Monson said "In this fast paced world do we ever pause for moments of meditation- even thoughts of timeless truths?" How needed were these words, especially for me. I think it is so easy to just get caught up in the world and keep the gospel as an after thought. I know I needed to be reminded of this precious principle. We need to mediate more on eternal truths, because those are the ones that really matter.
I know I only touched a few of the powerful talks given at conference, and so if you missed any of the talks, or you wish to listen to any of them, you can visit here to listen to them. I would encourage all people to listen to these great men of God. They are truly leading us in the right direction. I know they are called of God. I know this is the true church of Christ. I know that the scriptures are true. I know that Christ lives.
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