"Do You Really Care What They Think?" and Distractions

 

Bound Securely to the Savior

CAMILLE N. JOHNSON

Primary General President

January 11, 2022

President Henry B. Eyring put it this way, which I find so simple:

One of the questions we must ask of our Heavenly Father in private prayer is this: “What have I done today, or not done, which displeases Thee? If I can only know, I will repent with all my heart without delay.” That humble prayer will be answered. And the answers will surely include the assurance that asking today was better than waiting to ask tomorrow.

Seek the Right Sources of Validation

And what about looking for validation and affirmation from unreliable sources? Could that create windage and put a strain on your connection to the Savior?

Value and pay heed to the opinions of people who you truly respect. I was taught that lesson by my parents—decades before social media created influencers. When an unkind thing was said about me, my mom or dad would counsel, “Do you really care what they think?” And as it turned out, I usually didn’t. And if I did, then perhaps the comment was not misplaced and I had some self-correction to make. Value and pay heed to your relationship with the Savior. Seek validation and affirmation from Him first.

Elder Alvin F. Meredith III counseled about ­distractions in his October general conference talk. He taught:

The devil is the great distractor. We learn from Lehi’s dream that voices from the great and spacious building seek to lure us to things that will take us off the course of preparing to return to live with God.

But there are other less-obvious distractions that can be just as dangerous. As the saying goes, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The adversary seems determined to get good people to do nothing, or at least to waste their time on things that will distract them from their lofty purposes and goals. For example, some things that are healthy diversions in moderation can become unhealthy distractions without discipline. The adversary understands that distractions do not have to be bad or immoral to be effective.

#aang

Through Another Person...

 " God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other." Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, Oct. 1985).

Teaching in the Book of Mormon

 Super great resources on teaching based on examples in the Book of Mormon. Great for all teachers in the church!

https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/re/vol7/iss1/5/

When You Feel...

 Old Testament Scriptures for Specific Occasions

When you:

• Feel alone:

  2 Kings 6:16

• Need strength:

  Isaiah 40:31

• Feel unloved:

  Psalm 130; Isaiah 54:10

• Feel afraid:

  Psalm 27:1; Isaiah 41:10

• Forget who you are:

  Genesis 1:26–27

• Want to feel closer to the Savior:

  Isaiah 53:3–5

Elisha - There are more that be with us than with them

 “There may be times when you, like the servant, find yourself struggling to see how God is working in your life—times when you feel under siege—when the trials of mortality bring you to your knees. Wait and trust in God and in His timing, because you can trust His heart with all of yours. … You too can pray for the Lord to open your eyes to see things you would not normally see” (Michelle D. Craig, “Eyes to See,” Liahona, Nov. 2020, 15).

We Don't Need a Calling

 

An Instrument in the Hands of the Lord

By Elder Ciro Schmeil

Of the Seventy

Through these events I have learned that we don’t need a calling to be an instrument in the Lord’s hands. We just need to have the desire. “Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:3)....

The Lord placed Esther in the king’s house for a purpose—to save the Jews. Just as He did with Esther, the Lord puts us where we can help to fulfill His purposes. For this reason, we must be ready and worthy when faced with the opportunities He presents....

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency, said: “The Lord gave you your responsibilities for a reason. There may be people and hearts only you can reach and touch. Perhaps no one else could do it in quite the same way.”

Callings Can Be Hard

 

What the Parable of the Talents Has to Do with My Calling as Primary Pianist

By Alison Wood

Church Magazines

Callings can be hard; sometimes we’re called to do things that we don’t feel qualified for and that take up a lot of our time. Other times it’s the opposite—we might feel like our calling isn’t fully using our abilities and our efforts would be better directed somewhere else. But the Lord knows how to use our talents in a way that blesses not only the people we’re serving but also ourselves.

As I have learned from my own experience, any effort we make to serve the Lord brings an increase to our own lives. If we consecrate our time and talents to the Lord, He will always use them for our good.

Beyond “Recipe Repentance” and “Formula Forgiveness”

 https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-7-no-1-2006/beyond-recipe-repentance-formula-forgiveness

Super awesome talk about getting out of the checklist repentance rut, and TRULY repenting with the other forgotten R's. 

How Sure the Promise Is!

 

You Can Gather Israel!

By Ahmad S. Corbitt

First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency

Suppose one day before you leave for school, one of your parents makes a true promise that you can have your favorite food when you return home! You are excited! While in school you imagine eating that food, and you can already taste it. Naturally, you share your good news with others. Looking forward to going home makes you so happy that the tests and challenges of school seem light. Nothing can take away your joy or make you doubt because of how sure the promise is! Similarly, before you noble spirits were born, you learned to see Christ’s promises in this sure way, and you tasted of His salvation.¹⁹ Your great faith is like muscles that get stronger and bigger the more you exercise them, but they are already inside you.

Waiting on the Lord Implies Action

 

Hope in Christ

By President M. Russell Ballard

Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

waiting upon the Lord implies continued obedience and spiritual progress toward Him. Waiting upon the Lord does not imply biding one’s time. You should never feel like you are in a waiting room.

Waiting upon the Lord implies action. I have learned over the years that our hope in Christ increases when we serve others. Serving as Jesus served, we naturally increase our hope in Him....

To you stake presidents, bishops, and quorum and sister leaders, I ask you to consider every member of your stake, ward, quorum, or organization as a member who can contribute and serve in callings and participate in many ways.

 

Infuriating Unfairness

By Elder Dale G. Renlund

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

My heart aches for those who face such unfairness, but I declare with all my aching heart that Jesus Christ both understands unfairness and has the power to provide a remedy. Nothing compares to the unfairness He endured. It was not fair that He experienced all the pains and afflictions of mankind. It was not fair that He suffered for my sins and mistakes and for yours. But He chose to do so because of His love for us and for Heavenly Father. He understands perfectly what we are experiencing....

In mortality, we can “come boldly” to the Savior and receive compassion, healing, and help.⁷ Even while we suffer inexplicably, God can bless us in simple, ordinary, and significant ways. As we learn to recognize these blessings, our trust in God will increase. In the eternities, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will resolve all unfairness. We understandably want to know how and when. How are They going to do that? When are They going to do it? To my knowledge, They have not revealed how or when.⁸ What I do know is that They will....

Brothers and sisters, not throwing stones is the first step in treating others with compassion. The second step is to try to catch stones thrown by others....

When faced with unfairness, we can push ourselves away from God or we can be drawn toward Him for help and support....

Do not let unfairness harden you or corrode your faith in God. Instead, ask God for help. Increase your appreciation for and reliance on the Savior. Rather than becoming bitter, let Him help you become better.²⁶ Allow Him to help you persevere, to let your afflictions be “swallowed up in the joy of Christ.”²⁷ Join Him in His mission “to heal the brokenhearted,”²⁸ strive to mitigate unfairness, and become a stonecatcher....

All unfairness—especially infuriating unfairness—will be consecrated for your gain. I

Connection Between Principle and Power

 Such help and hope are dearly needed because in this worldwide congregation today are many who struggle with any number of challenges—physical or emotional, social or financial, or a dozen other kinds of trouble. But many of these we are not strong enough to address in and of ourselves, for the help and peace we need is not the kind “the world giveth.”¹¹ No, for the truly difficult problems we need what the scriptures call “the powers of heaven,” and to access these powers we must live by what these same scriptures call “principles of righteousness.”¹² Now, understanding that connection between principle and power is the one lesson the human family never seems able to learn, so says the God of heaven and earth!¹³

And what are those principles? Well, they are listed repeatedly in scripture, they are taught again and again in conferences like this, and in our dispensation, the Prophet Joseph Smith was taught them in response to his own version of the cry “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”¹⁴ In the cold, uncaring confinement of Liberty Jail, he was taught that the principles of righteousness included such virtues as patience, long-suffering, gentleness, and love unfeigned.¹⁵ Absent those principles, it was certain we would eventually face discord and enmity....

In too many instances, otherwise faithful men, women, and even children can be guilty of speaking unkindly, even destructively, to those to whom they may well be sealed by a holy ordinance in the temple of the Lord. Everyone has the right to be loved, to feel peaceful, and to find safety at home. Please, may we try to maintain that environment there. The promise of being a peacemaker is that you will have the Holy Ghost for your constant companion and blessings will flow to you “without compulsory means” forever.²¹ No one can employ a sharp tongue or unkind words and still “sing the song of redeeming love.”

Not as the World Giveth

By Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The Good Samaritan and the Inn

 

Room in the Inn

By Elder Gerrit W. Gong

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

However, with compassion, the Good Samaritan stops and binds our wounds with wine and oil. Symbols of the sacrament and other ordinances, the wine and oil point us to the spiritual healing in Jesus Christ.⁵ The Good Samaritan puts us on His own donkey or, in some stained-glass accounts, carries us on His shoulders. He brings us to the inn, which can represent His Church. At the Inn, the Good Samaritan says, “Take care of him; … when I come again, I will repay thee.”⁶ The Good Samaritan, a symbol of our Savior, promises to return, this time in majesty and glory....

As we come with the Good Samaritan to the Inn, we learn five things about Jesus Christ and ourselves.

First, we come to the Inn as we are, with the foibles and imperfections we each have....

Second, He entreats us to make His Inn a place of grace and space, where each can gather, with room for all....

Third, in His Inn we learn perfection is in Jesus Christ, not in the perfectionism of the world....

He invites each of us to be a good Samaritan, less judgmental and more forgiving of ourselves and of each other, even as we strive more fully to keep His commandments....

Fourth, at His Inn we become part of a gospel community centered in Jesus Christ, anchored in restored truth, living prophets and apostles, and another testament of Jesus Christ—the Book of Mormon....

Finally, fifth, we rejoice that God loves His children in our different backgrounds and circumstances, in every nation, kindred, and tongue, with room for all in His Inn.

Rabbit Effect

 

Hearts Knit Together

By Elder Gary E. Stevenson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

“what affects our health in the most meaningful ways has as much to do with how we treat one another, how we live, and how we think about what it means to be human.”...

For me, this lays another brick in the foundation of kindness as a fundamental, healing gospel principle—one that can heal hearts emotionally, spiritually, and, as demonstrated here, even physically.

Hearts Knit Together

When asked, “Master, which is the great commandment?” the Savior replied to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” followed by, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”⁴ The Savior’s response reinforces our heavenly duty. An ancient prophet commanded “that there should be no contention one with another, but that [we] should look forward … , having [our] hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.”⁵ We are further taught that “power or influence … ought to be maintained … by gentleness and meekness, … by kindness, … without guile.”...

“While bullying is not a new concept, social media and technology have brought bullying to a new level. It becomes a more constant, ever-present threat—cyberbullying.”⁹

Clearly, the adversary is using this to hurt your generation. There is no place for this in your cyberspace, neighborhoods, schools, quorums, or classes. Please do all you can to make these places kinder and safer....

As you extend yourself with kindness, care, and compassion, even digitally, I promise that you will lift up arms that hang down and will heal hearts....

Love Your Enemy

As you strive to extend yourself in love, respect, and kindness, you will undoubtedly be hurt or negatively affected by the bad choices of others. What do we do then? We follow the Lord’s admonition to “love your enemies … and pray for them which despitefully use you.”...

When adversity and affliction are brought upon us by critical, negative, even mean-spirited acts, we can choose to hope in Christ. This hope comes from His invitation and promise to “be of good cheer, for I will lead you along”¹⁷ and that He will consecrate your afflictions for your gain.

Don't Wait to Have Conversation with Your Children

 

Essential Conversations

By Joy D. Jones

Recently Released Primary General President

He trusts us to value, respect, and protect them as children of God. That means we never harm them physically, verbally, or emotionally in any way, even when tensions and pressures run high. Instead we value children, and we do all we can to combat the evils of abuse. Their care is primary to us—as it is to Him....

He trusts us to value, respect, and protect them as children of God. That means we never harm them physically, verbally, or emotionally in any way, even when tensions and pressures run high. Instead we value children, and we do all we can to combat the evils of abuse. Their care is primary to us—as it is to Him....

We cannot wait for conversion to simply happen to our children. Accidental conversion is not a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Becoming like our Savior will not happen randomly. Being intentional in loving, teaching, and testifying can help children begin at a young age to feel the influence of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is essential to our children’s testimony of and conversion to Jesus Christ; we desire them to “always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them.”

Consider the value of family conversations about the gospel of Jesus Christ, essential conversations, that can invite the Spirit. When we have such conversations with our children, we help them create a foundation, “which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if [they] build they cannot fall.”⁷ When we strengthen a child, we strengthen the family....

Let’s not allow the convenience of electronic devices to keep us from teaching and listening to our children and looking into their eyes.

Stumbles, Bumps, and Bruises

 

God among Us

By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

If we repent, mistakes do not disqualify us. They are part of our progress.

We are all infants compared to the beings of glory and grandeur we are designed to become. No mortal being advances from crawling to walking to running without frequent stumbles, bumps, and bruises. That is how we learn.

If we earnestly keep practicing, always striving to keep God’s commandments, and committing our efforts to repenting, enduring, and applying what we learn, line upon line, we will gather light into our souls.¹⁰ And though we may not fully comprehend our full potential now, “we know that, when [the Savior] shall appear,” we will see His countenance in us and “shall see him as he is.”

Remove Old Debris In Our Lives

 

Welcome Message

By President Russell M. Nelson

President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

the strength of the Church lies in the efforts and ever-growing testimonies of its members. Testimonies are best cultivated in the home...

 I have thought about the need for each of us to remove, with the Savior’s help, the old debris in our lives....

Part of the gathering of Israel, and a very important part, is the charge for us as a people to be worthy and willing to help prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord.

As we listen to the messages that have been carefully prepared by our leaders under the direction of the Holy Ghost, I invite you to pray to identify the debris you should remove from your life so you can become more worthy.