I want to share an experience that I
have been dealing with lately. My son
Trey is 17 and a senior in high school.
He will be turning 18 in August, 2 ½ months after he graduates from High
School. This last conference when they
announced the missionary age change, I have to tell you that my feelings about
this change were those of fear. Trey’s
feelings were the same. Thankfully my
feelings have changed over the past few weeks and so has Trey’s.
In the Priesthood Session of
conference, President Monson gave a talk about how we should develop the
capacity to see men not as they are at present, but as they may become. This talk has helped me with the idea of Trey
going on a mission at 18 years of age.
The majority of this talk is on
missionary work and how we should look at people who are not of our faith or
who are less active. He shared an
experience in this talk that N. Eldon Tanner had while serving as an assistant
to the 12 apostles. N. Eldon Tanner told
of a missionary who had been the most successful missionary whom he had met in
all of the interviews he had conducted.
He said that as he interviewed that missionary, he said to him, “I
suppose that all of the people whom you baptized came into the Church way of
referrals.” The young man answered, “No,
we found them all by tracting.” Bro.
Tanner asked him what was different about his approach—why he had such
phenomenal success when others didn’t.
The young man said that he attempted to baptize every person whom he
met. He said that if he knocked on the
door and saw a man smoking a cigar and dressed in old clothes and seemingly
uninterested in anything—particularly religion—the missionary would picture in
his own mind what that man would look like under a different set of
circumstances. In his mind he would look
at him as clean-shaven and wearing a white shirt and white trousers. And the missionary could see himself leading
that man into the waters of baptism. He
said, “When I look a someone that way, I have the capacity to bear my testimony
to him in a way that can touch his heart.”
Pres. Monson went on to say that we have the responsibility to look at
our friends, our associates, and our neighbors this way. Again, we have the responsibility to see
individuals not as they are but rather as they can become. I would plead with you to think of them in
this way.
When I look at my son – where he is now
– I worry that he won’t be ready for a mission.
But – who is ever ready. I need
to look at him as a missionary – a servant of God.
What about ourselves. What do we see in ourselves when we look in
the mirror? What can we become?
I want to share a story with you.
A young man from a
wealthy family was about to graduate from high school.
It was the custom in
that affluent neighborhood for the parents to give the graduate an
automobile. “Bill” and his father had
spent months looking at cars, and the week before graduation they found the
perfect car. Bill was certain the car
would be his on graduation night.
Imagine his
disappointment when, on the eve of his graduation, Bill’s father handed him a
gift-wrapped bible! Bill was so angry
that he threw the Bible down and stormed out of the house. He and his father never saw each other
again. It was the news of his father’s
death that finally brought Bill home.
As he sat one night
going through his father’s possessions that he was to inherit, he came across
the Bible his father had given him. He
brushed away the dust and opened it to find a cashier’s check, dated the day of
his graduation, in the exact amount of the price of the car they had chosen
together.
What is your reaction to this
story? Why didn’t he just open the
gift! If he only would of realized that
the gift was everything he could of ever wanted. Not only would he have had the material thing
he wanted, the car, but he would have had the instruction manual on how to live
this life and how to be happy.
What can we learn from this story?
We came to this earth with
everything: 100% self esteem and
countless gifts from Heavenly Father.
But, we have to search for our gifts.
We have to open each gift and make the most of it. WE all have gifts, but what is so sad is that
we sometimes never recognize them because we spend so much time comparing
ourselves to others.
As sisters in the Gospel, we have been
blessed with so much. We have been given
several gifts.
As Relief Society Sisters, what
are some of the privileges/gifts that we have been given?”
·
Knowledge that I am a Daughter of God
o
RS Declaration: This document reminds me of what it means to
be a Daughter of God.
o
M. Russell Ballard said: “We believe in and are counting on your
goodness and your strength, your propensity for virtue and valor, your kindness
and courage, your strength and resilience.
We believe in your mission as women of God. . . We believe that the
Church simply will not accomplish what it must without your faith and
faithfulness, your innate tendency to put the well being of others ahead of
your own, and your spiritual strength and tenacity. And we believe that God’s plan is for you to
become queens and to receive the highest blessings any woman can receive in
time or eternity.
·
Capacity to love, nuture, and serve
·
Sisterhood
o
If it weren’t for Relief Society, I
don’t know where I would be. I have
learned so much from other RS sisters.
Whether it be their example or the things they have taught me.
o
How many of you have biological
sisters. What is that like?
o
I was raised with 5 older brothers – no
sisters. I have lots of cousins, but
none of them lived close to me. I would
see them maybe once a year. We moved to
California when I had only been married a couple of years. Became a new mom and raised my children away
from any family. Because of the sisters
that I have gained through Relief Society, I was able to make it. Because of the service that I have been on
the receiving end of, I have gained many sisters by participating and being
involved in Relief Society. I have
learned how to be a wife, a mother, a sister all through the experiences I have
had in RS.
·
Lead the world in everything
praiseworthy
·
A Legacy of Service and Charity that is
passed heart to heart
o
I look back on my life and remember all
the service that has been shown to me.
Service that has touched my heart in a way that has made me want to give
service to others. The only way we can
repay someone for service that has been given to us, is to show service to
someone else.
o
Charitable Service is the spiritual legacy
of every member of RS. President Eyring
said: “You pass the heritage along as
you help others receive the gift of charity in their hearts. They will then be able to pass it to
others. The history of Relief Society is
recorded in words and numbers, but the heritage is passed heart to heart.”
How can we strengthen each other both
temporally and spiritually?
We have been given so much as
Daughter’s of God. It is imperative that
we live up to these privileges. Joseph
Smith said that if we live up to our privileges, the angels cannot be
restrained from being our associates.
I want to share a story that Quentin L.
Cook shared at a recent conference:
When I was recently assigned to a
conference in the Mission Viejo California Stake, I was touched by an account
of their four-stake New Year’s Eve youth dance. Following the dance a purse was
found with no outside identification. I share with you part of what Sister
Monica Sedgwick, the Young Women president in the
Laguna Niguel Stake, recorded:
“We didn’t want to pry; this was
someone’s personal stuff! So we gingerly opened it and grabbed the first thing
that was on top—hopefully, it would identify her. It did . . . but in another
way—it was a
For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. . . . Wow! This
told us something about her. Then, we reached in for the next item, a little
notebook. . . . Surely this would give us answers. But not the kind we were
expecting. The first page . . . was a list of favorite scriptures. . . . There
were five more pages of carefully written scriptures and personal notes.”
The sisters immediately wanted to
meet this stalwart young woman. They returned to that purse to identify its
owner. They pulled out some breath mints, soap, lotion, and a brush. I loved
their comments: “Oh, good things come out of her mouth; she has clean and soft
hands; and she takes care of herself.”
They eagerly awaited the next
treasure. Out came a clever little homemade coin purse made from a cardboard
juice carton, and there was some money in a zippered pocket. They exclaimed,
“Ahh, she’s creative and prepared!” They felt like little children on Christmas
morning. What they pulled out next surprised them even more—a recipe for Black Forest
chocolate cake, and a note to make the cake for a friend’s birthday. They
almost screamed, “She’s a homemaker! Thoughtful and
service-minded.” Then, yes, finally, some identification. The youth leaders
said they felt greatly blessed “to observe the quiet example of a young lady
living the gospel.”
I think this YW was living up to her
privileges. She was definitely utilizing
her gifts from Heavenly Father.
I do have a strong testimony of this
wonderful organization. The Relief
society was organized by our Heavenly Father.
I know that I have been blessed with a legacy that I hope to pass on to
my children. I know that we all have the
potential to be valiant daughters of God.
I know I am not perfect, However, I know what I can become if I fully
participate in the privileges that I have been given. And I know that by participating and being
involved in this great organization of the RS I can become something that my
Heavenly Father will be proud of. We all
have been blessed by being members of this organization. What better way for us to show our HF our
gratitude by giving back. It is our turn
– Our turn to serve.
The Lord’s promises are sure as sisters
follow the counsel He gave to the first Relief Society president: “Verily I say unto you, all those who receive
my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom. . . . Lay aside the tings of
this world, and seek for the things of a better. . . .Cleave unto the covenants
which thou hast made,” When the Prophet Joseph Smith told Relief Society sisters
to “live up to their privilege,” he combined that exhortation with a
promise: “The angels cannot be
restrained from being your associates. . . If you will be pure, nothing can
hinder.”
