It's Conference time, brothers and sisters! By which I mean General Conference time! What is General Conference? It's one of the best things to happen twice a year, in my opinion (for a news release about conference, check out the Mormon Newsroom. Also, check out this nifty infographic )
General Conference is held twice a year. It consists of a series of talks and sermons by the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The words of the speakers are powerful, and more importantly, they're for our day (we'll talk about that in a later post).
While all of the speakers (and I mean all) give powerful messages, you tend to see some crowd favorites. One is President Dieter F. Uchtdorf (see his bio on lds.org), well known for his accent and stories about Aviation. Another is President Thomas S. Monson, (his bio), who draws masterfully upon his 50 years of service as an Apostle to tell engaging stories.
And then there's Jeffrey R. Holland, or as some have called him, "The Bulldog of the Lord."
I could talk about what makes Elder Holland an engaging speaker, but I figured I'd show you instead.
We'll first examine a well-known talk of Elder Holland's, entitled "Safety for the Soul." (If you have time, I highly recommend watching the whole talk. If not, watch from around 5:50 until 13:20 (again, you might as well watch the whole thing)) (Full Text Here)
Let that version of Elder Holland settle for a bit in your consciousness, then watch this next clip, from a later conference address entitled "Because of Your Faith." (Again; you might as well watch the whole talk. But, the part we'll focus on runs from 7:03-12:20). (Full Text Here)
That's quite the difference, isn't it? In one talk, Elder Holland is raising his voice and spitting fire, defending the truth of the Book of Mormon (which I also know to be true). In the other, he's calm and quiet, as he humbly thanks his parents for the sacrifices they made to help him have the life he has (which I would also like to do at this time. I'd be nowhere without my two parents. Keep Being Amazing, Mom and Dad. Keep Moving Forward).
Both talks may bring the listener to tears, but here's the question of the day; which one is better? Or, in other words: Elder Holland is an Apostle, a Special Witness of Jesus Christ. It is his duty to teach in a Christlike manner; in which talk did he do a better job of fulfilling this purpose?
To decide, let's examine two examples from the Savior's life depicted in the Bible Videos produced by the church. (Bible Video Home Page) These two incidents, recorded in the Gospel of John, take place one after the other.
First,
Then,
So, let's review. In one of the videos, Jesus tenderly forgives a woman who has committed adultery, a sin that the Book of Mormon prophet Alma says is "an abomination in the sight of the Lord; yea, most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or denying the Holy Ghost." (Alma 39:5)
In the other, he severely chastises a group of Pharisees, calling them children of the devil (if you don't feel that's harsh enough, look no further than this video [Jesus Cleanses the Temple]). So, like Elder Holland, at times he was gentle, at others he was more forceful.
So what do we do? Though we're not Apostles or Prophets, almost all of us find ourselves in teaching moments where we need to instruct or correct someone else. Do we do it gently or forcefully?
As I've discussed this with my current missionary companion, Elder Pope (check out Elder Pope's Mormon.org profile here) we've found two guiding principles for the way in which we teach. Whenever we find ourselves in one of these situations, we must teach:
1) Out of love
and
2) By the Spirit,
As both Jesus and Elder Holland did. There's no one-size-fits-all solution to teaching. Just as we're all individuals, we all learn differently, and we all need to hear the message of the Gospel in our own way. Some of us will respond to a gentle nudge or mild reproof. Others will only listen as they feel the heat of a fiery sermon. No matter what, so long as the teacher seeks to teach his listeners in a loving, Spirit-guided way, the learners will hear what they need to hear and how they need to hear it.
In the end, I have no idea what Elder Holland is going to do this Conference. That goes for him and all of the other Prophets and Apostles. But what I do know is that they have spent countless hours preparing for this occasion, and if we're willing to listen to them and the Spirit, we'll come away edified, with a better idea of what God wants us to do.
I know that God lives and loves us. I know that He has called Prophets and Apostles in our days, and I know that they teach us in His way. I eagerly look forward to hearing their words this weekend, and I invite you all to do so as well (watch it online here, on BYUTV, or at a chapel near you). I say these things in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.
Happy Conference watching!
-Elder Richmond
Showing posts with label Anger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anger. Show all posts
Thursday, October 3, 2013
Friday, June 14, 2013
111: Love Each Other
Welcome back! My apologies for being a day late. While we plan out every day as a missionary, sometimes even we get thrown curveballs and deviate from our plans in order to help those in need. But, we are all set for today.
I'll start out this portion of 111 with another story, this one much more recent. I was with another missionary, and he asked to borrow some shoe-shining supplies since we were staying in my apartment. I said that was perfectly fine. Using some materials from my kit, and some that a previous missionary had left behind, he shined his shoes. As we were leaving the apartment, I noted that he'd put some of the older missionary's supplies into a bag to take with him. I didn't have a problem with that. However, I also noticed a small buffering cloth in his bag that looked awfully like one of mine. I was a bit suspicious, but didn't jump to any conclusions until I was back at my apartment later, with another missionary. Sure enough, I checked my shoe-shining kit, and one of the cloths was missing.
And that really bugged me.
We'll come back to the story later.
So, going back to the original post, the second great commandment that Jesus taught us is that we love our neighbors (i.e. everyone around us) as we love ourselves. For some people, we find that very easy. For others, we find that very hard. They hurt us with their words and actions. They stress us out. In a perfect world (not this one), everyone would treat each other with love and kindness, and hurt feelings would not exist. That world, though, won't come for a while (although it will eventually come). In the meantime, we need to learn how we can keep living with people we'd rather not have anything to do with.
First, we need to understand that nobody is perfect. To bring back the scripture from last time, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Due to a lack of knowledge or understanding, or perhaps even because of malicious intentions, people are going to end up hurting us. So what do we do? Do we mourn our social injuries, constantly bringing back the hurt we've felt? Do we get angry, despising the person at fault?
Let's use a metaphor. Say you see a rosebush, and you stop to admire the flowers. As you go to touch the blossoms, though, a thorn pricks your thumb and sticks in it. What do you do? Do you stare at the wound, tears in your eyes, wishing for the pure, unhurt thumb you had before? Do you spitefully leave the thorn in the wound, using the pain to fuel your plans to take a chainsaw to the bush?
Or do you calmly take out the thorn, step inside to get a bandage, treat the hurt, and go back to looking at flowers?
We firstly can't wallow in self-pity, longing for the happy selves we were before we were hurt. Some people believe that the world would be better if nothing bad ever happened to us at all. We know, though, through the Book of Mormon, that pain and trials are part of this life, and they help us grow (See 2 Nephi 2:27). We also shouldn't let the offending words and actions become the focus of our lives. The wound will never heal if we refuse to take out the thorn, and we shouldn't get angry at the imperfect nature of the thornbush for hurting us.
What we should do is forgive. Recognize that nobody is perfect, and be willing to move on and keep associating with those who have harmed us. As we do so, we find that we are free, that we don't let the words or actions of others define us. As stated by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, "We do matter. We determine our happiness. You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness" (See, "Of Regrets and Resolutions").
As well, God has commanded us to forgive, or to be merciful. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." He demonstrated this principle in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (see Matthew 18:21-35). In short, since we all depend on God for mercy (as discussed last time), we must also be ready and willing to extend mercy to all of those around us, be they friend or foe.
I know this is a bit hard to swallow. But, as in my story about the shoe cloth, I've obsessed over the actions of another person, and it just doesn't make me feel good. There have been other circumstances as well, in which I've become so focused on what another person has done or said that it becomes hard for me to think of anything else. But I've found freedom and happiness through letting these things go. It is hard; I've prayed for a lot of strength at times to do this. But, in the end, the past is the past. A shoe cloth is just a shoe cloth, and we'll all feel a lot happier when we're willing to let it go.
I know that God lives and loves us. I know he wants to forgive us, and he wants us to forgive others. I know that as we do these things, a greater light and happiness will enter into our lives. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Well, just one more installment of 111! See you there next week (and hopefully on time)!
-Elder Richmond
I'll start out this portion of 111 with another story, this one much more recent. I was with another missionary, and he asked to borrow some shoe-shining supplies since we were staying in my apartment. I said that was perfectly fine. Using some materials from my kit, and some that a previous missionary had left behind, he shined his shoes. As we were leaving the apartment, I noted that he'd put some of the older missionary's supplies into a bag to take with him. I didn't have a problem with that. However, I also noticed a small buffering cloth in his bag that looked awfully like one of mine. I was a bit suspicious, but didn't jump to any conclusions until I was back at my apartment later, with another missionary. Sure enough, I checked my shoe-shining kit, and one of the cloths was missing.
And that really bugged me.
We'll come back to the story later.
So, going back to the original post, the second great commandment that Jesus taught us is that we love our neighbors (i.e. everyone around us) as we love ourselves. For some people, we find that very easy. For others, we find that very hard. They hurt us with their words and actions. They stress us out. In a perfect world (not this one), everyone would treat each other with love and kindness, and hurt feelings would not exist. That world, though, won't come for a while (although it will eventually come). In the meantime, we need to learn how we can keep living with people we'd rather not have anything to do with.
First, we need to understand that nobody is perfect. To bring back the scripture from last time, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Due to a lack of knowledge or understanding, or perhaps even because of malicious intentions, people are going to end up hurting us. So what do we do? Do we mourn our social injuries, constantly bringing back the hurt we've felt? Do we get angry, despising the person at fault?
Let's use a metaphor. Say you see a rosebush, and you stop to admire the flowers. As you go to touch the blossoms, though, a thorn pricks your thumb and sticks in it. What do you do? Do you stare at the wound, tears in your eyes, wishing for the pure, unhurt thumb you had before? Do you spitefully leave the thorn in the wound, using the pain to fuel your plans to take a chainsaw to the bush?
Or do you calmly take out the thorn, step inside to get a bandage, treat the hurt, and go back to looking at flowers?
We firstly can't wallow in self-pity, longing for the happy selves we were before we were hurt. Some people believe that the world would be better if nothing bad ever happened to us at all. We know, though, through the Book of Mormon, that pain and trials are part of this life, and they help us grow (See 2 Nephi 2:27). We also shouldn't let the offending words and actions become the focus of our lives. The wound will never heal if we refuse to take out the thorn, and we shouldn't get angry at the imperfect nature of the thornbush for hurting us.
What we should do is forgive. Recognize that nobody is perfect, and be willing to move on and keep associating with those who have harmed us. As we do so, we find that we are free, that we don't let the words or actions of others define us. As stated by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, "We do matter. We determine our happiness. You and I are ultimately in charge of our own happiness" (See, "Of Regrets and Resolutions").
As well, God has commanded us to forgive, or to be merciful. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:7: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." He demonstrated this principle in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (see Matthew 18:21-35). In short, since we all depend on God for mercy (as discussed last time), we must also be ready and willing to extend mercy to all of those around us, be they friend or foe.
I know this is a bit hard to swallow. But, as in my story about the shoe cloth, I've obsessed over the actions of another person, and it just doesn't make me feel good. There have been other circumstances as well, in which I've become so focused on what another person has done or said that it becomes hard for me to think of anything else. But I've found freedom and happiness through letting these things go. It is hard; I've prayed for a lot of strength at times to do this. But, in the end, the past is the past. A shoe cloth is just a shoe cloth, and we'll all feel a lot happier when we're willing to let it go.
I know that God lives and loves us. I know he wants to forgive us, and he wants us to forgive others. I know that as we do these things, a greater light and happiness will enter into our lives. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Well, just one more installment of 111! See you there next week (and hopefully on time)!
-Elder Richmond
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