Two Weeks ago

On Sunday the High Counselor spoke. I was very grateful to hear his talk. It was about the importance of when to speak up and when to remain silent. The scriptures are full of examples when individuals remained silent in the present of opposition and examples of times when the spirit constrained someone to speak up.
It was a really great talk and I hope I remember it. I had been thinking about this topic lately. So I felt like to topic was especially timely.

Yielding Our Hearts to God

Have you read/listened to Neill F. Marriott's conference talk: Yielding Our Hearts to God? Its amazing, and I've wanted to blog about it for weeks, but posting the whole talk didn't quite seem fitting. So here is one tidbit:

When we open ourselves to the Spirit, we learn God’s way and feel His will. During the sacrament, which I call the heart of the Sabbath, I have found that after I pray for forgiveness of sins, it is instructive for me to ask Heavenly Father, “Father, is there more?” When we are yielded and still, our minds can be directed to something more we may need to change—something that is limiting our capacity to receive spiritual guidance or even healing and help.

So I thought ok, I'm going to do this. 
Then on Sunday and I'm sitting in the sacrament, and I think I should ask is there more? I thought I can't do that, I can't handle MORE. Eventually I took some deep breaths and started my silent prayer, I said, Father in Heaven, I can't ask if there is more, I have too much, I can have MORE. But I do want to be obedient, I'm not ready for the answer, but I should I be???
The Lord is wise and usually will not tell me an answer when I specifically ask him not to. But if I've found if I am praying about it part of me does want to know the answer so he eventually answers. A few minutes later, I was told to try and read my scriptures daily. I'm always trying to read my scriptures daily, but my previous week had been more than spotty. I love his response. I didn't want MORE, so instead I got simplicity. Studying your scriptures usually requires you to cut something out of your time, not add something into it. 

The conference talk right after Sister Marriott's was perfect. He continues on the same though. It was Larry R. Lawrence, What Lack I Yet?

The journey of discipleship is not an easy one. It has been called a “course of steady improvement.”2 As we travel along that strait and narrow path, the Spirit continually challenges us to be better and to climb higher. The Holy Ghost makes an ideal traveling companion. If we are humble and teachable, He will take us by the hand and lead us home.

However, we need to ask the Lord for directions along the way. We have to ask some difficult questions, like “What do I need to change?” “How can I improve?” “What weakness needs strengthening?”

...

President Harold B. Lee taught, “Every one of us, if we would reach perfection, must [at] one time ask ourselves this question, ‘What lack I yet?’”

He then gives examples of people who were inspired to fix little things, like not complaining, not using crude phrases, to stop interrupting people, keeping the Sabbath day holy, cleaning our room.

The next part of the talk is what I needed as a follow up to "Is there more?"

The Holy Ghost doesn’t tell us to improve everything at once. If He did, we would become discouraged and give up. The Spirit works with us at our own speed, one step at a time, or as the Lord has taught, “line upon line, precept upon precept, … and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, … for unto him that receiveth I will give more.”6 For example, if the Holy Ghost has been prompting you to say “thank you” more often, and you respond to that prompting, then He may feel it’s time for you to move on to something more challenging—like learning to say, “I’m sorry; that was my fault.”

A perfect time to ask, “What lack I yet?” is when we take the sacrament.

Richard G Scott- Making the Right Choices

Richard G Scott -- Making the Right Choices

You can’t please God without upsetting Satan, so you will get pressure from those he tempts to do wrong.

Went about doing good

For book group this month, we read Finding Inner Peace: Lessons Learned from Trying Too Hard, by Brent L Top and Wendy C Top. I was really glad I read page 54:

The New Testament does not tell us that Christ did every possible good thing but simply that he "went about doing good" (Acts 10:38). Being good and doing the best we can--whatever that may be--is doing "all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23) that will lead to our salvation and ultimate perfection. President Brigham Young declared: "Those who do right, and seek the glory of the Father in heaven...whether they can do little or much, if they do the very best they know how, they are perfect... (Desert News Weekly, 8/31/1854)

Ether 12:26-27

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

 28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.

 29 And I, Moroni, having heard these words, was comforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith;

My Mission Is to Bless by President Eyring

Last summer there was a talk titled, "My Mission is to Bless," given by President Henry B. Eyring at Mission President training. It floated around the internet for a while. I really like what he said it the beginning and it has really stuck with me. I keep wondering how I can better integrate his words into my family life.

“It is faith in the Lord that brings people to true repentance. 

It is faith in Jesus Christ that leads them to be baptized. 

It is faith in the Savior that leads them and all of us to always remember Him and thus have the Holy Ghost as our companion. 

And it is faith that will motivate us to pray always to the Father that we will not be overcome.

“Our greatest opportunity and our greatest challenge is to bear witness that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that He gave His life for the sins of each of us.”

Howard W. Hunter Lesson 3

Adversity Part of Gods Plan for our Eternal Progress

The scriptures … indicate that there will be seasons of time when the whole world will have some difficulty. We know that in our dispensation unrighteousness will, unfortunately, be quite evident, and it will bring its inevitable difficulties and pain and punishment. God will cut short that unrighteousness in his own due time, but our task is to live fully and faithfully and not worry ourselves sick about the woes of the world or when it will end. Our task is to have the gospel in our lives and to be a bright light, a city set on the hill, which reflects the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the joy and happiness that will always come to every people in every age who keep the commandments.